New Britain Herald Newspaper, October 11, 1917, Page 9

NEW BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1917, * EXGELLENT REPORT OF CHARITY WORK .. Miss Elsie C. Oshorn Gives Re- sume of Year's Activity Miss Elsie C. Osborn, agent of the New Britain Charity Organization has completed the annual report of the work for the past year. The report is a careful resume of the work done by the organization, as Miss Osborn is soon to leave the charity work. The report in full is as follows: To the Directors of the New Britain Charity Organization:— ‘‘Patriotism consists not in waving a flag, but in striving that our coun- try shall be righteous as well as strong” says James Bryce. The only way to fight a war is with every ounce of energy we possess and war needs are rightly paramount these days. But if we have faith in our work, if we wish to hold up the standard against the time when the war Is ended, even though our re- sources are depleted we must close ranks and fight the harder. The group of faithful standbys in civic work in times past has been just about in ratio to the standing army of our military system—both woefully lacking in numbers. But now with the quickened social conscience and broader spirit of co-operation of the times, why should there not be volun- teers for work of this sort, even as the National Army has been flooded -* with recruits? Barriers of class pride, racial feel- ing, and religious prejudice are giv- ing way under stress of war, and men reluctant to unite in a common pray- er or consent to a common doctrine, are coming together eagerly in a _ scombined effort to do good. The broadest platform .for the practical union of all people is brotherly serv- jce. The real test of a man’s creed is his daily conduct, and service, not sermons, is what counts in these days. » Home Service” is the new term adopted by the National Red Cross in place of the words ‘“civilian relief.” The intention is to emphasize the fact that while a dollar buys a dol- lar’s worth of relief for the suffering family of a soldier, there are a hun- dred acts of service of one sort or another which that family may need as time goes on, and the giving of cold cash is merely one of them. Serv- ice without money is not always ef- fective. Money without thoughtful |service is often wasted. It is the ,broper combination of the two that | brings results. | “Home Service” is the best possible description of the effort we have spent during the past year on problems caused by physical, mental and moral defects which need correction. To keep together breaking families, an- chor them firmly to their mother church, find missing relatives, locate runaway boys and girls, arrange in- surance, collect wages or compensa- tion, obtain legal aid, befriénd those released from corrective schools, find employment, look up lodging places, arrange outings, write and translate letters, meet strangers coming in on trains and send blind children, lame children, and mentally deficient chil- dren to suitable institutions for train- ing—there are bigger jobs than doling out groceries, coal and clothing. They require more time and greater pa- tience and intelligence, but their service to the families and to the community is also infinitely greater. Having thus demonstrated our zeal for service, we are asked to attend christenings and weddings, arrange funerals, break off undesirable matri- monial matches, arrange bank ac- counts, arbitrate in family quarrels, interpret laws and customs, find new rents, and perform all manner of in- timate services for scores of families, much after the manner of accommo- dating maiden aunts. Such details are many and pressing, and yvet they must not overwhelm the main busi- ness of the organization. Time was when the old type of public almsgiver used to sit at a desk and divide the poor into ‘‘wor- thy” and “unworthy” giving the for- mer small doles and sending the lat- ter about their business. That was the almsgiving that was miscalled charity. There is no such thing as a ‘“worthy” or ‘“unworthy” person, anyhow. All human beings are worthy of help, and every one who comes to our office is worthy of a courteous ——— il 4 I ,mm;m; ff ‘ i 'w;, L i Ay Lt s { iy & i i it L A LA SURPRISES Raw weather catches you unpre- pared—Dbefore you have a furnace | or coal stove fire. B }"":MHMUIHHIIIJNW T o That’s when | | . . % | be the parent problem also. Perfection Oil Heater comfort is a | typical immigrant family comes to our gratifying revelation. The gener- ; into one of our factories. hearing and any service we can wisdom render. Some require per- sonal, individual help, some material relief, others employment, medical or legal advice, or even correctional treatment. And it is our business to discover by careful sympathetic study of each individual's problem, what particular sort of service we can give to help him regain, if possible, a normal place in society and become independent of further charity. For our own society we have faith that the work which has grown so tremendously in the past few years will continue its growth and constant- ly adjust its service to the needs of the city. Home service of the highest standard is cur ideal, 'and during the past year various methods have been used in working toward this. When the war is ended there will be need for soclal effort and recon- struction such as the world has never known—work that must be carried on with closest unity. New Britain has been commended many times of late for the unusually fine spirit of team work prevailing among its var- jous . organizations. Promotion of such co-operation along with emer- gency relief, form the two main rea- sons for the existence of our society. Publication of a Social Welfare Di- rectory, showing the city’s philan- thropic resources, has been one of our methods of promoting such team work. Twenty-two public addresses given by the agent during the past winter have helped bring about a better understanding of our work. The little pilgrimages of groups con- ducted to various welfare agencies for better acquaintance with their work, have continued through another year. Our Social Workers Conference com- posed of representatives of all the welfare agencies of the city has passed its third year, meeting once a month at the Charity Organization rooms to discuss matters of mutual interest. And our Women’s Advisory committee composed of twenty rep- resentative women of the community, has met regularly for two hours every week, to talk over family problems and advise with the pald workers. “Home Service” was the watchword of the study class of young women who came together for weeks on Sat- urday mornings in our office to study civic problems at first hand, and plaa out. how they themselves would meet each situation. Those in charge of National Home Service Divisions of the Red Cross are urging every Char- ity Organization society to undertake classes of this sort this year to train women to serve with their heads as well as their hands. We have already completed two such winter courses with success. “Home Service” is also the skey- note in the work of the group of volunteers who have rendered valu- able service to their: community through our society by giving during the year, 204 hours of their time to work in our office, and by making 275 calls in connection with our work, going about usually two by two. These young women were members of our classes in previous years,’ and are bet- ter able to give intelligent service be- cause of their knowledge of the city’s affairs. They arrange to take children to doctors and specialists in this city and out of town, thev see to pre- scriptions, escort yvoungsters whose eves need testing, buy railroad tickets, negotiate in Tent or insurance mat- ters, consult with school teachers, take messages and papers to other of- fices, pay bill in stores and restaur- ants, vertify records at the city clerk’s office, and perform dozens of like errands. Our Girls'’ Protective committee is a new activity in home service,—most cautiously and conservatively con- ducted. When we are told that of all juvenile delinquents only ten or fifteen Der cent. are girls, but that among all delinquent girls eighty per cent. are guilty in crimes against the per- son, we begin to realize with the doc- tors and educators that there is a vast difference between the boy prob- lem and the girl problem. Small boys just naturally congre- gate in gangs, and if the gang gets into mischief there is some tangible evidence such as stolen metal or a broken window, and the arm of the law reaches out and gathers them in. ‘With girls it is different. Each girl has one dearest chum to whom she confides her heart’s inmost secrets, and the whole girl problem is a subtle intricate sex problem, varying in- <initely with each one. In a city of the make-up of New Britain the. girl problem is apt to ‘When a T in other year-old development in home service, aiming to provide work of varlous kinds to be done by women Who must remain at home with their little children. A good mother is one of the finest assets the city of New Britain can have. No widow’s fam- ily in this city, is ever broken up, to our knowledge, on account of pov- erty unless neglect or immortality go with it. It is often hard for a proud woman to accept charity and stay at home with her little ones, and yet it is hard on the children if she leaves them to do work outside. This com- mittee hopes to create a market for such home work to be done at rea- sonable prices. On account of the war, another year will probably see a large increase in the number of such families, whose husbands and fa- thers will be fighting for their coun- try, and the need of a modest eco- nomically conducted Day Nursery will then be increasingly apparent, since it would be difficult to create enough home work for all or coax them into taking it if provided. A i As for material relief, during the pPast year when times were so pros- perous, and any man who was half a man could get a job, our chief concern has been for the dozens of families not directly affected by industrial con- ditions, because there was no mem- ber of the family who could respond to the call for labor. There were men in these families who were broken in health. There were women strug- gling along with little children while the wage earner was ill in hospital Or sanitarium. There were some With husbands in jail. _Still oth- ers were deserted wives or wid- OWS and some had such brutal husbands that they could be Pardoned for wishing they were widows. There were men and wom- en suffering from sickness and old /age. With all of these it was impos- sible to get the advanced wages with which to meet the high prices. These, of course, needed something more material, along with service and sym- pathy, Without giving space to the special work of Thanksgiving and Christmas, the summer outings, the garden work, the canning and drying of vegetables and so on, when it comes to the daily service of the workers in the Charity Organization office, the diversity of the work is so great that the sim- Plest explanation is to give one day’s history: Early in the morning came a call in regard to a family difference that was to be settled in police court that day. Then came several telephone messages in regard to supplying maids and laundresses. Next the mail had to be opened, including a letter from a woman we had once helped, a plea for statistics from a national organi- zation, a postal from a girl we had sent back to her old home a few days previously, a check from a friend of little children, several bills for fuel and groceries, two inquiries from so- cieties in far distant cities who wished us to get information in this city regarding families they were helping, and an anonymous letter requesting us to give no further aid to Mrs. So-and-So as she was ‘no good.” As a matter of fact our call on Mrs. So- and-So did not signify that we were aiding her, but there was no way of | explaining this to cor- Office Statistics. respondent. Answers de to 1917 1913 these letters and also inquiries sent | Total number of fam- out to other Charity Organization so- ilies ....... 526 271 cieties and letters in behalf of people | Office calls . .. 3883 1910 "o werh befrlcndios Calls from applicants.. 2017 1100 Gradually callers began to appear: | C211s from consultants. 1866 G0 a womin for advice about rent she | Telephone interviews.. 4517 248 owed; a young girl whose injured | NCW Cases ...... 55 179 hand prevented her from working; a | ViSits by agents...... 1362 BTt father who had staved out of the fac- | OUt Of town inquirles.. 57 a8 tory to consult us about his mother- | Nationalitles represent- less children; a woman whose hug-| 63 «eccooiiiio..nn 28 a5 band had deserted her; several wom- | Smployment secured— en who wanted to do a day's work; | Lermanent for .. £ 59 a worried mother whose little girl | Lemporary for ..... 24 58 had a broken leg; an old man in re- | One week’s outing for. 3 i gard to a pension he hoped to get; | volunteer office work a woman whose husband had become | _ P hours .. 204 9 very ill; a mother whose boy had run | yolunteer visits gon b o away; a neighbor to tell us about| LuPlic ~addresses by the new baby arrived at one of the | , 2Bent ........... 22 d houses we visit; a boy sent by the tru- | APPlications for serv- ant officer to get some shoes quickly | 100 :cee.ccioiion. 31737 ? and hustle off to school; and a woman | Immediate Clauses of Need in New who came for advice in family Cases. troubles. 1017 1913 Also an insurance agent came in’' Unemployment . [J 60 regard to a certain couple whose | Widowhood ........... 16 42 <hildren appeared neglected; a city | Insufficient income .. 37 32 official dropped In to discuss some | Sickness or accident.... 32 27 people in whom we had mutual in- | Mental . or = physical terest; a woman came for advice| handicap ........... 40 about claiming her garden products | Desertion or non-sup- since she had moved to another rent; | port ...... Ry 32 26 | a committee member stopped for a |Intemperance Sotean 20 23 | 3 few minutes to lend a hand, and a | Shiftlessness or va- X E visitor from a soclety doing state-wide | grancy ............. 80 21| And Invigorates Old People; work came to consult about a neg- | Tmmorality ........... 56 10| Any doctor will tell you that the lec!t‘i;i child, Old age .... . 4 8 | ingredients of Vinol as printed below er on, after school was dis- [ Miscellaneous cese 43 22‘contain the elements needed to ime missed, a girl came with a message ——— | prove the health of delicate children from her mother, a boy came to 364 271 ana restore strensgth to old people. EhowRlis pmhat faniaching fivold the Nationalities Represented—26. Cod Liver and Beef Peptones, Iron dentist had made at our request; and % 1 and Manganese Peptonates, Iron some little tots came with a vague | American, white; American, col-| 300 SRS, Tifne ana Soda. plea for clothing, and were sent home | 2'ed: Armenian, . Asiatic, Austrian, | Giycorophosphates, Cscarin. with a message that mother was to | Lopemian, Canadlan, French: Ing&-| yoge who have puny, afling come and do her own talking. Meanwhile the, telephone was con- stantly in use. A lady 'phoned she had a bed to give away. Several oth- ers inquired if we could supply them with laundresses, and two asked yain- ly for a maid. An out-oftown soclal worker telephoned regarding a fam- ily in distress whom she thought we might have known previously. AI lady who is befriending an unfortu- i nate girl in the role of Big Sister, wanted to talk over new develop- ments. Someone else asked the ad- dress of a family he used to help, and still another wanted to know the of- fice hours of a welfare organization. During this time we did some ques- tioning over the ’'phone ourselves, asking an employer:for a certain woman’'s work record, consulting a | factory nurse about a young girl, | asking advice of the prosecuting at- torney, comparing notes with the ! Public Charities workers, calling one | doctor in regard to a sick child, and | another in regard to the new baby we had just heard about. Also we | talked with a landlady who had been cheated out of a board bill, and asked the probation officer’s advice about a family we were helping. A [ clergyman was consulted about one of | his parishioners, the health board was | appealed to, a school principal was | called on for advice, and a baby case | wag reported to the Milk Station nurse.with a request for her to make a call. The visitor took her share in these interviews and also went to a factory office in behalf of a young boy, visited a home where the children were sald to be neglected, stopped to inspect the new living quarters of a family for whom we had recently paid moving expenses, visited a home to which the father had just returned from jail, told a widow of some home work that had been found for her, consulted a man in regard to his bereaved sister who was receiving ald in another state, talked with a merchant who had once befriended a family now in distress again in another city, and consulted an oculist about a child re- cently sent to him. "“ At the end of the day there was still a scattering of evening telephone calls at the agent’s home, and a lady came to talk over the condition of some neglected children. This average day’'s work was ac- complished by an agent who is also part time probation officer, a visitor and a stenographer. ectfully submitted, ELSIE C. OSBORN. l lish, Gallician, German, Greek, Hun- arents garian, Irish, Italian, Italian, Sicilian; % run-down children or aged may prove this at our expense. Jewish, Lithuanian, Persian, As- ; 2 i 2 Besides the good it does children| syrian; Polish, Austrian; Polish, RUS-| ;14 1o aged there is nothing I sian; ~ Russian, Ruthenian, Scotch, | yinq1 to restore strength and vitality BuedietREvrlantandivelshy to weak, nervous women and overs Volunteer Offico Assistants. worked, ruln-down e 'fl; Try it. If you are not entirely sa Mlssaf ftush Ecistol i Missy Mabol isfied, we will return your -money | Crawford, Miss Margaret Eddy, Mrs. Stanley Eddy, Mrs. Arthur Sampson, Miss Agnes Vance, Miss Edith White and Miss Eleanor White. Woman’s Advisory Committee. Mrs. B. B. Bassette, Mrs. W. F. Brooks, Mrs. H. P. Carter, Mrs. C. F. Chase, Mrs. J. E. Cooper, Mrs. R. N. Hemenway, Mrs. J. H. Kirk- ham, Miss Lettie Learned, Mrs. R. R. | Leeds, Mrs. J, E. Martin, Mrs. F. ‘W. Macomber; Mrs. A. C. McKinnie, Mrs. Lawrence Mouat,” Mrs. M. K. Pasco, Mrs. E. J. Porter, Mrs. I. D. without question; that proves our. fairness and your protection. Mil- | lions of people have been convinced this way. it The Clark & Brainerd Co., Drug: gists; Liggett’s Riker-Hegeman Drug Stores; John J. McBriarty; Nathan | Noveck; W. H. Russell, and at the best drug store in every town and city in the country. ———— tion, City Mission, truant offlcer, school nurse, Sunshine Society, Boys' Club, Y. M. C. A, Y. W, C. A, and Russell, Mrs. E. P. Swasey, Mrs. G.| foctory nurses. 4 S. Talcott and Mrs. Marcus White. ——————————— Social Workers’ Conference. | WHO IS ‘Women as well as men & ad i ble by kid: A. J. Hart, chairman; E. C. Con- 2na bladder trouble, Thows TO nolly, vice chairman; Miss Elsle C. tenas ocommand B mer's Swamp-Roof Osborn, secretary. BLAME. (oo *klaney medicie. At Members representing churches and | gryggists in large and medium size botties. active workers in Board of Public|You may receive a sample :II:e h:;:l‘: ?I 1 _ | Parcel Post, also pamphjet telling t it Charitles, Board of Health, proba-|J%s, "o Ziimer & Co. Binghamton, N: tion officers, Visiting Nurses Assocla- | 3 ~ana enclose ten cents, also mentlon’ the | ‘tion, Milk Station, Charity Organiza- AUTHORITIES IN THE WORLD, Endorse the Value of Such Ingredi- ents as are contained in Father John’s Medicine | A BODY BUILDER—FOR THROAT AND LUNGS Free From Alcohol and Dangerous Drugs—60 Years in | Use—Guaranteed. # The most eminent medical au- thorities, recognized all over ' the | world as the highest in the science | of medicine, having made public statements indorsing the value of such ingredients as we guarantee are | the principle ingredients of Father John’s Medicine. High medical authorities say “that these ingredients are beneficial notably in wasting diseases which are curable and those maladies which are connected with or have their origin in colds and debilitating and wasting diseases.” To give these statements in full would take too much space, but we will furnish on application the list of ingredients of Father John’s Medi- cine, the names of the medical au- thorities referred to, what they say, the publications and the dates of same. Food { city the father is at once obsorbed His wife ous warmth drives out every last bit of chill and dampness. The Perfection Heater gives eight hours of clean, odorless, portable heat for every gallon of oil. It is economical —much cheaper than coal even when coal is cheap. Every home needs a Perfection Heater to make comfort secure. More than 3,000,000 in use. The new No. 500 Perfection Heater ‘Wick comes trimmed and burned off, all ready for use. Makes re-wicking easy. S0-CO-ny Kerosene gives best results. STANDARD OIL CO. OF NEW YORK Principal Offices New York STANDARD DILCO2N. i stays at home and does Old Country | housekeeping in small quarers throw- i ing a shawl over her head to g0 to {the store for occasional excitement. iShe speaks only the mother tongue | with her family and her neighbors, | The children, on the other hand, go | to our public schools; they learn .to salute our flag; they sing our national anthem; they are taught our glorious history and learn to respect our cus- toms and institutions. Then they go | home, and they think father and mcther are pretty slow. When they | finally get a work certificate and be- gin to earn their own living their | emancipation is complete; they do not | intend to take any more bassing from | father and mother. This situation is even more disastrous for girls than for boys, though the parents in our ex- perience, are more often deserving of pity and help than blame and censure. By the time a wayward girl comes before the judge in chambers, it is usually pretty late to help her success- fully. In speaking with the old adage that it is useless to lock the barn after the horse is stolen, work for girls must be preventive to be suc- cessful. From the agent’s experience as a part time officer for girls and women, it appears that the most ef- fective work a woman probation of- ficer can do in this city is to prevent young girls from the necesity of ap- pearing in court, and in such an ef- fort she should not stand alone. Recognizing these fact, the Girls’ studying the situation and by con- ferring with parents, pastors, teachers and employers, of young girls inclined toward waywardness, hope through good team work, to accomplish suc- cesstul preventive work. The Home Work committee is an- l %, // ff // //// yl‘ ///////// W % 10 cents Gugranteed by tas 2 ] iNco tes better cooked andtobaccocertainly tastes better foasted. ‘This has been proved to you by the greatsuccess of Lucky Strike Cigarettes. Everyone is delighted with their unusual flavor—all the Burley quality heightened and impreved because the tobacco is toasted. . (€] It’s Toasted