The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-07

~ NE of the most hopeful signs of
our perpleXing times Is the way
~ people are turning from the
gloomy. sordid view of so-callcd
realism and demanding that the other
side OF life be recognized. In literature
we have waded through the mlre of
ugly, squalid facts till we.are weary of
the commonplace. weary of the obvious
and We cry out now for beauty. for ro-
nance, for the view that is hidden from
our duh eyes but is revealed to the artist
to the poet. We do not want To be
shown what We already see only too
clearly: we ask that our outlook may be
enlarged by those whose purcr eyes see
further.
The reawakening OF England To an
almost passionate love and admiration
Tor the saints Is one of the wonderful
changes we have witnessed How many
books, for instance. have the last ten
years produced on the life of that most
romantic of all the blessed, Saint Fran
els of Assist?
What Is 1t in their lives that appeals
to us? Why do we turn to them in
stinctively to supply what we now lack?
/ think the truth lies in this fact that
we are saturated with the commonplace
Charity has become "A CatChwor Of the
hour. Charity-that delicate, tender,
subtle perfection-how we have hard
ened and coarsencd it. We organize
and reorganize, laying down hard and
fast rules, convincing ourselves of our
wisdom by piling up fact on fact sta
tistic on statistic. till We find ourselves
with the most perfect plant for carrying
out our intentions. but while we were
occupied with the grinding machinery
charity itself has fled
We often hear people speak of the
woman who has given way to drink as
creature for whom no one could
possibly care, or desire to be with one
only TO be Stunned and to be shut away.
or. II possible. not thought about at
all. one who has given way to a dis
graceful sin which renders her unfit for
society. We have seen some one in this
terrible state. we may have met IL in
our own household, and the impression
that remains is so ugly that we shut
II out of our minds.
We saw in the street a drunken
woman. perhaps the most revolving
sight on earth: here at least. we say.
there is no soul. the body has been
given up to the desires OF the flesh 1t
But let us look on her with the eyes
OF seer. and what is revealed? A
woman living in a narrow court In one
OF the slums of our cities, a woman who
from year to year sees nothing but the
dingy street. hears nothing but the
cries of the city. who day after day
goes through the same round OF dreary
drudgcry, never lightened by the JOY OF
q holiday, the sight of the green coun-
try, the watt of pure sea air, who rises
when her newborn baby Is scarcely
a week old to resume that daily grind.
washing, cleaning, the care Of other
children often with the fatal result of
an enduring bodily i'll. \ woman who
struggles along in the winter months
on a few pence, with a husband out OF
work, who never knows when grim
want will come to stay. when the CRATE
will be without fire and the children
cold and hungry.
That such "A woman in the midst of
her i'll health and poverty should take
that which will make her forget Is not
to be wondered at. The narcotic of
strong drink browns her troubles for q
time but the habit has been contracted
the habit that holds the body in such
a fatal grasp and thus the mother who
becomes their cruellest enemy and Is
the poor degraded creature you turn
from in disgust. But beneath that re-
voting exterior hides the poor prisoned
soul, waiting for the touch Of love that
will break its chains and set it free.
Take another woman, the lonely
woman who Is nearing middle life
whose relations are dead, and who has
to maintain herself perhaps by needle
work No life Is so lonely as hers. she
has a few acauaintances In the rooms
above and below. q distant relation II
the country, and one days outing II
the year her only pleasure. She, too
begins to desire to forget how hopeless
life Is as she looks on to the year,
ahead, and she. too, stumbles into tn
same pitfall.
At first she dare not go to publ
house. She buys her drink In smal
quantities. and carries 1t into her soil
tary little room. takes II at night an
then oftener: finally her scruples iear
her. and the pitiful figure Is seen creep
ing into the public house with the rest
"I was so lonely has been so oftel
the explanation given tn me, ana per
haps one Of the greatest rewards OF GU
work Is the look that has come into he
face as she added, until l came here
Women Of all classes. Of all measur
Of opportunity. fall into this fatal VIC
through want Of courage to face IN
storm of life or the burden OF anxiet
or sorrow. There are many who haV
never passed from moderation to In
temperance and yet are aware tina
sometimes stimuants seem to enabl
them to bear better the strain OF life.
The very fact that they understan
the superficial upllft which such stimu
liant brings to them may enable them
realize what dependence upon it mus
be when self-control is gone, when hab
has passed into the slavery of cor
slant craving for such stimulant.
have never yet come across any one Wi
deliberately intended to become inten
perate. Indeed. I have come aero
very few who knew when they ha
passed the rubicon between sobriety ar
drunkenness. and It Is the subtlety
the influence which renders 1t
strangely dangerous.
1t would be impossible to give a d.
tailed account Of the various classes wi