The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-09-25
A Summer Among "The other Half.o
Letter from HELEN l.. MANNING.
BEN ADHEM House,


by society, but for my summer outing /
joined party of friends engaged in So
cial settlement work, and j assure your
readers that it has been most happy
and profitable season. The Ben Adhem
House is fine old colonial residence,
with double verandas and futed columns,
in the Roxbury District of Boston. 1t
has a nice lawn in front and also back
and side yard, something almost wholly
unknown among our neighbors. 1t is in
the borderland ratherthan in the depths,
for though Immediately back of us are
noisome streets lined with crowded
tenement houses, yet six or eight blocks
in the opposite diret ton leads into the
elegant residence portion of Roxbury,
now known as the Boston Highlands.
The thick timbered walls of the old house
have insured to us fairly cool rooms, and
the blessed east wind from over the bay,
only about mile distant, as the bee flies,
has added much to our comfort.
This settlement work is new, having
been inaugurated last December by Mr..
and Mrs. Willard Ashton and Mr.. Ed
ward A. Pennock. There have been five
or six temporary residents during the
summer, three of whom are likely to re-
main for the winter at least, and there
are others who want to come and who
probably will join us. Neighborhood re
lations have been slowly and naturally
established, the first friends being among
the children, and through them many
homes have felt the wholesome and ben
Efficient influences which radiate from the
Ben Adhem House.
The special work of the summer was
kindergarten with accompanying moth
ers' meetings Miss Cora A. Manning of
Utica, N. Y, was the Director and Miss
Georgine @. Dunkle, of Rockford, ILL.,,
her assistant Both are true disciples of
Froebel, and they entered upon this vol
untary service with the enthusiasm and
devotion OF consecrated souls. About
fifty children were enrolled and nearly
two hundred calls made upon the fam
lilies. The mothers were very grateful
for the happiness and benefit which the
summer brought to their little ones.
Once the children were taken to pretty
park where there were no tyrannous
keep off the grass notices, and several
times they came to the Ben Adhem
House for romp upon the lawn. 1t was
touching upon all these occasions to see
the children roll and play in the cool
grass, luxury to which they were total
| ly unaccustomed.
Another modest but valuable work in
augurated this summer was the B. L
club of little girls between the ages of
seven and eleven. This was the happy
thought of Miss Dunkle, and for the ben
eft of the initiated, 1T will be explained
that those mysterious letters stand for
Beautiful Lady," Taking advantage of
the universal desire of little girls to be
beautiful when they grow up their lead.
| Ell. has sought to impart to them in many
ingenious ways, knowledge of the real
| beauty OF usefulness and purity which
shall be externalized as the years roll by.
cludes the usual industrial training.clas
es and literary clubs, though on small
scale as yet, and embraces small but
well used library. A branch of the stamp
savings bank is stationed here for the
benefit OF penny and nickel depositors.
This has worked its way very slowly, for
children and parents are alike impovi-
dent. One small boy who had managed
to lay away the magnificent sum of four
cents between February and July, judi
ciously asked the resident who handed
out the cash on surrender of his card this
question "Do you make anything out
of this?" 1t is so hard for them to COM
prehend the rendering of disinterested
service by any one that they are contin-
ually distrustful. But there are encour-
agements; one boy saved enough to help
his mother over tight place when her
husband met with an accident; and one
of the older boys has saved, without the
aid of the bank, enough to start him in
business this fall as dealer in wood and
coal by the basket
One of my neighbors is "little house.
mother" in whom I am greatly interest
ed. She is only twelve years old, but she
is the housekeeper for her father and
care-taker for her little brothers of three
and five years of age. love to call her
"my little sister Jennie" for is she not
one of my Fathers other children? She
is gentle, loving child, who knows little
of ways of work and less about books, for
she has not been to school for two wears.
and portion of this time, in addition to
her duties mentioned, she was nurse for
her invalid mother. Yet 1 have never
heard her utter word which convened
the impression that she thought her lot a
hard one, and she is so grateful for any
little lift given her.
1t may interest your readers to know