The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-11
PROUD DAY FOR THE BAND.
STORY OF Il BADGE GITEy n
MAYOR STRONG by CHILDREN.

10 Nc Good Citizens-PatriotIsm Rnprc..sc
In Eings-Tho Youngsters Sec the Mayor.
The pupils OF the Rhinclandcr Industrial
| School nre chiefly tho children OF foreigners. I'M,
| the prospect Is that they will grow up to he GOOD
citizens and ardent patriots. They live IN nm
| atmosphere of Fourth OF July sentiment, hut 10
| offset their fiery patriotism they have a Band Of
| Mercy on which they oxpend an Immense
| amount Of enthusiasm. A delegation from ths
school went down to call on Mayor Strong
last week. What they really wanted was to sea
| how the city officials look on their native heath.
but they improved the occasion by giving the
Mayor n badge OF the Band OF Mercy and telling
him that he had been unanimously elected an
honorary member. BY the way, Miss Pascal, the
school principal, says Indignantly that this Band
of Mercy Is not, MS tho newspapers assumed, n
society for the painless killing OF stray cats. IL
Is n branch of the original society started by DR..
Angel in Boston. There arc auxiliary branches
all over the world to-day. and the work of the
Bands is. like that Of a juvenile Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Viewed in this light. it is certainly . stop in
the right direction; but Miss Pascal has tried TO
enlarge the work of her special branch and has
laid stress on the human side of the work. "
course, the children are taught to show gentle.
ness and sympathy with animals. Even tho
tinicst tots show great zeal In the caus'. One
Eighty-eighth street boy can swear TO that, for.
in the heat Of a mad chase after a lame and
drabbled cat, he suddenly found a chubby, OK.
cited lassie of four or five years %clinging to each
of his legs and holding on heroically, despite his
struggles and her own bruises. until the cat
was safely out OF sight. However. people, and
not cats. receive the greater share OF the Bands
attention. The value Of willing hands and
hearts, the joy Of adding a mite of happiness 10
any ones days, are what the children are heinx
taught TO understand. There is eager emula,
lation in doing for others, and, while there may
be a good deal of childish vanity in the motive,
the doing is a fine thing, all the same. Al
Thanksgiving and the other holidays each mem.
bcr celebrates by picking out some person who
isn't apt to have a happy day and trying to do
something that will put q ray of sunshine into
that day.
Most often" said Miss Pascal, "the best
field for their efforts is in their own homes, and
the parents tell us 1t is surprising how helpful
and kind the little men and women grow under
the influence Of the Band"
Kindliness to all is thctH motto; but they have
one particular protegee. Near the school, lives
woman who has been a helpless invalid for yeau
and yet has supported her mother and herself BY
collecting postage stamps. 1t is uphill work,
but she has devoted helpers in the Rhinelander
Band. There arc boxes in the school rooms, and
every stamp the children can get hold OF is
dropped into one box. Into another box 20 all
the pennies that can be spared. Every Friday
two members of the band, chosen by virtue Of
good behavior, take the pennies and invest them
in a rose or whatever flower they can buy. Then
the same members take tho stamps and flower.
and, with much embarrassment and more
delight, give them to the invalid. On Mon.
day. In solemn c~onclave, the committee reports
on the condition of "our sick lady and tho
details of the visit. One can imagine that the
weekly glimpse of children's faces means much
in the sick lady's' gray life. The children col.
lect scrap pictures. too. and to the wee tots Of
the kindergarten is given the task of decorating
big books with them. Oh. the solemn thought
and care given to those designs and the mar.
vellous results achieved When the books are
finished the 4 and 8 year old babies are taken
down to the children's hospital and themselves
give the books to the sick babies. and explain all
about the pictures and their arrangement.
1t is all very agreeable to hear about. but ono
forgets to ask about the ordinary classes. Surely
reading. writing. and arithmetic must come cas-
fly to baby philanthropists. A few more Bands
of Mercy conducted on Miss Pascal's principles
would make one feel optimistic about the future
in spite of Mr.. Comstock's depressing theory
that all children are i~ncipient criminals.
The beginning of the story which connects
Mayor Strong with the Band of Mercy dates
back to an evening in December when Mayor
Strong, ex-Mayor Hewitt, ano u few lesser lu.
minaries called at the school and twinkled be-
nignly upon the children. Tho visitors were in
terested in everything, and the children were
interested in the visitors. A few days later the
idea occurred to Miss Pascal that it might add
to the pupils interest in municipal affairs if
they could go and see the Mayor in his official
capacity. To be sure, the sight isn't one OF
imDreSaiyR nnmD hit 10 "A small girl ar
boy a Mayor means as much as an Emperor.
Also. the more interest they took in the Mayor
and his assistants. the easier would be the task
Of teaching them something about city govern
ment. So Miss Pascal decided that a delegation
should visit the Mayor and present to him one Of
the school flags. The school Is on very familiar
terms with the Stars and Stripes. That is one
way OF keeping the fame of patriotism burning.
The children know what the flag means; they
know about the brave fighting done under its
folds. and II ever anarchy tries TO tramplc upon
Old Glory in the neigh6orhood or the Rhine
jolly fight all around; The girls are not
neglected in this matter either. In the
sewedT to a SpSc the honor 5ns OF aet seSipPP I tPoRs,h hcS H., b,
red and white silk stripes and cmbroiderins
stars; The flags they turn out are; things o,
Cady Stanton to cxcleim that 1t was wicked 10
they couldn't 30 seen, The girls in the sewing
class, like Pet Marjorie. are all primmed up
with maiestick pride" over that remark OF Mrs.
Stanton's. These flags are waving in many cor,
ners Of the world, and almost any, distinguished
visitor Is apt to receive one. During March one
was presented to President Mckinley; and then,
to prevent the small Democrats OF the school
from breaking the peace and getting themselves
on the black books OF the Band OF Mercy, ex-
President Cleveland WAS similarly honored;
Miss PasCal's plan for The call upon Mayor
Strong was intcrf"rcd with. Some one else got
up a meeting in his honor and persuaded her
that her pupils should give their flag to him on
that occasion. Everything went of beautifully.
but the excuse for u call upon the Mayor was
gone. OF course the delegation could call, but
the small boys and girls thought there wouldn't
be any satisfaction in going down in pursuit. OF
knowledge with no spectacular effects. The thing
hung fire until one day, during a nesting OF the
Band OF Mercy, the term honorary member.
mediately clamored for honorary members. and.
when asked whom they would like to elect. they
in iusty chorus howlcd " Mayor StronR!'. Miss
Pascal had an inspiration and suggested that
the, formally elect the Mayor and then call ana
That appealed to the children, and they carried