Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, October 28, 1900, Page 17

| | | October 28, 1900. THE Good Shepherd’s Home For Erring Women A reproachful expression frequently heard of late is that “the spirit of the times is a sordid commercial one This is another way of saying that business rivalry and have increased and with them which has become a competition that nervous activity national characteristic. To that extent it is true. But it also implies that the gen- erous impulses of the people have been dulled and the wellsprings of human Kind- dried up. That of slander. Outwardly, the commercial spirit is doml- nant, but it does not retard the cultivation of the finer feelings that uplift and ennoble mankind. Beneath the thin crust of com- mercialism is a generosity that responds to every demand in behalf of the unfortunate This fact is strikingly shown in Omaha by the number of charitable institutions reared and maintained by the people. Hospitals, orphavages, homes for the aged and the aflicted, for the poor and the wayward nearly a score in number, have their wants ness smacks supplied, and none are denied the assist- ance required Work of Charity and ¥ anity. Among the many laudable works of char- ity and humanity in Omaha, that carried on by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd de serves generous public support. The task which they their lives is the rescue and reformation of erring members of their of creed or vo creed, Coming to Omaha six years ago, at the instance of Bishop Scannell, they estab- lished a temporary home near South Omaha and at once began the work to which the order is consecrated. In that brief period they have turned many a wayward girl from pathg that lead to moral destruction and directed their footsteps to a better, purer life. The first home was not suitable tor the purpose of the Sisters and last winter the present home at Forty-third and Jack- son streets was projected. Dimensions of the Ho . The building represents an investment of about §40,000. The general plan of the in- gtitution is that of a maltese cross, and the part completed is the center of the whole and one arm of the cross. The center is Six34 feet, two stories and high basement. The arm is 50 feet, four stories. An ad- dition 34x46 feet is now being built to the cast of this arm. The boilers are located in the basement of the arm and the laundry on the floor above, On the third floor are and on the fourth the dormi- The Kkitchen and dining room is in the high basement of the center part. On the main floor are the reception rooms and chapel and the Sisters' dormitory on the third floor. Additions will be made to the present building from time to time as the demand warrants and means will permit. That is a matter for the future. The neces- sities of the present are means to meet a portion of the cost of construction and to that end the friends of the home are direct- ing their energies. With debt disposed of, the home will be self-sustaining. of the Work. Many erroneous notiong prevail regarding the Good Shepherds' home and what it does. In some quarters the idea obtains that it Is a sort of a prison to which wayward girls are sent by the civil authorities. Others suppose it is a hospital for dissipate women. Still others think the inmates leaa to devote sex, regardless workrooms tory. racter idle, us lives. The facts are that the home v reformatory for women and girls who hav fallen into evil ways and who desire to return to paths of usefulness and honor. It is to the magdalenes that the extend the helping hand. They do who was at fault. It is sufficient tor them to know the unfortunate desires to lead a better life. No restraints are placed on girls of legal age. They may go at will. Only those under age placed there by par- ents or guardians are restrained. At pres- ent there are eighty penitents and fourteen sisters in the home, It is generally less difficult to prevent an evil than apply the remedy. It is mucn casier to pilot a vessel safely into harbor than to repair the damages of a shipwreck. This reflection has induced the sisters to undertake also the care of young girls and children who, by circumstances of birth and surroundings, are in imminent danger of physical and moral ruin. sisters not ask Metl i The work of reformation in the home Is carried on in three classes. The magda- lenes, the penitents and the children of pres- ervation, The magdalenes are those who have given proofs of true reformation ana who are permitted to become probationary members of the order. They have the op- tion of taking vows and renewing them every year, or taking the perpetual vow after three years' probation. They are bouna only by honor and conscience, The peni- tents are those in the early stages of refor- mation. The first step taken with this class is to inspire a love of industry. Suitabie employment provided. Once an inmate becomes interested in her work the foundas tion of reform is laid, and is diligently car. ried on and encouraged until complete, Ths penitents are not retained always., As soon as stability and fitness to succeed in life are evident homes are provided for them, or, what is more desirable, they are returnea to friends. The children of preservation are the orphans which come from the mora} death of parents. They are kept strictly apart from the penitents and are rearea without the slightest knowledge of cloudea infancy They are carefully taught ana trained in some branch of industry. Great vigilance is exercised with this class, and when any member is considered fit to leave the institution she is returned to friends or placed in a family where kind treatment and judicious care are guaranteed Every effort is made to make the home self-supporting, but the task is a difficult one. Very few of those who come to the home are skilled in any kind of labor Pains must be taken to discover which of the occupations available each one is adapted; then great patience must be ex ercised, not only to teach them how to work, but to overcome habits of idleness Few can appreciate the struggle many of these poor girls undergo to overcome evil tendencies and begin a new life of labor and restraint, Hence they have to be encourag: constantly. Only the unvarying gentleness and kindness of the Sisters enables many succeed, The work carried on by these devoted sisters commends itself to all. Of the world's goods they have little and seek but enough to sustain the work of rescue and reforma to tion to which they offer the sacrifice of their lives, Here, as in other cities, there are opportunities for the exercise of that noble charity, and those best fitted for the duty deserve generous support. A Philanthropic Princess One of the most fashionable weddings which took place in London last year was that of Lady Constance Sybll Grosvenor, granddaughter of the late duke of West minster, to Anthony, ninth earl of Shafts bury. Lady Constance, in her bridal robes, which were garnished with lace given by Queen Victoria, aroused an unusual en thusiasm among the blase Londoners by her girlish beauty. Her jewels and wedding gifts quite outshone those of any othe: bride of that season. Her grandfath.r, tic duke, gave her away; royalty occupied the front pews, and the young gentleman who was united to her at the altar represented one of the most famous and wealthy ami- lies in England. Although generously dowered by her grandfather, pretty Lady Constance be- came a far richer woman by her marriage with the young earl. He has made her the mistress of Belfast Castle in Ireland, a superb country seat, and of a not less pretentious home in England—St. Giles house in Dorset. While wealth and beauty and ancient lineage contributed greatly to the romantic circumstances of this wed- ding, the youth of both the earl and his fair countess lent great charm to the oc- casion. The earl is but turned of 25; his countess has just passed out of her teens, and the very guileless expression in her large dark eyes gives her a peculiarly girls ish appearance. The honeymoon and the first year of their marriage has been spent at St. Giles, which justly regarded as the most perfect ate in England. Here the famous philans thropic earl of Shaftsbury built the first model village for his tenantry, and here hangs the portrait of the first earl of Shaftsbury, to whom the English-speaking pecple owe the habeas corpus act. Since the time of the seventh earl, however, the countesses of Shaftsbury have chiefly devoted their energies philanthropic work, and the present countess has been entirely occupied since her marriage in aiding her husband in further improving both their Irish and English estates. At to PERSPECTIVE OF ILLUSTRATED St. Giles the countess has established a poultry farm and greenhouse, where the sons and daughters of her tenants can study to become professional florists and learn how to raise fowls at a profit for the great city markets, The galeties of London hold no special attractions for this pretty young woman, who, by the way, was the late duke of Westminster's favorite grandchild. Tinkers Jewelry Miss Saro Moigan of New York has found for herself a sphere of usefulness that has made her independent and placed her on the high road to fortune. Some time ago she noticed that but few women of her acquaint ance had all their Jewelry in perfect repair, A\ chain was broken, a setting was loose there. And she noted that more or less of the jewelry in every collection needed to be cleaned And Miss Morgan hit scheme upon a First she secured a position as a jeweler's apprentice and worked in that capacity for some thme, She learned how to clean jewelry of all kinds, how to make little repairs and how clean watches and and do minor repairs on them. Then she branched out into business for herself did not open a shop; that was not her plan. She called on women who had jewelry, told them sho was able to repair and would do all her work at the home owner and right under her eye The plan worked with wonderful success, After a time Miss Morgan did have to solicit business: she got more calls than she could answer. Now, she says, she makes at least a day over and above all expense: ! rly every woman has a more or less extensive supply of jewelry,” says Miss Morgan, “and few keep it so that it does to clocks She clean it of not not need cleaning at least twice a year. They do not care to intrust the cleaning of their finer jewels to a maid or to do it themselves or to take the trouble of send- ing it to a jeweler. So there plenty of work for me when 1 call, Then, too, there are little repairs necessary in every col- lection of jewelry. 1 do all that kind of work and my charges are less than those of the regular jewelers. I also do a broker's business Styles change in jews elry just as in dress and many women do not care for jewelry that is not of the latest style. As soon as they tire of one piece, or hear of a new piece, they want to get rid of the old and apply the money ward the purchase of the new I always know of customers and get a good commis sion." el BEE. Kindergartensin Japan--- Work for Women The kindergarten has gone to Japan with other western ideals of education and no- where else in the world does this most in teresting method of child instruction attain the same plcturesqueness. It was intro duced by some of the missionaries, but the Japanese have accepted its principles and ideas with enthusiasm and the foreign teachers meet with the intelligent co-opera tion of Japanese parents. Several training schools have been founded and these have opened up a new field of work to Japane women, for the girl graduates have estab lshed Kindergartens of their In To Kioto, Osaka and Kobe Kindergarten socleties have been formed which publish a periodical in Japanese If the Kindergarten appeals Japanese minds it is still own, kio, o mature more attractive kindergarten, called a “Gochlen,” look like the Japanese dolls which our children play with, except that their are really much prettler and more attractive. But their hair is cut in the same fantastic way, and their little “kimonos™ and “obis" even more attractive in the original faces are than in the lmitation Sach child is brought by an “amah” (nurse) or his mother, or an older sister, and carries a little “berto or lunch box, carefully packed at hom It is made of lacquer in three compart ments, one on top of the other, and each Is filled with a different kKind of food, tue most important of all being rice When noon comes the children sit down at the tables with their boxes, a bowl of tea and “hashi,” or chopsticks, before them At a slgnal the “hashi” Hfted, dipped A JAPANESE KINDERGARTEN IN to the children themselves. Their intel lects are just as keen as those of children in the west and they often take a greater delight in the work, which involves colors and their combinations, for every Japanese child is born with artistic instincts and everything in the kindergarten naturally appeals to him Learning to Use C .. Whether a person is fond of chil!ien or not, he could watch the operation of a Japanese kindergarten day after day with- out tiring. The babies begin to troop in in the morning at 9 o'clock. The kindergarten generally consists of two or three square rooms with “tatami” (straw mats) on the floor. The Japanese never wear their shoes when they enter a house to walk over this matting, so it is always spotlessly clean In theiv own homes they kneel on cushions on the floor, but in the kindergarten they have the same little chairs and tables, marked into squares, which we use in this country. 1 ving their “geta,” or wooden . ina stand made for the purpose just outside the door, they enter in their little white “tabi" (socks) and bow very low to the teachers before running to their places. Japanese politeress is inculcated when a child begins to crawl and as soon as he can stand he is taught to make a bow, so Japa- nese children of all ages will make a deep obeisance when occasion demands —and that is ve often—with gravit and uncon- sciou s8, when an American small boy would find himself covered with confusion, The Japanese children who go to the s —— v B — THE HOME OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD, OMAHA. REPOSE the tea, then convey rice, bits of meat ani pickles to the small mouths witn wonderiul rapidity. Raining Sk Wormns, There is one fascinating occupation which Japanese children have in the Kindergarten denied to boys and girls of other climates This 18 the ralsing of silk worms and finally winding the silk from their own cocoons. A great feature of the Japanese kindergarten, like all others, i8 the custom of having a mass of growing, blooming flowers in each window. Tne children love these passionately, When the last game has been played and the last march about the room over the soft “tataml" is finished, the children bow ceremoniously to their teachers again, then rush off full of spirits to greet whoever is walting for the put on the outside garments, called “haori,” and their wooden “geta,” in which they trudge home, the older ones to finish out the day with out door games, such as kite-flying, in season, or stilt-walking, called *“bamboo horse,” which is always a source of joy to the young Japanese boy. Mammy Was Indisposed “Mammy Ma tions has bee who for three genera in the family of General John B, Gordon of Georgia, and who s still with the family, had the distinetion of once proving that the moun tain wculd come in Mohammed In the course of her career she had met many distinguished but her own importance as a nurse distinguished family prevented her being over- whelmed by the honor When Mrs. Cleveland during the second term of her husband's presidency visited the Gordons at the governor's mansion at Atlanta she expressed the desire to see a genuine old negro maummy. The carrlage was hitched up and Mammy Mary was sent W nurse people, in a from for at Sutherland, the Gordon country place, which she preferred to the noise and excitement of official life at At lunta, When the coachman drew up he found her smoking her evening pipe Not o step would she budge. “She done say," said the unsuccessful envoy in gust, “dat she don’'t want presidents; she done see dents.” Mrs, Cleveland when she heard it. drove out to see M: solemn dia- o see no more ‘nough presi- laughed heartily The next morning she nmy Mary herself «d, Mammy Mar “lI am surpri ' osaid Mrs. Gordon before introducing her dis tinguished visitor, “that you sent such a message. You have never been impolite before. “An' dat niggah done tell what I say? Well, he nevah did have no sense an' no mannahs! Co'se I 'spected he'd say I'se sorry I'se indisposed!” Unique New York World: “I think we ought to give this wedding a display head on the first page,’” sald the city editor. “Out of the ordinary, Is it?" asked the managing editor, ““Well, I should say it was city editor; “why, there 15 no ‘hower of roses," no ‘floral bell,’ no ‘wide-spreading canopy,’ no ‘blushing bride," nothing ‘beau- tiful in its simplicity,' no 'solemn strains answered the to the ‘wedding march,’ no-" “Enough!" cried the managing editor, “double lead it and give it a scare head; it's the only one of the kind."”