MRS. GLADDING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1859, 19 September 1913, Page 2

MRS. GLADDING.

INTERVIEW ON Y.W.C.A. WORK,

-Mrs. T. S. Gladding, from New York, who, with Mr. Gladding, is at present visiting Wellington, is much interested in. tho work of tho Young Women's Christian Association, and wherever slio lias travelled sho has at oi:co got into touch with the branches that have existed iii. tho country or tewn in which she happened to be. For over a year — closo upon .two' years in fact—she and her husband havo been travelling for pleasure,, and they havo been ill practically all,,tho (Countries of ,Europe, well as, India, Biirmali, Australia, and Now Zealand. Their tour through Europe was dolightful, as they travelled in a, motor-car, and could.go vhero they wished ; and stay'as long as they wanted to. Mrs. Gladding has particularly pleasant recollections of Austria, where they wont through high mountain passes and travelled through glorious mountain scenery. . . . Asked how tho association in Europo compared, on the whole, with that of America, Mrs. Gladding stated that in her own country tlio associations had, she thought, moved faster. In Europo they seemed to pay more attention to tho religious part of the work and.to tho foyers, or lunchcoii and tea. rooms, but in Amorica stress was laid 011 the intellectual development of tho movement, as well as. tho spiritual 111 both countries important work had been done by tho Travellers' Aid Department. In America a largo number of students graduating from tho universities . and ■colleges attended tho largo training school of tho National Board, with tho object of becoming secretaries, and so many-sided must a woman be to achieve success as a secretary that, as Mrs. Gladding said, sho need havo no feeling in her mind that sho "was wasting her sweetness on tho desert air." Tho most intellectual of the American womon wero going in for tho work, and when it was realised how many sides of lifo she touched upon, ajid how many dek partments of tlio organisation sho had to overlook, it can easily bo understood how it was that so many wore taking it up as a, career. An extension of the work undertaken by tho Young Women's Christian Association in America was that relating to tho country districts. In. small country towns rooms .or a "grange" would bo secured, where tho farming women in coming into town for the transaction of tlieir business could rest, meet thoir friends, and read, and as tho idea grew tliey would more and moro tend to become social and educational centres for the lonely, hard-working farmers' wives and daughters, who are, in somo cases, the farmers tliemselves. In America thero wero over six millions of women engaged in business and industrial life, and so enormous a number had largely accounted for tho largo devilcpment of tho association in that country.

The work of the organisation was, broadly speaking, divided into four sections—tho physic d, social, educational, and spiritual. The physical included gymnasium training, hockey, tennis, and boating clubs The sot'al aimed at bringing brightness and companionship into tlie lives of otherwise very lonely girls and women; the educational included instruction in very diverse subjects (from about fifteen to twenty), taught to tlio girls at a very low cost. The spiritual work wa3 in connection with Bible classes aiid mission work.

Valuablo work was dono in India among the Eurasians, and, as a result, a largo number of Eurasian girls and women were now seized with the desiro to earn their own living, and were doing so successfully. What this meant only those who had lived in India could realise. So imbued was tho Government with tho val'.io of tho work done by the association that they had liiado grants to enable it to extend its work among these people. • It was rather interesting to learn that in America many of tho railway companies paid half tho salary of tho travellers' aid secretary, who met tho trains at the various stations and saw that girls travelling alone reached their destinations safely. The Travellers' Aid Branch lias had official recognition and "support from the municipalities of most of tlie big cities in America. Altogether the Young Women's Christian Association is a very live thing in America, and numbers 250,000 members, from ail classes of women.

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