The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-06-21
LODGING HOUSES
FOR THE POOR.
Work Started In America by Mr..
Belmont Has Attracted the
Attention Of Great
Britain.
ROOMS FOR TEN CENTS
Russian Exils Complain Of the Way
They Are spied Upon
After Leaving the
Country.
ROOMS FOR TEN CENTS
by Ed L. Keen. London Correspond
nent of the United Press.l

by Ed L. Keen. London Correspond
nent of the United Press.l
LONDON, June 20.-The movement
started in the United States by Mrs.
10. H. p Belmont to interest the pub
lie in the proposition OF municipal
lodging homes for poor working wom-
en- attracts attention to the work be-
ing done in England by the National
Association of Women's Lodging
Homes. of which Mrs. Belmont. the
duchess of Marlborough is president.
Since its organization five years ago
this association has been the estab-
for women in Manchester, and re-
Gently the city of Bristol has decided
to build and equip Q similar institu.
ton.
The success Of the Glasgow won.
ems municipal lodging house. the first
to be established in the British Isles.
in 1877. has provided the duchess and
her co-workers with a strong argu-
ment for the extension Of the system
throughout the country. In this In
stitution the women are charged from
six to eight cents night for beds.
The building cost $4,000, and the en-
terprise not only proved self-support-
ing from the time OF it's inception but
in recent years has earned profit OF
from four to- five per cent on the invest
ment The Manchester hotel, which
cost $4,000 and which has been in
operation only three years, also gives
promise Of being fully self-sustaining.
Promotion OF the municipal hostel
~ idea is only one feature Of the as
work. 1t has already sue
ceeded in bringing about general CO.
operation amopg social welfare So
cieties and individuals operating
lodging homes in thirty-ive different
cities, and has at the expense OF
much time and effort upon the part
Of its members compiled an approved
list OF over 400 such places which are
at the standard OF COM
fort and cleanliness demanded by the
associations bylaws. Conspicuous
among the lodging homes Of London
is the model Mary Cruzon hostel, near
Kings Cross railway station. design
ed particularly for poor and friendless
women who come from the country to
the metropolis In search Of work. 1t
was founded and equipped by Earl
Curzon and the duchess Of Malbor-
ough, and was formally opened last
year by Queen Mother Alexandra.
Women guests here are charged from
10 to Is cents night for beds. or
from so cents to 81 week. Tho
rooms are cozy and comfortable and
all the surroundings homelike.
Sympathetic management and the
fact that no references are required"
said the duchess, discussing the re-
markable SUCCESS of this institution.
explain why, within three weeks OF
it's opening it was fully occupied. Up
to the present it has been paying run
ming expenses. 1t often means the
saving OF a woman to enter a hostel
where she Is able to preserve her
and respectfully at the
when her fortunes have &Ben
low and her means Of livelihood have
failed. The knowledge that she is
her economic independ-
ence, which would be lost in q poor
house or a free shelter, increases her |
status. both in her own consciousness |
and in the eyes of the others.
Inspiration for the founding OF the !
National Association OF Women's |
[. lodging Homes was furnished by Mrs. |
Mary Higgs, a leading social welfare ,
worker, who became its secretary. |
She has disquished herself ma n moor |
and slept in poor lodging I
houses and the casual wards of poor
houses, where she obtained at first |
hand, material for her book 'Glimpses
into the Abyss" showing up the ter
-ible evils OF these places for women |
and girls
Russian exiles in England are com.