The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 28, 1901, Page 8

(Tq 1E MAypole dance, the battle of flowers, e songs of littls funds so raised and Free forts for the dies’ Home. Kindergarten has f this fund for Mayday fete s with its song- 1 beauty, at Arbor the pockets a boy is rich, nes and nickels e he will have to s beneath the li- lemonade and y carts and These are what delight the the donkeys work Morosco’s sleek little been given for the day eing sent daily to Arbor e who has the price Glee Club has offered its ing Master Chapman terie of little folks will ce, a new sunflower that the young many 2 day and feast of the year vers to her loving r and oper vely influences; ere of the Smith ted to instill the s been given unto. Il not overlook this One old boy has 1e * and for donkey that for and ob- Engiand” as s here. pole dance 1s an v a relig- neient church of Rome. 1g the pedple, headed by d march in procession to where all would garland them- v would decorate the could find with May y return, chanting hymns urt of Henry VIII and Eliza- ations were held on May- faypole dance was partici- lords and ladies of the Next on the programme comes the battle of f children gather the rose petals in baskets from the rose bushes, ones go up on the porches of th the baskets and throw this >wiall of petals down on the elow, who pick up and might with these ems of nature’s prodigality. ds from these pastimes fur- re and instruction for the less ers and sisters of the Oak- Three large roomfuls of > the Oakland Free ught the beauties wers. Tt s of poverty, and > chores and help Mondays the at- very small—there is scarcely sunny schoolroom, e hool week really begins for them when they turn out in full se wise wee tots—none of —will tell you that to “tend the baby” or ““wash the “mind the house” while mam- hing. all children at heart, and o0ld cares are forgotten when they the kindergarten games or weave the bright-colored mats or sing their pretty songs. The free kindergarten is a bright spot in the lives of these poor children, and the Mayday fete is a bright spot in the memo- ries of their helpers. r 6 yeaus enter True happiness comes in giving and en- joying the giving—so thinks Mrs. Smith, the one behind the scenes of this drama of Mayday hilarity. This sentiment is the index of her char- acter and the keynote is sounded in her great love of little children. This love has stimulated her to work out a solution of one of the great social problems of to-day—the care of dependent children, and especially of dependent girl Th: Mayday is a noteworthy one to those interested in Mrs. Smith’s new hu- manitarian proj that of surrounding homeless girls with a true home atmos- phere. Summer opens on a completed cottage, the first of the series of cottages in which Mrs. Smith is to try her experiment, and it is to be dedicated to this new work. The Jure of all institution life for lit- tle girls is ally acknowledged. The machine tem only serves to feed and clothe them; it is disastrous to all individuality and originality. It offers ab- solutely no home training for the littla girl who may poss be the home-maker of the future. 1 the big institution there is no time to give the little girl the love that her child heart craves. “There is not enough of anybody to go around.” She is living in an abnormal atmosphere, where individuality must of necessity be, crushed out. The freedom which other children enjoy—the freedom in going to and from school—the change of seasons, the holiday time—are all of necessity de- nied to the little institution girl. The tralning which comes from the household life—the sacrifices, the sorrows, the joys lived through in common—never comes into her life at all. She is simply part of a great machine system, and poor lit- tle girl, she carries its stamp-all her life. Bconomy makes it necessary that she should be only a unit in a great dormi- tory system; the little girl is never alone with her dolls, with her plays. But be- yond all else, she knows nothing of the duties incident to the household of the man of the working class. Yet that is the position into which her life lines are likely to lead her. The Institution is equipped with electricity and the other appliances by which things are done for great numbers in the quickest way. These are not at all the methods which must prevail in the cottage of the poor man. The little institution girl has never learn- ed to cook, to sew, to plan, to make things do; she knows nothing about the little self-sacrifices, the thrift—the economy, which all make for the success, the hap- piness of the household of the ordinary working man. And beyond it all and deeper than it all—the poor little girl is a starved little girl-she has never had a home. All this is known to the sclen- tific observers, to the philanthropists of to-day. And the remedy? The remedy is being quietly thought out and practically worked out at Arbor Villa. Mrs. Smith’'s plans are far-reaching and the experiment which is being developed among the Bast Oakland hills bids fair to challenge the attention of the civilized world. She has set apart for these children’s bomes thirty-five acres of the beautiful now univer: c>9"’€‘g rolling hill and immediately adjoining their lovely Arbor Villa grounds. In all of the county there can be found no more perfect location, with superb ‘views, making it among the finest residence sec- tions in the city, This thirty-five-acre tract, under the close protection of Arbor Villa, will always be the site for the cot- tages, the homes of the little girls. The plans have been approved and the first cottage has been erected. It has a very pretty courtyard—in which will be flowers and vines—with five little rooms on each side—a reception room, a dining room, a kitchen, a matron's room and a guest room. The guest room is so built that it may be quarantined in case any of the little maids should develop a con- tagious illness. The home is started on the basis that it is a mechanics’ home. In the cottage there is room for ten children. Each lit- tle girl has her own sunny little room. Tt has her little white bed in it, her bureau, a chair—a shelf for her books, or special belongings—and under it hooks for her clothes. This is always her room—for this is her home—she has come to stay— and it is hoped that she will be so happy in it that all her life long she will care to come back to it. Life in the new home has been carefully planred, but the experiment is going to move slowly so that the mistakes may be seen and corrected and the scheme grow more perfect as time goes on. Mrs. Smith makes religion the first es- sential of womanhood in the highest sense. Education comes next and she holds that a love of humanity, a rever- ence for all that is good and pure will epring from the union of the two. “It is no charity affair. We are plenti- fully endowed for all present needs. We need no old clothes or packages of tea,” sald Mrs. Smith with a smile. Each cottage is to have its matron or mother, who will have a regular monthly allowance with which to run her little home. “It is her home,” says Mrs. Smith, “hers till she dles, if she wishes to make it such, and when she gets frail she will have an assistant, but no one is ever to be turned out of her home. VATORY AND HOTHQUSB THE SUNDAY CALL 2W R0 “This cottage Will have only the money to support it that a poor man would be able to earn for a family. These girls must do the work of the house. They must learn to sweep and dust, to cook, to take care of the baby, for we may have some very young children there. They must learn the give and take of a hcusehold of children struggling up to- gether. They must learn to sew—to make over clothes for each other. There are to be no luxuries in these homes, any more than one would find them in the home of honest, hard-working mechanics. “The girls will have good strengthening food, and will be well clothed. There will be no distasteful uniform. Each cottage will have its sewing machine, and it is hoped that the girls will put it to good use. “They are to attend the public school, and to go to church. They are to live in every way the normal lives, fitted to make the best of the possibilities in the little girl. They will be the better for the work that comes into their lives—for the Lousehold responsibilities, for know- ing how to save, to economize, to make the best of things. They will have the play, &nd the enjoyment which ought to be in each girl's life. They will have the companionship of other girly and will grow up in their homes with natural fam- ily ties. They will mingle naturally in their world, having their own place in it, as befits girls coming from a good, horest home. They will have the best that the public school system can do for them. “And the ultimate result in these girls’ hives? We'll tuke the first ten girls in tHis first cottage home. They won't all develop alike any more than the children of a family show similar development. One girl may show strong mentality, may love Ler books. If she wants a college education she shall have it. If she wants to try for a professional career, she shall be helped to it. We may have a little musician in our band. She also will have her chance, for there is a piano in each cottage. We don’t push our girls out of the home nest, any more than a daughter of the family is pushed out. It is her home for always. “Among our ten may be the girl who IFE OF:T WILL KEE “ \ J AS S wants to be a typewriter. P want them to start out with false pride— se values of life. the future may hold for will have grown up in a home. They will have known the vexa- tiors and joys of home life—they will have known what home ties mean—t will have had n 1, healthy, happy childhood: d 1 hope they will face the future, a faithful type of the true-hearted American woman.” them, these The little cottage they are housed in temporarily is called Grace Cottage, named after Grace Sperry, a niece of Mr. Smith. Marion Cottage is the one that Is just finished, named after Mrs. Smith's daughter. When the little family move into their new home Grace Cottage will hold the new-formed family until its home is built. Then, when they move, Grace Cottage will hold a third, etc., etc. The sccond zottage of the serfes is to be called Josephine Cottage, named after the first girl Mrs. Smith educated. The other cottages are also to be named after girls that Mrs. Smith has educated. She hopes that each girl will watch with interest over the home that bears her name. 2 Talent has been discovered already in the little band that lives in Grace Cot- tage while waiting for the completion of its new home. A voice of rare quality, and execution on the piano that reveals possibilitles have aroused interest, and a man has under- taken her musical education at his own expense. Another ambitious girl in the group has been granted a scholarship in the univer- sity, showing that the world at large Is interested. Mrs. Smith does ggt believe in ostenta- tion. She talks simply of her great schemes to share with the homeless her abundance. “We ve both been girls ourselves,™ she said to me, “and we know what home- life means to the heart of a l—we know what it all mean: As I went down the steps I saw the builders at work on the hill opposite and I wondered if any of us really knew “What it all meant.” “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the woild,” and-it-is tct band that Mrs. MRS SMITHS HOUSE EEN FROM THE 1> RIVEWAY, R e We'll find her . & place, and if she has to go to San Fran- cisco, we hope she'll come back to us to Sunday dinner iff her home. “There may be the girl who can do housework well and would like to be a mald in some congenial household, and would like to put her money in the bank for a rainy day. She'll come home again, often, and always come home to stay for a while, in case she doesn't like her place. “And there is our girl, of course, who will be married and go to her own home. We hove we have shown her how to make it a happy one. We can imagine the planning of the trousseau among these young people. We'll give her the loveliest wedding we can plan and send her from us a bonny and a happy bride. She also will be coming back to visit her home as the days go.by. There is the girl who deesn’t develop special fitness for outside work. Neither does she marry. But we need her in her home all the more perhavs. She may be the dear elder sister of the family, and knowing our aims and ideals, may be at the head of one of these cottages and further develop our home idea. “I would like each of these girls to have an equipment by which she could work for herself if she had to. “There is no reform idea about all this —perhaps this kind of work does away with the necessity for reform work. It is simply for little girls who need this home life. . The central idea is the dignity of labor. I want these girls to know and fully understand that work is honorable. There is nothing to be ashamed of in it. Riches may take to themselves wings, but the ability to work, the knowledge to know how to do it remains. I want them to understand the happiness that comes from honest work and the joy there may be in the work done for others. I don't Smith has undertaken to strengthen and to guide, to EL FRASER. Homicide May Be Committed by Sneezing. YN KOENIGER, a Gar- . has for some time J_) been trying to find out what be- comes of the germs that are re- leased when a person speaks, coughs and conclusions at sneezes, and from the which he has arrived M. Henrt de Par- ville, a French sclen feels justifiel in claiming that a person may by simply sneezing commit homict “Dr. Koeniger,” he says, “has cleariy proved that a person who speaks, coughs and sneezes in a room in which there is no appreciable current of air disseminates germs to a distance of more than seven meters, and that these germs are carried n all directions and even to a height of more than two meters. As few persons alike, the germs disseninated by eech vary greatly, some of them re- maining in suspension for an. hour, and others only for a quarter of an hour, tha latter being especially the case when there is even a slight current of air. “On the other hand, germs are very quickly disseminated by coughing and sneezing., and the smaller the microbes are the farther they are likely to spread. Among such tiny microbes are those of influenza and the plague, whereas among the larger ones are those of tuberculosis and diphtheria. n view of Dr. Koeniger's discovery it will be well for every one to keep as far away as possible from persons who cough and sneeze. Physicians advise persons suffering from colds to gargle and keep their mouths cleansed, but is that suffi- cient and are s such precautions a guarantee against diphtheria? In .any case a person should vays cover his mouth with his hand or his handkerch’ef before he coughs o zes. -Sneezing seems an innocent act, but Dr. Koenl- ow that it could very pon with which o commit homicide. GRACE COTTAGE. WHERE THE FIRST LITTLE FAMILY 1S pow | Housfo