Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-03-28
|0NE GIRLS SAFE
||NDEPOTSHERE,
| SAYS MATRON
oOIy Three or Four Attempts at
White Slavery at AtIanta'S
Terminal Station in Year.

when it becomes necessary for a girl
travel alone, here are two rules,
sich if observed, will aid her to avoid
anger
noN'T speak to or ask questions of
strangers. Always get your Infor-
nation from a uniformed railroad
.npIoyee or a policeman. If pos
,ble. 90 TO a travellers aid.
MONT travel without definite idea
NJ YOUR destination. II you are
oono to a certain address, have
IN. number and name of the street
written down.
On the last year there have not been
ore than three or four instances
here men have tried to force their
,ouaintance upon young girls in the
criminal station!"
With this remarkable statement, Mrs.
". Payne, matron in charge of the
,a+iou branch of the Atlanta Women's
Missionary Association, crowned the
rorz Of six years and stamped Allan
ia great railroad station as one of the
afest places in the United States for
ills who are travelling alone.
The few instances of attempted white
ayerv that came to the attention of
rrs PAYNE happened during the early
art of the year. In the last eight
Eontbs not a single case has come TO
ar attention.
Mrs. Payne has accomplished her re-
harkab.e work by being able to detect
he appeal, the longing for companion
hin and sympathy, that invariably ap-
8ears in the countenance of young girls
HON circumstances have compelled to
ayel alone; and last but not least, by
mothering" the young girls who come
her notice.
Gets Girls Confidence.
ii Il try to get the confidence of every
Ii" Mrs Payne said to-day, AM
$hen ! have obtained that the battle
won. | watch each incoming train,
nd through long experience have
Earned to distinguish the girls who
lem TO need care and advice, and l
b. to give my personal attention to
berry girl who appears to be travelling
hone
81 Ny manner of approaching the girls,
course, varies with each one: so that
can not say l have a definite method
a procedure. 1 always, however, learn
q $; of all if the girl is a stranger in
,.anta If she is, l ask whether she is
8 kpectng any one TO meet her. If she
81 not then | have basis to work on,
And if later l see her with a man or a
b oman ! investigate and learn the
IDENTIFY and. if possible, the character
"A her companion.
All Of the young girls who come un-
N my notice I try to get a seat near
81 N desk, where / can mother them to
N hearts content.
Finds Their Relatives.
III a girl has come to Atlanta to visit
#atives and has forgotten their ad-
PES, I locate them for her: if she has
.Hme here to find work l usually try to
Rduca her TO return to her home.
atlanta is already overcrowded with
81 Experienced girls who are working in
Hctories and laundries for wages
scarcely large enough to pay room rent,
pc more are coming every day. If the
IN persists in her determination to
% work, | try to send her to a good
Boarding house and aid her in every
~ possible.
81 II has been my observation that the
Nnser to girls in railway stations is
somewhat exaggerated, though there is
"A doubt that considerable danger eX-
Nine times out of ten, however. if
81 gin attends strictly to her own bust
IS she will be in comparatively little
|#nger
Aid 500 in Year.
1 am never uneasy about a girl WAC
y frank and open and who places her
unreservedly in my hands. but
#hen girl refuses to talk I always
8atch her and aid her whether she de-
Hres it or not.
The number of girls we aid varies
ON two or three to twenty-five or
Rlrty each day. We have a record Of
#ore than 500 cases for last year, all
& whom were helped in various ways.
9e have done our best, and l think
may safely say now that the Ter
#lnal station in Atlanta is as safe for
4Puhg girls travelling alone as any place
v the country"