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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 1912)
THE PORTLAND Y. W. C. A. IS ACCOMPLISHING GREAT GOOD Girls in All Classes of Society Reap Benefits Offered by Organization Inter-Club System Is Aid to Effectiveness. - " " jr.'- ';- '? r : .';''.''.'. . lit Ife'.-v i ..-. is V- t BJf x'.? t - ill I ff Q-i t U NX iT t i-s1. I i l vv Vv- , -' -'-ivH V ;t-. m ---ill I - 1 v ' irTlkV rfr s- i -y1 V fxSsl 1 . . .. -i r. tt ''-v;- ' , - - .tJj-ffAJ V,n"V:i"--1 i - BT KAOMt PWETT. THR purpose of the city depart ment .f the Toung Women's Chrletimn Association le to au iranre the phyaical. noolal. intellectual and spiritual Interests of younS women. y Thla purpose Is certainly blnK carried out In a blit. broad way that reaches the sjlrl In all walks of life from the domestic arlrl to the society glrU In Koine- through the many departments an classes In the Portland Y. W. C. A. I was met on all eM;s by the most bewildering, charming galaxy of ajtrls that I had eer seen gathered under ne roof. I was told by a man the other day that one does not meet many thinkina- Klrls nowadays. "Perhaps you don't k lo the rla-ht places to meet inn." I told him. Thinking, clever a-trla can tlnd ao much to Interest them In a clean. Intellectual, enjoyable may that they can really hnve a flrM-rute time without cheapening themselves In any way. It must not ba taken that men are r-erred from the social life of the Y. W. C. A. srlrls. For there are many a-trla' clubs, social clubs, who entertain their men friends In their cosy club room. There are several different irlrls' clubs In the Y. AV. i A. of portlan-. Karn club has a membership of from about IS to zi irlrls. Theeo clrls are .almost entirely business girls. The clubs are purely sortul and. of course, their aim la always self -Improvement. There will be found In these clubs a loan fund for business iclrls who are financially embarrassed. Sartal llvealaaia Passed. I was entertained by the rlrls of the Trl-V. I'lub the other night, and was simply fascinated by the charm of tba clrls and Immediately carried Into the spirit of their fun. The club room la spacious. There are soft rusrs. deep arm chairs, rockers snd soft cushions, beautiful pictures and happy, rosy Klrls. I found the (rlrls very busy that night. They were crack inic nuts and stlrrlne; something In a chatlnir dish and some delicious candy was the result. The fclrls are now taking a rot-rse In chafing; dish cookery and candy. ma kinir. For the a-trl who wants to acquire srrace and physical development there are the srymnaslum and s Immlns; de partments. In the a-ymnaslum depart ment, vt hlch flourishes under the di rection of liss Alberta Cory, there are classes for the woman of leisure, the school srlrl. the business prlrl and the little children of the primary irrades. The aim of Miss Cory In training her ictrl Is to irlve them Rood carriage, srood circulation, cood digestion, good respiration, wholesome fun and com panionship, clean bodies, clean thoughts and clean friends. No one who matches a gym class through Its hour of work sn doubt that the girls are more alert and ready to respond to whatever de mand Is liable to be made of them, be cause of the control resulting- from the general exercise. Kun they must and mill have. It Is simply an hour of play to every rlr m ho Is a member. Rasketbalt Is an enjoyable supple ment to the regular gym work. The advanced night class of business girls counts the evening Incomplete without a good game of baskethaM. The Wash ington High School girls meet every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon under the direction of Miss Cory. Two games were pla'ed recently between the Washington High hocl girls and the night class, the f:rst having a score of a to 1 In favor of the latter, and the. second standing 7 to In favor of the former. A third game will be played In the near future. .No an can realize mliat thla recrea tion means to the business frirl. One flrl said: "If I miss my gym class I can't do my work as well the next day." Another girl said: "I never laugh out loud except when I go to gym class." A girl who holds a very trying position said: "I never could have stood my hard year's work without the gymnasium." 2tllss Cory Is a friend to all of the. girls and they come to her m-lth their llttlo tale and troubles. She gives them advice and helps them out of many little difficulties. 9wtaaaslag la Posmlas-.. In the swimming department under the- Instruction of Miss Millie Schloth. hundreds of girls rome for their dally or seml-m-eekly swim and shower baths. Tho average girl- learns to swim In from two to three lessons and Miss iVhloth, with her big. kind heart and cheerful voice. Is always on hand, encouraging' ver. so that tha most timid and faint-hearted soon forget their fears. When. Blllle Burke was In Portland she joined the Y. W. C. A. for the sole purpose of going In swim ming. Another "fun" club Is the Raln-or-Phlners. This club takes a tramp every Saturday, rain or shine, and an en joyable feature Is that anybody Is wel come to go on these tramps, whether m member or not. IT. Mabel Aiken will again lead these trips. Last year 31 girls celebrated the anniversary of the club by having a country dinner, which was engaged beforehand. The tramp this year Is arranged. on a carllne. so that some who are unable to stand a long tramp will be able to rid both way a of course. In the big. broad work of the Association the Travelers' Aid ranks first. In that Instead of the gtrla reaching the Association, the Associa tion reaches the girls. The Y. W. C. A. Travelers Aid is a separate Institu tion from any other Travelers' Aid. al though thy all work In unison and as sist each other wherever possible. In fact each Travelers' Aid is greatly de pendent on the other. . It-Is Are Aided. The Travelers" Aid department of the Y. W. C. A. Is divided into four branches and has placed a matron In the Union Mstion. the North Bank Sta tion, the Oregon tleclric Slatioa anil THE SUNDAY YL.V .i 1 the O. W. P. Station. The LiKgest work of the Travelers' Aid is in the hands of Miss Caroline Barnurn at the l.'nlon Station. There are few people who realize what a world-wide) move ment the Travelers' Aid is. Miss Bar nurn has all the workings of assisting the helpless traveler on the tips of her fingers. 1 was amused to watch Miss Barnurn at her work among the foreigners. By the time a foreigner reaches Portland she has traveled through our country enough to learn the most demanded words for American travel. They all know the meaning of "coffee." "ad dress." "tickets," "telephone" and "ho tel." With this vocabulary a very in teresting conversation can be carried on and If the traveler's education is so neglected that she does not know even these few words, then an Interpreter is called. Miss Barnurn has a special Invention all of her own that I must say is very ingenious. In carrying on a conversa tion with a foreigner who cannot un derstand a word of English. Miss Bar nurn resorts to the use of this most remarkable device, which is a good sized watch, a real turnip, with the hour hand taken off. When she wants to ask the traveler what time her train goes or comes, she simply shows her the watch and the person turns the hand around to the hour of her train. Yesag aad Old Feud. Those who most need tha services of the Travelers' Aid are the young girls, helpless old women, children traveling alone, and foreigners not met by their people. Of course this does not bar ail other travelers from coming Into the way of help from Miss Barnurn. For she la always willing to help and or.ly too glad to answer the hundreds of questions that she Is called upon to answer during ber hours on duty. Miss Barnutn has a real love for her work, which makes it a pleasure to be lucky enough to come under her assistance. Her chief worry Is about the little children who are sent out to travel alone. It grieves her very much that children as young as six or seven years of age are sent out alone on un necessary trips, anon as to visit rela tives vr friends. There .were 3i0 chil OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, 1 . 1 dren between the ages of 6 and 14 last year who came Into the union sta tion without guardians or any one to mpft them. Miss Barnurn has cared for many of these children over night and many times during the day hunted through various parts of the city for the friend or reJatlve who failed to come to meet the child. She does not believe in let ting these youngsters who must travel alone travel In the sleeper, for the dangers are many. If they must travel alone, by all means let them travel in the day coach, she says. There is a great deal of difficulty when a foreigner comes Into the city and has only the address of her rela tives. Often the address has been changed and then there Is a fresh dif ficulty to be met. Miss Barnurn will search the city, but she usually finds the parties by the assistance of the saloonkeepers, whose places the men often frequent. But It talkes a lot of PherlocU Holmes work before the deed is accomplished. One of the worst hindrances in the work of the Travelers' Aid Is the "kind helper." who is always cheerfully mill ing to confuse the traveler with the wrong Information. Then, again, there are some travelers who do not need assistance and'm-ho. Instead of thank ing Miss Barnurn kindly when she of fers her assistance, show their hurt dignity In a very ungraceful manner. Many Frles-da Made. But these are few and Miss Barnurn Is proud to say that she has made many friends of the girl travelers who have been assisted by her, girls who keep in constant correspondence with her and never forget that she saved them from many a pitfall. Miss Bar nurn wishes it distinctly understood that without the co-operation of the other travelers' aids, the charity or ganizations and the police departments and railroad help it would be utterly impossible to accomplish the big work that Is being done. Every one at the I'nlon Station obeys her slightest wish and she is especially fond of her boys." as she calls the porters. The "boys" are often misunderstood, she says. They are only too glad to offer their assistance to needy travelers without, expecting a tip, though, jf MARCH 3, 1912. 4 P r 1 4 W I " i.C - . course, m-hen a person is able to give a tip, she is glad to havethem get it. The lines of educational work that are taken up in the building are vari ous. Miss Frank Towslee, who has char-re of several different English classes. Is a lively young woman who can stir up a keen Interest among her girls and make her subjects most fas cinating. There is the class for cor rent English for business girls who have had to go to work when their ed ucation was limited. Choice literature is taken up and studied into detail. The girls soon cultivate their taste for good literature and put in much of their spare time outside of the classes in reading classics. . There is a sympa thetic understanding between Miss Towslee and her girls, for she realizes that the stumbling blocks are many for the girls who must have some recrea tion outside of their business and studies. Physical CDllare Taught. There is the English and expression class, where voice culture Is combined with physical culture and the aim is to give the pupils good poise and expres sion. Miss Towslee is an eager teacher and wholly taken up m-lth her work. Under her magnetism a dull, monotonous voice soon becomes lively and expres sive. The girls read and recite al ways from the stage and a graceful poise is readly acquired, for Miss Tows lee observes and corrects each girl In dividually for any peculiarity in poise or carriage that she may have. In tellectual discussions ttire taken up In an interesting manner and the girls are trained to give Impromptu ad dresses. Miss Towslee is most gratified with the rapid progress her girls are making, for girls who now speak In a lively and Interesting manner came to her a few months ago with perfectly dead voices. In the class of English for foreign girls there is a good feeling of com radeship between Miss Towslee and the girls, many of them with whom she is unable to converse. This class Is now doing work equivalent to that of the second grade. Some of these girls can speak English fairly well, but have had no opportunity to learn to .read or write It. The brightness and patience o the teacher encourases.tiia sirla and , . i ' there is also a feeling of sympathy be tween the girls themselves, who, though of different nationalities, form lasting friendships. Japanese Class Interests. I mas perfectly fascinated In watch ing the Japanese club, which meets once a week to study English readlrtg and writing and studying the Bible stories. The corps of teachers of this class is composed wholly of volunteer workers and a separate teacher is supplied for each pupil. The new pupil who does not know a word of English is first taken into the kitchen and taught the names of all the different utensils. The Japanese are very apt and interested and tremble with eagerness to learn. Unconsciously beautiful is the attitude of the fair Western girl as she bends over her dainty little Eastern sister. The teacher is patient and as interested and eager for the pupil to learn as the pupil is herself. There was one dainty little girl. -an especially beautiful type of Japanese, who . trembled -with- de light and laughed with glee over the rapidity m-ith which she accomplished her work. There are several different Bible classes under the direction of Miss Edna Goodwin. There are classes in tlie building and neighborhood classes which meet in different homes. Relig ious and moral discussions are taken up and as Miss Goodwin is an animated woman these discussions never are dull. Programmes are often given In the dif ferent charitable homes and institu tions for the pleasure and enjoyment of the inmates. Friendships are often made between the members which prove lasting. . Musical Club Feature. There is a mandolin and guitar club under the Instructorship of Professor C. Kebagllati. In this club there are used mandolins, mandolas, violins, cello and guitar. The present object of the class is to enlarge with good players. Beginners are not taken into the class. although Professor Rebagliati pre pares beginners outside of class. The usual amount of fun finds its way into these classes and .Professor Rebagliati is very popular, om-ing to his earnest teaching. "-.'' la the cookery, and. domestic science , departments, various forms of cookery, needlework, sewing and millinery are taught. The employment department is in charge of Miss Constance Wheeldon, kind and gentle, whose aim Is not to get rid of her applicant as soon as pos sible, but to find the right place fotf the right person in the right way. There are transient rooms for rent ing in the building and girls who are traveling alone always prefer the rooms . the building to those In a strange hotel. The rooms are aim-ays taken. The restroom Is of such value to tired women that It Is impossible to esti mate, the good derived from it. Many hardworking girls have been saved from utter breakdown by a half hour of complete relaxation In the restroom. There are several perfectly sanitary soft cots in the restroom provided with quilts and at night these cots are rent ed to transients for 25 cents a night. It s very pitiful Indeed to see the utter exhaustion with which the tired women throw themselves on the beds. I saw one' bed which I thought was empty, but on looking again I saw a poor little tired white head, the frail little form scarcely to be traced beneath the light quiits. The lunchroom and cafeteria Is popu lar, not only with the business girl, but m-ith the hurried shopper who knows that she can get clean, wholesome food, which is carefully selected and pre pared in a very short time. The places are bright and cheerful and there are fresh wholesome faces behind the coun ter, which make it a pleasure to come Into the place. Kew Branch Opened. A comparatively new branch of the Y. W. C. A. is the East Side branch on Grand avenue and East Taylor street, under the direction of Miss Chapter. The East Side home is not as large and . pretentious as the West Side home, but for a more homelike spirt one would have to look far. Situated in the heart of the laundry and factory district the girls employed in those places come into direct benefit of the clubroom. The clubroom is a long room liberally sup plied with comfortable furniture and couches, pictures, books and rugs. At tiie further end there is a big stove and there are always a few happy-looking girls doing a bit of fancy work or sewing gathered around the stove in the cheerful companionship of 'Miss Chapler, who is much loved. There is a cafeteria in the rear where the fac tory girls take their nice hot lunch. A piano is at the disposal of the girls and several different clubs of girls who work In the neighborhood meet here for social enjoyment, often entertaining their men friends. There are clubs of embroidery and sewing and some of ;these supply clothes for the. baby homes. Little dramas are prepared which are given in entertainments at the West Side building. The Y W. C. A. has a bummer home at Gearhart, where self-supporting wo men can enjoy a vacation at a very nominal price simply to cover ex penses. It must not be forgotten that there are the living-room, on the main floor, where men, as m'ell as women, come to oass a comfortable half hour, and the library, where the studious girl can find choice literature for her few moments of leisure during the day. Every one Is familiar with the cheerful, smiling face of Miss Lorna Collamore, who sits in the office and usually has a line of people at her desk seeking for infor mation. That is one of the pleasures in belonging to the association, the pleasure of coming in contact with the clean, wholesome women who 'are in charge of the different departments.