Show kathleen norris says block platt a war blessing bell features V V Z 11 X I 1 7 t mrs smiths new baby may decide to come when the service is far ike hospitals crowded noto is the time to take her older children home with your by KATHLEEN NORRIS NE of 1 1 f the good things one 0 1 of t the h e best things to come out of this first war year Is the san diego block plan this block plan is really a good neighbor policy applied to your home your kitchen and garden your childrens school and your social club the women of san diego under the inspired leadership pi of the woman who originated the plan have been carrying it t out with such success and such enthusiasm that when hen 1 I last lad had a report some enoi months ago more than fave thousand blocks were developing it A block unit is simply a block in your town city or suburb in which the quietly and unostentatiously get to mow each other the men have organized and gone away and thousands of younger women have gone away too into and red cross work this s the organization of the horne home mak ng women and its effect is wonder tul ful even now in its shaky beginnings that it may prove to be as suggested in opening this article the he very best thing that has come but of or can come out of war for it means friendliness sharing security those beautiful things that war threatens and loneliness accentuates it means that every old woman busy housewife high school girl and child within its influence is enveloped in a sense of community protection and safety and those are invaluable assets today neighbors meet frequently it means that you meet the men and women woman who icho live in the houses each side of 0 you discover what you can do for them in case 0 of f shortage emergency or panic an and d let them kanovi amov what they can do for you it t means that you pick a central point for assembly in case of real need iced that you appoint some come woman as block guardian who will call meetings and arrange well in advance for those next door services that may be demanded of us all at any time for example you knew that ty little mrs smith two doors away lad had two children but you quite sure of anything else about her now you discover that theres to bo be a third child in march but that child may decide to bome come when the husband in the service Is far away the hospitals crowded and the childrens grandmother laid up with a broken ankle when you take the older children home with you and mrs brown two doors away on the other side who used to be a trained nurse before she married steps in to keep an eye on M mrs rs smith two months later when your big boy gets a weeks leave and you could join him if it for daddy and margaret both in hard wartime jobs mrs smith and grandma Smith welcome margaret and daddy for meals as it if they were royal guests meanwhile mrs davis up at the corner has ha discovered that the who have been living in the block for five years without anyone paying any attention to them are anxious to loan the smiths their babas outworn perambulator old aunty aulty wilson in the brown cottage with the pepper tree offers her big iron preserving kettles to anyone who wants to put up the first cherries and strawberries mrs jones who has been corn com 1 pla ining that she any A BIG WORD it a long word it has on ly three letters but its ies still a big word because the people who rea really understand its meaning aly usually us a think big thoughts the word is you and it is more important tm than 1 I or ma me arid and even more important than we because bebau e by we most moat people mean 1 me and my ideas about you it would be easy enough to be the good neighbors kathleen norris urges us its to be it if we ice would w 0 Is id only try to think harder about you and a little less leis about me I 1 ble way of helping with the war effort comes suddenly to life at one of them the meetings and offers to give all the small children in the block a party panty on big game day so that the fans cah go to the game gathers vital statistics conscientious little mrs baker reports that there are 17 hot water bottles in the block five thermometers two ice bags one woman who was a nurse one who took two years of medicine one who is a graduate dietitian and 27 persons who will take hour by hour sentry duty in case of a raid mrs bates admits that she never knew that dr williams daughter was blind she will go read to her twice a week with the greatest pleasure this block scheme was started by edwina kenney hegland of san diego her name ought to be a household word from now on for her inspiration is toward the real brotherhood that is the only cure for all our troubles and the only ending of war when nations learn leam what these neighboring women have learned fear will die and with fear hate will die and we will learn to construct with our billions and no longer destroy for deep in their hearts every man and woman in this world wants three things love security service and it is one of gods miracles that there is always e enough of these three things and that the more of them we give the more by hundreds and thousand thou thousands sanh of times the supply increases but remember when you begin your block work that fear and suspicion and the shyness that masks itself in stiffness and standoffishness is all about you your neighbors will think you want to get something for nothing many quite intelligent women have never learned to share never learned to be neighborly they will hoard old rubber sheets old copper dentist chairs chopping ba blocks 0 acks any old rubbish at allfather all al rather than put it to use that the loan of a suitcase might make some little girl in the block feel happier that the milk that accumulates after a few days das absence or the magazines with which one is quite finished might contribute immensely to the comfort of the woman next door has never occurred to them breaks down aloofness yet those women long for companionship panion ship and occupation and after a rather dubi dubious ous chilly unsuccessful meeting or two will blossom out into genuine helpfulness what this will do for them personally is incalculable but it is what the scheme will do for america in this hour of that counts unity co opera tion the holding of each others hands was never so valuable the very ve ry children will flourish lo in vie the ge genial nial atmosphere that will spread itself over the gardens and backyards the front stoops and kitchen l porches porch cs they will will feel safer |