San Francisco Chronicle from San Francisco, California • Page 7

i rf iJSf SAN PBANCISCO OHEONICIiE BTOTDAX UXVi4B JU 4PP3 i 4 i A a i i 4 Sii 35 mu 1 Hfwwrirri isMiIrr fr Tr A IV BBBBBBBBsBsBB5sttMBMBBBHBBBsHtffeilaJtofel HHB4 i rwamiruiBHHr4 Kttji rw i ii naiHBaKBBurriKBaaEXvBiHKtfPA MOTtHBravMrrair ri mi immBuaEmmmmmw rii lllCTBBMK3MrlI TS I JssMsHIHrBiMBBBBHiBWBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBL I JlTZsarjc QjTitz ItxpettrneTit itb JtvsL tzty HEN Mrs Smith a woman whose heart is as large as hr fortune i great determined to revolutionize the orphan asylum system and instead of caring for little children like so many comfortabl fed young animals to make real bomes for therju where they ehould have th loving care and the joyous individual life of mothered children the lnstltutionaliats smiled ai the cyntcs shrugged their shoulders But thoae who knew the strength of purpose and the sane philanthropy of the woman who had formed this plan of manufacturing homes and families from an apparently chaotic mass of little girls gathered from all sorts of highways and byways said Wait and see It Is now Just two years and a month since the first family moved Into the ilrst cottage built In accordance with Mrs Smiths plan and now five cottages each with lis own mother and its own family of girlies flourish to attest the wisdom of this almost Utopian plan All that the great souled founder of this klng duiii of heaven on earth had hoped for Is coming to pass Qlrls from 2 weeks ii to 14 years rttfv fdinc a refuge from ill treatment uid neglect here ray have found more for tliey have fi und a irnl huine anii a leal mother loorr hiee laitful and aflectiorate guidance they hae developed into swfet mannered seful members of a fnuly into whose lif i they have grown a rsseniial pai is Just aiix ss the way from iths iniigiiirli i i Kast Oakijui hnire the iry It mith cottagea rve nJtied on a flower bedecked Mll si clore enoueh tofetht to foi a Kiabe group far enough apart to rrfseive thir Inci idali Indeed nvilvlduality rra be said to be the watchword of this community The cottages are Individual In style yet form harmonious whole There are now rive of them pretty brown shingled structures surrounded by brilliant flower beds besides a quaint little lodge where the clerk Mrs Jessamine Green and her own two daughters dwell The whole settlement his been laid out by a landscape gardener and each cottage has Its own gtnlen and orchard It is intended to Include eventually thirty homes In thla group and they will be constructed as the growth of the community requires them The homea are dependent on no State aM or rney are provided for by an endowment from Smith and his wife The object of the work as expressed by Mrs Smith la the foundation endownwnt and maintenance a Christian home for orphan or other helpless gtrls wherein they shall be cared for supported educated and their individual tlents developed ao that they may boomer self supporting elf respecting anu useful members of society The work may be said to have commenced in February 101 when the first Child was brought to the settlement au 3 cared for in the six room cottage which has been arranged for temporary use The Marlon a flfteedfroom house with a large attic and cellar was completed and occupied in April 1901 The Josephine which followed was ready in August of the same year and the Florence received Its family In December M01 These cottages and the thirty four acres of land they occupy wwe tor mally turned over to the trustees of the Mary Smith trusts In Febru ary 1902 the trusts to be managed by a board of fifteen women At this time twenty three children and three matrons were being cared for Mrs Smith in her report for the year 1902 anr nounced that she and the board of managers on the completion of their flret years work and study had found that they had solved the problem of caring for children and giving them home life at an expense no greater than that Incurred by institutions of either a public or private character Since the cottages became a trust three buildings have been added Initial was completed and set to active use In April of last year as the trial home for matrons and children where they are located for six months before being permanently accepted The lodge which is the building for the trustees use where they hold their meetings and transact all business was ready for use In June 1902 and Grace the last cottage so far erected was completed In February last There are now nearly fifty children at the cottages cared for by five mothers Some of the little girls were brought to their new home In poor physical condition Most of them are now In perfect health and the remainder are much Improved for they have the best medical care and attendance The endowment for this work by its founders Smith and Mary Smith includes 25000 for each off the cottages including the lodge and a 26000 emergency fund making a total of 175000 the Interest of which supports the homes thus rendering unnecessary any solicitations of funds from the public The cottages and furnishings have a value of 45000 and the land which has been conveyed to the trustees is valued at 75001 while the entire property aggregates nearly 500000 When a motherless or worse than motherless girl Is brought to the cottages she is placed in Initial Cottage for six months and there her character and her tendencies her disposition and her abilities are studied that it may be learned Into what family she will best fit For each cottage contains a family At Its head la a mother kindly but firm patient but wise in her discipline She has under her care about ten gtrls ranging In ages from babies to maids In their teens Just as the children In any family differ In years She is given a certain monthly Income and Is left to expend it as she pleases for her household needs Just as If she were a widow with many little ones and a small revenue Her standard Is the home of the prosperous mechanic or the Ideal of such a home Her home is prettily and cozlly furnished and each girl has her own room which she Is taught to care for and to feel as her own The Idea Is Instilled Into these little maids that they are not charity wards but that they have been fortunate enough to find friends who wish to help to make them wise and useful women and that this Is their permanent home a home from which they may go out Into the world some day and If that world prove unkind they may seek again the cottage on the hllL Each girl is taught to assist In the housework as In any Urge family where there are no servants Sqme become expert breadmakers and good cooks who actively assist the mother in preparing the meals The sister idea is admirably carried out and the big slaters take the most tender care of the little ones washing and dressing them and happily smoothing the ever tangling hair of the energetic babies Into soft ringlets ndee these girls of the cottages are not brought up in Idleness but are taught the lesson that real happiness lies In being useful and helpful and they rejoice In their ability to be of assistance in the work of this their home The mother 1b literally mother to them and that sweet word or dearie or dear is the only name they have for the woman who has come there to stay with them always They take pride In her and like to see her prettily dressed complaining If she buys too dark a hat or takes too much of the wrktHon her shoulders AmTwhat a patient mother she is All the vagaries of these her adopted children she understands and condones as any mother yet alms to correct their faults and tp strengthen their characters The mother of each cottage Is as lndivdual as any mother and the children under her partake of that Individuality That Is one reason why each new coming ward Is first tried out at Initial Cottage to see which environment she will best fit In a similar way eaoh mother who has been added to the cottage community has spent heriflrst six months at initial where It is soon ascertained whether she has the many qualities necessary to the difficult position she is to assume When Mrs Smith first announced her plan the busybody critics all agreed that she could never find women who would be at once willing to devote yean of their lives to the work of bringing up a cosmopolitan lot of children as If they were their own and that If one ware discovered who was willing to submit herself to the testing task she would not be sufficiently responsible in character or capable mentally to guide these little folk along the path Yet there has been no difficulty in finding Just such fine women In whom the maternal spirit Is strong and the strength of purpose is steadfast They have seemed to come almost unsought and have adapted themselves to this strange but beautiful scheme of existence as If from early youth they had been trained and educated to fit just such a lofty but trying calling But once did a mother find her labor uncongenial and she resigned Once the Inconsiderate god Cupid bore off another The other mothers have stayed with the families to which they were assigned and tteclara they will always stay with them for these have become In very trut their own children When a babe is Ul or an older girl falls sick the mother is as anxious and distressed as any faithful mother aiyl she watches by the bedside of the stricken one through the long hours of the night And what sort of girls are brought to these mothers and what sort of girls are produced from these homes Applications for admission come from every source Imaginable While al ways Just and considerate the com mittee on adinlselon tries to impress the friends oil the children that it has no desire to relieve them of responsibilitiesresponsibilities The committee does not want girls who have relatives to care for them on the contrary such persons are encouraged to keep their children whenever the possibility appears of their giving them the necessary care in an honest family An endeavor Is made to have It understood that every child Is expected to work faithfully accordlng to her ability for the advantages she Is offered and to respect all necessary honest work as honorable and not to consider it drudgery The applicant must be a girl under 14 years either without parents or deserted by her rents In fact a girl who having no friends needs a friend Once she Is taken into the life of the Mary Smith Cottages she belongs not for any stated period not till she reaches a certain age bait so long as she wills so long as shelttartB if she so will She has found here not temporary shelter but an actual home and he Is taken hold of and made to know the best within her and to develop that best The children of the cottages are taught to be considerate of each other and considerate of themselves to be neat and orderly and to strive to be beautiful In mind and body in the best sense of the word They could give lessons In manners to the most carefully reared children for each one Is quiet and modest yet courteous and desirous of pleasing and entertaining guests Save the littlest tots all are sent to the public schools The oldest of all Is now ir high school while three more will enter next year It is supposed that as they grow oldur these girls will probably learn some means of self support such as typewriting and stenography bookkeeping teaching the musical profession or whatever calling their talents seem to best flt This does not mean that when they become able to take care of themselves they will be expected to leave the cottage that has become endeared to them but they may continue to live In this home and to help In its support as would any daughter of the family From here they may be married and if ever they find unhappiness In wedlock they will be free to return to the mother In the Bast Oakland home Four girls In Josephine Cottage have already developed some journalistic ability and publish a little monthly newspaper called the Cottage Gazette a sprightly resume of the months doings in that community The first edition was limited to two or three copies written in long hand and one of these painstakingly prepared numbers was sent to Mr Smith He was so pleased with the enterprise of the youthful journalists that he sent them a typewriter and mimeograph and now the Gazette appears promptly on the 1st of the month In an appropriately decorated cover There are now 100 subscribers and the resulting income is devoted by the young writers to buying ribbons and other trinkets for the younger children and they expect soon to be able to pay for the clothing of the young est two girlies in Josephine Cottage This is the first step toward a fulfill ment of Mrs Smiths Idea tha her wards should be made to feel independent and should be taught to make return for their blessings In every way possible A music teacher makes regular visits to the cottages and several girls are being taught to play the piano while others are receiving instructions on mandolin and guitar Keen girls natural tendencies are carefully observed and her latent talents developed Of the homelier arts all learn to sew and cook while many re becoming experts in embroidery Just about the tlmei we fancied flbe lace the latest member of the lace family the old wool lace revived and modernized made Its appearance The wool lace still holds its place for winter adorning though it Is quite as much ia evidence in combination with other laces as it is by itself All told though the fiber laces are lovelieatJk For silki ness they tar outshine pure silk They are rich in black and in colors and 19 ivory and white they are exquisite One lovely wide applique in cream white which is only 2 90 a yard Show an applique design done in the new baby lamb braid But this is not all Zlbeline effects even plush are introduced into these laces with surprisingly good results As If this were not enough one new lace Is actually composed mostly of flannel The cream white flannel is cut in the Grecian key pattern the figures being Joined together with wool embroidery and lace stitches The price is 3 85 Five Inch bands of the fiber lace may be had at 4 50 These come in black and In white Some lovely mixtures are noted too Both blue and brown appliques are seen with black figures in the lace and one very pretty pattern costs 1 66 The same applique In the plain color costs 1 Philadelphia Record i i i 1 1 1 1 1 111 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ii 1 1 1 1 1 1 iii iiiiiiiiiiiinio WHY COINS ARE PUT IN FOUNDATION STONES VERY terrible in its sinister significance is the custom of putting coins under the foundation stone of a building about to be erected For these pieces of gold and silver and bronze are the latter day equivalents of the human beings that would once have been Immolated there and there immured They constitute the ransom for blood that by rights should be shed but is not This latter terrible use was at one time well night universal and truces of It survive almost everywhere In many parts of Europe for Instance when the bole is dug to receive this same foundation stone the masons win entice to the spot some stranger Then while one engages him In conversation another will creep behind him and measure his shadow the measuring stick being afterward buried and mortar stamped down on top of It Or they prepare a tiny coffin inside which Is a doll for use In the same way or rude Images of babies in swaddling clothes are similarly immured And in not a few out of the way parts of the world whose inhabitants stand physically abcut where we did twenty centuries ago the original custom still prevails In all Its primitive hideousnese Only last year at Mos dok In the Caucasus three builders were arrested for kidnaping and murdering a lad whose body they aftere ward built into the foundations of a tower they were erecting In 1866 two children a boy and a girl were similarly consigned to a living grave by some laborers working on a blookhcuse at Duga in Asiatic Turkey At Copenhagen a wall sank as fast as It was built so they took an innocent little girl and set her at a table with toys and sweeties Then while she played and ate twelve master masons closed the vault over her A house that was being built at Scutari became shaky A wise man whose advice was sought decreed that the defect would Increase unless a human victim were walled Into the foundations 8o the three brothers who were working at it agreed among themselves to immolate and Immure the first of their wives who came to the place to bring them food Binsfjar instances might be multiplied indefinitely and from every country on the face of the globe not excluding our own In 1885 when Holsworthy Church in Devonshire was being re Stored a skeleton with a mass of mortar plastered over the mouth was found imbedded In an angle of the building That the castle of Llebenstein might stand impregnable a child was bought for hard cash of its peasant mother and walled ipto the donjon tower A roll was given the little one to eat while the masons were at work and the unnatural parent toodPby to quiet it In case it cried out Mother I can bee you laughed the child when the wall was breast high Mother I see a little of you still Then walllngly Mother I see nothing of you now In the rmieepm at Algiers Is a plaster cast of the mold left by the body of one Geronlmo who was built into a block of concrete In the angle of the fort In the sixteenth century Candles too are frequently utilized A lighted candle Is everywhere the symbol of life just as an extinguished one reversed is of death In the chancel wall of Bridgerule Church a half consumed tallow dip was found Immured in a secret recess Another was discovered a few years back built into one of the buttresses of St Osyths Priory in Essex When old Blackfriars bride built in 1769 was pulled down in 1S67 there were found within a vault like cavity beneath the second arch from the Surrey side two such candles together with a number of bones and a horses head This latter Is very Significant It Is typical of thepale horse of the death god Woden to whom all these propitiatory sacrifices were made Frequently In days gone by horses heads were built Jnto churches Indeed several of them can be seen to this very day grewsomely protruding from among the masonry of the parish church of EJsdom in Northumberland Yet another custom bearing closely on this same horrid rite is that which decrees that a sheaf of corn shall be fastened to the gable of a completed building This Is constantly done by the workmen In all parts of England especially in Devonshire and Cornwall Ask them about It and they will tell you It Ha a supper for the birds But in reality Jt has a far deeper significance It la intended as a fee for that selfsame pale horse whose rider else would take too sjrlft and too heavy toll of the future Inmates Or sigaln on certain Gothic build ingsean be seen What architects call fhipnobsthat Is bunches of flow ers or corn imitated in stone wood or clay The builder says this is for ornament irnerelyftno wing no better But it is deeply and fearfully sym bollcar nevertbelsgs ss the reader ca plainly see for himseU by this time Inmany parts of England the brick layers when they5have finished their work and set on tjja chimney jpots fix a bush on top of the loftiest scaffold pole In some districts the bush has been superseded by a flag Ask the foreman why this Is and he will tell you that It Is because the men have finished their Job and expect a drink to celebrate the occasion And no doubt that Is why it is done now But their forefathers did it as an offering to Wodens horse and the drink was a solemn libation to the horses rider Even now a portion of the first pot of beer is spilt upon the ground Thus we get the flag from the bush the bush from the sacrificial sheaf and the sheaf from the human victim The proverb says there Is a skeleton in every house The proverb was once literally true The custom crops up everywhere All over England are human skulls presented In niches and corners of old farmhouses Terrible things we are invariably told will happen to the inmates if the grisly relics are takaa away and burled Another variation is the child ghesi that haunts so many old manas houses The usual legend Is that the victim was burled under the hearth In the great hall and a cruel uncle is dragged into the story to account for the crime But the avuncular murder is a myth of later creation The choice of the burial place tells us that For upon the hearth were the earlier expiatory victims sacrificed arid beneath It they were Interred Then the hearth was also the altar the most sacred portion of the dwell log To this day we speak of violating the sanctity of a mans hearth Pearsons Weekly Played Bmmblepppr The late Marquis of Salisbury used to be very fond of whist whlchs he played with exceptional skill Naturally therefore It disgusted him to Le placed with a bad partner and whtii he had a bad partner many were the comments as biting as acid yvhlch in bis quiet voice he would make upon the latters faults At a house party in Devonshire Lord Salisbury one evening was playing whist impeded by a partner of pn usual stupidity whote play was1 mere bumblepuppy NevertheIes4hekS two were carrying off th honors jt almost sftfmed so brilliant were Xr Salisburys plays that they woul Win 2f In the miadjie of thejajne akyouoff woman paused bed the rioted rtatesman She put her hand htbX shoulder and she said --Well how are you totting otCtr Very well Indeed replied onr Salisbury considering I have tbre adversaries New York Tribunal JMT liM rsJL 1 fr aSli it Fa t3 iisHcv rV li jfe Vi Wi sti i 3 i 33 jfsfSS gsy.