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A Methodist Mission Work
By S. T. DALSHEIMER
OT by description nor theory nor casual
observation do we gain an intimate, ac
curate or practical knowledge of “how
the other half lives.” That mysterious
and to most of us, that. inexplicable
“half” of which we have learned to
think and to speak as the “submerged
tenth,” is an element of growing im
portance in our sociologie development.
N
By slow degrees, by experiments and ceaseless ef
fort, this element has been intelligently reached,
and at last there is a. promise of its being intelli
gently helped. Bnt mortal man is so dominated by
material conditions that it is difficult for the maxi
mum of either intellectual or spiritual conditions
to be reached, with only the minimum supply of the
physical needs.
For many years experiments have been made in
the field of home mission work, both in this country
and abroad, and of all plans tried that of the Set
tlement work has been proven to be the most far
reaching and the most effectual from every point
of view.
The first notable achievements along this line is
that of the Hull House Settlement in Chicago,
founded by Mrs. Jane Adams, but this effort was
directed primarily towards the betterment of the
material surroundings of the mixed foreign popula
tion of the Chicago slums, and was identified with
no religious denominational work.
There is, however, a Settlement in Atlanta, lo
cated near the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills, which
was created by and is under the direction of the
Central Methodist Missionary Board, and which is
A Gospel Settlement.
The work done there is conducted along the ex
act lines of that in Social Settlements, save that each
branch carries in it a special element of prayer, and
this is made a prominent— not a subsidiary feature.
The Central Board began this work years ago
by employing a city missionary, one of the first
paid employes of the Board. The work grew so
enormous, and increased so rapidly in scope and
extent that now there are seven paid workers in the
employ of the Board, and there are four places of
work.
The population surrounding the mills, and being
composed of the families of mill operatives, was
chosen as furnishing a most fertile field for the op
eration of these workers, but the work itself is of
such a complex nature that it was found necessary
to have trained workers, and three years ago the
first one of this class was employed.
The Scarrett Bible Training School at Kansas
City, Mo., supplied this worker, but since that time
others, especially trained in Home Mission work,
have been also employed.
Although the work began in the usual way of
visiting among the mill families and supplying ur
gent needs wherever discovered, the necessity of
some conveniently located central point for the
basis of the work was soon felt, and a settlement
or a group of residence workers was founded in
close proximity to the mills. From this point the
families of the mill employes are reached, first by
the visiting trained nurse, who attends and alle
viates all eases of sickness and co-operates with the
established charities of the city in placing patients
in institutions designed for the purpose; and sec
ondly, by the training, educating and uplifting from
a moral and intellectual standpoint the children of
the mill operatives.
It is literally true that a little child’s hand is
more potent in influencing an entire household
than any which wields the scepter of adult author
ity.
Feeling the force of this, therefore, the mission
workers determined to
Teach the Children
simple, useful, practical domestic virtues, in the
hope that almost intuitively these same virtues may
be transmitted to those sordid homes where the
The Golden Age for April 12, 1906.
light of domestic knowledge is so urgently needed.
To teach by example more than by precept, is
the main object of this settlement work, and it is
most certainly having the desired effect, as shown
in the steady improvement of the domestic lives
of the mill families and the consequent develop
ment of their spiritual lives as well.
The Day Nursery.
One of the earliest features of this great work
was the establishment of a day nursery, where
mothers could place their little children for a safe,
pleasant day, while their own work went forward
in the mills close at hand. The pathos of these
tiny infants, who in their helpless babyhood, form
a sort of object lesson for the mother’s guidance,
is most touching. If a child is left in the morning
in an unbathed, uncared for state, it is returned at
night as sweet, as dainty and as fresh as any moth
er in any station in life could require. Little by
little this one feature has had its effect in teaching
mothers sanitation and cleanliness, and, therefore,
in enabling them to give more effective and effec
tual care for the babies who are, after all, the
corner-stone for future domestic advancement.
In this connection it is well to mention the clin
ics for children conducted in the Settlement Home
three days in the week, by Drs. Collier and Visan
sky. Here ailing children are treated, proper diet
ordered and many are thus adequately equipped
for all the future.
Children more advanced than these are given
a special course in kindergarten training. A suita
ble and attractive room is provided for this work,
and the approved appliances are in regular use.
The children use small tubs and wash-boards, wee
chairs and beds, toy dishes, blocks, etc., and when
they have attained the public school age, are train
ed in music, rhythm, pictures and nature loving.
Night schools are conducted for the benefit of the
older children who are employed in the mill. The
public schools of Atlanta supply the teachers for
this work. The gymnasium is particularly enjoya
ble and a useful feature of the night school, and it
forms a much-needed physical relaxation and exer
cise for young bodies over-tired with much daily
labor.
The building in which this settlement work is
conducted, was given, rent free, to the Central
Board by Mr. Elsas of the mill company, and is
commodious and comfortable, although not nearly
adequate to the growing needs of this rapidly grow
ing work. It is hoped to add to the space, or even
to procure an entirely new building at some time
in the future when the financial condition of the
Board warrants it. At present there are five resi
dent workers in the building, under the able man
agement of Miss Rosa Lowe.
These young women are Miss Lowe, Supt.; Miss
Dollie Crim, ass’t supt.; Miss Crim, supt. day nur
sery ; Miss Viola Crusart, trained nurse; Miss
Mary Dickinson, kindergartner. The following are
officers of board: President, Mrs. J. N. McEach
ern; Ist vice-president, Mrs. R. P. Milam; 2d vice
president, Mrs. E. F. Morgan; recording secretary,
Mrs. M. M. Davies; corresponding secretary, Mrs.
T. P. Westmoreland; treasurer, Mrs. M. L. Trout
man; superintendent Devotional Department, Mrs.
James Jackson; superintendent Educational De
partment, Mrs. Geo. Muse; superintendent Indus
trial Department, Mrs. R. B. Thomas; superintend
ent Physical Department, Mrs. T. B. Lumpkin; su
perintendent Social Department, Mrs. W. R. Ham
mond; superintendent Home Department, Mrs. H.
R. Calloway; superintendent Woolen Mills Work,
Mrs. Wm. Nixon.
A hungry man does not pray; an ill woman or a
feeble child is absolved by physical discomfort and
brain and soul alike fail of their mission. “A sound
mind in a sound body”—a judicious culture and
spiritual enlightenment—all produced by careful
consideration of material needs, would form the
philosophy of the broad work, and would give to
other workers an idea of its purpose and its power.
News of the Week.
Police have confiscated a pamphlet by Count Tols
toi.
General Blanco, who succeeded Wyler in command
of the Spanish forces in Cuba in 1997, is dead.
The Hastings Industrial Company of Chicago,
111., proposes to locate a canning factory at Macon,
Ga., which will pay SIOO,OOO annually in dividends.
Mr. Andrew Carnegie last week stopped over in
Atlanta for the express purpose of visiting the
noted author, Joel Chandler Harris, at his surbur
ban home in this city.
Miss Florence Parker, of Los Angeles, CaJ.,
whose mysterious sleep for seven weeks excited the
interest of the medical fraternity, has gradually
come into a normal condition.
Baron Rosen, the Russian Ambassador at Wash
ington, received a dispatch from St. Petersburg
announcing that rumors of probable anti-Jewish
uprisings in Russia are unfounded.
Italians continue to come into the South. It is
expected that several hundred wall arrive within the
next two or three weeks from northern points for
the sugar plantations of Louisiana, and for gen
eral work in other states.
•»
A large hall in which the local associations in
Nagold, South Germany, were celebrating in annual
fete, collapsed and all present were buried beneath
the ruins. Estimates regarding the .number killed
vary from 100 to 300.
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius has become so
active that the people in the surrounding country
have become greatly alarmed. The shower of ashes
falling in Naples is so thick that pedestrians are
carrying umbrellas. The sky is obscured from
view.
Paul Noquet, a French sculptor of note and an
enthusiastic amateur aeronaut, had his balloon to
collapse during an ascension on April 4, and the
unfortunate man’s body was found in the waters
of Bass Creek, along the south shore of Long Is
land.
A company of English Spinners has visited New
Orleans, having made a tour of the Yazoo belt cot
ton country. One of the objects of the commission
is to look into the feasibility of buying land in
America upon which English spinners will raise
their own cotton.
A statement, claimed as authoritative, is to the
effect that the mysterious donor of the $400,000
which was recently presented to the pope, is no
other person than Mrs. John Mackay, the widow
of the American “silver king.” Mrs. Mackay is a
devout Catholic.
For the first time in the history of the law courts
of Massachusetts, the full bench of the supreme
court has handed down a decision declaring that a
married woman has the right to bring action against
another woman for alienation of a husband’s af
fections.
The German warship, Falke, has been dispatched
for a cruise along the Western coast of South Af
rica. The purpose of the cruise is to display the
German flag in ports along the coast and thus in
crease the prestige of Germany in that part of the
world.
The creation of an artificial island in the middle
of the entrance to Chesapeake Bay is proposed by
the joint board on coast defense as absolutely es
sential to the defense of the national capitol, the
cities of Baltimore, Norfolk, Newport News and
even Richmond.