New Britain herald., 1916-10-12


of little Pol1yanna. AS guide, philos-
! opher and friend,'' we must be pre-
pared at any hour for any fate. These
! represent few of the 2971 requests
for our services during the past year:
Exhaustive Study Required.
We have been asked to make ex-
| haustive studies for state and nation
al boards and committees of inquiry
| regarding local efforts for immigrants,
| tuberculosis patients, alcoholic victims,
| delinquent children, and so on; to ap-
| pear before legislative committees and
! plead for state needs; organize new
! committees to deal with certain phases
! Of the work; deliver addresses before
| audiences varying from sixteen to six
| hundred, and join hands with the
| Chamber of Commerce in Kidding the
| city of charitable impostors. We must
find suitable work for candidates often
handicapped and incompetent, and in
vestigate boarding homes for little
, children.
Often we are asked to collect wages,
arrange insurance, provide hospital
care or specialists treatm ent, remind
careless doctors Of their obligations,
arrange loans, meet strangers arriv-
ing from long Journeys, befriend boys
and girls released from institutions
and procure proper employment for
them, and obtain tuition for children
in various schools of the state Many
times we are asked to arbitrate in
quarrels between husband and wife or
parent and child. to locate missing
relatives obtain legal aid and cham
nj ~ H111S Wn
called to interpret laws and CUSTOMS
translate, identify, and write letters.
We advise regarding dental, optical or
m edical treatment, usually reduced
rates, Or paying the bills ourselves,
and later inspect and pass judgment
on the resulting false teeth, eye
glasses, knee braces, Or what not.
Many Kinds of Requests.
Requests come for to find a new
rent, secure a stove Or baby carriage,
and receive and dispense serviceable
garments by the hundreds. We are
asked to arrange funerals; act
emissaries of death bed messages.
We are consulted about setting up
men in such business as selling horse
"a dish, peddling matches or soap, or
buying street vending machines; we
| watches, violins, bed quilts or chick
! ems. We fasten on buttons, supply
cooking recipes, take people to den
fist or hospital, tie UP sore fingers,
manicure nails, and help battle
baby, or Danish vermin with equal
alacrity Our advice is som etimes
sought in love affairs, and in the past
| have been asked to serve as brides
maid and to suggest life partners.
| F'lattering requests come for to
exchange letters and photographs with
| homeless men we have helped.
| No hour of the day no day of the
week is free from these requests by
mail, by telephone, or in person, and
| sometimes when we end a beWilder
| ing day with a tired headache, We are
! tempted to credit it to compulsory
| brain expansion
| Whenever food, fire or earthquake
devastates a city, usually it devolves
| upon the charity organization with
| its facilities for organizing to take
the lead in relief work. The National
| Red Cross arranged some time ago to
| avail itself Of the services of the
most expert charity organization
workers Ill over the country, in UGH
| crises. We hope and pray that such
| calamity may never come upon our
city, but if any lesser disaster occurs,
we must be ready At the time the
Mexican situation developed, our
| local Red Cross branch was with out
quarters A prompt and cordial in
| vitatiOn extended to- make use of the
| charity organization rooms as head
quarters and distributing center was
Immediately accepted, and as long
l
the Red Cross flag waved from our
| windoWs-what better banner could
we work under than this symbol of
| broadminded charity and service.
Justice and Right Before Aims.
Likewise, when on the very day our
local companies left for Mantle en-
route to the Mexican border, reports
commenced to come in to Chamber
of Commerce. Board of Public Chart
ties, Red Cross and Charity Organiza-
ton society, regarding families left
| dependent by the breadwinner's de-
parture with the militia, it devo1ved
upon the Charity organization society
to cali at once conference of the
| heads of each of these organizations
al the the Chamber of Commerce
! rooms to devise methods of aiding
these families without the stigma Of
| charity. That most efficient COM
mon council committee was soon after
appointed, which has handled this
matter in the wisest possible wav
should be a matter Of pride to New
Britain citizens It's methods have
been more prompt and adequate than
those Of almost any other city All
necessary assistance for such families
has been given from city funds, to b