The Sentinel=record., 1915-05-16
HOLLAND WOMEN
 HAVE MUCH WORK
BURDEN OF CARE OF THE BEL. CLAN WOUNDED AND HELP.
 LESS PART OF THE TASK
Aside from This They Find Ample Time to Carry On Their Own Work and Fill the Demands At Home.

-------------~-s-a
 The Hague, Netherlands. May b. The immense drains made by the re- fugees from Belgium on the good heartedness of Dutch wbmen have by no means exhausted their efforts for the betterment of social condi- tions in their own country. The strain of Belgian relief work has un- doubtedly been very great, and still IS especially heavy upon the wives and daughters of the Netherlands Hol- land was totally unprepared for any sucn emergency as the arrival over night within her borders of more than million destitute neighbors. It was the women of the Netherlands who had to find immediate accommoda- tions until the relief work could be systematically organized They did it magnificently, and without a whim per Thousands of homes in Holland still shelter refugees, notwithstanding the general provisions which have been made for the unfortunate Bel gians One house in the Hague, alone has afforded asylum 10 Fl detsitute Belgians for nine months.
 But in addition to this work of pres sing necessity, the women of Holland are carrying on their suffrage cam- paign, are knitting and sewing for their own soldiers and their families and are keeping up such work of so cial improvement as the schools of household arts and the schools for working women, which exist in many Of the larger cities In the former young ladies of the better families Cf the Netherlands are taught house keeping, the care of children, teach ing. cooking, and whatever else may be necessary or useful in the forma- ton of a model wife and an efficient mother. These schools are, of course paying organizations,
 The schools for working women in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague however, are in the nature of charities. Here the daughters of the .people are taught to be independent, CT of aid to their families They are trained as housemaids, cooks, seam. stresses, laundresses and nursemaids. If they are able, they pay a small tui- ton fee; if not they are received just the same, and no one but the treas Were knows who has paid and who das. The schools are provided with babies for the nurses to practice on, and even with older children. who serve as the raw material for the kin dergarten instruction.
 In the school for working women ia Rotterdam last year 109 girls were turned away on account of lack of ac- conmodations for them This year the number has been less, since the general condition of hard times has forced many families to send their girls to .wor kearlier than usual: also the absence of many men mobilized to guard the neutrality of Holland has greatly increased the demand for women workers.
 The annual report of the Rotter- dam school for working women which has just been issued to cover the year 1914 shows that the tuition fees re- ceived in this school amounted in that year to S375.70 The expenses, how ever, were $13.09920. The deficit was met by private gifts. Many of the girls are forced to leave these schools before finishing the full three years course. to earn their own living. or to assist in the support or their fam flies. But even these are snapped up at once by watchfu Dutch house wives, anxious 10 secure good ser wants. The girls themselves are only to glad to be employed in domestic service in Holland. for the wages of women workers in the factories are notably low
 Nor are these the only practical measures taken by the women of Hol- land for their less fortunate sisters The war has brought. even to this neutral land, some of its ghastly train of medieval horrors. There are Red Cross buildings in many streets of the larger cities, and one or the Royal Palaces in The Hague has been turn ed over to this work In this country there are not, of course, any wounded to care for. But there are the sick and the needy, and they are cared for
 The home for destitute babies too since the mobilization has shown marked increase in the field of its charitable endeavor II Is really an organization devoted 10 the care of the unfortunate children of unmar- ried mothers The babies of such of the poorer women as die in childbirth whose fathers are prevented by the character of their work from giving or providing proper care for the very young children are also taken in. The infants received in this home are I--t e-ov, g,,tn tn fhrpa vpaVe unaU a