WOMEN'S CLUBS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1002, 17 December 1910, Page 11

WOMEN'S CLUBS.

THEIR' DIFFERENT OBJECTS. Tho necessity for tho working woman :has. brought in-its train tho problom of housing and homing, .the lone female* An- interesting effort to solve the problem is hoing made by tho International Society • for Befriending Girls (says an English writer). A hostel has heen opened in the' Vauxhall Bridge Road, a district which is contra! enough to ho near any placo of busiuess iu London. Here girls arc housed and fed at an inclusive cost of Bs. 6d. a week. This includes four substantial meals a day, and the use of a sitting-room. The work of the hostel is done by the residents themselves.' They rise at 6.30 a.m., and sweep, dust, and make tho beds before breakfast. Scrubbing is left: to a charwoman, who comes in . later.' About 1000, or 1200 girls pass , through the. hostel every year, most of them being housemaids' or nursery governesses,, who are looking for-work. For the comfort and instruction of. a

rather higher, grade of women workers a new women's club has been formed, known as the Halcyon, with a. clubhouse in the Par!;, Lane district. .Women engaged in' horticultural - occupations are particularly . welcomed, but authors, painters, and educationalists are also supporting, the venture. . The Halcyon will differ 'from, tho. Lyceum (another women workers' club) by. striving to keep the educational side of tho club disimefcifrom.lhe.purely, social side. There will-be a large hall for-concerts and lectures, but members who are noN; seeking instruction will find other rooms at the Halcyon undisturbed and at their disposal. The objection,. which many working women have had •. to women's clubß has been due to, the : difficulty of securing peace and'.'quiet. : Not. a-few 0 -tocm. have preferred;, the loneliness or a, flat, because the club always,seemto be-given up to a nerve-racking debate or concert. .- The Halcyon Club seems to haye realised, th'is difficulty, and has provided against it. .