The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-03-30
MISS RICHARDSON SPEAKS
ELITE AUDIENCE LISTENS TO
 AUTHOR OF "THE LONG DAK.n
Packed Chapel of the United Church Last Night at the Annual Meeting of the Lowell House Association.

the Lowell House Association. The chapel of the United church on Temple street was literally packed last
 evening by members of New Ravens leading society to listen to wonderful story of a wonderful young lady who
 has arisen from the life of the average
 factory girl in crowded New York city, to a position where she can do the greatest good to a people who live in such astounding conditions, which served not to degrade Miss Dorothy Richardson, the authoress of "The Long Day" Instead, they seemed to serve as a providential circumstance to steel her character so that she can to- day talk to intelligent audiences who must be the most influential factors to remedy the evils so far as pubic opinion and state laws can serve.
 l The occasion for the address was the annual meeting of the association of the Lowell House, an uplifting factor in New Havens slum life, which is do- ing so much good. Reports were first read regarding the work of the house by Miss Ethel R. Evans, most enter- taining talker and prodigious worker for good, and also by Dr. Julia E.. Teele, also prominently associated with this noble work among the poor of this city.
 Miss Richardson's book, "The Long Day." has brought her very suddenly ;eo fo,, ffe timeliness as being among the really significant books on modern social pro- blems. Miss Richardson had the ad- vantage of doing her book from neces- sity through the terrible hardships of the sweatshop existence. She did not "visit" the shops for literary purposes. Miss Richardson is talented and puts in her work and thoughts, her whole life's emphasis.
 Having been introduced by Professor Farnam of Yale university, she said
 When expressed my willingness to come to this old college town, the place of America's greatest seat, of learning, I just concluded I had better write an address as scholarly as I could, but on reflection that idea seemed pedantic and repugnant, so tore up the nnanu- script and was determined to talk in New Haven in heart to heart style.
 Since I have been here to-day, as a guest of hospitayble friends, the ques- tions put to me for answer seem to- night as the best possible theme for my talk.
 At Mrs. Porter's tea, this question was asked: Is The Long Day" true?' Indeed 1t is. Everything which appears in my book happened in my life as 1t is Recorded in the The Last Day Such experiences are not rare in the life I lead in the New York factory It hap pens to-day to every girl placed as was. I have often wanted to write a book and call it Betsy Copperfeld,' for Betsy always gets along worse than David If I had written such a book it would have been my life's history.
 T have seen the times when hanger ! was an actuality and not fiction, Living on $350 @ week, how else could I live than on eight and ten cent meals? I have been asked why I did not apply to the charity organizations. tell you frankly I never heard of them; they never happened in my line of life and work. Again, why did I not go into domestic service, To-day the tendency is among many American homes that the wife wants some other task than home duties, and she frets because she does not find young girls to do the work that she frowns upon.
 "The American factory girl likes the book on the level of Dora Thorne' be- cause such characters as they depict are akin to their ideals; their minds cannot grasp books of the higher ideal, for our aims are almost foreign to the poor girl in 8 crowded city, without friends, education and other uplifting environments; while eating lunch they feed each other with such poor love sto- ries about which they have previously read. There is a movement, and it is growing fast, to put in the factories libraries of good books. This is a great step to help those struggling human souls.
 Music is a factor for good in such 1 lines nor can it be too much overesti- mated and emphasized. The settlement worker will produce better results among such girls than to teach them love for singing hymns and the good average popular song. Singing seemed to shorten my working hours. They could not appreciate classical music or the opera. The moral tone of the New York city department store and facto- " is exceedingly low. You, in New Haven, cannot, perhaps, understand the meaning in that expression.
 "The factories are filled with girls like the character sketch Henrietta IMonners. The department stores are even worse than the factories. If the world would try to sympathize and put themselves on the same level in their minds, better results would come. See tha life as if really is. One-half of the