The National tribune., 1907-08-15


she thought of the thousands of little
girls like herself whose lot perhaps was
less happy than hers. for she was
brave, cheerful little SOUL and she long
ed to help them. So the idea of writing
to them occurred to her Later on, as
the society assumed shape and size, in
Productions by letter We're made and
friendships formed which proved of the
greatest comfort. help and entertain
ment- The principal work of the socie-
ty is done thru its correspondence.
which is now thoroly systematized. in
charge of the Correspondence Commit
tee, whose duty ii is to assign the new
member to the correspondent task
which frequently requires a good deal
of discrimination. The work of the So
ciety is done by the associate members,
who are not invalids. and whatever line
of work they undertake. be IL writing
letters. visiting inyalids. seeing that GER
tain shut-ins have plenty of the proper
sort of reading matter. etc, they are ex-
pected to be business-like and thoro in
the fulfilment of this duty. The Shut
in members. the invalids. write to each
other, of course. but it is very desirable
that each should have at least one per-
fectly well. cheerful correspondent who
can bring into the cloistered life some
of the brightness of the outside world
Stationery and stamps are supplied to
those who cannot afford to buy them,
also material IOF FANCY WORK Ine So
ciety owns about 100 wheel chairs, a
few invalid lifters and other appliances
for the comfort of the sick. which are
loaned to those who are unable to pur-
chase. An invalid who receives chair
keeps it as long as needed. when 1t is
sent to another sufferer. The society
has an excellent library, the books OF
which are also loaned to members liv-
ing far from public libraries. who are
only required to pay the return postage.
To become member of the Shut-in
Society one should write to the Secre-
tary and Treasurer. Miss Mary Hamil-
ton Hadley. 355 Willow ST.. New Haven.
Conn. That is all that is necessary.
Any chronic invalid may become a
member. There is no restriction in re-
gard to creed. sect, age. sex. race or
anything else. If you want to join the
society. write to Miss Hadley and tell
her so, stating briefly your illness and
length Of invalidism, and il there is
anything You want to know not con-
tanned in this article ask her and she
will tell you.
Death knocks impartially at the door
of palace and cottage, calling upon him
or her to follow whose lifework, so inn
portant seemingly to the world. appears
to be just in the full flower of its re-
suits and usefulness. In the death Of
Augustus st. Gaudens, the sculptor.
America and the whole world suffers a
great and irreparable loss. He was our
foremost sculptor. beyond question, and
was at the hight of his powers. Born
in Dublin So years ago, of French
father and Irish mother. he inherited
from both those traits and gifts which
made him the great artist he was. He
began his career as cameo cutter in
New York City, but Fate had decreed
otherwise, and circumstances made it
evident that he was destined instead for
a sculptor. He studied in Paris and
Rome, and his first statue. for which he
chose an American subject. the Indian
Hiawatha, laid the foundation for his
fame. This statue was bought by Mont
gomery Gibbs. of New York, to whom
belongs the honor of first disclosing the
talents of st. Gaudens to the world.
After this orders came thick and fast,
and the artist had more orders than he
could possibly fill up to the time of his
death, visiting his studio nearly every
day until July. often SO weak that he
had to be assisted to his work. He
worked not for money. but for the joy
of seeing beauty spring from rough
stone, and to all his work he brought u
sad sincerity and patient conscientious
ness, which made it impossible for him
to produce anything mediocre. There
fore, everything he did is good. and. in
deed, it is exceedingly difficult to de-
eide what of his work is best. but most
artists agree that the master hand and
mind are seen in the Lincoln Statue in
Chicago; the Farragut. Sherman and
Cooper Statues of New York: the Puri-
tan in Springfield. and the splendid
Shaw Memorial in Boston. While not
ranked with these famous statues Of
the great artist, nothing he ever did is
more impressive than his female figure,
sometimes called Grief" but to which
st. Gaudens gave no name. in the Rock
Creek Cemetery at Washington. No
words can express the effect this statue
has upon the person who, sitting on the
stone seat opposite, shut off as it is from
the rest of the cemetery, gazes upon
that sphynx-like face, trying to read its
meaning. To some she seems to SYM
bOliZe grief, to others remorse. to 9TH
ers utter resignation, to others she is
battling and inscrutabie.
Brave, indeed, is the man who ven-
lures nowadays to express himself on
the subject of woman's work or wo-
mans sphere, and the one who does SO
generally lives to rue the day he did it,
In an unguarded hour Mr.. Charles
Schwab, the steel magnate, aired his
views on this subject. insisting that the
home was woman'S natural and proper
province. and recommending domestic
service as a vocation. This has brought
down upon his guilty head a storm of
indignant protest from several members
of the fair sex. among them Mrs. Stuy-
vesant Fish, of New York. one of the
leaders OF society in the Metropolis. Mrs.
Fish disasrees most emphatically with
Mr.. Schwab or any one else entertain
ing his views. To say that women
should only be wives and housekeepers
is equivalent to admitting that the
feminine brain is inferior to the mascu-
line, which never for a moment will she
do. Women have different brains from
men, but they are exactly as good: wO-
man Is wholly mans equal mentally.
and has the same right to a business or
intellectual career as he has. Mrs Fish
thinks 1t great mistake to make mar
riage the end and aim of existence
girl should be brought up to think first
of developing the best that is in her.
and If the right man comes along after
wards. why. marry him, if she wants to.
But no girl should under-any circum-
stances marry any man not her INTEL
lectual equal simply for home or to
escape the stigma of being an old maid.
Mrs Fish says she would rather be a
great actress, writer or artist than to
have the wealth of Rockefeller at her
command or the highest social position
To have achieved something, to live a
life Of growth and power is the greatest
thing after all. OF course, she thinks
that eYerY woman ShOuId know how to