Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-03-08
SUNDAY EVENINGS WITH AMERICAN ART AND MUSIC STUD

America which would Indicate painful ap-
prehension for American girl students
abroad"
Rev Shurtleff did not hide his indigna-
ton
Il know the matter he said "Ameri-
can girls In no way merit such out
raeeously exaggerated criticism. When,
last summer. Consul General Mason
asked me to write a letter closely allied
to this general subject and dealing with
expenses, health and general preparation
for the artists career. l did not even
dream Of putting in a warning concerning
morals. The immense majority of Ameri-
can girl students do not need to be
try abroad, as at home. and the excep-
tons are no greater here than there.
Many take advantage of the admirable
girls clubs. Good and wealthy American
women have not been idle in the matter.
The Students Hostel. protected by Mrs.
Whitney -Hofr. and the Girls Club Of the
Rue de Chevreuse. protected by ...rs.
Whfteiaw Reid. are tempting boarding
institutions, and offer exceptional advan-
tages. 1 cannot too strongly recommend
them to American parents"
One thing which the girls clubs give
their members these atelier reunions be-
stow on the mass Of students scattered
over Paris. It is the most precious thing
can aspire to-consciousness Of them
selves as body of Americans,
! will not say that the reunions have
transformed the Latin Quarter to an
American village. although it has been
affirmed in Paris; but certainly their
influence is of this nature. Those at
tracted to them make SO many &C
quaintances that they thenceforth live.
as 1t were, under hundred American
eyes. 1t is doubtless, what DR.. Shurt-
left means when he says:
THE reunions keep up home influences.
We sing the old hymns, celebrate
Washington-s birthday Decoration day,
Thanksgiving and Christmas, and always,
in the closing prayer is offered petit
ton for the old folks at home. 1t makes
home seem less far away.
Far aWayl
Great Instance from nome. An, thefe
is the real drawback of foreign study.
Students miscalculate their expenses.
They lend money. They buy bargains.
With the best intentions in the world
and the happy insouciance of youth, they
run risks which would be OF no con-
sequence. were they not SO far distant
from their base of supplies.
There should always be an untouched
fund for sickness, and another for the
unexpected. Remittances may fall Tor
There was a guardian. for example, in
America who had been sending regular
payments of her income to his ward
in Paris. Falling suddenly i'll, this
guardian was placed in a hospital, where
he remained several months in a mental
condition which rendered it impossible
for him TO continue sending the checks
or explain the necessity of doing 50 to
those around him. Meanwhile, the girl
in Paris, without letters or remittances,
suffered the extremes of bewilderment.
doubt and privation. She was finally
reduced to one meal per day, and when
her state was discovered she was found
living in q servants chamber.
Within a few weeks of that adventure
a young man appeared in Paris with
sufficient funds to last him-as they did
for two months, at the rate Of about
half what is required for the cheapest
room and board.
4 have been deceived he said. They
told me at home that 1 could live nicely
on what l had in the Latin Quarter
Since then he has been mostly under
medical care made necessary by ex-
posture and lack of proper food.
Again. young girl comes, expecting
at home. The Shurtleffs found her
through a message brought by a chance
acquaintance. Discovered in somber
ground-hoor chamber. damp. without fire
and without dollar, she was unable
to speak a word of French and sick in
Shurtlef. she twice tainted. Nurse and
doctor were provided. and az she was a
gifted artist, 1t was possible to sell some
OF her sketches. When she got her