The Topeka state journal., 1921-02-26
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN. Director.
Washington, ID. G.
WOMEN IN LEAGUE.
Washington, d. G.

eXlSlS To-Day popular SUPERSTITION
that women are traitors to their own
/ sex, that they fight a petty, guerilla
Warfare among themselves, and that
1 when a woman. is down and out it is
4 invariably man who comes nobly and
| disinterestedly to her rescue
| This may be true in some places,
especially in the masculine mind, but
| it isn't SO in New York. There
| Women for Women is popular slo-
gan in the business and industrial
worlds, and the city is filled with femi-
nine clubs and societies whose sole
object is the assistance or promotion
| of their own sex.
One of the most interesting Of these
| is an organization of working girls,
known as the Girls Service League.
which is dedicated to the aid and pro-
| lection of girl who work. Every girl
on it's membership list is constantly
| on the lookout for signs of distress or
| unhappiness among her friends and
acquaintances. When Laura, the land
lady's daughter, suddenly falls into
| deep depression, or when Katie comes
| to the factory with eyes red and weep
| ing, the G. S. L. member does not re-
| main an innocent bystander. Usually,
she puts a tactfuI arm around Laura
| or Katie, and says: Say, Kid, If
there's anything wrong, come on up to
the club and talk it over with our Sec
retary."
| Ine League mas Two Clup-loISCS AZ
| different sections of the city, each
| possessing a free dormitory of some
liz or Is beds, and an employment
| agency. Girls who are stranded in
New York are welcome to the clubs
hospitality at any time of the day or
night. Girls rescued from various dan
gers and delinquencies by social work
ers of the New York Probation and
Protective Association are also taken
| in at the club-houses. Those who need
medical care are sent to a hospital
or clinic; those who are out of work
are found jobs thru the club employ
ment agencies. and others, whose con-
dition demands it, are sent to a con-
valescent home in the country.
| The Leagues club-rooms are large
and cheerful, with bookcases full of
good books: a piano and -Victrola,
and many games, including parcheesi
and checkers. The girls are privileged
to entertain their young men friends
here on several nights a week, while
every Saturday night a club dance as
given. Lectures on health and thrift
and working conditions also take place
every so often, to which parents as
well as the girls are often invited.
| The objects of the League, as set
| forth in it's construction, are as fol-
lows: To protect girls from moral
danger. To promote moral education.
To encourage right thinking and clean
conversation. To improve conditions
of work for girls. To secure whole
some recreation for girls. To stimu-
late faith in the possibilities of life.
| Every member is pledged to befriend
| lonely girls in the city and those who
are living apart from their families,
and to report girls in need of help; or
bad conditions in places where they
| live or work. or find their recreation.
| She is also required to study the laws
relating to health, labor, recreation
and protection, and to report violations
| of these laws. Girls are also encour-
aged to make suggestions for improv-
| ing these laws or for securing better
enforcement of them.
Some Examples.
And to all these things the growing
membership list of the league sub
scribes most earnestly, as few recent
instances will indicate.
There is the case of Alverta, who
even now is being supported by the
club. Alverta was one of family
of ten children who were very mucn
resented by their stepfather. The lit
tie Long Island cabin where the
family lived was most inadequate also,
so that on the day that Alverta be-
came 16 she left and >>came to New
York Here she secured a job in a
| factory and tiny room in a miserable
boarding house. Altho she lived but
scantily her wages could not be made
to stretch ovet the entire week. Al
ways, there was one night when she
| had to go without dinner.
/ On one of these impoverished even
ings as she was coming home from
work, she met another roomer in the
house, a Spaniard The man took the
lean pocketbook out of her hand, and
! opened it.
only three pennies" he sail
This must be the night you do not
dine-unless you go to dinner with
me-"
Alverta went. So much Alverta
confided to the club director herself
The rest of her story was filled in by
Camilla, b young Spanish girl, who
came to the club one evening and re-
quested help for Alverta. It SCENE ]
that after a few months the Spaniard
had tired of taking Alverta to dinner
and had transferred his attentions to
Camilla, who also lived in the rooming
house. The man confided the whole
affair to the girl and asked her to heir
him get rid of Alverta by pretending
to be very jealous. He also added thai
he was afraid trouble might come be-
cause. of Alverta'S extreme youth, r
Camilla said nothing, but inwardly
she decided that it would. A half hour
later she arrived tNthe club in great
indignation.
Il have seen the girl" she told the
director, 'and she is very young, and
therefore so very stupid. The man, too
, is very stupid He thinks that 1
Camilla, would help him desert thi.
! child, who is to have baby.P
A Dramatic Rescue.
Yet another member of the league
saw her chance to rush to the rescue
+ of her sex when she came across
!, young girl in the midst of a heated
argument with a man in a corner of {
: subway station. Without the slightes
: compunction. she listened to the con
, versation and heard enough to con
, vince her that the girl was in serious
: danger. So, approaching the couple
) boldly, she asked the girl if she coult
speak to her a minute.
Listen she said, in some embar
rassment, as she had never rescuet
= Ianybody before, Il wouldn't go will
him, if I was you. You can't trus
|, these New York guys. If you amt go