The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-07-21
BOSTON'S STREET MA1RON Service of Friendship to Girls
 Adrift.

William Horton Foster,
 Exclusive Service The Survey Press
 Bureau)
 That it is not necessary to delay motherly oversight of the girls of the street until the. city can appoint wom- en to it's police force, has been prov ed by the first six months work of Mrs. Thomas H. Tyler, Boston's street matrons.
 About the first of the year the Flor ence Crittenden League of Compass sion, desiring to join preventive meas ures to its rescue work, rented an apartment in the Fenway, and estab-- nshed Mrs. Tyler there in homelike surroundings. From that center, night after night she has gone about the streets and the parks, into theatres and cafes, wherever girls are to be found. and has quietly and unobtru- sively given her help where needed. She has police authority, no dis tiEctive dress badge and does her work by the sheer force of her friend Illness. The service she renders runs tho whole gamut of girls needs It girl safely on to the right car to pluck ing swiftly back an equally simple girl from the final misstep.
 She is a friend to girls and her en- tire formula of service is embraced in the phrase so often on her lips: ''She ! idle formula with Mrs. Tyler. The girls she helps are her friende-they are not cases; they are individuals who need Mrs. Tyler.
 The society back of Mrs. Tyler ham pers her by no rules. It furnished the apartm it the Shelter it pays her salary, and provides her with a liberal expense account. Hav- ing done this, it wishes her Godspeed and leaves her alone. Mrs. Tyler has no board meetings to attend-except as she tells of results-she is not com pened to discuss Mary or Jane Su- san with a supervisory committee. The society looks at her work and is satis- fled.
 While generalization is difficult be- cause each girl has her own peculiar needs, it is safe to say that the Shell ter is possibly the most effective in etrument Mrs. Tyler uses. Here she invites her girl friends, for a, day or a, week as the case may be, and here they find a home-many of them for the first time. She believes it to be of prime importance that the bewildered girl shall get a chance first to catch her breath and then to get fresh grip on her self-respect- So the girl is at once made to feel that she is friendly guest, not an inmate, of a friendly home
 So when Gertrude, college girl OCSoSAo44ON4 sheer laziness, came home with Mrs. Tyler, they visited concerts and art museums in deference to the visitor s tastes. On their return other friends of Mrs. Tyler came in, in a perfectly normal fashion, and Gertrude felt her self one guest among many. So Mrs. Tyler quietly emphasized the beauty of enjoying those delights in a. perfect ly legitimate way and in companion ship which left no bitter taste. But Mrs. TyIerss other friends were all workers, and Gertrude was given something to think about.
 Annie, however, had known but lit tie of home life. When Mrs. Tyler picked her out from crowd of royster- ing sailors, she needed physical care Her clothes were dirty: disease and verrnfn rioted in her sick body. When she was clean and whole-the society s expense account provided new out fit for her-Annie's tastes were also consulted. She knew nothing of art or music but she did like animals. and Mrs Tyler took her to the Zoo at rankIin Park The next night they went to prayer meeting and strangely enough the. lesson that evening was on repentance. When Mrs. Tyler tuck ed her in bed that night, Annie said, stI think could say little prayer myself tonight
 Mrs Ty1er's activities in no way supplant those of the established agen- cies: they supplement them, and offer opportunity to exceptional women to do preventive work of exceptional value. It is significant that the or ganization behind Mrs. Tyler, one long known for it's rescue work, has now turned it's attention to preventive work