Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1899-10-05

/ since q benevolent Impulse III lAe nc
tive brain of a woman took active form
and resulted in an institution which
| has done great good to thousands of
| other women. The institution is call
ed the New York Exchange For Wo-
| mems Work, and while it is not con-
nected with any of the numerous other
similar exchanges that have been es-
tablished in various cities all over the
country it is fairly entitled to be call
| ed the parent organization, since it was
! the forerunner of the others, and the
others are practically modelled after 1t.
The way Of its birth was this: Mrs.
! NJ. L. Choate, wife of the well known
William G. Choate, happened. one day
| In fancy goods store, to see lady of
refinement and culture selling some
| fine needlework of her own literally at
starvation prices and noticed the tears
that gathered in her eyes as she ac-
cepted the pittance. Ii occurred at
once to Mrs. Choate that some plan
should be devised by which women
should be enabled to dispose of their
work at fair prices directly to consum-
ers without losing the middleman's
margin of profit. She invited to her
own house a number of other women
well known for their philanthropy and
with them discussed the necessity for
such an enterprise and asked their aid
in formulating plan for it.
Without going into a detailed ac-
count of the various plans suggested
and the arguments presented it is
enough to tell what was decided upon
and what has grown out of that meet
ing.
The first step taken was the forma-
tion of a society of which Mrs. Choate
was chosen president. Among the 9TH
er officers and managers are the wives
| of Cornelius R. Agnew, William Am
CRY, George +. Baker Andrew Carnegie,
Frederic Coudert. Charles f. Chandler,
William E. Dodge, George Hoadly, NJ.
NJ. Holmes, Henry Ivison. A. D. JUL
lard, Russell Sage, John T. Terry,
Francis b. Thurber, T. NJ. Wheeler, j..
Henry Work and others to the number
of about 40.
These ladies, acting under the ad-
vice of board of eminent lawyers and
business men. incorporated themselves
under the laws of the state, taking the
name of the New York Exchange For
Women's Work. They then adopted a
set of rules under which to do a regu-
lar consignment business for the pur-
pose of carrying out AIRS. Choate's
original idea.
AS a matter of course. these rules
have been modified from time to time
as experience dictated, but they re-
main substantially the same as at
first Nothing was done hastily, but
the system was carefully studied be-
forehand, and time has only elaborat-
ed the details of the original plan.
Feeling that the field into which they
were entering was too large for them
to cover entirely, they resolved to lin
it their efforts to the disposal of the
handiwork of gentlewomen whose cir
cumstances make it necessary for them
to work.
A strong disclaimer is made by the
board of any motive Of exclusiveness
because it Is absolutely necessary TO
draw 1t somewhere. Many hundreds
of would be consignors apply to have
their work disposed of. and If all were
received there would speedily occur q
large surplus of supplies over the de-
mand which reaches this exchange.
"And what kind of work is it that is
disposed OFF, / asked Miss E. S. Vail,
the secretary of the exchange.
Almost everything that women can
make at home." was the comprehen-
sive reply. lone special feature of our
work is that it enables a multitude of
women to maintain their homes who
would without such help as we give
be compelled to see those homes bro
ken up. perhaps the family scattered.
We learn to appreciate more and more
all the time the Importance of this
point as we see ladies who come here
distT. ssed and almost heartbroken
with apprehension growing happy and
contented with the knowledge that
they are wholly or in part self sup
porting.
"a curious and interesting fact IL
lustrating this" continued Miss Vail,
''is that the demeanor of the ladies
who come TO us changes rapidly. 1t
often happens when they first come,
and it happened especially often when
we first began, that they come in a
shamefaced way. closely yelled and
muffied so as to avoid recognition, and
they talk almost in whispers, as If NOR
titled at the necessity of working.
But after awhile they come openly,
with heads erect and faces glowing
with honest pride. The educational
effect of our exchange in this respect
has been very valuable"
The exchange is located on Fifth
avenue, where 1t occupies the whole OF
a handsome mansion which is hired at
an expense of $4,000 a year. A dozen
or more ladies are hired at living sal
aries to attend to the different de-
partments, such as the fancy work.
the Infants. the toy, the bric-a- brac and
the domestic, or. more properly. kitch-
en-, departments. where the thousand
and one varieties of home manufac-
lures are displayed for sale.
1t Is easy to see that conducting an
establishment on such scale means
the expenditure Of large amount Of
money. This money is raised from
several different sources, and the ur-
gent and constant need for a little
more money keeps the managers ac-
tive all. the year around In the strug-
gle to make both ends meet.
First the forty odd directors tax
themselves $50 or 500 apiece each
year. Next they impose an entrance
fee, so to speak, on the consignors or
such persons as desire to procure the
privileges OF the exchange for some
gentlewoman who is In need. This fee
is a mere trifie. Any person contrib
uting IS yearly may name three con-
signors whose work viii be taken on
sale.
Then 10 per cent commission IS
charged on all sales that are made.
As these average between $4,000 and
$4,000 a year. this item Of receipts Is
| the largest All these together, how
ever. do not aggregate enough to pay
expenses, and the exchange Is there
| fore dependent upon the liberaIity OF