The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-11-23
MRS. PETIT REPLIES.
Her Position Explained in
Relation to Rev. St.
James Statements.
a the Editor OF The Spy:

I noticed in last Saturdays Telegram
an article entitled, TT is misleading"
signed by Rev. Arthur st. James.
l am very sorry to be obliged to an
swer any letter through any newspaper.
So long as Mr.. st. James prosecuted me
in my work from house to house l bore
my cross and shed my tears in silence,
defending my rights the best 1 could
with whomsoever l met that had had a
talk with Rev. ST. James about the
home in Greendale.
But now that he seeks to hurt the
cause l represent before the whole city
Of Worcester, l feel it my sad duty to
correct his statements publicly. If 1
was the only one to suffer at his hand,
could put up with it, but for the sake
Of those who supported the work with
their money and to do justice to the ad-
ministration of their funds, l will ask
the readers of this paper, if with $1,000
which have received this year so far
and an average of 30 children to take
care of, to say nothing of the help 1
have had to pay and an interest on the
&l0O mortgage on the house and land
and $40 monthly on the principal, could
l manage better than l did, even if
had managed in my own way?
Mr.. st. James says: "a meeting was
called in Lincoln square church to con-
slider the ACCESSIBILITY of taking up the
work. but there was one unyielding
point viz: the management must keep
IL in their own hands and run 1t in their
own way, etc"
Yes, there was such meeting called
at Lincoln square church at which
H.
Of them asked me if it would not be
wise to change the name of the French
american home into French-Baptist
home. l had no objections provided the
Baptist people should see that we got
the money necessary to carry on our
work Another gentleman stood up and
said that the city mission board was in
debt at the time and he did not think
it wise to assume any more responsible
ity, at least for the present time | then
said that in view of the fact that some
of my best friends who were supporting
the work under its present management,
were from different denominations,
! thought it wise to leave the home with
its present name and make it an un-
sectarian institution. / don't remember
any reply or opposition to that remark.
The unyielding point to which Mr.. st.
James makes allusion is this: He, above
all others, wanted to organize board
of directors composed of half of French
and the other half of Americans. To
this / was unwilling to yield, saying
that it might not work well, as one
might not always agree, and I conclud-
ed my remarks by saying that as long
as there was an American organiza-
ton II. the Children's Friend society,
which was composed of Americans,
why could not we French Protestants
also have an organization of French
Protestant members? That is, l sup
pose, what Mr.. st. James calls taxa
ton without representation" and an
individual matter"
left before the close of the meeting,
and l never knew the result of it. ex-
cept that Mr.. st. James kept blowing
to the four corners Of the city all sorts
of misapprehensions against our man
agement. He went so far as to cause
some one to write an article which was
published in the Waterman, Baptist
paper, edited in Boston, to caution any
Baptist who might be inclined to help
us. that we were but of an individual
represeI tation, ETC., and then, fearing
that l might not know of 1t quick
enough, he called at my brothers house
and told him and his wife that we knew
that the house could not stand much
longer under it's present management
and that it was doomed to fall; that let
ters were circulated from Worcester to
Boston 10 that effect, and that the soon
er we could see the end of that French
American home the better. OF course
as was expected, my brother called my
attention to that circulation of let
ters," and 1 read with great disappoint-
ment the article inserted in the columns
of the Waterman.
l did not refuse the aid of the Bap-
fist people, more than the aid of any
other denomination, but | was the vic
tim of the persecution of some of them
Though I do not blame the denomina-
ton, for l have good and noble friends
among them, the fault Is that there is
always black sheep among our tiocks
and if the orphans of Greendale have
had so much dry bread to eat and if II
was found necessary to write such tales
of woe in the Worcester papers, 1t was
not because of Encouragement or re-
fusal of the people which Mr.. St. james
took great pains to explain, not in my
own way, but in his.
l will give you an example of what
his recommendations have done for us
1t was one stormy day-the date l dc
not remember. j left Greendale at
o'clock a. M, With 5 cents just enough
to pay my carfare to the city There
was but little to eat in the house.
went on my mission of begging for the
destitute children housed in the Green
dale orphanage. l took a transfer t.
New Worcester in the hope Of getting
some aid of ]. H. Goes, as he had nevel
refused to contribute to the home eacl
time | called upon him.
Unfortunately he was absent. I the1
started to walk back, stopping to beG
here and there, in the hope that
might get at least enough for the mex
day. / walked all along Main stree
clear down to Lincoln square, thence
to Adams square. Everywhere l wen
that day / got the same excuse, tina
seeing l could not produce Mr.. st
James recommendation they could no
give anything towards that home.
reached the home at Greendale through
Burncoat street at o'clock / ha(
walked all day through the rain and
had no dinner and no money.
The next day l was sick abed. Tha
was the only time l ever felt discour
aged enough to give up all hope of sue
i, 1t, Nov y, oil ause