Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-11-27

i;..;. iMuS arranscd ior the poor SICK ana very
What, for .instance?' ] asked him.
We'll sid he. "take the matter OF
ccc''raticnsl therapy. | want teacher for
TWO or three nervous patients a couple Of
hours q day each. I could keep one teacher
ABOUT busy. ] find them out at the Phila.
dielphia General. ! tini them the chill.
aicn's wards AZ other hospitals. find them
" number Of wards at .he Pennsylvania.
They 90 about with the visiting nurses: in
tact. ! am always comi.R across them for
poor r. nervous cr, patients but there are & more
t'ents. I apply at the school. 200 ne
Lancey street. They have thirty pupils and a
number Of teachers, but nll their graduates
are busy with cases In hospitals. aMd their
teachers are busy with the students. and the
students are busy with the courses. So there
YOU nre.''
Of course. I thought I could pull string
or two that he. busy man thai he was, had
oycrlcoked. So presently got in touch
w%ith Miss Florence Fulton, the dean Of the
found there at headquarters that the doctor
who had confded his Disappointment to me
was only one OF n number. So that, to meet
what is evidently real need. Miss Fulton
iS to open the school workshop for larger
cnentrir than until now has been accom-.
mcdat"d there.
DART Of the school course has always
- included work in the shop with nervous
or ronralcscing patients. but these have been
persons recommended from clinics or hos.
pital wards by their doctors.
The shop will still be open TO such, who
pay purely nominal fec. but II is also to
ts ps maze a,,, available for patients who can pay
it is only fair. since they wish to come for
tuition. and need the occupation as part Of
tnelr steps to recOvcry--it is only fair that
they should not be pcnalizcd because they
are i.nSn, nS!s 70 81 pay for what they get.
them there. and in the care Of a very able
ana experienced woman who IL accustomed
TO dealing with psychOpnthic patients as
well MS with those who are handicapped BY
some physical injury. the patients can take
up the work OF the shop at whatever point
seems most practical as mems to their
recovery. and they can continue through all
the stages OF the crafts taught there until
they are proficient enough to turn out really
marketable goods: or II they do not wish TO
compete in the buying and selling market,
they can use their knowledge and their re.
newcd health to help others along the same
lines that benefited them.
I HAVE known the head Of the shop, Miss
L Harriet Dulles. for u good many years,
and have followed her various Interests
as more or less sympathetic onlooker from
the first. That Is. ! was sympathetic with.
out qualm when she was student of
music IN Europe. and was some years later
much less -sympathetic when she was a
militant suffragisf In Washington. But I
think was never so entirely her admirer
rs the other day when | discovered how fit
she was for her present occupation and what
intensive training that fitness had involved.
1t struck me that her art life and her travel
and her study and her experience with reo.
pie. especially frenky people. had all been
To- the good for her very responsible position
OF today.
For as head Of tha, school shop at 1,w.n.
ty-a"cond and De T.ancey streets she has
not only to teach patients, hut she has To
teach students TO teach patients and organize
the shop work as we'll.
OF course. the dean. Miss Fulton, is the
real power back nf that shop as well as back
Of the school. but 10 be responsible for the
daily program OF the shop. as the deans
lieutenant. there involves q very varied prac.
tlcal knowledge Of crafts and OF dispositions
and OF physical possibilities ns well.
Among the crafts that are taught in the
shop are: Weaving OF rugs. cruntcrpanes,
scarfs. blankets. table linen. silk bags. en-.
broiderrd pieces: toy making by saws. iiy
md foot. by glue and by carpentry; chin
carving and boHmaking: leather work. ele.
mcntary bo"kbinding. pattern making;
embroidery. cord work basketry in variety
Of forms.
] am quite sure that have not covered
the entire course that the pupils in that
school hav" to make themselves proficient
in. nor all III" crafts that can be followed
the point is ,ha, all these crafts are learned
and are taught ns q means TO the end Of
health Of mind and body. That some Of the
ratients eventually support themselves and
their families in the successful practice Of
one or another Of the crafts is q by.product
Of fbn srInpl DpA ~ tho shop
T GOT the story from Miss Dulles of one
i or two 80 the patients who had gradu.
atrd from the shop M at loast be,tcred and
sent out into life with more initiative and
al least with n power to follow an activity
that was wholesome and tranquilizing.
rhcr" was one patient. Subnnrmal Girl,
who had not used her hands TO any purnosc
and VINO had never learned to concentrate
nor mind on an occupation. She began with
the easiest form OF knitting --ra.c knittiny-
and gradually worked up from ,ha, TO cord.
work. Presently she was proficient in the
making Of tassels for shades. She will ncver
h. normally bright. hut sh" is no longer a
,ang.r 70 herself and others from nervous
depression. She can do something that needs
10 he don" we'll.
There was another girl who had lost ber
initiative from some hreakGown 7 think
that the first day it took The teacher olmost
an hour to get her TO step from her bed ,o a
chair. where the frat piece Of work lay tcmnt
ingly ready. In n weeks time, perhaps. She
,lecird no urging: presently She was ready
for the shop itself. My memory is tha, her
final occupation was making hook rugs.
One chap hnd lost his arm up at IN.
shoulder, and with 1t nil his nerve. lie was
afraid Of life. His way out was by chip.
carving. Presently he was back in iife
driving wagon, and later learning sales.
manship through the Federal Employ ment
OItcr.
Another man had lost bis rycsght in an
explosion and had to BE- srTad"a'ly jollied
,lat 'he was supporting his family now ond n'd
had more orders than be could fiji.
PPARENTLY what is lost NOS, ,ra.i.
n cal;v in these nervous cases is con6.
dence. 1t las to BE-, "sen,l"d' bo"l by pa.
,.cnt assurance and Il stimulation OF tbo
;rtcrost along new lines. Old oc"upations ons
arc generally closed doors TO a mind suffer.
ins from shock; too. many hurt memories
LUX about thcm. perhaps,
I remember. however, TINT thor" was one
man Who had injured III" nerves Of his