El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-04-12

D ~ ~
wv In every age, the maternal
tenderness of woman natural
: ~ inclined her to lend her aid to the
poor, the neglected. the sick and the
suffering, but in America, where WOm-
I en- nave the greatest power and indie
/ penuence, the highest standards OF
philanthropy have been worked out by
the modern woman. Women have con-
troI OF larger sums OF money In this
country than IN any other and cOnSe-
quenLy are able to give literally to
any recognized need. Formerly all Uf
TINS giving was done impulsively, look
I ing only to the relief of acute dis
tress- Now the philaRthrOpic woman
IS acquiring economic training which
enables her to. consider some provis-
ion fofflthe future as well as TO re-
Mrs, Sage's Philanthropy.
Recognizing the fact that The great.
est aid to any philanthropy IS the un-
derstanding Of the conditions causing
the needs as well as the means of re-
ueVlng them, Mrs Russell Sage IS per-
forming a service which viii 90 down
TO pOSterity as productive of more real
help than would be the distribution Of
several times her millions in the form
Of charities which would tend only to
aid the immediate recipients She mas
established as a memorial to her hus-
band the Russell Sage Foundation
the funds OF which are being applied to
research regarding many evils.
1t became known that the school
children of New York included large
defective and, therefore, unable 10 Sc
cure for themselves the full benefit OF
the money which the city was invest
ing in their education. An iuvestiEa-
ton was made and the results. pub
lShed by the Russell Sage foundation,
led to the formation OF fresh air
schools and medical attendance which
has improved the health conditions OF
all of the schools Of that city. 1t
tended to improve the school averag eS
also. because it showed that the chief
Of hl 0L- aIH-rfr
through which the city was at the eN-
pense of providing an additional year
Of instruction for child in the same
grade, often was due to a physical cause
which could be eliminated. Conditions
governing working women and chill
dren, infant mortality, abJect poverty
and many other matters calling for the
attention OF the philanthrOpist, have
been greatly aided by the help of the
Sage fOunda ton which does not con-
fine its work to New York City alone
but extends TO other cities
DOrOthea Dix Starts Crusade.
In the earlier history of the COuu-
try, before the changed condition Of
modern life had given so many women
opportunity for work outside their
homes, d lew women TOOK IL upon
themselves to give active aid to the
sane were supposed TO be beyond cure
and little was done to insure even their
ordinary physical comfort The cruel
ties Of the average insane asylum were
beyond belief. A woman, DOrOthea
Dix. who first called attention TO this
fact and began an active fight for
their improvement found human be-
ings confined in dark, unventilated
cells having no floor but the earth and
only loose stray. supplied once a week
as bedding ms was supposed 10 ne
changed each week when the patients
were turned out of their cells like AMI
mails for exercise Miss Dix, having
had her sympathies aroused by the
condition near her own home, visited
aSylumS and retreats for the insane
in every state east Of the Rocky noun
talns. She found men and women, Of
ten entirely naked, chained in their
cells and thraShed into submission to
the wills Of their keepers, most OF
whom were both brutal and cruel
Through her influence, one wealthy
man was induced 10 give money TO
put the asylum in Rhode Island, her
own state, into good condition. This
afterward served as a model to other
state aSylums- The care and attention
given even to the pauper insane is
largely due to this woman. who died
at an advanced age in 1887, in Tren-
ton, New Jersey, where she had been
asked TO make her home in recognition
of what she had accomplished in the
reorganization of the insane asylum OF
that town
Work Is BrOadened.
Since Miss DiX's time other charitable
women have found that her work could
be brOadened to include the suffering
people in institutions of many classes.
They have proved that many children
normal Intelligence by proper educa-
ton and treatment and they have
taken means to supply that treatment.
MISS Margaret Bancroft, OF HaddOn-
field New Jersey, was one of the first
persons to demonstrate that even the
mentally defective child was entitled
to all the education it could assimi-
late Her work has had a most inn
portant bearing upon the development
Of the special classes for defective
children which now are recognized
part of the public school systems in
most large cities.
In philadelphia, the first class for
detective children was esta blished by
the philanthropic women of the Civic (
club, who provided funds for its sup
port until its utility was so established I
that the city took it over as part Of
the public school plant
Clara BartOn's Great Work.
women nave been responsible for I
Of the health conditions of the cOun-
try. Their organizations are the first
TO lend aid in any sudden emergency,
The work of the great Red Cross So
ciety.- which sends its Naid to starving
China to the wounded soldier on the 1
turkish frontiers as readily as to the
Ilood-strIcken- people along our own
river hanks, owes its orr gin to a WON.
ans charity.
When the beloved Clara Barton
passed away last year after long eN-
ceedtng her. three score years and ten, {
the tributes to her memory came from
the sOVereignS Of the world as well !
as countless thousands of her own
country people who had benefited by
her loving work. The work of women
for temperance, for the abolition Of
vice. for better living conditions for
the poor workers, for health, for pub
lie improvement OF every kind, is each
week branching out into new channels .
Of philanthrOpic work.
Perhaps because their own educa-
tional advantages were so long limited, ,
modern women are working eagerly TO [
extend some opportunity to acquire an
education to those who are out OF
reach of the regular schools. Last year. /
in New Orleans, quiet patient little
woman died after years of invalidiSm.
who in her own home, working against
odds which would have discoura ged /
any but the stOutest heart. had been
able to teach hundreds of neglected I
boys and girls TO read when there was !
no provision for night schools for /
young workers Vet available in that /
city. Miss SODhie Mright eafheral |