Show 1 1 ONES OWN C CIRCLE I 1 I 1 NN 13 A WOMAN TELLS WHY SHE GAVE UP 1 WORK AMONG THE LOWLY la 4 iller I 1 p vet experience of clumping slumping Slum ping ai noy alic bisco that sho could couii do 0 work elsewhere A iason for iry ato ernut V 1 l to he ne of or sort some une ube the experience of one young woman in new yol I 1 whose parents could afford to leep her in luxury but who preferred to do flonary nil jlona 1011 ry work adiong long the poor of t the be tat tt side 14 14 told bv by herself as follows why ain am I 1 no longer slumming as you call it because I 1 have discovered that I 1 can do more good iu in the tile social circle where I 1 was aril that may strike you as estrange strange I 1 only arri arrived vedi it at it myself b by y actual nud and it surprised me rile too when I 1 first became thoroughly indeed with hie tile idea that I 1 must accomplish some good work vork tor for the cause of humanity I 1 v I 1 naturally aliv thought that most could be done where the tile field seemed largest comparing the lot of the very poor and 13 igno no ad depraved with tile lot of those amon whom I 1 had been bron brought glit up there shined to be no question as to where I 1 ought to KO 90 and imor having overcome the opposition of my friends and laving having been accepted as a worker by a society which introduced me to fo the people I 1 wished to elevate I 1 was a good deal surprised to find most of them did not desire elevation in ili the way it I 1 well I 1 thought best for them they ing to be made rich to be cured curel of die diseases aes to have their homes improved by somebody de to have their children educated educate 41 by outsiders outriders out riders and to be amused and entertained much ai w yon you liked but it as for endurance patience caf s denial generosity meekness virtue sobriety charity these were not riot so papu popular la r 1 J I found too that these people rather resented my coming among them they watched mo me so closely for any sign of patronizing ron izing them that often they had not time to think of the truth of what I 1 said to them few of them thanked me for my efforts on their behalf and I 1 found it hard to remain even a tolerably welcome visitor to their homes without condoning dirtiness laziness shiftiest ness wasteful wastefulness nem rudeness and coarseness coite new it if I 1 were not welcome I 1 could do no goodard goo good dand and it if I 1 were always finding fault with the habits of a lifetime I 1 I 1 certainly would not be welcome 4 1 deeply disappointed after six months of work at having made no appreciable permanent improvement in the moral life of those among whom I 1 labora labor A jd I 1 asked one godly old woman for there are as many saints among the poor as anywhere why I 1 did not meet with more success youre out of your depth cipior child 01 ol 1 said I she what do you know of our lives of ot our ways of pf our tron troubles bles of our minds of our way of looking ak at ti lings you dont ull understand der stand us and we dont understand you we dont see things in the same way because cause we dont look at them from the same point you tell thee these poor people to be clean without knowing how bow much money and time which is the same thing it costs to be clean cleanliness is one of the dea t things thin gain lit new york you scorn but if you had been bialt ill f fed from the cradle up and that with food containing little nourishment you would not have one tenth of the energy you now have laziness Is botne peoples only luxury were shiftless you ay any and dont save our pennies 11 it I 1 denied myself everything but the bare neemi necessities ties of a life even such as I 1 live I 1 could not nave more than five cents a it day fifteen dollars a year aso 50 in fit half a it century which it if the bank did not burst and rob tile 1110 ot of it all would give mo ine thirty dollars a year to live on when I 1 am too old to work too full of pains and infirmities to make inake life on thirty dollars a year a tiling thing to be desired theres many a slip twixt the cup and the lip in fifty years my girl and we think it better ettar to employ our spare pennies while we art IT sure of them kudo and coar coarse wo are compared wit your standard but not ruder or coarser than people of your wealth and rank in society were some centurion ago I 1 am told so dont despair of ua us lit my y dear clear but leave us to god and our ourselves bivs and time and go back to those who love you Illo honestly nestly now dont you till think there Is plenty of greed lut lust cruelty cruelly vanity envy backbiting back biting covetous covetousness new deceit folly drunken drunkenness nm and other forms of vice among the people you 1 know now in fit your own station in ili life to make a creditable record if you ou succeeded in removing it yes auntie I 1 said 11 1 I acknowledge that thero la much to be b done even in my own family and dont you really think now if your own ufa life and nd motives motive sare are suc such hasto as to command the respect of your father mother sisters ul brothers cousins and dear clear friends that their love for you and anti you yours Is for them would give you more influence over them thern than over dill bill sykes the team ster whom you hear now blaspheming in the room over our leesul and threatening to beat for not having hi ill supper ready 11 yes auntie I 1 think youre right I 1 said raid aa as the truth of her words came home tome to me sn so here I 1 am among my own people again and I 1 believe now liow that the rich can be elevated just as well a as s the poor and that the creator would jut just a soon see an educated person reform and lead a it useful virtuous life aa an an ignorant one and I 1 can more easily influence the tile educated one to do so new york tribune |