The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-01-28
LIVING A BROADER


/ remember when I was a child that
opposite me at the table of the hotel,
where I lived. sat two old ladies,
twins, who were a marvel to nv
youthful comprehension.
My own father and mother had
travelled much, and their minds were
open to new impressions, new ideas.
But these old ladies' lives were bound
ed by q circle Of small interests, and
they have stood, ever since, in my
mind for type which is pathetic
II the extreme.
They had enough income to make
labor unnecessary; hence their lives
did not expand, and they we're at the
end much as they had been at the
beginning.
There are many girls who reach
on. for something beyond the narrow
circle of their lives. Girls who are
forced to work find their own inter
ests; but where money is provided
by parents so that the daughters need
not earn q livelihood, and where there
is yet not enough income to permit
of travel. or Of the taking up of
broader interests, existence is often
circumscribed.
Such girls write to me that they
want to do something, they know
not what, but something which shall
wake them up and give them an op-
portunity for vivid living.
am a great believer that there is
work enough in the world for every
woman, and that those who do not
need to earn money have the greatest
opportunity.
First Of all, l count the labor that
goes to the uplifting of fellow crea-
lures as the most inspiring and in
teresting. Any woman who consid-
ers her life narrow, may find in So
cial service a wonderful outlet She
will find it an education, too, for some
Of our most hrilliant men and wo-
men are giving their time and thought,
their lives, to this subject.
Have You read Jane Adams "Twen-
ty Years at Hull House," If you have
not. get it. 1t is a story of how one
woman of means worked out her life
problem. Other women, not so gen.
erously blessed with the worlds
goods, have taken up similar lines
of endeavor.
know one vivid, brilliant girl, who,
feeling that her life was bounded
by a too narrow sphere, sought out
neighborhood where there were
many little children who played in
the streets, or were locked in rooms
alone while their mothers went to
work. The girl rented room in an
old house in the neighborhood and
started q kindergarten. She was not
trained for the work, but her enthus-
asm made up for deficiencies. She
now has q settlement called Friend
ship house, It is sustained by the
contributions of churches and veal
thy people whom the girl has inter
ested in her project. 1t Is monument
to earnest endeavor, and that girls
life is so crowded with the interests
that she does not know the meaning
OF the word '.monotony.
All the girls do not, however, have
such q faculty for organizations. More
over, they crave only some little share
of plea sure, some small amount OF So
ciability.
l know OF two Virginia young wo-
men, who, poorer than their friends,
felt that they could not entertain in
any elaborate way Yet they want
ed people around them, and they
wanted now and then to open their
house for hospitality. SO every Fri
day afternoon they were at home.
and at o'clock served hot tea and
waffles They built fire in their
wide open crate. and circle OF
friends surrounded it each week.
Coming in from the cold out-of-doors
it was a delightful and wonderful