Omaha daily bee., 1920-12-12
Masons Provide
Fine Home for
Girls Who Work
Action Helps Solve Trouble
some Housing Problem for
Young Business Women
In Omaha.

denly and acutely thrustti info prom
ii ence. This was hoWt& take care
0; the girls and young, women who
we're caught%up, into induary, where
they were calledstorstakevthe places
Of men whtr'had bts,s'brafted into
the army Thsusaf,ds Of these young
ton,aIcs mercScalled away. haii1 thei,
homes, to make a$life for themselves
III strange ptices and under cond;-
tons entirelysnovel to them, and for
which their training had poorly fitted
them. Established agencies. such as
Tire Y. VIC. A., soon found their
facilities overtaxed, and were sorely
perplexed rs to how to meet the
problem. Even the boarding houses
were nonplussed, while the girls
themselves were very often COM
PEELED to endure rot only inconver-
lcnce but real privation, and fire.
quently were subjected, 10 extortion-
ate charges in addition to unwhole-
some surroundings.
This situation was brought before
the Scottish Rite Masons OF Omaha
at one of their business sessions
carly in the spring OF 1918. and after,
considerable discussion committees
was named to proceed with the
establishment of a home for working
girls. The committee was given a
white card" being empowered to
purchase, construct, remodel or
otherwise provide the needed equip
ment, and no limit was set as to the
amount to be expended on>the prof.
ect, Frank. Cargilt Patton. SD,
sovereign grand inspector general
in Nebraska, was made chairman
of the committee. With him were
associated Arthur c. Pancoast, Tin
ley l.. Combs. George w. Platner,
William E. Rhoades, J. r. Cain, jr..
and T. w. Mccullough. -
What Was Contemplated.
Thus commissioned the committee
set about its work. 1t had definite
idea as to requirements and hazy
notion as to how those requirements
were to be met. While it was con-
sidering the matter of site. ..it took up
the important details of Just whatrisa
= involved in the. establishment, the
maintenance and the operation OF such
home: finding out that what seemed
somewhat simple at the outset be-
canre not little complex as it devel-
aped around the central thought
First of all, it was determined that
the home when it was set up should
be a home; that it should have moth
ing ,of the institutional atmosphere
about it, and that it should be also.
removed from the boarding House at
tributes. While it would be, nonsee-
tartan, It would containS those eless
ments that make a Christian homA
theSexamplar Of those$s virtues OF
which the> life of the nation safely
rest and without which horn" Be
comes mockery. 1t should be sen
sustaining, for the thought Of offering.
charity to the working girl faswasl
foreign to the idea, and it should
be open to any girl whor earns her
own living and who has no other
home in Omaha. .fsA
Beautiful Home Purchased.
With this settled, the committee de-,
bated another detail. The home to
DC Of service to those for Whom it
was intended should be within easy
access Of the business district, and
yet in thoroughly respectable sur.
roundings. Suitable. buildings were
not many in number, but several
were inspected and prices secured.
negotiations eliminating i'll the pur-
chase of the Mary Hayden home at
Twenty first and Cass streets. This
is very substantially built three
story modern residence, spaciously
designed and finely finished, having
been erected as residence into
which was incorporated evidence OF
good taste and subdued luxury, such
as culture suggested and wealth
made possible. A beautiful plot OF
ground. 200 feet on Cass street and
l32 on Twenty-6rst, surrounds the
residence, This will permit further
enlargement of the residence at some
future time. .,etf.'.
After the location had been set
tied came the question Of operation.
The directors of the Young Wom-
ans Christian association were en-
gagged in somewhat similar quest,
and were rather baffled, because on
them fell the great problem OF
housing the transient, the casual, or
the incoming permanent resident de-
tached young woman and they were
finding their own facilities far too
1. small with no prospect OF reliet.
These were quietly approached, and
cne night in the summer of 1918 at
an informal meeting of the Scottish
Rite committee and the Y. w. {. A.
directory, the matter was broached,
the proposition made. and the
women. after they had recovered
from their surprise and consulted
together, agreed to accept the op-
Grating charge of the residence on
terms mutually satisfactory.
yProblem of Housing Girls.
The committee had learned some
thing about the housing of girls and
the operation of boarding houses in
he course of its inquiries, and
.smong other things had discovered
hat the successful carrying on OF a
home such as it had in view pre-
,entcd the novel feature that its
membership should be giinited to
something around 100, as the Incl
iental cost of management and the
difficulties OF communication in
creased il, direct ratio to the num-
Der OF girls resident, aud that fea-
lure Of the problem determined the
committee to restrict the number to
he accommodated to not more than
Is for the present. Survey OF the
house showed that room was avail
able for "a girls. the matron and
lie needed help. To provide for the
others additional construction was
at once necessary. On this the COM
mittee encountered its first serious
snag.