Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-04-06

L
the elevator, noticed couple of
! small boys sitting on a bench in the corr-
DOR 1t seemed to him that he had seen the
same children patiently sitting there the day
before, and perhaps the day before that He
beckoned to the office boy and asked him if
he knew why the two small boys were there.
Sure said the office boy. tits because
| she amt got nowhere else to leave them"
who hasn't anywhere else to leave them?'
persisted the city official
why, your secretary" declared the office
boy in surprise. Didn't you know they were
hers? She brings them from Staten Island
with her every morning, because she hash t
anybody to leave them with over there, and
they just sit here on this bench till she's
ready to take them home again at night
Fortunately for this particular working
mother, as well as several others sharing her
predicament something has been done Just
recently here in New York. A Working
Mothers COOPERATIVE Home Club has been
opened at 60 West Ninety-second street,
where mothers may live at a reasonable
boarding rate with their children, and leave
them in the care of trained specialists while
they are away at work. While the idea was
borrowed from a somewhat similar enter
prise, known as the Mothers Club in Chi
cago, this New York club has many special
features which make it unique among institu-
tions caring for children.
At the sound of bell, Betty rushes to her
small locker in the play room, as fire engine
horse runs to it's harness; grabs her tiny wash
cloth and towel and minute cake of soap, and,
carrying them to the bathroom, performs her
midday additions in the best Ethical Culture
Society manner. When at length she comes
forth with shiny face and spotless hands, she
methodically replaces her toilet articles in the
locker, and ties around her neck small white
bib. Then she joins the procession of equally
precocious youngsters, headed for the noon
day meal in the dining-room.
The teachers say they have noticed an en-
couraging improvement in table manners dur
ing the four weeks that the club has been in
operation. At first, the children were apt to
indulge in wild hilarity at luncheon and to
slip undesired morsels under the tables, or
behind the radiator when they wished to pre-
tend that their appetites were all that they
should be. But since the discovery of huge
pile of crusts under the radiator couple of
weeks ago, and a serious talk to the young
culprits on the necessity of these despised
bits in the up-keep of hardy tummies and
teeth, quiet has reigned supreme in the
dining-room. Perhaps the color of the room,
which is cool, quiet green, has something
to do with it.
The meals are planned by an expert dieti-
tian, and cooked in sunny, sanitary kitchen.
special diet is prepared for the young chill
dren, who have their dinner at noon and a
light supper at five o'clock, after which they
are put to bed by the clubs nurse
DR.. Herman Schwartz the Well-known New
York child specialist, has undertaken to
supervise the health of the children, so that
the mothers also relieved of all worry
in this regard If Johnny has adenoids, or
Joans teeth need fixing, there is always a
sympathetic committee to advise and direct
the mothers IN having Johnny and Joan put
in repair
Mrs Simon Frankel, president of the COM
mittee responsible for the club, insists that
credit for it's inception belongs to Mrs. Henry
J. Wurzburg, of Chicago. AS long ago as last
summer, Mrs. Wurzburg, it seems called at
tsntion to the splendid work the Mothers
Club in Chicago doing, and asked her
women friends in New York why they didn't
start a similar club. These ladies at that
time were still busily engaged in reconstruc-
ton work. but as soon as this became exhaust
ed they decided to tackle Mrs. Wurzburg's
suggestion. Only, they simply couldn't resist
making it little better than the Chicago
club, so they got the Federation of Child
Study, the Teachers College and the Ethical
Culture Society to help them make it the best
club of it's kind in the world.
Zone of the chief virtues of the club" said
Mrs. ErankeI, the other afternoon, as she led