The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-08-22
HERBERT SPENcER's WARD.
Lovely Young Socialist Who Lives NoIun-
tarily in the SIums.

The possessor Of what Herbert Span-
Ger always declared to be the most re-
mind he ever cncounterad-
rich. beautiful and an adornmant IN
London society as long as she chose To
be a figure therein has taken nm her
anode among the very poor Of the Brit
ish capital. her beauty. fortune. and
great attachments being ir~rpvocabIv
devoted TO the uplifting Of the lowIy
'Ihe Young woman in question is he
seventh n youngest daughter ~ a
wealthy English manufacturer named
Iotter' whose wife was herself notnd
Tor her talents and her
nents. She was a religious woman a
profound and persistent student and
was for many years a particularly in
innate friend OF Herbert Sppncor Nbn
consulted her on many abstruse phiIo-
sophical and scientific questions. Mrs
Potter was credited with but one ac-
rentr1city-a horror of fat people. She
led her V daughters with the most
scrupulous care, weighing every meal
before they were allowed to eat IL AMI
discovered by accurate experiment how
slttle a growing girl can eat and vet re-
tain health and vigor. Later they con-
fessed that never, until they had homes
III their own, knew what IL was not to
feel the sensation of hunger. Yet thew
fhriyed uDon this severe system. an
seven growing up tall. handsome and
vigorous. with alert and brilliant minds
ana retaining always the slimnoss of
their figures.
OF all the seven. the Youngest. Re-
Btrlce, was the most remarkable. She
pursued her studies under the dirsr-
ZION and with the assistance of Herbert
Spencer She was the tallpst Of he
Yeven and when she was introduced IN
Jondon society. was said To be one Of
the most beautiful women Of her gen
grafton. BY accident her ]ttentfo
was directed TO the miseries Of Lon
non's poor, and one day she disap-
peared from the domain Of fashion
Putting on a working girls costume.
Fhe went into a sweat-shop and for a
time shared the miseries OF those con
uemned TO earn a bare existence there.
Two months later she reapDcared With
p mass Of facts and statistics which
she embodied in an article in one OF
The reviews. that stirred all England.
was made h subject OF debate in par
lament. and resulted in the appoint
ment OF a commission which investi-
gated and reformed the sweat-shops.
From that day Beatrice Potter re-
turned no more 10 the world. Her
sisters had all married men Of posi-
ton, but she turned her back on the
easy life they enjoyed and which was
hers 10 lead had she been SO minded.
and began a systematic study Of socl-
olOgy. In the course OF his study
she Travelled all over Europe. occasion
ally -reappearing for a brief period
among her fashionable friends. Her
real companions had ceased TO be the
men who were making and ruling the
English empire and creating its SCI
ence. literature and art. Her friends
were those who called on her in their
shirt sleeves and smoked clay pipes in
her drawing-room.
Five years ago she ~astonished even
those who knew her best by marry
ing Sidney Webb, the socialist. They
set up a modest home in the east Of
London. all her fortune. beauty n
talent being finally and irrevocablv de-
voted TO the cause Of manual labor.
Two years ago the fruits Of her stud
les appeared in the form Of a monu-