The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-07-05
FRIENDLY VISITORS" EASE LIFE OF IMMIGRANT MOTHERS
Work of North American Civic League for Immigrant
Lending Helping Hand Where 1t Is Needed-"Domes c
Education" for Women of Foreign Communities

minor operation she was afraid to dress
him. Showed her how to put gauze on
wound and how to dress baby. Made
bed and put baby to sleep. Mother asked
us TO be sure to come again.
Mrs. KrowL-House fairly clean. Mother
sick-just recovering from abdominal
operatiOn-unable TO work. Keeps board
ers. Room badly ventilated advised in
sorting piece of wood in window to
ventilate room; to purchase toothbrush
and brush teeth twice a day: to gargle
with salt and water: advised boarders to
attend Polish Institute to learn English.
Mrs. Socha-IIouse. yard and children
hopelessly dirty; mother takes in wash
Ing mother works very hard. Instruc-
lions given last visit to remove food from
table before washing had been carried out
Told her to wash children, sweep and
lilly room before starting to wash and to
open door once In a while to ventilate.
Mrs. Sastwarce House very dirty ana
untdy found mother bathing baby in
same water she was washing suiled
clothes In. Showed how to battle and
dress a baby.
Mrs. Bill.-Kitchen very dirty. Mother
and father. four children and one boarder
living In two rooms. Children were having
dry bread and coffee for lunch Showed
how to sweep floor
Mrs. Kaputa.-Ilouse cleaner than last
time. lioardor home drunk. Boy sick in
bed with pneumonia. Referred case to
district nurse. Told mother to wash boys
face and hands and give him plenty Of
water to drink.
once having learned the tricks Of
cleanliness the women are Likely TO
practice them with touching fidelity, but
they must understand the wherefore
first. Sometimes Of course they show
a healthy human resentment at advice
unhappily aimed or too long Insisted
upon, One woman with germ ridden
ru.. really a very bad rug. resisted
iIrg siege Of advice to cast it forth. She
I'd throw 1t away finally, when sae got
81 Cdy. But even this is an unusual in
,GnCe. Usually The women are very
willing to clean up the yard. clean out
the woodhouse Uttered with garbage,
scrub the floors and closets and wash
the windows. Such points as the neces-
sity for window screens are compare
lively subtle matters and need subtlcr
tactics.
Practices thai strike US as shockingly
shiftless and ignorant are very often
only faithful attempts on the part of
the immigrant woman to follow out here
methods that were quite satisfactory in
the old country. One Hungarian wom-
an whose baby had eczema applied
ink to its head as a result of which
treatment the baby developed erysipe-
las and died. In Hungary peasants maxi
their own ink from sloe berries, which
have. or are supposed to have, healing
properties. Again an Italian woman
regularly swept the dust from her floors
into a cupboard which she used indefi-
nitely as a storage terminal.
AT home in the old country" she
said when questioned. II take a pail of
water and broom and sweep everything
out doors. Here the inspector will not
le; me sweep into the hall, and when I
used a pail Of water it ran into the fiat
below, so now | sweep into the cub
board" The dustpan was mighty step
in her AmericaniZation OF most Ameri-
can labor saving devices the women