Evening star., 1915-01-05
INTEREST IN THE NEEDS
OF WOMEN OUT Of WORK

Mrs. James Mark Baldwin. an Ameri-
can resident of Paris. who is in Wash
ington for n brief social enga cement,
has been arousing interest in the needs
of the women in the French capital
who have been thrown out of employ
ment by the war, and has arranged for
benefit he-dansant at the New
Richmond Hotel, 18th and II streets,
Friday.
She has the corporation of a num-
Der of the most prominent women in
Washington. Among the patronesses
of the affair are wives of cabinet meIa-
bers. as follows: Mrs. Burleson, Mrs
Daniels, Mrs. Lane and Mrs. Redficld; :;
wives of senators. Mrs Reed. Mrs.
Pomerene. Mrs. Mclean; Mrs. Robert
Lansing, wife Of the acting secretary
of state: Mrs Joseph W. Folk, wife of
the chief counsel for the interstate
commerce commission; Mrs David
Jayne Hill. Mrs. William II. Baldwin,
Mrs. William Hamilton Bayly and Mrs.
Norman Gait The hospita lity of the
hotel and refreshments have been cor
tributed by the proprietor, Joseph Lee
Jordan
Relief Work of Y w. C. A.
The dansant is to be for the benefit
of the relief work being done by the
Eritish-Amercan Y. W. c. A. in Paris.
IN describing how she was prompted
to do something for their relief while
in Washington. Mrs. Baldwin said:
The destitution among the women
and children is appalling. and the re-
lief work established by the association
is for relief of women and Young girls
who were suddenly thrown out of en-
ployment by the closing down of the
large department stores. Most'of these
big stores have been turned into hos
pitals, and these poor women are left
literally with not one cent for their
livelihood.
Some of these women receive IS cents
4 day from the government because
they are wives of soldiers, but the as
sociation gives preference to those who
have no support or aid of any kind"
Mrs. Baldwin is a native of Princeton,
N. ]. She Is going to return to Paris
in ten days. She says that while in this
country she is eager to arouse interest
and start a fund here for the associa-
tion in Paris, becouse their work now
is to give employment to those whose
plight is desperate.
The association has opened several
workrooms in different parts of the
poorer districts of the city," continued
Mrs, Baldwin. Lists have been Sc
cured of the articles needed by the
hospitals, the material is provided and
the needy women are given employment
i'm making up these supplies at a wage
of 80 cents a day, which is all that
stands between them and starvation.
Facing Financial Crisis.
.-The difficulty is that the associa-
tion is facing a financial crisis. Owing
to financial difficulties, the people who
have been in the habit of giving large
subscriptions are unable to continue
them. Some also prefer to give what
they are able directly for the soldiers,
and, of course, no one wants to inter-
fere with this.
"The associations own income is de-
rived entirely from its restaurant and
class fees These latter are now en-
tirely cut off. The members of the
association are making a brave effort
to help themselves. The secretaries
on their own initiative voted to wait
until more propitious times for their
salaries, and the servants accepted
much less pay in order to help those
women who are much worse off than
A.