Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/59

 41 WOMAN'S WORK Many a lonely woman, to whom money is a secondary convsideration, vv^ll find a new life and a new joy in the adoption of a child. But the greatest care should be exercised, lest in finding a new joy a new sorrow should follow in its wake. It is unwise to take one of a large family — no matter how poor the parents may be — and bring it up as one's own, lavishing upon it that luxury which may be commonplace to you, but of w^hich the child would never have dreamed had it been left under the roof of its parents. In the first place, you rob that child of the best of all feelings — filial devotedness ; you leave in the minds of the other children a feeling of envy and disappointment which can never be eradi- cated, not even after they have grown out of adolescence. And there is always the danger of unscrupulousness — to use a very mild term — on the part of the parents. THE CHILD THE WOMAN's COMFORTER The safest method to pursue is that of writing to the clerk of the local Board of Guardians. There are few Boards in the country which have not in their care, either in the workhouse or in what are called foster-homes, a number of foundlings or orphans. The Board would have to satisfy itself that you were a fit and proper person to have control of the child, and it is not unlikely that you would have to appear in person at a meeting of the Boarding-Out Committee, or even the Board itself. Mention of a Board of Guardians recalls the fact that all over the country women appear to be taking a more active part in the administration of poor relief. Indeed, women as members of a Board of Guardians, are proving every day that too long has this field of labour been monopolised by the men. Admittedly, women are more practical than men in this work, and the nervous fear of an applicant for outdoor relief is minimised when in the board-room he or she encounters the sympathetic smiles of women where the cold, callous questioning of business men had been anticipated. A lonely woman, granted that her qualifications as a rate- payer are satisfactory, might find a great deal of interest in the work. She should write to the clerk to the Board, who would be only too glad to advise her of all the preliminaries and the chances of success if an election were to be fought. GOOD WORK FOR THE LONELY If children creep into the majority of these suggestions to lonely women, it is because I he writer believes that in children one may find real happiness. Perhaps, in some parish or another, there is a lonely woman with an income of anything between £ioo and ^250 a year. She is well-educated, has travelled, and has a faculty for lucidly describing that which she has seen in foreign parts. Why not inaugurate a series of lantern lectures for the edification of the children and even the adults of a lonely parish. The cost of a lantern is comparatively small, and in the neighbourhood of Charing Cross Hoad one can obtain any number of limelight-lanterns on hire, while the same firm that supplies the lantern will be able to supply slides. At the London Emigration Offices of some of the Overseas Dominion Governments, slides, depicting life in their particular colony, may be bo: rowed. Here is another, and perhaps simpler, suggestion. The lonely woman may have a large garden, and be interested in botany. Let her encourage the children of the village to cultivate a tiny plot of that garden. Let them plant their own choice of seed, but explain the stages of development. It is out of such beginnings that garden cities are made. " But," you say, " how can I. a lonely woman without a friend in the parish, encourage those children to come ? 1 cannot knock at every door and invite the parents to send the child." Certainly not ! The mind of the child is one of the most difficult of problems, and there is only one way of solving it. Always endeavour to give a child the impression that its mind is more com- prehensive than your own. Let the child lead ; you follow. Pretend inordinate in- terest in anything that it does, no matter how simple ; correct it by si ggestion, and you will understand the real meaning of the word appreciation. MANY DELIGHTFUL OCCLPATlONS If there is one child familiar to you in this lonely parish, give it that tiny plot of garden, and mention, only casually, that you wish other children would help in the work. There is no need to say more ; that child will bring as many other children as you need. Hundreds of suggestions might be made as the result of which lonely women and weary children should derive incalculable pleasure ; but in those cases — and they are few — where the lonely woman fears that children could not bring her the peace of mind she seeks, the ideas following may be acceptable. The writing of verses for Christmas and other cards. — Communicate in the first place with any of the large firms who supply cards. There is pleasure and profit in the work. The suggesting of ideas for posters adver- tising proprietary articles. — Read the adver- tisements in the various magazines and newspapers, and think of some symbol w^hich would catch the eye of the public. Vou need not be an artist with your pen or brush ; the idea is the thing. If you are fond of reading, and have a faculty for criticising what you have read, write to the editor of a newspaper enclosing a hundred lines of criticism of any new book, and offer to share the work of reviewing. The majority of newspapers make a feature of a book column, and there are so many new books published nowadays that it is extremclv difficult to keep pace with the output. "The editor might be glad of your assistance if it were understood that the book alone was to be your remuneration.