The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-10-28
ITS FIRST DECADE.
Day Nursery Holds
It's Tenth Annual
Meeting.
PRAISE FOR THE MATRON.
Society is Stronger Finan-
cially Than Ever
Before.

There was a good attendance at the
10th annual meeting of the Temporary
Home and Day Nursery, which was
held yesterday forenoon at the Church
of the Unity. Mrs. w. w. Rice, the
president, was in the chair. She said
the home and nursery were being con-
Quoted most satisfactorily by the ma
iron, Charlotte M. Emerson. The good
will of all denominations was extended
to the organization, she said the pref
udice which had existed on the part Of
some denominations because Roman
Catholics were received, having disap
peared.
The report of Mrs. Clara S. Lowell,
the treasurer, stated that the receipts
for the past year were SS06606, the ex-
penditures S30642S, leaving a balance
on hand of $1.7S. The permanent fund
amounts to $1,000.
Mrs E. 1. Comins reported for the
board Of managers that since the ded-
ication of the home in 1885, 294 women
and 745 children had received the bene-
fits of the establishment for varying
periods. During the last year the
work of the home has been as follows:
w liOic lAuIubeI OL persons dUUiIll6u 10
home, l47; number of women, 80; num-
Der of children, III; nationalities rep
resented, s; number of lodgings fur
nished, 1000; number of meals fur
nished to inmates, 1905; number of
meals furnished to nursery children,
$685.
In the day nursery affairs the follow
ing figures are furnished: Aggregate
number of days attendance, 5So2; num-
Der of different children "a; national
tiles represented, 8; largest daily at
tendance, 80; average, 20.3 The aver
age number of lodgings furnished dur
ing the past 10 years is 1929, the number
having increased from 978 in 1SS9-90 to
1000 in 1S98-99. The average number of
meals furnished each year to all per-
sons is lisp, increasing from Sab to
90 $50
"One serious hindrance to the per-
manency of our work is the saloon
continued the report. Attempts have
been made to have licenses refused to
such places within 400 feet of the home,
but the request could not be granted by
the license commissioners, who felt
that the law applied only to public
Schools and that it was therefore not
In their power to close those saloons
already existing.
This year has not been without its
financial difficulties, but great help has
been received from several sources,
among them being notably the Thurs
day club and the Charity Chatterers."
A strong appeal for toys, pictures,
periodicals and childrens clothing was
made. The question of cooperation
with the women Of the Progressive Club
in regard to the proposed nursery for
colored children, was touched upon in
the report No action has been taken.
The report spoke in detailed terms of
the legacy left the society by Mrs. Hes
ter M. Wetherell, which places the So
ciety in a much stronger financial po-
sition than ever before.
Mrs. T. C. MendenhaIl chairman of
the nursery committee, submitted the
following report in part:
Il wish that every contributor to the
nursery would visit it during the year
If this were done, I feel sure that the
necessary funds would be forthcoming
without solicitation. The effect Of the
good food and the training of the kim
dergartener is easily apparent, and I
only wish there were more such places
in the city. The object of the nurs-
cry, it may be we'll to say, is to care
for children whose mothers are away
during the day. Five mornings in the
week the children are taught in the
kindergarten by Miss Paine, who has
successfully carried on this work for
more than a year. The school room
is provided with piano furnished by
Steinert & Sons. Children too young
for the kindergarten are taken care of
on the second floor, where the play
room is situated.
"One nurse looks after the children,
and on account Of the expense, we are
obliged to exclude children in arms, and
admit only those over one and one-half
years. Children who go to public schools
are at the nursery only before and after
school and at recess. Usually they are
brought before and o'clock in the
morning, and left until or o'clock
at night. Two cents a day is charged
for each child, unless there are three
in a family, where it is five cents. 1t
has been thought, though that
change to higher rate would be nee
essafy."
In her report for the visiting COM
mittee, Mrs. M. F. Pratt said:
eve have to report 152 inmates of
our home, this year, and of this num-
Der 1913 were children. We have kept
quite strictly to the work Indicated by
our name, that of a temporary home.
In some instances we have had both
mother and children, where the father
had disappeared, and the household
goods had been seized for debt, leaving
the mother quite helpless for the time.
1t is not often that the mother deserts
her family, but one such case we. had,
where we took a young baby for the
night.
"A large number of our cases come
through the Associated Charities, the
city missionary, or some of the church
missionaries, for our home meets for
them need in emergency cases which
no other home supplies, and our rela-
lions with the various churches and the
many philanthropic societies are most
friendly. The orphanage on High
street has just provided for a mother
and four children, whom we had be-
friended, temporarily, and the ST Vim.
cent de Paul Society has from time to
time anticipated the needs of one Of
our day nursery mothers.
"Since the time when the Union
church undertook day nursery work, as
one of its church charities, we have
made rapid strides, and now all the
churches are working most harmoni-
ously together in this local charity,
which combines home, nursery and kim
dergarten."
It was voted to place a telephone in
the house. The following officers were