Evening Star Newspaper, December 7, 1895, Page 19

THE a perintendent and head nurse on practical SICK ROOM EXPERTS rursery. This constitutes all the theory werk. -The rest is a grind, two days of which would not leave enough of me to tell ——_+ Pauline Pry Hasa Chance to Become | a Trained Nurse. BY ATTENDING A COURSE OF LECTURES _— She, However, €pendsa Day at a City Hospital. THEORY VS. PRACTICE ¥Y VIRTUE OF THE general incorporation law of the District B they would to manu- facture nails or any other — artle for commercial us the ational Homeopa- ical College will begin the first of the coming r to graduate trained nurses who have satisfactorily attended a course of twenty-four lectures extending over a period of eight weeks. I have myself nego- tiated with R. B. Johnstone, A. M., M. D. vice president of the college, for such a courre. I have also served a day as pro- Dbatiorer in the training school for nurses at Columbia Hospital, where, as ts the rule of such institations generally, two years of practical work im the hospital are re- Quired to entitle a nurse to a diploma. sked Dr. Johnstone of the National athic Medical College for positive ce whether, having attended the course of lectures he offers, the diploma I would then receive would place me in rank with the trained nurses who have done the usual hosp.tal work. y." he replied. “A trained nurse is, strictly speaking, one who has received training, and that you will have in the didactic lectures. You will be trained in physiology, anatomy, materia medica and the other branches that come in your line. You will be trained in how to take the temperature and the pulse of a patfent— in short, in all the technicalities of nurs- ing. The rest is dexterity, and we think that comes natural to a woman." “Would your diploma admit me nurses’ directory, and entitle me to the same pay as a nurse who has had hospital training? “Most assuredly you would be entitled to pay as a trained nurse. As for the direc- tories, they are purely arbitrary in their Teles. Some require two years’ hospital Practice; some as much as three years, and some none at all. But in any event, the success of a nurse depends upon the favor of physicians, and our nurses would be certain of the favor of the doctors connect- ed with our institution, which would sive them a start Independent of any direc- tory.” In Search of Informatio Dr. Johnstone was desirous that I should register at once, and showed me the names of eighteen or twenty women who have Joined the class, which, when it increases to twenty-five, will begin operations. ‘There are no charges for the lectur: sald the doctor. “We are doing this solely with a view to doing good, and the oniy ex- pense of graduation will be the cost of printing ye diploma, which will be about two dollar: I went from the National Homeopathic Medical College to the Washington Direc- tory of Nurses, and learned that I could not register there as a trained nurse with- out a dipioma certifying two years’ exper- fence in a hospital. I then determined to gain personal knowl- edge of the value of this hospital exper- fence, to prove, by acquiring a measure of it myself, whether it amounts to anything more than a certain dexterity which, being @ woman, [ naturally possess. I therefore @ppliied for admission to the training school of Columbia Hospital. The history of the use’ and development of scheols for training nurses in Washing- ton, as given to me by Mr. F. H. Smith, director of Columbia Hospital, who was ac- tive in establishing the first school, is rath- er discouraging to any woman seeking a short cut to success in this profession. The first school was instituted about ten years ego, all the hospitals uniting In the enter- It soon became manifest that sharp- must be drawn in the selection of @pplicants for admission, lax rules in this particular causing the hospitals and the community to be imposed upon by nurses totally unit either in character or in edu- cational qualifications to assume the care of the sick. Eventually, about four years ago. the hospitals withdrew from this school. Columbia and the Children's Hos- Pital united In a school, which, in the main, makes the same provisions for pupils that does Garfield. Freedman's Hospital, asso- ciated with Howard University, continued very liberal in the selection of pupils until @ couple of years ago, when the hospital es- tablished an independent school, strict in its requirements and having a’ course of training practically the same as the others. ‘The Homeopathic Hospital also hes a train- ing school that presents a two years’ course in the hospital, and differs from the others not at all in the practical features of Its re- quirements. Consequently, what I have learned by personal experience in Columbia Hospital ts essentially true of all other training schools in Washington which alm, Rot to graduate nurses, but to train them. Training vs. Diploma. Miss Underhill, the superintendent of the Columbia School, is graduate of Bellevue, the pioneer training school for nurses in this country, which was established in 1873, and modeled after that of St. Thomas’ Hospital, London, a school that developed under the supervision of Florence Night- ingale. When I told Miss Underhill that I ‘was considering entering a training school for nurses which would graduate me at the end of satisfactory attendance upon a course of twenty-four lectures, she replied: “Such an institution may give you a diploma, but a diploma does not make a thic Mec nurse—i never heard of such a school any- where but In Washington. It is manifestly absurd—just as absurd as that a school should teach the theory of medicine and turn loose upon an unsuspecting commun- ity doctors who have had no actual ex- perience in their profession. To be sure, there rtam amount of book knowl edge tecessary to properly cquip a nurse, but the whole subject of nursing is one tat can be mastered in just one way—by doin Miss Underhill agreed to let me test this for myself, and received me a probationer for a ‘lay in her school. Candidates for admission are first requir- ed to fill out a blank, answering the fol- lowtn questions: Nam» in full and you a single woman present addres. or a widow? Are What ur occupation? Age last birth- Height, weight: where educated? thy? Have you al- ur sight and hearing Pp you y physical defects? Tf a widow, have you children? How are they provided for? Where, if any, was your last situation, and how long were you in it? Have you any home duties, or ure there any other conditicus now known to you that would prevent your completing a two years’ course if sted? Accompanying the answers of these ques- tlons must be a ph. physleal ability, and a clergyman’s certifi- cate of tne character of a candidate. Pupil Nurses. The foregeirg tisfacterily supplied, a candidate 1s recelved on probation for a month. After acceptance pupil nurses are paid $9 # inonth, and are required to wear &@ uniform when on hospital auty. This uniform ts a Heht blue cotton frock, having @ plain skirt, and a surplice waist, edsed with white, opening over a white chem- fsette; white cuffs, a white apron, und a universally becoming white cap. Once a week the nv ws have a 2s from 4 physician ox soime one of t lowin tomy, —phystolozy, muteria and emergencies, ai 3 general surgery, ob- Btetrics. gynaecolog e and car. They also have lectures and quizzes by the to a) how sternly prectical it !s. After one day of it Iam lame all over from being on my feet without more than encugh rest to em- phasize my weariness; I am still nauseated from what I heve seen end smelled and tcucted: and as for the dexterity which I was secretly inclined to believe I did pos- sess before I tried it, a Texas stecr in a china shep is a fair sample of my dexterity | as I have discovered it. A rurse is on duty from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with dinner and supper time off, and, when hospital necessities permit, two hours ex- tra for rest and study. One afternoon off Guty is #llowed In each wees, and one-half of Svreéuy, except when on special duty. A vacation of two weeks is granted each hand at 8 o'clock in the morn- s Underhilt took me over to the “home, a pretty new building in the f the hospital, which is not yet com- ly furnished. The charm and cheer of abode are delightful at a first gla it was not until I returned jater in the day, a perfett pulp of the ef- fects of practical nursing, that I realized ew this, too, has tts practical value in the rest and corsotation it affords the over- of: Columbia, whieh burdened ‘rurse, “When I had donned a n to or-] Cotton track and white apron—a_ proba- aeeee cor the pura| toner does not enjoy the distinction of the ganize for = hespital uniform—Miss Underhill turned pose of manufactur- ie over to the head nurse, Miss Forbes, ing graduates in| who told ma that my duty would be to molicine under the| assist a probationer in charge of the ward ‘ne conditions as| f celcred free patients. The Realities of Nursing. S Accordingly I was taken up on the top floor and introduced to my associate proba- uoner, a sweet-faced small Quakeress, who was busy getting her patients in shape for the day. The probationer works under the supervision of the youngest nurse. ‘This small Quakeress had seventeen colored women to care for. A few were In wrap- pers, walking about. The others were in bed, either being made ready for an opera- tion or recovering from the effects of one. Miss Forbes left me In charge of the pro- bationer, who told me earnestly she was “so glad another probationer had come.’ I had it. I was extremely sorry I had come, and if I had been in truth a women fixed by holy zeal to become a_ trained nurse this initial sight and smell of the realities of the undertaking would have caused me to lose little time in beating a retreat. The probationer waz ready to wash out the wound of a colored woman who had had a cancer removed a week ago, and asked me if TI cared to do it. I said, no | thank you, and she then said T must watch her. “Come lock at it,” she said. Unpro- fessional as it appeared, I declined, saying I would wait till next day, and the little girl, so earnest in her work herself, looked at me in amazement, exclaiming “How funny.” “Thee will have to get used to such things,” she continued, and added encour- agingly, “if thee sets thy heart to-it and goes ahead thee will not mind it. I just love it.” It was my turn to exclaim, “How funn “But fs not your work awfully hard?” I asked. Well, I'll tell thee this, at the begin- ning thee must make up thy mind not to get the blues. Everybody puts on the pro- bationer. The patients think she doesn't know anything, the older nurses are sure of it, and she is corrected and complained of until sometimes she is near to losing courage. Seventeen to Nurse. “But there Is so much to be done, one has lttle time to be melancholy. I have veventeen patients. In the morning I must change and make their beds and bathe them I also have their bedding and cloth- Irg to look after, and I want to tell thee row that thee must get to the linen room early In the morning or the other nurses will make cff with thy sheets. After I have my patients in order, I have to clean the large bath room where the broths and milk are heated. Then, before 10 in the morning and before 3 in the afternoon, I must see that the nourishment for my pa- tients {s sent up from the kitchen, and all through the day I am hither and thither, waiting on first one and then another. “The training is splendid. I have been here three weeks, and already I have learned so much about making my people comfortable, and it is wonderful practice in self-control. Next week, probably, I will go on night duty, and then I suppose thee will take my place. I will show thee all I can. Some find the studying hard, and it is not easy to study after one has been working steadily for twelve hours. We have two hours in the evening to study. Our lesson this week is three pages of definiticns of kinds of medicines and their effects, and all the bones. I am just out of school, so that it is not so hard for ys and if thee has any trouble, I will help thee." I asked ber how cld she was, and she told me quaintly that she was eighteen, adding, however, that she was older than her body. “I have meant to be a trained nurse ever since I was nine years old,” she went on. “I can't tell you how much I love the work, and if all my patients are as good and kind as these are, I'm sure I'll get on all right. Bless you, honey, she said, tenderly, patting the cheek of the colored woman ste was washing. “I do love your blessed old faces, every one of you, and I wish I could make you every one well. Here, it seemed to me, was an instance where hospital experience was not neces- sary to make a nurse. For what training can improve upon a saint? And a saint unmistakably this smali Quakeress was, whose heart of unbounded love was egual to the law of any science. A Reluctant, but Helping Hand. She wanted me to help her make up the bed of a negress, whose diseased body “smelled to heaven,” and when I again begged off, she regarded me with gentle wonder, and I was so conscious of ap- pearing an awkward, selfish brute in her eyes, that finally I tock hoid—gingerly, to be sure, but it was a beginning. I helped move the woman, who groaned, poor thing, but not any louder than I wanted to, and I, who am too squeamish to stay in the room while my own bed is being made, stood by Ike a soldier, amid the dust and mkcrobes that flew in changing the sheets, and adjusting the clothing of this bed of common, unclean, and colored suffering. “This brcom {3 used to brush off the dry skin that peels off during a fever," my instructor explained as ‘she vigorously brushed the same dry skin upon our- selves. “It Isn't gcod for thee to be found without this broom, elther,” she said, and told me also I must be careful to make the corners of my beds square and Have the castors turned all on a line. “That may seem silly,” she said, “to bother about the castors, but It all helps to make things orderly.” Miss Forbes now sent for me to make the morning round with her and the house physician, Dr. Barton. As we walke down the corridor, I asked Miss Forbes what is the first evidence of advance a probationer receives. “She gets the stripes—puts on the unt- form. Gradually she works into service of greater and greater responsibility. After x months, she begins assisting in the operating room, the last six months, of pupils who enter at Columbia, are spent at the Children’s Hospital, where, with the special work done there, she receives training tn the dict kitchen.’ “How on earth do you live through even a year of this work?” I exclaim: Miss Forpes laughed and said: “It isn't so bad if“one has a taste for it, but I admit that the girl who sets out to be a trained nurse and thinks she isn’t going to do anything but mop ier brow and do fanc work, is going to be horribly dis- appointed.” Practice Better Than Theory. “You think, then,” I said, “practice counts more than theory in finishing a nurse?" “I'm afraid studying books wouldn't train a girl to do that,” Miss Forbes an- swered, Indicating a nurse who was ad- ministering medicine hypodermically to a woman. Doubtless everything is easy when you know how and want to, but as I watched this nurse as she deftly punc- tured the flesh of her patient, who was erying and sobbing, it seemed to me that nothing short of the superhuman could possibly exercise the self-possession and skill competent nursing require. Hung at the head of every bed ts a chart, on which the nurse is required to record the temperature, pulse, sleep, urine, stool, medicine and nourishment of the pa- tient each hour of the day and night for the guidance of the doctor. The nurse who Is on duty at night, when she goes off in the morning, leaves a resume of what the condition of the patient has been uring the night. I copied one of these night reports, it brings out so clearly now this hospital training develops a pupil's power of observation. ight repert, Haines: Was very qui- FOUR PAG ES. EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1895-TWENTY- et until 1 am.; began to get rest- less; was extremely nauseated, vomit- ing large amounts clear fluid, containing mucaus; one small clot of blood; size, end of little finger. At 4:30 patient was sleep- ing; waked gasping for breath and in pro- fuse perspiration; lost consciousness for minute or two; gave hypo of whisky; pulse was imperceptible for short time; came up atter whisky, but was slow, irregular and weak. This was followed by great excite- ment and restlessness; saw all kinds of things; general muscular twitching; had another attack at 6; didn’t last as long, but was very restless and excited; tried several times after each attack to get out of bed; very thirsty; is more quiet and sleeping some; pulse slow; good tension; temperature at 6 a.m., ninety-nine degrees pulse, ninety-six degrees; drainage not un- usual amount. ’ AMl-Night Work. “Did one nurse handle all that alone,” I asked Miss Forbes when I had finished this report, “on a single patient?” “Yes, and that was not all “And does a night nurse work all night. long?” “From 8 in the evening until 8 in the morning,” Miss Forbes answered, adding, “it is high crime to be caught napping.” We went from one to the other of every one of the thirty-five patients in that de~ partment of the hospital under Miss Forbes’ supervision. At each bedside, Miss Forbes, book and pencil in hand, made a note of the doctor’s directions, and, in turn, instructed the attendant nurse as each case demanded. Three operations were to be performed in the afternoon. The business-like term Miss Forbes had for this incident of hospital experience was amusing “You are to be done toda: was the way she hit off the little affair of a surgeon's knife and human flesh, and It seemed to have a good effect on the person thus to be treated, for the patient replied, “Yes m'm; I don’t care, so long as I wake up after it’s over.” In cue of the private rooms was a woman being scrcbbed with antiseptics, prepara- tcry to being operated on a few hours later, yet with ro apparent apprehension of be- ing ‘done; the only distress she express: was because her hair was not curled f ecmpany. Wlen the morning round was completed Miss Forbes asked me to sit in the room with a patient who had been operated on the day before, while the nurse in charge went down stairs to do duty in the dis- pensary. The poor woman, groaning with every breath, and constartly declaring that she was going to die, begged me pitifully to get her a drink. I flew out into the cor- ridor to ask Miss Forbes where water was to be had, and iearned that the strength of a nurse is occasionally to sit still. The patient was not allowed to drink water, and az I sat there stolid in the face of her entreaties it seemed to me that the heroism which faces guns of war is of small consequence compared with that which battles human suffering. In the Obstetrical Ward. I was scon relieved from duty here, and then I went with Miss Little, head nurse of the maternity section of the hospital, to learn how little theory and how much Practice are required of a nurse in ob- stetrical work. At the outset I learned a great deal from a nurse who had gradu- ated from one of the leading training schools for nurses in the east, which does not, however, provide practice in obstetrics. This girl, therefore, in spite of her diploma and two years’ hospital work in general diseases, felt that her training was in- complete, and is now finishing it in the obstetrical wards of Columbia. In this part of the hospital there were twenty-three patients, not counting the baby in the incubator, This baby in the incubator would not be entitled to being ecunted as a being on earth until two menths hence. It was about a foot long, as nearly as I can judge of the size of man beings that are not sufficiently .n existence to get into a census, and it lay under the glass of the incubator apparently not caring whether it was or was not alive. The incubator is a square box, with the same convenience on top for viewing its prehistoric contents that a coffin has for inspecting the remains of a life history. It is heated by hot water two degrees hotter than the temperature required for hatch- ing chickens. While I stood by the nurse lifted out the expectation of a human body, and, with a glass dropper, administered tts. ratiors, which consist of a few drops of attenuated milk every two hours. ‘There were twelve babies in the hospital, all black, and all less than two weeks old. ‘They lay in rows, like peas In pods, in three large cribs, and these pulpy, puling pieces ot humanity are the especial charge of the probationer in the maternity wards. Miss Little asked me if I thought I could wash and dress one witheut studying how in books. “Beginners always handle a new baby a: if they expected it to break in their hand: said Miss Little. “I have known them more than once to be so afraid of touching the boneless little thing as to let it roll off their lapa.to the floor. But it is wonderful what practice does. It is not long before a nurse is able to wash and dress a baby in twelve minutes. We sew on ail their clothes, thus doing away with the hidden pins that give Poor bables so much misery. Here is the babies’ bath room.” I wish you could see it. Somehow all the provisions of a hospital seem to reduce everything about humanity, very human life itself, to an equation in a scientific pro- cess. Three hundred babies a year are born at Columbia Hospital on an average. Here in this bath room, not babies, but physiolog- ical conditions, were provided for. There were five stationary bath tubs all in a row, each about the size of a Thanksgiving tur- key roasting pan. Each baby has its own towels, soap and face powdér, and each has its chart, in which, as a physiological con- dition, its history every day is minutely re- corded. I went through the different wards where the mothers lay in various stages of convalescence. The quantity of the work required of nurses in this department of the hospital further grounded me in the belief that trained nurses wear a cap, inspired by humility, to conceal their halo. Wanted a Skeleton. At half-past 12 I sat down to dinner with the nurses. I spoke of the excellence of the dinner, and one nurse said yes, they have everything they need at Columbia, but some new books and a nice skeleton. I instinctively shuddered at the sang frold with which a pretty girl thus dis- closed that she finds something nice about a skeleton, and it seemed more human, more feminine, when another girl replied “No, not a skeleton, we want a manikin.’ “You mean one that wears foot ball hair and a chrysanthemum in his buttonhole?”" I asked. “No, no,” the girl answered, and informed me that the coveted thing is a sort of modern improvement on a _ skeleton—an imitation man that you can take to pieces and which is worth a great deal more than many of the genuine articles costing as high as $500. When I declined sirup that was passed to me at the table, I was told by all hands in a chorus that I would never make a nurse unless I learned to Ike sirup, rice and prunes. As a matter of fact, I like sirup just as well as ice cream in a hospi- tal. 2 From half-past 1 till half-past 4 opera- tions are performed four days of the week. Thus immediately after dinner Miss Under- hill said: “Now, you may go with me to the operating room." This room Is the best answer I have ever found to the old conundrum: Why should the spirit of mortal be proud? He shouldn't, and if any is foolish enough to think different let him stand where I stood two dresdful hours that day. The room {s marble, the walls optimisti- cally suggestive of what art may accom- plish in cheering up,a morgue. At one end are stationary washstands. On the side is a great case running three-quarters the length of the reom and almost to the cefl- ing fliled with glittering steel instruments that are exquisitely adapted to carving you any way you prefer. At the‘other end is the operating table; beyond it a table and stand stored with all sizes and shapes of basins and sponges; on the side of the table where I was located were spread out the instruments to be used by the doctor in the first operation. There were four nurses in attendaace, all dresses, of white linen, with short sleeves. A senior nurse had been occupied through- out the morning sterilizing everything in the room. In the Operating Room. Dr. Stone, who was to perform the opera- tion, and the house physicians who as- sisted him, Drs. Barton and Von Ezdorf, were also attired in white linen, as was Dr. Taber Johnson, who was present ready to perform the second operation on the after- noon’s program. Miss Underhill took me into an adjoining room, where the patient to be operated on was being given the last preparatory touches by a nurse. It was the woman who in the morning had nothing to trouble her in surgeon’s ' at Drop: fi tot 69094 ube Bb: dz 9 ds a1 rPrea rre=< wz0arg AEO a Postall 19 The Yale Laundry. Modern machinery, Expert help, Perfect sanitary system, Filtered artesian well water, Purest Washing materials, Heavy insurance against fire, Responsible for all losses, Unlimited capacity, Fine work hand-laundered, Colored goods washed without fading, Plenty of Wagons, Prompt on time del Main Branches: Phone 1092. YALE 514 roth Street, 1104 14th Street. Plant, 43 G Street. Drop a Postal! Fee>a rru] wzoarZ sco Steam Laundry, but the curl being out of her hair. Now | she was sitting up on the edge of a cot, laughing with the nurse, and to us be- mouned that she did not look pretty in her operating gown, Really, it was inspiriting. so much nerve everywhere displayed, and I began to feel a bit gay myseif, and in- clined to regard human flesh as a mere in- cident of a surgeon’s success in life. When, however, a few moments later, the men me, bringing In the woman, and laid her on the cperating table, and I saw her face so horrible to look upon under the influ- ence of the anaesthetic, I lost my spirits. Miss Underhill, stationed at the stand in front of me, anticipated, without a word, the instrument Dr. Stone wanted. It cut prettily into the woman's white cide, and the blood that started looked terribly red to me, but Miss Forbes was ready with a sponge, with which Dr. Stone deftly cleared off the surface of the wound. The senior nurse, acting like an extra pair of the | sponge, \ ands, received this arastied it aaa passed it back under Miss Forbes’ hand again. The Nerve of Women. A junior nurse stood with a mop and wiped the blood from the floor instantly that It fell. I was not there to watch the } operation, but the nurses, and as I studied these four women an hour or more, during which their every nerve was keyed In sym- pathetic accord with the necessities of the matter of life and death before them, a med incredible to me that women cou! zo. on, day after day, subject to such strain and not go mad or die. With noth- ing to do myself but look on, and very careful indeed not to look at anything but the nurses, when this operation was fin- ished and I had seen the patient go out on a stretcher, I was ready to resign my place ag a probationer. The real business of the nurses had just begun. The days and nights to follow it would be the nurses, not the surgeons nor physicians, who, watchful every moment, would judge and administer to her needs and win her slowly back to consciousness and strength. Yet Important and noble as Is this work, I felt not the least desire to know more of It. Miss Underhill could scarcely comprehend my lmited powers of endurance, when, my day not finished, I begged for an honorable discharge from further duty. I came out into the fresh air, feeling that I could never breathe enough of it. If I had just gained a discharge from long service in a penitentiary the outer world could scarcely have seemed more radiant and desirable than now. Truth to tell, my whole ex- perience inclined me to believe the man who acts on the assumption that nurses are born, not made, is in a measure right. For, however training perfects those thus born, certain it is, nothing short ee carnation could make a nurse 0! constituted like PAULINE PRY. SS ‘The Sunday Hunter on the Nile. From Plicgende Blactter. hree hours have I waited for crocox ow I'm gofng home!" Rehearsals for Christmas music are being held by the church choirs of the city. The various Sabbath schools are also preparing for their festivals, which are usually held during Christmas week. It is very probable that by next fal! there will be another new church building in the city. The Ninth Street Christiar Church, though only about four years old, has a membership of nearly 600, and the congregations on the Sabbath now overflow the church. In consequence the congrega- tion is making arrangements to build. One Plan adopted to raise money ts the distri- bution of 500 pennies among the congrega- tion with the hope that by Christmas $0 in cash will be the result. It is called the penny talent. It {is hoped that building operations can be begun in the early spring and on the same ground pow occupied. The pastor of the church fs Rev. Edward B, Bagby, chaplain of the last House of Representatives, and now president of the local Junior Christian Endeavor Union. Wednesday evening a triduum began at St. Aloysius’ Church preparatory to the feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is being conducted by the Rev. Edward Mc- Tammany, S. J., of Georgetown College, and will close tomorrow evening, the feast day, by a service in the church, in which all the sodalities of the parish will participate, and at which the sermon ts to be delivered by Father McTammany. Rev. Dr. Wallace Radcliffe of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church began last Sunday evening a series of Sabbath evening sermons upon songs of Christmas- tide, which will be practical and timely discussions of the classic hymns which he their origin amid the scenes of the first Chr.stmas. The first sermon was upon the Ave Marta. Monday morning the governing board of the Missionary Society of Maryland and Delaware of Christian Churches held a meeting at the Vermont Avenue Church. There were present Fi Dr. F. D. Power and Rey. E. B. Bagby of this city; Rev. W. S. Hoye of Beaver Creek, Md., and D. J. Thompson of this city. This week is being observed generally throughcut the country as a week of self- Genial by all members of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. Blanks were sent out by the home office in New York, on which every member may record the amount he has saved and how he denied himseif, and the money thus collected will be applied to- ward supporting two missionaries of the brotheraood in foreign fields, one in China and the other in Tokyo, ami if there is enough remaining ancther missionary will be sent Gut by the brotherhcod. The local Methodist preachers have unit- ' ed with those of Baltimor2 looking to some joint action being made to have the date of the conference changed from the 11th of March to the old d: the 4th. P Electric lights are being placed in the church hall of St. Ann's parish and in the school and the rectory, and also general improvements are being made. The Sun- day school is preparirg for an entertai: ment to be given during the holidays. | Rev. Charles J. S. Mayo, rector of the Hyattsville Episcopal Church, delivered the annual sermcn to Trinity branch of St Mark's Friendly League Sunday evening. The New York Avenue Presbyterian Christian Endeavor Society has started a Christian Endeavor Society at Bethany Chapel, the mission of the church. An- | other simflar society recently crganized is one from among the soldiers at Fort Myer. The Junior Endeavor Union has under ; censideration a plan for intervisitation of the different societies. To find out whether this scheme meets the approval of the ma- | Jerity of the superintendents, postals, with | Various questions on them, have been sent ' out. | The regular monthly meeting of the su- perintendents of the local Junior Christian Endeavor Societies was held Monday even- irg at the Luther Memorial Church, with President Edward B. Bagby in the chair. There was a topic appointed for the even- ing, “How Can We Improve Our Union , Work?" but it was only discussed inform- j ally. A junior society was received into membership from the colored Lutheran Church of this city, the Church of Our Redeemer. Several discussions of late have resulted in a definite plan of action being taken in regard to a children’s country home next year, and It Is decided that each society shall contribute all the money it | raises for this purpose to the home which | 1 thinks bea: to give to. The District Epworth League has finally lIN THE CHURCHES| {inaugurated the proposed scheme of a training class for leaders of the Sunday evening mectings. It is given every Satur- day evermg at Wesley Church, and is con- ducted by the presiding elder, Rev. Dr. Luther B. Wilson. The text for the meet- ings on the following Sunday evenings are discussed, and the various leaders are thus prepared to talk the more intelligentiy. The Young Ladies’ Society of the school connected with the Immaculate Concep- ‘fon Church has organized from among its ranks a sewing society for the purpose of making up: garments for the poor. The officers are as follows: President, Miss Mc- secretary, Miss Williams, and treas- iss Mattie Fitzpatrick. Hereafter all socials given at the Ver- mont Avenue Church will be conducted and gotten up in accordance with a novel plan evolved by tLe pastor of the church, Rev. Dr. F. D. Power. The entire membership of the church is divided into hundreds, making about a half a dozen centuries, as they are called, and each hundred will have charge of a social with an officer culled the centurion at the head, assisted by a com- mittee, and arrangements, including re- freshmerts and program, must be borne by the separate hundreds. In this way it is expected that the same persons will not be called upon to contribute at every social and the congregation will turn out in greater force. Tney are to be called the “Century Socials,” and the first one is to be given next month. A large Chautauqua Circle meets at Ham- line Church under the direction of Miss Annie E. Wing. The Young Men’s Christian Association is making preparation to hold its annual Christmas servic2 this year in its rooms in the Lenman building at 9.30 in the morn- ing. President L. Cabell Williamson is to be In charge and Messrs. Charles H. Chase and Charles F. Burt are to conduct the music. On New Year day it has been the annual custom to hold a reception, and this year the pastor and people of the Firs: Congregational Church have placed the church parlors, which were recently reno- vated, at the disposal of the association. Dr. Newman also holds a reception there on New Year day. The Endeavor Soctety counected with Howard University is raising money to sup- port a preacher and teacher in Africa. He will be selected from among native educat- ed Christians, and will be stationed at a mission in west Africa. Chaplain Charles C. McCabe spoke to the Methodist ministers Monday on his favorite tepic of the mission cause. Last year the contribution from this district of the Metho- dist Church footed up $9,371, but this year he urged them to make it an even $10,000. The warden of the jail has granted per- missfon to Wesley Church to conduct serv- ices at the jail, which were formerly in charge cf the Young Men’s Christian Asso- ciation. The active work ts to be done by the Epworth League Chapter of the church. Officers have been elected by Trinity Chapter of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew as follows: Director, Mr. Wiltam M. Stu- art; vice director, Mr. Theodore O. Ebaugh; secretary, Robert Amos, and treasurer, George Watts. The Ladies’ Ald Society of the Ninth Street Christian Church has organized for the year with new officers, and the first meeting was held yesterday evening. Two commitiees have been appcinted as fol- lows: Visiting ard sick committee, Mes. dames S. C. Ellis, Parker, Tibbitts, Bagby Hopkins, Tyler, Bowen, Reynolds, Van Vleck, Runyan, Tucker, Spire and Morri- son; relief committee, Mesdames C. L. Rey. nolis, G. W. Pratt, R. A. King, H. N. | Steele, A. W. Bowen, Dalrymple, M. G. Chase, Bierly, Ferneyhough, Stephen- scn, Emmons, Van Vleck, Polglase and Bridges. The Women’s Foreign Missicr.ary Society of Wesiey Church gave a social reunion yesterday evening at the residence of the pastor, Rev. Charles W. Baldwin, on 3d street. During Advent a series of Sunday evening sermons appropriate to the season are being delivered in St. Aloysius Church. The president of Gonzaga College, Rev. C. Gillespie, 8. J., delivered the first one last Sunday evening, and he will be followed in succession by Rev. M. C. Dolan, S. J.; Rev. P. J. O'Connell, S. J., and Rev. John M. Conway, S. J. The latter has been appoint- cd assistant director of the Young Men's Catholie Club. During the Advent season a_ special course of four sermons will be preached in the chapel of St. Thomas’ parish, which the congregation is now occupying, pend- ing the building of the parish church. ‘The series commenced on the evening of Sun- dsy last with a discourse by the Rev. W. G. Ware. That of tomorrow will be preach- ed by the Rev. Alex. Mackay-Smith, D. D., of St. John’s Church in this city; that on the 15th by the Rev. C. G. Currie, D. D., of Baltimore, and that un the 22d by the Rev. ———— C. E, Grammer of the Theological Semina ry of Virginia. A series of gospel meetings will be hel in the Eckingion Presbyterian Sunde school building next week, conducted by different Presbyterian ministers of this city. The music will be largely furnished by Christian Endeavor singers. The members of Hamline Junior Epworth League held an enjcyable sociable at the residence of their superintendent, Mrs. J. R. Mickle, 1414 6th street northwest, last evening, about fifty being present. An at- tractive program was carried out. Those who took part were Miss Ada Lipp, Miss Pearl Partello, Miss Lessie Dolan, Miss Ora Lipp and Miss Bertie Brown. The chapter has a membership of eighty-five. Rev. Dr. Hamlin, the pastor of the Church of the Covenant, has accepted an invitation to deliver a sermon before the students of Yale University. He has gone to New Haven and will preach there tomorrow. A rative Hindv and his wife are now in the city for the purpose of delivering addresses en the subject of missionary work in their tative country. Rev. Mr. Nikambe is a Presbyterian minister of Bombay, and, with his wife, has been engaged in various phases of Christian work. Tomorrow even- ing he will deliver an address at the Church of the Covenant. oe EVEN WITH THE PORTER. Senator Wilson Astonished the Sa Servitor in a Pullman Car. It isn’t often that a traveler gets ahead of the Pullman car porter, but it does hap- pen occasional!y. Senator Wilson of Washington did the thing up in fine shape on one of his long rides from Spokane to this city, and the porter doesn’t yet understand how he lost his bet. The Senator is an inveterate smoker, and havirg run short of matches, called to the porter: ‘Got any matches, Tom?” Yes, sir,” replied Tom, producing a box from bis pocket. “You can’t light the match unless you strike it on this box.” The Senator lit his cigar, and whtle smoking, pondered long over the make-up of the rough black coating on one side of the box. He knew the match could not be made to strike a light except upon that particular sandpaper. At one of the stations he procured one of those boxes, and going back into the smok- ing room of his car, moistened the sanded side of the box until it was quite soft, then rubbed It gently on the sole of his boot until the sticking substance, with the sand, was all transferred to the leather; then he walted until it was thoroughly dried, and called: “I want another match, Tom; my cigar has gone out.” “Yes, sir,” responded the porter, getting out his box again. The Serator took a match. and handing the box back, turned up the sole of his boot. la! ha! Mr. Wilson,” laughed the color- ¢d man; “no use scratching it on your boot—you can’t light it there.” “Oh, I guess I can,” said the Senator, smiling. “Bet you a dollar you can’t,” said the porter, “Put up your dollar,” said Mr. Wilson. “Make It two dollars,” said the colored official, eagerly. “Here's two—and as much more as you like,” a:sented the Senator, pleasantly. “Holy smoke!” chuckled the broom swinger. “This Is too softest snap I've struck this season,” and his loose change was instantly emptied on one of the chatr cushions. ‘The Scnator counted out an equal amount, then turned up the sole of iis left boot. Drawing the match across the prepared place, it blazed readily, and he calmly lighted his cigar. The porter dropped his broom in amaze- ment, while the Senator quietly gathered in the pile of halves and quarters, remark- ing to a fellow traveler: “Tom has robbed me of a good many of these pccket pieces, and this ts the first chance I ever had to get even with him.” Mystery Story Final Chapter. Today is printed in The Star the last chapter. before the final chapter in the mystery story, “Before They Were Mar- ried.” The interval between today and next Weduesday at 6 o'clock p.m., inclu- sive, is allowed for forwarding guesses to the office. The final chapier will be pub- lished in The Star Saturday next. As is well known, the $250 offered in prizes are to be paid only for explanations sent in by women and girls, according to conditions published elsewhere.