Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 1904)
- ',',.- ' ' "a f '-K. ..." I J J f WW 00 WDQf GMS Affi MAK IM.CITY0ias . N ths form of " the tittle country girl," a place on Michigan avenue dally takes In " raw ma terial," which it turns with almost Incredible swiftness Into finished product. This product put to Muih in many waya the graduate of a fashionable boarding; school, and Is probably the most evenly balanced combination of world ly accomplishments, business resourcefulness. and well developed talent known to Chicago girlhood. Out In Texas, In North Dakota, and all the Intervening way as far as Puget sound, the " little country girl " has dreamed dreams. They are always one and the same, of the wonderful things to be learned In Chicago, the classes and mm c X Ji -ft"- lit iT- ' r ' -i 1 i t up and wltfh an entirely different air. There are little changes in her dress, she comes and' goes fearlessly, she has an in tense enthusiasm about her work and her pleasures, and she ' gets on ' with her acquaintances and makes friends. In short, she blossoms right out in a way that often occasions the remark, ' Why. is that Che little girl that came In Septem ber?' She, to all Intents and purposes, has become already the typical city girl." Among the students living at the home there is one who Is paying part of her living and tuition expenses by posing for an artist on the south side. Her pretty air of eavolr faire, mixed with her frank joy in having made a success of her pos ing, none the less than her thorough understanding of the con ditions which make her work successful, are expressive of the typical city girl of the artistic atmosphere. " I'll never for get," says she, " the succession of revelations that I had unrolled to me one after another the first year I was here. What Most Impresses a Country Girl. " The first thing which astonished me so that I positively recoiled from the shock was the large number of men I saw upon the first evening I went Into the parlors. That the girls should have men company was a thing that had never entered into my calculations. Then the next thing that was a truly thrilling sight was to see a huge automobile draw up to the front door. The fact that one of the girls was actually going In It was a nine days' wonder. Even now it is still thrilling to most of us when we happen to be the one it comes for, but in a different way from what it was then. My first sight of a man being picked up ln the street by the patrol wagon was another of the things that I will never forget. Then another thing that I had to take In gradually was that it was really possible for nice people to go out driving or auto riding on Sunday afternoons or to alt In the gallery at a matlne. This was so entirely contrary to little town etiquette that I could hardly believe it. But the crowning revelation of all was the fact that women really drank wine with their dinner In public places. I don't doubt but that all the girls are affected by these things In fhe same way that I was, but they are quick to pick up the best of the new ways and the new things for their own use. " One of the things that the girl from the small place Is eager to take advantage of is the chance of going to concerts and theaters and to churches where beautiful music ' to be heard, which she has never had before. And no matter how little money she may have. If there Is a scheme on foot to go to anything among her special set of girls, she is almost sure to have a little sum carefully treasured some where that she can use. This, however, is almost sure to be at the cost of a stiff economy IT) some other way." Rapid Advance in Ambition. Another girl who has been at the home for some time and who is a graduate at the Institute, says: " It is really aston ishing to observe the Improvement in the girls soon after they come. They fairly blossom out the change Is so pro nounced, and perhaps one of the first things that helps them Is the desire for better and prettier clothes. From this they go on to other things. They are ambitious to learn when they see what other girls are doing, and also to put themselves in a position to earn as much as possible. The library is full nearly always and the gym classes and the shirt waist classes are also popular. Another thing that helps them to assert themselves is that in a little world of nearly 400 like this a girl soon finds out that she can be Imposed upon if she cannot take care of herself. 8he Is quicker to learn this, too, in a circle made up of women entirely than she would be if thrown among men. Then she soon learns to make a study of being kind and tactful for the sake of making friends. If she didn't get her wits sharpened her chance of making her way with such a large number would be exceedingly slim." There ace many little things noticed about the home that go to show the girls who have been here for even a short period know their little world. Stylish and pretty. If simple, gowns are a rule rather than en exception. The average Y. W. girl, as she walks down Michigan avenue, has a carriage, too, that Is part of the "city air." She also has friends. There is always somebody In Chicago who used to live at home who comes to hunt her up. And although the sparkling ring; on the third finger frequently tells of somebody else In the little home town, good times are accepted with eagerness, and also the friendly chap who Is ready to act as an escort to the many things to which she Is Invited. Serious Work Their First Aim. "There Is one thing, though," said one of the musical students, " that I would like to have understood for myself, and I am sure that most of the girls I know feel the same way, and that Is that we are all here for a serious purpose. Men in any sense of the word are not an object with us, and although we like their society if they like to come along In the same way that the girls go with each other, we do not give It a further thought, neither does their presence make any difference with our happiness." The dances In the house to which the girls Invite their men friends are numerous, and the rumor lately heard of having closing time at 11 Instead of 12 o'clock has created general consternation. " Why, It's Impossible to get home from anywhere In Chi cago much before 12," Is the unanimous verdict, and " a con cert and the theater Is Just simply spoiled If we can't have a little bite after It Is over," Is frequently heard. The combination of business and school life that the home offers, together with a social life which, although free in the extreme, .Is really under the most careful system of espion age. Is said to be responsible for the rapid and well propor tioned development which, almost always transforms the girls into self-supporting and Independent women. , The girl if " J i ( iter...,,. ,., "A New Arrival 'A Room ci the Music Floor. here knows the need of money and she sees others turning pennies and dollars to help their tuition In every way that the ingenious feminine mind can devise. 0he Is not alow to follow suit, as Is seen by the many cards and small announcements that are pinned together Into an un wieldy bulletin at the office desk. One girl advertises that she " mends Jewelry of all kinds." Another has drawn a pen and ink sketch. of a wonderful pair of stockings underlined with the words " Stockings neatly mended." Another offers to teach psychology, and there Is a pathetic little bulletin which tells of " a pretty matinee jacket for sale In a certain room cheap." Some state the hours at which their pianos will be unused and for rent, and others do millinery and teach elocution and make little turnover collars and cuffs. There are many that find work outside which fills either part or all of their time. There are not only a multitude of chances for the girl once domiciled here to help herself along, but she has as many If not more to Improve herself. There are dozens of classes at hand all the time where only a Blight tuition Is charged. For Instance, the class In Spanish has become popular of late with the stenographers, with whom this language Is found to be In demand. With all this there seems to be an "atmos phere " of work and enthusiasm and devotion to the object In view which In Itself is Inspiring and which proves plainly that high alma and ideals are not absent In spite of the air of happy gayety. Enthusiasm Prevades Atmosphere. "The girls come Into my room sometimes," says Miss Lehman, one of the musical students, " and talk of their hopes and aspirations with such enthusiasm that I get up with sudden energy as soon as they have gone out and say- to myself, ' For mercy's sake, let me get to practicing. I mustn't Idle an instant's time when others are doing so much.' It Is In the air here, and I think that almost everybody that lives here becomes Ipsplred with it. I boarded on the west side lust year, and I know I did not accomplish half so much as I have since coming here." But despite the enthusiasm and the fact that the Insti tution is the one " chance " that has ever come or ever can come Into the lives of most of the Inmates, Its existence In thlcago has been handicapped by a large building mortgage, toward the lifting of which a special efTort Is now being made. The munificence which has blessed the Toung Men's Chris tian association abundantly has passed the T. W. l.y, ap parently with the Impression that It Is a " hotel " and con sequently self-supporting. " People have no idea what It Is to the girls," says Mrs. Davison, whose many plans for widen ing the outlook extend to a "chapel" of a few minutes, which Is held In the auditorium every evening and at which the events of the day are summarized and discussed for the benefit of those attending . A Y.W.Girl of three months after her arrival from the country lectures, and teachers, and pictures, the Art institute, the Thomas concerts, and the musical colleges. Fathers and mothers who have dreamed also, and who have had happy hopes of sending the daughters back; to an eastern school, have sometime come near laying tue hope by.. Money is short and it seems that the pretty daughter must stay In the rmrrow environment, with no chance to make something of the talent which burns within her. and which she believes to -be a divine gift. And then a happy thought comes to the diner or motner. inm la unv wt iucio w uiv vuum ' Women's Christian association. Met by Friends at the Depot. With the help of this It Is possible, and so careful letters are Interchanged and the mother's anxiety that her daughter will be looked after from the minute the train- stops In Chi cago is reassured, and the wide eyed and already home sick young person with the T. W. badge conspicuously pinned to her jacket, is met at the station and is ushered to the little room which has been engaged tor her. The wonderful life which has been looked forward to so iong begins. Just what that life Is, and Just what the Toung Women's Christian association does for Us young women Is something of which Chicago people, most of all perhaps, have vague Idea. Even the country father and mother who, from care ful inquiry, have a fair Idea of Its scope, but little guess the miraculous transforming power of its peculiar combination of advantages and conditions. " As the average girl comes to us," says Mrs. Davison, the superintendent, "she is so unused to city life that she is al most paralysed with fright Her terror of the possibility of a failure to meet her at the train is agonising. Her fear of the city sights and sounds, her homesickness and h4 shy ness upon being suddenly brought Into a world of gpis and women utterly atrange to her is pitiful, and she Is so limited In her knowledge of the world that when she makes her first trip to the school or classes which shs has come to attend, 'I warn her to speak to nobody. Her unsophisticated look is also so apparent that I often add, ' Now, If anybody speaks to you don't fall to come and tell me every word.' Soon Acquires Confidence In City. "Many of tihese girls have never taken a journey and it occasionally happens that a mother will bring her daughter here to sea for herself what the conditions are. But In a few months' tkns see what happens. This same tittle maid who came in fear and trembling is going about with her head V-s' J " :-"'T''".. , ' ;! oGroup of Y.W.CA.Girls.