Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, November 25, 1900, Page 16

is Being Done For Poor Children in Omaha MISS NELLIE MAGEE VISITING IN THE S8OUTH OCIETY can never repay the debt it owes to the self-sacrificing women of this city, who have put the pleasures of life and their own comfort behind them with a resolute hand and are devoting th tim trength and thought to the up- lifting and the amelioration of the condition of the very poor. Day after day, through heat and cold, storm a) d sunshine, like veritable angels of mercy, they may be seen wend- ing their way through districts where vice is rampant and a crushing poverty holds everyone in its grasp. Iato homes, dark and cheerless, where the sunshine comes but rarely and the garish light straggles in through the dust-covered window it in protest at being obliged to enter at all, these young women go on their errands of mercy. No ome is too poor, no cne too far down the soclal scale, no one too embruted or besotted to be beyond thelir min! ations. Upon the inmates of these hovels they bestow the same care that they would were their stations in life more ex- alted. With their own hands they prepare little delicacles to tempt the appetite of some convalescent help him forward on the road to recovery; they see that the medicines are administered in accordance with the directions of the physician, that the bed: e made as comfortable a pos- and do the thousand and omne other little things that only woman's hand can do. But their labor neither begins nor ends he They are well enough versed In sociological principles to know that, while this work is of importance and is not to be slighted or dealt with lightly, they must go farther back. All around them they see little childrem running without restraint through the city's ts as soon as they are able to leave the ho and learning their first lessons in crime under the tute- IN THE ITALIAN QUARTER. TWENTIETH STREET DISTRICT. lage of those who are older than them- selves. To get hold of these children, to reclaim them from the street, to put a few rays of sunshine into their lives, to teach them how to care for themselves, and to be a help to those with whom they are as- soclated in their homes or may be later on in life, is the great task to which these women have set themselves. In the face of difficulties that must have seemed al- most insuperable at the outset, they have made a beginning, and now five different missions, devoted entirely to the work of educating the children in the things it is most desirable for them to know, stand like beacon lights poimting the way to still further achievements in the future when the people of the city of Omaha shall finally awake to the good they are doing and sup- ply the funds necessary to carry on the work. Work of the Missions, The missions already established are lo- cated In different parts of the city and are all under the supervision and direction of Miss Nellle Magee, the city missionary. One of them is situated at Tenth street and Cap- itol avenue and reaches out largely for the colored children in that locality. Although it has been established but a few weeks, the effects of the work are becoming apparent d the classes are well attended. Here maintained classes cooking, sewing and temperance work. Gos- pel meetings are held here every Sunday, which are attended by an average of 200 chil- dren. Today Miss Magee will give a special serv- ice in honor of the ap- roaching Thanksgiving. As an innovation she will serve chocolate und cakes to the childrea and she anticl- pates a big attendance. The Child-Saving Institute Is so well known that but little needs to be sald about it and its work. Its object is to care for children who have been left homeless until some provision can be made for them, or until they can be adopted into other homes where they will be assured the care, kind treatment and attention that childhood claims. The Creche offers a place where mothers who are obliged to go out during the day can leave their little ones for a small fee and be assured that they will be treated kindly and well cared for. At the Chapel of the Carpenter, an {nstitution which is maintained by one of the teachers in the public schools, fully 200 little ones are taking instruction in the work of the kitchengarten, cooking, sewing and temper- ance work. The W. C. T. U. cottage at Fif- teenth and Burt streets cares for the un- fortunates from Ramcat alley and the sec- tlon adjacent to the Webster street station. Both boys and girls are given instructions at the schools which are maintained in con- nection with the missions, the number in attendance being about . equally divided. Girls under 10 years of Age are not admitted to the classes and those between the ages of 12 and 16 are preferred. Thelr first in- struction comes In the kitchengarten, where they are taught the various duties of house- keeping. They are shown how to bulld a fire, lay a table, make beds, wash dishes, wait on the door and perform the other du- ties usually expected of a servant or hous wife. From this department the girls grad- uate into the cooking department, where they are taught to prepare the simpler and more common varieties of food. Incidental to this, instruction is given in the chemistry of foods and their relative values. Both girls and boys are admitted to the sewing classes and at the institute an art class in needlework is maintained, where the giris are taught embroidery. For the most part, however, mending and plain sewing and cut- ting are as far as the work s carried. In the temperance classes the principal rules of hygiene are taught and the boys are told how to take care of their bodles. Work in he gymnasium accompanies the instruction. Che principles of temperance are taught in :onnection with the other work that is car- ried on, especial attention being given to the physical effects of alcohol upon the sys- tem. Teachings Carried Out From the visits that are dally to the homes of some of the various classes Miss Magee is en- abled to see whether the teachings of the school are carried out in the homes, and it Is one of her greatest encouragements to learn that such is actually the case. Fami- lies whose food formerly consisted only of hard black bread and coffee are now begin- ning the use of cereals through the influ- ence of the girls who have been taught their value in the school. “In a great many places,” sald she, ‘‘the improvement in the care of the house is most noticeable. BEspecially in the arrangement of the tables Is there a marked advance. The girls have learned that there is something better than the things to which they have been accus- tomed in the past and they will not be en- tirely satisfied until they get them. Even though there is no linen with which to in Homens. made almost of the pupils ITALIAN MEMBERS OF WOMEN'S SEWING CLASSES, TYPICAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ITALIAN POOR. cover the tables in their homes at present, the day will come when they will have homes of their own, and thenm it will not be lacking. We are trying to educate the girls to higher idea and we are succeeding. We are gradually driving out the idea so many of them have that housework is drudgery to be left undone or slighted whenever it is possible. The girls are be- ginning to like it and to take pride in doing it properly. Of course we hope the most of our pupils will go out to service when we are done with them, and our aim is to fit them for the duties they will have to perform when they enter upon their work. ““Another feature that is most gratifying is the improvement in dress that is mani- fested by the members of the sewing classes. Girls who at first came into the school with ragged gowns are feeling the influence of the teacher’'s example and in- struction and now come in with their gar- ments neatly mended. Some of them go even further and with such little trifles In the way of ornament as they may happen to be possessed of they make some ef- fort at personal adornment. A bit of rubber around the neck, a pin or brooch at the collar, an al- teration in the dress that makes it more attractive —all these little things we no- d MOTHER AND CHILD—WEBSTER STREET tice in our girls, and we are pleased careful of their personal appearance. Girls whose faces and hands at first seemed to be on not overly intimate terms with the washbowl and to whose hair comb and brush were entire strangers now come to us neat and clean and with their former slovenly habits entirely eradicated. You cannot tell how much these things encour- age us, for it shows that the seed we are sowing is falling upon fertile ground d that the harvest is sure if we only perse- vere. ‘“Our greatest need at present is money. Two hundred dollars would place us in a position where we could employ another teacher for the cooking classes, purchase enough coal to carry us through the winter, supply us with such material as we are in need of and give me a small emergency fund with which to purchase such little articles of food as I find necessary in dealing with the sick. We are trying to raise this fund, but it comes slowly. I believe if the char- itable people of this city could only see the work we are doing three times that sum would be forthcoming in less than a week. The household department of the Woman's club {s maintaining the cooking classes and the kitchengarten and the Woman's Chris- tian Temperance union is carrying on the temperance work. The young women's aux- iliaries are also contributing to the work to the extent of paying my salary. We are working in the face of difficulties that are due to lack of funds, but we have set our hands to the plow and there will be no turn- ing back. YW ' g AN i, \ ’ DISTRICT.