pkAFelioiv Nkui lack ^tate CfloUcge of AgrtcuUute 3^t Olornell JlnluErattH Jltlfaca. K. 1. Slihrarg Cornell University Library HT 467.F4 Serving the neighborhood, 3 1924 013 838 291 The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013838291 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD BY RALPH A. FELTON Published jointly by COUNCIL OF WOMEN FOR HOME MISSIONS AND INTERCHURCH WORLD MOVEMENT OF NORTH AMERICA NEW YORK CITY Copyright, 1920. by INTERCHURCH WORLD MOVEMENT OF NORTH AMERICA CONTENTS PAGE Preface I. The Church a-Neighboring . . . i II. Home-making, a Christian Calling . 26 III. The New Health Crusade ... 48 IV. Education Through Play . . • ' 73 V. Community Civics 96 VI. Some Successful Churches . . . 123 ILLUSTRATIONS Going back to Poland .... " Carry cheer to the aged "... Waiting in Hne to hear Dr. Jowett preach Idle little lads . . Children in a mining town Good-will industries .... A vacation for mother .... An old-fashioned washtub and a motor-driven machine The husband's equipment, and the wife's . Idle boys and busy boys ... Wide-awake women in the rural districts . A baby clinic Teaching a mother how to- bathe her baby A visiting nurse An, Italian mother and baby at a fresh-air camp Boys standing on their heads . A May day festival A spirited game of basketball Some fine athletic stunts ... " Playing together in youth "... Bad roads tell their own story .... ■ Good .roads mean much An army of school children . A hod-carrier, paid more than a school-teacher Mowing weeds by the roadside . Beautifying a home and beautifying a church . Children with and without a playground . Classes for boys in various crafts A good road is a sign of friendliness . A kindergarten means happmess and health children washing for little PREFACE Every church is serving its neighborhood. A large and splendid fellowship in all parts of the country is engaged in Christian Neighborliness. In preparing these pages, the writer has not intended to set one type of service over against another, nor to point out the short- comings of any. Instead, he hopes to'give encourage- ment to all who walk with the Master from house to house and heart to heart, carrying the Gospel of love and neighborliness. The work of the church in the small town and in the country has been given greater emphasis, because in small places there are fewer organizations to lead. In smaller communities, the Church as an institution must not only initiate and inspire, it must organize and pro- mote many neighborhood activities which are already established in more highly organized city communities. Acknowledgments for many courtesies are due. Per- mission has been given by the publishers of " Home- lands " and " The Epworth League in Rural Community Service " to quote from paragraphs previously written by the author of this book. For the use of photographs, acknowledgments are made to the Methodist Centenary Conservation Committee, the International Harvester Company, the Minnesota State , College of Agriculture, the National Child Welfare Association, and the Cin- cinnati Social Unit Organization. Special acknowledgment is made to those venturesome souls who, as pastors or laymen, are daily giving ex- pression to their religious experience by new types of neighborly service. CHAPTER I THE CHURCH A-NEIGHBORING The People Who Live Next Door Old Grandmother Northhouse had expressed the wish that folks would " look in on her oftener." She was our next-door neighbor, a saintly old lady, living alone in a shabby little house. I was just home from college for the winter holidays. Christmas cheer and good-will were in the air, and I felt that I should call on the lonely lady. Her house was cold and dingy. The aged woman, the smoky stove, the utter cheerlessness of her surroundings, made me feel uncomfortable. I chatted with her, haltingly, about neighborhood matters. Finally she told me that, because of failing eyesight, she could no longer read her Bible, and asked me to read a chapter and pray with her. This added to my embarrassment. I had never done such a thing before. I had read the Bible in the young people's meeting at the church and I had prayed there. But this seemed so intimate, so direct. I tried to think of what she needed most, and then read, " Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful . . . believe in God, be- lieve also in me. In my Father's house are many 1 2 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD mansions." I finished the chapter, prayed with her, went home, and' thought it all over, wondering if I had done my whole duty. I felt Hke a hypocrite, praying for a woman as good as she. " She needs her stove fixed more than she needs my feeble prayers," I kept thinking. Well, why not fix her chimney? The thought haunted me. Finally, I dressed for chimney-fixing ■ and went again to see her. Because of my changed costume and her poor eyesight, she did not know me. But she greeted me with great joy when I told her my mission. " Thank the Lord! He never fails to answer my prayers!" she exclaimed. "I've been praying all the morning for the Lord to send some one. My house has been so cold. Now he has sent you! Thank the Lord!" While I fixed that old lady's chimney, I felt ashamed of myself. She had lived next door to us for ten years. We had often wished she would move away because her house seemed dingy and squalid. It is hard to understand, sometimes, why the needy, the distressed, the aged, are sent to us or why we are sent to them. Perhaps it is to teach us the spirit of our Lord. Missed Thrpe Hundred Chances. Once, when calling for the first time in a certain home, I asked to what church the family belonged. " I'm a Presbyterian," the wife said. " My hus- band doesn't belong. He 'lows he'll join some day 'fore he dies." " Do you attend church? " THE CHURCH A-NEIGHBORING 3 " Yes, sir. We've never been, though, since we moved here." " How long have you lived here? " " Six years." " Haven't been to church in six years? " "No, sir; seemed Hke no one ever asked us. Seemed like we just didn't get started when we first came, and then it seemed like we just got used to stayin' at home. So here we are, goin' no place." That night I asked the superintendent of the Presbyterian Sunday-school if he had ever invited this family to church or Sunday-school. " No, never did," he said. " I didn't know they were Presbyterians." " Do you go past their house on your way to Sunday-school? " " Yes, every Sunday morning. But I never knew before they were Presbyterians." He had gone past their house three hundred times! The neighbors said he was " the best man in the community." They said " he never missed church or Sunday-school." He just hadn't thought about inviting this family to church. The commands, " Love thy God " and " Love thy neighbor as thyself," mean simply, he ngigh- horly. Make your church neighborly. A Singing School. Young people like to do things for others. It is a form of self-expression, a means of giving vent to the self-sacrificing urge which moves all of us in the adolescent age. A men's " brotherhood " can have an occasional big 4 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD dinner, give the ladies of the church a rising vote of thanks for serving it, and go home feeUng per- fectly satisfied with their activities. Some women's missionary societies meet monthly to study mis- sions, and then let the matter rest there. But young people want to do things. The young people of an Illinois church met every week at different homes in the community for what they called " a sing." They enjoyed the social event as well as the music. One night a girl mentioned an aged couple in the neighborhood who were kept closely at home. " Let's go over next Sunday afternoon and sing to them," she sug- gested. They went. The old folk were pleased be- yond expression. The young people enjoyed it even more. They had such a good time that they searched for another aged family that they might repeat the service. Religion grows in our hearts in a peculiar way when we carry cheer and good-will to old people who are lonely. Happy are those young people in our churches who can help to answer the prayers of the aged, the needy, or the distressed. One young man surprised his family and neigh- bors in a religious service in his home community with this announcement: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; he hath sent me to pro- claim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." THE CHURCH A-NEIGHBORING S Many young people to-day are seeking this same type of service. The Sick Needing Friends. " Sometimes I get so dis- couraged," were the plaintive words of a mother of five children as she rehearsed her family diffi- culties. There was not much that was cheerful in her home surroundings. A three-roomed, unpainted house; some beds, a dresser, home-made chairs, an oil-cloth-covered table with benches on each side. There was only one book in the house, the Bible. An old stone fireplace helped to drive the cold back through the cracks in the floor and to bring some degree of comfort to this family of seven. "How are the children?" I inquired. " My little girl is sick. She has the three-day chills." " What are you doing for her? " " I give her table-salt each day for three days, then I miss for three days. She -seems to be some better." " And how are you feeling? " " I rather think I have heart trouble," she said. Her dress was worn, hef- apron hung in shreds, her shoes were old. Her husband was a poor cropper, cultivating crops " on shares," in the land of the lonesome pine, where the returns per acre were small. His share of the crops did little more than provide bare living expenses. " Do you own your farm ? " 6 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD " Own nothin' now," she said. " We have owned six different houses since we have been married." " AVhat did you do with them? " " Lost 'em." " How did you lose them? " Going back home to Poland to tell about " Christian America." " Lost 'em on a mortgage. How'd you think we'd lose 'em? " "Then what did you do? " " Moved. We've moved every year since we've Ijeen married." " How long has that been? " " Twenty-two years now. But it wasn't so much trouble, for we never had much to move." A¥ithin three hundred yards of this home were THE CHURCH A-NEIGHBORING 7 two good churches. The attendance at their ser- vices was large. Half of the two congregations drove past the house of this discouraged mother twice every Sunday. There were nearly two hun- dred young people in the two congregations. Big revival meetings were held every year. Both churches enjoyed singing. The strains of " There's Sunshine In My Soul " or " Brighten the Corner Where You Are " could be heard as far away as the home of the cropper's family. ' "Do the neighbors ever visit you?" I finally asked this mother. " Only one woman has been to see me since we've lived here. But you see we are mighty poor and sorry folks." In one of those two churches an officer, who was also the teacher of the adult Bible class, occasion- ally lent money to his poor neighbors. I heard him say once, " I have never in my life refused to- lend any one money, if I had it, provided he wanted to buy a home with it. I believe in helping people get a home of their own." " What rate of interest do you charge them? " I asked. " Twenty per cent," he said. " They are willing to pay me that much." Leaving the home of this poor tenant-farmer, I went across the road to a beautiful white house, one of the finest houses in the community. The father was away at court. The mother was sick in bed. Her little eight-year-old daughter was the only one caring for her. This community is noted 8 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD for its hospitality. Big dinners for company meant hospitality to them. They think they are neigh- borly. They would be much surprised to hear the words, " Ye visited me not." Jesus draws near to us in human needs, but often we do not see him. A Queer Visit. A group of young people in a small country church had a home mission study class. They attended regularly throughout the six sessions, finished the book, and then felt they had done their duty along this line until another year. The leader of the class soon after was prompted to call upon an aged .family where there was sickness. The sick husband appreciated the sympathetic call. Feeling that he had accom- plished his purpose, the young man started home. While untying his horse, he saw that weeds were spoiling the man's crop. He remembered how the sick man had told him that if he lost this crop it meant no income for another year. What should he do about that weedy field? Should he re- port it to the neighbors? Get a committee ap- pointed? He wished he hadn't taught that class on home missions. It made him feel guilty. Finally he unhitched his horse from the buggy and began cultivating the old man's weedy field. It saved the crop. According to the conversation between a certain lawyer and Jesus, this man who cultivated the sick man's field would rightfully be called " a neighbor." The Lodges. "The lodges are killing the churches in this section of the country," said an THE CHURCH A-NEIGHBORING 9 Indiana minister one day, explaining why his church was not growing. " But a man told me that the lodge was caring for one of your sick neighbors. Is that true? " " Yes. But the lodge has only selfish motives," replied the minister. " All they want is to get him to join their Order when he gets well." Would it not be quite right for our churches to get some new members in this same way? Jesus spent a large part of his ministry in the homes of the sick. Most pastors spend many hours of each week carrying cheer to the homes of the sick and discouraged. Some women's societies are organized into a visiting committee to help the pastor in this work. Visiting the sick is being a good neighbor. The Newcomers Hunting New People. " There's no use stopping at that house," said a minister as we were out mak- ing " pastoral calls." " Why not? Doesn't any one live there? " " Nobody but tenants," he replied. " They're newcomers in this neighborhood. I never call on them any more. It doesn't pay." Our two-horse team traveled rather slowly over those muddy Texas roads. We had plenty of time for conversation between " calls." "Why doesn't it pay to call on neiwcomers?" I asked my host. " By the time I get acquainted with them," he said, " and get them to attending church, their 10 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD lease expires and they move away. I haven't time to waste on them." Perhaps that Texas family stayed away from church for the same reason that the pastor gave for not calling on them. They did not want to " waste time," either. It is true, they might not have been worth as much to the church as permanent residents, but would not the church have been worth more to them than to any one else in the community? Many churches would. For many churches would have brought them friends and neighbors. Many churches make newcomers wish to become perma- nent residents. Many pastors are constantly look- ing up newcomers. Many neighbors see that new- comers are invited to church. Women invite them to missionary meetings and young people enlist their help. Moving Away from Church. " Where did you go to church this morning? " I asked an Ohio farmer one Sunday afternoon. " I haven't begun going since we moved here," he said apologetically. "How long have you lived on this farm?" " Nearly a year," he answered. " I really don't know whether we would be considered church members or not. Nineteen years ago, when we were married over at Big Orchard, my old home, I was an officer in our Presbyterian church there. My father owned a four-hundred-acre farm. He would have been glad to have me stay right there and work for him as long as he lived, but I didn't THE CHURCH A-NEIGHBORING 11 see it that way. I would rather be a renter on some one else's farm than a hired hand on my father's farm. Down in Springfield, where we moved, we attended the Methodist church, but we didn't join. We were only renting and I knew we would soon be moving away. We rented another farm and moved farther down the creek. There was another Methodist church there. They asked us to join. Wish we had, now. I always helped support the minister, and when they bought their new organ, I paid as much as any one. Well, we kept moving until now I have bought this farm. I suppose our ' church letters ' are no good any more. Do you know how we would go about joining now? I suppose we would need to go to the mourners' bench and be converted all over again, wouldn't we? " A million farmers in the United States move to new homes every year. What an opportunity the church has for serving them ! A million families of newcomers with whom the church can make friends ! A church in a village in Vermont — a state sup- posed to be made up of permanent residents — found that twenty-six per cent of the population in the parish changed in one year. There are even more newcomers in the large city than in the coun- try or the small village. No church member should complain of having " nothing to do in the church " while there are new people constantly moving into the neighborhood. "As the Home-Born." In the Old Testament 12 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD we read, " Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the sojourner, as for the home-born; for I am Jehovah, your God." In the New Testament are the words of our Lord, " Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me." The only woman in the Bible Religion grows in our hearts when we carry cheer to the aged. spoken of as a " great woman " was a Shunammite who received the title because of the way she treated strangers. Undoubtedly, it is our Christian duty to call on the newcomers. More than that, we are to treat them " as the home-born," that is, we should borrow from them and lend to them, care for them when they are sick, invite them to our social affairs, and see that they attend church. THE CHURCH A-NEIGHBORING 13 We must make them feel like " old residents," " old settlers," or " first families." In a suburban town near New York City is a church reputed to be cold and inhospitable. The members know how " outsiders " feel and are try- ing to overcome their unfortunate reputation. The pastor makes many calls on new people and in- vites them to church. Still they claim that the church is inhospitable. Every three months the members spend a Sunday afternoon making " church calls." Little comes of it. The officers of the church gather at the door each Sunday to have a few words with the people as they leave the building. Still the church is accounted un- sociable. Careful study made the people realize that every social organization in the town in which the members of this church predominate is an " exclusive " society. A woman's social club is made up largely of members of this church. The only way to become a member of this organization, or even to attend the regular meetings, is by special invitation. Its president announced, " We want the best ladies in our club." There is another social club composed principally of men and women from this church called the Harvard Club. The organization has no connection, either in history or ideals, with the great democratic university in Cambridge. The only way to become a member of this social club is by special invitation. Most of these invitations seem to have been extended to old residents. A Country Club is the recreational organization, but its annual dues are high enough 14 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD to prevent many new people from joining. Families who have recently moved into this suburban town feel that the exclusive clubs to which these church members belong are indications of the way the members really feel on Sunday. The church will probably continue to be thought of as " cold " j^:: 1 'u m JBg^^^aj Ifli Waiting in line to hear Dr. Jowett preach. The power of preaching is greater than ever. Community service is but an outward expression of the religious life. until the friendliness shown on Sunday is carried out in the socia week. Nczv Americans organizations throughout the He Hated America. " How did you like Amer- ica?" a student from the United States asked a man in a village of Poland. THE CHURCH A-NEIGHBORING IS " I hate your country," said the Pole who had recently returned to his native land after working six years in a Buffalo factory. " All you want of us in America is our musdle." Then with clenched fists and a revengeful spirit he repeated, " I hate America. I hate it." The young American was in Poland on a year's fellowship from his Board of Home Missions. He was trying to learn the attitude of the Polish people toward America, especially of those who had been in our country. So he began again. " Why did you stay in America if you hated the place so much? " Then followed the long story of how the indus- trious husband and father of five children had bought a little six-acre farm in Poland. On the farm was a two-roomed, thatched cottage which was to be the home of the family of seven. But money had to be borrowed to buy the home. The place was mortgaged. Interest rates were high. Hence, the six years of work in the Buffalo factory to pay off the mortgage on the farm back " in the old country." " When I went to America," said the returned laborer, holding out his trembling hands, " I was a strong man. Twelve hours a day, seven days a week, were spent in that factory, and I came home broken down in health. All they want of us in America is our muscle." Unable to dispute the statement, the young church worker began on another tack. " What did you think of our American churches?" 16 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD " They are all right. But I was never in one." " Never went to church once in America? " " No, sir; not once." "How did you like our American schools?" " They are all right. But I never was in one." "Never was in one of our schools! We have The church is being neighborly by establishing friendly insti- tutions such as Daily Vacation Bible Schools. Idle little lads appreciate them. the finest school system in the world. What did you think of our American homes? " " They are all right. But I never was in one." " Where were you? " " I was working. I ate at an eating-house. Slept in a bunk-house. Worked every day. No- body asked me to go into a church, a school, or a THE CHURCH A-NEIGHBORING 17 home. The people in America only wanted my muscle. They got it." Six years seems a long time to be without a single friend. But a man waited thirty-eight years by the pool of Bethesda without a friend — until Jesus came by. Our Lord is putting into the heart of his church to-day a spirit of friendliness for the thirteen million foreigners like this man from Po- land. Daily Vacation Bible Schools, Neighbor- hood Houses, kindergartens, clubs, English classes and Sunday services are the means which the churches are using to express a spirit of neighbor- liness to the foreign-speaking people in our coun- try. A Friend of Foreigners. A young woman, a graduate of Northwestern University, is minister- ing to the foreign-speaking population of a mining town in northern Michigan in the same spirit as was manifested by Jesus when he helped the friend- less man at the well-known pool in Jerusalem. The Rev. E. Fred Eastman thus described her work among the children of the miners: I found her in Caspian, Michigan, a village of a thousand souls. It was a poverty-stricken place, squatting among the hills whose once great pine forests had been reduced until now only the blackened stumps pointed upward against the horizon like witches' fingers, gaunt and thin. On the main street there is a little frame shack, about twenty by forty feet. 18 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD I learned that, two years before, this shack was a '■ blind pig," a place where liquor is secretly sold. The front of the building bore the words : NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE. As I opened the door, there issued the hum of more than a hundred children's voices. "What's this?" I asked, as I stood just in- side the door and saw a dozen groups'of foreign- looking children. " This is a Daily Vacation Bible School," said one of the older girls. " May I see it? " " Certainly." We went from one group to another. In one were some boys and girls making hammocks. Next in the little Neighborhood House was a group of girls making necklaces of beads; then a group of boys and girls making picture frames. " What pictures are you going to put in them? " I asked. "Jesus! " said a girl. " Lincoln ! " "Wilson!" "Hope!" My guide pointed to the walls where large pictures of Jesus, Washington, Lincoln, Wilson, and " Hope " smiled down upon the children. " The teacher has been telling them stories about the pictures," she explained. We climbed the stairway to the second floor and found other groups of children — and still w THE CHURCH A-NETGHBORING 19 20 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD no teacher. There was hardly a square yard of the entire building that was not in use. " Why don't the children run away, when the teacher is out? " I asked. " They could," said the girl, " but they don't want to. They like the school and they like the teacher." "But where is the teacher?" " She's next door," said the girl and led me to the adjoining building. It had once been a dance hall. The teacher had rented it to take care of the " overflow " from that little neighborhood house that was once " a blind pig." We found the teacher and a volunteer helper playing games with thirty or forty children of kindergarten age. In fact, the youngest was hardly more than two years old. "This is our teacher. Miss Helen Crawley," said my guide, and I looked into the keen gray eyes of a handsome girl of twenty-five or twenty- six, — the girl who had given herself completely to this work. "Do you mind answering a few questions?" I asked. " I shall be glad to," she said, and talked to me with one hand, as it were, and played with the children with the other. " What are you trying to do with all these children?" " I am trying, first of all, to be friends with them. Then, too, I want them to become Chris- tian citizens of America." THE CHURCH A-NEIGHBORING 21 "How many children are in this school?" " One hundred and eighty." "How many nationalities are represented?" " Nineteen." " Any Americans? " She laughed. " There are only six American children among three hundred and eighteen en- rolled in the pubHc school," she said. " How much does it cost to carry on this work?" " Last year it averaged forty-three cents for each child for the summer course." School was out now, and the one hundred and eighty children were going back to their homes. The teacher stood in the doorway and watched them. Then her eyes lifted to the hills beyond — desolate, chopped-over, burnt-over hills. I was on the point of saying something foolish about sacrifice when she exclaimed, "Isn't this a beautiful country!" Her face was full of enthusiasm. She really meant it. " Some day, when the iron ore is all out of these hills, don't you suppose the Government could make a great national park here?" She was projecting the beauty of her own soul upon the landscape. I could only agree that it was wonderful. " When I go back to New York," I said, " is there anything I can do for you? " " Oh, yes, if you will. Go to the church that is supporting this school and ask the officers to 22 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD please let me start some work among the Fin- nish women here. They need it desperately!" There are many things about which Jesus left us in doubt. But regarding the life of friendship for foreign families, which this young woman is living in her little mining town, our Lord spoke clearly. "I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me . . . Verily I say unto you. Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me ! " Home Missionaries A Community Worker. Seven miles from the railroad, seven miles from a grocery store, from a doctor, from a post-office, from everything but loneliness and need, is a little " settlement " in the heart of the Cumberland Mountains in Tennes- see. These isolated people needed a neighbor. They needed a neighbor who should be both help- ful and inspiring. The purpose of our boards of home missions is to furnish neighborliness to iso- lated and backward communities and peoples. Three years ago, a young Ohio school-teacher was sent to that little community. She was called a " home missionary." She began teaching school and practising " neighborliness." She not only visited the sick, she gave talks on health. She or- THE CHURCH A-NEIGHBORTNG 23 24 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD ganized canning-clubs so that the people could have vegetables and fruit all the year. She taught sew- ing and cooking. She, a slip of a girl from an Ohio village, even taught the boys how to use tools. She circulated a petition and secured rural free delivery of mail. She promoted a community fair. This backward, isolated community is now taking prizes at the county fair. Even farming has been improved by the versatile young woman. A good road has been built through the community. Of course she teaches the Bible on Sunday, in addi- tion to putting into practise its teachings during the week. Each of our great denominations employs at least a thousand home missionaries such as this young woman, who preach and practise Christian neighborhness in every isolated and handicapped community throughout our great land. In addi- tion to those who work under the appointment of a board of home missions, all of the young people of our churches, as well as the adults, during these important days, are making a new missionary ad- venture, the ministry of love and friendliness to those in our home communities who are in need, — the sick, the strange, the friendless. We share our lives with the Master in so far as we share our time and talents with another's need. " The Holy Supper is kept, indeed, In what we share with another's need; Not what we give, but what we share, — ' For the gift without the giver is bare; Who gives himself with his alms feeds three,— Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me." THE CHURCH A-NEIGHBORING 25 In these " impressive fragments of eternity called human days," in the factory or on the farm, in the kitchen or in the shop, in our churches and in our schools, we are meeting our Lord's brothers on every hand. They are all in need of neighbor- liness. CHAPTER II. HOME-MAKING, A CHRISTIAN CALLING Less House and More Home. Mother's Day. " Sometimes I feel like going out into the back yard and running around a tree. On the other side of the tree I would be out of sight of my housework for a little while, anyhow." The Indiana woman who gave vent to her feel- ings in these words is not different from many other wives and mothers. How many women have said, " Oh, if I could only have a little time for myself! " In other words, there is too much housework and not enough home. The church has recognized the sacrifice of mothers. The long day's work and the constant responsibilities have not passed unnoticed. One day in the year is set aside to do honor to Mother. A flower is worn for her. A sermon is preached in her honor. Why not have Mother's Day all the year? Why not let her wear the flower? A day's rest? A va- cation? Why not lighten some of the burdens that are taking the joy out of Mother's Hfe? Why not prevent suffering instead of praising sacrifice? " Next Sunday is Mother's Day," a pastor in 26 HOME-MAKING, A CHRISTIAN CALLING 27 Oklahoma once announced. " We must not for- get the sacrifices which our mothers are making. I will preach on the subject, and I think we should have dinner here at the church. Will all the wo- men prepare a basket dinner? All who favor this plan hold up their hands." All the men and chil- dren and one woman, the pastor's wife, voted for it and it was carried. The " mothers " spent their Saturday afternoon in the kitchen, and the next day in the church, caring for the children, " spreading the basket dinner " for their husbands, and listen- ing to a sermon about their sacrifices. Let us try to save Mother's time and strength instead of prais- ing it after it is gone. Length of the Work Day. For some time the church has been interested in the length of the working day of " women in industry." What about the working day of the twenty million mothers in the great industry of home-making? The church must be interested in anything that will save a mother's time and energy for the higher things of life. If every mother in a village or country home had running water in the house, the time saved each day would be ample for daily family worship. If mother had a motor-driven washing-machine which saved two hours a week, she could read a book each month instead of bending over wash- tubs. How many mothers have said, " I have given up my music," or "It seems that I don't have time to play any more." The labor-saving devices for the house, . either made or purchased, would 28 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD save enough time daily to allow leisure for music, reading, pictures, religion, and culture. Home- making is more important than housekeeping. Young people's groups, women's organizations, and men's classes often arrange lectures in the church for the benefit of the whole community. A lecture by a Home Economics worker from the State College on the subject " Saving Work in the Home " would be a worthwhile evening address. These state-lecturers come without cost, to help introduce labor-saving devices into homes. Why not have such a lecture in your church? A Vacation. A woman living on a ranch in Wyoming, telling how she longed to get away on a vacation, said, " We women stay at home until we get to hating ourselves and our home. Then we stay until we get to hating our neighbors. Finally, we say what we think ! " Some churches are providing an occasional vaca- tion from household duties for mothers. The meet- ings of the worhen's societies, the summer insti- tutes, the camping parties, the lecture courses, the Chatauquas, all bring restful periods of freedom from home responsibilities. Rev. M. B. McNutt, while pastor of a Presby- terian church in northern Illinois, built a new church-house in which he made provision for the mothers of small children. A room in the rear of the church was equipped with cots, cribs, and rock- ing-chairs, where babies and small children were cared for by a young women's class, so that the mothers could enjoy the church service. Many HOME-MAKING, A CHRISTIAN CALLING 29 30 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD Other churches have followed Mr. McNutt's ex- ample. A Mother's Room in a church costs less to build and equip than stained-glass windows or hand-carved chancels. And it encourages more true service. A young people's group in a Maryland church takes entire charge of the small children during all-day meetings at the church. Separate child- ren's tables are arranged at noon. Games are played on the lawn, while the program is being given in the church. Going to this church is a rest physically as well as a help spiritually. It pro- vides recreation in its true meaning — re-creation. The Husband's Share. So many of the inspir- ing meetings of women's groups benefit only wo- men. The men should share in the responsibility of bettering home conditions. A daughter in an Ohio farm home calculated that, in carrying water into the house for thirty years, her mother had walked as far as from Ohio to San Francisco and back, and had climbed Pike's Peak six times. What would you think of a man who would make his wife walk from Ohio to San Francisco and back, and climb Pike's Peak six times, all the while carrying a pail of water? Yet this man could have prevented all this for forty-two dollars, less money than it takes to buy a ticket one way to the Pacific Coast, to say nothing of the return fare, or trips up the cog-railway. There will be enough drudg- ery in housework even after all labor-saving ap- paratus has been installed. HOME-MAKING, A CHRISTIAN CALLING 31 ^ bo o.S b/}u2 53 ^ ts o u OJ O > < > 32 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD Women in the city usually have electricity, which provides power for many labor-saving de- vices. The running water in city homes makes work easier. Yet a woman's club, in a town in the suburbs of New York City, calculated that they walked, on an average, fourteen miles each day, doing housework and caring for their children. Nearly half of our American homes are in the coun- try and small villages, where it is more difficult to install labor-saving equipment. Nevertheless, farm women are rapidly securing such improve- ments. An average state, Missouri, was selected for the study of 645 representative farm homes in several counties. The survey was made by Home Economics workers of the Missouri State College of Agriculture. The result is here given : 645 farms surveyed. 407 farms operated by owners. 4 miles — average distance from town. 5 rooms — average size of house. 28 homes lighted by electricity. 27 homes lighted by gas. 401 had no indoor water supply. 385 women had to carry water from well. 62 had running water in the house. 135 had sinks with drain. 397 farm homes had outdoor closets. 5 had indoor chemical closets. 14 were equipped with indoor closet with out- door septic tank. 229 had no toilet accommodations at all — more than one-third. HOME-MAKING, A CHRISTIAN CALLING 33 37 homes had bath with running water. 21 homes were not screened. 335 had kitchen cabinets. 35 had fireless cookers. 78 had home-canning outfits. 17 had wheel-trays 13 had dumb-waiters to cellar. 381 had kerosene stoves. 253 had screened-in kitchen porches. 27 had gasoline irons. 13 had electric irons. 167 had carpet-sweepers. 100 had hand vacuum-cleaners. 5 had power cleaners. 419 had sewing machines. Perhaps a city woman could worry along with- out these conveniences, but how would she like to work as these women do? — 85 of these women began work at 4 a.m. in summer. 289 began at five in summer. 148 were at work at six in summer. The average Missouri farm woman gets one hour a day for recreation, although the survey does not show when this hour comes. 130 women did not have any time during the day for rest or recreation. Do not these facts suggest some things that young people can do to improve their own homes? These Missouri farmers, with their pure bred live stock, modern barns, improved and expensive machinery, are proud of their farm equipment. 34 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD The husband has improved machinery for his work on the farm. His wife should have improved machinery for her work. HOME-MAKING, A CHRISTIAN CALLING 35 Only gradually are they becoming interested in labor-saving machinery for the house. Let us not have another Mother's Day celebra- tion in our church until we have done something to lighten mother's burdens. Let us not wear another flower for her until we have given her an opportunity to express her own social instincts, her own spiritual aspirations. Your Home. The greatest thing in the world is a home. Not a hundred homes ; not a city block. Just one home. Your home. It once was believed that the highest form of Christian service demanded the giving up of home. Some thought that a girl must deny herself a home in order to do Christian work. Now we believe that the main entrance of the Kingdom of God to any community is through Christian homes. More important than the school, the club, the labor union, or even the church, is the home. The church's biggest task is in helping to make better Christian homes. How is this to be accomplished? Home-making requires time, strength, and a pur- pose. The home-maker needs courage and cooper- ation. Reading, pictures, music, religion, — all con- tribute their share to the higher life in the home. Music in the Home. Need of Music. The church; as an institution in the community, has the greatest opportunity to fill our hearts with a song and to fill every home with good mil sic. 36 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD Some modern homes are full of discord. The three-year-old has tantrums. The schoolgirl is often perplexed. The young people are unsettled. The day's driving work and worry bring the grown-ups to the day's end dissatisfied. The children must often be quieted. The rest- less youths and the weary aged alike need some- thing to gather together their longings, hopes, and fears. This is why we have music. From the day when the early Egyptians and As- syrians sang their bricks and mortar into place, through the years when our own Negroes light- ened the burdens of slavery with their character- istic melodies, music has soothed, charmed, and up- lifted. Whoever visited an army camp and was not impressed with the power of music to quiet the restless? General Wood says, "Music ihas no competitor in army life as a tonic for fatigue and depression." Martin Luther pointedly put music in its proper place when he said, " Music puts the devil to flight and renders men more cheerful." The school-teacher who begins the day with music finds discipline less burdensome. A restless con- gregation is united and quieted Sunday morning by the " opening hymn." Happy are those mothers who have substituted in their homes the occasional singing of bright, pretty songs or restful even- ing lullabies, for scolding and punishing. Happy are those homes where music has its place; where, around piano, organ, or victrola, family ties are hallowed by singing again and again those songs HOME-MAKING, A CHRISTIAN CALLING Z1 that never grow old. Music is our universal lan- guage, understood by all races and nations, and spoken first by God himself. Trashy Songs. Music, like some other divine gifts, has been put to unworthy uses. The church has an opportunity to redeem the music in our homes. To-day there are many worthless, even immoral, songs being written for commercial gain. Young people flock to buy the " the latest rags." Unscrupulous music writers take advantage of the craze. Some of the songs found on pianos in our best homes are a disgrace. It is better to sing those songs which have permanent value, the home and college songs, folk songs, and Southern melo- dies. How to Select Good Music. One way to tell good music is to select something that has stood the test of years. We are safe in selecting pieces that have won the approval of genuine music lovers. Many of the " latest songs " with blue covers, syncopated music, and extravagant words, suggest thoughts that are not wholesome. Hearing them makes us moody or unnaturally sentimental. We can be sure we have selected good music when it lifts us to a higher plane, — when it truly moves us. When Handel first gave his oratorio, the " Mes- siah," the entire audience, including the king, rose in a body during the " Hallelujah Chorus." So stirred were they by its beauty, majesty, and power, that no other expression seemed fitting. To watch a beautiful sunset, tO rest beside a bab- bling brook, to gaze into a moonlit sky. to look 38 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD upon a perfect flower, br to enjoy a happy family, lifts us a bit higher, makes us a bit better. Music that affects us in this way is good music. Good music has a theme. It " flows on." It has a melody and develops it. Poor music hops and skips along like a rabbit chased by a hunter and stops as suddenly. We all are striving to make our homes a bit of heaven on earth. Good music must be part and parcel of such a home. Church Music. As the Titanic was sinking, and many of the passengers were on the threshold of eternity, no one thought of asking the band to play "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder, I'll be There." No choir leader stepped forward, waving his hands and saying, " Let us get a little more pep into this music." The women did not sing the first verse, and the men try to out-do them on the second. We all remember what the band played on that occasion, — " Nearer, my God, to Thee." Fortunately, we are almost through with the " jazz " state in our church music. Twenty years ago it began deluging our churches. It had " pep " and " good swing," " vim," " snap," and " action." It went somethng like this: Oh, it's hop-skip-jump to Heaven ! Let me go ! Let me go ! Oh, it's hop-skip-jump to Heaven ! Let me go ! " This " circus " type of religious music began crowding out our hymnals. The beautiful songs HOME-MAKING, A CHRISTIAN CALLING 39 of Wesley, Watts, Handel, Luther, and Sullivan were relegated to the attic. A new song book was compiled every year, or oftener. A pastor in Maine has a collection of ninety-six such books. I looked through the index of one of the best of these books and found three songs beginning with " God," and thirty-nine beginning with " I." The firms pub- lishing these books exploited our deepest senti- ments. "Tell Mother I'll Be There" had more than five hundred imitators. The Hymnal. " A hymn is the worship of God in song." God is love, and beauty, and strength. We must use these forms in praising him. Hum to yourself such hymns as, " Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty ! Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee." "Joy to the world; the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King." " Savior, breathe an evening blessing, Ere repose our spirits seal." Sing to yourself that stirring Christian battle hymn, " Onward, Christian soldiers," with Arthur Sullivan's music, and catch the dignity and inspira- tion of it; or play the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's " Messiah " on your victrola, and catch the spirit of that music. We are safe in using our church hymnals, for in them our.best hymns have been collected. Nearly all churches are using church hymnals again. The church not only furnishes some of the best music for our homes, but by concerts, oratorios, and 40 SERVING THE NEIGHFORHOOD junior choirs, helps to teach the community to sing. We cannot eHminate cheap, sentimental music from our homes until we use only worshipful hymns in our churches. The beautiful songs of Wesley, Watts, Handel, Luther, and Sullivan help us best to worship God in song. This is the reason we sing them in our churches. The Bible inspires us to sing. The Old Testa- ment is full of praise to the Lord. The New Testa- ment tells of " a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ' Glory to God in the highest.' " The last book in the Bible tells of the singing of a great multitude " as the voice of many waters," saying, " Hallelujah : for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth." Reading in the Home. Need for Reading. The church has a unique opportunity to encourage reading in the home. Good reading gives a household the atmosphere of a home. It makes it an educational institution as well as merely a place to eat and sleep. By means of books we school the imagination and travel into forest, city, mountain, ocean, and air. We learn how other persons think and feel. In the seclusion of our home we enjoy the society of the world's greatest artists. We entertain them as guests. We learn from them as teachers. We fol- low them as examples. Good reading enriches every home. HOME-MAKING, A CHRISTIAN CALLING 41 Evening Story Hour. What would the evening story hour be if there were no books? " Between the dark and the daylight, When the night is beginning to lower. Comes a pause in the day's occupations, That is known as the Children's Hour." This is the hour for bed-time stories. We wish to teach kindness. We tell the fable of " The Wind and the Sun." We wish to stimulate imagination. We tell the story " Persephone," or " How the Robin's Breast became Red." Darkness comes on. We wish to show the children that the Heavenly Father is near, caring for them through the long watches of the night. We tell them the story of the Good Shepherd. No Books. We all have been in homes where there are only two or three books besides the big family Bible. Pages were tattered and covers were missing. They lay, covered with dust, on the lower shelf of the table. There was a queer book of prophecies with gaudy illustrations, pur- chased from a smooth-tongued book-agent. There was a hurriedly written biography of some promi- nent person which had been purchased from an- other insistent agent. No books in this home were being read. A House with Books. Then there is another type of home whose book-shelves are well filled with good and entertaining books. Evening comes. The young people are not seeking excuses to be away from home. The family is grouped around the big table, each with his own book or magazine. SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD Most village boys need more to do. Sitting around on fences is mild fun. Give them access to a church library and see what will happen. HOME-MAKING, A CHRISTIAN CALLING 43 John Fox, Jr., or Gene Stratton Porter are more interesting and far more helpful than the cheap moving-picture or the village " show." Sunday afternoon comes. Instead of time spent in empty gossip, genuine relaxation comes from reading Ralph Conner's Sky Pilot; Winston Churchill's The Inside of the Cup; or Booth and Hill's The Romance of the Salvation Army; or poems by Van Dyke or Longfellow. Books drive out pettiness. They make world-citizens out of backwoods folk. They give us something better to think about than ourselves. They broaden our ideas of service. They make us use- ful. We read How the Other Half Lives, by Jacob Riis, and we want to make our city a better place to live in. We read Up From Slavery, by Booker T. Washington, and we will always feel like giving the Negro an equal chance. We read Frank Higgins, Trail Blaser, by Thomas D. Whittles, and forever after we will have greater courage to stand up for the right. A Village Library. In a certain Kentucky town there are five churches. The chief emphasis of four of these is either "emotionalism " or " sectarian- ism." For some time the younger members of the fifth church had been very desirous that their church should render effective service to the entire village. They rented an unoccupied build- ing in about the center of the town and started a community library. Books and magazines were gathered and a librarian was employed. The traveling libraries, which are provided without cost by the State College and by the State Library, 44 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD were used. To arouse interest in the new library, community meetings, dealing with such subjects as Health, Cooperation, Schools, Roads, and Re- creation, were held in the building every month. The spirit of cooperation which this library helped to develop has since made a " Good Roads " move- ment possible and has been responsible for a new consolidated High School building. Churches in communities having a considerable foreign-speaking, non-Protestant population often find it difficult to be of service to these New Ameri- cans. In such cases, the churches would do well to see that a library is available for the children of foreign families. A Church Library. Getting good books into homes and getting them read is the important thing. Church libraries can help in this. Van Zandt County is in one of the m'ost isolated sections of Texas. In that county there is a small country church thirteen miles from the railroad. The roads from this parish to the outside world are almost impassable. It is hardly to be expected that such an isolated church should render service to the community except Sunday morning preach- ing services. Indeed, these isolated parishes need help more than any others, and the church is the only organization there to render such service. Yet this lonely Texas country church started a library with ten books. The number has since grown to five hundred. Having a library has de- veloped the habit of reading at home. Such efforts are being duplicated in many churches. HOME-MAKING, A CHRISTIAN CALLING 45 Religion in the Home. Where Religion Grows. A man in Idaho re- marked rather prosaically, " When I was first mar- ried, I spent a lot of time telling my wife how much I loved her. Now I help her wash the dishes." The home must be, first of all, a place in which to cultivate and practise Christian attributes, such as loyalty, justice, and brotherhood. He who- wishes to see his Lord face to face must look for him not in " the empty firmament of his own brain " but in the confines of his own home, where Christian virtues are daily practised. Statisticians tells us that, in our rural regions, three women to every two men are members of the church ; and that, in our cities, over twice as many women as men are affiliated with the church. They ask why fewer men are members of our city churches than of our country churches. In those communities where a man is kept out of his home most of the day, as in the city, or more es- pecially in surburban towns, we find men having less natural inclination to religious life. People enlist in the service of religious living at the church, but the home is the training camp. If they lack the home association, religion suffers. Men who see little of their homes usually have the least religion. How Religion Grows. In a religious home, " brotherhood " is practised. The " maid," the 46 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD " hired hand," or the foreign-born employee is not treated as a commodity, or as a machine to be hired, worn out, and sold. Brotherhood seeks to discover the best in our employees and to de- velop it. In a religious home, justice may be found. An employer in such a home will not ofifer charity to those whom he has refused justice. Let him first be just and then charitable. Unselfish service is the corner-stone of home- building. The mother who spends her day for her children finds it easier to be religious than a man who is away from home all the time. Our churches are never crowded by people who do not live in homes. Churches in the city languish and disap- pear if they are located in neighborhoods where both parents spend their day out of the home, whether for economic or social reasons. Cooperation is more quickly learned in a home than it is in a labor union, a lodge, or a fraternity. The wife who asks for money each times she goes to market may have a husband who is loud in preaching Christian virtues but he practises faintly. Cooperation between husband and wife, between parents and children, is found in Chris- tian homes. A recent play, called "The Poor Little Rich Girl," showed the handicaps of the chil- dren of wealthy city homes to be greater than those in homes of the poor; for in many beautiful homes, children did not have the companionship of their parents. The homely Httle poem, " My Dad," indicates a cooperative home: HOME-MAKING, A CHRISTIAN CALLING 47 " My Dad knows everything, I guess ; I beat him, though, most times at chess. He smiles at Mother when we're clone; You'd think that it was he who won. It's fun to play just anything With Dad. He spells my hard words when I write, He builds me just a dandy kite, And he can throw me up so high ! I'm going to learn a lot, and try When I grow up to be just like My Dad." An Ohio farm boy had some pigeons for pets. His father, in a fit of anger, shot them all one day. The next day the boy ran away from home. A boy in a wealthy section of New York City once said, " Sister and I always eat by ourselves. I wish we could eat with Mother." The parents in these two homes are missing much. A young woman who allows her mother to do the Sunday work while she hurries off to lead a Christian En- deavor meeting is a make-believe Christian. If religion isn't practised at home, the preaching of it away from home will have no more effect than the mumbling words of an ignorant priest in the hills of Tibet, as he turns his magic wheel and mutters his empty prayers. Family Religion. In Christian homes, where unselfish service, cooperation, loyalty, and fair play are found, it will be easy and natural for families to begin the day with " family worship," and to commit the children at nightfall to the lov- ing care of the Heavenly Father, who smiles con- stantly on every Christian home. CHAPTER III THE NEW HEALTH CRUSADE A Growing Interest Health Instead of Disease. We are just enter- ing upon a new health crusade, and it is time. We have become so accustomed to being sick that when friends meet, the first topic of conversation is their ailments. " How are you? " " I'm feeling better, thank you," and other com- mon salutations show how accustomed we have become to sickness. The old woman who said in response to a friend's greeting, " I'm enjoying poor health, thank you," typifies how resigned many of us are to being sick. We are now talking health instead of disease, prevention instead of cure. Baby clinics, regular physical examinations in the schools, a community nurse, health talks at the church, recreation parks, fresh-air camps, annual clean-up days, and vaca- tions, — all have a part in the New Health Crusade. The Church's Part. Our greatest reforms had their beginnings in the church. Philanthropy, higher education, prohibition, are all results of the church's teaching and preaching. Likewise, to the 48 THE NEW HEALTH CRUSADE 49 church is given the opportunity of leadership in the New Health Crusade. " Why can't the State do this? " It can, but it won't, until some other .agency prepares the way. The Church leads. The State follows. The Church creates public sentiment. The State obeys public sentiment. The Church teaches right living. The State punishes crime. The Church is preventive. The State is corrective. The Church is interested in life. The State is in- terested in money. Conscience guides the Church. Income directs the State's activities. Health is a concern of life more than of money. The Church is interested in babies and children, in healthy and happy homes. The State is interested in hogs, canals, markets, and banks. The State is mor(; interested in saving hogs than children. In 1920, the Federal Government appropriated $280,000 for the work of the National Children's Bureau. In 1919, the national appropriation for the eradication of hog cholera was $446,000. Nearly twice as much spent on hog cholera as on the eradication of all children's diseases. The government spent nearly three times as much to eradicate cattle ticks as was given to the Children's Bureau. The sum of $500,000 was spent by the national government in one year to do away with tuberculosis. Fine. But it was spent by the Bureau of Animal Hus- bandry. It was for the prevention of tuberculosis in animals, not in people. One million dollars spent on " the foot and mouth disease " of ani- mals in one year by our national legislature, and 50 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD Wide-awake women in tlie rural districts are learning how to keep their families well by the use of proper food. The study of Home Economics in schools will make us a healthier nation. THE NEW HEALTH CRUSADE 51 one-fourth of that amount spent on twenty-five million children! The appropriation of $4,211,000 to the Bureau of Animal Husbandry and $280,000 to the Children's Bureau is evidence that health must, for some time to come, be a concern of the church. Even county officers do not appropriate county funds for health purposes until some institution has created a favorable sentiment. In an eastern state, it was with great difficulty that a county appropria- tion of $300 was procured to help pay a school nurse. During the same year, when this " fight " was made to get the nurse, there was being spent in that county $50,000 for the eradication of " the foot and mouth disease " among animals. Not all churches have become interested in the subject of health. An officer in a certain church was arrested by the civil authorities. " Selling im- pure and adulterated milk " was the charge. He was convicted and fined. During the court proceedings, he became very angry and used profane language. The other of- ficers of his church were much ashamed of his pro- fanity. They brought him to trial. The charge was " Using profane language in public." No one in the church, apparently, had thought of bringing him to a church trial for selling impure milk. Within a month after the account of this trial appeared in print, the bacteriologist of one of our thirty largest cities issued a report which in- cluded the following statements : " Only 38.8 per cent of the pasteurized and 27 52 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD per cent of the raw milk sold in this city, during 1919, was fit for human consumption. It endan- gered the health of those consumers." " Twenty-eight milk dealers consistently vio- lated sanitary milk laws in more than twenty per cent of the milk they sold." This city bacteriologist examined more than 1200 samples of milk during 1919, the year on which he reported. Is nealth a moral question? Is injuring the health or taking the lives of babies as just a cause for bringing a man to a church trial as using pro- fanity? A new pastor went into a neglected mining town. His first sight was a lonely funeral pro- cession. Two men, a woman, and a boy were carrying a home-made coffin over the hill for burial. With a loving and sympathetic heart this pastor accompanied the sorrowing family. He spoke words of comfort and cheer as the sorrow- ing ones buried their dead. There was no cemetery in that community. Each family selected its own burial site " over the hill." The new pastor organized a Cemetery Asso- ciation and reported this as his principal commu- nity service in his parish that year. Within a mile and a half of his church, out of a population of 2000 people, more than a hundred died of typhoid fever in twelve months, because of using water from an impure well. There was need of the new cemetery. Is a church's responsibility met when the be- THE NEW HEALTH CRUSADE 53 reaved ones are comforted and the dead are buried? In this mining camp, the homes of the miners were built on the side of a hill. In the basin below was a village-well from which all drank. When death comes as a result of carelessness of one individual or the fault of another, or of the community, have we a right to place the burden of the responsibility upon God? Are we unload- ing our responsibility upon God when we say, in the burial service, " For as much as it has pleased Almighty God to take out of this world the de- ceased." Do you think it does please Almighty God? Is not the cause of many a death our own ignorance and carelessness? Churches are Leading. In a great many com- munities, the churches are cooperating in a health program. In Northfield, Minnesota, all the churches are organized in a relief committee. Funds are gathered each Thanksgiving Day. In addition, each church makes an appropriation from its budget for health work. Volunteer nurses care for many cases of sickness. Trained nurses are employed for more serious cases. Proper bedding, clothing, and food are provided for the sick. A visiting nurse is employed regularly by the churches, and baby clinics are held. A Woman's Rest Room has been provided. A church at Roosevelt, Oklahoma, has the fol- lowing health activities in its year's program : 1. Community Clean-Up Day. 2. A house-fly campaign. S4 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD 3. Arranging for a depot to supply poorly npur- ished babies with proper milk. 4. The employing of a visiting nurse. 5. The establishing of a day-nursery. 6. A " better baby " campaign, including a cHnic at the church. 7. The building of a sanitary, out-of-door toilet. 8. Turning the church into a hospital during an epidemic. 9. Establishing a home-nursing class among a group of church women. 10. Giving health talks at the church. 11. Seeing that the church is properly ven- tilated. Baby Clinics A Negro Nurse. A public health nurse, working among the colored people of an important southern city, said that more than half ,of the babies born into Negro homes in her city died before they were one year old. Did God take them out of the world? No, it was the ignorance of their parents that sent them out. Bad Luck. "How many children have you?" I asked my hostess in a home in the Cumberland Mountains. " Five girls and eight boys," was her reply. " Nice large family," I remarked, as her husband came to show me to my room for the night. He apologized for the room because there was a small pane of glass broken out of the window. " I hope you won't catch cold in the night," he THE NEW HEALTH CRUSADE SS J3 O o „ (V ai O u O ,H o o U 86 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD twenty-nine years, we have had a meeting of our Farmers' Club," was the statement of the president of that organization. Each of the eighteen mem- bers carried on some experiment during the year. Every year and a half, when he " entertained " the club, they discussed his methods of farming and examined and commented on his experiment. Teachers from the State College of Agriculture often attended these meetings and spoke on some phase of scientific agriculture. This type of recreational life has taught this community cooperation. They have a milk con- densery and a corn and tomato cannery in the community, all of which has been made possible by cooperation. The result is that the 3aeld per acre from their farms is much increased. The Farmers' Club, the Grange, and the Farmers' In- stitute help to give them better incomes. The roads, schools, churches, and homes all show re- sults of the prosperity of the neighborhood. The recreational life of the community teaches cooperation, which not only brings financial pros- perity but educational betterment. During vaca- tion months, this open country church has fifteen school-teachers in its congregation. This community has never had any sectarian troubles. The people were used to playing to- gether. They all could worship together. When over-enthusiastic members of other denominations sought to locate another church in their parish, this church successfully objected. They all want to be in one church. And they are. Four hundred and EDUCATION THROUGH PLAY 87 eighteen members in one open country church! I counted seventy-one carriages and forty-one auto- mobiles at one preaching service. Brotherhood New Situations. It has become necessary for some institution to teach Brotherhood. In our household, we buy our meat from a German, our groceries from an Austrian, our vegetables from a Jew. Our ice-man is a Negro, our garbage-man a Pole, our laundry-man a Chinese, our tailor a Rus- sian. A man from England painted our house and a man from Borneo fixed our cellar. I listened for an hour, one Sunday afternoon, while an officer in a Long Island church told me of his ancestry. His grandmother started the first Sunday-school in that section of the country, and his family had been pillars of that church ever since. I spoke of this to another old resident, who said, " His family are newcomers compared with mine." Then he told me how long his family had lived there and how long they had supported the church. These two men had been asked by some Russians to sell a building to be used as a church. The two Americans objected and asked four times their usual price. " We don't want any foreigners meeting right beside our church on Sunday morn- ing," they said. Some one must teach us all Brotherhood. The pageants provided by our various boards of home missions teach us right attitudes toward our New Americans. Once or twice a year, or even 88 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD oftener, every young people's group should give one of these pageants. Christianity in Action. Another Long Island church was confronted by the same question, — how to treat " foreigners " in the neighborhood. A social hall was built, called the Matinecock Neigh- borhood House. Here old residents and new- comers, old-stock Americans and new immigrants, rich and poor, meet together for their good times. A partial report of the attendance for one month in this Neighborhood House follows: 511 attended religious meetings held in the building 520 attended motion-picture shows 419 attended games 623 attended home-talent plays (two perform- ances) , 136 attended boys' and girls' clubs 55 did Red Cross work 318 attended community assemblies (lecture course) 128 attended a " father and son " banquet 2,710 total. This church, at Locust Valley, Long Island, is practising Brotherhood. Another church, in a city of New York State, a church that moved to a fash- ionable, out-lying section to get away from foreign- speaking people, missed a good chance to practise friendliness. When the Italians finally moved into EDUCATION THROUGH PLAY 90 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD the suburban section close beside the church, the members, not wishing to move again, built a wall around the church. Finally, the young people in the section organized a " Friendship Club." Indi- vidually, they undertook to make friends with neighboring Italians. Many opportunities are now coming: to this church to serve its neighborhood, because of the spirit of brotherhood shown by these 3^oung people. The president of the young people's society, as a result of being neighborly with the Italians two blocks away, finds himself preparing to give his life to missionary service in India. Foreign Missions is Brotherhood exported. Brotherhood begins at home. Loyalty Help the Pastor. Through social life, the church can increase the spirit of loyalty to the com- munity, the church, the nation. By observing the national holidays with fitting patriotic entertain- ments, we engender a spirit of love for our country. A church with a social ' program develops a church consciousness. Each member has some- thing to do. They do not all " sit back and watch the minister." One person must assume the re- sponsibility for the Boy Scouts. Another must take care of a girls' organization. A small com- mittee must shoulder the burdens of a lecture course. Some one will be needed to run the stereopticon or motion-picture machine. A half- dozen teachers will be necessary for the midwinter EDUCATION THROUGH PLAY 91 " School of Missions." Pageants, home talent plays, health talks, open forums, all need laymen who will take responsibility. A church organiza- tion is not a " group of pious people in one end of the auditorium on a Sunday morning with a pastor in the other end." It is a regiment of Christians in service, led by a pastor. There are 257 officers in one army regiment of 1000 men. You often hear of a church of a thou- sand members that must discontinue all its activi- ties because its pastor has a cold. Did you ever hear of a company that couldn't fight because the captain had the "sniffles?" Laymen, of all ages, must take the responsibility for the recreation which the church furnishes to the community. One binder has 3300 parts, but they all fit together and do their work of harvesting the grain. So must the members of a church work with the pastor in the year's program of social activities. Young People Leading. Calhan, Colorado, is a little village of about four hundred souls. The pastor recently described the social efforts of the small village church thus: " I undertook to put on a community program for the winter, seven days in the week, working through my young people. We took for our motto, ' The Church Serving the Com- munity Seven Days in the Week.' We bought furniture and furnished a library and club-room in the church. The furniture cost about seventy- five dollars. We have over a hundred books in the library and about twenty-five different current magazines and periodicals coming to the library 92 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD table. We have carrom and checker-boards for the boys. In the basement of the church we are fitting up a gymnasium as best we can, with what we already have. " One night in the week is reserved for girls and women only, when a woman has charge, and the Playing together in youth means working together and wor- shiping together, in days and years to come. High School girls are given the benefit of the gym- nasium and reading-room. " You will ask ' do they come? ' We have been open six weeks now. The first week io8 were present; the second week 145, and the average for the last four weeks has been over 100. Men and boys are leaving the pool-rooms and are coming not only to the club room, but to church and Sun- EDUCATION THROUGH PLAY 93 day-school. If what we are doing proves profit- able, it will be only our beginning! " A World Outlook "Left Behind!" When the boys came down from a certain isolated and secluded section in the Ozark Mountains to start on their way to do their bit in the World War, their parents, of course, came with them. A mother, the wife of a minister, tried to comfort these heart-broken mothers from the mountains. Finally, overcoming for a moment her dazed sorrow, one mountain woman expressed what was in all of their hearts: " It ain't the same for you mothers that's been somewheres; your thoughts can go with your boys, but our boys knows, and we-all knows, that we is left behind." " Left behind! " The sorrow of being " left be- hind " physically cannot be compared with the distress of being " left behind " mentally or spiritually. The tragedy of intellectual separation in homes! There are three thousand counties in the United States and about thirty communities in each county, and in every one there are people being left behind by other members of their family or by their neighbors. The church can bring to them world vision, men- tal stimulus, intellectual interests. It can help to keep them from " settling down." Some of them " settle down " so low ! A doctor who has only one remedy is a quack. 94 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD A person who has only one narrow interest, no out- side vision, soon becomes a " quack " also. "What can the church do?" It can provide a lecture course in the winter or a Chautauqua in the summer. It can provide a library or promote a reading-circle.^ It can bring in speakers from the " outside world." It can bring the " outside world " in, by help of illustrated talks. It can stir the stagnant pools where our currents of thought have stopped. The Women's Missionary Societies have been the most efficient organizations in the church in bringing the outside world into every hamlet and neighborhood in our land. The people who miss this intellectual stimulus most are not the young men; they can go else- where. It is the mothers and the grown daugh- ters. The sensitive, refined nature of many a young woman in her home community is calling plaintively for relief from the monotonous life by which she is surrounded. The lines of Mary A. Townsend express this yearning: " I am tired ! — so tired of rigid duty, So tired of all my tired hands find to do ! I yearn, I faint, for some of life's free beauty. Its loose beads with no straight thread running through. "Ay, laugh, if laugh you will at my crude speech, But women sometimes die of such a greed, — Die for the small joys held beyond their reach. And the assurance they have all they need." A Big Program. A church that undertakes, through its social life, to teach Cooperation, Brotherhood, Self-Expression, Loyalty, and to EDUCATION THROUGH PLAY 95 bring to its community a World Outlook, will be serving its neighborhood. Harmful amusements will be driven out by helpful ones. The more abundant life which Jesus came to bring will be realized. CHAPTER V COMMUNITY CIVICS Better Roads About a mile north of town, a man with a load of lumber was stuck on the side of a hill. He piled ofif all his load except two tiers of boards, but still his span of mules, regardless of his use of profane language and a big whip, could not get up that hill because of the roads. " What time do you think you will get to town? " I asked. " I 'low I'll get there about sun-down, the rate I'm goin," he said. It was about sun-up then. " What part of the band do you play and where are you goin'? " he inquired. I told him I was going to speak at an all-day meeting the next day at a church about seven miles up the road. " What are you goin' to talk about? " " Good Roads." " I reckon I better come over and hear you." " Come along." There was not a foot of improved roads in that mountain country. Not a road that was ditched at the side and graded in the center. 96 COMMUNITY CIVICS 97 We had our meeting the next day at the little mountain church and discussed good roads and neighborhood improvements. I talked for an hour, describing the handicaps of bad roads, of being unable to haul the crops to market during the wet weather, of the barriers which bad roads made be- tween children and the school, between families and the church, between farmers and the town. Finally, the audience was asked the discuss the question. No one said a word. At last I began calling on the men individually. " Mr. Lewis, will you please stand up, sir, and tell us what you think of this road question? " " I'd rather not discuss it," he said. " The ques- tion of roads is a very delicate subject," and he sat down. "Then every one should be interested in it. Will you please get up, Mr. Newton, and tell us if you beUeve in good roads? " Mr. Newton arose. " We have voted on bonds for good roads three different times and lost every time. I'd rather let some one older 'an me speak." " Grandpa Winthrop, you're old enough." He was eighty-one. " You tell us whether or not you believe in good roads." He arose and spoke in his slow, deliberate man- ner. " I could tell you a thing or two, but I won't." And he sat down. Back by the door sat Sam Bandy. I knew he believed in building better roads, for he had told me so. I called on him as a last resort, but even from him I got no satisfaction whatever. 98 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD " I'm not a member of the church," he said, " but my wife is, so I'll let her speak." This closed the discussion on the men's side of the house. A¥e tried the women next and with better success. One said she thought we should have better roads because the children had diffi- Bafl roads tell their own story. "The)- seem to say that schools, churehes, and eonniiunity life also are in need of im- provement. culty in getting to school. Finally, an elderly woman arose and said : " I think we should have better roads, and if you're going to build them anywhere, I think you should start down by the mill." " Do you live down there? " " Yes, sir, that's where I live." COMMUNITY CIVICS 99 Several others thought the road improvement should be begun in their part of the community. It was finally decided that really building good roads vi'as better than simply talking about it, and that the place to begin was at the church, and from there to work out in all directions. Thirty-six men agreed to work for three days with teams, plows, and wagons. A little later a nine-day road cam- paign was arranged. A good bridge was built across the creek beside which lived the old woman who spoke in the meeting. Adjoining neighbor- hoods became interested. About eighteen hun- dred days of volunteer work was the total result of this meeting at the little church. The agitation for good roads spread throughout the county. The county court has since arranged for the building of a good road from this church to the county-seat. In addition, federal aid has been granted to the amount of $100,000 for the building of a good road across the county. These sudden waves of improvement are not fairy tales. The change in the attitude of the people toward good roads was not miraculous. They had voted for good roads three times and lost every time. They were discouraged to the point where they were afraid to speak publicly on the question. Their hopes had been defeated so often that their desires were narrowed down to thinking only of improvements in front of their own homes. There are many communities like this one, wait- ing for the inspiration and leadership of the church. 100 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD Many needed improvements, which are supposed to be within the province of the state, are waiting in every neighborhood, city or rural, for some local institution such as the church to take the initiative. The church can well afford to be an agitator for all kinds of neighborhood improvements. Better Schools Consolidation of Rural Schools. " Uncle John " and " Aunt Sade," with other Quaker families, settled in " Clear Creek Community " in Putnam County, Illinois. Religion among Quakers is a week-day practise as well as a Sunday principle. When a Quaker has a barn burn, a horse die, sick- ness in the family, or any mishap, the neighbors get together quickly and supply the needs of their un- fortunate Friend. This everyday type of religion binds them closely together and creates a fine community spirit. " Quaker Lane," where " Uncle John " lived, was one of these ideal Quaker settlements. The " Meeting House " was largely attended. So was the school. As many as eighty or ninety pupils went to the district school in the winter months. Two " Literaries," a Debating Society, and a Dra- matic Club flourished. But the time came, as it does in all communities, when a higher education was demanded. This meant sending the children to the town school, not to return to the country to live; or it meant, in many cases, families moving to town and renting their farms. It resulted in " run-down farms " and COMMUNITY CIVICS 101 < (U c be QJ rt 4Ij wi > CU > -O rt <\J b o — o H a 102 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD " run-down churches." The school enrollment de- creased from eighty to twenty. The " Literaries, Dramatic Club, and Debating Society dwindled and died. It was at this time that the question of consoli- dating the small district schools into one efificient school came up for discussion. The usual objec- tions were raised; increased taxes, poor roads for transporting the children, the location of the new building, and the dislike for any entirely new sys- tem. Nevertheless, the progressive element won out, and the three district schools were consoli- dated. The new building has four class-rooms, two laboratories, a library, a manual-training shop, a kitchen, and a gymnasium. The five teachers live in the new " teacherage." The school is called " The John Swaney Consolidated School," because " Uncle John " and " Aunt Sade " presented the twenty-four acres of beautifully wooded land for the campus. " Uncle John " is the proudest citizen in the neighborhood when he attends a stock-judging contest at the school, or sees the boys at work on the little experiment-patch or school garden. The literary societies have revived. Athletic teams again defend the honor of the local community. The young men and women, when they finish the high school course out there in the country, gen- erally want to go away to school, as before, but this time they go to an agricultural college and come back to " Clear Creek Community " to live on the COMMUNITY CIVICS 103 farms of " Quaker Lane " and to raise their fami- lies in this, their little republic, which is governed and inspired by the teachings of the gospel at the " Meeting House." The idea of consolidating rural schools began at Concord, Massachusetts, in 1869. Three fourths of that state has adopted the plan now. Ohio fol- lowed the example of Massachusetts. Indiana is often spoken of as having the greatest success in consolidating her schools. Nebraska, Oklahoma, and other mid-western states are making rapid progress in consolidation. Gradually, this system will be adopted throughout our land, and the coun- try boy and the country girl will be given school advantages equal to the children of the city. Our best young people will be kept in the country. That will mean strong country churches and a sat- isfactory country life. The church creates the sentiment which makes this possible. More Teachers Needed. " New York City is located at the mouth of the Amazon River." " The Strait of Gibraltar is an insurance com- pany." " President Roosevelt divorced President Taft." " The Mexican War was caused by the sinking of the battleship Maine." " The bones are held together at the joints by a sort of glue." " The food is digested in the stomach by means of the gymnastic juice." These were among the answers given in a teachers' examination in a Southern Appalachian 104 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD state and indicate the need there for better edu- cated teachers. The Woman's Boards of Home Missions are meeting this need. One hundred and fifty train- ing schools are maintained in these southern mountains by the consecrated women of our The 23,000,000 school children in our country will soon be coming forward to take their places as citizens. Are we wise enough to give them well-prepared and well-paid teachers, ade- quate buildmgs and equipment, and sympathetic interest? home missionary societies. One of these schools, supported by the women of one denomination, has prepared over six liundred teachers for isolated mountain communities. The public school teachers in the mountain sections are largely trained in schools operated by the women of the churches of COMMUNITY CIVICS 105 ( America. One school for colored students, sup- ported by a mission board, has an enrolment of six hundred students, of whom over four hundred are preparing to become teachers. Five hundred such mission schools are supported by all denomi- nations among the Negro people of the southland. Now^ a new school problem presents itself. Due to the unsettled economic conditions in our country since the war, we are face to face with a great shortage of teachers for the public schools. Young men and women, to the number of 45,000, must be enlisted as teachers at once. Governors have issued proclamations setting aside a week to be known as " Teachers' Week." State Superintendents of Public Instruction have issued alarming appeals for new teachers, in order that our educational system be not hampered. With all the weaknesses the church may have, and it has plenty of critics on the " side lines," it is the one institution that can enlist life. Medical associations can meet and discuss needs, but the church sends out medical missionaries. Professors of social economy discuss housing and health, but the church sends out deaconesses and community workers. The church changes a " problem " into a " missionary." In order to meet the present extraordinary crisis in the teaching profession, some pastors in their sermons are showing our responsibility to our pub- lic schools. Young people's societies are acknowl- edging the service .teachers render to the commu- nity, by receptions to the local teachers and by life- 106 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD work meetings at which teaching is discussed. Men's groups and women's groups are discussing teachers' salaries. Twenty-three million school children in America are looking to the graduating classes of our high schools, colleges, and normal schools for properly prepared teachers. The war on illiteracy is a moral question and a concern of the church. Secretary Lane has said, " The public educational system is the bulwark of the democ- racy." McKinley, Garfield, Taft, Wilson, and Pershing came from the teaching profession. Frances Wil- lard and Jane Addams were teachers. The best- prepared young men and women of to-day are greatly needed to guide the children of our public schools into intelligent and loyal citizenship. Hot Lunches at School. It was Friday. For the fifth time the thin, white-faced boy slowly opened his lunch-box. For five days I had watched him take out the same inevitable piece of lemon pie. It was not something wholesome' which his mother might have made for him with eggs and sugar in it, but a pale, wedge-shaped piece of dough, bear- ing unmistakably the trade-mark of the corner bakery — and under the pie was the pickle ! " Andy," I ventured, a little fearfully lest I frighten him. He scarcely ever spoke, this little boy, and when any one approached him, he drew away. He would watch the other children at their work, even listen, apparently, to their recitations, but when any one questioned him, his head dropped and no response would come. Stupid, one COMMUNITY CIVICS 107 Education and morals are close kin. The church is interested in good schools. A hod-carrier now is paid more than the average school-teacher. Let's raise her salary. She is doing bigger things for the future. 108 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD of the teachers had called him. I must go slowly. " Andy, wouldn't you like some of my bread and butter? " Andy shook his head. "Or an apple?" Again the head moved, but I brought them both, nevertheless, and the way he stretched out his two eager, thin hands was pitiful to see. In a moment more the bread had disappeared, but he fondled the apple — prolonging the anticipation. .All at once I understood. Andy wasn't stupid — his little body was hungry ! There are others like him, hundreds of them. There are thousands of growing boys and girls, working men and women, to whom every effort is a burden, to whom the rewardof efficient accom- plishment never comes. Each one of this army carries a lunch-box. Is it too much to say that per- haps the fault lies in that box? Without proper food one cannot work, and the ones who carry the lunch-box are always the workers. This story of Andy, given in TJic Ladies' World, can be duplicated many times. Oven ten thousand children were examined in the Chicago schools by medical inspectors. Over ten per cent were found to be suffering from malnutrition. In addition to the children of Chicago, and of other Illinois cities, there are 250,000; rural school cMldren in that state who carry a cold lunch to school.' The same condi- tion is true in other states. The' solution is the " Hot School Lunch." But somebody or some group in the community must start the plan. In many communities, the COMMUNITY CIVICS 109 church is the only agency that has regular times of meeting for adults. Most churches, however small, have at least a monthly mid-week meeting of women. At one of these meetings the food and health of the school children might well be dis- cussed. The " hot lunch at school " — that is, the serving of at least one hot dish — will be responsible for greater resistance to disease, greater physical development, and less need of discipline. In some schools there have been sixty per cent fewer fail- ures after the hot lunch was estabhshed. It will be easy for this group of parents, after discussing this plan, to interest the pupils and the teachers. Religion in the Public Schools. There was a time in New England when a man could not vote unless he was a church member. Then came the " separation of church and state." In " civil things " all agree to obey the ordinances of the majority. The law-breaker who disobeys the law, or the anarchist who tries to upset the law, is quickly punished. Thus the solidarity of the state is guaranteed. At the time of the " separation of church and state," religious liberty was guaranteed by national and state constitutions. There is no " majority rule " in religious beliefs. The minority simply organize another sect. In order to maintain the solidarity of the state and of all state agencies,»and not to infringe upon the religious liberties of any, great care has been taken by state officials to keep sectarian differences out of the public schools. " Instruction relating to 110 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD religious questions on which there may be a dif- ference of opinion " is the definition usually given to sectarian instruction. Reading the Bible in schools has been construed as " sectarian instruc- tion " in three fourths of the states. In less than a dozen states is the Bible opened in public schools to-day. This is humiliating for the church and un- fortunate for the pupils. However, this knotty problem is being solved in eight states,— Colorado, North Dakota, Missouri, Oregon, Utah, Alabama, Maine, and Virginia. Other states will follow. Their plan is clearly within the law. No state or public school building is used for religious instruction. . No state funds are used. No religious instruction is given by public school teachers during school hours. The work is conducted in the respective churches dur- ing church-school hours, under competent teachers, and is recognized for credit by the high schools. Each denomination, each sect, is therefore privi- leged to impart instruction to its own children and according to its own canons of interpretation. As a rule, the states demand that the teachers of these high school Bible-study classes must be college graduates, and that the lessons shall continue for at least a 45-minute period in a separate room, free from interruption. A minimum of one hour of study is required for each recitation. Written examinations are given at the end of each term. Credit is given in the high school in the same way as for other electives. The State Superintendents of Public Instruction, COMMUNITY CIVICS 111 at the capitals of the foregoing states, will send printed announcements of their complete plan, in- cluding the syllabus of their Bible Study courses to any one asking for them. The Colorado plan has many commendable features, though in all these states the methods are similar. It would be fortunate if our churches would stop criticizing the public schools and, instead, become their most useful and intelligent allies. Racial Adjustments A Better Understanding Needed. The mail hack was scheduled to leave at eleven o'clock. The first passenger seeking transportation was a middle- aged colored woman, plain in her dress but ap- parently above the average in refinement. She carried a small basket. Next came a traveling man, rather grouchy be- cause his " firm ■" had sent him across country on this rough twenty-mile ride. Starting to get into the hack, he saw the colored woman and he backed out in disgust. The driver came to the rescue by inviting him to sit on the front seat. Two other men, well dressed and neat in ap- pearance, arrived just as the hack was ready to start. They looked at the colored woman, then at one another, and rather sullenly took their seats in the hack. Noon arrived. The driver informed his passen- gers that he did not stop for dinner. A little later, the colored woman opened her basket and began eating her lunch. She had some nice red apples. 112 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD " Won't you gentlemen have an apple? " she asked politely. They thanked her, and each took one. " Would you mind if we should smoke? " one of them asked her. " Not at all, if you wish to. I'd hate to think I was the cause of people riding twenty miles in the cold and not enjoying themselves." " May I ask what your work is? " one of the men said. " I am a Home Economics Demonstrator. I go among my own people, organizing canning clubs, teaching home sanitation and health, trying to show them how to have better homes and to live better lives." " I thought you seemed dififerent from most niggers." " No, pardon me, for I am not different from most Negroes. You don't see the best people of my race, or even the average. You know only the lowest class. My people are becoming land owners in the South much more rapidly than white people. We are painting our houses, putting screens in our windows and carpets on our floors, and educating our children. One of my boys is in the Prairie View Industrial School, the other is a sophomore in Kansas State University. He will graduate there when he is twenty; then I'm going to send him to Harvard to study engineering." " You must be proud of your boys,." " Yes, they are all I have now. I must play the part of mother and father both. I want them to be well equipped for helping my people." COMMUNITY CIVICS 113 " What do the white people think of your home demonstration work? " " I have met twenty-three Commissioners' Courts during the past year and have got what I asked for in each of the twenty-three counties. Sometimes I asked for money to pay the salary of a woman to organize canning clubs during the sum- mer. You know our people live mostly on bread, sweet potatoes, and meat. Most of our women didn't know how to can vegetables. We now have 121 canning clubs for girls and 248 for women. Sometimes I asked the court for the salary of a worker for the entire year. They have always granted my request. Eight county workers have been appointed this month. I couldn't ask to be treated better than the white men in these Com- missioners' Courts have treated me ' " That's interesting. Tell us m re about your work." She told of the method of exchanging " tea-cup cows" for pure-bred dairy cattle; of buying pigs and organizing pig clubs; of teaching sewing to the teachers of the rural schools, who in turn in- struct their pupils; and of gardening and home beautification. She told them of her constant traveling over the state, demonstrating and speak- ing in churches and city halls. " Don't you find some of the white plantation owners objecting to your taking the time of their Negroes, with these clubs and meetings?" " I've been told some of them would object, but I have never found a single one who did. The 114 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD trouble with our two races is, we don't understand one another. You think we want social equality. We don't. We only want a fair chance to better our own people. You think we want to ride with you on the trains. A'Ve don't. We only want decent cars to ride in. We are not clamoring to Mowing the weeds by the roadside makes the neigliborhood more attractive. Community pride is a form of unselfishness. vote. We are only asking for justice. You come in contact with only our worst class and judge us all by them. We see a white mob lynch one of our people, and we think you are all like that mob." Finally the journey and the conversation came to an end. One of the men, who was an officer of one of the principal railroads of the state, turning to their new friend, said, " When you get to Hous- COMMUNITY CIVICS 115 ton, I want you to come to our house and get acquainted with my wife. I want her to know of your work and to know you." " Kindness," said this woman later, " will re- move many of our race misunderstandings." Conditions are Improving. " Yes, conditions are much better than they were between the whites and the blacks," said a Negro who is president of a college for colored people in the South. "What has brought about the change?" I in- quired. " We are understanding each other better. Our white friends are standing by us. The rapid in- crease in land ownership among the colored people is helping. We are also fast becoming a race of taxpayers. The industrial schools established by the mission boards of the white churches, have made our people citizens of value to the state. Our white friends are quick to recognize our im- provement. The Commission of Southern Col- leges, the Southern Sociological Congress, the Y.M.C.A., and the church papers, have all helped to bring about a better understanding between whites and blacks." " But you still have lynchings? " " Yes, we have had eighteen lynchings of colored people in one state this year." " Do your people vote? " " In very few places in the South are we allowed to vote." " The Declaration of Independence is not very popular with your people, then? " 116 SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD " No, sir, when these big race riots were going on I could not get my students to sing ' America.' They said this wasn't any ' Sweet Land of Liberty.' In a community not far away from here, one of the best of our Negro citizens was l