Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/825

 797 DR. BARNARDO'S HOMES By BRIDEY M. O'UHILLV . ContiHMtd from fai;* 67J, Part / nrnn: work of the Homes has grown in complexity with each successive year. I'he children in the early days were gathered chiefly from the London slums, and consc- tjuently they came wild and neglected. Now they conic from all parts of the kingdom, and from every conceivable kind of mis- fortune. Some of the children have been brought to destitution by sudden calamity, some by the folly or sins of their parents. Some come after good schooling, others are ignorant and neglected. Many are so mentally deficient that ordinary school machinery seems to be wasted on them. Some are blind, some deaf and dumb : many defective in other ways. Where the Children Live It used to be a heartbreaking affair to deliver them from the tyranny of fear or defiance. Now the work of civilising the children is to a great extent done. Now also many children come in their infancy, and they are sent to the Babies' Castle. Hawkhurst. or the infant schools at Barking- side, or boarded out. The Babies' Castle, Hawkhurst. is a home for 120 infants. In the Girls' Village Home. Barkingside. Ilford, Essex, there arc 1,300 girls in resi- dence — 80 separate households and buildings, including 67 cottages, a village church, day schools, embroidery school, hospital, sanatorium for consumptives, and a laundry. A Boys' Garden City is now in progress, to give the boys the same advantages the girls at the Village Home, Barkingside, have for so many years enjoyed. A well- wooded estate of 39 acres at Woodford Bridge, Essex, has been purchased, and progress has been made in laying it out. Ten houses have been promised already (19 10). One of the Ea.st End homes — the Lal)Our I fouse for Destitute Youths — ha.s been closed, and the inmates have been transferred to Woodford Bridge, and arc now living in the main blcKk on the new estate. The children will there benefit physically and morally. Emigration Emigration has proved most successful. and, besides the boys and girls sent to Canada, 473 young people have been placed in Australia. New Zealand, and South Africa. These young people are kept under super- vision, and in the course of the past year 30 former emigrant girls have married in Canada, many of them into independent positions. One of the earliest emigrants was a boy named James C . He came to the home in 1886, aged 16. but stunted in growth, ragged, dirty, and thin. He was undisciplined, and neither knew nor cared for his heritage of boyhool. He settled down admirably when he came to learn, at the home, that life had an object, and he turned out well. Jem was one of the first fourteen boys .sent out to Canada. " Gimme a chance." had been Jem's cry. and once the chance was given, he seized it with an eager hand. On a farm in Ontario he first made his mark. Then Jem moved west, and yet west again, each time leaving golden opinions behind him. Now he has been married for some years, and to a Bamardo girl. He owns his farm, one of the prettiest in the district. On it is an excellent house, store-houses, etc.. erected chiefly by Jem himself. He and his wife have earned the respect and esteem of the neighbourhood. They have in this house a Barnardo boy, who is learning to be a farmer. So Jem is now holding out the rcsrue hand, as it was held out to himself. Majesty s Hospital for Sick Children at the Stepney Home. This beautifully equipped hospital has 84 beds, and forms pan of the wonderful block of buildings that constitute the Home Photograph takai at Dr. Barnardo s Itonu, Str/iiry Cansniay, ii.