Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1905-06-16
FRANKLIN SQUARE HOUSE
A Home Hotep' Which Provides for
Women In Boston at Nominal Prices
Unique Institution,

Women In Boston at Nominal Prices
Unique Institution.
One Of the unique philanthropic en-
terprises of Boston is the home hotel for
young women known as the Franklin
Square House. The third annual meet
ing of the corporation has recently been
held, and the report made by Rev. George
L. Perrin, its president, brings to light
some interesting facts. The property
owned by the corporation is that known
originally as the st. James Hotel, and
later as the New England Conservatory
of Music, and located on the south side
OF Franklin square. 1t contains 29S sleep
Ing rooms. The building has its own
steam and electric light plant, n we'll
equipped hotel kitchen, a steam laundry
which turns out nearly 10000 pieces per
week; dining hall seating $40 people
free reading room and library, a print
Ing office, a fine hall. amphitheatre i'm
style. seating 476 people, and containing
one of the finest grand organs in the city,
another hall, seating 200 people and
equipped with stage lights, scenery, etc,
large reception room, and eleven par
lors. These latter facetious young men
have dubbed "courting parlors" This
great building is usually filed to over
flowing with young women, who are
working or studying in Boston, and with
transients who happen to be spending q
few days in the city. 1t is not generally
known that more people sleep under the
roof of the Franklin Square House every
night than any other hotel in Boston, vet
this is a fact The president reported
that since the opening of the house. July
10, 1902, there had been accommodated
4939 transients and 1866 permanents, the
distinction being that permanent resi-
dent is one who remains four weeks or
more.
After the recent annual meeting. a re-
porter asked DR.. Perrin what were the
unique features of the franklin Square
House. Well he said, first. a hotel
without a man for a guest; second, a hotel
that is not run for profit third a hotel
with big hall and grand organ; fourth
hotel that takes a genuine interest in
the welfare OF all its guests; fifth, a hotel
that provides its own hospital. nurse and
doctor, and takes care of its guests with
out cost when they are i'll.
Yet the managers describe this unique
enterprise not as an institution" nor
Will they allow the women who frequent
1t to be spoken of as Inmates" The
name they like is simply home hotel"
or better still, Franklin Square House"
without any descriptive adjectives. All
of the institutional features so common
In philanthropic enterprises are eliminat-
ed. A guest is perfectly free to come and
go at will There are no petty rules for
the government of the House. Yet social
ly and morally. the Franklin Square
House is in every way heightened No
woman viii be entertained whose charac-
ter is not above reproach. The manage
ment are particular to have 1t under
stood that 1t is a home for young
women and not a reform school,
Nor on the other hand. will they allow
1t TO be called a charity Every girl
who lives at the Franklin Square House
pays her way at schedule prices. and is
therefore as thoroughly independent and
self-respecting as is the woman who stops
at the Somerset The philanthropic phase
of the enterprise is the providing OF the
plant, while the girls pay for operating
expenses, exclusive of interest account
DR.. Perrin has recently succeeded in rails
ing by subscription 500, 900 towards the
Indebtedness on the big property. which
is worth over $500. 200. He hopes ulti-
mately to raise enough to entirely pay
| Tor the property, the aim of the corpora
ton being to provide especially for work.
ing girls and student girls of Boston a
clean, safe place to live. where the style
of living may be the highest possible
consistent with reasonable cost The
uniform price for board is SO. 90 per week
while rooms range from S1.25 to S225
per week for permanent residents ac-
cording to size. location. etc. Thus IL will
be seen that for a minimum price of S4.25.
the girls of the Franklin Square House
receive board lodging, heat light, nurses
and physicians care when they are ill.,
the free use of reading room and library,
free use of social parlors. one entertain
ment each week. and all the social adj
vantages of the house
This enterprise is thoroughly cosmo-
politan and non-sectarian. Girls from
every state in the Union and beyond the
Union and of every creed make their
homes at the Franklin Square House.
While the emphasis is laid upon pro-
viding a home for working girls and
student girls living in Boston, there is
transient department for the accom-
mediation of women who are stopping
for few days in the city. This in its
way has proven of nearly as much value
as the care for permanent residents.
The average hotel is made for men and
not for women travelling alone, and
naturally many parents feel timid I'm
allowing their daughters to come to Bos-
ton even for a brief visit, If they must
go to an ordinary hotel without escort
But at the Franklin Square House, which
is made for women, they may feel per-
fectly safe. The transient prices are
slightly higher than those for permanent
residents, but still, either on the European
or American plan. very low as compared
with ordinary hotel rates
The daily attendance at the Franklin
Square House since last October has
ranged from $50, the lowest. to 4O2. the
highest Dr. George L. Perrin, who has
been for 22 years the pastor OF one OF
Boston's churches was the founder of
this unique enterprise, while Mr.. John
c. Haynes, the head of the famous Oliver
Ditson Co, music publishers. has been
one of its chief financial heroes