The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1900-04-21
LITERATURE FOR WooDcHoPPERs.

Minnesota and Wisconsin Women supply
| the Camps With Comforts.
Advancement in morals of the 1000
men in the lumber woods of the Du-
luth district of Wisconsin is q subject
that has engaged the attention of the
state branch OF the VIC. I. L. for the
| past two years. As rule lumber
companies and their iobbing contrnc-
tors pay little attention to their men,
except to see that full days work is
had six times q week: that the men are
kept full of wholesom food and that
smallpox is not permitted a landing
,:lace in the camps. At most camps
there are strict rules against card
playing, and at all the use OF liqnor i'll
any form is prohibited, but these re-
suits are made not so much for the
prevention of quarrels. 1t has been
-lhe experience of hundreds of camps
that the free use Of cards, even i'll
r:endly games, without gambling, is
the cause, of more quurres and greater
problems for the camp bosses than any
ono thing, whiskev alone excepted.
Therefore the prohibitions.
To supply the deficiency the W. c.
L. Z. has taken up systematic cam
paign and is furnishing hundreds of
camps, not only in this district but
all over the northern part OF the state,
with reading matter, quiet games, col
lections of testaments and gospel
hymnbooks, comfort bags" some
thing like the housewives" that the
women at home sent to the front in
war times; pictures to tack up on the
walls of camps, old maps covered over,
with catchy verses and sayings NOT too
religious, cards, notices, verses and
bright little things for the woods hos
pitfalls. It is astonishing the things
that are sent and the appreciative
words that come back to the donors
from these cheerless camps.
The work in Minnesota is under the
charge of Mrs. Z. A. Burgan Of Prince
ton and Miss Hauser of Minneapolis.
Mrs. Burgan has spent all her time
for two or three years in the work of
organizing the service and getting ma
terials, as we'll as in visiting the camps
and in finding just what is needed in
each case. Summers she is engaged
in locating new camp for the follow
ing winter and collecting a supply OF
looks, etc. Ono great effort of these
women is to keep the woodsmen occu-
pied Sundays so they will have no
chance to reach the saloons OF the
nearest towns. In many cases where
there are no towns near the scenes OF
logging operations shanties are built
in the woods by saloon men. 1t is a
distinct gain if the influence of the W.
c. I. lis such as TO close these dens,
and it has proved strong enough i'll
many cases this winter. Miserable
little novels of saloons will often take
over their bars several hundred dol
lars of woodsmen's money in single
Sunday, and these aye saloons that
have perhaps only one or two isolated
camps from which to draw custom.
Funds for this work are supplied
largely by the lumber firms and the
W. c. T. U. of the state. Last winter
Mrs. Burgan reported visits in person
to hundreds OF camps. The work
originated some years ago with the
wife Of Governor Upham of Wisconsin,
himself lumber manufacturer. She
saw the need and recognized the fact
that all winter thousands OF men wore
altogether cut of from all humanizing
influences. Under her direction CEN
trail Wisconsin camps have been under
an active missionary influence.
There are Is, 600 men in the luni Der
woods Of Minnesota this season, and
under the new laws they are paid of
in the woods, giving the dens OF the
neigb borhood amplest opportunity for
the enticement of the vast sums they
collectively earn. 1t is stated that
this winter far less proportionately is
being wasted thus than in seasons .
few years back.-Chicago Record.