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HEARST’S SUNDAY AMERICAN, ATLANTA, (1A., SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1013.
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sticks that seem fated to be hobbyhorses.
There are hard places for marble rings, and
soft places for leapfrog, so that nobody is ever
hurt.
But it is not all play for the children. The
mother-nurses put them to work after a while,
in the kindergartens. There is a kindergarten
at each of the four nurseries, in which the
children of the mills and shops are taught after
the same methods that apply in the kinder
garten instruction of the richer children. They
study by examples, and are taught to work
with their fingers. Last week, for Instance,
in the John Barclay Nursery, they studied wool.
The sheep was displayed, the method of shear
lug illustrated, the wool was handled by each
baby finger, and the fiber examined. Then a
‘Sheltering Arms’ Association Also Teaches
Struggling Parents How to Gain Renewed
Strength From Better-Chosen Food, and
How to Keep House to Best Advantage.
By TARLETON COLLIER
thread was roughly wrapped, that the children
could get an idea of the manufacture of cloth.
Then several threads were interwoven, and
they bad learned how wooleh cloth was made.
Last, week, too, was Thanksgiving week. In
the kindergartens, the children were taught
the meaning of Thanksgiving, and all the tra-
F ORTY women, tired-looking, plainly dress
ed women they were, sat in the recep
tion room of the Sheltering Arms Home
one night last week and listened to Miss Mary
Barnwell talk to them. She spoke as simply,
as carefully as if she were instructing children
of the kindergartens. And indeed, to most of
those who heard her, this talk of household
care and cleanliness, this revelation that there
is such a thing as science and thought in home
administration, was as new as the A B (7s to
a six-year-old child.
The time before this that they met Miss
Barnwell and others of the Sheltering Arms
administration, these same ttred-Iooktng, plain
ly dressed women were told that those who
felt ill at their work, and those who worried
their hearts out over anemic, peaked children
could most likely trace all their trouble to
poor, illy-judged food. They were told that
there Is a relative value in every food article,
and that can be built and strength can be as
sured by a study of these values. They heard
how values can be enhanced or depreciated,
according as the food is prepared well or
thoughtlessly.
The time before that the talk was of some
thing else, something new and instructive to
most of the listeners. And all of the talks,
and many more, are part of the general scheme
of social help and uplift that the prominent
women of Atlanta are doing who are behind
the work of the Sheltering Arms Association.
First, an analysis of that gronp of listeners
will serve as a sort of explanation of the work
itself. They are tired-looking women, you have
heard, and are really as tired as they appear.
They have been working all day, some in of-
fli-es, as clerks and stenographers, some In
stores, standing all day behind the counter, but
the most of them in the mills, at the looms and
at the machines, working with their hands, and
with their backs and shoulders, until their
bodies are drawn in an aching stoop that will
hardly lie gone with the night's repose.
They are widowed mothers who must work
to support themselves and their children. They
have not the traditions of housekeeping hack
of them, and must learn now how to care for
themselves and their children. Teaching them
is a part of the work that the association is
doing.
it is the most practical charity in the world.
The talks like that of Miss Barnwell the other
night prove that much. And as the women of
the association, Mrs. Gilbert Fraser and the
pothers, explain it, the work endeavors to strike
it the source of the unhappiness and wretch-
dness of the very poor classes, by teaching
ffiem the secret of economy and science and
Judgment in the home, which is after all noth
ing but the science of life.
Not satisfied with merely taking care of the
children of these widowed mothers, allowing
them to play and to study, nursing them and
doctoring them in its five-day nurseries, the
association finds In the mothers themselves a
fruitful field for missionary work.
Mrs. Fraser is opposed to the idea of grant
ing pensions to widfrwed mothers, the idea de
fended by the Associated Charities of Atlanta.
“How much more effective is this other way,”
she explains, “where the mother is relieved of
the care of her children, and worry for her
children during the day, allowed to work for
them, given them back at night after they have
played and studied the whole of a very happy
day. And where she herself is reminded of
her duties in the home and in the care of her
children. Granted a pension, the mother incurs
the danger of the loss of her self-respect. She
Is pauperized, and there is no uplifting teach
ing influence.”
There are four day nurseries operated by the
Sheltering Arms Association, and the establish
ment of a fifth is in immediate prospect. The
nurseries care for an aggregate of 200 children
each day, the children of mothers who must
work.
“The nurseries take the place of the mothers
of the children,” explained Mrs. Fraser. "The
women who must work give their children over
lo the matrons and nurses early in the morn-
ditlons that surround the day—even to the
tradition of turkey and pumpkin pie. Pumpkin
pie living mentioned, an effort was made to
drill into the minds of the little children some
thing about the operation of pie making. Al
ready lhey bad been taught to paro and to
slice apples for preserve making. The pre
serves they helped thus to make were opened
Thanksgiving Day at a great party.
At the John Barclay Nursery, at least, they
helped to make the pies for the party, in a
way. Each mother of a mirsery-ohild was
requested lo prepare the crust for the pies
at her home, the children looking on. The uext
day the crusts wore brought to the nursery,
tilled where they were with the succulent fruit,
and later In the evening were out with great
ceremony.
So much for the kindergarten work through
which the children are put h,v their foster
mothers, the nurses. They are taught to sing,
too, for in most nurseries there are pianos, ob
talned by the association, or given by private
benefactors. They are taught to recite some
times. and above everything they are taught
to express themselves, and to talk on the things
that interest, them. Whenever a holiday comes
along there are excited discussions In the nur
series, following the instructors’ explanation of
the occasion. Thanksgiving Day, Christmas,
Faster, Washington's Birthday, all of them
are times for the consideration of history, tra
dition, sentiment, and for a detailed explana
lion.
Kindergarten work occupies the smaller chil
dren through the morning. A little more pe
riod of free play in the yards or, If It Is cold
or damp, in the big playrooms, and a hot din
ner. cooked in the nursery, is served them.
Dinner time Is variable at the nurseries.
About the time the smaller children are smack
ing their lips over the last mouthful, the older
ones come In from school, and they sit down
to the second table, or maybe the third.
After dinner they rest. There Is hardly any
crying for mother, and hardly any moping from
Illness or toothache. Any evidence of illness
is the signal for the call of a physician, and
I here are a number of physicians who have
proffered their services free to the association.
Most of the visits from doctor or dentist, how
ever, are made in’ the morning, rather than
after dinner.
About the only business of the afternoon,
then, Is the study hour for the school children.
lng, and from then until late afternoon their
responsibility and care is over.”
The function of the nurseries as foster moth
era begins early In the morning. It Involves
even the homely task of washing faces and
hands that are grimy after the night’s sleep.
Half past five In the morning brings all sorts
of children to the nurseries. Some are tiny,
baldheaded babies of five and six months
Some are eleven or twelve years old, or even
older In the case of a few exceptionally defl
eient and helpless boys and girls. Some are In
school, but the large proportion are not, be
cause a child old enough to bo entered in the
public school Is usually considered by its mother
old enough to take care of Itself -particularly
with the mother, her resources strained at ev
ery point,, is asked to pay twenty-five cents a
week for the care and support of each child
in the nursery.
This nominal fee is required by the asso
elation to eliminate the elements of pauperism.
"There is nothing so fatal to self-respect and
to the desire really to better oneself than the
idea that one is dependent on the bounty of
another,” the policy of the Sheltering Arms
Association was explained was Mrs. Fraser.
But as to the children again. The school
boys and girls, their faces washed, even behind
the ears, are packed off to their classrooms.
Here is the function of the mother exemplified.
The very tiniest children, the babies in arms,
are bathed if necessary and put to sleep in the
big cradles that fill at least one room in every
nursery. The other children, of age interme
diate between the cradle and the school, are
set to playing for a while.
There are all sorts of ways to play. There
are swings, and planks to potter with, and lit
tle bits of lumber for playhouses, and long
Children who are
left for the day at
the “Sheltering
Arms” Nurseries do
not, mope or grieve
while their mothers
are away at work, as
the pictures show.
Swings, “teeter”
hoards and all man
ner of things to play
with are provided.
Having, Ilka mothers, sent them to school, the
nurses and matrons lake them in hand after
they come back, and hear the lessons for the
next day. The workers at the nurseries wili
tell you with considerable pride tfiat seldom
do their children fall to achieve promotion at
the end of the school year.
One afternoon the week, usually Friday,
club meetings of the older children are con
ducted by the kindergarten teachers. At the
meetings there are topical talks, perhaps songs
or recitations, and a half-serions, half-tender
lecture on Ambition, Service and Cleanliness,
and Kindness, and the other big things.
Then, as the afternoon wears on, the moth
ers come in from work. Along late In the aft
ernoon the front fence is lined with the chil
dren if the day is good. Because, you know,
It doesn’t matter how gloriously kind the foo
ter mother is, there is always a real mother
whom you love before everything else. The
coming of the mothers Is always the time for
little yells of Joy and kisses. In a little while
after the factory whistles blow the nurseries are
empty.
The matrons and nurses, employed by the
Sheltering Arms Association, remain at the
nursery buildings every night of the week ex
cept Saturday night. They open the doora at
half past five every morning for the first sleepy
mother and sleepier children to come In, as the
woman goes to work.
In must of the drab lives of the working
mothers and their children, the nursery la a
very bright spot. The rooms are clean and
fresh and light. There are always green plants,
and everywhere is cleanliness.
Thus the nurseries of the Sheltering Arms
Association become mothers to 200 children
euch day while their real mothers are away
working. The association which accomplishes
this work was prganlzed in 1884. One of the
pioneers in the work was John Barclay, an
old Atlantan whose name is to-day beloved.
The nursery at No. 83 Jefferson street, at the
Exposition Cotton Mills, bears his name.
The first nursery established was that on
Walton street, near the Intersection of Ma
rletta, the land for which was given by Osgood
Sanders. Because of his benevolence, the nur
sery was named for him.
The five nurseries of the association are con
ducted each by a definite group of the asso
ciation women, with all of them, of course,
tinder the control of the Sheltering Arms Board.
The locations and the management of the five
are as follows:
Osgood Handers Nursery, No. 161 Walton
street, conducted by the Sheltering Arms Board,
Mrs. Gilbert Fraser president.
John Barclay Nursery, No. 88 Jefferson street,
at Exposition Cotton Mills, conducted by the
John Barclay Board, Mrs. Edward Van Winkle,
chairman.
Cornelia Moore Nursery, No. 55 Garibaldi
street., conducted by the Order of Old-Fashioned
Women, Mrs. R. F. MaddAx, president.
Whittier Mills Nursery, at Whittier Cotton
Mills, conducted by Sheltering Arms Board.
Mrs. Mary Woolford, superintendent.
Gate City Nursery, at College Park, to be
conducted by the Junior Order of Old-Fash
ioned Women, Mrs. Lee Jordan, president.
The officers of the general Ixiard of the as
sociation are Mrs. Gilbert Fraser, president;
Mrs. W. S. Elkin, vice president; Mrs. W. H.
Kiser, recording secretary; Mrs. Dnnbar Roy,
corresponding secretary; Mrs. Eugene R. Black,
treasurer.
And about the money that pays for the oper
ation of the nurseries. Naturally, the cost is
considerable. To Atlanta’s credit be it said
that the institution is practically public, being
paid for, In the most part,, by the proceeds from
the city’s one Tag Day. One day each year,
usually in the early spring, girls and women
of Atlanta’s society sot take their stand at
every corner, and at the entrance to every of
fice building, and buttonhole every person who
Iiasses. Everybody must buy a tag, and every
body does, the money going to the support of
the nurseries.
The Sheltering Arms Association Is aided
greatly by the mills in whose districts certain
nurseries are established. Quarters are fur
nished, appropriations are made, and pianos
and other fittings for the establishments are
given by the mill operators, who realize, more
perhaps than anyone else, the services the nur
series are rendering in raising the standard
of living among their people.
One of the features of the Child’s Welfare
Congress this week will be a model nnrser.v
and medical examination room, established and
maintained by the Sheltering Arms Association.
The nursery will be ir^ practical operation, and
women who come to view the exhibits and to
hear the lectures may be sure that their tiny
children will be cared for In the well-fitted
rooms. The working mothers, for whose chil
dren the nurseries were established, have been
requested to attend the Congress, and to place
their children In the model nursery during
the course of their visit.
At the close of the Congress, the furnishing
of the model nursery will be transferred to the
new College Park Nursery, which will be opened
immediately.
TV I •
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•| A 1
in ? • 4 IP Iff T
Diamonds in be
orgia o
oil—Upals an
d sapphires Are round Here, loo
D IAMONDS were not even considered In
the list of Georgia products; diamonds,
nor rubies, nor sapphires, nor opals, nor
amethysts, nor pearls. And yet—
The bulletin by S. W. McCallle, State Geolo
gist, dealing with the mineral resources of
Georgia, will tell you:
“A large variety of minerals suitable for
gems and other ornamental objects and cabinet
sjiecimens has been found in the State. No
systematic mining for gems, however, has been
carried on, and the finds have been accidental,
or incidental, to gold, corundum and other
mining. Nearly all the minerals are found in
the Piedmont Plateau and the mountainous
section of the northeastern part of the State,
but a few, such as opal, chalcedony, jasiier and
agate, occur in the Coastal Plain.”
A visit to the really excellent exhibit of the
State Department of Geology, on the third floor
of the Capitol, will bring conviction that Geor
gia is a State of precious stones as well as of
cotton and cane syrup and ’possum and ’taters.
In one well-locked case a tremendous ame
thyst, of a beautiful deep purple, cut to glitter
from a hundred facets, confronts you. All around
it are opals, garnets, a pearl from a mountain
stream, and a stone that is very much like a
ruby. There are no diamonds on exhibition,
but the records of the State Department of
Geology tell of the discovery of a number of
these very precious stones.
Most of the diamonds of Georgia production
were found in connection with gold mining,
particularly with placer gold mining of the ear
ly days. Then it was that the miner looked
scrupulously at every pebble in his pan as lie
washed it by the side of a creek, it is likely
that there are diamonds in the same localities,
but the present day methods of mining do not
tend to easy discovery of the rough stones. Ae
cording to the report of the geologist, dia
monds have been found in the following coun
ties : Hall, White, Habersham, Banks, Lump
kin, Dawson, Forsyth, Gwinnett, Cherokee,
Clayton, Bartow, Haralson, Carroll, Paulding,
Cobb and Twiggs, all ol' them having been re
ported to have furnished one or more stones
each.
“Most of the finds,” Wie report continues, “it
must be admitted, lack satisfactory verification,
and in some instances one is led to suspect that
pure deception has tieen practiced, and that in
still other cases other minerals, as very clear
quartz crystals, have been honestly mistaken for
diamonds. However, there arc a few well au
thenticated finds which place the existence of
a diamond-bearing rock In Georgia not beyond
the bounds of probability.”
Rubles and sapphires have been found in
Georgia, although not frequently, and not large
single gems. The book of the scientist, how
ever, holds out the hope for them, saying there
Is always the possibility of discoveries, since
there are a large number of corundum occur
rences iu t^e State. The two precious stones
are corundum gems.
One or two rubles found In Georgia, It is re
corded, were of considerable value.
As to amethysts, however, the Georgia prod
uct is notable. Amethyst, described technical
ly, is a violet, or purple, variety of crystalline
quartz, and the clear, beautiful quartz Is found
in many localities in Georgia. Rabun County
has furnished some of the finest amethysts ob
tained In the country, but no systematic search
has been Instituted. Amethystine quartz is very
.common in the crystalline rocks of the State,
and a number of pretty specimens of rose
quartz, which produces a gem of considerable
beauty, have been found.
Chalcedony, agate and jasper, stones of val
ue, have beer found in Lowndes, Brooks, Thom
as, Crisp, Jones and Houston Counties. Opals
of considerable value have been found In sev
eral counties, and emeralds, although none of
fineness or value.
Garnet, a stone or iron-alumina composition,
has been found in considerable quantities. In
this instance, too, the geologist holds out a
promise.
“It is reasonable to predict,” says the State
Bulletin, “that careful search would reveal
much material that could be used for gems, or
watch jewels.”
Moonstones of beuutlfnl pale bine opales
cence have been found, particularly on the
Addison Lowe farm, in Forsyth County, and
good gems have been cut. The report of the
geologists concerning precious stones ends with
the declaration that several valuable pearls
have been obtained from the shells of mussels
in streams in northwestern part of the State.
Evidences of Georgia’s fecundity on this score
is presented in the exhibit at the State Cap
itol. This collection of minerals and mineral
products is one of the unexploltcd assets of the
State. Thousands of specimens worthy of a
day’s study are there.
Interesting as are the precious stones ex>
hlbited, much more are the specimens of gold-
bearing rock and pure gold nuggets taken in
North Georgia. That Georgia before the war
between the States was one of the foremost
gold-bearing States of the Union, and that a
branch mint was maintained at Dahlonega to
coin the gold there taken, is the story told with
this exhibit.
Another case bears a number of household
articles, with utensils for every department of
the home, made of aluminum, a mineral in
which Georgia’s earth abounds. Altogether, the
exhibit is comprehensive, and holds out the
promise of considerable wealth to be derived
■ from Georgia’s mineral resources. e