New York's Woman of Domestic Science
0""NB OF the most Interesting youag
women In the working world of
the American metropolis Is Miss
C ".Ui Florence Corbett, dietician, whom
Homer Folk, the commissioner of
publlo charities, has recently appointed
to rule over the department kitchens. Her
position does not conflict, as might bo sup
posed, with that of the housekeepers or
stewards In the city Institutions. Though,
she has a general supervision of these de
partments the greater part of her time
is devoted to the question of cooking and
serving the food.
Miss Corbett is a remarkably pretty young
woman in the twenties. Her voice Us soft
and low, yet decisive and Indicates that in
flplte of her glrllehness and pronounced
femininity, she Is well qualified to con
duct her branch of the department. Seen
at headquarters, where she has her desk,
In the office of the deputy commissioner,
she looks attractive and businesslike,
gowned In a walking skirt of brown cloth
and a smart white pique shirtwaist.
A native of Manhattan, Kan., and a
graduate of the State Agricultural .college
there. Miss Corbett came to her present
position through the natural turning of the
wheel of evolution. It was early her In
tention to be a dietician, and to this end
she made domestic science her special
course during her college days. At tho
Kansas college domestic science became an
Important branch through Mrs. Kedzle
now Mrs. Kedzle-Jones who was the first
teacher in that science in the west, and
Is well known throughout the country.
Botany for a time threatened to swerve
Miss Corbett from her chosen lino. She
became proficient In making botanical
drawings. So valued were these thought to
be that her botany Instructor urged her
to make that line of Bcience her profes
sion and even went so far as to apply to
the Smithsonian Institution in Washington
for a position for her. But domestic sci
ence won the day. Through the influence
of Mrs. Hudson Campbell, well known In
the work, Miss Corbett was transplanted to
the Pratt Institute In Brooklyn, where she
took the two years' course In six months.
While at the Pratt Institute a week be
fore commencement tho charge of the die
tary department of the Elizabeth, N. J.,
General hospital was offered Miss Corbett,
and sh6 was permitted to leave to accept
It. This position she later resigned for
one with the Kings County hospital and
almshouse, which are part of New York's
institutions.
Dr. Duryea, then superintendent of the
Kings County hospital, thought there was
a need of her line of work In all the city
institutions and used his influence with the
Civil Service commissioners to have her
appointed under the title of charity die
tician. They sanctioned the appointment,
but not the title, evidently supposing the
new officer to be nothing but a combination
3Iayor's Campaign
(Continued from Fourth Page.)
for the needy, Moores has relieved their
need from his own purse. Where other men
Ijavo' theorized on democracy, Moores has
exemplified it by meeting on equal footing
the grimiest toller who ever saluted him.
And all this time he was "campaigning."
By all these acts he was making friends
and votes.
Ills enemies will seize upon this declara
tion as an admission that he is politic.
They will charge, perhaps, that there was
always "method In his madness," and that
whatever he did, he did for personal gain.
It was always so. No man in public life
ever gave a dollar that he was not charged
with selfish endo. But let the reader ask
the men whom Moores has helped what
they think about it. Det the reader ad
dress his inquiries to the widow who had
no vote to give and none to Influence; to
the aided partisan, already too strong in
his faith ever to bolt a party nominee; to
the sickened stranger who Would be leagues
away from Omaha before an election; to
orphaned children who would have no voice
in public affairs for years to come; to
democrats known to vote with their own
people ever and always; to the lame, the
halt and the blind, of whom nothing could
be expected and of whom nothing was asked.
These can tell, better than any others,
whether Frank E. Moores was playing poli
tics and giving only that be might receive.
These can tell how it Is that a man may
"campaign" merely by cultivating such
charity and benevolence that other men
will recognize it in him without ever seeing
It demonstrated and he drawn to him by
that confidence born of intuition.
And in this Intuitive confidence he In
spires lu others lies the great secret of
Frank E. Moorea' success as a campaigner.
"Personality," the wise ones term it. It
has "made" nearly every public roan who
ever has succeeded and It will be the secret
of all those who are to follow. It Is within
a man's breast, never out upon his shirt
front, and is felt in his hand clasp rather
than expressed by bis sentences. Moores
could write a speech as long as a supreme
court decision and never make half the
friends by it as he can In five minute
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MISS FLORENCE CORBETT,
of housekeeper and cook. At the end otr
Bix months Miss Corbett proved her prac-t
tieal value on linrs so thoroughly sclen-,
tlfio that her right to a distinctive office
was recognized and tho title of dietician
was created for her.
Commissionor Folk, who looks after the
welfare of Father Knickerbocker's charity
patients, Is determined, he says, to estab
lish a dietary in the institutions under his
control that will meet the physiological re
quirements as now understood by the best
modern teaching on that subject a dietary
that will give sufficient variety of food and
the proper amount of each kind of .'oods.
In speaking of his object in bringing Miss
Corbett into the department, he said: '
"One of my principal reasons for ap
mixing In a crowd. That 'Hole in the Bot
tom of tho Sea" has defeated the philosophy
of a number of eminent gentlemen who
have sought, from time to time, to supplant
its singer in public favor and public sup
port. Men like to feel that one whom
they are asked to employ as their official
servant will not assume to be their school
master and their dictator after the ballots
are counted. The people want a man of
the people and for the people. They feel
safer with him because they know they
can get near enough him to make their
needs and wants known and understood.
Still, let this not be understood as im
plying that Frank E. Moores Is wholly a
philanthropist or a humanl ar'.an. and noth
ing of a politician. He Is a politician, and
honest enough to concede that ha is. Thie
are other gentlemen, too, who wl.l con
cede that be is, if they be quite hjnes',
for he has beaten them at the game, with
odds and the best cards on their side.
When votes are needed he goes after them,
and goes after them with the one lnten'icn
of getting them. In an ante-election pe
riod such as the present his office is like
the headquarters of an army efflcer. Cne
day's visit there is quite enough to c n
Vince anyone that Moores Is a general, an
organizer of much more than ordinary
ability. He has his staff of officers com
missioned to carry on the fight in every
quarter of the field, and those officers fol
low Instructions explicitly because they
have confidence in the man who issued
them. At all hours of any week day they
are dropping In to get advice, and going out
again with a suggestion that will overcome
the difficulty that confronted each. If tbey
don't find the mayor in, they may wait he
has a secretary and a page who are exper s
at making people feel at home in the big
upholstered divan or chairs or they may
meet him on the front steps, or on the
street and get what they want there.
Moores doesn't have to bo behind closed
doors to do his thinking, nor does be have
to talk a long while to make himself un
derstood. In one minute be can tell his
point, and In another minute he can Inspire
his auditor with a belief that he is right
about it. This latter faculty Is one of his
greatest blessings and sources of strength.
He Is one of the tnoU convincing and ever
CHARITIES DIETICIAN.
pointing a dietician was that I was con
fident we could get a good deal hotter diet
for the money we were spending by pur
chasing materials which, on account of
(Conditions at a given time, might be
1 cheaper than ethers and of equal food
value. Miss Corbett has undertaken a gen
eral oversight over the question cf pre
paring food at the different Institutions,
and seeing that it is served hot whenever
possible.
"She began by going through each In
stitution and carefully studying the wholo
question of food from the time It is or
dered to the time it ia consumed. As a re
sult of her investigations and suggestions,
we have taken the Initial steps In the way
of reform by establishing new dietaries at
lastingly optimistic leaders a party ever
had. Wherever he goes he inspires hope
among .his friends and uneasiness among
those who are against him.
Another contingent that frequents this
civil general's tent as long as It dares each
day are the news getters. It is a congenial
place for them because It Is both pleasant
and prolific of readable matter. Moores Is
as easy to "get at" as a press agent, and If
he has a "story" he will give It up without
that perpetual pumping that lesser men
sometimes require and seem to relish. A
request for an Interview hi either grants
lnstanter or turns down with equal prompt
ness ali depending on whether or not tho
topic is one on which he is entitled to
speak and free to speak.
He doesn't talk Just to bo quoted, how
ever. And he doesn't tell anybody all he
knows about political plans, either. In
fact he does a great deal of his campaign
ing "without the rid or cens nt of any other
nation on earth." Sometimes this is very
disconcerting to those associated with him
In a fight. For example: The night be
fore the election that first made him mayor
he disappeared from headquarters without
a word, and didn't come back. Tho leaders
became distressingly fretted. They even
called him a fool and an ass for betray
ing such Indifference at so critical a time.
They sat up most of the night waiting for
him and when they went to bed they were
disheartened and disgusted. Next morning
a delegation of counsellors was at the door
of the office of the clerk of the district
court (which office was then Moores') be
fore that door opened, and they declared
that it was no time for him to be loafing.
Put Moores bad not been loafing. He
had been down in the First and Second
wards as long as any voter stayed up, and
he had had heai t-to-heart talks, with t,o
many of them that when the ballots were
cast and counted nerf day the territory he
had covered was founS to have gone to him
with a rush and to have given htm quite a
prcportlon of the majority he bad that
year. He didn't tell any one where he was
going when he started and he didn't offer
any apologies when be returned. He let
the votes do the talking. Often, he slips on
his hat and coat and leaves his offlcs as
the City hospital and the Tntwrcalosta la.
Irmary on IUackwrll's Island.
"Eventually these improvements will rover
all the institutions in our department and
a dietary will be arranged for tbo em
ployes as well as the patients. There has
never been any dietary tor employes and
one Is greatly needed, but necessarily tha
patients must he our first care.
"Miss Corbett has thoroughly studied
the wholo question and I shall leave her
quite free to work out the pi blems of her
department In her own way."
To tho tuberculosis Infirmary MIfb Cor
bett has given deep study. As everyone
knows, consumption Is a wasting away of
the tissues and to give tho patients proteid
or nuiBolo building foods Is of the utmost
importance in arresting tho disease. Tha
diet list as now arranged is as good as at
a private institution. It Includes a regular,
special light and liquid ' diet. The regular
diet Is a menu covering the three meals
for the seven days of the week. There are
no two meals on tho list alike. To get sway
from tho everlasting daily stew, Miss Cor
bett has made variety by roast beef, pot
roast, cornbeef and boiled mutton. Steak
Is included in the special diet for bed pa
tients who also have more than tho regu
lar allowance of eggs and milk.
By this treatment it Is hoped. If not to
cure, at least to arrest the disease In a
great many cases.
At the City hospital the new dietary ar
ranged by Miss Corbett differs from ths
old In materially Increasing the amount
and kinda of cereal foods. It also Increases
somew hat the amount of milk and decreases
the gross amount of bcof. Variety In tha
menu is a feature.
A decided innovation Is the glass of milk
served at 8 o'clock p. m. to every patient
As they eat their supper between 4 and 6,
bedtime refreshment Is acceptable. This
Is probably the only one of the diotetlo
BieaaureB of which they are aware.
Miss Corbett's Ideal is that there shall
lie established eventually at every institu
tion a building devoted exclusively to die
tary -purposes. This would be erected near
the main building and consist of dining
rooms, kitchens, pantries and storehouses.
Under the present arrangement In many
public Institutions there Is one large dining
room for the Inmates, while in others there
Is a dining room for each ward. Invariably
there Is only one kitchen, which seems to
have been constructed with a view to get
ting It as far away from the dining rooms
as possible. In consequence much time and
strength Is wasted in merely getting tha
food to the dining rooms.
The present mode of transporting food
from the kitchens to the bed patients Is
open to Improvement. Miss Corbett thinks
that instead of sending it In cans and tubs,
each of which requires one and sometimes
two prrbons to carry It, a special food car
can be constructed which would be heated
and so arranged that one man could oper
ate it.
suddenly as though Just telegraphed for,
and It may bo two months before he ever
chances to mention where he went. In
deed, ho may never mention It. . " .
But notwithstanding this, he no longer
gives the attention to little things that ha
used to, nor does so much of the hustling.
He sees in his city attorney, W. J. Connell,
one who Is a much more careful master of
small but essential details than Is he. And
as for hustling, ho now has such perfect
organization of his forces that It Isn't ar
necessary as it once was. Moores always
had splendid organization and those who
have followed his career say it Is better
this time than ever before.
The speeches ho delivers during each
ante-electlon period are not of particular
merit as orations. They are embellished
with wit rather than humor and almost en
tirely devoid of pretty figures. He is more
a mlxtr than talker and on a stage he feels
too far away from the people he wants to
reach. For all that, he succeeds because
convincing and plain-spoken. The little
talk be made in accepting the nomination
of the convention at Washington hall, April
11, fairly carried the crowd off Its feet and
made every man a fighting man, ready to
do his best in the approaching battle for
party supremacy. Had he faltered or weak
ened, -his supporters might have lost their
enthusiasm for the cause and made no
such valiant fight as they are making. Ha
told them that he would make the fight of
his life, that ho expected them to do tha
same and that when the ballots era
counted the party will be found to hava
vanquished Its natural antagonist and to
have shamed those who deserted Its ranks
because their preferences had not pre
vailed. He wos not abusive, nor even sar
castic, but merely determined and plain
spoken. And they rallied with a cheer
that echoed his own enthusiasm.
What has tranFplred since then does not
appear to have disconcerted him In tha
least. It would not, were the opposition
twice as strong. For Moores Is a man
who never cries quit; who likes his vic
tories to come through honest fighting and
who contemplates success and defeat with,
equal composure and equal respect for tha
will of the majority.
