LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
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 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
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 CURIOUS SCHOOLS 
 
 BY 
 
 VARIOUS AUTHORS. 
 
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 [[ JUN 10 1 
 
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 BOSTON: 
 D. LOTHROP & COMPANY, 
 
 FRANKLIN ST., CORNER OF HAWLEY. 
 
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 Copyright, 1881, 
 By D. Lothrop & Company. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Cadet Life at West Point 7 
 
 Perkins Institution and Mass. School for the Blind 28 
 
 Boston Whitling Schools 
 
 Philadelphia School of Reform . 
 
 About Some Sewing Schools 
 
 A Chinese Mission School 
 
 The Flower School at Corlear's Hook 
 
 Lady Betty's Cooking School 
 
 The Bad Boys of France .... 
 
 The Child rens' Hour ; a Novel Art School 
 
 At a Day Nursery 
 
 Some Indian Schools 
 
 The Training School-ship " Minnesota." 
 
 62 
 
 96 
 
 129 
 
 182 
 210 
 232 
 
 2 53 
 268 
 294 
 320 
 346 
 
CADET LIFE AT WEST POINT. 
 
 I SUPPOSE there are few boys who live in the 
 neighborhood of New York who have not made a 
 journey up the Hudson river. I am sure I have seen 
 some wide awake boys on the " Mary* Powell," 
 and have heard their delighted comments on the 
 changing scene as the steamboat moved from the 
 wharf. As she passed through the forest of shipping 
 many of them were inspired with a wild desire to sail 
 out upon the ocean ; and when we reached the rug- 
 ged wall of the Palisades, I remember how some of 
 the boys wondered how far out they could "shy " a 
 stone into the water, if they were only on the rocky 
 edge. 
 
 7 
 
Cadet Life at West Point. 
 
 In about two hours from New York we approached 
 the loveliest part of the river, where mountains loom 
 on either side, and, between, the river winds like a 
 wide shining ribbon. Here, in the heart of the High- 
 lands, is situated the Military Academy at West Point. 
 How many questions the boys asked about the build- 
 ings of the Post, and what funny answers they re- 
 ceived from people who think they know all about it ! 
 
 I will tell them what /know, trying to reply to the 
 very questions the boys asked. 
 
 In the first place, West Point is one of the most 
 beautiful places in the world. It lies in a sheltered 
 bend of the river nearly surrounded by mountains. 
 The rippling water gleaming through the trees, the 
 white sails of the boats in the distance, the blue mis- 
 settling over the hollow in the mountain called the 
 " Crow's Nest," and above all the over-hanging drifts 
 of snowy clouds, make a most exquisite picture. 
 
 There is a path that winds along the shore, quite 
 hidden by the trees, called " Flirtation Walk." It 
 was originally called the " Chain-battery Walk," for it 
 was at this point, during the Revolutionary war, that 
 a chain of wrought iron was stretched across the 
 river to prevent the enemies' ships from passing. 
 Here Kosciusko, the brave Pole who fought in our 
 army, used to spend much time ; and a little pool and 
 8 
 
THE HUDSON FROM THE BATTERY. 
 
Cadet Life at West Point. 
 
 a fountain are to be seen near by called " Koscius- 
 ko's Garden." 
 
 At the close of the war in 1794, and when West 
 Point was no longer of importance as a defensive 
 position, a Military School was established through 
 the instrumentality of Washington. The building 
 used for this purpose was destroyed by fire two years 
 later, and the school was suspended until 1801, when 
 Congress organized the National Military Academy. 
 
 Beautiful as was this place in its early days it still 
 remains unchanged in its natural features. Many 
 buildings, however, have been erected ; a fine Library, 
 Chapel, Mess Hall, the Academy, and the capacious 
 Barracks, and a number of Quarters for those officers 
 who are detailed as Instructors. 
 
 The Professors hold permanent positions, — that is, 
 until they are, in the opinion of the Government at 
 Washington, incapacitated by age, for further service, 
 and they are then retired. The Instructors are offi- 
 cers of the army and in nearly all instances .graduates 
 of the Institutions. They serve usually four years. 
 
 Year after year passes over the Academy without 
 change in the details of daily routine. Time here 
 seems to hasten, and it is difficult for a graduate of 
 ten years service revisiting West Point to realize that 
 Meed ten Junes have passed since he received 
 
Cadet Life at West Point. 
 
 his diploma. The lovely hills over the river, Fort 
 Putnam and old " Cro' Nest " look down upon the 
 old scene of his cadet-life, unchanged and unchang- 
 ing. 
 
 June is a marked month to a cadet. The candi- 
 dates for admission report on the first ) and about 
 the fifteenth, the graduates pass their final examina- 
 tions and "bid farewell to cadet gray, and don the 
 army blue." 
 
 Now, you boys who aim at a commission in Uncle 
 Sam's army, do not lose courage when I tell you 
 that no more dejected and pitiable object can be 
 found than a "candidate." He is not yet even a 
 " plebe," — only a " Being " — a " Thing" — igno- 
 rant, scared and anxious. He stands, with his com- 
 panions in misery, under the beautiful maple trees, 
 gazing with curious and doubtless ambitious eyes at 
 the gray-coated figures that pass him, — each con- 
 scious, he observes, of personal power and full of 
 self-complacency. Shall he ever, strong and self-as- 
 sured, walk these grounds, as carelessly as they ? 
 
 The preliminary examinations should not cause 
 anxiety to any boy who has improved the advantages 
 of a common school education. The questions given 
 in U. S. History, Grammar, Arithmetic and Geogra- 
 phy need trouble no boy who has given proper atten- 
 
Cadet Life at West Point. 
 
 tion to his studies. Many do come here, however, 
 whose claim to admission is past finding out. One 
 boy decided that Rome was the capital of France, 
 and another submitted a foolscap sheet which he had 
 written from dictation, with one hundred and fifty- 
 seven mis-spelled words ! 
 
 The Academic Board, composed of the Superintend- 
 ent, the Commandant of Cadets, and the Professors, 
 sit in judgment on these aspirants for Military honors ; 
 and happy are the fortunates who thereupon become 
 " plebes," while correspondingly miserable are the 
 rejected, who are " found deficient," or in West Point 
 parlance, "found." 
 
 The ordeal of "plebe drill, " which is also called 
 "setting up," is the next trial in order. The cadets 
 detailed to attend this duty are third-class men or 
 "yearlings," who although having themselves, but one 
 year back, passed through this phase of cadet experi- 
 ence, seem to have no sympathy for the tremulous 
 awkwardness of the squads under their supervision. 
 In the shade of the trees in front of Barracks, after 
 five o'clock in the afternoon, may be seen squads of 
 "plebes," each commanded by a "yearling;" the for- 
 mer in apparently ill-fitting citizens' clothes, -— the 
 latter trim and military in tight gray coat and white 
 pants. 
 
 The curious calisthenics which the "plebes" are 
 13 
 
Cadet Life at West Taint. 
 
 taught is a ludicrous exhibition, albeit a very neces- 
 sary measure in straightening the backs and giving 
 spring and elasticity to heavy-footed youths to whom 
 the transforming process is indeed a " weariness to 
 the flesh." Their hands hang by their sides, palms 
 forward, with the little fingers touching the seam of 
 the pants. Happily, they seem to have no realization 
 of the comical effect produced by their various hop- 
 skip-and-jump evolutions, for generally the expression 
 of their faces never varies from an intense earnest- 
 ness, — which is in funny contrast to their laughable 
 attitudes. 
 
 After a few weeks of this elementary drilling their 
 muskets are given them, and they are instructed in 
 the " Manual of Arms." 
 
 By a very slow process of gradual development the 
 full-fledged cadet emerges in the course of a month 
 or six weeks and are known as "fourth-classmen " and 
 proudly swell the ranks of the battalion at Parade. 
 
 The Encampment begins about the last of June, 
 and is to these new cadets " Plebe Camp," to the 
 third class "Yearling Camp," and First-class Camp 
 to the senior class — favored beings, to whom it is a 
 season of social enjoyment. The second class, who 
 are called " furlough men," are away on a two months 
 leave of absence. 
 
 Cadets are kept very busy while in Camp, although 
 '4 
 
Cadet Life at West Point. 
 
 there are no books to be studied nor recitations to 
 attend. At five o'clock the morning gun is fired, and 
 is instantly followed by the rolling of drums, and the 
 shrill music of fifes as "reveille" is beaten off. 
 Breakfast is at six ; Company drill at seven ; and at 
 eight the first drum for morning parade beats, and A, 
 B, C, and D Companies assemble in the Company 
 streets. The band is in position at the right, and in 
 a few moments " Adjutants' Call " is heard, and the 
 corps march over the parade ground and form a long 
 line facing the officer in charge, who is an Instructor 
 in the Department of Tactics. 
 
 Immediately after parade the drum beats for Guard- 
 mounting, which is a very pretty ceremony. The 
 band plays as the Guard march out again during the 
 Inspection of Arms, again after the Guard is formed, 
 and once more as they " pass in review." 
 
 These morning ceremonies in Camp, when the day 
 is bright, are witnessed by numerous visitors from the 
 hotels, also by many of the Post officers and ladies, 
 who make quite a pretty picture, gathered in groups 
 under the elm trees, here and there the color of the 
 scene being toned down by the quiet gray of cadet 
 uniforms. Evening Parade attracts even more spec- 
 tators, carriages depositing their loads of gay sight- 
 seers, making of the ordinary ceremony an important 
 occasion. 
 
 15 
 
Cadet Life at West Point 
 
 At nine o'clock in the morning drills begin. The 
 various classes disperse ; some go to a drill in gunnery 
 and are taught to manage the heavy cannon, firing at 
 a target across a bend in the river. Others learn to 
 manoeuvre the light battery with horses ; others make 
 gabions and fascines and raise earth-works ; and still 
 others are taught field telegraphy by which telegraph 
 wires are rapidly connected and communication es- 
 tablished with the General on a battle field. Some 
 learn signaling with red and white flags, from one 
 part of a field to another ; the words being formed by 
 the waving of the flags. This is a very pretty drill. 
 Sometimes at night a party of cadets ascend to Fort 
 Putnam, which is an old revolutionary ruin on one of 
 the hills, and signal with lanterns which they swing 
 and wave in the same manner. Another party sta- 
 tioned on the plain beneath respond to the signals. 
 
 And so the busy days pass. 
 
 During the last weeks of the encampment there are 
 afternoon Battalion Drills which require the attend- 
 ance of the entire corps. 
 
 Of course there are many opportunities for recrea- 
 tion and amusement. In the summer, at least, the 
 theory is advanced that " all work and no play " is 
 impolitic, and cadets are permitted to leave Camp for 
 most enchanting strolls through " Flirtation," escort- 
 ing pretty girls along the shady path by the river. If 
 16 
 
Cadet Life at West Point. 
 
 the ghost of Kosciusko ever listens by the fountain 
 in his favorite " garden," how much sentiment, or as 
 a cadet would say, " spoony talk," he must hear ! 
 
 Monday and Thursday nights are " Hop Nights," 
 and as cadets are usually fine dancers these hops are 
 held in high favor, and attract the youth and beauty 
 from the surrounding country. They begin at half 
 past eight and end promptly at half past ten, when 
 the loud roll of a drum in the corridor puts a sudden 
 termination to the most enchanting waltz and the 
 dancers disperse. Darkness and absolute quiet so 
 quickly succeed that one would fancy it had all been 
 a fairy scene vanishing at the tap of a wand. 
 
 Band practice in Camp is another source of delight. 
 When the moon is at the full, and the earth is flooded 
 with soft, radiant light, the old trees cast deep 
 shadows across the grassy plain. Up and down, keep- 
 ing step involuntarily to the sweet music, move the 
 gray-coated figures, each accompanied by his own, or 
 mayhap, some other's sister, the flashing of the bell- 
 buttons marking their course as now and then they 
 emerge from the shadow. 
 
 This lovely busy summer life is brought to a close 
 by a grand ball on the 28th of August. On the morn- 
 ing of that day the " furlough men " are due. As 
 they return on the Albany boat from New York, there 
 19 
 
Cadet Life at West Point. 
 
 is usually a large gathering in Camp waiting to 
 receive them. After landing, they walk from the 
 wharf to the end of the Cavalry plain in front of the 
 library, and there, joining hands and with a wild 
 shout, they rush into camp, literally into the arms of 
 their corps companions. The most hearty hand-shak- 
 ing ensues. " Cit clothes " are quickly doffed, and 
 when the battalion follow the fife and drum to the 
 Mess-Hall at dinner time, the ranks are swelled by 
 the second class men who take their accustomed 
 places with the ease of veterans. 
 
 On the first of September recitations begin, and 
 the great wheel of the United States Military Acad- 
 emy begins to revolve with the regularity and 
 smoothness that years have given it. 
 
 There is an imperative demand for energy and 
 perseverance, and "boning" — and studying becomes 
 the absorbing occupation of every cadet who desires 
 to escape being " found" in January. 
 
 The classes in each study are divided into sections, 
 and the cadets are graded according to their marks. 
 For instance, if the fourth class number sixty mem- 
 bers, it may be divided in six sections, each composed 
 of ten cadets. The first section containing the best 
 students, the second composed of those whose marks 
 average lower, and so on down to the sixth, which is 
 20 
 
Cadet Life at West Point. 
 
 denominated the " Immortal Section." From the Im- 
 mortals in each class are garnered the " found," — not 
 the wheat, however, but the chaff of the Institution. 
 
 The great advantage of this system is its searching 
 thoroughness. As the recitations occupy an hour and 
 a half, each of the ten men in the section is called 
 on to recite. He is closely questioned, much time 
 being given to careful explanations, allowing no ex- 
 cuse for any point to be passed over or any difficulty 
 to remain unexplained. 
 
 On the first of June the Board of Visitors arrives ; 
 twelve men of pre-supposed intelligence and culture, 
 appointed by the President for the purpose of inspect- 
 ing and reporting the condition of the Academy in 
 all its departments. Generally a Grand Review is 
 ordered on that day, and the cadets appear in white 
 pants, discharging the gray until the Fall. 
 
 West Point now puts on gala dress. Examinations 
 are in progress every day until five o'clock, and after 
 that hour each day there is a drill. Battalion and 
 Skirmish drill are in order, with riding and wild cav- 
 alry "charges," noisy light battery manoeuvres and 
 the resounding discharges from the great sea-coast 
 battery reverberating like thunder among the sur- 
 rounding hills. Every night the band plays, and for 
 two weeks the scene changes with kaleidoscopic bril- 
 
 21 
 
Cadet Life at West Point. 
 
 liancy; one pretty, picture dissolving into another 
 equally bright and attractive. 
 
 The Graduating Parade is an occasion of much in- 
 terest. The first class take their old places in ranks 
 for the last time. 
 
 The band is in position in the centre of the large, 
 beautiful plain, and soon the beat of the drum calls 
 the Battalion together in front of barracks. After 
 the roll-call and inspection, the Adjutant and Markers 
 march over the plain followed by the companies keep- 
 ing step to the music of " The dashing white 
 Sergeant." The line is formed in front of the Super- 
 intendent's quarters. The Commandant of Cadets 
 is in command on this occasion, and all along the 
 sides of the parade ground are lines of eagerly inter- 
 ested spectators, — the parents, sisters and sweet- 
 hearts of the graduates. 
 
 After the Parade is formed, the band " beats off, " — 
 marching down and back in front of the Battalion 
 playing a medley made up of " Auld Lang Syne," 
 " The Girl I Left Behind Me," " Benny Havens," 
 "Army Blue " and other appropriate airs. Then the 
 evening gun is fired, and after the reading of the 
 orders by the Adjutant, Parade is dismissed. All 
 members of the First Class who are privates now 
 step forward and stand in line with the cadet officers, 
 
 22 
 
Cadet Life at West Poi?it. 
 
 and with them march to the front, while the band 
 plays mischievously " Waiting for a Partner." They 
 halt and salute the Commanding officer with every hat 
 removed and stand with uncovered heads while a few 
 words of farewell are addressed to them. They then 
 move on towards the Barracks and halt under the 
 trees. 
 
 As each company passes a rousing cheer arises 
 from this group of graduates. 
 
 The next morning the graduating exercises take 
 place. If the weather be fair seats are arranged 
 under the trees in front of the library to accomodate 
 the officers of the Academic staff, the Board of Visi- 
 tors and others. At eleven the Battalion, headed by 
 the band, march from Barracks and form three sides 
 of a square fronting the speaker's stand. Usually 
 the Secretary of War is present, and makes an 
 address, often followed by racy remarks from the 
 Generals of our Army. Frequently the President of 
 the United States presents the diplomas in person. 
 
 Cadet life in Barracks means work. During 
 "release from quarters," rapid constitutional walks 
 are indulged in, — Cavalry Drill in the riding hall 
 being the only drill in the winter which affords physi- 
 cal exercise. There is only brief time for visiting at 
 officers' quarters, and "boning" becomes the absorb- 
 ing duty of the day. 
 
 25 
 
Cadet Life at West Point. 
 
 Discipline is always firm. Punishments are graded 
 according to the offences. A certain number of 
 " demerits " condemns the offender to " walking an 
 extra," in the area of Barracks on Saturday afternoon. 
 Up and down, armed with muskets like sentinels 
 
 
 n 
 
 Tent Life, 
 
 walk the wrong-doers. They are not allowed to con- 
 verse, and are obliged to march with the same military 
 precision as if guarding an important position. " Con- 
 finement " is another form of punishment ; being 
 26 
 
Cadet Life at West Point. 
 
 obliged to remain within one's own quarters when not 
 at recitation or on duty. Being put " in arrest " is 
 still more serious. In the latter case a cadet is on 
 his ho?ior not to leave his room. Very great offences, 
 which include direct disobedience of orders, " break- 
 ing arrest," making mis-statements, or other conduct 
 unbecoming a gentleman, are settled by Courts Mar- 
 tial, and often the offenders are dismissed from the 
 Academy. Truth-telling is maintained and insisted 
 upon as in no other Institution in the country. The 
 cadet who is convicted of a lie is forever disgraced. 
 If merely suspected of falsehood the corps is very 
 apt to "cut "' him ; for the dishonor of telling a lie is 
 never passed over, and "extenuating circumstances" 
 scouted with contempt. 
 
 Perhaps some boys will say " This must be a hard 
 school ! " Well, so it is. But it makes men of boys 
 who need to be taught self-reliance. It teaches 
 young men the necessity and the worth of obedience ; 
 and in disciplining their own rebellious bodies and 
 souls, they learn how to control, in times of revolu- 
 tion and disturbance, the ignorant men under their 
 command. All graduates of the West Point Acad- 
 emy come forth f om its doors with nice ideas of 
 honor, and a high ideal of manhood ; and invariably 
 they profess a great love for their Alma Mater and 
 never regret the experiences of cadet life. 
 27 
 
PERKINS INSTITUTION AND MASSACHU- 
 SETTS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND. 
 
 HALF a century or so ago, if my young readers 
 could have peeped into the windows of a 
 small wooden house on Hollis Street, in Boston, 
 you might have seen two little girls, six and eight 
 years of age, fumbling away over some bits of twine, 
 gummed in the form of letters, upon cardboard. 
 
 A funny sort of school-book, wasn't it ? But, fifty 
 years ago, this was good Dr. Howe's first method of 
 teaching blind children the alphabet ; and just think 
 what a piece of work it must have been to prepare 
 the letters in this way — and all with his own 
 hand! 
 
 These two little girls were his first pupils. He 
 found them one day by the roadside, when riding 
 through Andover ; and, having obtained their parents' 
 28 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 permission, he brought them to his father's house -in 
 Boston, and undertook their education. 
 
 It seemed, no doubt, to the father and mother, 
 a very hopeless thing to attempt, but the bright, 
 docile children soon caught then teacher's enthu- 
 siasm ; and, in a little while, could tell upon metal 
 types each letter of the alphabet, all the arithmetical 
 figures, and the different marks of punctuation. 
 
 Then Dr, Howe gave them some metal frames, 
 perforated with square holes, and on these curious 
 little slates they soon learned to set the types up- 
 right, and to spell out "apple," "chair," and other 
 words in common use. 
 
 Sheets of stiff pasteboard, marked off with elevated 
 lines, showed the boundaries of countries — just as 
 the colored lines do upon the maps in your Monroe's 
 geography; rough, raised dots indicated ranges of 
 mountains ; and pin-heads, big and little, showed 
 them, according to size, the cities and the towns. 
 
 Half play and half study it seemed to the two 
 little sisters, as, with tireless patience, their kind 
 teacher led them on. 
 
 Soon four other blind children entered the little 
 school on Hollis Street; but Abby and Sophia 
 Carter, now happy, useful women, not only supporting 
 themselves, but at one time helping their parents by 
 
Perkins Listitution For The Blind. 
 
 their labor — were the very first pupils, let us remem- 
 ber, of the very first American School for the 
 Blind. 
 
 And while many kind hearts and many helping 
 
 w 
 
 
 <& i 
 
 DR. SAMUEL G. HOWE. 
 
 hands have carried forward the good work, let us not 
 forget it is to Dr. John D. Fisher, and Dr. Samuel 
 G. Howe, the "Cadmus of the Blind," that the noble 
 Institution really owes its birth ! 
 32 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 On the other side the water, in Paris and Berlin, 
 the Abbe Haiiy had established some twenty-five 
 years before, a series of Schools for the Blind that 
 already were doing an immense amount of good. 
 
 These schools Dr. Fisher visited in his European 
 tour; and he became so deeply interested in them, 
 that when he returned to Boston he at once talked the 
 subject over with his friend, Dr. Howe, 
 
 Couldn't something of the kind be done for the 
 blind in our own country ? 
 
 Well, the strong " will " always does find a " way ; " 
 and through the united efforts of these noble-hearted 
 men, a State appropriation for the education of the 
 blind was made in 1829, followed by a charter the 
 next year which incorporated the present Institu- 
 tion. 
 
 At first all the money given by the State was the 
 amount left over from the $6, 5 00 fund for the educa- 
 tion of deaf-mutes. 
 
 But Dr. Fisher, Dr. Howe and other prominent 
 citizens generously gave what they could, out of 
 their own pockets ; Prescott, the blind historian, 
 wrote an affecting appeal in the North American 
 Review ; and Col. Perkins, the more than princely 
 merchant, finally offered his great beautiful house and 
 grounds on Pearl Street for the use and benefit of 
 33 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 the blind, provided the city of Boston would raise 
 $50,000 for the same purpose. 
 
 Ask your grandmothers, my young readers of 
 Boston, if they don't remember that first fancy fair at 
 Faneuil Hall ! It was a magnificent response to the 
 
 STUDYING GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 appeal for aid, and nearly everybody in Boston con- 
 tributed either in money or in articles for the sale. 
 
 The net results were $49,000, and it was an easy 
 matter to make up the remaining thousand dollars. 
 
 So Col. Perkins gave them his fine old mansion ; 
 34 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 but, at first, he said the house must always be used 
 as a dwelling and school for the blind, or else be 
 given back to his heirs. 
 
 Just think how strange it would seem now to find 
 this great Institution crowded into an old-fashioned 
 country-house, down on noisy Pearl Street. 
 
 But Dr. Howe had the eyes of a prophet, and saw, 
 even then, how it might be in the years to come. 
 
 Not long after, the Washington Hotel, an immense 
 building upon Dorchester Heights, came into the 
 market ; and when Col. Perkins was told how much 
 better it would be for the Institution to have its 
 location there he generously took away the condition. 
 
 And so, out of gratitude, the Trustees resolved to 
 call the school the " Perkins Institution and Massa- 
 chusetts Asylum (now School) for the Blind." 
 
 I wonder if you haven't noticed the building when 
 sailing down Boston Harbor. It is so very large, so 
 very white in the sunlight, and stands so very high 
 above its neighbors, that for miles away it is known 
 as a landmark. 
 
 But to-day, my little readers, Percy and I are 
 going to take a peep inside — wouldn't you like to 
 come, too ? This South Boston Broadway car will 
 carry us almost to the door; and as we climb up the 
 long flight of steps I wish you to notice what a 
 35 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 beautiful picture is framed in by the tall Grecian 
 pillars at the entrance. 
 
 The poor boy who answers our ring turns his face 
 that way, too, as little Percy exclaims : " O, see how 
 
 READING THE BIBLE. 
 
 blue the water is ! I can count twenty, thirty, forty 
 sails ! and there is a big steamer coming in ! " 
 
 Yes, it is a broad, grand outlook, but poor blind 
 Henry can never realize anything of its beauty ! 
 
 Did you ever stop to think what it would be to live 
 in total darkness all the time ! 
 
 36 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind, 
 
 Supposing, some day, when you were playing 
 blindman's buff (playing it " fair," too, so that you 
 couldn't see a thing ! ) the bandage should suddenly 
 grow to your eyes, and you could never, never take it 
 off! 
 
 Your face becomes very sober just at the thought ; 
 but here are more than a hundred children to whom 
 life must be a continual and very serious "blind- 
 man's buff ! " 
 
 Years ago it was thought impossible for a blind 
 person to learn any but the very simplest rudiments 
 of an education ; and since there have always been 
 more blind children among the poor than among the 
 rich classes of society, it almost always followed that 
 as they grew up, and no occupation could be found 
 for them, they became, in the end, paupers and 
 beggars — the world over ! 
 
 Just think what a future to place before a bright, 
 active child — as wide awake, mentally, as any of my 
 little readers — albeit his poor eyes were closed, and 
 his horizon forever bounded by his finger-tips ! 
 
 But in these last fifty years great changes have 
 been wrought; and there are now in the United 
 States twenty-seven public institutions for the educa- 
 cation of the blind. The thorough instruction received 
 in these schools places the pupils above dependence, 
 37 
 
Perkins Institution For Tlie Blind. 
 
 and upon an almost 
 equal footing, in many 
 branches of industry, 
 with seeing workmen ! |H 
 
 Little Percy, how- 
 ever, will understand 
 this better as we go 
 from room to room 
 and see the children 
 
 gives us some idea of the 
 
 38 
 
 at their work, or hear 
 them in their various 
 recitations. 
 
 This immense 
 
 globe in the hall, 
 
 that is covered all 
 
 over with " humps," 
 
 way they study their 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 geography lessons ; but besides the globes and maps 
 in relief, there are a number of dissected maps 
 that are as interesting as the puzzle game of " sliced 
 animals." 
 
 Shut your eyes, little Percy, and see if you can 
 put together this map of North America. Florida is 
 easy to tell, it is so like an L reversed, and Cuba 
 is a long narrow piece, all by itself ; but O ! those 
 puzzling Middle and Western States ! 
 
 Percy gives up in despair, and looks with wondering 
 eyes upon blind Nellie, who puts it all together, quick 
 as a flash, and without a single mistake ! Now her 
 teacher sends her to the map on the wall, and from 
 Maine to California her nimble little fingers travel 
 like so many eyes. The capitals and the mountain 
 ranges she knows by the big pins and the raised 
 lines ; then the rivers are all cut out in little grooves 
 and she can easily trace them from the source to the 
 mouth. 
 
 But what are all these little folks doing with 
 cushions ? 
 
 Watch them a moment and you will see. 
 
 Here is a long line of pin-heads, and there is 
 
 another coming to meet it ; one side is all crooks and 
 
 curves, and — why, it is the State of Massachusetts 
 
 sure enough ! Yes ; this is the way blind children 
 
 39 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 learn to draw maps ; and their bright, happy faces 
 show how much they enjoy the exercise. 
 
 And, by the way, did you ever notice how every 
 shade of feeling is expressed on the face of a blind 
 person ? 
 
 To me it is very beautiful — this utter uncon- 
 sciousness of others' eyes. 
 
 At one of the recesses — and by an excellent 
 arrangement they come every fifty minutes — I 
 stepped into a room where four or five blind girls 
 were busily chatting together ; of course they were 
 quite unconscious of my presence till I spoke, and 
 they made such a pretty picture that I stood for a 
 moment watching them. Two were frolicking 
 together — just like all school-girls — but one sat a 
 little apart, holding in her hand a box of bright- 
 colored beads. Every now and then she would hold 
 them close to her left eye ; and sometimes she would 
 put them down with a heavy sigh, sometimes with a 
 bright smile. I read her thoughts without a ques- 
 tion, so perfectly was her mind photographed upon 
 her face. 
 
 Sight was returning — but O ! so slowly. And 
 
 the one delight of her life was to test the precious, 
 
 priceless gift. " I can just see a bit of light," she 
 
 said when I spoke to her, " and now and then a lit- 
 
 40 
 
THE BUND BAND. 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 tie color; perhaps I shall see as well as anybody 
 sometime! " 
 
 Another young girl in the little group, who has 
 been for some four years in the Institution, gives me a 
 very interesting account of their home life. 
 
 "You know we girls all live in these cot- 
 tages ; and it is ever so much nicer than it used to 
 be when there was only the one big building. There are 
 four cottages just like this one, and we have a parlor 
 and dining-room in each house. Our sleeping- 
 rooms are on the second floor; if the matron is willing 
 I will show you mine." 
 
 And a pretty, sunny room it was, with its bright 
 carpet and neat furniture. 
 
 "•I make the bed myself, and take the whole care 
 of my room ; we learn a good deal in this way about 
 housekeeping. 
 
 " There are forty-two girls here now, so we have 
 about ten in each cottage, and it seems just like home, 
 we have such good times together. We rise about 
 six in the morning, sometimes a little earlier in sum- 
 mer, and we breakfast at seven ; then we have a 
 little time to look after our rooms, and if it is a 
 pleasant day we usually take a walk before school" 
 time. 
 
 " We do not go to the large building to study ; for, 
 43 
 
Perkitis Institution For The Blind 
 
 you see, we have a school-house all to ourselves ; and 
 that long gallery you came through is where we walk 
 at recess and exercise in stormy weather. 
 
 " At quarter of one the bell rings for us to put 
 away our books and get ready for dinner. In the 
 afternoon we have another school session, but it is 
 not so long as in the morning, and we spend a part 
 of each day in our work-room, sewing and knitting. 
 
 " Every evening we have reading aloud in the par- 
 lors, and we enjoy that ever so much." 
 
 But the bell rings, and, with a smiling " good-bye " 
 the girls return to their studies. We go back to the 
 large building, and Henry, whose bright, intelligent 
 face we shall not soon forget, takes down his big 
 Bible and opens it at random : 
 
 " ' And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, . . . for 
 the former things are passed away P " 
 
 O, with what a radiant face and touching emphasis 
 he reads the beautiful verses ! Does he realize their 
 prophetic import, I wonder ? 
 
 You notice it is the last volume of a series from 
 which he is reading ; for, although the bulk of Bible 
 printing for the blind has been diminished one-half 
 through the efforts of Dr. Howe, it still requires 
 several large volumes to contain all the Scriptures in 
 embossed letters. 
 
 44 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 The generous donations of various Bible Societies 
 now make it possible to give every blind person a 
 copy of the precious book ; but whenever a recipient 
 dies the Bible is sent back to the Institution to be 
 lent again, and so handed down from one generation 
 to another. 
 
 It was the Abbe Haiiy who invented these raised 
 letters ; but Dr. Howe devised the angular type, which 
 is much easier for the blind to read ; and all his life 
 he labored constantly to increase the number of 
 books printed for the blind. Dickens, after his visit 
 to the Institution, gave a large sum that was spent in 
 printing an edition of his " Old Curiosity Shop ; " 
 and, looking over the catalogue of embossed vol- 
 umes now printed at South Boston we find, not 
 only a goodly list of school-books, but Milton's 
 "Paradise Lost," and "Regained," Shakespeare's 
 "Hamlet" and "Julius Caesar," together with selec- 
 tions from Pope, Baxter, Swedenborg and Byron. 
 
 The " Howe Memorial Fund," to which a liberal 
 donation has been made this past year, and to which 
 is added all the proceeds from the sale of Dr. Howe's 
 Memoir, is to promote the increase of these embossed 
 books for the blind ; and so to carry out, as far as 
 possible, one of the last wishes of Dr. Howe. 
 
 Beside the ordinary method of printing for the 
 45 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 blind, there is IfM 
 
 Moon's Alphabetic M t 
 
 System, which is W/f/ijJ 
 
 very helpful to j1(|[(" 
 blind persons 
 whose touch is too 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 hardened to distinguish finer letters ; and the Braille 
 system, which is also used for common hand-writing 
 among the blind, and for musical notation. 
 
 In the grammar exercises to-day, you will notice, 
 little Percy, what an ingenious contrivance it is — 
 this Braille system of point-writing. 
 
 It has long been used in Great Britain and all over 
 Europe; and three kinds of tablets have been 
 invented, one of which, called the " Daisy," is just a 
 little frame that looks like a slate, and a brass block 
 one inch square, in which six points are grouped. 
 This block travels over the slate on two steel rods, 
 on one of which is a ratchet which spaces the letters, 
 and then there is a third rod that spaces the lines. 
 The letters are produced by placing the finger upon 
 the keys which, by a slight pressure, force the 
 points through the paper; so, by this means, the 
 writer can make a whole " character " in the Braille 
 " short-hand," in the time required to " prick " a sin- 
 gle point by the old style " French tablet." 
 
 It is said that Edison has just invented something 
 even better than this ; he calls it the " blind writing 
 ink ; " and as he dips his pen into the strange fluid, 
 and carries it across a sheet of paper, the marks left 
 are of a grayish white. In about a minute after, the 
 writing swells up and hardens, until it becomes quite 
 47 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 THREADING A NEEDLE. 
 
 perceptibly elevated above the paper. Mr. Edison 
 
 says, however, that he 
 does not yet feel quite 
 satisfied with the prepa- 
 ration, as with further 
 experiment he thinks he 
 can make the elevation 
 still more marked. 
 
 O, this wonderful 
 sense of touch! Why, 
 it is almost like having 
 eyes at one's finger-tips. 
 
 Here are some young girls doing a long example in 
 square root ; the queer little slates they use look like 
 printer's cases, and the little nickel types travel over 
 the boards just about as fast as chalk lines over the 
 black-board. 
 
 Isabel Romily, a very intelligent colored girl, gives 
 us an excellent recitation in physiology, and takes to 
 pieces a model of the human figure to prove what she 
 has told us of the digestive organs. 
 
 But it is in Miss Shattuck's recitation-room that 
 our wonder and admiration reach a crisis. What! 
 is it possible that the blind can be taught the 
 mysteries of Natural Philosophy ? Just listen to the 
 recitation upon " Light : its laws and phenomena," 
 from this class of boys ! 
 
STUDYING PHILOSOPHY. 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 With intelligent fingers they handle the philosoph- 
 ical apparatus, and, as they cannot watch, like seeing 
 pupils, each other's explanations, a part take the 
 prism — as you will notice at the right hand of our 
 picture, — while the others stand about the table. 
 
 The course of study at the Institution is now so 
 extended that when a pupil graduates it is with a 
 degree of knowledge quite equal to that obtained in 
 our public schools and private academies. 
 
 The one hundred and twenty-six boys and girls 
 (the Institution would' accommodate many more) now 
 enrolled as pupils, are divided, according to their 
 degree of progress, into eleven classes — experience 
 showing that fifteen or sixteen blind children are 
 quite as many as can profitably be taught together. 
 Of the thirty-six officers of the Institution, there are, 
 in the literary department, seven teachers, all ladies 
 and no one can listen to the different recitations 
 without being strongly impressed with the hearty 
 enthusiasm, rare sympathy, and ready tact displayed 
 in their methods of teaching. 
 
 Upon the Director, Mr. Anagnos, the mantle of 
 Dr. Howe, his father-in-law, has indeed fallen ; and 
 throughout the Institution his cheery hopefulness 
 and his earnest, devoted spirit are continually 
 reflected. 
 
 Si 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 The literary course embraces reading in a variety 
 of raised characters, spelling, writing with a lead- 
 
 pencil in the square hand, also in Braille's point- 
 system, geography (civil and physical), arithmetic 
 52 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 (mental and with type-boards), algebra, geometry, 
 history (ancient, mediaeval and modern), grammar, 
 rhetoric, composition, English literature, civil govern- 
 ment, natural history, physics, anatomy and physiology, 
 mental philosophy and Latin. 
 
 But besides the literary department, there are three 
 others, the musical, the tuning and the technical. 
 
 It is, very naturally, in music that the blind espe- 
 cially delight ; and, indeed, they really labor under no 
 disadvantage here ; for although the contrivance of 
 embossed notes can never equal those read by sight, 
 yet in quickness and delicacy of ear, and in a pecu- 
 liarly nice sense of " time," the blind seem more 
 gifted than those who are blessed with sight. 
 
 There are five resident teachers, with one assistant, 
 in the musical department; and all these, with one 
 exception, are graduates of the school. Then there 
 are three music-readers employed, and the services 
 of three eminent professors who are not resident ; so 
 you see the Perkins Institution offers unusual 
 facilities for obtaining a thorough musical education ; 
 and it is very interesting to walk through the upper 
 rooms where the numerous pianos are distributed. 
 
 Especial attention is given to the tuning depart- 
 ment ; indeed, seven of the pianos are kept just for 
 dissection ; and, after seeing how thoroughly these 
 53 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 blind pupils understand the instrument they handle, 
 you will never be afraid to trust your own piano to 
 the care of such a professional tuner. Last year the 
 contract for the tuning and the small repairs of the 
 city pianos in the public schools of Boston, was given 
 to graduates of this department of the Institution ; 
 and the work gave so much satisfaction that the 
 same contract has been renewed for the present 
 year. This is a very marked recognition of the 
 ability and proficiency of blind tuners, and we trust 
 the example of the school committee of Boston will 
 be followed by those of other cities. 
 
 After listening with delight to a blind boy's per- 
 formance upon the piano, we went down into the 
 large hall or chapel. Here there is a fine organ; 
 and here the orchestra of twenty-five pieces will give 
 you as fine a selection of music as you heard at the 
 Thomas concert. 
 
 But all cannot be musicians ; and there is one 
 bright sunny room in this great building where 
 cheery Mr. Wright and his assistants teach the boys 
 how to make brooms and how to seat chairs. 
 
 I shall never forget how pleasant that long working- 
 room looked, with its windows full of thrifty house- 
 plants, and its busy, happy workers scattered about 
 like so many bees ! 
 
 54 
 
Ferkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 The girls have a work-room, too ; and I wish you 
 could see how fast their ringers fly through the 
 meshes of crotchet, and how deftly they thread a 
 needle with the tips of their tongues. 
 
 They do all manner of pretty things, too, in bead- 
 work and bright-colored worsteds ; and, what is of 
 more importance, they can run knitting and sewing 
 machines as fast and accurately as anybody. 
 
 Most of the articles manufactured by the girls are 
 sold, either to persons attending the weekly sale, on 
 Thursdays, when the Institution is open to visitors, 
 or to customers at the store on Avon Street, in 
 Boston. 
 
 At this salesroom in the city may also be found 
 mattresses, feather-beds, entry-mats, brooms, etc., all 
 made by the blind. Orders are taken here, .too, for 
 upholstering furniture, re-seating cane-bottomed chairs 
 and renovating old mattresses and feather-beds. 
 
 All the proceeds go, not to the Institution, but to 
 the blind themselves. 
 
 I think one secret of the dexterity of the blind 
 children here, certainly of their ease of movement 
 and good carriage, is owing to the daily exercise they 
 take in the gymnasium ; and it is a pretty sight to see 
 the girls in their neat uniforms go through the various 
 exercises. 
 
 57 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 How they keep in line is a mystery ; but I suppose 
 it is due to their exquisite sense of touch and hearing, 
 and still more to the excellent training power of their 
 teacher. 
 
 Rings, wands, and wooden dumb-bells they use 
 with all the ease of a Dio Lewis graduate. 
 
 Of course the boys have other and more vigorous 
 exercises ; and now that the new gymnasium is com- 
 pleted there will be given still better opportunities 
 of developing bone and muscle. 
 
 The terms of admission to the Institution are as 
 follows : 
 
 All ' children and youth of average health and 
 strength, and good morals, who are so deficient in 
 sight that they cannot distinguish printed letters 
 one-eighth of an inch square, or those whose eyes 
 are in such a condition that they cannot be used in 
 reading without danger of the total loss of sight, 
 are considered proper candidates, as well as those 
 who cannot see at all. If the child belongs to the 
 State of Massachusetts, and his parents are poor, an 
 application is sent to the Governor and he enters 
 the child free of charge ; for the state now appro- 
 priates $30,000 every year for the education of such 
 children, and several legacies from private individuals 
 have recently been received by the Institution. The 
 
 58 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 terms of admission to other pupils are $300.00 per 
 annum, which includes all expenses except clothing. 
 
 
 \*k \ h urirr< ^ rriLtn. 
 
 
 The best age for admission is between nine and 
 sixteen, and the usual period of stay is from five to 
 seven years. 
 
 59 
 
Perkins Institution For The Blind. 
 
 The Institution is not an asylum but a school ; and 
 the adult blind persons who work in the shop live in 
 lodgings of their own or in boarding-houses near by. 
 
 I suppose there is scarcely one of my youthful 
 readers who has not heard about Laura Bridgman, 
 but I cannot close this long story of the Perkins 
 Institution without telling you of our pleasant talk 
 with her. 
 
 You know she is not only blind but deaf and dumb 
 too, and her senses of smell and taste are very blunt ; 
 but her touch ! why, that is like five senses in one. 
 
 Good, kind, noble Dr. Howe ! It was he who took 
 her, when she was a little girl, and let down the 
 magic cord that brought her out of darkness into 
 light. 
 
 She is forty-nine years of age now, and when you 
 read the book that one of her teachers has written 
 about her, you will understand how it is she has 
 learned to do so much. 
 
 With anyone who knows the deaf and dumb alpha- 
 bet she can carry on a long conversation ; for the 
 letters are made right in the palm of her hand. 
 
 Such a sweet, gentle face as she has ! Why, your 
 pity changes — now into love, now into admiration 
 as you watch her expressive countenance. 
 
 Shall I tell you what message she sent my little 
 
 6«? 
 
Perkins Institution 2<or The Blind, 
 
 readers ? She expresses herself strangely sometimes, 
 but these are just her very words : 
 
 " Tell the children I want them to enjoy themselves in 
 the presence of Christ — 
 
 "Heaven is wide awake/" 
 
 61 
 
BOSTON WHITTLING SCHOOLS. 
 
 A PILE of empty cigar-boxes, a brad and a glue- 
 pot, six movable benches, twenty-four jack- 
 knives, and twenty-four boys as bright and as sharp 
 as the jack-knives that was the beginning ! 
 
 It was in the winter of 1866, and the warm, cosey 
 chapel on Hollis Street looked very inviting that cold 
 January evening when the "whittlers" first came 
 together. 
 
 They had heard about it — these little street 
 urchins — the Sunday before at the different mission 
 schools ; and all the week their fingers had just been 
 aching to begin ! 
 
 Exactly what they were to do was, to be sure, 
 something of a mystery ; but, as Teddy said to Jim, 
 "Whatever Mr. Chaney or Mr. Rowell gits up is 
 allers tip-top ! " 
 
 I wish you could have seen the pleased faces that 
 62 
 
PIONEER WH1TTLERS. 
 
Boston Whittling Schools, 
 
 evening as the little fellows gathered around these 
 gentlemen ! 
 
 One after another the pretty paper patterns were 
 unrolled — scrolls, leaves, " walls of Troy," and all 
 sorts of curious zig-zags ; and then, with an infinite 
 amount of patience, these indefatigable teachers 
 showed the eager boys how they were to draw the 
 patterns upon the wood, and how by a "whittle" 
 here and a " whittle " there, the old cigar-boxes could 
 be converted into very pretty wood panels. 
 
 Of course there were a few cut fingers, a few knotty 
 pieces that wouldn't " shave off," and a discouraged 
 sigh, now and then, when the knife slipped over the 
 penciled line; but when the two hours' lesson was 
 over yOu would have been surprised, I know, at the 
 amount of work that had been done. 
 
 " O, Mr. Rowell ! Please let us stay just a little 
 longer ! " 
 
 "Do lemme finish this one bit, Mr. Chaney; 
 Johnny's done more'n me ! " 
 
 But the nine o'clock bell was ringing, the signal to 
 "shut up shop;" so, with the promise of another 
 lesson on the next Friday evening, the boys reluct- 
 antly put away their work, and went home, chattering 
 all the way about the " new school." 
 
 It was evident the experiment was going to be a 
 
 65 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 success j but to carry it on, two evenings every week, 
 was no light labor for the self-appointed instructors. 
 
 It was pure philanthropy that prompted them, and, 
 no matter how stormy the weather, no matter how 
 tired they might be when the day was over, these 
 earnest, energetic workers never failed to keep their 
 promise to the boys. 
 
 Every Tuesday and Friday evening the little chapel 
 on Hollis Street was warmed, lighted, and thrown 
 open to the " whittlers " ; and here, from seven to 
 nine o'clock, they were taught the practical use of 
 three simple tools \ the knife, the gouge, and the V 
 chisel. 
 
 From the very beginning the desire of these gen- 
 tlemen, the Rev. G. L. Chaney and Mr. Frank T. 
 Rowell, was to give the boys hand-training ; and the 
 purpose of the school was wholly instruction — not 
 construction. • 
 
 But, naturally enough, the boys delighted to form 
 brackets, tiny chairs, and other pretty ornaments out 
 of the carved blocks ; and during the next winter a 
 little inlaid- work was attempted, in the way of 
 checker-boards, where the white holly-wood and the 
 dark black-walnut were neatly put together in 
 squares. 
 
 In the Hollis-street school no work of the boys was 
 66 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 sold — indeed, it was impossible, I am told by one of 
 the teachers, to induce the boys to part with anything 
 they had made, although in many instances good 
 prices were offered for good work. 
 
 But in a similar school, established not long after 
 in the Lincoln building, the main object was to put 
 the children in the way of earning a few pennies ; 
 and here the articles were sold almost as quickly as 
 they were made. 
 
 In the winter of 1876-7 these two "Whittling 
 Schools " united \ and the friends and supporters of 
 each formed an association called the Industrial 
 Education Society. 
 
 It was just about this time that everybody, fresh 
 from the Centennial Exposition, was talking about 
 the Russian Schools ; and the Institute of Tech- 
 nology in Boston had already planned out a kind of 
 " shop-school," where practical instruction could be 
 given in the use of hand and machine tools for work- 
 ing iron and wood. 
 
 And here just a word about the Russian Schools. 
 In Moscow, quite a number of years ago, a trade 
 school was endowed and carefully watched over by 
 the Imperial Government. 
 
 If any of you have ever been through the work- 
 shops at the Boston Navy Yard, you will have a very 
 
 69 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 good idea of what this Russian trade school is like ; 
 for it is really a series of work-shops where, besides 
 building machinery, as they do at the Navy Yard, the 
 young men who enter are given instructions in many 
 trades. 
 
 But the Imperial Council soon found that a school 
 of this kind was altogether too difficult for beginners ; 
 it was like giving Beethoven's sonatas as a first 
 lesson in music ; and in 1868 they began a series of 
 elementary work-shops, as distinct from the trade 
 school as our primary schools from the higher grades. 
 Here the little Russian boy, who means to earn his 
 living by his hands — his hands educated by his brain 
 — can enter at an early age, and receive, including 
 course at the trade school, six years thorough instruc- 
 tion. 
 
 At the end of that time, if he has made a good use 
 of his opportunities, he graduates — a skilful practical 
 mechanic. 
 
 Victor Delia Voss is the director of these schools, 
 three of the Imperial family are members of the 
 Council, and there is now a funded capital of 
 $2,030,000 for their support. 
 
 So much for the Russian shop schools, after an 
 existence of eight years. 
 
 70 
 
IN THE GIRL'S CARVING SCHOOL. — MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS. 
 
Boston Whittling Schools, 
 
 I wonder if we shall ever see anything like them m 
 our own country ! 
 
 Certainly these "Whittling Schools" are a move- 
 ment in the same direction ; and when, a few years 
 ago, Mr. Chaney and others went before the School 
 Board of Boston and asked them to establish indus- 
 trial classes for boys, just as they had sewing classes 
 for girls, the answer they received was this : "If you 
 will get up a model school, such as you propose, and 
 carry it on long enough for us to see how it works 
 practically, why, then, we think we will talk about it." 
 
 Now that is just what these gentlemen have these 
 last ten years been doing — indeed, they have done 
 more than the School Board asked of them. 
 
 A few weeks ago, on petition of Rev. E. E. Hale 
 and others, the Joint Standing Committee on Public 
 Instruction gave a public hearing upon this subject 
 of 'Developing Schools, or "Technical Education," in 
 the Council Chamber at the City Hall. Joseph 
 Cook, Hon. Thomas C. Amory, Rev. A. A. Miner, 
 Rev. C. A. Bartol, Walter Smith, and other prominent 
 speakers, expressed themselves in favor of the move- 
 ment, and Mr. John Newell read an interesting 
 paper written by Mr. S. P. Ruggles, showing the 
 system recommended by the special committee, 
 which is called the American or Ruggles system. 
 73 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 Mayor Prince was present at the " hearing ; " and it 
 will be remembered that, in his last address, he spoke 
 very favorably of the establishment of such Industrial 
 or Developing Schools. "The State," he says, 
 "ought to train its youth so that they can earn their 
 
 bread through some form of labor What we 
 
 now want is the opportunity for every boy to find out 
 through these Developing Schools what particular 
 trade, art or calling he is .best fitted for by natural 
 taste." 
 
 Only a small appropriation of the public funds 
 would be necessary to pay teachers and the cost of 
 materials ; and in a little while such a Trade School 
 might become self-supporting. 
 
 I know little Peter Brown, who can whittle out half 
 a dozen toy boats a deal quicker than he can write a 
 single "composition"; and he and little Tommy 
 White, who made his grandmother an easy chair out 
 of an old flour barrel, would much rather learn how 
 to earn something with their hands than to read 
 Greek and Latin. 
 
 Well, we haven't the Trade School yet; but one 
 thing is certain, the Committee in whose hands the 
 matter lies, have put on their " thinking-caps ! " 
 
 After the union of the two "Whittling Schools," 
 the city of Boston gave the use of the Ward room 
 74 
 

 ,, ; 
 V 
 
 '■■■ - i-^"; -V -■4^ ; ^SSS'V,-? L , 
 
 ... . v.; 
 
 ! 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 on Church Street for evening lessons, twice a week. 
 
 If you could have looked into the room when the 
 boys were at work, you would have noticed, first of 
 all, how orderly everything was done. 
 
 A number of benches, four feet long and two and 
 a half feet wide, were ranged about the room, and 
 over each one was pasted a copy of these regula- 
 tions : 
 
 i. Be at bench at seven o'clock, according to your 
 number. 
 
 2. Do not leave your bench without permission. 
 
 3. Give all your 
 attention to your own 
 work. Do not notice 
 anything that others 
 are doing, unless re- 
 quested to do so. 
 
 4. Make no un- 
 necessary noise, 
 such as whistling, 
 etc. 
 
 5. Keep your 
 bench neat, and do 
 not deface it in any 
 way. 
 
 WORKING MODEL IN PLASTER, DESIGNED BY 
 
 6. After work, pupil. 
 
 place all your tools and other equipments in your 
 77 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 drawer, according to your number, and return the 
 key to the teacher. 
 
 7. Every boy will be held accountable for the 
 tools placed at his bench for use, according to his 
 number. 
 
 You will notice by these rules that each boy had a 
 
 number correspond- 
 ing to the bench at 
 which he worked ; 
 each tool was also 
 numbered, as also 
 were the big aprons 
 of cotton drilling, 
 that the boys wore 
 while at work. 
 
 All the benches 
 were furnished with 
 drawers, where the 
 tools could be kept 
 under lock and key, 
 when not in use, 
 
 and upon each was fastened a vise with common 
 
 wooden jaws and an iron screw. 
 
 A gas-burner^ with movable arm, was also placed 
 7S 
 
 WORKING MODEL IN PLASTER, DESIGNED BY 
 PUPIL. 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 over each bench ; so, altogether, the little Ward room 
 looked very shop-like. 
 
 More boys wanted to come than could be accommo- 
 dated ; but as there was just room at the benches for 
 thirty-two, this number was received, and if any boy 
 was absent two evenings in succession, his place was 
 given to another. 
 
 Some of these boys were in the day-school — their 
 ages ranged from twelve to sixteen — while others 
 had places in stores and offices. 
 
 Twelve of them had been taught how to use the 
 jig-saw and knife, but none of them had had any 
 training in wood-carving or in the use of the chisel. 
 
 In the Hollis-street chapel, and in the Lincoln 
 Building, the work had been, from the first, a sort of 
 experiment; but it had proved so successful the 
 teachers now desired something more systematic, and 
 so a course of twenty-four lessons was prepared, such 
 as would allow the greatest amount of instruction 
 with the least expense of tools and material. 
 
 According to the Russian system the boys were 
 taught in classes ; that is, they all did the same thing 
 at the same time. 
 
 The tools they used in all these twenty-four lessons 
 were the flat chisel, the gouge and the veining tool ; 
 and the materials they worked upon were smooth 
 79 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 "A CHANGE 
 INTO SOMETHING RICH AND STRANGE. 
 
 [ Girls' Carving School. J 
 
 blocks of white- 
 wood, six inches 
 long, two or 
 three inches 
 broad, and one 
 and a half inch 
 thick. 
 
 In one of the 
 lessons cherry- 
 wood was taken 
 in the place of 
 white-wood, but 
 it proved too 
 hard for the 
 younger boys. 
 
 No article, as 
 you see, was 
 made here as in 
 the first "Whit- 
 tling Schools ] " 
 for the object 
 was simply to 
 train the hand 
 
 in certain ways 
 that would be 
 
 equally useful in many different trades. 
 80 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 After the blocks were finished they were put in a 
 rack on one side of the room ; and as a rank list was 
 kept and pasted on the wall, each boy could see 
 just how his work was estimated. 
 
 Of course there was as great a difference in the 
 progress as in the natural abilities of these thirty- 
 two boys ; but it is interesting to trace the result of 
 this hand-culture in two or three special instances. 
 
 One shy little German boy, who came one evening 
 with his mother, was sure he couldn't do anything. 
 But, after half a dozen lessons, he gained so much 
 confidence that, instead of dreading to learn the har- 
 ness trade, which his mother had selected for him, he 
 was eager to begin. 
 
 Another lad, who had taken two or three courses, 
 soon began to show a decided taste for designing. 
 
 I saw a bit of oak upon which he had carved out a 
 very pretty pattern, all his own, and it was quite evi- 
 dent in what direction his forte lay. 
 
 It is this same little fellow, if I remember rightly, 
 who has now a good situation in a wood-carving 
 establishment. 
 
 Another of the " whittlers " has secured one of the 
 Scholarships at the Technology Institute ; and with 
 the excellent opportunities given him there, I see no 
 
 81 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 reason why he should not become a really skilful 
 artisan. 
 
 I wonder if any of my little Boston readers have 
 ever been through that long, low building just between 
 the Technology Institute- and the Gymnasium ? 
 
 I know Freddie and Lizzie have coasted down the 
 little slope of ground close by ; but I doubt if they 
 have ever found out where all the black smoke came 
 from that leaves those curious little grimy marks on 
 the snow. 
 
 Let us take a peep inside. 
 
 Here is a room where a number of ladies are 
 trying chemical experiments; and here is another 
 where there are a lot of microscopes and ever so 
 many curious things to examine with them ; but how 
 about that black smoke ? Surely it never could have 
 come from either of these rooms ! 
 
 Ah, it is this room which holds the secret ! And 
 doesn't it make a pretty picture as we peep through 
 the half-opened door ! 
 
 Six forges, with the bright flames dancing up 
 through the long chimneys, and six busy boys, with 
 long " foundry " aprons, curious little caps, and 
 sleeves rolled up to their elbows ! 
 
 It is one of a series of work-shops, you see, and 
 
 82 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 belongs to the new department at the Institute, called 
 the " School of Mechanic Arts." 
 
 These shop courses are all carried on after the 
 Russian system, and when complete will include car- 
 pentry, joinery, wood-turning and pattern-making, in 
 wood -j with vise-work, forging, foundry-work and 
 machine tool-work, in iron. 
 
 The fee for students who wish to take only these 
 shop-courses at the Institute is but thirty dollars for 
 each course ; and this sum includes the use of tools 
 and materials. 
 
 Prof. Ware has charge of the wood-working \ and 
 Prof. Whitaker, who has kindly given much valuable as- 
 sistance in the organization of the " Whittling Schools," 
 has the direction of the metal-working department. 
 
 While these two gentlemen have the general super- 
 vision of the " shop-courses," skilled workmen in 
 wood and metal give practical instruction to the 
 boys. 
 
 One of the first things taught in the wood-working 
 shop is the " dove-tailing " used so much in box- 
 making and cabinet-work ; indeed, all the lessons 
 here, as in the other " shops," are to give principles 
 rather than products. 
 
 When our grandfathers were children, a boy who 
 wanted to learn a trade was bound as an apprentice 
 
 8 3 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 for a certain number of 
 years ; and it was a long 
 time before he could ex- 
 pect to earn any wages. 
 
 No doubt, if he had a 
 good master, he learned 
 his trade very thoroughly 
 in this way ; but how few 
 boys, now-a-days, could 
 give seven or eight years 
 to apprenticeship ! 
 
 In these schools a 
 thorough shop-course, 
 which includes eight hun- 
 dred and forty hours 
 practice, is just about 
 equal, in the amount of 
 real knowledge it gives to one of those long apprentice- 
 ships ; and a graduate from the School of Mechanic 
 Arts ought to be able to do good work, and to earn 
 reasonable wages as soon as he leaves the Institute. 
 
 But it is not only to our boys that all these 
 opportunities are offered ; to the girls, too, a school 
 — not exactly of " whittling," but of carving and 
 modelling, is now open. 
 
 At first the Ward room on Church Street was 
 
 8 4 
 
 GRINDING TOOLS. — GIRLS 7 CRVING 
 SCHOOL. 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 granted by the city for this purpose ; and the benches 
 and other fixtures used by the boys in the evening 
 school were kindly loaned by the Industrial Associa- 
 tion. 
 
 Fifty dollars were contributed by the Woman's 
 Education Society, and many other kind patrons 
 were glad to help in the formation of the school. 
 
 Now a few rooms in the south-east corner base- 
 ment of the Museum of Fine Arts has been given by 
 the Trustees ; and here, any day but Saturday, you 
 will find a corps of girls busily at work. 
 
 In the largest room of the four, the benches and 
 easels are covered with work in every stage of 
 progress. 
 
 Here is a child's head in clay that changes 
 expression with every touch of the finger ; it is a 
 beginner's work, but see how deftly she manages the 
 moist earth ! 
 
 When she has every feature "just right" it will 
 serve her as a " working model " for carving in stone 
 or in wood ; and a very sweet little face it will be, if 
 we can judge from the work she has done upon it to- 
 day. 
 
 Another young girl who has gone through the 
 whole " alphabet " of tool-work, from the beveled 
 
 85 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 edge and saw tooth to the balls, leaves and rosettes, 
 is carving the back of a chair. 
 
 Through the open door we see another pupil, in the 
 inner room, where the clay is mixed ; she is at work 
 upon a piece of Caen stone — having already created 
 her pretty daisy " working model " in the clay, and 
 varnished it with shellac, so that it will not shrink 
 while she is copying it. 
 
 Here is a head of Beethoven, upon which a pupil 
 is just putting the finishing touches ; and at this long 
 bench we stop to admire the oak panel that, under a 
 skilful hand, is blossoming out into all manner of 
 pretty devices. 
 
 The school session is from nine till two, but, if the 
 pupils wish, they can stay and work until five in the 
 afternoon. 
 
 They can also have access, after the regular hours 
 of work, to all the galleries in the Museum for 
 purposes of study. 
 
 At eleven in the morning the pupils all take a 
 lesson in drawing ; for accuracy in outline, a correct 
 eye and a steady hand, are among the most essential 
 " first things " in wood-carving ; and it is a noticeable 
 fact that almost every beginner finds it easier to copy 
 a solid object in clay modeling than to make a sim- 
 ple drawing of it upon paper. The entrance fee to 
 86 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 this School of Modeling and Carving, is thirty dollars 
 for a course of twelve weeks ; and lessons are given 
 upon every day in the school-weeks but Saturday. 
 
 There is also an evening class for boys which 
 meets in these same rooms at the Museum, upon 
 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, from 
 seven to nine o'clock. Eighteen lessons are given in 
 this course, and the fee is ten dollars. 
 
 Mr. John Evans, a fine carver and excellent artist, 
 has charge of both classes ; and the practical lessons 
 he gives are such as will fit the pupils to earn their 
 own living as carvers. 
 
 As three dollars or more a day are paid to good 
 workers in wood and stone, you will see it is quite 
 worth while to learn this pretty trade. 
 
 Then, much of the work can be done at home, 
 which makes it all the more desirable for girls. And 
 to those who have any talent in designing, still 
 another field is opened; for there is a constant 
 demand for new patterns. 
 
 Half way down Temple Place, in Boston, is a cer- 
 tain window, in front of which you will always find a 
 group of admiring eyes. And no wonder ! For the 
 prettiest, daintiest bits of wood carving are placed 
 here ; and, if you want to see something still more 
 attractive, just step inside. 
 
 «7 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 Tropical plants, heavy draperies, and a variety of 
 pretty rugs — to say nothing about the pet kittens 
 and the wee dog on the cushion — give to the long 
 room a very homelike air. The tall cabinets, all of 
 inlaid work, are filled with daintily carved knick- 
 knacks, and there isn't the least look of a " store " 
 about the place. 
 
 This is the headquarters of the " Sorrento Wood 
 Carving Co." And, if you will believe me, the 
 whole business is carried on just by two energetic, 
 talented women ! 
 
 Ten years ago, Miss Hill introduced here in Bos- 
 ton a peculiar kind of " wood carving," to which she 
 gave the name of " Sorrento," in remembrance of 
 that lovely city across the Bay of Naples, where 
 nearly all the population are engaged in the same 
 sort of fret-cutting and inlaying. 
 
 It was in Canada that she acquired the pretty 
 accomplishment; and when she opened her little 
 " up-stairs " studio, on the corner of Tremont Street 
 and Temple Place, her object was simply to teach 
 others this novel, fascinating art. 
 
 But the numerous pupils that applied for instruc- 
 tion, the constant demand for new patterns and suit- 
 able woods, together with the frequent " orders" for 
 finished work, as this effective style of ornamentation 
 88 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 became better known, induced Miss Hill and her 
 friend to enlarge their plans. 
 
 How the business has grown under their able 
 management is a long, but very interesting story. 
 Twice Miss Hill has crossed the water to secure 
 some desired improvement in patterns or tools ; and 
 the saw-blades that are now used by the Sorrento 
 Wood Company come directly from Germany. After 
 many experiments they offer the public a " saw- 
 frame " of their own manufacture ; which, among 
 other advantages, admits the insertion of larger 
 pieces of wood, and is regulated by simpler and more 
 easily-turned screws. 
 
 I wonder if you know just how this fret-sawing 
 and inlaying is done. It is, to be sure, much easier 
 than the wood carving in relief; but, after all, it 
 requires a deal of skill and patience. 
 
 The steel saws are sometimes as fine as a needle, 
 and will cut, with a sharp, clean edge, the delicate 
 lines in a pattern that seem scarcely more than a 
 hair's breadth in size. 
 
 When it is necessary to introduce the saw into 
 cuts that are not open, small holes are made with a 
 tiny drill worked by a crank. This also makes holes 
 for pins and screws, and rims them out with all 
 sorts of points. 
 
 91 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 The outfit of tools necessary, costs, according to 
 number and quality, from two to six dollars ; and 
 only a few lessons are needed to teach one how to 
 use these magic little instruments. 
 
 Many pupils have received all their instruction by 
 letter. And, for the accommodation of those who 
 live at a distance, the Sorrento Wood Company have 
 issued a little pamphlet of directions, which is sent 
 with every box of tools. 
 
 At present, there is a great demand for inlaid 
 work ; and holly upon ebony, white-wood upon black- 
 walnut — indeed, every variety of inlaying — can be 
 done with these same tools. Tables and large cabi- 
 nets are now ornamented tastefully in this man- 
 ner, and the work is said to be very durable. 
 
 In the pretty alcoves curtained off from the main 
 room on Temple Place, lessons are still given by 
 these indefatigable ladies ; and numerous frames, 
 brackets, easels, etc., are manufactured just here. 
 But all the rough work is done by steam power, and 
 a number of hands are kept constantly at work, 
 down on Mechanic Street, where all the cabinets and 
 larger pieces of work are turned out by machinery. 
 
 Four years ago, a branch store was opened by the 
 
 Sorrento Wood Carving Company in Chicago ; but 
 
 most of the work is done here in Boston, and then 
 
 sent out West for more extensive sales. Two archi- 
 
 92 
 
A QUAINT CORNER. — SORRENTO WOOD CARVING ROOMS 
 
Boston Whittling Schools. 
 
 tects, one here and one in Chicago, are kept con- 
 stantly busy making their designs -, but all the print- 
 ing is done here by young girls, who are experts in 
 managing the hand presses. 
 
 The wood they always prefer to select themselves 
 from the lumber yard ; for it is only the best pieces 
 of bird's-eye maple, cedar, holly, white-wood, horse- 
 chestnut and black-walnut that can be used for this 
 dainty work. 
 
 Then it must ail be seasoned, and the planks cut 
 up into available pieces. 
 
 In all, they employ about a dozen workmen. But 
 the ladies themselves superintend every part of the 
 work ; and when the wood is ready, it is brought to 
 the headquarters on Temple Place, where none but a 
 woman's hand puts on the finishing touches. 
 
 One word more \ for I want to tell you of a certain 
 Sabbath-school class, here in the city, that have es- 
 tablished a private " Whittling Club." Every Friday 
 evening these dozen boys meet at their teacher's 
 house, and spend a couple of hours whittling out all 
 sorts of pretty ornaments with their " Sorrento Wood 
 Carving" tools. These dainty brackets, frames, 
 easels, etc., find a ready sale among their friends ; 
 and all the money realized is sent away off to China, 
 to pay for a scholarship in one of the mission schools. 
 
 95 
 
PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL OF REFORM. 
 
 THERE are children and children, and schools 
 and schools ; and a Reform School is, of all the 
 schools in the world,, one to which children most dislike 
 to be sent. There are two reasons for this : one is, 
 that a good child is never sent to it, and the other 
 reason you will discover as you read further on. In 
 large cities, more than in the country, there are a 
 great many children who, from various causes, are 
 so disobedient and unruly that their parents cannot 
 control them, and sometimes so wicked that it is dan- 
 gerous to allow them their liberty. Sometimes they 
 steal, set fire to buildings, and sometimes they run in 
 the streets, mere vagabonds and tramps ; sometimes 
 they are the children of respectable parents, but of tener 
 are oiphans or worse than orphans, and have not a 
 friend in all the world. For such unhappy children 
 as these, Reform Schools have been established, for 
 the express purpose of reforming them, teaching them 
 
 96 
 
ENTRANCE TO THE PHILADELPHIA REFORM SCHOOL. 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform. 
 
 to be honest, industrious, and well-mannered, to read 
 and write, to work, to play, and to be good, useful 
 and happy ; at all events, to be much better boys 
 and girls when they leave the school than when they 
 entered it. 
 
 The Philadelphia Reform School, which is com- 
 monly called " The House of Refuge," was estab- 
 lished over fifty years ago, and has cared for more 
 than fourteen thousand boys and girls. There are 
 rather more than six hundred children — white and 
 colored — every year within its walls. To feed, 
 clothe, lodge, teach, and care for so many boys and 
 girls requires a great deal of room, a large number of 
 teachers and managers, and plenty of money. 
 
 There are several buildings — one for white boys, 
 another for white girls, and still another for colored 
 children — all of brick, and these are in a large park 
 which is surrounded by a high stone wall, over which 
 it would be difficult to climb. The money for the 
 support of the school is supplied by the city of Phil^ 
 adelphia, State of Pennsylvania, by donations from 
 people interested in the School (one gentleman, 
 Mr. Frederick Kohne, bequeathed the large sum of 
 one hundred thousand dollars to the House), and by 
 the earnings of the children themselves, which last 
 year amounted to ten thousand dollars. 
 99 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform. 
 
 And how do they earn money ? They make shoes, 
 bottom chairs, knit stockings, weave wire, make 
 brushes, toy watches, match boxes, baskets, and 
 wicker-work. They have nine hours for sleep, six or 
 seven hours for work, three hours for school, and the 
 rest of the time for their meals and for play. 
 
 And now having told you this much about the 
 Philadelphia Reform School, and that children do 
 not like to be sent there, I must tell you how they 
 are placed in this institution, what they do after they 
 are once in it, and how long they have to remain. 
 
 When a boy or girl becomes so " bad " that some- 
 thing beyond the usual method of correction must be 
 resorted to, his or her conduct is complained of by a 
 parent, step-parent, friend, or public officer to a 
 magistrate's court, and if the magistrate finds that the 
 complaint made is true, he commits the child to the 
 House of Refuge for one year. Most of the boys 
 who are committed have been guilty of larceny, but 
 very few of the girls have committed theft. Most 
 of these, the matron told me, were committed for 
 bad conduct, that nearly all of them had either a 
 step-father or a step-mother, that their homes were 
 unhappy, and they had been neglected and often- 
 times treated with cruelty ; so they ran away from 
 
 IOO 
 
WASH-ROOM, WITH GIRLS AT WORK. 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform. 
 
 home, associated with bad company, and of course 
 soon became bad themselves. 
 
 Immediately after arriving at the House of Refuge 
 the name, age, and the offence of the child is noted 
 down in a book, and, nearly always, the superinten- 
 dent or matron has a talk with the young offender, 
 and tries to win his or her confidence. The child is 
 then taken for a bath, made thoroughly clean, the 
 hair is neatly cut, and a clean suit of clothing put on. 
 Every child has three suits — one for work, one for 
 school, and one for " Sunday." The boys' suit for 
 work is a gray flannel shirt and gray pantaloons. The 
 underwear of the girls in winter is of Canton flannel 
 — if one is delicate she wears woolen. Her frock for 
 work is blue-check gingham, for school a check of 
 red and black, with a clean linen collar, and for 
 Sunday a frock of blue and black check. 
 
 The first thing the child in this School must learn 
 is to obey, and to obey promptly, the rules of the 
 House. With most of the children obedience is quite 
 a new thing, and, for the first time in their lives, 
 they learn this very important lesson. If they refuse 
 to obey — and this sometimes happens — they are 
 punished in various ways. The most severe punish- 
 ments are to be whipped, put on a diet of bread and 
 water for a whole week. The matron, Mrs. Campbell, 
 103 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform, 
 
 told me of one girl who absolutely refused her bread 
 and water, going without food for several days ; but 
 when Mrs. Campell, for whom she had much affection, 
 told her that she should sit by her until she did 
 partake of her fare, she relented and afterwards be- 
 came a good and obedient girl. 
 
 When a child has to be whipped, the punishment is 
 always inflicted by the superior officers of the House, 
 to whom the task is a most unpleasant one. It is hardly 
 necessary to say that a whipping is only inflicted in ex- 
 treme cases, and only after all reasonable measures 
 have been exhausted and the child has proven to be 
 insensible to kindness, or a punishment less harsh 
 than that of physical pain. 
 
 The greatest precision and regularity prevails 
 throughout every department of the Institution. At 
 a given signal in the morning the children rise, have 
 so much time to dress, to go to their lavatories, where 
 they wash their face and hands and comb their hair, 
 a signal to march in military line to the dining-rooms, 
 others to stand at table and repeat a " grace," to sit 
 down, to rise up, to march to chapel for prayers, to 
 go to their shops, to leave them for a recess, to pre- 
 pare for school, to go to their recreations, to assem- 
 ble for evening devotions, to retire to their dormito- 
 ries, to undress, and to get into bed. 
 106 
 
GIRLS KNITTING AND FINISHING UP STOCKINGS. 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform. 
 
 For small girls there is one large dormitory, or 
 sleeping-room, and a similar one for little boys. The 
 larger children each occupy a separate dormitory, and 
 sometimes a girl shows much taste in ornamenting 
 her little room with its narrow window, as you see 
 in the picture. 
 
 The dining-rooms are very' pleasant, large and 
 light, with prettily-tinted walls, on which are painted 
 mottoes and texts well worth committing to memory. 
 The tables are long, neatly covered with white cloth, 
 and the food is nutritious and wholesome but not 
 dainty. The children say a " grace, " standing in a 
 reverent attitude, in concert, repeating a form of 
 words something like this : " Heavenly Father, bless 
 these, thy mercies, unto my benefit, and feed my soul 
 with that bread which shall nourish unto Eternal life, 
 for Jesus Christ's sake." 
 
 Every Sunday morning there is a general inspec- 
 tion of the children by the officers of the House, who 
 examine them from their head to their heels — look 
 at their hair, eyes, ears, hands, shoes, all the details 
 of dress in order to see that they are clean and properly 
 dressed for the services of the day, which consist of 
 the usual church services in the chapel of the institu- 
 tion, and a Sunday-school in the afternoon. Some 
 good man is secured for each Sunday to " preach " 
 109 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform. 
 
 — although what he says is more of a " talk" — and 
 the Sunday-school teachers are kind men and women 
 who come in from the city churches. The children 
 sing well, and in their chapel there is both a piano 
 and organ for musical accompaniment. 
 
 In the girls' collecting room — a very large and 
 beautiful room, with flowering plants in the window — 
 there is also a piano and pictures. In this room the 
 girls meet every afternoon for inspection before go- 
 ing to their school-rooms. As cleanliness is next to 
 godliness, it is very necessary that tidy habits be 
 carefully insisted upon. There is a large pool under 
 the boys' building, in which the boys are required to 
 bathe every day in summer and once each week in 
 winter. For the girls there are, very properly, bath- 
 rooms where they can take their baths privately. 
 
 All the work of the house, with the help of a su- 
 perintending laundress and tailoress, is done by the 
 girls. They cook, clean, wash dishes, set tables, 
 wash, iron, make beds, knit, sew, both by hand and 
 on machines, making clothing, and patch and mend. 
 In some of these branches of work they occasionally 
 excel, becoming excellent cooks, fine laundresses, 
 neat sewers, and expert operators on the sewing 
 machine. 
 
 In addition to performing the work for such a 
 up 
 
MAKING BRUSHES. 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform. 
 
 large family — six hundred, you remember — 'they 
 also do work which adds to the earnings of the es- 
 tablishment. Some of the smaller girls use the knit- 
 ting machines with great deftness. One little miss of 
 nine years, perhaps, told me that she could knit on a 
 machine seven dozens of pairs of stockings in one 
 day. Then, too, the girls have all the stockings to 
 finish off that are knit by the boys. In the shoe 
 shop a man with two boys, working a half of the day, 
 make the shoes for the entire establishment. Two 
 bakers and three boys make all the bread. In the 
 sewing-room there is a woman, whose business it is to 
 cut out shirts and trousers and frocks and aprons, 
 collars and baking-caps, sheets, tablecloths, and 
 the other very useful articles which the girls make. 
 To go through the various workshops and see the 
 children at work, you would not think there was a 
 lazy one amongst them all, for they work like verita- 
 ble beavers. Perhaps one reason for this is that 
 every child has a certain amount of work to do, and 
 if he completes his task before the hour for leaving 
 the shop is up he has the extra time for himself. Or, 
 if he chooses to continue at work, he knows that he is 
 earning some money for himself, as the boys and girls 
 have ten" per cent of what they earn. In this way 
 quite a nice little sum of money is laid up for each 
 "3 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform. 
 
 of the industrious ones, which is given to them when 
 they leave the House. 
 
 But, although these young people work so dili- 
 gently in the shops and workrooms, they greatly dis- 
 like to go to the school-room. Of all their tasks, 
 none is so dreaded as that of study ; and many of 
 these boys and girls, even twelve or fourteen years of 
 age, can neither read nor write, and some of them do 
 not even know the alphabet. Perhaps if education 
 was compulsory in Pennsylvania there would not be 
 a child in the state so ignorant. However, some of 
 the children both read and write well. 
 
 One little fellow, eight years old, perhaps, a little 
 Hebrew with a beautifully face and gentle manners, 
 read as beautifully as I ever heard a child of ten years 
 read. That he should have been sent to this 
 place for crime did not seem possible. After I left 
 the room, I asked what he had done to have been 
 committed to the House of Refuge, and the answer 
 was, "Larceny," which you know is theft. 
 
 Poor little fellow ! Some one had failed in duty 
 to him. 
 
 The studies in the School are much the same as in 
 the public schools — reading, spelling, writing, arith- 
 metic, geography, history, grammar, and letter and 
 composition-writing. All the children are taught 
 114 
 
COLORED DEP'T.-BOVS MAKZNG TOY WATCHES. 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform. 
 
 singing, and the boys have a brass band of thirty- 
 instruments. There is a competent teacher to in- 
 struct them, and their instruments, of the best French 
 manufacture, are of extreme beauty. This musical 
 outfit was a gift to the institution from the managers 
 and some friends, and cost twelve hundred dollars. 
 
 DORMITORY FOR THE SMALL CHILDREN. 
 
 There is a large and handsome library where the 
 children find good books and papers. 
 
 And I will mention here what both the superintend- 
 ent and matron of the girls' department told me : that 
 one great cause of the demoralization of these children 
 has been the reading of silly books, and the foolish sen- 
 sational stories that are published in " story papers." 
 117 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform. 
 
 These wicked tales inflame the imagination, filling the 
 young mind with a desire for what lies outside the 
 every day duties of home life. So you see how im- 
 
 IN THE BASKET-MAKING ROOM. — BOYS COVERING DEMIJOHNS. 
 
 portant it is that what you read should be good and 
 pure and innocent, for a spoiled mind is worse than 
 a spoiled body. 
 
 118 
 
boy's reading koom. 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform. 
 
 In this Reform School many of the children have 
 both, so that the body as well as the mind must be 
 doctored, for rags and dirt, unwholesome food, ir- 
 regular habits and bad company tend to disease and 
 ill health. But the cleanliness of this institution, its 
 
 GIRLS AT DINNER. 
 
 good food, good air, and the regularity of the life of 
 the inmates makes in a twelvemonth, a wonderful 
 change in the appearance of the children. If they 
 
 121 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform. 
 
 are absolutely sick they are sent to the infirmary, 
 which is a sick-room, and are attended by a physician. 
 As a further incentive to encourage the children 
 to good conduct, prizes and special privileges are 
 awarded, these being, for the most part, enjoyed by 
 the Class of Honor. When a child is first placed in 
 
 SCENE IN THE CHAPEL. 
 
 the Institution he is put in class ten. If his conduct 
 is good, the next month he goes into class nine, and 
 so on until he reaches class one. Each month he has 
 a ticket given to him bearing a number, so that he 
 knows precisely his standing. This ticket, or badge, 
 is of a different color for each month. For class one 
 the badge is silver, for the Class of Honor the badge is 
 122 
 
girl's dormitory and boy's dormitory. 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform. 
 
 of gold. If the badge given is black, the child knows, 
 at sight, that on one end of it is printed the word 
 " suspended," and that his conduct has been too bad 
 for him to be allowed any longer in the school. 
 
 Among the prizes awarded, may be mentioned 
 such useful articles as toilet-sets, of handkerchiefs, 
 tooth brush, hair brush and comb. Books are fre- 
 quently given ; and on Christmas, Fourth of July, and 
 Thanksgiving Day, bountiful and luscious dinners are 
 provided. On Saturday evenings the boys whose 
 conduct has been good during the week are permitted 
 to go into the large dining-room and playgames, such 
 as dominoes, checkers, and the like. All the chil- 
 dren are classified, so that the very bad do not associ- 
 ate with the very good. Sometimes the Class of 
 Honor is taken out for a holiday to the Zoological 
 Gardens in Fairmount Park, or, if in winter, to skate. 
 
 Various entertainments are given, from time to 
 time, to the children by the friends of the school, 
 which are often concluded with a dainty supper of 
 ice-cream, cakes, fruit, and confectionery. Some- 
 times the children, in turn, give entertainments to 
 their friends, such as recitations, music, and tab- 
 leaux. Upon such occasions the chapel is always 
 crowded, and the enjoyment very sincere and hearty. 
 One recreation of the boys I have neglected, as yet, 
 I2 5 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform. 
 
 to mention, and that is, their military drill. They 
 elect their own officers, who are properly uniformed, 
 and for dress parade they are aided by the instruc- 
 tions of an army officer. This military feature of the 
 school is in great favor with the boys, and undoubtedly 
 tends wholesomely towards discipline, as well as to 
 develop sense of honor and gallant conduct. The 
 girls have croquet and the usual amusements that 
 interest girls. 
 
 When a boy or girl leaves the institution a new 
 suit of clothes is provided ; and, in order that the 
 good instruction and ennobling influence of the past 
 year may not be lost upon them, there is a visiting 
 agent, a kindly and excellent gentleman, whose 
 business it is to keep in communication with the 
 children, see what sort of homes they return to, with 
 what associations they are surrounded, and to provide, 
 as far as possible, homes for such as have none, and 
 work for such as have no employment. In this way, 
 many boys and girls are placed in good homes in the 
 country, and become useful and happy men and women 
 who would otherwise, in all probability, have ended 
 their days in prison, in the almshouse, or on the 
 gallows. 
 
 The difficulty of obtaining suitable employment for 
 the children, and, especially, for the boys, is one of 
 126 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform, 
 
 the greatest that the managers have to encounter. 
 Some of the boys want to be nothing else but sea- 
 
 LEARNING TO BE TAILORS. 
 
 men, and a training-ship for such lads is in contem- 
 plation. Under judicious training these boys would 
 127 
 
Philadelphia School of Reform. • 
 
 become expert and reliable sailors, and so of great use 
 to the country. 
 
 As the hope of every country lies in its children, 
 it is not strange that so much attention is devoted to 
 the education and care of our young folks. As an 
 illustration of the interest people take in Reforma- 
 tory Schools alone, I will state that, during the Cen 
 tennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, ten thousand per- 
 sons visited this " House of Refuge " of which I 
 have been writing to you about. Not unfrequently, 
 after being discharged, children return to it, voluntari- 
 ly, as it is their only place of security and refuge, and 
 they evidently recognize it as such. This fact seems 
 the most eloquent testimonial possible to the fact that 
 discipline, control, and the habits of obedience, 
 promptness, personal order, and tidiness have be- 
 come to them pleasant and agreeable — and in this 
 fact lies great hope and encouragement for all who 
 labor in such schools. 
 
ABOUT SOME SEWING SCHOOLS. 
 
 I. — IN THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 
 
 SOME ten or twelve years ago, the School Com- 
 mittee of Boston passed a resolution " to con- 
 sider the interests of instruction in sewing in the 
 public schools." Not that the needle's sharp eye 
 had not, long before this period, peeped inside our 
 Boston school-rooms ; but since the time our grand- 
 mothers worked samplers and embroidered "mourning- 
 pieces " in the old-fashioned district school-houses, 
 sewing had always been considered an irregular, non- 
 essential branch of instruction that could be taken up 
 and put down at pleasure. Consequently, it had by 
 slow degrees degenerated into a dull, meaningless 
 routine, dreaded alike by teacher and pupil ; indeed 
 it was in a fair way to die out altogether and be 
 129 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 superseded by other branches — more ornamental, 
 perhaps, but far less useful — when the School Com- 
 mittee decided to look into the matter. 
 
 " Let us visit, individually, the various schools in 
 the city," they said, " and see what the children are 
 really doing in the way of sewing." 
 
 So one gentleman went down to the Cushman 
 School, another to the Hancock, another to the Win- 
 throp, still another to the Everett, and so on, through- 
 out the city. After a partial investigation had been 
 made in this manner, they met together and compared 
 notes. 
 
 " Patchwork and old rags ! " exclaimed one. 
 
 " Old rags and patchwork ! " echoed another. 
 
 " It is just a waste of time and materials, " said a 
 third. 
 
 " But if children can be taught to stitch together 
 old strips of cloth and to make those hideous, 
 interminable squares, why couldn't they be taught to 
 hem an apron, a pocket-handkerchief, or to make 
 some article of apparel that would be of some use to 
 somebody ? " queried the first speaker. 
 
 " Supposing we systematize the whole thing, grade 
 the classes just as we would in any other branch of 
 study, have a special teacher for each school, and start 
 the sewing on a new basis ? " suggested the second. 
 130 
 
In the Boston Public Schools. 
 
 It was an excellent suggestion and the School 
 Board proceeded to act upon it without further delay. 
 Considerable opposition, however, was manifested by 
 the city, as the extra expense of special teachers for 
 sewing seemed to many a needless outlay of the 
 public funds ; moreover, it was urged that sewing 
 would and should be taught at home by the mothers, 
 
 Interesting discussions followed which resulted 
 in the appointment, in 1875, of a special committee 
 on sewing, numbering two ladies and five gentlemen, 
 who were authorized to exercise a general supervision 
 over that department of instruction, examine the 
 pupils from time to time, and report to the Board at 
 the regular meetings in March and September. 
 
 One of the first decisions of this new committee 
 was to invite some twenty ladies to help .them in 
 their work; and with this large and able corps of 
 examiners, careful reports were obtained from the 
 sewing-classes in all the schools, and submitted to 
 the Board the following autumn. Upon visiting the 
 homes of the children, it appeared that a large pro- 
 portion of girls in our public schools could learn 
 sewing in no other way during their school years 
 than by the instruction afforded them in these classes ; 
 and universal regret was expressed that so little time 
 
 33 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 was given, and that little so irregularly, to this im- 
 portant part of a girl's education. 
 
 It was found that too many pupils were taught at 
 one time, especially beginners, and that the children 
 were allowed to hurry from one kind of sewing to 
 another before they had mastered the intervening 
 steps. 
 
 An absence of method, and a lack of time on the 
 part of the regular teachers to attend to this extra 
 branch of instruction, seemed to be the main causes 
 of failure ; and after a few more animated discussion 
 it was finally decided by the city that to obtain any 
 satisfactory results, special teachers for sewing must 
 be provided for every school. 
 
 How this experiment has worked, and is still work- 
 ing, may be seen most satisfactorily by a visit to the 
 Winthrop School, which from the first, has taken 
 advance steps in this department of instructions. 
 The school is divided into eighteen classes, accord- 
 ing to the several grades of progress, and the teacher 
 of sewing meets each class twice a week, one hour at a 
 time. 
 
 From the opening exercises in the morning until 
 
 the close of the afternoon session, Miss Cummings 
 
 goes from room to room throughout the building; 
 
 so there is not an hour in the day when some one 
 
 J 34 
 
NEEDLING IT." — MISS BRACKETT's SCHOOL. 
 
In the Boston Public Schools. 
 
 of the eighteen classes may not be found busily en- 
 gaged in sewing. 
 
 "The first thing I insisted upon," said the teacher, 
 'was to discard patchwork, and pieces of cloth used 
 merely for the purpose of practising different stitches ; 
 it was impossible to interest the children or to stimu- 
 late their ambition until we began to utilize everything 
 that was done in the sewing hour. 
 
 " I told them to bring from home, towels, handker- 
 chiefs, or some simple article of underwear, and to 
 tell their mothers that everything of this kind they 
 brought to school, was not to be returned until 
 entirely completed. 
 
 "At first the mothers did not seem to understand, 
 and were very reluctant to send pieces of work. 
 Many of them, I suppose, were really too busy to get 
 anything ready for the children, and some of them, I 
 know, were too poor to furnish the materials. 
 
 " So we sent over to the Hollis St. Chapel and 
 procured a few simple articles which the Ladies' Sew- 
 ing Circle were glad to have completed, even by 
 children's inexperienced fingers. 
 
 " I wish you could have seen how the dull faces 
 brightened when I told the little girls in the different 
 sewing classes that they were to put away their patch- 
 
 *37 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 work and learn how to make real aprons and skirts 
 and jackets. 
 
 " That was nearly ten years ago. Now we don't 
 need to send to the Hollis St. Chapel or any other 
 Sewing Circle for material, as you may judge by that 
 pile of garments just brought in by the fifth class." 
 
 I glanced around and saw on the platform behind 
 me a curious medley — sheets, dressing-sacques, hand- 
 kerchiefs, dusting-caps, holders, towels, curtains, table- 
 cloths, all sorts of aprons, undergarments, and parts 
 of dresses showing as great a variety of taste as the 
 various homes from which they are brought. 
 
 "These are all to be looked over, and most of 
 them will need to be basted," continued the teacher, 
 " before the children can work upon them. I often 
 wonder how anything in the way of sewing was ever 
 accomplished when the regular teachers were ex- 
 pected to do all this extra work aside from the daily 
 recitations." 
 
 It was a marvel to me how Miss Cummings herself 
 managed to prepare enough work for a thousand 
 pupils when all her time in school hours was occupied 
 in teaching the mechanical part of sewing to the 
 different classes; but before I had time to solve 
 the problem or to ask any more questions, the big 
 
 ■38 
 
Choosing thimbles. —at miss brackett's school. 
 
Iii the Boston Public Schools. 
 
 work hampers were brought in, and the work for 
 the hour distributed to the class before me. 
 
 The school-books had all been tidily piled togeth- 
 er and put away in the desks before Miss Cum- 
 mings came to the room, and everything was conduct- 
 ed in so orderly a manner that within five minutes 
 each child had her little lap-bag unrolled, her nee- 
 dle threaded, and her piece of work in hand. 
 
 " These little lap-bags," remarked the teacher, 
 " are the very first articles I teach the children in 
 the Primary class to make ; and they use them 
 through all the grades until they graduate from the 
 cutting department. Each bag is labelled, and at the 
 close of the sewing hour the work is neatly rolled 
 up, put inside, then collected in these large baskets." 
 
 " Please, teacher, I've got to the end of my seam, 
 and now I don't know .what I must do next ! " 
 
 It was a tiny brown-eyed girl that spoke, and when 
 Miss Cummings called her to the platform I saw the 
 child could not be much over eight years of age. 
 
 Yet her piece of sewing was a white apron, into 
 which she was putting pipings of red cambric ; and 
 the difficult work had been done so neatly that I 
 could not withhold a few words of praise. 
 
 " The whole family," remarked the teacher, " seem 
 gifted with a certain deftness of finger and accuracy 
 141 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 of eye — native talents that do not necessarily accom- 
 pany quickness of intellect. We have three of the 
 children in school, and I doubt if any of them will 
 ever do much at their books ; but the eldest daughter, 
 a girl of fifteen, has developed a wonderful ability in 
 the use of her needle. She has just graduated from 
 my highest sewing class, and is fully competent to 
 cut and make her own and her little sister's dresses. 
 Indeed, she not only does this, but has already be- 
 gun to take in sewing in order to help the family 
 along." 
 
 Is it " a waste of time and materials " to teach a 
 young girl a trade like this, at the same time she is 
 beginning a thorough Grammar-school education ? 
 
 The children are marked with " credits " and 
 " errors " in their sewing, just as they are in their 
 other studies ; and they are especially ambitious to 
 make something that shall be deemed worthy to be 
 placed on exhibition. 
 
 One little girl, only ten years of age, whose parents 
 
 were too poor to furnish her with the desired material 
 
 for a dress, earned enough pennies by doing errands 
 
 for a neighbor's family to buy herself a few yards of 
 
 pink cambric. The teacher, kindly interested in the 
 
 child's efforts, cut out the whole suit — overskirt, 
 
 basque and all — and every stitch of the dress was 
 142 
 
In the Boston Public Schools. 
 
 done by the little girl herself in the two hours a week 
 allotted to sewing. 
 
 She has worn the pretty suit to school many times 
 since, and not a few of her mates have been stimulated 
 to better work thereby. Indeed, a marked improve- 
 ment in all the children's dresses has been a notice- 
 able fact in the Winthrop School ever since the 
 department of sewing has been conducted in this 
 methodical, rational manner. 
 
 The mothers frequently express their gratitude to 
 the sewing teachers for the excellent and practical 
 instruction given to their daughters ; and some of 
 them have much to say about the assistance thus 
 afforded them in their own work at home. One child 
 is ambitious to make the baby a dress, another wants 
 to run up the seams in her mother's calico dress, a 
 third tries to finish off her father's shirt,' and one 
 little girl, only eleven years of age, completed the 
 other day a pair of pants for her brother that, as a 
 specimen of nice tailoring, is worthy a place in the 
 window of Hollander or Schumann. 
 
 It is just as easy to make a pretty, tasteful garment 
 as an ugly one, and the children are always encour- 
 aged to exercise good taste in the selection of their 
 materials. The little girls thoroughly enjoy their shop- 
 ping expeditions, and there is not a child in the Win- 
 143 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 throp School who is not thoroughly posted upon the 
 current price of cotton cloth, and just how many yards 
 it will take to make this or that article of underwear. 
 
 For a while it seemed advisable to restrict the 
 sewing to the lower classes, and in one school the 
 work was divided into fourteen grades, as follows : 
 
 i. Basting; 2. Running; 3. Oversewing; 4, Sew- 
 ing on buttons ; 5. Overcasting; 7. Felling; 8. Back- 
 stitching; 9. Gathering; 10. Putting on bands; 11. 
 Button-holes; T2. Tucking; 13. Ruffling; 14. Mend- 
 ing and darning. 
 
 In the Winthrop School, however, where the stand- 
 ard of the graduating class ranks quite as high if not 
 higher than that of any of the other schools, the first 
 or upper class are taught how to cut and fit garments. 
 The patterns are given from blackboard designs, and 
 are drawn from dictation and geometrical drawing. 
 The system taught the cutting classes does not re- 
 quire a chart, but consists of a series of rules and 
 measurements which each child copies into a blank- 
 book and takes away with her when she leaves school. 
 
 This department seems especially fascinating to 
 the little girls, and it is very interesting to watch 
 their dexterous movements, as with quick, womanly 
 intuition and real geometric insight they seize upon 
 
 144 
 
In the Boston Public Schools. 
 
 the requisite lines and angles in the brown paper 
 diagrams. 
 
 The instruction received in the drawing classes is 
 put into practical exercise, and I am told that those 
 pupils who succeed best with their pencil, bear off 
 the palm in the cutting department. At the last 
 examination, a young girl took the measurements of 
 pne of her companions, drew the pattern upon paper, 
 cut out from it the silesia lining, and in the space of 
 a few moments procured " a perfect fit." Some, of 
 course, learn the system more rapidly than others ; 
 but no child leaves school until she is thoroughly 
 drilled in all these mysteries of cutting and fitting. 
 
 Last year in the Winthrop School alone, three 
 thousand, eight hundred and eight garments were 
 completed by the pupils in the sewing classes, among 
 which number were ten shirts, twenty-nine dresses, 
 eleven sacques and eight 'hundred and seventy-five 
 aprons. 
 
 Of the other public schools in Boston where 
 sewing is taught, the Shurtleff, Norcross, Lowell, 
 Lewis and Harvard take the lead in the amount of 
 garments completed during the year, and in the 
 whole thirty-nine schools where sewing is taught, the 
 astonishing total of 66,148 articles is given as the 
 amount of a single year's work ! 
 H5 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 From time to time, it has been suggested by differ- 
 ent members of the School Committee, that boys as 
 well as girls — especially in the Primary department, 
 while their fingers are still pliable — might be taught 
 sewing with advantage. 
 
 We know of but one instance, however, where the 
 trial has really been made, and that is in the half- 
 time school for news-boys and boot-blacks down on 
 North Margin Street. 
 
 Imagine a crowd of little street urchins, all out at 
 elbows and knees, barefoot, smutty-faced, and — if 
 you will believe me — with clean hands " needling the 
 thread " and " overtopping " the seams as neatly and 
 deftly as you please ! 
 
 They think it is great fun — these little Arabs — 
 and it is really wonderful to see the amount they 
 accomplish in the sewing hour. " Benjamin Frank- 
 lin," who shines boots down on the corner, is notably 
 expert in his management of the needle, and will 
 show you with pride a handkerchief he has just 
 hemmed in spite of numerous inadvertent scowls and 
 mouth-puckers. The first day, however, he took the 
 sharp little instrument in his hand, he sewed his fore- 
 finger into the "rag" — as he disrespectfully denom- 
 inated the bit of patchwork. Thereupon he came to 
 his teacher for a surgical operation, and since that he 
 146 
 
Jn the Boston Public Schools. 
 
 has insisted upon wearing two thimbles — one upon 
 each hand — as you see in the picture. 
 
 The boys upon being asked what they would like 
 best to do in the line of sewing, ambitiously men- 
 tioned "jackets, pants " and " bags to carry our books 
 
 " BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.' ' 
 
 in ;" but it is to be hoped that one of the first prac- 
 tical outgrowths of their new accomplishment will be 
 to patch up their rags and sew on their missing but- 
 tons ! In fact, a " mending afternoon " would not be a 
 bad idea, would it ? " 
 
 H7 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 II. SEWING SCHOOLS UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 THE Mission Sewing-school at the North End 
 grew out of a Relief Society, which was formed 
 by the ladies then connected with the Mission, who 
 met every week to make and repair clothing for the 
 children of the Sabbath-school. In January of the 
 following year, this gathering developed a Sewing- 
 school for the girls of the North End to teach them 
 to make their own garments. Mrs. Wm. Claflin was 
 President with a body of able officers. The school, 
 which was held in the chapel of the Mission opened 
 with fifty-six girls, and there has never been any lack 
 of pupils. * For two weeks each season before it 
 opens, the Mission is literally besieged by children, 
 wanting to know when the Sewing-school will begin. 
 The lack is of teachers. 
 
 Funds are provided by the Mission when necessary ; 
 but every effort is made by the friends and officers of 
 the school to relieve the Mission as much as possible, 
 donations sometimes being made by charitable people 
 of the unbleached cotton used for underclothing, the 
 blue-gray flannel for skirts, the prints and gingham for 
 aprons and long-sleeved tiers, together with thread, 
 needles and thimbles for the little seamstresses. When 
 148 
 
Sewing Schools Under Difficulties. 
 
 the school has been particularly fortunate in subscrip- 
 tions, dresses of pretty, light prints, cut out, but 
 unmade, are also furnished to those children who have 
 been particularly industrious and skilful. Fairs are 
 also occasionally held. When you hear of a " North- 
 End Mission Fair " you may know what the money is 
 wanted for. 
 
 The average attendance of the school is about one 
 hundred, and the average age about nine, though 
 many are as young as six years, and there are some 
 girls of fourteen. For these older girls "places " are 
 sometimes found. Many come year after year ; and 
 often there is marked advance made in sewing, while 
 nearly always the dispositions and manners of the 
 pupils seem much improved. 
 
 The school is opened with prayer and singing ; the 
 prayer is listened to respectfully, and all, even the 
 very little ones, heartily join in the singing. As I 
 said, they are generally orderly, although sometimes 
 an untamed pupil will set her whole neighborhood 
 in a ferment. I saw one as she left the school, tear 
 the hat off the head of a girl about her own size 
 and throw it into an express-wagon that was slowly 
 passing by. The driver, perfectly unconscious, at 
 that moment whipped up his horses and drove quick- 
 ly out of sight, with the owner of the hat running mad- 
 *5? 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 ly after him, and shrieking at the top of her voice. 
 The children who witnessed this scene seemed to 
 be about equally divided in opinion concerning it. 
 Some evidently regarded it as a charmingly success- 
 ful joke, and the others as a great offence. This dif- 
 ference of opinion promised to result in a "gen- 
 eral row," when the appearance of the teachers 
 dispersed the combatants. 
 
 When you see the children on the street you per- 
 ceive one of their greatest needs — that of shoes, 
 which are among the most difficult things for poor 
 people to get. They are always expensive to buy, 
 are seldom given away, are almost always worn till in 
 the estimation of the owners they are only fit to throw 
 away, and are finally rescued from dirt-heaps by rag- 
 pickers and sold to the poor people who wear them. 
 So you can easily see what a welcome a lot of even 
 half-worn boots and shoes would get at the North- 
 End Mission. 
 
 Although the school is meant chiefly for the chil- 
 dren of its own neighborhood, some come from long 
 distances, it being not absolutely forbidden, though 
 discouraged by the teachers. Noticeably many come 
 from Charlestown. 
 
 The school begins at ten o'clock. But long before 
 
 that time a great many of the little girls, most of 
 152 
 
Sewing Schools Under Difficulties. 
 
 them thinly dressed, are waiting, in spite of the cold, 
 outside the door ; and as the school is held only from 
 the first of November to the middle of March it is 
 often very, very cold down there in North Street. 
 There are some Irish, some Italians, some Jews, with 
 a sprinkling of almost all other nationalities, includ- 
 ing negroes. There used to be many Jews when 
 the school was open on Wednesday afternoon, but 
 now that it is held on Saturday morning, there are 
 but few. 
 
 But the little girls are still outside. So let us 
 open that door, which is a shop door just like any 
 shop, show-windows on each side of it, with nothing 
 in them however, and go into this pleasant, large room, 
 well-lighted and clean, with benches arranged facing 
 each other, as in a Sunday-school — which it really 
 is on Sundays — and with a wooden chair for the 
 teacher, at right angles with the benches. A plat- 
 form with crimson carpet, a desk and easy-chairs, 
 make a pleasant spot of color, and with the pia<no 
 and a few framed texts give a look of comfort to the 
 otherwise severely plain room. But there is small 
 need of other furnishing than the busy, eager little 
 girls who are certainly learning a good deal beside 
 sewing from the young ladies, whose pretty looks, 
 
 153 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 pretty manners, and pretty dresses it is evident they 
 heartily admire. 
 
 And what are they learning beside sewing ? Well, 
 here is one thing : the teacher is showing a little 
 girl about her work ; their hands are side by side ; 
 you see how the child tries to hide her grimy little 
 paws, as she sees the difference between them and 
 those white, well-kept hands — she is learning what 
 " clean " means. That feeling of admiration for the 
 clean, and shame for the dirty, is a lesson that no 
 amount of talking would have taught. Here it is 
 impressed unconsciously by the teacher and learnt 
 unconsciously by the pupil, along with many other 
 good things. 
 
 These children are inclined to be sharp and suspi- 
 cious with each other, supposably the natural result 
 of having had to fight their own battles since baby- 
 hood, and you can see it in their faces, where there is 
 often plenty of fun and roguery, without the careless 
 gayety of children who have always been cared for. 
 Still they often show a great deal of helpfulness and 
 good feeling towards each other, and are quick to 
 take any little hint of their much-admired teacher in 
 the direction of friendliness. ' 
 
 Here is a little Italian girl just come in, and 
 so timid at finding herself among strange girls, 
 154 
 
AT THE NORTH-END SCHOOL. 
 
Sewing Schools Under Difficulties. 
 
 and at having a lady talking to her, that she 
 can't speak aloud, but answers all questions in whis- 
 pers. She says she is seven years old, and that 
 her name is Angiolina Mancini. She is very poorly 
 dressed, and looks as much as anything like a frowsy 
 little squirrel. Since she looks a shade worse than 
 they do, Teresa and Bridget begin to laugh at the con- 
 trast between her fine name and forlorn appearance. 
 The teacher, without appearing to notice this, says I 
 " Angiolina is a very pretty name ; " at which the 
 forlorn little squirrel brightens up amazingly. The 
 teacher asks if she can sew. She don't know, but 
 thinks so, in a whisper. 
 
 Bridget says : " Please tred my needle, teacher. 
 
 " Oh, let me," Angiolina says ; " I can," forgetting 
 to whisper. She takes the needle and preposterously 
 long thread to which all these children are addicted, 
 under the impression that it saves time. Her trem- 
 bling attempts excite the scorn of Bridget. " Give it 
 back," she says. "Yer don't know nothing." The 
 whole class have been watching, for it is a feat to 
 thread a needle. They all despise Angiolina now 
 — she has offered to thread a needle when she can't. 
 " Been putting on airs in fact," they say. 
 
 Now is the teacher's time. "It was very good 
 natured of Angiolina to offer to do it," she says. 
 *57 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 Here is an entirely new idea ; they all accept it 
 instantly, for it really was good nature that prompted 
 Angiolina, and they now recognize it. They grin 
 broad Irish grins at her, by way of amends, to which 
 she responds with still broader Italian grins, and all 
 is well. Still I am bound to say that in the absence 
 of a teacher, scratching, slapping and hair-pulling are 
 not very uncommon ; but then such things have been 
 heard of among children very well brought up. Much 
 worse than this is the fact, that occasionally some- 
 thing is missing, which couldn't have walked off of 
 itself. It is generally some piece of work nearly 
 finished, which does not appear when the bag is 
 opened. It should be explained, that each class is 
 numbered and has a bag with the class number on it, 
 and at half-past eleven, when the school is over, each 
 one rolls up her work neatly, with thread, thimble 
 and needle inside, and puts it in the bag; and as 
 they all get up and shake out their work, dropping 
 spools and thimbles, and diving down under the 
 benches for them, also exchanging mutual accusa- 
 tions of taking each other's thread, bindings, etc., 
 this is the occasion of considerable bustle, and if 
 when the bag is brought round next Saturday, 
 
 15s 
 
Sewing Schools Under Difficulties. 
 
 Bridget's nearly - finished 
 flannel skirt cannot be 
 found in it, who can say- 
 where it has gone ? If it 
 has been taken by one of the class it is a case of 
 considerable depravity, as every piece of work these 
 little girls finish is their own to carry away as soon 
 as it is done. Now, as you may suppose, it takes a 
 little girl eight or nine years old with very little ex- 
 perience in sewing, a long time to get a flannel skirt 
 made, especially as she has only an hour and a half 
 T59 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 a week to sew, and this is a thing they all feel ; and 
 they well know that Bridget has been very happy 
 to think she should have it next time, and any one 
 of them must have been conscious that in taking it 
 she was doing a very wicked and cruel thing. 
 
 But it is just possible, although she is making bitter 
 lamentation, that Bridget has taken it herself, argu- 
 ing that it is hers when it is done, that it is almost 
 done, and she might as well take it home and finish 
 it, and that nobody will be harmed, so it can't be 
 very wrong — in which line of argument she is of 
 course much mistaken, for one person is harmed, and 
 that is poor Bridget herself, who is led into much 
 deceit to screen her wrong-doing. However, as one 
 of the first principles of the teachers is to show no 
 suspicion without positive proof, she receives a new, 
 but unmade skirt over and above what she can make 
 through the school term. 
 
 Almost all the children seem to have some knowl- 
 edge of sewing when they first come, although many 
 are too young to have received instruction in the 
 public schools. Whether they can sew or not they 
 are all in a hurry to finish what they have in hand 
 since it is to be theirs v/hen done. Whether the 
 garment in question will fit them or not, makes no 
 
 60 
 
Sewing Schools U?ider Difficulties. 
 
 difference, as they always have a little sister, or a big 
 sister at home whom it is sure to fit. Their anxiety 
 makes it very hard for the teacher to insist upon neat 
 work, especially where a child tells her, weeping, that 
 her mother will beat her if she 
 does not bring her work home; 
 that, in fact, she beat her the 
 last time for not 
 bringing it. Or, 
 when Angiolina, 
 who is about as 
 clever at sewing 
 as a cow at catch- 
 ing mice, says: 
 " My muvver ask 
 me every time 
 have I finish; I 
 say no, I finish 
 next time. You 
 think I finish, 
 teacher ? " Who 
 wouldn't overlook 
 some poor sewing 
 in such cases, especially as the object of the school 
 is not entirely to teach sewing, but partly to provide 
 these poor little creatures with some decent and 
 161 
 
 GO RIGHT ALONG, MARY JANE. 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 comfortable underclothing, and do them as much 
 good, in a general way, as is possible in an hour 
 and a half a week. 
 
 Nearly all the little seamstresses seem to be 
 suffering from bodily weakness. How generally this is 
 the case may be seen in one class of six, where 
 one had such weak eyes that the water ran from 
 them almost constantly; another almost always 
 had her throat wrapped in flannel, and another talked 
 in a hoarse whisper a third suffered so from rush of 
 blood to the head that she was obliged to drop her 
 work at short intervals and lean back, while anoth- 
 er, a pretty little girl of six, whose method of sew- 
 ing was to stick in her needle with her thumbs and 
 forefinger, and then pull it through with her teeth, 
 probably had heart disease, as, on asking the cause 
 of her frequent absences, her older sister said that 
 it was because " she had a heart within her." The 
 teacher inquiring how this not unusual circumstance 
 affected her sister, was told that "often and often 
 she would fall down stone dead on the floor from 
 it ;" furthermore, that a large black shawl which she 
 wore trailing several inches on the ground was " dacent 
 mourning " for her mother, who had died two weeks 
 before of the same "fits," and the shawl, of which 
 she seemed very proud, was given her by an aunt, 
 162 
 
TAKING THE DECISIVE STEP. 
 
Sewing Schools Under Difficulties. 
 
 who was going to take care of her little sister, while 
 she herself, being ten years old, was going to mind 
 the house for her father. Some times they have 
 bad treatment from their parents. Said one child to 
 another, " Do you see that, Katty ? " pointing to a 
 large bruise on her forehead. "That's where me 
 father knocked me down." 
 
 " An' that's nothing," says Katty ; " I have the 
 marks iv the poker on me" 
 
 It is painful to see and hear these things, and it 
 is not agreeable to sit beside such neglected little 
 bodies, so it is not surprising that there is no very 
 " great rush " for positions as teachers in this " Boston 
 Sewing-school." 
 
 For nine years a " Woman's Industrial School " 
 has also been connected with the Mission. The 
 names of twelve hundred women are enrolled on its 
 books, and it has been reaching out its varied influences 
 over some seven hundred families. 
 
 Among these women above six thousand garments 
 have been distributed, all made by themselves, a 
 year's work in this school being expected to furnish 
 each seamstress with a complete suit of garments, of 
 her own handiwork ; and in a single year one hun- 
 dred and twenty seven of these poor needlewomen 
 
 had signed and also kept the temperance pledge. 
 i6< 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 The formation of such a school had been for years 
 a cherished plan of Dr. Tourjee and others ; and one 
 day in the fall of '71, a lady visiting the Mission (201 
 North street), found a portion of the Chapel curtained 
 off, and, within this impromptu enclosure, six women 
 sewing under the supervision of the missionary, Mrs. 
 Crowell, and also listening to reading by Mrs. James 
 T. Fields. 
 
 This cheery picture impressed itself on her mind, 
 and the next Friday there was no dividing curtain, 
 the whole Chapel being appropriated, each of the six 
 women the sole occupant of a settee, and nucleus of 
 the class to be. Sewing materials were plentifully 
 provided, and the gathering was named "The 
 Women's Industrial School," and it was resolved to 
 give each woman some garment to make, which on 
 completion should be her property. 
 
 The school was to be held weekly, continuing from 
 three to half-past four, p.m., the classes being left en- 
 tirely to the care of their respective teachers. 
 
 The six women hailed the project heartily, and 
 each secured several seat-mates for the next session, 
 who were, in turn, isolated as nuclei of still other 
 classes, and the result of the first year's effort was 
 some fifty members, with a teacher to every five or 
 six women. 
 
 166 
 
Sewing Schools Under Difficulties. 
 
 The sewing is always carefully watched ; here a 
 suggestion is given, there a stitch set ; but the truest 
 work, and what the women most long for, is wise 
 counsel and friendly interest. 
 
 At the expiration of the hours for sewing an oppor- 
 tunity is always given for " signing the pledge " and 
 many touching scenes are witnessed, as here and 
 there a woman in tears rises and comes shrinkingly 
 to the desk, while others, yet in their seats, are being 
 encouraged by those of their class-mates who have 
 already " taken the pledge." 
 
 " O Mary Jane," says one poor soul to another ; 
 "go right on, and don't be 'fraid now: you'll have 
 some dacent clothes to you if you'll only quit the 
 drink!" 
 
 By a wise arrangement, the women are allowed to 
 sign the pledge either unreservedly or for a month, 
 or even weeks, as they feel their strength will permit. 
 Since the opening of the school, its needs have 
 given rise to many an additional enterprise : first the 
 purchase of a home, or refuge at Mount Hope, where 
 those whose lives have grown a curse to them, may 
 not only find shelter, but be instructed so as to insure 
 their future self-support. 
 
 Again, in order that the women might have an op- 
 portunity for outside labor, a Nursery has been estab- 
 167 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 lished where the little ones may be either boarded by 
 the week, or cared for during the day ; this, in turn, has 
 given rise to the Kindergarten School, which, through 
 a lady's benevolence, has just added to its work a 
 " Kitchen Garden." 
 
 III. — A MODEL SEWING SCHOOL. 
 
 A GREAT deal has been said, of late, in Eng- 
 land, about the necessity of teaching children 
 needlework. Cooking classes are now being intro- 
 duced in some of the London public schools ("board 
 schools "they call them here), and they are beginning 
 in the same schools to teach sewing, with very good 
 results, and much to the delight of the little girls ; 
 while in all parts of England, ladies, and some young 
 people like my friend " Lady Betty," have started 
 small schools for plain needlework on Saturdays ; 
 and as the system is not only new to Americans, but 
 very effective and useful, I wish to give an account 
 of just how these schools can be organized and 
 managed, well knowing how many young people 
 there are like a certain young person named " Doc,'' 
 and her knights, who would undertake a little sewing- 
 room if they knew how very simple the organization 
 16S 
 
A Model Sewing School. 
 
 might be, and how successful if certain clear and direct 
 principles were laid down and prudently followed. 
 
 Before beginning the practical details I want to 
 make it clear that in this paper 1 am not going to 
 follow entirely any one of the systems which have 
 been kindly explained to me by friends, young and 
 old, who are interested in the model schools here in 
 England. It seemed to me better to take the suc- 
 cessful results of each, and while I have in mind a 
 dozen different schools (in one of which I was actively 
 interested myself for some time) I make use of no 
 special school as a model - } though if any of my 
 young readers care to know where the schools 
 here typified are to be found in busy London and the 
 wide, sweet country, I will gladly give them more 
 direct information. Only the other day I was in one 
 of these in a crowded, wretched court of old Drury 
 Lane,, and I could well see how excellent the training 
 and practice in simple home sewing may be made, 
 with a little thought and patient energy and a trifling 
 expenditure of money. 
 
 The first consideration of course, is for a room ; 
 and thinking of this reminds me of the pleasant 
 impression made upon me by the little work-room in 
 a pretty town in Devonshire, where I first saw a 
 Sewing-school in full operation. I remember how 
 i6q 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 bright and homelike it looked, with the cheerful fire, 
 the pots of flowers in the window, the gaily colored 
 prints on the walls, the neat chairs, not stiffly placed 
 but grouped cosily, and a variety of small tables with 
 drawers, and fixed boxes on top: " For you see," 
 said one of the lady managers, " in anything one 
 undertakes for the poor, so much depends on a cheer- 
 ful impression." From personal experience I can 
 speak of the advantage of working in a bright, home- 
 like room. It costs no more to give an air of good 
 cheer than to make things dull and formal, and every 
 child is roused by her surroundings to some new 
 impulses. It may be you have only to teach plain 
 hemming and folding, but remember that the mind 
 and soul of the little worker may be touched during 
 that simple lesson, and that self-respect grows in 
 proportion to its encouragement. To all of us, work 
 in a bright, pretty room is easier ; and the impression 
 such a room makes on a child who leaves squalor and 
 dinginess behind her at home, may have a permanent 
 good effect. 
 
 A room may always be engaged for one or two 
 days a week for a small price ; and, from experience, 
 I would recommend choosing a locality, if not abso- 
 lutely first-class, at least respectable ; for it does the 
 children good to leave their own neighborhood, and 
 170 
 
A Model Sewing School 
 
 it will be found they come better prepared for work. 
 
 The next consideration is the furniture of the room : 
 have at least a small Davenport or writing-desk, with 
 lock-drawers and stand ; a book-shelf is a good addi- 
 tion, as it is easy to combine a small library with the 
 sewing-class ; low cane-bottomed (not wooden) chairs, 
 some small tables, and one long, low, pine one, all with 
 drawers at one end, complete the movable furniture. 
 A wardrobe with shelves is useful if there is no cup- 
 board. A few brackets, pictures and the like, are, as 
 I have suggested, a very pretty addition, and at any 
 season pots of flowers may be brought in. 
 
 The choice of scholars must, of course, depend 
 upon the neighborhood and other special circum- 
 stances j but, while it is foolish to make any standards 
 of special respectability, certain rules should be laid 
 down as positively fixed and inviolable. Every child 
 should be compelled to come clean, so far as her 
 person is concerned, and as well-dressed as possible. 
 At the end of a special term simple dresses might be 
 provided for all industrious scholars, in which they 
 should be expected to attend the school. 
 
 The next question is the arrangement of the school. 
 
 The English schools are usually divided into .what 
 
 are called " standards," beginning with children of 
 
 five years, and going on to sixteen ; but, though the 
 
 171 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 scholars are classified in this way, and must of 
 course sit at their work with some reference to their 
 ages and ability, it is not well to place them in stiff 
 lines, as I have seen an otherwise pretty school ar- 
 ranged. The children in that school occupied hard 
 benches and worked in rows, as if they were in a 
 factory, while there was so evident an air of depres- 
 sion among them I did not wonder some little fingers 
 in the last row let fall their work, and one or two 
 tired heads tried "to slip down on the floor to sleep ! 
 
 Working in groups is far better. Give each " stand- 
 ard " a table ; each child a drawer, in which her 
 sewing materials shall be neatly placed. On entering 
 the school-room a few minutes should be given for 
 the " general remarks " from the head lady or young 
 girl in charge. Each child should be inspected to 
 see that cleanliness and order are observed, and 
 then the work may be given out. I will give now 
 the programme followed in a little English amateur 
 school, which is very nearly like that adopted by 
 the London " board schools " mentioned above. 
 
 The scholars are divided into six standards ; the 
 ages ranging in No. i, from three to five ; in No. 2, 
 from* five to seven ; and so on up to the sixth stand- 
 ard which may include girls of sixteen. In the first 
 standard only hemming is taught ; and a very earnest 
 172 
 
A Model Sewing School. 
 
 friend and keen observer of the movement* suggests 
 that this primary class should be divided into three 
 sections, the first using black, the second red and 
 the third white cotton. This is not only a stimulus, 
 but allows the progress to be better seen. Strips of 
 unbleached muslin make the best beginning; and 
 from personal experience I strongly recommend not 
 using the coarse needle and thread generally given to 
 small people for their first efforts. From the outset 
 it is better to accustom a child to the use and care of 
 a moderately fine needle and thread. Coarse muslin 
 may be used to advantage, and the lesson should be- 
 gin with instructions in drawing a thread and folding 
 down the hem ; then the position of the work in the 
 hands ; then the straight use of the needle. Never 
 make a little child rip any work done. It is discour- 
 aging, and moreover her progress is more evident to 
 herself when she sees the bad stitches in contrast 
 with the good ones. The muslin should be cut 
 (never torn) selvage way, so that one yard is divided 
 into twenty-four portions. The second standard are 
 taught seaming and the first steps in knitting. The 
 third standard, stitching and some small fine work, 
 like sewing on of strings, plain patching, etc. . The 
 fifth undertake piecing, gathering, stroking, button- 
 
 * The London School Board Examiner. 
 173 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 holeing, running, setting in gathers and marking; 
 and in the last division of this standard any white 
 garment may be finished, while the best foundation 
 for dress-making is laid. The sixth standard properly 
 includes nothing but the cutting out and preparing 
 of work ; but in this some simple dress-making may 
 be taught ; such branches of the trade as will not 
 change with fashion. Much instruction also may be 
 given to this class about the reasons for various forms 
 in cutting and fitting, the use of gores, the objects of 
 seaming, whaleboning, etc. 
 
 Having laid down the programme of work, the 
 next consideration is, how it should be taught ; and 
 here let me urge extreme patience, small beginnings, 
 and no anxiety to hurry matters. Needlework taught 
 in haste and learned superficially can never be ser- 
 viceable j but I will venture to say that during the 
 thirty-four weeks between September ist, and July 
 i st. a whole course of practical needlework may be 
 successfully taught, if system and patience are 
 observed. 
 
 I should like now to offer a few suggestions as to 
 the method of teaching the various classes. Begin- 
 ning with the little hemmers, let them thread their 
 needles together ; and children are always amused by 
 
 174 
 
A Model Sewing School. 
 
 doing this with a certain ceremony I have seen used 
 in a school-room : 
 
 The children rise" at a signal given by the teacher, 
 each holding a No. 7 or No. 8 needle in the left 
 hand. 
 
 " One," says the teacher ; whereupon the needle is 
 lifted and the cotton brought near the eye. 
 
 "Two," and the thread is passed through. 
 
 It is a simple diversion and discipline at once. 
 This same class may go through a little drill in 
 positions of ringers, elbows and work. 
 
 Only experience can prove how very necessary it is 
 to make these foundations of needlework firm from 
 the outset. The learners must be watched lest their 
 work is puckered. A lady engaged in teaching sew- 
 ing has told me that bad seaming generally results 
 from the child holding her elbow too closely to her 
 right side ; this causes the needle to slant in, and 
 the result is a pucker. The palm of the hand should 
 face the worker's chest, the needle pointing straight. 
 Knots should always be forbidden ; the thread in 
 hemming, of course, must be taken under the hem ; 
 and in stitching it may be carried to the wrong side 
 and one or two darning stitches taken. New threads 
 should always be begun in the same way of course. 
 
 The cutting out should be very carefully superin- 
 175 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 tended ; and a friend tells me that she has found it 
 a good plan to engage an experienced seamstress 
 who will work under her, for the one-half day of the 
 week devoted to the Sewing-school. Such a person 
 can direct the cutting and basting of the more impor- 
 tant garments. 
 
 In some of the English Sewing-schools the advanced 
 pupils are required to write short compositions on 
 work. There is a dictation class once a week in 
 which simple needle-work instructions are given those 
 girls who can write ; something in this fashion : 
 
 " In seaming, keep the palm of the hand facing 
 the chest ; slanting a needle makes a pucker. Open 
 out a seam and smooth it with a bone-flattener (an 
 old tooth-brush handle is good for this purpose). To 
 hem neatly a thread should be drawn before turning 
 down ; " and so on the dictations may be given out. 
 
 Questions are also given and the answers handed 
 in every week by the pupils. This all leads to exami- 
 nations, and the prizes are pretty and useful garments 
 such as young people always appreciate. 
 
 A poor sewing woman in London, who has worked 
 for me, was rejoiced to send her little girl to a sewing- 
 class in a very crowded neighborhood of old London. 
 The child is being trained for what they call in 
 
 England " upper " domestic service, in which good 
 176 
 
A Model Sewing School. 
 
 needle-work is always required. Last week the little 
 girl showed her "composition," which reads as 
 follows : 
 
 "Every woman should be able to sew neatly by 
 hand. Dresses or clothes ought to be mended as 
 soon as they are torne or the holes fray and you 
 have to piece them, and if you piece a hole or tear 
 you must do it very neatly and darn all the sides 
 flat. Never mend a tear by running it up on the 
 wrong side, that is slovenly and besides it comes 
 out." 
 
 This " composition " of course was based on the 
 instructions given out to the class ; but writing it was 
 a very helpful way of impressing it on Minnie's mind, 
 and when she grows to be a woman and has her own 
 children to sew for, these simple lessons will come 
 back and be instinctively followed 
 
 A good idea which a friend of mine carried out, is 
 to give a systematic lesson, once a fortnight, on the 
 uses of various materials : how to save in cutting 
 and making ; what is best, most durable, and most 
 economical for winter and summer wear. Small sam- 
 ples of cloth, wools, flannels, cottons, and calicoes 
 make such a lesson impressive as well as entertaining 
 to the children, who may be given at the end of the 
 instruction a small basket of the scraps, and made to 
 177 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 tell their properties and select a suitable wardrobe 
 from the "fabrics for winter and summer wear. It is 
 simply astonishing how much the dullest child may- 
 be taught in this way, and how the mind grows, and 
 learns to act with the fingers. 
 
 A few words now about the actual routine ; and I 
 beg my young readers to bear in mind that much of 
 all this must depend upon surrounding circumstances ; 
 and modifications and elaborations of any set system 
 are often advisable. 
 
 We will take for granted that our class assembles 
 on Saturday morning, punctually, at nine o'clock. 
 On entering, the children of each standard- — once 
 they are divided — should go to their teacher for 
 inspection; then take their places, and at a signal 
 take out their work from the drawer assigned to each. 
 Each child in turn should then go with her work to 
 the teacher, receive instruction and return to her 
 place. The work begun, the teacher should slowly 
 make her round — sitting down a few moments beside 
 each little table-group, and talking to them about 
 their work, instructing and supervising. At the end 
 of each three quarters of an hour, ten minutes rest 
 and recreation should be given, and at a quarter 
 before twelve if possible the children should have 
 each a bun, or something substantial to eat. The 
 178 
 
A Model Sewing School. 
 
 cost of this is very trifling but the benefit very great. 
 After this luncheon, work may be finally inspected 
 and the whole school seated in a semi-circle, while 
 the teacher gives either the dictation, instruction, 
 subject for composition, or the lecture on materials 
 and their uses, before described. After this, it is 
 well to give a general permission to ask questions for 
 a few moments. 
 
 As the systems and ideas here suggested are 
 many, I would advise developing them very gradually, 
 crowding nothing, and waiting for entire appreciation 
 of one branch or step before another is taken. Be it 
 only the folding of a hem, it should be done perfectly 
 before a stitch is taken. Another thing I should like 
 to urge upon all young people beginning any charit- 
 able work : too complete a classification of poor chil- 
 dren, even in a Sewing-school, is injurious. Nothing 
 is better for a child whose home-life is dulling in its 
 influence than to awaken a strong sense of individu- 
 ality. Responsibility is sure to follow, and a desire 
 to accomplish something, usually in a good direction. 
 Encourage thought and originality, if it be only on 
 the subject of the eye of the needle. Do not look 
 for the sudden transformations which belong to the 
 little rescued vagabonds of story-books. Remember 
 that what would be nice to you is very nearly virtue 
 179 
 
About Some Sewing Schools. 
 
 to the little people who grow up in the sight of all 
 that is brutal, and that the soul is touched, often as 
 soon as the mind begins to work, and a consciousness 
 that "I am," "I ought to be," and "I can be," is 
 aroused. 
 
 Finally, I will suggest what the probable expenses 
 of a little Sewing-room would be, and here I give my 
 own as well as a friend's experience. Hire for the 
 Saturday, if you like, or for all the week, one large 
 room, in which both heat and ventilation can be man- 
 aged. Use of this one day would probably cost from 
 fifty cents to one dollar. A school may be well begun 
 with the following articles, most of which you will find 
 friends will cheerfully donate, or tradesmen sell at 
 reduced prices : 
 
 Two doz. common kitchen chairs (cut down two inches) from 
 
 $12 to $20.00. 
 Six small pine- wood tables with drawers or boxes fixed, $12.00 
 One long, pine-wood cutting-table, $5.00. 
 Chest of drawers, $5.00. 
 Six brackets, $2.00. 
 Six cheap chromos, framed, $3.00. 
 Teacher's desk, $10.00. 
 Sewing materials, $5.00. 
 Unbleached muslin, $1.00. 
 Bleached muslin, $2.00. 
 Twelve yards flannel, $4.00 
 Twenty-four yards cheap dress material, $3.00. 
 Twenty-four yards calico, $1.44. 
 Six yards paper muslin, 36 cts. 
 
 180 
 
A Model Sewing School. 
 
 Rent of room from October to June of course must 
 depend upon the locality. It will be seen that be 
 tween sixty and seventy dollars will put any small 
 Sewing-school into flourishing order ; and if the ar- 
 ticles made should be sold, the expenses diminish. 
 
 181 
 
A CHINESE MISSION SCHOOL. 
 
 IF you happen to be passing through Ashburton 
 Place, in Boston, on a Sunday afternoon, at 
 about two or four o'clock, you cannot help noticing 
 that there is some attraction there for Chinamen, who 
 may be seen in little groups at the entrance of the. 
 Mount Vernon church. And if you should enquire 
 into the meaning of it, you would be told that in the 
 chapel below is held the Chinese Mission School. 
 The time is half-past two, but they are apt to arrive 
 earlier, and shyly drop in and have a chat with their 
 teachers before taking up their lessons. 
 
 To really get a good idea of the school, one ought 
 
 to anticipate these more than punctual pupils, and be 
 
 on the spot first, and go down and take a seat in the 
 
 room and see them come in — as we did. There we 
 
 182 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 found a company of ladies and a few gentlemen, who 
 are volunteer teachers, together with the superinten- 
 dent, Miss Harriet Carter, who started the school 
 and has always had charge of it. She was on the 
 watch, and as each scholar appeared in the vestibule 
 — taking off his hat before he reached the door — 
 she saw him, and by the time he was half way up the 
 aisle had met him and given him her hand; then 
 he passed on to his teacher, where he had a second 
 kindly greeting which put him at his ease and sent a 
 smile all over his face. 
 
 Then they came in by twos and threes till there 
 were about thirty present, of all ages from twelve to 
 forty ; each received his slate and primer, and school 
 begun ; but as everything is conducted in rather a 
 social and informal manner, we were made free to 
 pass round from seat to seat, ask questions, speak to 
 the pupils, hear all there was to be heard, and see all 
 there was to be seen. 
 
 Two of the number were dressed like Americans, 
 though one of these retained his queue, tucked round 
 under his hair, which he had allowed to grow. The 
 others were in their Chinese frocks, usually of dark 
 blue cotton, worn over a white one, which showed 
 under the skirt and sleeves ; and they all had on the 
 most immaculate white stockings, and queer shoes 
 
 185 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 with the thick soles made of many layers of felt, 
 sometimes even to the number of seven, and whitened 
 with pipe clay. Their complexions were of various 
 shades of yellowish brown, and the faces varied as 
 much in character as an equal number out of the 
 same class among our own people, notwithstanding 
 the frequent assertion that Chinamen all look alike. 
 There were some very animated countenances among 
 the boys, who were from eighteen to twenty years of 
 age, their small eyes twinkling with suppressed 
 roguishness ; there were also stolid faces and sharp 
 ones, but not one that did not brighten up over the 
 strange page whose characters were being patiently 
 interpreted to them. All had their hair shaven 
 except on the crown, and wore their queues wound in 
 a tight braid twice round their head. Taken alto- 
 gether, the many dusky faces, with the small wide 
 a-part black eyes and peculiar features, gave a very 
 strange and oriental look to the assemblage, so that 
 a missionary's son who was present and who had 
 himself lived in China, said he felt quite at home. 
 
 One of the oldest men had brought a new scholar, 
 who was almost a middle-aged man, newly arrived 
 from San Francisco ; and it was amusing to see the 
 kind of patronage and over-sight which the more 
 experienced one manifested towards the new comer, 
 1 86 
 
THE WELCOME. 
 
A Chinese Mission School, 
 
 who at once had a teacher assigned to him and the 
 primer put into his hands, and was made to repeat 
 the letters of the alphabet, whereupon it was found 
 that he already knew many of them. 
 
 " I show him twice," said the friend ; " he jus' 
 come las' week. I lent him a pair," meaning the two 
 columns of large and small letters ; " I tell him all the 
 same ; but he no understand now. Bime-by he learn." 
 
 But he did understand pretty well, and he was so 
 eager to learn that he bent over the A B C's as ab- 
 sorbed as if it was the one concern of his life to 
 learn them. " You tell them to him in Chinese," 
 said the teacher ; and so the list was run glibly over, 
 and then in English ; but when it came to the " z>," 
 he could not speak it. It is the letter which troubles 
 them more than any other. He called it u b ; " then 
 pronounced it u we" and finally after the teacher had 
 made him watch her lips while shaping it, as they do 
 at the school for deaf mutes, he enunciated an explo- 
 sive "ah-ve/" 
 
 After the pupils have acquired the alphabet — 
 which they do quite easily — a good deal of the 
 instruction is by objects ; and as they have as a race 
 quickness of perception, they catch at the idea at 
 once. As each one has his own teacher, the prog- 
 ress is very encouraging ; however they are such 
 
 189 
 
A Chi?iese Mission School. 
 
 a roving people and their attendance is so irregular, 
 they are not to be depended on as permanent 
 scholars. Miss Carter began with two, in the autumn 
 of 1877, and has had at least one hundred and fifty 
 in her school, many of whom are now scattered 
 through the eastern cities, and from Boston to San 
 Francisco, while some have gone back to China. 
 
 It is not expected that they will acquire much 
 besides the simple knowledge which will enable them 
 to read and write and use their English for business 
 purposes. Each is furnished with a writing-book, 
 with copies such as are used in our public schools, 
 and they have such imitative faculties that they soon 
 write a fair hand. Miss Carter asked Wong Yuen 
 Sool to read the copy on the page before him. He 
 complied thus : " That is m ; that w ; that is n ; and 
 that is u ; there are seven m's } nine w's, eleven tz'j, 
 six u's " — Wong Yuen Sool was learning to read 
 writing and to count at the same time. 
 
 Miss Carter keeps track of all her scholars who 
 leave Boston, and " follows them up," as she says, 
 writing to them, and receiving letters written by their 
 own hands, or where they have not sufficiently qual- 
 ified themselves to pen their own communications, 
 dictated by others. They tell her' about their busi- 
 ness troubles or success, and express gratitude to her 
 190 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 and good wishes for the school. Some of these let- 
 ters are interesting and well expressed, although like 
 many foreigners who try to write in our language, 
 they do not always put the verbs and prepositions 
 where they belong. For instance, such forms as 
 these occur : — "I was received your letter ; " "I 
 cannot to go." One writes from China that " things 
 are very different for what they are here," that is, in 
 America. One writes from the West : w I am in the 
 business of myself," which is not so very much out 
 of the way in stating the fact, as you will admit ; and 
 " I tell you that my business never going to be fail." 
 If I mistake not, he is the one who went to ride on 
 Sunday, and met with a mishap, by which his buggy 
 was broken ; so he writes : " But I shall never take 
 any more rides out the country again on Sunday, 
 because it is not right for me to do so." 
 
 One who has been in this country several years, 
 and who has proved a very intelligent student, and 
 fond of reading the Bible, wrote seven months af- 
 ter he had learned the alphabet : "I do like to you 
 learn me write a letter and read and sing and study 
 New Testament, learn about Jesus Christ. And I 
 do hope you as long as you live and can you learn 
 me everything, instructed of my heart " — which has 
 quite an Oriental finish. An other one writes : " I 
 191 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 think I don't make progress enough in learning 
 English it is a very hard language to learn think 
 
 l^^yi the Gospel of St. Matthew 
 ^H is to hard a book to learn 
 English from." As there 
 | is no punctuation in the 
 I Chinese language, they are 
 at a loss to know how to 
 learning to read, f use it here, and are liable 
 to leave the commas and 
 periods out altogether, as the above writer did, or 
 
 scatter them in promiscuously like little Ar Dong 
 192 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 who had never been 
 to a school till with- 
 in the year. Here 
 is one of his first 
 letters, which you 
 must punctuate and 
 get the meaning of 
 yourself : ' I go New 
 York School, 1 4 , 
 Moutt, St. School 
 avery Sunday one 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 man from Chinese, He, not, Chinese, He, wife to 
 the school, Last Sunday 13 Chinesemen. He go 
 Jersey City Washington St. I go Boston November 
 School avery night I not go school avery night." 
 Now, this is fairly good for a Chinese boy of eleven ; 
 and though he uses his commas so profusely in 
 the beginning as to exhaust his supply, and mixes 
 things up not a little, the meaning is apparent. 
 
 In addition to the instruction at the Mission 
 School, any of the pupils who choose call at Miss 
 Carter's house on Sunday evenings — and week-days 
 also if they find it convenient. Besides she often 
 gives lessons during her visits at their places of 
 business. Their conduct and their treatment of her 
 and the other teachers has always been respectful 
 and courteous. One very intelligent man, who has 
 been many years in this country, came the evening of 
 my visit to her, never having missed a Sunday 
 evening during the nine months since he began with 
 the alphabet. He was now able to read a chapter in 
 John of thirty verses without more than a dozen 
 mistakes. He spoke of the Mission School, and 
 said he'' liked it welly much, and all the Chinese 
 like it welly much." After reading his chapter he 
 spelled his column of words, giving the definition 
 where he knew it, and asking when he did not, mean- 
 * 194 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 while following down the line of Chinese characters 
 which were placed over against the English word. He 
 
 came to "rebuke;" that, 
 he said, means " tell him 
 not do jus' right. Same 
 in Chinese." "Atheist" 
 he said, "mean some 
 people not believe they 
 have God." The word 
 "following" he ex- 
 plained in this way: 
 *'Two men walking in 
 street; one man walk 
 after the other." 
 
 All at once he con- 
 founded everyone pres- 
 ent by asking "who 
 made English letter ? " 
 As the explanation was 
 not very clear, he was 
 much troubled, and put 
 on a sorrowful, resigned 
 look as if it was some- 
 thing which was past 
 finding out ; but after a 
 little thought, he began again, putting his finger on 
 195 
 
 FLOWER, SAMEE NAME MINE. 
 
A Chi?iese Mission School. 
 
 the passage he had been reading : " You don't 
 know nobody who made the letter ? " I fear he 
 was no better satisfied with the further explanation. 
 
 He had been to school fifteen years in China ; 
 we asked him about it. " In the higher school," he 
 said, "go all day, go day time, go night time too. In 
 the other school go before breakfast, go home get 
 breakfast, go school again, go home get dinner, go 
 school again, go all day school. Fourteen boys, 
 sometimes twenty, go one man." 
 
 " And how about the girls ? " was asked. 
 
 " Some lich (rich) girls go school ; little girls, little 
 bit of girls, go with the boys." 
 
 " And what do they learn at school ? " was the 
 next question. 
 
 " Learn every day what holy man say." 
 
 Now the " holy man " was Confucius ; so the lady 
 who was instructing him turned to a page in his book 
 where were some of the sayings of both Confucius 
 and Mencius. 
 
 "Yes," he said, " Mencius another man. 77«>man " 
 (pointing to the words of Mencius) " scholar. This 
 man " (pointing to those of Confucius) " teach him." 
 
 The men and boys who have attended the Mission 
 School, even if for a short time only, manifest appre- 
 ciation of what is being done for them, and have a 
 196 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 simplicity and docility that is almost amusing, while 
 their politeness is something to be wondered at. 
 "Glad see you," they will say to a visitor ; " much 
 obliged you come." Whatever the faults of the race, 
 a want of courtesy will hardly be found in the list. 
 
 The first thing the superintendent does is to make 
 herself sure of the name of the new comer, so that 
 she may never be in the position she was once, when 
 not being able to call by name a pupil she had never 
 seen or heard of except as he came to school the 
 Sunday before, he said : " You not 'member my 
 name, when you know me so long ! " So now at the 
 second meeting she knows which is Ar Hoy, and 
 which Chan Shung, and can tell Wah Lung from 
 Chin Sing as readily as we know our next door 
 neighbors from one another. Some of them have a 
 fancy for changing their names. There is one who 
 is known as Charlie O, and another who keeps 
 a tea-store on Hanover street has given up his 
 own and calls himself James Williams ; him we saw 
 at the school, dressed in an American suit. Their 
 business names, she informs me, are often not their 
 real ones ; and the signs on the laundries give no 
 indication of proprietorship ; the sign Hop Wah or 
 Lee Sing may be that of somebody who is a thousand 
 miles off. 
 
 197 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 They go to Miss Carter with their business per- 
 plexities, even inquiring about paying their taxes, and 
 she looks into their grievances as far as practicable ; 
 and not a few have 
 had the privilege of 
 sitting at her table, 
 where their be- 
 haviour is in accord- 
 
 sbhssjwaT MISS CARTERS. 
 
 ance with the strictest decorum. On the evening 
 referred to, three had taken tea there ; one, a pleas- 
 ant boy of perhaps seventeen, named Quen Tan, 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 was probably in an American house for the first time, 
 
 but he watched to 
 see how his two 
 " frens " managed, 
 and then did the 
 
 
 same, though sit- 
 ting at an inconve- 
 nient distance off 
 from the table, as 
 it is the Chinese 
 custom, and put- 
 ting sugar and milk 
 in his tea out of 
 
 conformity to the in an American house. 
 
 ways of his hostess — the result of which was that it 
 was probably disagreeable to him, as it was noticed 
 199 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 that he left it almost untasted. It is amusing to 
 watch their first attempts with a knife and fork, to 
 which, however, they soon become accustomed. 
 Being very averse to touching with their fingers any- 
 thing they are to eat, they manage to get the skin off 
 from a pear without doing so, then cut it up and eat 
 it with a fork, a very sensible way, after all. 
 
 But their experience can be no more awkward than 
 ours with the chop-sticks. The superintendent said 
 that at one time with a friend she visited some old 
 pupils of hers at a tea-store in Springfield, and the 
 Chinese insisted upon furnishing refreshment ; they 
 ran out and brought ice-cream and melons, and even 
 procured milk and sugar for the tea, and set before 
 the company a jar of something resembling pre- 
 served ginger, furnishing a pair of chopsticks for 
 each one ; and when they found that she could 
 not take anything up with them, they came to her 
 rescue with a long darning-needle. The preserves 
 in question were betel leaves, prepared in syrup. 
 Chewing this plant is one of the habits the Chinese 
 have, which is a cause of their teeth being so dark. 
 The betel is a vine which grows about a tree-trunk like 
 the ivy, and has a peppery taste ; the leaves they wrap 
 around a nut, shaped like a nutmeg, the fruit of the 
 areca-palm, and thus is made up the betel-nut, which 
 200 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 has a narcotic effect, and which they chew in either 
 a boiled or raw state, and offer to friends as one 
 does a cigar, or as formerly a snuff-taker would pass 
 his snuff box. Of this practice, however, she had 
 seen nothing • the only things she had known her 
 boys to bring to school to chew were pickled water- 
 melon seeds. Neither had she actual evidence that 
 any of them used opium, though on enquiring after 
 certain Chinamen, she received for answer that " they 
 most dead ; " in other words they were stupid with 
 opium. Those who go to the Mission — and some of 
 them, be it said, do it in the face of a good deal of 
 persecution on the part of others of their countrymen 
 — are taught not to smoke opium; and not to gamble 
 which is the universal national practice. Whether 
 they really reform or not, they speak of those who do 
 these things as " bad, bad boys." 
 
 On the evening above mentioned there were 
 present also Wong Yuen Sool, who keeps a cigar 
 store, and who deports himself as well as most any 
 young " Melicanman " of his class,and Lau Yoo, his 
 " fren." The former made himself very agreeable, 
 and told many interesting things in connection with 
 some of the Chinese articles on the table, which had 
 come from her pupils as tokens of gratitude. There 
 was a lovely fan for instance, and he told us that in. 
 201 
 
A Chinese Mission School, 
 
 China none but women carried those gay fans. The 
 porcelain spoon he said was for eating soups with ; 
 the embroidered case, like a long, narrow bag, was 
 for spectacles, which in China are larger than with 
 us, and being dropped into this receptacle, are sus- 
 pended to one of the buttons on the breast of the 
 upper garment, or hung on the girdle beneath out of 
 sight, where also the wearer carries his beautiful 
 embroidered purse ; the case holding his chop-sticks, 
 and other small articles. There was a lovely little 
 tea-pot, on which there were lines of Chinese poetry, 
 which the men read to us. And then he told us 
 about the strips of bright red paper which are tacked 
 up on the walls in all the Chinese laundries and other 
 places. " Cards, cards, New Year cards ! " they all 
 cried — " send New Year, I send my fren card, he 
 send me card, keep up there another New Year ; " 
 in other words, they are preserved until replaced by 
 the tokens of the next New Year. One of the laun- 
 dry men pointing to a decorative sprig of flowers, 
 upon a hanging scroll, said, " Samee name as mine." 
 Since she opened her school, Miss Carter has 
 made a practice of visiting all the places of the Chi- 
 nese in Boston ; not going too often, but looking 
 after her pupils and also inviting others to come. In 
 this way she has been to every one of the thirty-five 
 202 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 or forty laundries and to all the tea and cigar and 
 fruit stores, using so much discretion and kindliness 
 that she never fails of a welcome. Once, when I 
 accompanied her, we went to thirteen places, besides 
 making a lengthy call on Mrs. Ar Foon of Chelsea, 
 who was the only Chinese woman living in or near 
 Boston until the arrival of Mrs. Ko Kun Hua at 
 Cambridge. We met with perhaps thirty individuals, 
 and unquestionably saw the highest extreme of intel- 
 lectual and social caste in this region ; and it may be 
 the lowest also, for some of the laundry men are 
 supposed to be of that class in their own country, 
 while probably the majority fairly represent the mass 
 of common people. 
 
 At the tea-store of Mr. Charles Ar Show, who has 
 just returned from a visit to his native land after a 
 residence here of thirty-three years, we met two young 
 gentlemen who are students at the Technological 
 School. One of them is being educated here at the 
 expense of the Chinese government ; the other has a 
 rich father, who is supporting him while he acquires a 
 thorough knowledge of mechanics, with a view to its 
 practical use when he goes back. One had been two 
 years at East Hampton, and had profited by inter- 
 course with cultivated people there ; and both were 
 
 in manners so refined and were so intelligent in con- 
 203 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 versation that they would be considered quite up to 
 the level of the average Harvard or Yale student. 
 They had often spoken of their plans for improv- 
 ing the mechanic arts in China, and evidently were 
 given to dreaming dreams of what they meant to 
 accomplish for their native country. Both thanked 
 the superintendent heartily " for what you are doing 
 for our countrymen." The subject of the education 
 of girls came up ; and these bright young men had 
 the idea dropped into their minds that when they 
 went home to live they would want girls instructed 
 in the higher branches of learning, so as to be suita- 
 ble associates for themselves. For, while it is con- 
 sidered a thing greatly to be desired in that country 
 that the sons shall receive the very best education, 
 since no man can rise to power without it, the daugh- 
 ters are left so far behind that our two students may 
 hardly be able to find ladies, even of their own rank, 
 who can understand what they are talking about. 
 
 The Chinamen here seem fond of telling news ; 
 they seem to know at once of the arrival in Boston of 
 any one from their own land, with whom he is to work, 
 and of every business change, and if any Chinaman 
 is going to leave. The men in two or three of the 
 laundries were full of news about some Wung, or 
 
 Sing, or Hop, who had started that morning for 
 204 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 China ■ — they had attracted a good deal of attention 
 on the street as they set out, with only one trunk 
 among them. 
 
 At the shop of Wong Yuen Sool a lesson in Eng- 
 lish was given ; and he managed well, tripping only 
 over the word " lazy" which she wrote out and left 
 for him to look at, and " rough" which was explained 
 by passing her hand first over paper and then over 
 her shawl, whereupon his face lighted, and there 
 came the usual response " /know," which is common 
 with them as K all right ! " 
 
 In one of the laundries the Lord's prayer in two 
 different Chinese dialects was hung on the wall, and 
 the young man at work there read it to us in English, 
 beginning at the top of the right hand eolumn, and 
 following down the picturesque characters row by row, 
 seventy-three of those indescribable hieroglyphics 
 being used. " God who at Heaven " was his form ; 
 and God is sometimes translated as " Emperor of 
 Heaven " — that title representing their highest idea 
 of power. 
 
 We went to see Moy Kwong in East Boston, who 
 was most communicative of all, and more eager to 
 learn than to look after customers. He was the man 
 who was so anxious to improve every opportunity and 
 begin on the spot, that once when the superintendent 
 205 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 called on him, he sat right down on the floor in the 
 middle of his laundry, and then and there began his 
 lesson, presenting such a comical sight, with herself 
 standing over him, that she could not help laughing. 
 He now took up his book, which had both the Eng- 
 lish words and Chinese symbols, and gave us a lesson 
 in the latter language. A single word, a gesture, or 
 an exclamation conveyed the fact that he understood 
 the meaning of the words in his spelling list. " Grasp " 
 was one of them, and he clutched something in his 
 hand, saying, " oh ! I see, I see." Then came 
 "quake" and so he shook and quivered, and said "/ 
 know;" then "sharp" at which he cried "/know 
 what 'tis," and imitated the action of a blade ; the 
 flavor of something he explained quickly, " same as 
 tea;" and when "spruce" was described, he dis- 
 missed it with a careless " oh ! /know tree" Indeed, 
 some of his definitions were as original as that of 
 another pupil who defined " idiot " as " nothing 
 much." Meanwhile several customers had been in, 
 and it was amusing to see how he would put on the 
 most stolid look until the business was over and they 
 had gone, when he wore another face altogether. 
 But at last one woman entered, who was in a hurry 
 for some shirts which he had not yet done. He 
 dropped the book, vanished from the room and was 
 -c6 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 back again in less time than it takes to write it, with 
 two hot flat-irons at the end of a long hook, one of 
 which he plunged into a pail of water to temper it, 
 and then went to ironing with all his might, giving 
 the other in turn a similar quenching which made a 
 great sizzle, and using a bamboo knife like a paper 
 cutler to slip up the pleats. He said he had twenty- 
 four shirts to do that afternoon. 
 
 One man, though punctually attending the Mission 
 School, still kept up the habit of burning incense — 
 the place for which resembles a sort of bracket on the 
 wall holding a shrine screened by a red curtain, with 
 a picture on each side, probably of the appropriate 
 deity. The incense or joss-sticks, on being lighted, 
 burn with a slightly perceptible smoke, and hold fire 
 a long time. 
 
 Our last call was on Mrs. Ar Foon, whose hus- 
 band keeps a fruit store, the family living over the 
 shop. She was a bright, plump, little brown woman 
 of about twenty-five, dressed like American women, 
 very social and confiding ; and while she entertained 
 us with grapes and pears in "her prettily furnished 
 parlor, she told us the story of her life — how she 
 came away from China as serving maid for a child of 
 the family that took her over, and all her vicissitudes 
 since. She said that Chinese women sometimes 
 207 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 come over as servants to the captain's wife, but 
 usually go back in the same way, and she knows of 
 none here now. She was from Hong Kong, and her 
 husband from Amoy, and she could not speak his 
 dialect at all ; in her words, " He can speak me, but 
 I can't talk back" She said the Chinese about Boston 
 did not care to have much to do with them, becalise 
 
 BRIC-A-BRAC 
 
 they had left off wearing " same clothes as Chinese ;" 
 but sailors from her native land came and stopped 
 with them. 
 
 Among the beautiful articles she showed us, was a 
 wonderful ivory ship with the crew on board, and a 
 lady's work-box, in lacquered wood, with the daintiest 
 outfit of ivory thimbles and silk-winders, and reels for 
 
 208 
 
A Chinese Mission School. 
 
 tatting ; for, " oh, yes," she said, " ladies in China do 
 tatting " — here, indeed, were specimens too many to 
 name of the minutely-finished and decorated handi- 
 work of this strange people, who are destined, proba- 
 bly, to come among us in yet larger numbers, 
 and learn — who can doubt ? — both material and 
 moral good from our western civilization and Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 209 
 
THE FLOWER SCHOOL AT CORLEAR'S 
 HOOK. 
 
 IN a very crowded and dirty part of New York 
 City, bordering on the East River, is a locality 
 called Corlear's Hook. 
 
 Here, in the midst of double tenements, low drink- 
 ing places, and vile lodging houses, the Children's 
 Aid Society have established a Mission House for the 
 benefit of the little "Topseys" and "Gavroches" 
 of the neighborhood ; the wild street Arabs who, 
 until recently, have preferred the dock-yards and 
 wood-piles close at hand, to their wretched homes; 
 picking up a living by petty thefts and peddling ; 
 here to-day, to-morrow miles away in the country on 
 some errand of mischief. 
 
 The exterior of this Mission House is not prepos- 
 sessing, but if dilapidated without it is attractive 
 within. 
 
 Passing through a long, low room on the ground 
 floor where the smaller children are taught, the 
 school-room proper in the second story of the build- 
 ing is reached by a short flight of stairs. This would 
 
The Flower School at Corlear's Hook. 
 
 W """""" 
 
 ■ 11 Wm mm. 
 
 iH 
 
 -;.■"• 
 
 It" ' 
 
 gel? 
 
 R 
 
 - 
 
 be 
 
 an attractive 
 apartment in 
 any school 
 house. It is 
 of good size, 
 nearly square, 
 and has a high 
 ceiling. Pretty 
 engravings are 
 
 
 " The happy gates .... 
 Stand open, night and day." 
 
 211 
 
TJie Flower School at Corlear's Hook, 
 
 hung on the walls ; there are pots of flowers in the 
 windows ; birds are singing in cages ; and there is 
 a fine piano, an aquarium, and there are book cases 
 crowned with busts of distinguished characters. 
 
 But the great beauty of the room, its most unique 
 feature as a school-room, is the charming little con- 
 servatory or green-house opening into it, with glass 
 doors, and so situated that every child can see the 
 blossoms and leaves and trailing vines within it, as it 
 is raised a step or two higher than the room, and all 
 the seats are facing it. Over the glass doors is the 
 following sentence in gilt letters : . 
 
 " Shall there be a God to swear by, and none to pray 
 tdl" 
 
 It was the happy thought of the superintendent of 
 this Mission, Mr. George Calder, to make the gift of 
 flowers and growing plants, a reward of merit, and 
 the presence of flowers and plants a refining influence 
 to children whose surroundings elsewhere are of the 
 most demoralizing character. He has a theory that 
 flowers will only grow under the care of those who 
 love them, and to love them is to have some gentle- 
 ness of heart. From a very small beginning this 
 pretty conservatory has become literally a smiling 
 oasis amid an arid desert of brick walls and filthy 
 dock yards. The routine of this Mission School is not 
 essentially different from that used in other schools, 
 212 
 
The Flower School at Corlear's Hook. 
 
 
 save in the object-lessons 
 given on flowers, in its re- 
 ward of flowers, and in 
 its floral festivals. 
 
 The pupils are 
 naturally sharp ; 
 some of them 
 being obliged 
 as they say, to 
 " paddle their 
 
 A REWARD OF MERIT. 
 213 
 
The Flower School at Corlear's Hook, 
 
 own canoe," and they learn with avidity. Indeed, it 
 might put to shame many children belonging to rich 
 and elegant homes, to see those shabby little ones so 
 eager to hear the words that fall from the lips of the 
 sweet-faced teacher, Miss Johnson, who so patiently 
 and persistently gives them the benefit of her varied 
 information. 
 
 The object-lesson in flowers is an evident delight 
 to both the teacher and the pupils. Books and slates 
 are put aside, and the little faces are turned toward 
 the conservatory lovingly, as Miss Johnson steps 
 within, and presently reappears bearing the beautiful 
 blossom to be used in this novel teaching. In the 
 exercise witnessed by the writer, she brought a few 
 roses, a fuchsia and a small shrub called the Jerusa- 
 lem cherry, which she placed on the table where all 
 the children could see her. A blackboard was close 
 at hand, and on the frame supporting it she placed a 
 large picture of a tiger lily. Standing beside the 
 table Miss Johnson held the picture of an animal in 
 one hand and a smooth, round stone in the other, 
 and said : 
 
 " Children, here are three objects ; what are they ? " 
 The quick response came : 
 
 " An animal, a stone, a plant." 
 
 "Who made them?" 
 
 "God." 
 
 214 
 
The Flower School at Corlear's Hook. 
 
 "What has the animal and the plant that the stone 
 has not ? " 
 
 " Life." 
 
 Miss Johnson laid down the stone and the picture 
 of an animal and held up the shrub. 
 
 " How are plants nourished ? " 
 
 " Through the roots." 
 
 " What have the roots ? " 
 
 " Little mouths, like a sponge." 
 
 " What do you call these mouths ? " 
 
 (She held up the picture of some roots much 
 enlarged to show the small, fibrous rootlets). 
 
 " They are called spongiolas." 
 
 " When a gardener moves a plant, what is he very 
 careful not to break or destroy ? " 
 
 " The spongiolas." 
 
 " What parts have a plant ? " 
 
 " Five : the root, stem, leaves, branches, seeds." 
 
 " What comes from the seeds ? " 
 
 "The flower." 
 
 Then all repeated together : 
 
 u The seed is placed in the ground ; from it comes 
 the plant, and flower, the fruit, or seed-vessel." 
 
 Miss Johnson distributed a quantity of small white 
 blossoms among the children, called " Deutzia," and 
 said: 
 
 " Now, how do you hold your flowers ? " 
 215 
 
The Flower School at Corlears Hook. 
 
 "By the stem." 
 " What is next to the stem ? " 
 " The branch ; and the color is green." 
 "What is next to the flower ? " 
 " The calyx." 
 
 Then the teacher wrote on the blackboard after 
 this fashion : 
 
 Root, 
 Stem, 
 Parts of the Plant: Leaves, 
 Flowers, 
 
 Fruit or seed vessel. 
 Calyx, 
 
 Leaves or sepals, 
 Parts of the Flower: Corolla, 
 
 Stamens, 
 Pistils. 
 The children had been listening and answering with 
 great interest. Now taking up the pictured lily she 
 asked the names of the four parts of the flower, 
 which was correctly answered. Several of the elder 
 pupils were requested to turn their backs to the board, 
 and then correctly answered, not only naming the 
 parts, but spelling the names of the various parts. 
 During the process of this lesson it was a pretty 
 sight to see the little ones pulling the flowers apart, 
 216 
 
A Botany Lesson. 
 
The Flower School at Corlear's Hook. 
 
 and examining them or the fuchsia and roses as the 
 teacher separated the leaves and carried them about 
 to show the different forms of corolla, etc. 
 
 The Feast of Flowers, or Floral Festival, takes 
 place in the autumn. Then long tables are set out in 
 the lower school room, and there is a grand array of 
 blossoms and plants. The children at this season 
 bring the plants that have been loaned to them 
 through the year, each bearing a card with the name 
 of the child to whom it has been entrusted. If the 
 plant is healthy, it is given outright, and carried home 
 in triumph to make some poor window pretty with 
 scarlet geranium or fragrant heliotrope. To see a 
 window thus graced with flowers near Corlear's Hook, 
 is to know that a child is there a resident who has 
 earned them by good conduct in the Mission School. 
 
 The Rewards of Merit are given at stated inter- 
 vals. There are beds in the green house filled with 
 little plants, ready to be taken up and given in this way. 
 
 During the summer months benevolent people 
 send flowers from the country, to be given in the 
 form of bouquets to the children. Dr. Dodge, of 
 Morristown, New Jersey, sends quantities of flowers 
 to the Corlear Mission ; and it is delightful to know 
 that these flowers are purchased by rich children 
 for poor children. 
 
 219 
 
The Flower School as Corlear's Hook. 
 
 Last autumn, Dr. Dodge sent pretty pink cards 
 to the Mission House to be distributed among them, 
 on which was written : 
 
 DEATH OF THE FLOWERS. 
 
 " The windflower and violet, they perished long ago, 
 
 And the brier-rose and the orchis died, amid the summer's glow ; 
 
 But on the hill the golden rod, and the aster in the wood, 
 
 And the yellow sunflower by the brook in Autumn beauty stood, 
 
 Till fell the frost from the clear cold heaven, as falls the plague on 
 
 men, 
 And the brightness of their smile was gone from upland, glade and 
 
 glen.'' 
 
 Dear Children : The flowers are dead, and I can 
 send you no more until another Summer comes. The 
 flowers that have been sent to you this Summer from 
 the country have all said the same thing to you as you 
 looked at their bright little faces. Perhaps you did 
 not hear what they were saying ; or, possibly, you did 
 not even know that they spoke at all, for a flower's 
 voice is very soft and low. Still, they all kept repeat- 
 ing their little message to you untii they died, and I 
 want you to listen for it whenever you see a flower, and 
 never forget it as long as you live. This what they all 
 say: 
 
 god is love; he loves you; 
 
 YOU ARE HIS CHILD. 
 
 Flowers are given to sick children from this Mis- 
 sion ; not only to those connected with this school, 
 but to little ones in all parts of our great city. In- 
 deed, during the year thousands and thousands of 
 bouquets are distributed from this floral depot ; and 
 there is in connection with this distribution, what is 
 called "The Sick Children's Fund,"— medicine, 
 clothing, nourishment, and medical attendance being 
 given free of charge. 
 
 220 
 
In " Clover. 
 
27ie Flower School at Corlear's Hook. 
 
 Another attraction of the school-room is a wonder- 
 ful " Mino Bird ; " a native of India, and very rarely 
 seen in this country. It is a talking bird, and this 
 particular specimen seems to have a human intelli- 
 gence and speech. He is the size of a Bantam chick- 
 en, has dark green iridescent plumage, and a long 
 yellow beak. He whistles " Captain Jinks," asks for 
 bread very frequently, saying in a plaintive voice : 
 " Give poor Mino some bread," calls " Come in," 
 when any one knocks at the door, and " Good-by " 
 when a guest departs. 
 
 Little girls and boys are both taught during the 
 daytime in this pretty school-room ; but, in the eve- 
 ning, a larger number of news-boys and boot-blacks, 
 and boys who find their living as they can . are busy 
 getting an education. In short, there is a night- 
 school for boys too poor to attend the day-schools; 
 and on one side of the opening into the conservatory 
 from the school-room, is their Savings Bank. In 
 every way the boys, and the girls too, for that matter, 
 are encouraged to save their earnings, and are given 
 five per cent, interest. 
 
 The lodging-room is above the school-room, clean 
 
 and comfortable with its double iron beds like the 
 
 berths in a steamboat. The lights are out at ten 
 
 o'clock, P.M. The weary boys have gone to rest 
 
 223 
 
The Flower Mission at Corlear's Hook. 
 
 at a good hour ; for they are early birds, and must 
 have had their breakfast and been out of the house 
 by seven o'clock in the morning. A sixpence is 
 charged those who can afford to give it for supper, 
 and for breakfast, and for a lodging, making .the 
 expense of living eighteen cents per day. But many 
 poor boys are lodged and given free meals. They 
 are orderly and respectful, generally, and a bright 
 active set of fellows, glad to work, and grateful for 
 the benefits of the Mission. 
 
 To enter this cheerful, tasteful interior, to see the 
 children at their tasks, day or night, quiet, polite, and 
 well-behaved, one can hardly credit their vagabond 
 origin and vagabond inclinations. A past, and pres- 
 ent fault is, to use bad language and to be untruth- 
 ful. A Roll of Honor has been instituted, and it 
 has done away with both evils to a great extent. 
 
 When Mr. Calder and his assistants commenced 
 this work, they made a brave struggle to keep it in 
 existence. More than once the half-grown roughs, 
 the " Dock Rats," tried to drive them away by per- 
 sonal violence ; or to " clean the superintendent out," 
 to use their own expression. The children at first 
 were lawless ; it was like schooling wild Indians. A 
 bright day, a passing fire engine or target company, 
 scattered them in every direction. But patience, and 
 224 
 
• The Flower School at Corlear's Hook. 
 
 devotion, and genuine kindliness have done much. 
 Tattered garments, frowzy heads, and careworn faces 
 are still seen among these little ones ; but there is an 
 encouraging prospect. 
 
 With all their faults they are singularly generous. 
 A charming incident is that of a little girl who was 
 very ragged, and was given a new dress at holiday 
 time. She kept on wearing the old one, when, at 
 last, it was learned that she had given her new dress 
 to a destitute little companion whose father was 
 out of work. These girls are all learning to sew ; 
 
 and the garments made -are given to them at a 
 merely nominal price, the central idea of the 
 Mission, in all its departments, being to benefit both 
 the souls and bodies of its little proteges ; for the 
 
 227 
 
The Flower School at Cbrlear's Hook. 
 
 <t ir ^, 'i -'• A **" 
 
 A Ray of Sunshine. 
 
 Corlear Mission is also a Home for Homeless 
 Boys, and a Refuge for Vagabond Children. Mrs. 
 John Jacob Astor, at her own expense, has sent many 
 children from If: to the West and South, where they 
 
 3g§ 
 
The Flower School at Corlear's Hook. 
 
 have found good homes. Not] 
 a few of them have written 
 to Mr. Calder of their success! 
 and happiness. 
 
 Some of these letters aref 
 amusing. One recently re- 
 ceived from a boy who went 
 to Virginia makes fun of a 
 
 229 
 
The Flower School at Co?-fear's Hook. 
 
 School Room Sketches. 
 
 comrade who went with him, who " expected to find 
 a kind of brown cow that gave pure buttermilk." 
 
 Every boy or girl ever connected with the Cdrlear 
 Mission inevitably loves and gains some education in 
 flowers ; and must be strongly influenced for good, by 
 230 
 
The Flower School as Corlear's Hook. 
 
 this development of the sense of the beautiful ; and 
 we would earnestly commend to all concerned in the 
 education of neglected children, who live in the midst 
 of unlovely and unwholesome scenes, this simple but 
 most attractive and winning method of developing the 
 best that exists in the soul of a child. For we are 
 sure there was never yet born a child so stolid that 
 its eyes would not light up with both sunshine and 
 intelligence at the sight of a rose or lily. Offer the 
 hope of owning the rose and the lily, and you then 
 give the child something to live for, something to 
 earn, something for which to behave its best. 
 
 231 
 
LADY BETTY'S COOKING-SCHOOL. 
 I. 
 
 THE first time I heard of Lady Betty and her 
 Cooking-school was at a pretty country rectory 
 where we were drinking tea. 
 
 Now you must not imagine that drinking tea with 
 a friend, in England, means a long, well-covered 
 table, with hot waffles and cakes and preserves and 
 roast chicken and salad and fresh biscuits, as it 
 does in America; it means little more than tea, and 
 is taken about five o'clock, an hour or more in ad- 
 vance of dinner. 
 
 The Rectory at Lorton Norbitts is a pretty, ram- 
 bling old house, with a wide garden without, and oak 
 232 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking- School. 
 
 staircases and floorings within ) there is a comfortable 
 drawing-room, full of delightful things to look at, old 
 pictures and new ones, a real harpsichord and a 
 piano, and long, low book-shelves full of tempting 
 volumes ; there is a wide, old-fashioned fire-place, 
 where genuine " yule logs " can burn, and on the gray 
 rug before it, the dogs are fond of lying and warming 
 their black paws and noses ; there are plenty of com- 
 fortable easy chairs in the room, and soft cretonne 
 hangings in the windows : at five o'clock when Jane, 
 the parlor-maid, brings in the tea-things, the rectory 
 drawing-room is a very cosy, inviting place. 
 
 We were all there that mild February afternoon 
 sipping our tea and talking of the weather and crewel- 
 work, when the sound of carriage wheels came crunch- 
 ing outside the windows. 
 
 I was nearest, and looking out I saw a very gor- 
 geous equipage with liveried servants, but the person 
 inside was evidently too anxious to be out to wait 
 for ceremony : a small gray glove was reaching out- 
 side the window, tugging at the door of the carriage, 
 before the footman was down from his box. 
 
 V Who is your grand visitor ? " I said to Mrs. Lome, 
 the rector's wife. 
 
 " O, she isn't grand at all," exclaimed May Lome, 
 a little girl of twelve, laughing, " it's only Lady Betty." 
 
 mz 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking-School. 
 
 " Well, that sounds fine," I said ; but there was no 
 time for another word before the drawing-room door 
 was opened and the maid announced : " Lady Betty 
 Leigh, and Miss Crawford." 
 
 I wish so that I could make you see this young 
 English girl with your own eyes. She came into the 
 room with a sweet, eager manner, having evidently 
 something important to say ; stopped a little shyly, 
 seeing me, a stranger, and as she turned, half apolo- 
 gizing to me, I had time to look quite critically upon 
 her : a girl not more than fifteen, I was sure, but tall 
 for her age and what you might call " bonny" look- 
 ing; fair as a flower, but a flower that could bear a 
 fresh breeze from the sea or moor without fading ; 
 blue eyes, large and rather grave in expression, a 
 straight nose and a dimpled chin, and hair cut across 
 her forehead in short, wavy locks, and long braids 
 looped under her simple black hat. 
 
 In the point of costume I am afraid many a Boston 
 girl of fifteen would wonder at my Lady Betty : her 
 dress was a simple gray cloth, with a bit of braid 
 trimming, her gloves were one-button gray kids, and 
 her boots low and heavy in make. She wore on this 
 first day of our meeting a little gray cloak lined with 
 fur ; the only " fine " touch in her costume, but then 
 that was so evidently for comfort ! It was rather sur- 
 234 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking-School. 
 
 prising to see this soberly dressed little woman with 
 out a suspicion of " the fashion " about her, arrive in 
 such a magnificent carriage, accompanied by her gov- 
 erness : but then, as Lady Betty would have told you, 
 the carriage was her uncle's, and she, — well, she was 
 " Lady " Betty, to be sure, but the simplest, sweetest 
 little maiden in Devonshire. 
 
 Directly she and her governess were seated she 
 began about the business matter which had brought 
 her. 
 
 " I was so afraid Helen might not be able to go to 
 the cooking-class to-morrow," she said, " I came over 
 to see if we could fetch her." 
 
 Helen was the rector's eldest daughter ; only a girl 
 and rather an invalid, but busier among the poor 
 and working people than many a strong woman of 
 twice her age. 
 
 As soon as they saw that I understood nothing of 
 the cooking-classes they told me about their history ; 
 Lady Betty eagerly and enthusiastically as if " her 
 children," as she called them, were the best and 
 dearest and sweetest and poorest little people on 
 earth. 
 
 It seems that while in London, two years before, 
 Lady Betty had gone with her aunt to a great cook- 
 ing school where teachers are prepared, and there 
 235 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking-School. 
 
 having seen how many poor children were taught to 
 cook nicely and in that way make their homes com- 
 fortable and save time and temper and money, it oc- 
 curred to her that some such school might be started 
 in her own town in Devonshire, where swarms of poor 
 little girls were spending their holidays playing in the 
 streets, digging in the mud, dodging about among 
 carriages and carts and sometimes falling into the 
 river. 
 
 Lady Betty was only fourteen then, and she was 
 not, in spite of her title, rich enough to carry out her 
 plan all by herself : she lives with her uncle, a rather 
 cross old gentleman, I fear, who does not care so 
 much for the poor of Lorton Norbitts as she does. 
 When Lady Betty is twenty-one she will have five 
 hundred pounds a year, of her own, but at present 
 she has only fifty and an extra allowance of twenty 
 for pocket money ; so, of course, when she came 
 home full of her new project, she had to get help : 
 she went to the rector's wife first, and then to several 
 other people who had daughters of her own age ; and 
 when she had induced about twenty to help in the 
 new work, she wrote to the London cooking school at 
 South Kensington, to engage a salaried teacher for 
 the first six months. 
 
 As I am telling this story for the benefit of Ameri- 
 236 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking-School. 
 
 LADY BETTY'S TABLE. 
 
 can girls who would be able to help the poor people 
 about them in this most useful way, I will give you all 
 the practical details precisely as I got them from Lady 
 Betty herself and the rector's wife, Mrs. Lcrne. 
 
 2 37 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking- School. 
 
 To begin with, there was a great hunt for a proper 
 room in which to open the school : at last a small 
 one was engaged for a beginning. The fire was a 
 great question, for if the chimneys were bad it would 
 ruin their undertaking : but very soon they decided 
 upon using gas or kerosene stoves, as being quick 
 and cleanly and convenient. For the use of this 
 room from Friday afternoon until Saturday evening 
 they paid two shillings a week (about fifty cents). 
 The next point was to furnish it suitably : beginning 
 with tables, they had a large circular one made to 
 order of plain, cheap pine, with an open place in the 
 centre for the teacher or superintendent to stand in 
 and give directions and look at the articles ; two long 
 tables were placed at either side, both being divided 
 into separate compartments by little wooden ridges ; 
 each of these compartments was provided with two 
 drawers and a smooth pine board, to draw out like a 
 shelf, if needed ; for each compartment the following 
 small articles were provided : 
 
 i large towel, 
 
 i small towel, 
 
 i medium-sized sauce-pan, 
 
 i flour dredger, 
 
 I small rolling-pin, 
 
 i egg-beater, 
 
 I frying-pan, 
 
 1 cup, 
 
 2 saucers, 
 
 i iron spoon, 
 
 I wooden spoon, 
 
 i steelknife, 
 
 i cheap pair of scales. 
 
 The towels and small articles were kept in the 
 238 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking-School. 
 
 drawers, while directly behind each compartment was 
 a shelf and bracket for the larger utensils. 
 
 Besides these, for individual use, a set of general 
 utensils was supplied, and a set of crockery articles, in- 
 cluding soup tureen and ladle, six meat-dishes and two 
 dozen soup-plates, meat-plates, pudding-plates and tum- 
 blers, yellow crockery pudding-dishes and pie-dishes, 
 one dozen brown earthern-ware jars and three or 
 four good-sized pitchers. 
 
 For the benefit of any " little women," or great 
 ones, undertaking a similar enterprise, I would say 
 that Lady Betty's success was chiefly owing to her 
 system in all these primary arrangements, and to her 
 resolution in making certain simple rules for the care 
 of things as well as general conduct, and then seeing 
 that they were never disobeyed. The least touch of 
 lawlessness is ruin to any class of the kind, and Mrs. 
 Lome told me their only grievances rose from a 
 refractory pupil, who could never be taught order or 
 regularity in small details, and from the fact that the 
 young lady in charge of her department was lacking 
 in the same sense of system and methodical way of 
 doing things. 
 
 The kitchen was further supplied with a good 
 dresser and cupboard, and a moderate supply of 
 crash' toweling, and washing utensils. 
 
 239 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking-School. 
 
 The next point attended to was the general care of 
 the kitchen, and a poor woman of respectability was 
 hired to make the kitchen ready for the class on Fri- 
 day afternoons and to see that the various articles 
 were in their places and the fires ready to light. The 
 same woman was in attendance on Saturday morning 
 and remained all day. 
 
 The first class consisted of eight girls ; and two 
 young people of Lady Betty's age who had, like her, 
 studied simple cookery, took them in special charge, 
 while the salaried teacher superintended them in gen- 
 eral. 
 
 I have not told you all the details of the prepara- 
 tions before the class was finally organized, but such 
 matters never could be managed in two towns in the 
 same way. One hint, however, given by Mrs. Lome, 
 would prove valuable in any community : at the outset 
 it was found wiser to have very few people either to 
 assist in acting or to visit the class. When it was 
 well established, visitors and assistants were in every 
 way desirable, but too many views and opinions in 
 the start would have been ruinous. 
 
 When I was at Lorton Norbitts ihe class, or I 
 
 should call it school, had been one year in operation, 
 
 and was not only self-supporting, but prosperous in 
 
 every way : two " entertainments," of the nature of 
 
 240 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking-School. 
 
 which I will tell you later, had been given, and among 
 the pupils, two bright girls of fifteen had gone into 
 service as under-cooks in a gentleman's household, 
 from which the very best reports had come back to 
 dear little Lady Betty and her friends. But more 
 than this, the useful knowledge had benefitted many 
 a poor home in the parish : girls who could out of a 
 amall sum cook an excellent meal for their parents, 
 were naturally very proud and happy, and the benefit 
 was immense to the poor laboring man who had been 
 living on heavy bread and half-boiled meat and 
 vegetables once or twice a week, with coarse pork and 
 beans at other times, and who could now have an in- 
 telligently cooked dinner of soup, and rice, and a 
 light pudding, or a fragrant " stew " of meat and 
 potatoes at no greater outlay than his former indigest- 
 ible fare, while the sense of superiority m these 
 home matters raised the young girls and children in 
 their own and their parents' estimation and their self- 
 respect increased perceptibly. 
 
 You may be very sure I was anxious to see the 
 cooking class in operation, and it was managed that 
 I should be at the little kitchen early the next morn- 
 ing and see the whole matter from first to last. 
 
 Lady Betty and her governess stayed an hour 
 talking it over, and when they drove away in the dark, 
 I could not but think the days of fairy lore were not 
 241 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking-School. 
 
 over : surely here was a gentle young maiden en- 
 dowed with some gift which made what she touched 
 turn to gold. But after all, there are fairy gifts of 
 many kinds still existing, only we have learned to call 
 them by different names — charity, sympathy, high 
 purpose, and Christian humility ; and these I am 
 sure my little Lady Betty has received. 
 
 II. 
 
 You may be sure I was punctual at the cooking- 
 school the next morning. When I arrived Lady 
 Betty and Helen Lome were already there, wearing 
 long white aprons and white sleeves over their arms. 
 The kitchen range was ready and a gas stove also 
 prepared ; pots and pans were scrupulously clean and 
 ranged on the dresser, with crockery ; and punctually 
 at ten the two assistant teachers and the pupils ar- 
 rived. 
 
 There were sixteen girls in this class, their ages rang- 
 ing from ten to sixteen ; and as they entered they went 
 up at once to Lady Betty for a polite " good morn- 
 ing," and then presented themselves to their individual 
 superintendent. This lady examined their hands and 
 nails, as cleanliness was of course enforced. 
 
 The girls had each come in with a roll done up in 
 242 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking-School. 
 
 paper which she opened and displayed a clean white 
 apron, which was put on before taking her stand at 
 her own compartment of the table. 
 
 Each girl then stated to her teacher whether the 
 contents of her drawer was in order and correct, and 
 then each in turn named the dish she was to prepare, 
 it having been given out the week previous. As an 
 illustration I will give the first girl's statement : 
 
 " Mary Ann Jones," said her teacher, " what is 
 your dish ? " 
 
 " Potato soup," said Mary Ann, her round country 
 face beaming, for I assure you these little cooks de- 
 light in their cookery. 
 
 Teacher-. What do you need for it ? 
 
 Mary Ann : Six potatoes, four onions, four ounces 
 of crushed tapioca, one pint and a half of milk, also 
 butter, pepper and salt. It will make two quarts of 
 soup and take one hour." 
 
 Teacher : How do you make it ? 
 
 Mary Ann: I wash and peel the potatoes and cut 
 each up into four pieces. I cut the onions up into 
 pieces and throw them all into two quarts of boiling 
 water. Let them boil until soft — about three-quar- 
 ters of an hour. Then rub the vegetables through a 
 colander or wire sieve. Put them back to the sauce- 
 pan and add two ounces of butter and a little pepper 
 243 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking-School. 
 
 and salt. Let it all boil up ; and when it boils I 
 sprinkle in four ounces of: tapioca. Let it simmer 
 fifteen minutes stirring carefully until it is quite clear, 
 and then add one pint and a half of milk and warm 
 it through. 
 
 The next girl's dish was stated with as great partic- 
 ularity. Hers was roast beef, and she weighed the 
 
 lady betty's class. 
 
 piece describing what part of the animal it was from ; 
 the teacher explaining anything she did not under- 
 stand. 
 
 The next girl was to make Yorkshire pudding, that 
 244 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking-School. 
 
 delicious accompaniment to roast beef always given 
 in England. 
 
 A small child present on being asked her task, re- 
 plied : " To clarify drippings," and she gave a cor- 
 rect recipe and added to what use they were put. 
 
 A second little girl had to melt down fat ; and all 
 these minor matters were done as systematically and 
 perfectly as the greater ones. 
 
 The girls, I was told, had previously learned the 
 recipes, out of a book, and they now prepared 
 to make the dishes under superintendence. There 
 was no disorder or confusion, although ten little girls, 
 new pupils, were brought in to look on before be- 
 ginning work a few weeks later. Each girl was 
 expected to begin and finish and serve up her own 
 dish. 
 
 When the dinner was nearly prepared, a door lead- 
 ing into a second room was opened, and Mrs. Lome 
 said to the class : 
 
 "Who are waitresses this week ? " 
 
 Two girls, whose dishes were cold ones and all 
 prepared, stepped forward, and took trays from the 
 dresser which they loaded systematically ; the little 
 apprentices standing by and receiving instructions 
 from Mrs. Lome ; they also followed the two waitresses 
 into the next room and saw them spread two long 
 
 245 
 
Lady Bettfs Cooking- School. 
 
 tables ; the one I was told for visitors ; the other for 
 the children. 
 
 Visitors were allowed to come every Saturday to 
 dinner provided they applied for a ticket one week in 
 advance and paid sixpence (twelve cents) ; and this 
 money, together with the two pence or three pence 
 paid by the pupils, covered the greater part of the 
 expenses, the remaining sum being made up by the 
 entertainments of which I shall speak later and the 
 "orders" for dishes. 
 
 When the tables were ready Lady Betty and Mrs. 
 Lome, who were standing in the circular table of 
 which I told you, called out the list of dishes for the 
 dinner in this way. 
 
 " Mary Ann Jones — potato soup." 
 
 Mary Ann smilingly presented her tureen full of 
 the fragrant soup, and a small portion was tasted 
 by her teacher and pronounced all right. 
 
 " Ellen Govern — roast beef." 
 
 There were some criticisms made on the beef by 
 the head teacher, and Ellen was told to come after 
 hours and receive a little further instruction. 
 
 "Kate Lewis — Yorkshire pudding." 
 
 "Nelly Neil — baked potatoes and cauliflower." 
 
 "Lizzie Mason — plain custard." 
 
 " Jenny Robin — bread pudding." 
 246 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking-School. 
 
 Several other scholars showed special dishes made 
 to order. All were neatly arranged on a stand and 
 ticketed with their owners' names. 
 
 The little girls who had been doing "Beginners' 
 Work " showed their results ; one small person, not 
 over seven years, had been making squares of toasted 
 bread for soups, and four neat bags of the same were 
 ready to be taken out to fill an "order." 
 
 By the time the tables were laid, about eight visi- 
 tors had arrived. Two of the girls, under a lady's 
 superintendence, served the tables, and the greatest 
 neatness and particularity were observed. The pupils 
 took turns in waiting on the tables, clearing them, 
 and washing dishes, pots and pans. 
 
 The meal ended and the visitors gone, the girls re- 
 assembled in the kitchen, and the head teacher 
 spoke : 
 
 " Who are in the Cleaning Class this week ? " 
 
 Four girls immediately responded ; and in answer 
 to a question one girl said she had the tins to clean, 
 and for the benefit of the "apprentices " briefly de- 
 scribed the process. Another had sieves and stew- 
 pans — a third had to clean the range, while a fourth 
 had to scrub the wooden tables. When they had 
 satisfactorily described their duties, four girls were 
 appointed to be " cleaners " the fortnight following 
 247 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking- School. 
 
 and adjourned into the next room with a teacher to 
 write down, at her dictation, directions for their work. 
 
 I wanted to see how this was done and so followed 
 them : the four girls produced small notebooks kept 
 for the purpose, and to each girl simple directions 
 were given in this fashion : 
 
 Teacher : Nelly Brown, you will clean the tins next 
 time. Write down this direction : Rub the tins well 
 with a paste of whiting and water. Rub off with a 
 leather and brush out all the dust with a soft brush. 
 Polish with another leather. Clean the inside first — 
 why should you do this, Nelly ? " 
 
 Nelly : Because in cleaning the inside I might get 
 the outside dirty. 
 
 Teacher: Quite right. If the tins are very greasy 
 or dirty, use table brick and water. 
 
 In this way the four girls wrote down their " clean- 
 ing " receipes, and as they kept their books I am sure 
 they proved very useful in their cottage homes. 
 
 The next thing done was to summon all the class 
 who were to cook at the next meeting and give them 
 their receipts. These were not only dictated, but ex- 
 plained, and neatly written down in the books, so that 
 during the week or fortnight they could be committed 
 to memory. 
 
 When this was done every girl who had done her 
 248 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking-School. 
 
 work well and conducted herself with general satis- 
 faction was given a small blue ticket. Three of these, 
 I was told, entitled a scholar to promotion ; that is to 
 say, to a little more elaborate cookery : for example, 
 on this day a girl who handed in three blue tickets, 
 "went up" from simply beating eggs and peeling 
 potatoes, to the first of the cooked dishes ; and a girl 
 who had only had simple "boilings" in her charge 
 was promoted to the preparation of roast meats. By 
 working gradually in this way details became indel- 
 ibly established upon their young minds, and they 
 learned to respect the trifling but all important prep- 
 arations for good cooking. 
 
 Each girl before leaving the kitchen had given to 
 the teacher superintending the cleaning, all the uten- 
 sils she had used, so that there was no disorderly 
 hunting for dishes or spoons ; each one of the " clean- 
 ing class" applied for her special articles, cleaned 
 them and laid them neatly on the centre table. 
 
 Help or special instruction were given, of course, 
 wherever they were required, but in general the girls 
 knew what to do having progressed so slowly in the 
 art. By half past four every thing was in order ; the 
 good-byes spoken politely upon both sides, and it was 
 pretty to see the little girls dropping a quaint, old- 
 fashioned courtsey to their mistresses when leaving. 
 
 249 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking-School. 
 
 The same set of girls and teachers met every 
 fort night ; a 
 different class 
 taking the al- 
 ternate weeks. 
 In this way a 
 holiday was 
 only given up 
 twice a month, 
 but I think the 
 pupils of Lady 
 Betty's school 
 preferred com- 
 ing to their 
 cooking 1 e s - 
 sons to any 
 imaginable hol- 
 iday. 
 
 When the school hours were over I found many 
 questions still to ask and have answered. Lady 
 Betty and Miss Crawford came to tea at the rectory 
 and we chatted an hour over the drawing-room fire. 
 
 Mrs. Lome impressed it upon us that in any such 
 
 scheme as this the utmost system and discipline were 
 
 necessary ; it being, as she said, the only way to make 
 
 it thoroughly successful. " Some people," she said 
 
 250 
 
 CLEANING THE TINS. 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking-School. 
 
 " are so anxious, directly they undertake a charity or 
 enterprise of this kind, to accomplish great results. 
 The end of that sort of ambition is usually total fail- 
 ure. Everything then becomes confused and nothing 
 learned. Not only must the children or pupils pro- 
 gress slowly and quietly but the teachers must adopt 
 a careful system. Once a month there is a teacher's 
 meeting when the statistics are read out by the secre- 
 tary and the different lady teachers or superintendents 
 exchange their ideas. 
 
 " How many working teachers are there? " 
 
 " Only five — we do not care for a great many. 
 There are four assistants ; all qualified to teach or 
 superintend. Every teacher must know or learn 
 something of cooking, and so the classes are advan- 
 tageous all around." 
 
 " And how is the school supported ? " I asked. 
 
 " Every teacher contributes a shilling (twenty-five 
 cents) a week, every child who is taught pays three 
 pence (six cents) weekly for her dinner, then the vis- 
 tors pay one shilling each for their dinner, and about 
 four times a year we have an entertainment, and now 
 that the school is far enough advanced, orders are 
 taken from families for dishes every other week. In 
 this way the school is entirely self-supporting." 
 
 " Next week," said Lady Betty, " the older class 
 will cook. They are the furthest advanced. All the 
 251 • 
 
Lady Betty's Cooking- School. 
 
 orders for dishes are sent in a week in advance and 
 they are all cooked on the Saturday following. One 
 lady has that specially in charge. The girls who 
 cook the dishes are obliged to write out a list of all 
 the articles used in them, with the cost of each, and 
 they are given a few pence for themselves out of 
 the money received.- I have next week's list in my 
 pocket," and Lady Betty read the following : 
 
 Apple fritters, 
 
 Ice pudding, 
 
 Meringues, 
 
 Two quarts cold custard and jelly, 
 
 Two pounds raisin cake, 
 
 Two pounds seed loaf — etc., etc. 
 
 " All these will be cooked next Saturday," said 
 Lady Betty with a little proud smile. ' ' But then," 
 she added, " you should see our entertainments if you 
 really wish to judge of our proficiency. " 
 
 I agreed that it would give me the greatest pleas- 
 ure, and when we had finished our tea, and I was 
 alone in my own room for the quiet " before dinner " 
 hour which tranquillizes every English country house, 
 I wished that a certain town I knew of in far-away 
 America could have a young " Lady Betty," and a 
 charity at once so useful, so pleasing and so easily 
 organized and carried on as this Devonshire Cooking 
 School. 
 
 252 
 
THE BAD BOYS OF FKANCE. 
 
 YES, even in la belle France, in polite, smiling 
 France, there are bad boys ; and in one of the 
 most beautiful provinces, among the romantic old 
 castles of Touraine, there has been a little town built 
 especially for them. 
 
 In some of the finest of those old castles the 
 grown-up folks used to be very bad, much worse than 
 any of the modern boys. There is the castle of 
 Blois : the miserable, cruel Catherine de Medici used 
 to come there a great deal, and she died in one of its 
 old rooms ; and in another of its rooms her son, 
 Henry III., murdered the two Dukes of Guise. Then 
 there is the castle of Amboise, where the girlish Mary, 
 Queen of Scots, and her young husband, were com- 
 pelled to witness the massacre of thousands and 
 thousands of Protestants, by order of the same wicked 
 Catherine. I do think that, instead of these pleasure- 
 houses, it would have been much more to the point if 
 253 
 
The Bad Boys of France. 
 
 there had been " Reformatories " built, to which these 
 bad kings and queens could have come and been 
 made better, as there are now for the young rogues of 
 the country. 
 
 When, last week, I read an account, in " Leisure 
 Hours" of the snug place for the bad boys of France, 
 I resolved at once to tell the children. 
 
 But, first, I must tell something about the man who 
 built the " Bad-Boy Town." 
 
 He was a French gentleman. His name was De 
 Metz ; and he was born an aristocrat, with no taste 
 whatever for low life and its scenes of dirt and strife 
 and suffering. Instead, he loved rare and beautiful 
 books, and fine pictures, and statuary ; and for exer- 
 cise he loved to work among fruits and flowers. He 
 was carefully educated, and he had traveled a great 
 deal, and had always moved in fashionable and in 
 scholarly circles of society. 
 
 But, fine as he was, he never shirked public duties. 
 He believed it to be very bad for any government 
 when the men with the best education, and with the 
 best tastes, refused to hold office. Therefore, though 
 he needed none of the salaries, M. de Metz accepted 
 various troublesome offices ; and finally he became 
 President of the Court of Correctional Police in 
 Paris. 
 
 Now look at his portrait — do I need to say that 
 254 
 
M. DE METZ. 
 
The Bad Boys of France. 
 
 this man would at once become interested in the young 
 children brought into the Police Court for little thefts 
 and various small wrongs ? 
 
 One day eight little fellows, all orphans, were 
 arrested and brought before him for "sentence. They 
 were so very young, and so simple, and so utterly with- 
 out friends and home, he thought it would be a kind- 
 ness to sentence them to a long term of imprisonment ; 
 thus keeping them out of the way of temptation, and 
 providing them with food and shelter. Only think ! 
 they were such very young children that they had to 
 be lifted upon their seat in court, and lifted down 
 again when they were led away to prison ! 
 
 M. de Metz couldn't get these poor prison-babies 
 out of his mind. Finally he went to the jails to see 
 them ; and he was struck with horror to find that so 
 soon, on account of their association with the older 
 prisoners, they had become shockingly wicked and 
 hardened. 
 
 M. de Metz then began to look into prison-life; 
 and the upshot was that he couldn't bear to sentence 
 a boy to the city jails ; and his sentences were so 
 short, and he evaded his duty so openly, that com- 
 plaint was finally entered against him, and the Minis- 
 ter of Justice, feeling secretly just as the President 
 did about the children, promoted him to an office 
 257 
 
The Bad Boys of France. 
 
 where his soft heart wouldn't play such mischief with 
 his duties and with the laws. 
 
 But M. de Metz didn't — no, he couldn't forget the 
 class of children that naturally would get into prisons. 
 Books, pictures, flowers, fine spectacles, and fine 
 society, all lost their charm, their interest. 
 
 He resigned his office, settled a goodly income upon 
 his family, and set forth to visit other countries that 
 he might learn how different governments took care 
 of their bad children. He even came over here, to 
 America, to see how we dealt with our bad boys. 
 
 He talked with all the foremost philanthropists, and 
 picked up an idea here, and an idea there ; but he got 
 his most valuable information in Germany, at a Re- 
 formatory founded by Wichern, a kind German. 
 
 Wichern thus named his leading ideas : 
 
 "Individual Religious Influence." 
 
 " Labor upon Land." 
 
 "The Family Circle." 
 
 M. de Metz went back into France, determined to 
 provide " Family Circles " for at least 300 bad boys. 
 He was not the only kind-hearted man in the empire. 
 One of his friends, a nobleman, Baron de CourteilleS; 
 gave him one hundred acres of rich land in the prov- 
 ince of Touraine, and £1, 000 besides. 
 
 This gentleman also soon forsook society, and, join- 
 258 
 
The Bad Boys of France. 
 
 ing hands with M. de Metz, the two worked together 
 for the boys twelve years,until M. de Courteilles died. 
 Then, for twenty years, M. de Metz carried the work 
 on alone, till he died. 
 
 They built twenty " homes," with a church in the 
 centre — in fact, a nice, tasteful little town, all by it- 
 self, pretty and compact, the streets lined with trees, 
 the whole surrounded by cultivated fields — the estab- 
 lishment owning 530 acres, and renting 330 in addi- 
 tion. 
 
 Each " Home " accommodates forty boys, and has 
 its own " House-father." 
 
 One of the houses, prettier than the rest, and with 
 more flowers, and surrounded with the most attractive 
 and showy of the shrubbery, is set apart for the 
 ' littlest " of the children, those under ten years of 
 age. 
 
 Only think ! not a boy of the 800 but has been un- 
 der arrest for being either a vagrant or a criminal, and 
 has been sent hither by the law. 
 
 You may well believe that the people of the sur- 
 rounding country were "up in arms" when they found 
 a " Reformatory " was to be established in their midst. 
 Eight hundred bad boys, and under no confinement 
 — why, they expected their chicken-coops to be robbed 
 their vineyards and orchards stripped, and their houses 
 burned over their heads ! 
 
 259 
 
The Bad Boys of France. 
 
 Well, I suppose there might be much of this 
 trouble, were there not some charm in the management 
 that begins to act on a boy the moment he arrives, so 
 that he starts, that very second, toward being a good 
 boy. 
 
 I suppose that the sight of flowers, and nicely-laid 
 tables and nicely-prepared food, and nicely-made 
 beds, and plenty of clear water and clean towels, and 
 clean clothing, and the firm and kindly faces and 
 voices, do exert a strange and blessed magic on the 
 dirty, wretched little fellows. Everything I have ever 
 seen or ever read goes to prove that this would be the 
 case. 
 
 Once introduced into this home-y-looking town, the 
 boys are immediately brought under training. 
 
 Boys certainly do like military drill and order. They 
 enjoy a touch of the "barracks" in their training. 
 There is the make-up of a soldier in every boy, pro- 
 vided he is soon enough taken in hand. I think M. 
 de Metz had this opinion. I think he believed the 
 habit of obedience to be the corner-stone habit in 
 building up a boy's character, and that the other habit 
 of doing a given thing at a given time would soon 
 steady the most fickle and shiftless young lad. 
 
 The Mettray Boys — Mettray is the name of the 
 little Reformatory — are trained by the bugle. At the 
 morning bugle-call each boy hops out of his hammock, 
 260 
 
The Bad Boys of France. 
 
 kneels for prayer, dresses, marches away into the 
 yard for a wash. He goes to work by the bugle, 
 comes home to his meals by the bugle. At the hour 
 of retiring, at the bugle-note, each boy comes into 
 position by his hammock, at the next note he unrolls 
 and hitches it to the post ; then kneels ; undresses ; 
 and all are into bed, in silence, and like soldiers ! 
 
 They also have a flag, like an army regiment. The 
 house that, during a given time, has received the fewest 
 punishments, has the care of this flag during another 
 given time. This is a great honor. When a house 
 gets the flag, the boys of that house take their place 
 at the head of an universal procession, the band plays, 
 and off they go, military fashion, filing through all the 
 walks and streets of the estate. Should a fellow be 
 espied about to do a wrong thing, his comrades will 
 prevent him, if they can. "Don't! don't! we shan't 
 get the flag if you do ! " 
 
 The main occupation is farming — in all its branches, 
 however ; gardening, fruiteries, poultry-keeping, cattle- 
 raising. But the founders had a great respect for 
 nature ; and they don't send out boys, in whom they 
 discover peculiar " bents," fitted to be only farmers. 
 Young carpenters, blacksmiths, shoe-makers, tailors, 
 and what-not, even sailors, go out from Mettray. They 
 have a three-masted ship at the school, presented by 
 261 
 
The Bad Boys of France. 
 
 the French " Secretary of Navy ; " and there is an old 
 sailor, to teach about the sails, and masts, and 
 rigging. 
 
 As to education : they are taught reading, writing, 
 arithmetic, geometry, drawing, history and music. 
 They have a band, and they give concerts. They at- 
 tend church regularly — in short, these poor criminals 
 go out into the world equipped for business, and with 
 many saving tastes and habits. For instance, they 
 make excellent soldiers. More than one Mettray bad 
 boy has worn the Cross of the Legion of Honor. 
 
 The discipline of punishments is admirable : private 
 remonstrance,, public reprimand, confinement during 
 recreation-hours, withdrawal of the right to compete 
 for prizes, dietary of bread and water, and, finally, the 
 " cell," dark or light, according to the offense. 
 
 There is also a novel theory largely acted upon — 
 a chance for repentance, a temptation to repent. 
 
 For instance, in case of petty theft : tfyere is placed 
 a great box in a private spot. This box is marked 
 " For Things Lost." Should anything be missed, 
 the complaint is made to the Father of the House, 
 privately. Nothing is said about it for a week, per- 
 haps ; and if the article is, during that time, found in 
 the box, it is restored quietly to the owner, and no al- 
 lusion is ever made to the affair. 
 262 
 
The Bad Boys of France. 
 
 But the main force in the government is the 
 "Father " idea. The boys feel it from first to last. 
 They feel it all their lives through — it was in the plan 
 of M. de Metz from the very first. The twenty 
 Fathers are chosen, selected with the greatest of care 
 — twenty kind, sympathetic, patient, fatherly men. 
 
 Co-existent with the Father-idea is the Home- 
 idea. 
 
 When the bad boys become good boys, and are 
 about to be discharged and go out in the world, they 
 are warmly urged to come back every holiday, every 
 Sabbath if they can. Should they be sick, and can 
 reach the place, the Mettray hospital is open to receive 
 them. Many come back when in trouble, or to die, as 
 to a father's house. They grow to look upon Mettray 
 not as a House of Correction, a place of punishment 
 and discipline, but as the homestead. The " Fathers " 
 will show you hundreds of affectionate letters from 
 their boys who have gone out and made themselves a 
 place in the world. 
 
 There is one Father resident in Paris, to watch over 
 the discharged boys who come to the city, to befriend 
 and counsel them. An eminent French lawyer, M. 
 Verdier, filled the place eighteen years without salary. 
 
 Aside from those in Paris, there are now about 
 3,000 of these Mettray boys scattered over France. 
 263 
 
The Bad Boys of France. 
 
 These are watched over by Mettray itself, through dis- 
 trict agents, and through tours of inspection. This 
 was the favorite work of the good chief M. de Metz 
 himself. Long, expensive, tedious journeys he used 
 to go, looking after his boys. 
 
 Under the old, harsh, national management, about 
 forty-nine out of a hundred reclaimed boys became 
 criminals again. Only four out of a hundred of the 
 Mettray boys relapse into crime. 
 
 Nearly 5,000 boys have been at the Homes one 
 time and another, and though there are no walls, nor 
 locked gates, only one boy of this number ever ran 
 away ! The people round about, in place of fearing 
 these lads, greatly respect them. Instead of commit- 
 ting incendiary acts, the Mettray Fire Company has 
 saved more than one farmer's house from destruction. 
 In 1856 the great city of Tours was in danger of inun- 
 dation from the rising of the river Loire. But the 
 " Bad Boys of France " marched down, several hun- 
 dred strong, with pickaxes and shovels, and worked 
 like good fellows to cast up embankments and save 
 the city ; and they got a gold medal from the city gov- 
 ernment when it was all over. 
 
 The National Government pays ,£10 per annum for 
 each boy sent to the Mettray Homes ; but this is not 
 sufficient, even with the lad's work ; so about seven 
 264 
 
The Bad Boys of France. 
 
 pounds each year, for each boy, must come from pri- 
 vate benevolence. 
 
 But this want has always been nobly met. The 
 wisest of the French statesmen have been foremost 
 with their help ; and M. Drouyn de Lhuys has re- 
 cently endowed a school of Agricultural Chemistry «at 
 the " Homes," open not only to the boys, but to the 
 neighboring farmers, and to outside students. 
 
 Surely, the " Homes " are a credit to France ; and 
 the "Fathers" are a credit to humanity ; and the 
 " Bad Boys " themselves are a credit to human nature. 
 267 
 
THE CHILDREN'S HOUR; A 
 NOVEL ART SCHOOL 
 
 ONE of the most unique and delightful schools 
 in the city of New York is the quaintly named 
 " Children's Hour," conducted by a society of women- 
 artists, and founded in 1878 by Miss Mary Cook, a 
 lady well-known for the past thirty years in the art- 
 circles of that city. 
 
 One of the first pupils of the School of the Na- 
 tional Academy of Design, at a time when it was 
 about to close for want of funds, she came gener- 
 ously to the rescue, paying the coal bills for the 
 season ; becoming a Fellow for life of the National 
 Academy, she was, in this way, one of the first to 
 contribute to its present financial independence. 
 
 Miss Cook gave her time, means and influence 
 largely toward gaining for women-artists recognition 
 and broader opportunity for the study of art, being 
 268 
 
The Children's Hour; 
 
 instrumental, in connection with seven other ladies, 
 in founding in 1867 the present "Ladies' Art Asso- 
 ciation," of New York, a society that has sent teach- 
 ers to all parts of the Union. Her chief labors, 
 however, have been among the young, and long ob- 
 servation of the child-nature led her to believe in 
 the value and necessity of a much earlier training of 
 the eye than is usually given. 
 
 Miss Cook did not live to carry out her views re- 
 garding the school she founded, her death occurring 
 shortly after its organization. An able successor was 
 found in Miss Alice Donlevy, whose extensive knowl- 
 edge of form and color, as she is one of the finest 
 designers of illumination in the United States, pecu- 
 liarly fitted her for training the young in the first 
 principles of art, and leading them, either to its 
 higher walks, or so preparing them that they may 
 apply their knowledge of drawing industrially, or to 
 the surroundings of daily life. 
 
 With a quick intelligence and great originality, 
 added to enthusiasm in her work, Miss Donlevy has 
 quietly and modestly developed so successful a 
 method that the " Children's Hour " is rapidly be- 
 coming a most interesting and valuable educational 
 institution ; so beneficial indeed, has been its first sea- 
 son's lessons that similar schools are to be organized 
 269 
 
A Novel Art School. 
 
 in Boston, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Jersey City and 
 New York, to be taught by teachers especially 
 trained for this purpose in the art-industrial class of 
 the " Ladies' Art Association " of New York, 
 
 Attracted by the sweet, suggestive name I recently 
 visited this little art-school on Fourteenth street, and 
 found the teacher preparing for the first session of 
 the new season. 
 
 The season is divided into three terms of ten 
 weeks each. Miss Kyle teaches the Wednesday 
 classes, Miss Donlevy the Saturday, and leads the 
 Monthly Hour trip, talk, or whatever it may be. 
 Pupils enter at any time. Though the school is not 
 free, the terms are almost nominal, being only five 
 dollars per quarter. The teachers are not salaried. 
 The school opens October 4th, and closes the last 
 Saturday in June. It is patronized by the intelligent 
 wealthy classes, and those in moderately easy cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 The school is divided into classes of ten, the num- 
 ber being thus limited because the system is such 
 that a teacher cannot do justice to a larger number. 
 
 The room is large and airy, lighted by a spacious 
 window, whose broad sill, filled with potted plants, 
 forms an impromptu conservatory for the use of the 
 
 270 
 
The Children's Hour ; 
 
 school, the plants being chosen for the grace, bold- 
 ness, or delicacy of their foliage, not for ornamental 
 purposes only, but as models for study of design, no 
 drawing being done from the flat. 
 
 The neutral tinted walls are hung with casts of 
 decoration, framed illuminations, and brackets sup- 
 porting vases of various forms. An open cabinet 
 near the window displays on its shelves dainty bits 
 of porcelain in the way of Indian, Chinese and Japa- 
 nese plaques, cups, saucers and vases of admirable 
 form and color ; these also will serve as models. 
 
 The most attractive feature — certainly what 
 pleased me most — was a great portfolio of pencil 
 and water-color sketches from object and nature, the 
 work of little children in all parts of the Union ; 
 for the ladies of this association ask all the little 
 boys and girls who can make original drawings to 
 send in their little pictures that the scholars of the 
 " Children's Hour," seeing them, will work all the 
 harder to do as well or better, if possible. This 
 collection of children's pictures was originated by 
 requests made at meetings of the Association, and 
 by notices in the New York papers. 
 
 I may here state that Master Montgomery 
 Wood, a direct descendant of Matthew Thornton, 
 one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ- 
 271 
 
A Novel Art School. 
 
 ence, was the first child to send in sketches — in 
 fact he is the " Montie " of this article. 
 
 A large round table occupies the center of the 
 room ; on it the teacher has picturesquely grouped 
 the material for the morning lesson — a jar of oil, a 
 pitcher of water, a vase of green leaves, a small 
 flower-pot, an earthen cylinder, a lemon, some paper 
 and paint-brushes, and finally, two bowls filled with 
 white powder. 
 
 As she gave the finishing touches to the arrange- 
 ment, we heard a hum of childish voices ; the door 
 opened ; in came a troop of little lads and lasses, 
 and " presto, pass /" as the magicians say, the teacher 
 (who by the way, is a bright wee little body herself,) 
 became so surrounded and smothered in twining 
 arms and waving tresses, that for a moment I couldn't 
 tell where she was except for the sound of kisses all 
 coming from one spot. When I tell you that this is 
 a Saturday school you can put that fact and the love 
 of the pupils for their teacher together, and the sum 
 of it will show you what a pleasant school it is. 
 
 " Are these all to be artists ? " I ask, when the 
 hum of the children's greetings subsides. 
 
 " In every case, no ! " decidedly replies the 
 teacher. " Of course some will draw landscape and 
 
 figures, and perhaps excel. But I will tell you what 
 
 274 
 
MAKING CASTS. 
 
The Children^ Hour ; 
 
 all my little people will be — if not artists in the 
 future, at least refined, intelligent and useful citizens. 
 My boys, for instance, will probably turn their knowl- 
 edge of drawing to account industrially : they will 
 neither design or buy a grotesque carpet ; apply orna- 
 ment falsely ; or cover the natural beauty of the 
 graining of a piece of oak or maple with dull paint. 
 Ah, I could tell you many things — but you will 
 judge for yourself." 
 
 " And what of your girls ? " 
 
 "My girls?" replies the teacher brightening, "ah, 
 they'll never waste their precious youth in Berlin- 
 wool portraits and square-eyed monsters J One will 
 be able some day to wear with honest pride exquisite 
 lace of her own designing ; another shall show you 
 in her house curtains whose chief value lies not in 
 the material, however rich, but in the lovely border 
 which shall be the creation of her own fancy." 
 
 I may say here, that one little girl of eleven, under 
 this system has shown such remarkable talent that 
 she has been sent to Italy to study for a time, and 
 observe the art treasures of that country. 
 
 " Many a child," adds the little lady, " has a 
 special ability that only needs discovery and devel- 
 opment to prove a source of joy and profit to it in 
 its after-life ; without that discovery and develop- 
 2 75 
 
A Novel Art School. 
 
 merit it is like the ? talent folded in the napkin ' 
 — wasted." 
 
 Meanwhile the little folks who had disappeared 
 for the moment reappear from the dressing closets \ 
 hats and wraps have been doffed, and now they look 
 like true little workmen in their rolled-up sleeves and 
 gingham aprons. 
 
 However they do not seem quite ■ ready for busi- 
 ness -j something important is on foot ; all their faces 
 twinkle with mysterious merriment. See, they gather 
 in groups, put their small heads together and murmur 
 like a hive of bees ! Little packages in tissue paper 
 are drawn forth from sly pockets and cunning bask- 
 ets — and look, an elder boy advances as spokesman 
 of the party : 
 
 " Teacher, we remembered what you said about 
 our gathering autumn leaves during vacation, so 
 we've brought you a magnificent lot — oh, the love- 
 liest you've ever seen ! " 
 
 " And we know the names of every one of them 
 and how they grow — " exclaims a sunny-haired las- 
 sie of seven summers. "And we do so want to 
 paint them some time ! " 
 
 Package after package being opened, the little 
 folks fairly clap their hands in delight over the rain- 
 bow-tinted treasures of wood and field. Not until 
 
 27s 
 
. : -• . I': 
 
 CHTI DREN AT WORK. 
 
The Children's Hour ; 
 
 they are promised a talk on autumn leaves and a 
 painting lesson at some future period, and the lovely 
 things are packed away and hidden from sight in 
 the drawers of the cabinet, do the little chatterers 
 become quiet and settle down to the lesson of the 
 day. 
 
 " Who can inform me what plaster-of-Paris is ? " 
 inquires the teacher, as all are seated at the round 
 table. 
 
 A small brown hand is held up, and an eager voice 
 exclaims : 
 
 " I can, teacher ; it's gypsum ! " 
 
 " That is correct, Bertie ; and now since you are 
 one of the older scholars, I will ask you to explain 
 to the class what I am' going to do with it and 
 why ! " 
 
 "Yes, ma'am ; you are going to make casts of 
 leaves and other things on the table, and they will 
 have to be solid, of course. Now the gypsum was 
 once solid, but all the heat — no, I mean all the 
 water has been driven out of it by heat, making it 
 into a powder ; so you put water into it again, enough 
 to make it paste or cream, and then it will harden 
 again taking the form of anything you put it on." 
 
 " Very good, Bertie, and thank you ! Now Montie 
 
 279 
 
A Novel Art School. 
 
 be kind enough to show the class what to do with 
 the tissue paper." 
 
 With an air of importance Montie prepares a 
 small pad of paper something in the shape of a 
 leaf, dampening it with water ; he then takes a leaf 
 from the vase, and with a small brush covers its 
 surface lightly with oil. 
 
 Scores of bright eyes watch him, and busy hands 
 follow his example. 
 
 " Children, do you notice any peculiarity about 
 your leaves ? " inquires the teacher, just here. 
 
 "Mine is green and pointed," exclaims a bright 
 little girl, holding up her leaf and eyeing it with 
 critical examination ; " and, let me see — oh, yes, the 
 veins all run to the middle line ; it is a rose leaf." 
 
 " Mine isn't a bit like Dora's at all, even in color," 
 it is round like an umbrella, and pale green," cries 
 another wee damsel. " All its veins run to a spot in 
 the middle where the handle — no I mean the stem 
 — comes up. It 's a nas — eh, nas-turtium ? " 
 
 " Mine is a lily leaf, dark green and shining, and 
 like a spear men used to fight with ! " exclaims 
 Eugene, " and all the lines run right down to the 
 stem." 
 
 " Very fine, children ; I see you remembered 
 your thinking-caps this morning ! " 
 280 
 
TJie Children' 's Hour ; 
 
 A ripple of laughter greets this little speech, and 
 one little fellow exclaims : 
 
 "Why, I have never taken mine off since I first 
 came here last fall." 
 
 As conversation is encouraged as a means of 
 drawing out ideas, the children frequently ask ques- 
 tions of each other or propose them to the class. 
 Listen, for Eugene is asking one now : 
 
 " Why do we use oil on our leaves ? " 
 
 " To keep 'em from stickin' to the plaster," lisps 
 Horatio, the smallest tot in the class. 
 
 " Smart little chap," returns Eugene patronizingly. 
 u Yes, and because oil and water won't unite." 
 
 The little pads of paper are now hollowed on the 
 top, dampened again, the plaster mixed into a paste, 
 poured into the hollow, the leaves pressed lightly on 
 the plaster, and then carefully set aside for hardening. 
 
 Meanwhile Edith, and Dora, and Jessie, are busily 
 engaged filling the flower pot and the bottle with this 
 same liquid paste ; and Bertie is making a little 
 plaster-bed to lay the lemon in, first having carefully 
 oiled the front. 
 
 The teacher looks on approvingly, giving advice, 
 
 and explaining in simple language the peculiar process 
 
 of rapid crystalization by which the plaster hardens, 
 
 giving out heat when at the point of setting. Hear- 
 
 28 r 
 
A Novel Art School. 
 
 ing this the children touch their molds daintily, and 
 start with surprise on finding them hot. 
 
 Soon the leaves are gently stripped from the solid 
 plaster; with exclamations of pleasure the children 
 see every vein, point, and curve traced on the white 
 surfaces. But what is their delight to find something 
 more wonderful still, when the teacher takes a 
 wooden hammer and deftly breaks away the flower 
 pot, and the bottle, to find these forms reproduced 
 in hard, white stone ! 
 
 There was once, my little readers, a great stupid 
 fellow named Peter Bell — at least I think that was 
 his name — and he was not the only man of his kind 
 who could look on the beautiful sky, and the trees, 
 and the golden grain in the fields, thinking nothing 
 more than whether it would rain, or how much wood 
 the trees would make, or how many bushels of wheat 
 could come from the acre — he saw none of the won- 
 derful beauty that lies in all these lovely things : 
 
 "A primrose by the river's brim, 
 A yellow primrose was to him ; 
 And it was nothing more." 
 
 And why ? simply because he had not gone to a 
 school where his ideas could be awakened, and his 
 eyes opened to the inner beauties of nature, probably 
 he had not been to any school at all, at any rate, no 
 
 284 
 
MIXING COLORS. 
 
The Children's Hour'; 
 
 one had ever put a " thinking cap " on his poor little 
 head when he was a child, and that was why he was so 
 stupid. And let me tell you here, children, you are 
 very fortunate to live in these good times when there 
 are so many wonderful schools, and books, and mag- 
 azines for little folks, and it will certainly be your 
 own fault if you should not take advantage of them, 
 and grow up like " Peter Bell." 
 
 Dear me ! I have left the class waiting a long time. 
 As I was saying, every vein, and point, and curve ap- 
 peared distinct and clear on the white stone, and all 
 the scholars studied them closely, and talked about 
 them, thus ending the first lesson in Color and Form. 
 I am very certain that no girl or boy in that school 
 will ever look at a leaf or flower without studying it. 
 
 What is very pleasant about this school is this : 
 the pupils may ask questions about everything in any 
 way pertaining to the lesson, and they get such en- 
 tertaining and instructive answers that they soon un- 
 derstand what was previously a mystery to them. 
 The teacher knows quite well that a child is not at all 
 like the majority of grown persons who pass many 
 beautiful and wonderful things without noticing them, 
 but is full of a healthy curiosity to know the nature 
 and uses of everything surrounding it, from the stars 
 to the smallest insect. 
 
 ;s 5 
 
A Novel Art School. 
 
 The children of this school, when the lesson of the 
 day is finished, do not rush heedlessly off leaving the 
 teacher to place the room, in order. Oh, no, then 
 comes the lesson in neatness and method. Four 
 girls and boys are now chosen as House Committee. 
 Deftly they work in their little blue aprons ; the boys 
 bring the basin of water and towels, and the girls set 
 to work washing the cups and bowls, and brushes, 
 drying them carefully while the boys remove the oil, 
 and the plaster, and bits of broken molds. 
 
 ii. 
 
 Time has passed none too quickly for the small in- 
 quirers. It is Saturday again, and our little friends 
 are once more seated at the round table. 
 
 Wkat a hum I hear as they try to decide the sub- 
 jects for the pictures to-day ! Some of the elder 
 scholars of a previous session compose little studies 
 from objects in the room ; one chooses a vase with a 
 bit of drapery for back-ground ; another a small 
 easel with a tiny palette hanging on it ; here a boy 
 draws from his pocket a bag of bright-colored mar- 
 bles — agates, he calls them — and is allowed to pile 
 them with pretty effect on a ground of blue paper ; 
 another diaws from a toy ship placed in a wash- 
 286 
 
The Children's Hour ; 
 
 bowl, and Horatio has brought his ball and asks 
 whether it will make a good picture for painting — 
 for to-day one can see by all the little boxes of water- 
 colors, there's going to be a painting lesson. 
 
 Each child is allowed to compose, as it were, the 
 subject, the teacher looking on and occasionally giv- 
 ing a hint as to arrangement, watching the bent and 
 method of each scholar. 
 
 " Draw bold, decided lines, children," she says, 
 " because if you make a mistake they can be as 
 easily rubbed out as weak, trembling, slowly drawn 
 lines." 
 
 She says this while the ball, the marbles, the vase, 
 the ship and the easel are being outlined on the draw- 
 ing pads. The girls have chosen the autumn leaves as 
 subjects, pinning them in pretty groups for sketching. 
 Silence reigns for a time, so intent are the little 
 workers, until now wee Horatio speaks up with an 
 air of discovery : 
 
 " Why, teacher, I thought my ball was all black 
 until just now, but it looks gray in some places, and 
 on top it is almos' white where the light shines on 
 it!" 
 
 " Very true, Horatio," speaks the teacher ; " and, 
 Montie, what can you say about your vase ? " 
 
 287 
 
A Novel Art School. 
 
 " It is straight up and down, and hollow like a 
 reed ; it is a Chinese vase." 
 
 "Yes, the Chinese have a plant in their country 
 called the bamboo, and you will notice this vase is an 
 imitation of a section of bamboo stem. The Chinese 
 artist got his idea from that ; all nations copy the 
 forms of the fruit, flowers, and leaves of their coun- 
 try in the forms of their ornaments, and domestic 
 or sacred vessels." 
 
 " Wouldn't a morning-glory make a lovely shape 
 for a vase ? " suggests Dora, meditatively. 
 
 " Teacher," exclaims Bertie impatiently, " may I 
 say something about my marbles ? for papa took 
 me to a factory and I saw them blowing glass, and 
 I know all about how this color gets into the 
 glass ! " 
 
 As I listened to the child's graphic description as 
 he told the process, step by step, I wondered at the 
 amount of information so small a child could ob- 
 tain in one visit to a factory, and this visiting, by 
 the way, is a feature of the " course " in this wonder- 
 ful little art school, the teachers desiring at every 
 opportunity to instruct the children in the uses of 
 art in its application to industry. 
 
 Bertie has finished his account which has been 
 listened to with open-eyed wonder. The teacher now 
 288 
 
The Children's Hour; 
 
 passes around examining each sketch ; she then directs 
 how to prepare and lay on the first washes. This is 
 a trying time to the young painters who must wait 
 for each wash to dry. With what an air of knowl- 
 edge the little painters hold their sketches at a dis- 
 tance, put their heads on one side, and examine them 
 with an air of criticism droll to witness. 
 
 "Time and the hour run through the roughest 
 day," says the poet, but it has flown for these little 
 ones. It is just a quarter to twelve ; Master Brush 
 and Miss Easel, Miss Palette and Mr. Paintcup, 
 as the children have quaintly named to-day's House 
 Committee, have their duty to perform. In quick 
 order all signs of the morning's lesson are removed. 
 
 " I have something to say to you, children " an- 
 nounces the teacher. " My clever little- girls and 
 boys, you all failed to discover a very important part 
 of a picture to day ; in fact none of your pictures 
 can be finished without it. Who can tell me what 
 it is ? " 
 
 "No one? Then I'll appoint four boys and girls 
 to discover the mystery. Eugene, Dora, Edith, and 
 Horatio, search every part of the room ; everything 
 in it, and indeed every boy and girl, has one. Now 
 look everywhere ! " 
 
 Down go four little heads at once ; inquisitive eyes 
 289 
 
A Novel Art School. 
 
 peep under chair and table, search the floor and walls. 
 
 " I know, I know/' suddenly cries Dora jumping up 
 and clapping her hands in glee, " guess., guess, what 
 it is ! It's only a shadow — see, we all have one — oh, 
 weren't we stupid though ? " 
 
 " What a hunt for a shadow ! " chimes in Jessie, 
 " and there it was hunting with us all the time ! " 
 
 "That will do, children. Next Saturday I shall 
 expect to hear ever so much news about this sub- 
 ject, so you hunt and watch shadows as much as you 
 like, and come prepared for a shadow talk next week." 
 
 When the Saturday arrives one boy tells his experi- 
 ence ; he has learned that the shape of a shadow 
 varies with the time of day ; another says a shadow 
 has a shadow of its own ; Montie declares they 
 are blackest near the object they fall from ; Dora 
 affirms they have no will of their own but go up and 
 down or round everything, trying, poor things, to 
 keep a proper shape all the time. 
 
 While they add this important part to their pictures 
 the teacher pleasantly explains the cause and philos- 
 ophy of shadows and shading. Then follows a lesson 
 in lines to give accuracy. T. squares, compasses, 
 and other instruments are given them. Fences will 
 be the subject — a board, a rail, a picket fence or a 
 fancy railing, as each child may select, and invent, or 
 
 2 CO 
 
The Children's Hour ; 
 
 sketch from memory. These sketches are afterward 
 made into pictures or ornamental designs by the ad- 
 dition of sky, trees, flowers, dots, vines, and lines, 
 according to the fancy of each child. 
 
 The girls, with one or two exceptions, converted 
 their sketches into pretty, though simple patterns for 
 lace or embroidery, showing in this way the awaken- 
 ing of the spirit of design, however rude the begin- 
 ning. The boys ornamented their fences, or imitated 
 the grain of the wood in the color, one or two show- 
 ing considerable invention. 
 
 The children's sketches and casts, products of 
 their lessons, are exhibited at the regular monthly 
 meetings of the Ladies' Art Association. 
 
 The crowning pleasure of each month is an enter- 
 tainment takmg the place of the usual lesson. An 
 hour is devoted to illustrated talks on general art or 
 art-industrial subjects. Sometimes there will be a 
 sketching trip to Central Park, the " little men and 
 women " taking their sketching materials ; there they 
 study the forms of animal and vegetable life for fu- 
 ture designs. At other times there will be a peep 
 into some establishment where art is applied to in- 
 dustry. About fifty children usually assemble for 
 these trips. 
 
 It is Saturday again ; the little folks are going to 
 291 
 
A Novel Art School. 
 
 visit a Picture Gallery this time ; let us go with them. 
 
 The exhibition is one in "Black and White." To 
 the average adult all the pictures are simply black 
 and white — not so to these earnest young thinkers. 
 Listen to this small critic while he speaks ! 
 
 " Why, Jessie, this is an etching ■ and that is a pen- 
 and-ink ; don't you see how much finer one is than 
 the other ? " 
 
 " Yes, but what is an etching, Eugene ? " 
 
 "It's a drawing done with a fine needle on a 
 metal, or glass plate — - then they print from that ; 
 this is a print from an etching," answers Eugene. 
 
 "How clever you are," exclaims Jessie. "Miss 
 Donlevy told you, though ! " 
 
 " Of course she did, and lots more. This is a sepia 
 drawing — I guess you don't know what sepia is - y it 
 comes from the cuttle-fish ! " 
 
 " That is what my bird loves and he never paints ;" 
 laughs Dora. '' Mamma says the white substance is 
 thrown from the fishes' backs in the Mediterranean 
 ocean, and — oh, dear, I remember now — when the 
 cuttle-fish is chased by an enemy he throws out a 
 sort of dark colored ink to hide himself in." 
 
 " And yet he never writes, Dora," whispers Eugene 
 mischievously. 
 
 And thus they chatter, moving in little groups from 
 292 
 
The Childre?fs Hour. 
 
 picture to picture, asking questions in no idle spirit 
 of curiosity, but in thoughtful mood. There a little 
 maid with sunny hair claps her hands in delight, she 
 has recognized the original of a " Wide Awake''' 
 picture. Another stands in ecstacy regarding a 
 " St. Nicholas " fairy scene. 
 
 The most wonderful thing to me was the recogni- 
 tion of various artists' work by their style ; one boy 
 discovered a Moran, another an Abbey, and a third a 
 Greatorex, giving their reasons very clearly, and in 
 most instances correctly. I could not have believed 
 that young children can discriminate, compare, and 
 judge so well had I not heard for myself ; nor would 
 I have believed that mere lines and forms, without 
 color to attract, would so delight and absorb them. 
 
 " Teacher, do you know what I would like to do 
 when I grow up, above all things in this wide, wide 
 world? Oh, if I could do it, I would be as happy — 
 oh, as happy as happy could be ! " said a little girl 
 as the school passed from the gallery down to the 
 street. " I would like to draw for the ' Wide Awake' 
 and' Harpers V" 
 
 Perhaps she will some day. 
 
 293 
 
AT A. DAY NURSERY. 
 
 CAN you seem to see a pleasant house on a cor- 
 ner, with a large, sunny, front room lined 
 with gay pictures of children and birds and flowers, 
 with all kinds of playthings strewn around, and so 
 many little children just about of a size that at first 
 you can hardly count them, toddling about, dragging 
 toy carts across the floor, riding rocking horses, tend- 
 ing dolls, doing almost everything ? 
 
 And can you hear the indescribable and inextin- 
 guishable buzz and hum of all those piping voices, 
 as their owners are trying to talk and babble, and 
 communicate their small wants and intentions to one 
 another ? 
 
 You must further imagine a dining-room, set out 
 with tables so low and chairs so diminutive that a 
 party of Tom Thumbs would be suited with the ac- 
 commodations. 
 
 294 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 And you must go on and try to see, furthermore, 
 overhead an airy chamber, with rows of cribs all 
 dressed out in snow-white quilts and dainty square 
 pillows j then a bath-room ; then closets full of little 
 clothes and every-thing for a child's comfort or 
 needs. You must think of these places as bright, 
 clean, cheery and attractive, like real homes for 
 darling baby boys and girls. 
 
 Next you must think of a motherly , woman and 
 one or two kind girl-assistants, and a good-natured 
 servant, who together take care of this house-full of 
 children, all of whom have come to this lovely home 
 from all kinds of miserable, filthy tenements, from 
 families where cleanliness and fresh air, good food, 
 pretty things, and pleasant ways and words are 
 hardly known. 
 
 And yet, after all this preamble, do you know what 
 a Day Nursery is ? 
 
 It is a place where the young children of poor 
 women are nursed and kept from morning till night, 
 year in and year out, while the mothers are away at 
 work. The children are taken not only free of all 
 charge, but they are washed and put into clean gar- 
 ments (entirely clothed if necessary,) fed, amused, 
 and taught to march and sing, and do many useful 
 2 95 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 things somewhat after the Kindergarten system. 
 
 It is part school, and part play, and a great deal of 
 being taken care of. 
 
 If I am not mistaken the plan was wholly a " Bos- 
 ton notion ; " but it has since been imitated as all 
 good charities are, till now there are similar insti- 
 tutions — if so they may be called — in several other 
 cities, and they are on the increase. 
 
 It was started by some noble Boston women who 
 wished not only to relieve the hard-working moth- 
 ers, but to put the ragged, dirty, neglected, needy 
 children in the way of growing up to a better and 
 more useful life, with different ideas from any they 
 could gain in their own squalid homes. And by 
 starting them in the right manner, it was hoped that 
 some influence might be had over the parents. 
 
 Miss Anna M. Balch, for now about seventeen 
 years a teacher in the public schools of Roxbury, and 
 Mrs. Shaw, daughter of Professor Louis Agassiz, or- 
 ganized this beautiful charity ; and the first Nursery 
 was opened on Albany Street in Roxbury, about 
 three years ago, and there the visitor will find the 
 same obliging matron who has had charge of it from 
 the beginning. 
 
 It is not the purpose to receive children before 
 
 2Cj8 
 
LEFT FOR THE DAY. 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 they can walk, but exceptions are made in extreme 
 cases out of kindness to mothers who are very poor 
 and obliged to be away, and have no one to leave their 
 babies with. Kindergartens are connected with the 
 Nurseries, and as the children grow old enough they 
 pass entirely from the charge of the latter. 
 
 Of course as infants of a year old are admitted and 
 they may remain for several years, these little inmates 
 rank all along in age ; though sometimes they seem 
 to be all of a size — a room full of babies. It is ex- 
 pected that all the youngest ones will have a nap in 
 the course of the day ; so they take turns by com- 
 panies in being put to bed in the cribs up-stairs. 
 
 It is often an amusing spectacle when the time 
 for the nap arrives. The little detachment of 
 nappers usually reaches the crib-room in high spirits. 
 There is nearly always a mad little frolic. Sometimes 
 they run about to each other like so many elves, shak- 
 ing hands, and crying, " How do you do? how do you 
 do ? " Sometimes there is a great Battle of the Pillows, 
 the little ones standing up in their cribs and pelting 
 each other. Five minutes more, and utter silence pre- 
 vails. Each rosy rogue lies fast asleep. 
 
 Almost without exception, the hundred that I saw 
 at the different establishments looked plump and 
 299 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 rosy, which is owing in great part, no doubt, to the 
 care they receive. When they are first brought, some 
 of them are disgustingly dirty and in a condition 
 most discouraging, but from that hour there is a new 
 order of things. " They all are washed and combed," 
 as one matron said, " at least four times in the day " 
 - — as soon as they come in the morning no matter 
 how clean they are ; before dinner ,* after dinner ; 
 and again before they go home. Every morning 
 each has a clean apron slipped on which covers the 
 whole dress. The aprons are all of light-colored 
 cambric or print — perhaps pink, or blue, or black 
 figures on a white ground, so that the wearers look 
 as fresh as can be. They really do not have much 
 chance to go long with soiled garments, or to eat 
 much more than one meal a day (except on Sundays) 
 of the poorly cooked and unwholesome food their 
 families live on. 
 
 The probability is that they seldom have much 
 nourishing food except what they get at the Nursery ; 
 and, as some of them are there two or three years, 
 this makes a vast difference with their healthy 
 growth. They have breakfast at home, a breakfast 
 of bread and tea, which the matrons who call there 
 agree in saying is the chief food, or more properly, as 
 ^02 
 
tf 
 
 
 
 
 
 ... .... ~ ....... . . : -#.-j-&&i*zti*>&S!B'~m 
 
 ■ 
 
 AT NAP TIME. 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 said one, "bread and slop." The children will some- 
 times say, " I had bread and molasses and tea ; " 
 not often butter, or even milk. The very babies are 
 fed on this " tea." They seldom have meat ; when 
 they do, they will speak of it. " Auntie " (as they 
 call the matron,) " I had some meat this morning," 
 or " I had some sausage." One of these ladies said 
 that at one of the houses where she went she saw the 
 supper ready in the shape of a plate of great, flat 
 griddle-cakes on the stove ; and as the children one 
 after another came in, they snatched one of these 
 greasy cakes, tore it in two, and devoured it, and 
 that was the way they took their meal. And where 
 they had bread, they seized the loaf and pulled away 
 a piece with their hands. Table-cloths she never 
 saw ; but once in a while there was an oil-cloth. 
 
 At the Nursery they have a luncheon in the fore- 
 noon, and at noon an ample, nutritious, nice dinner. 
 The food is prepared in the house with great care, 
 the bread being home-made and of excellent quality, 
 both brown and white. When they are to have a 
 sort of meat stew, the gristle and bones are taken 
 out, the meat is chopped fine and cooked till very 
 tender and then some potatoes are put in. They 
 have sufficient variety, all well-cooked — soup, oat- 
 3o5 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 meal, rice, mashed potato, mush and other things, 
 and always plenty of bread and milk. 
 
 And, oh ! you should see those children eat ! 
 
 While the preparations are going on in the dining- 
 
 GETTING READY FOR DINNER.— CLEAN BIBS. 
 
 room, they are being made ready up-stairs — washed 
 and brushed, and clean white linen bibs put on. 
 They have a preliminary recreation of singing. The 
 teacher tells the story of the song, so that they will 
 1 06 
 
dill 
 
 &'... 1 
 
 THE FIRST THING TO BE DONE. 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 understand it, often making up her own music, which 
 the older ones soon catch and the youngest ones try 
 to, twisting their mouths into comical shapes. 
 
 Then they form a ring, and at the proper signal, 
 start down-stairs, singing as they go, hand in hand in 
 a chain, the largest first and the tiniest at the end, 
 with two ladies to guide them and keep them in order. 
 At a touch of the bell they fold their hands ; at 
 another, they take their seats ; at another, move up 
 to the table and grasp their spoons. 
 
 They are not allowed to talk, but when they wish 
 for anything raise their hands. For such children 
 their behavior is admirable. And how hungry they 
 are ! Fancy the long, low, narrow tables, and forty 
 children just able to manage a spoon \ forty with 
 their white bibs on eating bread and milk ; forty shin- 
 ing faces, and little heads, some with crisp curls, 
 some with hair combed straight back and held by a 
 rubber comb, some with it braided in a tight queue 
 and tied with a ribbon bow, and some kinky locks 
 above a face as black as a coal. There are Irish and 
 German, and Jew, and colored children, a good many 
 Americans, and a few English and Scotch. 
 
 After the bread and milk is eaten, comes the smil- 
 ing servant with an immense pudding-dish, and in it 
 3o7 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 a mound of steaming mashed potato, light and white 
 and hot and good, and every child has a saucer-full. 
 Next, a slice of bread and a mug of milk to drink 
 with it j and they eat and they drink till they can eat 
 and drink no more. Then the dishes are carried 
 away and the table-cloth ; the bibs are taken off, and 
 the matron begins to sing : 
 
 " We rise and stand behind our chairs, 
 And push them up to the table ! " 
 
 With a start, and a whirl, and a push, it is done. 
 
 "And then we will march so gently along, 
 Up to our nursery play ! " 
 
 And away the forty go in a winding chain up the 
 stairs. 
 
 I was told that they always seem glad to come, 
 and are contented almost from the first. The change 
 from their dark homes is gratifying to them. Besides, 
 everything is done to make them happy, and they be- 
 come very fond of the matrons. One Sunday after- 
 noon I went with one of those ladies to visit some of 
 the poorest families in one of the worst localities, and 
 310 
 
ON THE WAY TO DINNER. 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 the little children came running out from alleys and 
 dark corners, calling " Auntie ! Auntie ! Oh ! here is 
 auntie ! " till it began to seem like the magic influ- 
 ence of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. 
 
 As has been said, the Nursery rooms are very at- 
 tractive. Sometimes there is a canary, and the more 
 noise there is the louder he sings, his small heart in 
 the most demonstrative sympathy with the whole affair. 
 Blooming plants are always in the windows — blazing 
 nasturtiums, geraniums and verbenas, and such bril- 
 liant things, and all in reach of the restless fingers — 
 but they never meddle with them ! They are like all 
 children, fond of flowers, and are continually asking 
 auntie the names of the plants. Now and then a big 
 box of hot-house flowers is brought by their benefac- 
 tress, Mrs. Shaw, and placed on the table till they go 
 away at night, when each has a bouquet to take 
 home. Then their enthusiasm breaks out in a long- 
 syllabled " oo — oo — oo — oo — oo ! " of delight. 
 
 To surround them with pretty things is part of the 
 system of their infantile training. Mrs. Shaw's idea is 
 that " If they are to be citizens, it is best to begin at 
 the root." It is meant that they shall have refining 
 influences from the first. They are required to 
 say "Please," when they want anything, "Thank 
 3ii 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 you," and " Excuse me," and to have kind and gen- 
 tle manners towards one another. 
 
 When there are quarrels or acts of disobedience, 
 there is some such punishment as setting the culprit 
 in the corner with back to the rest, which is felt to be 
 a great disgrace. Those in charge are not allowed to 
 strike a child, or speak harshly, or use any severity ; 
 but misdemeanors must be punished in some way, 
 and one of the matrons said her ingenuity was often 
 taxed to the utmost to meet emergencies. She once 
 laid a child on a shelf ; and sometimes she took off 
 the shoes and put the offenders to bed up-stairs, or 
 sent them down into the kitchen to tell their naughti- 
 ness and stay until they were penitent. As for the 
 bad children who were guilty of swearing — and very 
 small ones occasionally were — they had their mouths 
 sponged out with cold water, and as they well knew 
 what this treatment was for, it soon cured them. 
 
 Some days the whole Nursery would be tumultuous, 
 just as schools will without apparent cause be in a 
 state bordering on mutiny ; or one child will defy the 
 whole establishment, like a certain little Bridget who 
 threw herself flat on the floor, and straightened her- 
 self out, and bit and kicked like a vicious colt. And 
 I saw a pretty little Mary, pretty no longer, a mite of 
 312 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 a thing not three .years old, who stood like a post and 
 scowled, and made her face as hateful and evil as 
 if a bad spirit had got entire possession of her. 
 
 To meet all the needs, and to prevent unpleasant- 
 ness, they have games and singing which brighten 
 everybody up. They often " dance round the Bar- 
 berry Bush," singing : 
 
 " This is how we wash our faces, 
 This is how we brush our hair, 
 This is how we lace our boots,' ' 
 
 going deftly through all the movements ; or, two or 
 three form a boat, while the others imitate rowing, all 
 singing "Lightly Row." Or they play " school," or 
 string great wooden beads of two colors. Sometimes 
 to give them a change, they are set down at, the tables 
 where the smallest put blocks into different shapes, 
 and the others work in worsteds. One little boy was 
 doing this beautifully. He belonged to a family from 
 Prince Edward's Island, and his mother was so stupid 
 that she could not tell the birthdays of her children ! 
 all she could say of her boy's age was that he " was 
 born in haying time," and " the girl was born in the 
 Fall." 
 
 From such families come some of the children 
 3i3 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 whom these ladies were trying to teach neatness, 
 order, and good-manners, and how to be industrious, 
 and something about sewing. They are taught to 
 sew on buttons ; and the tiny fingers, some as early 
 as three, to sew patch-work over and over, with much 
 painstaking and picking out of stitches on the part of 
 the teachers. And the mothers of some of these 
 very girls are so ignorant of how to do things — one 
 woman was given a pair of pillow-cases to make, and 
 she went and sewed all the cloth into one immense 
 bag, and thought she had done it right ! 
 
 I don't know what there was notiox playthings, be- 
 sides handsome cloth picture books which they could 
 take in their own hands, and others which they could 
 look at, but were not allowed to touch. There was a 
 great deal of story-telling and singing of simple songs 
 suited to their child-minds, about things which ap- 
 pealed to their sense of beauty or kindness or were 
 personal to them. They had a new book of songs, 
 fully illustrated, with the simplest of music, prepared 
 purposely for the Day Nurseries. Among these songs 
 were some of the Mother Goose Melodies, such as 
 " Little Bo Peep," and " Humpty Dumpty," also the 
 pathetic story of u Cock Robin." And to these im- 
 mortal old stories were added some new ones — nine 
 3H 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 original songs by M. L. Elliott, in the collection. 
 
 " Six little snails 
 
 Lived in a tree, 
 Johnny threw a big stone 
 
 Down came three." 
 
 That is one of them \ and that is all of it. One 
 about "Dolly and her Mamma " begins thus : 
 
 " Dolly, you're a naughty girl, 
 All your hair is out of curl ; 
 Now you've torn your little shoe, 
 Oh ! what must I do with you ? 
 You shall only have dry bread, 
 Dolly, you shall go to bed." 
 
 But the prettiest sight I saw was a certain darling 
 little girlie, and the prettiest thing I heard was the 
 Irisrj. song she sung me. The little girl was Jennie 
 McGuinness, who was too large now for the Nursery 
 and had been to the Kindergarten, and came in on 
 her way home to see her dear auntie. She had 
 always been a sensitive, loving, obedient, gentle child, 
 who felt it so keenly once when the beloved auntie 
 was sick in bed up-stairs that she observed the day, 
 sitting silent, as if a grave sorrow oppresesd her, al- 
 though she was only four years old. She was at last 
 315 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 allowed to go up and stand by the bed of the friend 
 to whom this strange happening had come which she 
 could not comprehend. Afterwards she asked, " Aun- 
 tie, what did you have on ? Did you have on a white 
 dress ?" The sickness seemed a kind of consecration 
 to the wondering child. 
 
 It was this sweet Jenny came and stood by me and 
 sung all she could think of the Irish songs, swing- 
 ing her small body back and forth to keep time. She 
 had a lovely face, such a tender mouth, and such 
 limpid blue eyes, and she looked like a picture, though 
 her clothes were old and faded, for her mother was 
 poor, and had " so many children she didn't know 
 what to do." She had on a red hood rolled away 
 from her forehead, a little plaid coat with pockets, 
 a green and blue plaid dress, faded striped stockings, 
 and worn boots with the buttons coming off ; but 
 she was a darling, and this is what she sang : 
 
 " Mother, it is eight o'clock — 
 
 Mother, can I go out ? 
 Christie's at the corner, 
 
 Waiting to take me out. 
 " Throw down my bonnet, 
 
 Throw down my shawl ; 
 Throw down my Irish skirt, 
 
 I'm going to the Irish ball. 
 
 316 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 " First he gave me candy j 
 
 Then he gave me pie ; 
 Then he gave me sixpence, 
 
 To go upon a sly." 
 
 While I was writing it down, the toddlers gath- 
 ered round my knee — one of them with a doll dang- 
 ling by one arm, and every one bringing something 
 — a troop of Maggies and Patsies and Johnnies and 
 Bridgets. Then the door-bell rang ' ' Ting-a-ling- 
 ling" — and " Maggie Flynn " was called for — her 
 brother had come to take her home. Then — u Tmg- 
 a-/mg" — and "Nellie Malony, your mother wants 
 you. She is going home from work." And so one 
 after another, with' a Good Bye, they departed, and 
 silence fell on the house. 
 
 The toys were gathered up and put away for the 
 night, the floors swept, and every thing was got in 
 order for to-morrow. 
 
 And that is the routine of the weeks and months. 
 There are no vacations except the annual holidays, 
 and even then some of the matrons have actually 
 been expected to take charge of children. One of 
 them said that on Fast Day a boy came bringing his 
 little sister, so that he might go and play, and he was 
 so angry at her refusal to take his little charge off 
 
 3i7 
 
At a Day Nursery. 
 
 his hands that he would not speak the next time he 
 saw her. 
 
 And that brings up the question often asked — if 
 the parents appreciate what is being done. 
 
 Many do and are very grateful, and begin to tidy 
 up their poor homes and make their children neater ; 
 while others take it all as a matter of course, and a 
 few have even been unfair in appropriating for older 
 children the clothes worn home from the Nursery. 
 
 But the great-hearted women who control the en- 
 terprise keep on extending their work, from love to 
 the little ones and hope in the future elevation of the 
 class to which they belong. There are now Nurse- 
 ries and Kindergartens sustained in this way not only 
 in several of the poorer neighborhoods in Cambridge, 
 Roxbury, Jamaica Plains and other suburban cities 
 but also in Boston, where new ones are being estab- 
 lished. Any one who cares to know can find out all 
 about them, have the privilege of visiting them, see- 
 ing their workings and hearing the whole story from 
 any of the gracious women who are in charge. 
 
 320 
 
SOME INDIAN SCHOOLS. 
 
 A CERTAIN little boy, with whom I am com- 
 •*• *- pelled to be on rather intimate terms, notwith- 
 standing his aversion to clean waists and school- 
 books, being asked to bound the Indian Territory and 
 describe its products, answered thus : 
 
 "Bounded on the north by Mississippi river and 
 St. Louis ; east by Kansas and Dakota, south by — I 
 dori't just remember now; west by Gulf of Mexico 
 and Rocky Mountains. Products are pecans and 
 razor-backs " (wild pigs), " and the Indian boys can 
 eat the nuts and hunt the pigs with bows and arrows, 
 and never have to change their clo'es or go to school, 
 and I'd like to be a Territory Indian, so I would ! " 
 
 Whether this idle little fellow drew his boundary 
 lines correctly, you can see by looking on a map of 
 the United States. That he was wrong in his belief 
 3 21 
 
Some Indian Schools. 
 
 that Indian children never have to go to school, I 
 shall show by telling you about some Indian schools 
 I visited while travelling through the Territory sev- 
 eral months ago. 
 
 The western and central portions of the Indian 
 Territory are given up to wild and semi-civilized 
 tribes, while the eastern part is mostly occupied by 
 the five civilized tribes — the Cherokees, Creeks, 
 Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles. 
 
 These five are independent nations, ruled over by a 
 chief and council elected by the people, like the 
 governors and legislatures of our States. 
 
 Even among the semi-civilized and wild tribes, 
 mission-schools have been established; and in the 
 five civilized nations schools are quite as numerous 
 in proportion to the population as in the States. 
 They are principally supported by the Indians them- 
 selves, who draw a large annuity from the United 
 States — the interest upon money held in trust by our 
 government, the sale money of lands sold to us by 
 the Indians. 
 
 While there are larger institutions resembling our 
 academies and local colleges, most of the schools are 
 322 
 
97^ 
 
 " Wf.44 
 
 FIVE MINUTES OF NINE! 
 
Some Indian Schools. 
 
 held in little houses scattered through the timber and 
 the picturesque oak openings. To these little school- 
 houses the Indian boys and girls trudge patiently 
 from far and near. 
 
 Sometimes, it is true, a rabbit or a squirrel runs 
 across the pathway of a little red-man on his way to 
 school, arousing in his breast the love of chase so 
 natural to his race. He starts in hot pursuit, for- 
 getful of his duty, and there is a tardy-mark against 
 his name that day at school. But white boys often 
 cause a tardy-mark; and I have been informed that 
 Indian children are, upon the whole, as regular in 
 their attendance as white children, though the con- 
 finement of a school-room must naturally prove more 
 irksome to these little red men and women, whose 
 ancestors were rescued from a gypsy state but a 
 comparatively short time ago. 
 
 One charming morning, just before Thanksgiving, 
 I visited the Tullahassee mission-school, eight miles 
 from Muskogee, capital of the Creek nation. 
 
 On the other side of the Arkansas river, which we 
 crossed upon a ferry, we found a quaint old structure 
 
Some Indian Schools. 
 
 built of brick with curious little windows in the front, 
 apparently designed to serve the double purpose of a 
 fort or school as circumstances might require. 
 
 When we drove into the grounds the children were 
 all out of doors. The boys were playing " shinny," 
 laughing boister- 
 ously — the Creeks 
 are a notoriously 
 laughing tribe — 
 while the girls were 
 gathered in a circle 
 playing something 
 which resembled 
 " drop the handker- 
 chief" — only the 
 girl who ran around 
 the outside, briskly 
 pelted the heels of 
 the chosen one with 
 nuts, instead of 
 
 MOTHER ROBERTSON. 
 
 dropping a handkerchief behind her on the ground. 
 
 We were cordially received by Mother Robertson, 
 
 as she is called, who, with her husband, has the mis- 
 326 
 
Some Indian Schools. 
 
 sion-school in charge. For more than thirty years 
 have this good Christian pair been laboring together 
 among the Indians, accomplishing results that have 
 been simply wonderful. 
 
 Mother Robertson was reared among the Indians. 
 Her father was the Rev. S. A. Worcester, of Massa- 
 chusetts, who went to Georgia as a missionary to the 
 Cherokees in 1825, sharing their hardships for many 
 years, and finally removing to the Indian Territory 
 with the tribe after they sold their lands in Georgia. 
 
 " I played with Indian children when a little girl, 
 have worked among them since I grew to be a 
 woman, and hope to be surrounded by them in my 
 old age," said Mother Robertson, kindly patting a 
 little Creek boy's head as he filed past her on his 
 way into the school-room. 
 
 The apartments of the building were comfortably 
 fitted up. The school-rooms, three in number, wore 
 a particularly cheerful look. The pupils numbered 
 over eighty, and ranged in age from nine to eighteen 
 years. They boarded in the building, and were fed 
 and clothed and taught by Mother Robertson, as- 
 sisted by her youngest daughter and a lady teacher 
 
Some Indian Schools. 
 
 from St. Louis. The Creek Nation owns the building 
 and the grounds ; but the expenses of the school are 
 paid by the Presbyterian Mission Board of the United 
 States, the Rev. Thomas K. Beecher's church con- 
 tributing a most liberal amount. 
 
 There is a farm connected with the school, on 
 which the boys are required to work certain hours 
 each day throughout the farming season, while the 
 girls are busy in-doors, making beds and washing 
 dishes, helping cook and doing laundry work. The 
 girls are also called upon to mend the boys' clothes ; 
 and when I tell you that the boys are not restrained 
 from climbing trees, and joining in wrestling matches 
 — wise Mother Robertson remembering that they are 
 boys, and Indian boys at that — no doubt you will 
 wonder how the girls can find a minute's time to play 
 or study. 
 
 "It's the dreadfullest work "of all!" exclaimed a 
 little girl of twelve, who bore the funny name of 
 Nancy Goose. "If you've done something wrong 
 you have to mend a boy's jacket to pay up for it, and 
 they do tear such crooked holes ! Robert Stuart's 
 blouse 'most always falls to me, and he has got the 
 328 
 
Some Indian Schools. 
 
 sharpest elbows that you ever saw. They will stick 
 through, and 'tain't a bit of use to try to keep 'em 
 covered up." 
 
 NANCY GOOSE'S TRIALS WITH ROBERT STUART'S BLOUSE. 
 
 Although a great proportion of the Creek children 
 can speak English, they love to sing and chatter in 
 their native tongue, and nothing gives them more de- 
 
 3 2 9 
 
Some Indian Schools. 
 
 light than acting as interpreter between some proud 
 old Indian who disdains to speak the English lan- 
 guage, and a white person who is ignorant of Creek. 
 
 Many boys and girls, however, have entered the 
 Tullahassee school without the slightest knowledge 
 of the English language, and by diligent work have 
 made good progress in their studies. I recall one little 
 boy, who scarcely understood a word of English 
 when he came to school the year before, and could 
 not read and spell in Creek, who now wrote promptly 
 and correctly on the blackboard words of two sylla- 
 bles, and added figures numbering tens of thousands. 
 
 The regular course at this school takes the pupils 
 through the primary, intermediate and grammar 
 classes, occupying three years ; but they frequently 
 find ways and means by which to overstay their time 
 and take a higher course of study. 
 
 "They don't love to work — these Indian children — 
 but they will hoe corn, wash and iron, or do anything 
 to be allowed to stay with us," said Mother Robert- 
 son. "One poor girl was so distressed on being 
 taken home that she cried continually until her 
 mother brought her back. She now stands at the 
 
%:> 
 
Some Indian Schools. 
 
 great sink in the kitchen washing dishes, happy as a 
 bird." 
 
 I passed Thanksgiving morning with the Cherokee 
 boys, near Tahlequah, the capital of the Cherokee 
 Nation. The seminary is a commodious brick building 
 with wide porticoes, upheld by heavy pillars upon 
 every side. It is delightfully perched upon a hill, 
 looking down on woods and streams, and charming 
 valley nooks — a real hunter's paradise, wild enough 
 to suit the fancy even of an Indian boy. 
 
 A hundred boys are being educated at this semi- 
 nary, paying two dollars a week for board, except the 
 primary scholars who pay nothing, and receiving their 
 tuition free. 
 
 The Cherokees are the wealthiest and most en- 
 lightened of the Indians, and are liberal supporters 
 of schools and churches. They are mostly of a mixed 
 lineage, many of their ancestors having been white 
 men, and the boys and girls are like Caucasians, with 
 soft dark eyes and hair and olive skins. I remember 
 one — a chiefs son — with a free proud step, and 
 graceful form and face remarkable for its intelli- 
 gence. 
 
 33i 
 
Some Indian Schools. 
 
 u His right name is Henry, but we call him Prince, 
 because his father is a chief, and he's so proud," re- 
 plied a boy of whom I asked about this handsome 
 lad. " He don't take his turn a-waiting on the table 
 like the rest of us. He used to have to, but he 
 dropped the plates — a-purpose we all reckoned — so 
 Professor Vann agreed to let him off if he would play 
 the fiddle in the glee-club at our literary once a 
 week. He's too proud to do that even, but he'd rather 
 than pass round hominy to us hungry chaps." 
 
 There are but two women in attendance at the 
 school, a matron and a chief cook, and the boys are 
 forced to keep their rooms in order, mend their own 
 clothes, scrub the halls and dining-room, and wait 
 upon the tables, in return for the tuition allowed 
 them by the government. 
 
 Though they are orderly and busy during study 
 hours, and while attending to their work about the 
 building, they are a happy, rollicking set of school- 
 boys — these young Cherokees — and when released 
 from duty they immediately betake themselves to the 
 woods to hunt, or gather in a band in some retired 
 corner of the building, creating harrowing music 
 334 
 
Some Indian Schools. 
 
 from bass-viols, violins and horns, which instruments 
 are always badly out of tune from violent exercise. 
 If a Cherokee boy is not allowed to scrape a violin 
 and hunt, you may expect to see a most unhappy 
 youth. 
 
 There were four teachers in the school, all eastern 
 men except Professor Vann, the superintendent, who 
 was a native Cherokee. This really remarkable 
 young man had gained an education in all the 
 branches of a college course with no other aid than 
 that found in a district school-house near his fa- 
 ther's cabin. He had never been outside the Ter- 
 ritory, save on one occasion when he crossed the line 
 into Arkansas ; yet you never would have guessed this 
 fact, so well informed was he by reading books of 
 travel. I regret to tell you that Professor Vann died 
 suddenly a few weeks after I visited the school — an 
 incalculable loss to the entire nation. 
 
 As it was Thanksgiving day, I heard no recitations 
 from the classes ; but I saw the students all assem- 
 bled in the chapel after breakfast for devotional ex- 
 ercises, followed by short speeches from the teachers. 
 Another interesting feature I will mention briefly : 
 335 
 
>Some Indian Schools. 
 
 At the close of the exercises one of the professors 
 read from slips of paper, which he had required the 
 boys to lay upon the table, the reasons for Thanksgiv- 
 ing which most impressed their minds. One little 
 fellow in the primary class, who had but recently re- 
 covered from a dangerous illness, wrote as follows 
 — I copy word for word from the original : "lam 
 thankful to God that he has brought me up out of the 
 valley and shadow of death and made me well again." 
 
 Another said : "lam thankful for hominy, and for 
 a liberal lot of sorghum to eat on the hominy." 
 
 A junior of fifteen expressed himself in this way : 
 " I should have been much thankfuller to-day if the 
 Pilgrim Fathers hadn't landed on Plimmuth Rock in 
 1492, for then the indian wouldn't have been 
 cheated out of what was his by goodrights, but could 
 have injoyed equU rights with the white man that 
 surrounded him." 
 
 There are primary and preparatory courses occu- 
 pying two years, after which the boys enter the colle- 
 giate course, as it is called. I will give the studies of 
 the senior year so that the older boys who read 
 this sketch may see how far they are ahead — or 
 
 336 
 
2. 
 
 
 to ■ 
 
 
 r 
 
 ff iIKW iff 
 
 1 1 '.^ Kjsl 'Hi 
 
 \Ks, If"--?'- i ^ 
 
 ■ ■'..■'.■■ ■ 
 
 1W ,L 
 
 - IO ■ ■ ■ = 
 
 
Some Indian Schools. 
 
 possibly behind — these studious young Cherokees : 
 
 First Term. — Geology, Latin — Cicero — Greek or 
 German, Mental Philosophy. 
 
 Second Term. — Political Economy and Civil Gov- 
 ernment, Latin — Horace — Greek or German, Moral 
 Science. 
 
 There is a weekly drill in elocution through the 
 course ; and the students are required to write essays 
 and orations, and be ready to debate a question at 
 the meeting of the literary ^ club, whenever called upon. 
 
 After the exercises in the chapel, we went into the 
 yard to see some little fellows practise target-shoot- 
 ing with their bows and arrows. We wedged some 
 pennies into split sticks, driving them into the ground, 
 and, measuring off the distance, asked the boys to 
 shoot. One of the smallest boys won both the pen- 
 nies in the first charge, and several afterwards, to the 
 disappointment of his comrades, though they did not 
 grumble and cry out " foul play ! " as I have heard 
 white boys sometimes. One pleasant trait of charac- 
 ter which Cherokee boys possess is their exceeding 
 love of peace. They seldom quarrel, and are polite 
 to all with whom they come in contact. 
 337 
 
Some Indian Schools. 
 
 While in the yard we saw a group of boys gathered 
 around a pony on which two of them had placed a 
 youth who had a red shawl pinned about his shoul- 
 ders, covering his arms from sight. The latter did not 
 touch the pony's bridle, which was fastened to the 
 pommel of the saddle, but chirrupped to the little an- 
 imal, who started off upon a careful trot. 
 
 " Is that boy ill ? " I asked the lad who had sup- 
 plied me with the bit of news about the chief's son, 
 and who had from some cause followed me around, 
 at a respectful distance, ever since. 
 
 " No, ma'am, he's well now, but he's lost his hands 
 and feet. He got thrown off a frisky horse last win- 
 ter way back in the timber where there wasn't any- 
 body passing. He was hurt so bad he couldn't walk, 
 and had to lie there on the ground all night — right 
 in a raging snowstorm too. When they picked him 
 up next morning he had frozen his hands and feet 
 and had to have 'em taken off up to his elbows and 
 knees. He bore it like a brave one, though, and 
 wouldn't take a sniff of chloroform." 
 
 " Does he attend school now ? " I asked. 
 
 "Yes, ma'am, and he's right up with the rest of 
 34° 
 
Some Indian Schools. 
 
 us. He's a prime book-keeper, writes the neatest 
 hand you ever saw — slips the pen into a band 
 strapped round his arm above the elbow, and beats 
 the rest of us that have two hands. He's got a 
 trained pony, and the boys are good to him and help 
 him round so much you'd think he was some kin to 
 all of 'em." 
 
 After a dinner of roast turkey, oysters and plum- 
 pudding, the boys received permission to attend the 
 girls' reception at their seminary, three miles off. 
 We followed the popular rush, and found the girls ar- 
 rayed in their becoming best, gathered in the nicely 
 furnished parlor of the school. 
 
 This building is a twin-sister to the boys' seminary, 
 and very much the same inside, except that here and 
 there are scattered little ornaments and bits of fancy 
 work, displaying feminine taste, of which the boys' 
 quarters are conspicuously bare. 
 
 I had heard unsparing praises of these little Chero- 
 kee .maidens, but was not prepared to find them so 
 unquestionably nice in personal appearance and be- 
 havior. 
 
 "We had to hurry through our dinner, and had 
 34 1 
 
Some Indian Schools. 
 
 scarcely time to do our hair and dress," said one of 
 them as she tripped down the stairs in something of 
 a flutter, putting up her hand to poise a bright-winged 
 butterfly among her glossy braids, and giving her 
 claret cashmere a rather nervous little shake. " That 
 dear old sleepy chief of ours has preached to us two 
 hours in Indian — he can speak English, but he 
 won't — and we couldn't understand one word! 
 None of us speak Cherokee," she added, for I must 
 have looked surprised. "My mother was educated 
 in New Haven, and was a pet of Catharine Beecher, 
 who used to come and give the girls long talks and 
 good advice. So of course she wouldn't have come 
 back and gone to speaking Cherokee ! " 
 
 This was an ex-chief's daughter, whose father's 
 father had been a Scotchman of high birth ; and with 
 the blue blood of tKis ancestor she had inherited her 
 mother's piquant beauty, rendering her a veritable 
 little princess. 
 
 The course of study which the girls pursue is very 
 like the boys', except that their attention is devoted 
 rather more to music and special feminine accomplish- 
 ments. 
 
 344 
 
A CHEROKEE MAIDEN, 
 
Some Indian Schools. 
 
 A Cherokee woman, called the manager, directs 
 the household matters at this school. There is a 
 preceptress and a music-teacher from the States, and 
 two assistant teachers — Cherokee girls, who have 
 been educated in an Eastern school. These girls, not 
 twenty years of age, teach languages, philosophy and 
 mathematics in a thorough manner, and by their 
 graceful, dignified deportment exert a strong influence 
 in the school. 
 
 There is conferred each year upon the member of 
 the primary class the board deems most deserving, a 
 scholarship by which she is enabled to complete the 
 higher course of studies free of all expense. Many 
 of these little girls have come from backwoods 
 cabins destitute of comfort ( there are no cities in the 
 Territory, and the little towns are few and far be- 
 tween), and you can readily imagine what delight 
 they take in being pupils in this pleasant school. 
 
 One of them sang very sweetly and recited in 
 an interesting manner at the impromptu exhibition 
 which came off at our request Thanksgiving even- 
 ing. 
 
 " She has won the scholarship this year, and we are 
 345 
 
Some India.7i Schools. 
 
 all so glad, for her mother is a poor widow, and the 
 child is eager for an education," whispered the 
 younger Cherokee teacher who sat next me in the 
 seat. 
 
 346 
 
THE TRAINING SCHOOL-SHIP, 
 "MINNESOTA." 
 
 THE U. S. Training School-Ship Minnesota, which 
 is the largest vessel belonging to the American 
 Navy, with the one exception of the Franklin, is now 
 at anchorage in the North river opposite West 23d 
 St., New York City. 
 
 Captain Luce, the gallant commander, is the 
 father of the School-ship system in this country, 
 and the personnel of the Navy has been greatly 
 changed under his influence. While in England he 
 was very much impressed with the methods he saw 
 used for fitting lads for the naval service ; and on his 
 return, with the assistance of his superior officer, 
 Commodore Schufeldt, he induced our government to 
 adopt these methods together with some additional 
 practical ideas of his own, thereby securing to our 
 Navy a thoroughly trained corps of robust, and intel- 
 ligent seamen. 
 
 The Minnesota is a great ship — 308 feet in 
 347 
 
The Training School-Ship " Minnesota" 
 
 length, 55 feet in width ; the depth of hold 32 
 feet ; 6 feet between beams, and 3000 tons burden. 
 
 During the late war, the enemy fired into the 
 Minnesota, after destroying another naval ship, 
 the Cumberland, at Fortress Monroe, and she was 
 barely saved by the timely arrival of a Monitor. She 
 still bears the marks where two great cannon balls 
 came crashing through her sides. So, with all her 
 other attractions, the Minnesota is an historical ship. 
 
 This huge vessel, lying in mid stream, is a decidedly 
 picturesque and formidable object, as the visitors' 
 boat, with twelve lads rowing under the lead of a 
 boatswain, is pulled up beside the stairway or ladder 
 by which to mount to the upper deck. 
 
 The first impression after gaining the deck is of 
 the great size of the ship ; the second is of the 
 exquisite cleanliness, and order, that is everywhere 
 visible — the shining brasses, the neatly coiled ropes, 
 and the spotless wood-work. 
 
 The decks of a ship count down instead of up. 
 The first is the " spar deck ; " the second the " gun 
 deck ; " the third the " berth deck ; " the fourth is 
 called the " orlop," and the fifth is the store-house, 
 while way down in the hold, is the engine. 
 
 The Captain's cabin is on the spar deck, a charm- 
 
 343 
 
THE VISITORS' BOAT. 
 
The Training School-Ship " Minnesota. 
 
 ingly fitted room, or suite of rooms, with artistic 
 adornments, a piano, flowers, and birds. 
 
 This spar deck is used for many purposes, but the 
 deck of the ship, the one of the most importance, as 
 a meeting-place of officers and pupils, is the second 
 or gun deck. Here are the immense cannon, with their 
 iron muzzles peeping from the port holes, in a very 
 suggestive, and impertinent manner — and there are 
 forty-nine of these big cannon on the spar and gun 
 decks; here take place the gun drills; here instruc- 
 tion of various kinds is given ; here are held all relig- 
 ions services ; here goes on much of the routine of 
 daily shipboard life — in short, it is at once the school- 
 room, the parlor, and the church, for the two-hun- 
 dred and fifty boys now in training on the Minnesota. 
 
 On Mondays, at nine A. M. always comes what is 
 called the "gun drill," or exercise. Already the boys 
 have breakfasted, put the ship in order, washed their 
 clothing, hung it in the rigging to dry, and prepared 
 themselves for this parade. They stand in four 
 lines and facing each other, with several officers in 
 attendance, who examine the personal appearance of 
 the lads, with critical eyes. Each boy has either a 
 gun, or battle axe, and seems expectant of command. 
 A bugle-note sets them in action. In a twinkling all 
 35i 
 
The Training School- Ship " Mi?imsota" 
 
 have moved to the cannon, (seventeen to each gun) 
 the ropes are loosened, and they are dragged back 
 from the port-holes and prepared for firing. 
 
 Again the bugle sounds and the great cannon are 
 run into place. Then comes a click — caps have 
 snapped — there is no powder, however. Now comes 
 the order to " clear the deck/ 7 That means to push 
 the cannon and fixtures close to the side of the ship 
 — as it might be very necessary to do in a naval 
 battle when great hissing balls come flying down 
 through the centre of the ship. 
 
 All this has taken but a few moments. At a fresh 
 signal from the sweet bugle, the boys rush up to 
 the spar deck as nimble as so many cats, sword in 
 hand, and over to the side of the ship to cut off the 
 heads of a supposed enemy, and then throwing down 
 the swords, catch up guns, and, with all the hot rush 
 of battle, fly to the other side where a quick order 
 from the ofhcer bids them go. 
 
 A few old seamen have mingled in this drill, cer- 
 tain of them having a decided resemblance to 
 " Dick Dead Eye," the growler in " Pinafore." 
 One of those ancients is called " Pop Bolles," and 
 his main duty seerns to be, spy-glass in hand and 
 standing on the bridge, to watch the boats coming 
 from the shore to the Minnesota. 
 35 2 
 
The Training School-Ship "Minnesota." 
 
 Each day of the week has its particular duties 
 and also its pleasures. Instruction in Navigation, 
 and several branches of common education are given 
 
 A LESSON IN SAILING. 
 
 on the gun deck. For the first, there is a painted 
 355 
 
The Training School- Ship " Minnesota" 
 
 round table showing the signs of the compass, a min- 
 iature boat being moved from point to point on the 
 table during instruction. There are several Naval 
 School-masters on board; and" in ordinary instruc- 
 tion half a dozen classes are sitting each in a half 
 circle with its special teacher in front, all the classes 
 reading, or giving a recitation in geography — it 
 being in fact one big class with many teachers. 
 
 There are two " Gatling guns " on this deck, a 
 kind that fires five hundred shots per minute, and 
 resembles a fluting machine in appearance. 
 
 Here too, on Sundays, the boys " rig church ; " 
 that is they place long spars, or poles, on buckets 
 to serve as pews for themselves, and arranging chairs 
 and benches for the officers and guests, they bring 
 out the little organ from its corner, and drape flags 
 so as to shut the congregation in. 
 
 Every Monday evening a master comes from the 
 shore to give a music lesson to the boys, when the 
 same arrangement of seats and organ is made, but 
 the flags have no part in it. The deck is then well 
 lighted with lamps, and "Nancy Lee," solos, duos, 
 chorus songs, etc., are given with a hearty will, and in 
 admirable time. " Good night ladies, sweet dreams," 
 is the closing song. This instruction is repeated on 
 Thursday in sacred music. Saturday evening is 
 356 
 

 fe: :/ - ."■/// 
 
 BT^'TU 
 
 SATURDAY AFTERNOON. 
 
The Training School-Ship "Minnesota" 
 
 given up to dancing, in which many of the young 
 sailors are exceedingly graceful. 
 
 The executive offices are also on the gun deck, 
 
 THE MUSIC LESSON. 
 
 as well as the little rooms where the clothing and 
 359 
 
The Training School- Ship " Mi7i?iesota." 
 
 the shoes are made — everything worn by the lads 
 in training being manufactured on board the ship. 
 
 At 9 o'clock, P.M., the open space of the central 
 part of the gun deck becomes the bed chamber for 
 the boys ; here they swing their hammocks, bringing 
 them down from the spar deck where they have been 
 airing all day. 
 
 The berth deck is distinguished by the officers 
 quarters, their dainty state-rooms and fine dining- 
 room, the library, the paymaster's quarters, apothe- 
 cary shop, paymaster's office, etc. 
 
 Here also are the great ranges or "galleys " for 
 cooking, with huge boilers, bake-pans and other ap- 
 pointments ; and here the boys eat. Seventeen boys 
 " mess " together, and each " mess " has its own chest, 
 with plates, spoons, forks — in short, everything which 
 they use on their table. 
 
 This table is composed of a number of boards 
 which between meals are folded together and fast- 
 ened up to the ceiling, and are easily fitted together for 
 use, swinging on ropes exactly as the hammock is 
 fixed for sleeping. This folding up of the board is to 
 give room between meals. 
 
 Forward, on the same deck, is "the sick bay," 
 the Hospital — a gloomy, dark place — where 
 
 attendants are always ready to coddle the ailing lads. 
 
 360 
 
The Training School-Skip " Minnesota. 
 
 Each boy has a box called a " ditty " in which to 
 keep his little treasures ; these are numbered and have 
 keys. 
 
 Close to the Hospital, on either side of the en- 
 trance, is a dark closet or cell for punishment when 
 solitary confinement is ordered. There is nothing 
 in these dark cells — no furniture, and they are un- 
 speakably dismal even to look at. 
 
 The " Orlop " is a deck of many uses, and has 
 store-rooms. Here, too, boys are punished for 
 grave offences — desertion, for instance ; for such 
 a crime they are put in irons. 
 
 The boys all are of American birth. They enter 
 this service at the age of fifteen ; and without the 
 express permission of the Secretary of the Navy a 
 boy once in is not allowed to leave until he is of age. 
 He must be able to read and write, and be of sound 
 physical condition. On enlisting, a bath is re- 
 quired, the thorough examination by a physician, and 
 vaccination. Each boy is required to take care of 
 his own clothing, and to learn how to cook for his 
 " mess " in turn. The clothes are given, but their 
 value deducted from his pay of ten dollars and fifty 
 cents per month. The dress of the boys on all the 
 Training ships is of blue flannel in cool weather, 
 
 3 6 3 
 
The Training School- Ship " Minnesota." 
 
 and white linen in warm weather, sailor fashion in cut 
 and style. 
 
 Each boy must attend a religious service every 
 Sundav if in health, and must be present at prayer- 
 
 -a^vs- 
 
 time each morning. He rises very early, and retires 
 early, at 9 p.m. 
 
 Captain Luce believes in Object Teaching. " See- 
 ing, and acting" — rather than getting much knowl- 
 edge from books, although the lads are given a 
 good common education and are taught seaman- 
 ship, gunnery, machinery, fencing, boxing, div- 
 ing, and music. Miniature sails, masts and rigging 
 3^4 
 
The Training School-Ship " Minnesota" 
 
 are used to teach them " the ropes," those intricate 
 ladders that lead to the very top of the masts. 
 
 It is a comical sight to see the new recruits being 
 trained by an under officer ; and their ignorance of 
 nautical terms is a perpetual amusement to those 
 
 longer in the service. Woe to the boy who says 
 "staiis" for "ladder," etc. 
 
 Every time a boy meets an officer he must touch 
 his cap with his hand, or give the military salute 
 even if he has to do this a thousand times in a da)'. 
 
 There are three Training ships, the Pensacota, 
 367 
 
The Training School- Ship "Minnesota. 
 
 stationed on the California coast, the Saratoga, now 
 on a cruise, and the Minnesota ; all are liable to be 
 ordered here and there, and all take their orders 
 from the Secretary of the Navy. On all these, the 
 boys are enlisted to serve in the Navy until they 
 reach the age of twenty-one. Sons of naval sea- 
 men and of army soldiers are given a preference 
 in enlistment. The Navy allows the enrollment of 
 seven hundred and fifty boys annually. After a 
 year's training they are very likely to be transfered to 
 naval ships going on long cruises. 
 
 The discipline is not at all like that of the school at 
 Annapolis, nor do the boys graduate with the same 
 rank as those af Annapolis ; the latter being intended 
 for officers in the Navy, the former as naval seamen 
 
 Good food, and plenty, is furnished to the boys, 
 coffee twice per day, and ample time for eating. 
 Recreation is also systematically provided for. Sat- 
 urday is " Lazy Day." Then they mend, read, write 
 and lie on the spar deck in the sun, sprawling about 
 like beetles. In the winter evenings they have lect- 
 ures and games. Cards are not allowed, but checkers 
 and romping games in plenty, such as " Leap Frog," 
 " Shinney," and '■ Bears let loose." 
 
 The boys are also permitted to go on shore once a 
 week; the discipline is mild, but very firm. The de- 
 
 3 68 
 
The Training School-Ship » Minnesota: 
 
 merit system is 
 used, and a boy 
 can work off de- 
 merits by standing 
 on guard during 
 meal-times, or in 
 the evening. There 
 is a curious meth- 
 od of enforcing 
 order by having 
 what is called 
 "Lucky Bag." Ail 
 stray articles £o 
 
 A SQUAD OF BAD BOYS. 
 371 
 
The Training School-Ship " Minnesota" 
 
 into that omnium gatherum, and at the end of the 
 week it is opened by an officer. If a boy claims his 
 own, he is given a certain number of demerits. If he 
 does not, his property is sold to the highest bidder. 
 
 American boys trained on these ships for naval 
 service attain a high degree of physical development, 
 and their moral nature is brought out, while the 
 routine is so admirable that a happier, jollier set 
 of lads would be difficult to find than those at pres- 
 ent in training on board of the Minnesota. 
 
 All instruction is given free to those enlisting in 
 the School-ships, and a boy's pay increases with his 
 years. At twenty-one, he decides whether he will 
 remain in the naval service, and it is very unusual 
 for those thus educated to adopt any other life. 
 
 372 
 
NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 The Young Folks' Bible History. By Charlotte M. 
 Yonge. Boston: D. Lotbrop & Co. Price $1.50. No vol- 
 ume of the past year issued in the interest of children is en- 
 titled to more particular notice than this. Miss Yonge has 
 in its pages put the grand old Bible story into a form which 
 the youngest readers can easily comprehend. The language 
 is simple and the facts are told in modern style; one great 
 stumbling-block to the understanding being thus removed. 
 Beginning with the account of the creation, succeeding 
 chapters carry along the Scriptural record to the time of the 
 prophets, and from their day down to the appearance of the 
 Saviour upon the earth. The life and teachings of Jesus 
 are especially dwelt upon. The volume is profusely illus- 
 trated with drawings by English artists. We cannot too 
 cordially commend the plan of this work, or the excellent 
 manner in which it is carried out. It will be found, not only 
 valuable for home teaching, but for use in the infant classes 
 of Sunday-schools. 
 
 The Prince and the Page. By Charlotte M. Yonge. 
 Boston: D. Lotbrop & Co. Price $1.00. Miss Yonge' s 
 series of historical novels, The Prince and the Page, Little 
 Bake, and The Lances of Lynwood will prove as-fascinating 
 to young readers as the romances of Walter Scott were to 
 their" fathers forty years ago. They are based on real 
 events, and give vivid pictures of life in England in the 
 olden time, when manners and customs, and even the modes 
 of speech, were different from those of our day. The author 
 has carefully studied her materials and surroundings, and 
 these books may be regarded as giving a tolerably faithful 
 idea of the times and people they are designed to describe. 
 In speaking of the plan of this series the author says: 
 "There can be no doubt, in spite of its inevitable faults, 
 this style of composition does tend to fix young people's in- 
 terest and attention on the scenes it treats of, and to vivify 
 the characters it describes '* The action of Prince and Page 
 takes place in the reign of Edward I., in the thirteenth cen- 
 tury, and most of the characters are people of the court. 
 The story is based upon the old ballad of "The Blind Beg- 
 gar's Daughter of Bethnal Green." 
 
NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 Next Things. By Pansy. A Story for Little Folks. 
 Fully illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.00. 
 This is a bright little story with two heroes, and the lesson 
 it tries to teach young readers is to do the work that 
 lies nearest to them first; in other words, "What to do 
 next. No one can do the second thing; he can do the first." 
 Bound up in the same cover is a capital story called 
 "Dome's Day," in which are related the adventures of a 
 little girl who went to sleep in the cars and got carried out 
 of her way. The history of what she did, and how she got 
 home, will interest the children. 
 
 Mrs. Harry Harper's Awakening. A Missionary 
 story by Pansy. Boston : D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.00. 
 This is one of Pansy's " lesson books," in which, under the 
 guise of a story, she drives home a truth so thoroughly that 
 the dullest and most unimpressible reader cannot help seeing 
 and feeling it. Mrs. Harry Harper was a young wife in a 
 strange city, without acquaintances, and with nothing to do 
 during the long hours of the day while her husband was ab- 
 sent at his business. One day in walking aimlessly along 
 the street she follows a crowd of ladies into what she sup- 
 poses is a bazar, but what she soon discovers to be a mis- 
 sionary meeting. Her attention is excited by what she sees 
 and hears ; her sympathies and religious feelings are 
 awakened, and she enters into practical Christian work with 
 all her heart and soul. The book is one of serious purpose 
 and falling into the hands of people like Mrs. Harper will be 
 a means of undoubted good. 
 
 Pizarro; or, The Discovery and Conquest of Peru. Il- 
 lustrated. Edited by Fred H. Allen. Boston: D. Lothrop 
 & Co. Price #1.00. This is the third volume in Mr. Allen's 
 valuable little series, and is a concise and interesting history 
 of a country which at this very moment is undergoing a 
 conquest as bloody and exhaustive as that which occurred 
 350 years ago, when the Spanish ancestors of the present 
 race of Peruvians carried fire and slaughter into the homes 
 of the native inhabitants. The story is told with spirit, 
 and with enough detail to enable the reader to get a clear 
 and connected idea of the different campaigns of Pizarro in 
 South America from the time of his landing on its shores in 
 1509 until his assassination by his own countrymen in his 
 house in Lima in 1541. 
 
BOOKS OF MERIT 
 
 Young- Folks' History op Geemant. By Charlotte 
 M. Yonge. Very fully illustrated. D. Lothrop & Co., Bos- 
 ton. *Price $1.50. 
 
 We welcome the set of Histories "of which this is the initial 
 volume. Since Dickens' Child's History of England, nothing 
 so tempting has been offered to our young folks, and 
 we predict that these volumes will displace the stories oi 
 fictitious and improbable adventures now found on many a 
 boy's bookshelf. Miss Yonge, while always boldly and 
 continuously outlining the course of historical events, has the 
 knack of seizing upon incidents which reveal the true char- 
 acter of historical personages ; thus she makes her narrative 
 very pleasing, especially to a young reader. Indeed her 
 History of Germany ought to satisfy the most ardent lover of 
 adventure, for its pages are crowded with soldiers, knights 
 and heroes, baby kings, little girl queens, and boy emperors. 
 G-erman History, dating back before Christ, abounds with 
 wonderful mythology, romantic exploits, and swift, bold 
 deeds ; and Miss Yonge begins with the giants of Valhalla and 
 comes on down through the noisy days of Wallenstein into 
 our own times to Bismark, who, perhaps, is quite as mighty 
 a man as the boldest of the old Captains. 
 
 The book, besides assisting one to understand the whys and 
 wherefores of the present geography of Europe, and giving 
 an insight into modern European politics, has also an abun- 
 dance of pictures which affords a good idea of German 
 costumes and customs in the early ages. 
 
 Koyai, Loweie. A Boy's Book. By Charles K. Talbot. 
 
 Large 16mo. with 12 pen-and-ink pictures by Hopkins. 
 
 Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price, $1.25. 
 
 This capitally written story of school and vacation life is 
 bound to become a standard in boys' libraries. It is full of 
 fun, and yet not coarse fun. It tells the story of the troubles 
 got into and blunders made by half a dozen people, young 
 and old, the principal characters being two schoolfellows. 
 Eoyal Lowrie and Archie Bishop. It is an essentially 
 ' ' live " book, and the boy who fails to read it loses just so 
 much genuine enjoyment. 
 
RECENT BOOKS 
 
 Yensie Walton. By Mrs. S. R. Graham Clark. Bos- 
 ton: D. Lothrop & Co. $1.50. Of the many good books 
 which the Messrs. Lothrop have prepared for the shelves of 
 Sunday-school libraries, "Yensie Walton" is one of the 
 best. It is a sweet, pure story of girl life, quiet as the flow 
 of a brook, and yet of sufficient interest to hold the attention 
 of the most careless reader. Yensie is an orphan, who has 
 found a home with an uncle, a farmer, some distance from 
 the city. Her aunt, a coarse, vulgar woman, and a tyrant 
 in the household, does her best to humiliate her by making 
 her a domestic drudge, taking away her good clothiug and 
 exchanging it for coarse, ill-fitting garments, and scolding 
 her from morning till night. This treatment develops a 
 spirit of resistance; the mild and affectionate little girl be- 
 comes passionate and disobedient, and the house is the 
 scene of continual quarrels. Fortunately, her uncle insists 
 upon her attending school, and in the teacher, Miss Gray, 
 she finds her first real friend. In making her acquaintance 
 a new life begins for her. She is brought in contact with 
 new and better influences, and profiting by them becomes in 
 time a sunbeam in her uncle's house, and the means of 
 softening the heart and quieting the tongue of the aunt who 
 was once her terror and dread. Mrs. Clark has a very pleas- 
 ing style, and is especially skilful in the construction of her 
 stories. 
 
 "Yensie Walton" is a story of great power, by a new 
 author. It aims to show that God uses a stern discipline to 
 form the noblest characters, and that the greatest trials of 
 life often prove the greatest blessings. The story is subor- 
 dinate to this moral aim, and the earnestness of the author 
 breaks out into occasional preaching. But the story is full 
 of striking incident and scenes of great pathos, with occa- 
 sional gleams of humor and fnn by way of relief to the more 
 tragic parts of the narrative. The characters are strongly 
 drawn, and, in general, are thoroughly human, not gifted 
 with impossible perfections but having those infirmities of 
 the flesh which make us all akin. 
 
EXCELLENT BOOKS. 
 
 Six Months at Mrs. Prior's. By Emily Adams. Illus- 
 trated. Boston : D. Lotlirop & Co. 1.25. 
 
 "in this fresh little story, which is addressed especially to 
 young girls, the author tries to impress the lesson that the 
 disagreable and annoying duties of life may he made pleasant 
 by accepting them as inevitable, and asking help from 
 above. Mrs. Prior is the widow of a clergyman, and has 
 been left with five little ones to support. She discharges her 
 servant, and divides the lighter duties of the household 
 between herself and the two eldest of her children , Minnie 
 and Helen. Unaccustomed to any thing but study and play, 
 the girls find it very hard to have their old time appointments 
 for enjoyment circumscribed, and complain bitterly at first. 
 The book gives a history of their experience, and shows how 
 the work that was so irksome at first became in the end a 
 source of pleasure and means of healthful discipline. 
 
 " Six Months at Mrs. Prior's " is a sweet story of womanly 
 tact combined with christian trust, A widow, with scanty 
 means, makes a home happy for a group of children, restless, 
 wayward and aspiring, like many American children of our 
 day. The mother's love holds them, her thrift cares for 
 them, her firmness restrains, and her christian words and 
 life win them to noble aims and living. The influence of the 
 christian household is widely felt, and the quiet transform- 
 ing leaven works in many homes. We can't have too many 
 books of this kind in the family or Sunday-school." 
 
 Miss Pricii/la Hunter, by Pansy, opens a new view 
 for that charming writer, but one eminently popular at the 
 present time. It deals with the payment of a church debt, 
 and shows how an humble woman, with a Christian charac- 
 ter which gave power to her words, raised the money to pay 
 off a debt which had long been a hindrance to church growth 
 and to Christian benevolence. Why she did it, and how she 
 did it, is told in Pansy's best fashion: her encounters with 
 crabbed folks, and stingy folks, and folks determined not to 
 give to the church debt, are highly amusing, as well as her 
 devices to get something from everybody. 
 
Amy akd Magion's Voyage Abound the World. By 
 Sarah B. Adams. Boston : 1). Lothrop <fe Co. 16mo. 890 
 pages $1.25. 
 
 This handsome volume, from the pen of the daughter of 
 a distinguished Boston clergyman, is the record of a trip 
 around the world in an East India merchantman, made a year 
 or two since by two young ladies, one of whom was the 
 author. Sailing from Boston, the first land touched was 
 San Francisco. From there, after a brief stay, the voyagers 
 proceeded to Honolulu, thence to the Chinese coast, where 
 the cities of Hong Kong, Canton, Singapore, Amoy, Shang- 
 hai and Macao were visited in turn. The ship then sailed 
 for the Philippine Islands; and at Manila, one of the loveliest 
 a,nd most picturesque cities of the Southern Pacific, two or| 
 three happy weeks were spent. From that port the home- 
 ward course was taken, the vessel doubling the Cape of 
 Good Hope and sailing up the African coast. The story of 
 the voyage is gracefully and vividly told. The jolly times 
 on shipboard; the sights seen from deck; rough weather 
 experiences; the excursions made at the various stopping 
 places, and the adventures and misadventnres attendant 
 upon them; the scenery, customs of the different people 
 visited, together with innumerable incidents of the trip, are 
 described with a freshness and vigor which render every 
 page of the book thoroughly enjoyable. The illustrations 
 which accompany the text are made doubly interesting from 
 the fact that they are engraved from photographs procured 
 on the spot and brought home by the author. 
 
 Jesits, Lover Of My Sotjx. Exquisitely illustrated. An 
 elegant small Quarto gift-book. Gilt edges. A compan- 
 ion volume to " The Ninety and Nine." Boston: D. Loth- 
 rop & Co. Price, $1.00. 
 
 There is no more beautiful hymn in the English language 
 than the one which furnishes the title of this exquisite little 
 volume. Many readers will remember the affecting story of 
 the wreck, where one of the lady passengers, cut off from all 
 hope of escape, clinging to a rock from which every wave 
 threatened to tear her hold, poured out her soul in these 
 sweet words of trust. The artist, Mr. Kobert Lewis, has 
 seized upon this incident as the subject of one of his most 
 effective drawings. The entire series of illustrations are ex- 
 ceedingly fine, the work of Mr. Lewis as draughtsman hav- 
 ing been ably supplemented by that of Mr. Dana as the en- 
 graver. The volume forms a beautiful presentation book, 
 and though equally attractive with the three and five dollar 
 volumes which fill the counters of our bookstores, is sold at 
 the nominal price of one dollar. The interest of the work is 
 larely added to by an eloquent preface from the pen of the 
 Rev. W. B. Wright, of the Berkeley Street, Churcn. 
 
ENTERTAINMENTS. 
 
 Entertainments ; Comprising Directions for Holiday 
 Merrymakings, New Programmes for Amateur Perform- 
 ances, and Many Novel Sunday-school Exercises. Collect- 
 ed and Edited by Lizzie W. Champney. Boston: D. Lo- 
 tlu-op & Co. Price $1.00. Mrs. Champney is known as a 
 popular magazine writer, a poet of no mean ability. 
 The volume before us is a specimen of her skill in another 
 direction — that of selection and compilation; a work requir- 
 ing rare judgment and almost as much ability as would 
 be necessary to produce an original work. The table of con- 
 tents includes exercises for Temperance gatherings, Fourth 
 of July, Missionary concerts, Decoration day, Thanksgiving 
 and Christmas. Principally, however, they are intended for 
 use at Sunday-school exhibitions and concerts. The ele- 
 ment of entertainment, says the author, must enter even in- 
 to religion, if it is to be dear to the popular heart. Enter- 
 tainments, at any rate, the multitude will have; it only re- 
 mains for Christians to decide whether they shall make this 
 mighty power a Christian force, or leave all the merry and 
 bright things of this life to the service of Satan. Sunday- 
 school literature is very defective in dialogues and recita- 
 tions of an attractive character, and the preparation of a 
 programme for such occasions is a matter of supreme diffi- 
 culty; To make it easier, and to provide a source from 
 which material may be drawn for almost any occasion, the 
 present work has been prepared. Most of the matter is new, 
 and is.contributed by persons of experience in musical mat- 
 ters and entertainments of all kinds. 
 
 A chapter on " Accessories, Decorations, Scenery," etc., 
 furnishes full information upon those subjects, and a num- 
 ber of patterns for evergreen decorations for Christmas en- 
 tertainments are given. Taken altogether, the book exactly 
 fills the place for which it was designed, and will be warmly 
 welcomed not only by schools and societies, but in every fam- 
 ily where there are children to be amused and instructed. 
 
Little Miss Mischief and her Happy Thoughts. 
 
 Adapted from the French of P. J. Stahl hy Ella Farinan. 
 
 Boston : D. Lothrop & Co. Price, 75 cts. 
 
 In a series of capitally drawn sketches the artist tells the 
 story (assisted hy the author) of a mischievous little girl who 
 undertook while her mother was confined to her room by ill- 
 ness, to set things to rights generally about the house. She 
 paints mustaches on a portrait which her artist papa has just 
 finished; tries to color the lap-dog's face black with ink and 
 spills it over herself and the floor; attempts to wash her 
 papa's gray hat with the inky sponge; breaks the mantel 
 clock in trying to wind it; pours boiling water into the globe 
 of goldfish to make them more comfortable; cuts off the 
 corners of her mamma's nice shawl so it will not drag in the 
 street, and does a variety of other things which no one but 
 an idle and inquisitive little girl would ever think of doing. 
 The book is printed on fine paper, with double line border 
 about every page. 
 Little Miss Muslin. Her Fortunes and Misfortunes. 
 
 By John Brown John. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. 50 cts. 
 
 Everybody has read and laughed over the adventures of 
 Miltiades Peterkin Paul, which were brought out in a taste- 
 ful quarto volume last holiday season. Miltiades, it appears, 
 had a cousin, a charming young lady of six or seven, who, 
 although city born and bred, possessed certain peculiarities 
 which rendered their companionship congenial. Miss Mus- 
 lin, for that was her name, was continually doing something 
 to get herself or some one else into a scrape. Her experi- 
 ences after a time were varied by a visit to Miltiades in the 
 country. The troubles they get themselves into and what 
 w r as said and done about them are told in detail by the author 
 in the same offhand, humorous style in which the adventures 
 of Miltiades were chronicled. The drawings are from the 
 pencil of Livingston Hopkins, one of the best American 
 caricaturists. The volume is got up as a companion to the 
 book of last year. 
 Music For Our Darlings. Edited by Dr. Eben Tourjee 
 
 Fully Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price, $1.25. 
 
 Hundreds of young readers will remember the -beautiful 
 book issued last year called Poems for Our Darlings. It 
 proved so successful that this season the Messrs. Lothrop 
 have brought out a companion volume called Music for Our 
 Darlings, containing nearly forty favorite pieces of music, 
 most of them with piano accompaniment. Among them are 
 "Pretty Fido," " Turkey Song for Thankgiving," "The 
 Squirrel," "Gentle Eobin Redbreast," "The Railway 
 Train," etc. In addition there are prefatory sketches and 
 articles on music by Prof. Tourjee, who edits the books, — 
 and over fifty full-page engravings. It is beautifully bound 
 in cloth, with black and gold ornamentation. 
 
OUR BOOK TABLE. 
 
 Poor Papa. By Mary W. Porter. Illustrated. Boston: 
 D. Lotlirop & Co. Paper covers, 50 cents. Of all the lately 
 published books in which children bear a principal part, 
 one of the most natural and charming is Poor Papa. It 
 breathes the very spirit of childhood, and one is inclined to 
 believe that the author must have drawn her characters from 
 living models. Few writers have the faculty of describing 
 children as they are, and many of the so-called "juvenile " 
 books published are dreary failures simply because their 
 writers have no sympathy with their subjects. The children 
 whom Miss Porter describes are genuine children and not 
 make-believe. They have all the indescribable ways and 
 peculiarities that make little people oftentimes riddles to 
 their elders. Their journey abroad with " Poor Papa," who 
 comes all the way over the ocean for them, their adventures, 
 their quaint observations on what they see and hear, their 
 thorough enjoyment of everything, the comical surprises 
 they are continually giving those around them, are delight- 
 fully set forth, and will be as fascinating reading for the 
 older as for the younger ones. 
 
 "Poor Papa" is sure to be a favorite. It is a graphic 
 story of the perplexities of a father, left a widower, to care 
 for two children. The father is an artist, absorbed in paint- 
 ing, and having no knowledge of child -nature; while his two 
 children, loving and true, are like young colts, with irrepres- 
 sible life and spirits, and perpetually in trouble. They have 
 many amusing adventures in Italy, from their rollicking love 
 of freedom and fun, and barely escape with life from a 
 governess, whose martinet habits transform her into an ogre, 
 delighting in torture. But the troubles of papa and children 
 find a happy solution in the advent of a new mamma, the 
 sister of a brother artist, whose fine womanly instincts have 
 helped the children already over many a hard place. Sum- 
 mer travellers will have many a hearty laugh over the vol- 
 ume, and enjoy equally the humor of the children and the 
 perplexities of "Papa." 
 
Links in Rebecca's Life. By "Pansy." Price, $1.50. 
 Boston: D. Lotkrop & Co. 
 
 "Pansy" has no rival as an author of the best class of 
 Sunday-school books. Her " Ester Ried" and "Chautauqua 
 Girls " series are models in that important line of literature. 
 Her new book, "Links in Kebecca's Life," is worthy of a 
 place in the same list. This book is an admirable one. Its 
 tone is healthy and stimulating, without a trace of senti- 
 mentalism or cant : and its characters are thoroughly natu- 
 ral, such as any reader can recognize in the community in 
 which be happens to live. The heroine, Rebecca, is intense- 
 ly human, with a noble nature in which many weaknesses 
 hide themselves and come often to the surface. But she is 
 a Christian of the best type, and her aspirations and hard- 
 fought battles inspire enthusiasm in a reader. The Com- 
 mittee on International Lessons couldn't do a better thing 
 than to circulate this book in every part of the land. It 
 shows how the lessons may be made helpful in the daily 
 life, and how the Old Testament may be taught with in- 
 terest to. an Infant School, or to men and women of every 
 congregation. 
 
 Echoing and Re-echoing. By Faye Huntington. Price 
 $1.50. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co., publishers. 
 
 It shows great ignorance of the Sunday-school literature 
 of our day, when one calls it weak and namby-stuff, with an 
 equal mixture of love-stories, and impossible adventures. 
 The censure is just for a certain class of books, but a large 
 library may be gathered of first-class works admirable alike 
 in moral tone and in literary execution, books which every- 
 body can read with delight and profit. "Echoing and Re- 
 echoing" is a book of this sort, a well-told story, abounding 
 with practical lessons, and inciting to a noble Christian life. 
 The most intelligent opponent of religious novels will find 
 his prejudices giving way in reading it, and a fastidious lit- 
 erary reader will be thankful that children have such good 
 books for moulding their literary tastes. 
 
NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 Switzerland. By Miss Julia S. Tutwiler. Lotlirop's 
 Library of Entertaining History. Boston: D. Lothrop & 
 Co. Price $1.50. Few parts of Europe are better known to 
 the traveller and tourist than Switzerland, that little Federa- 
 tive Republic which has held its own so long among the great 
 monarchical powers of the Continent. Every season it is 
 overrun by visitors, a large number of whom are Americans, 
 and the letters which are written home and find place in 
 hundreds of American newspapers, descriptive of its scenery, 
 climate and people have made all these familiar to those who 
 have been obliged to remain all their lives on this side the 
 water. But Switzerland has something more to recommend 
 it to those who read than its mere physical features, its wa- 
 terfalls and lakes, its mountains and glaciers. There is as 
 great a charm in its political independence, and in the his- 
 tory of the causes which led to it. As has been remarked, 
 Switzerland may be considered an epitome of civilized Eu- 
 rope; all the parties, the theories, the expectations and the 
 pretentions which agitate larger States, may be seen here, 
 making it a country as remarkable among the States of the 
 Old World for its moral as well as its physical peculiarities. 
 Miss Tutwiler, in this volume, contributes a work which is 
 judiciously arranged and charmingly written, and one 
 worthy to rank with its companions in the series for which 
 it is specially prepared. 
 
 The Keepsake Sckiptubb Text Book. With Preface 
 by the Rev. J. C. Ryle. Boston : D. Lothrop & Co. Price 
 75 cents. The idea of the compiler of this beautiful little 
 pocket volume is not anew one, but it is freshly and effec- 
 tively carried out. A text from Scripture, and a line or 
 stanza from some poem or hymn, one of each for every day 
 in the year, form the printed contents. These occupy places 
 upon every left hand page, while on the opposite pages are 
 blanks for the daily record of thoughts or experiences. The 
 form is small enough to be slipped into the pocket, and that 
 fact, in connection with the plan it embodies, ought to make 
 it a companion for a large cki-ss of readers. 
 
NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 Coxites ; or the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico. The 
 first of a series of Young Folks' Biographies of Great Ad- 
 venturers. Edited by Fred H. Allen. Illustrated. Boston: 
 D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.00. This is the initial volume 
 of a new series of biographies intended for Sunday-school 
 and home libraries, which is designed to give the salient 
 points in the lives of eminent explorers and adventurers, 
 omitting unimportant detail, the presence of which cumbers' 
 most books of the kind which are put into the hands of 
 young readers. Mr. Allen has discharged his task as an 
 editor with discrimination and judgment, and his name 
 upon the titlepage is a guarantee of careful preparation. 
 The portrait of the noted Spanish adventurer is vigorously 
 drawn, and the story of his exploits fascinatingly told. For 
 centuries the name of Cortes has been a synonym for cru- 
 elty, and schoolboys even yet shudder at the recital of his 
 atrocities as narrated by the older historians. The volume 
 is well illustrated. 
 
 Columbus; or the Discovery of America. Edited by 
 Fred H. Allen. Young Folks' Biographies of Great Adven- 
 enturers. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price 
 $1.00. In this volume the wonderful story of Columbus and 
 his various voyages is told in a manner which will attract 
 and hold the interest of young readers from the first chap- 
 ter to the last. There is nothing in all history so fascinating 
 as the narrative of the Genoese adventurer, who, contemned, 
 ridiculed and abused for his geographical theories, wan- 
 dered from court to court, and from land to land in search 
 of wiser heads and more generous hearts than were to be 
 found in his native country, to whom he could appeal fo«" 
 aid, and who would assist him in testing the truth of his 
 belief. This narrative, together with that of his first and 
 subsequent voyages, is told at length in the volume, and 
 with a freshness which will commend it at once to that 
 class of readers for whom it was especially written.