The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-04-19

! thetic as the young country girl who
starts out TO make her WAY in some
big. strange city, lured by the will %
the.wisp of Ambition, or driven by that
paunt hae, Necessity. The behet is
! firm in her unsophisticated mind that
| positions lie around in the very streets
| tbick enough TO impede her progress.
| I-ntutored in the ways OF the world, lg'
| norant of the cost OF living, confident
! that her small hoard of money is suil-
cient for all emergencies, she comes TO
! try the new life, radiant and unafraid.
| The awakening TO the real facts come
o,Tickly and cruelty. She finds that the
uuskilled woman IS chances as work
or are lessening every year; that the
life in the country town or on the tarm
has not fitted her for the new and un-
tried fields. She meets encouragement
AT every turn, and the Toseate dreams
fade one by one. Modern progress de-
msnds much Of the people who serve,
and is not tolerant of the untried and
the unframed. The girls money DIS
appears like magic, while she YEARLY
tries place after place in the hope OF
securing employment. Loneliness and
despair find her ready victim, and 1t
is little wonder that when she mas
reached the depths OF disappointment
she often turns TO the glitter OF the
half-world and Is lost TO her people FOR
ever.
To meet tho case of this girl, and of
the thousands of other girls like her,
bands Of loyal, devoted women are
working in each big city Of the United
States. The Women's Christian asso,
Citations have taken the working glrl
and the business woman to their hearts,
and are helping them TO make hght
for better opportunities and better NV,
ing. Preaching and living the gosPel
of helpfulness, the women or these as
sociations are loyal to their behef IN
tho womanliness of all women, and in
proof Of it stand ready to help them
at all times. When the country girl
comes into n big city nowadays, bew1l.
dered by the unusual noises, the cry or
cab.men, the rattle of baggage trucks
and the roar of passing trains. there Is
invariably a kind hearted woman IN the
employ of the w. G. A. who, is waiting
TO give her advice, to watch over her
and protect her if necessary. IL she
has arranged for no place TO 60, ,inn thlS
matrou will send her to the ASSOCIATION
home where she will be cared for. Inls
wise move on the part of the associa'
tions have saved many girls from pitt
ful fate. The depot matron. with the
police and the railroad officials support
ipp her on either hand, has become
most powerful influence IN the suppress
sion of vice.
The ". G. A. home in the big city Is
a practical argument for more WORK Iike
II AS a rule, it is for working girls
who have no homes of their own, whose
means are insufficient to live comfort
ably in boarding houses, who are work
ing for small wages, or who nave no
work al all In some cities provision
is made for women who are traVenhG
alone. and transients find these places
like the shadow of rock IN weary
land, for they offer protection ana com
fort, and always at most reasonapie
figure. The homes are made as de llvhnie
and attractive as possible, and lnclude
MANY club and school advantages.
Gymnasiums and reading rooms are
especial features, as well rs classes IN
domestic science, English branches and
business methods. that allow the, un'
skilled and ignorant TO prepare them
selves for paying positions.
The need for accommodations or thls
kind is so great IN some clues thaI q
girl who earns good salary canloC
be taken in, and when some inmates
have been promoted TO salaries OF a
certain figure they must pass on INTO
boarding houses or private homes, ana
so make room for other girls who are
less fotunate in a financial sense. In
some places the entrance is governed
by an age limit. Women 30 or 40 years
old are able TO take care of themselves
and be their own chaperones, so they
are asked to leave the homes and ma ke
room for young, unsophlstrcated girls
who need the protection these instltu-
tions offer.
This is only part of the work chat
these associations have undertaken
since their beginning nearly fifty years
ago. Originally spiritual improvement
was the object of the coming together OF
the members; then as times advanced
the necessity for a practical demon
stration Of their general Christian spirit
arose. They were ready and the spirit
spread through colleges, schools,
churches, factories, shops and mills. One
might say of the organization, as Miss
Jane Adams has said Of settlement
work. "It is not for the rich only,
nor for the poor only, but for all classes
as the Lord mixes them: not only for
those who toll: but for those who suffer
from idleness.
Rescue homes have been an import
ant factor in the work of the w. c. a,
for twenty years. They have brought
into these homes women and girls who
have been weak and unfortunate, and
have helped them TO live better, cleaner
lives. They have spent much time
working among the prisoners in jails
and prisons, and the good done there is
not To be lightly estimated, The as
sociations among college women do
much for the girls and women, wei.
coming the strange and homesick, help
inc fho ones who arc working their
way through school, and at Christmas
time making a happiness so widespread
in many poor families that tho faith of
the little ones in a Santa Claus is jus
tilted.
In the Yearbook Of the Young
Women 8 Christian associations of the
/ United States Of America the oldest
of the federated organizations is given
as the Ladies Christian Union Of New
| York, which was founded in 1858. Ten
/ years later associations We're formed i'm