PHILANTHROPY by GLORIA GODDARD
A Short Story PHILANTHROPY by GLORIA GODDARD The Charity fVorker Speaks: "Serves herright. Brazen—that's what I call her. That's what comes of helping these foreigners. Had a good home at The...
...Give it here...
...He told me so...
...Why don't they make him marry her...
...From a deepening shadow, a thinner shadow swayed into the path...
...The exotic wan creature swayed ami clutched at—air...
...Quite lovely ones, they were...
...She came like a sudden spurt of flam* from ashes...
...The attitude of the railway management and the authorities has excited feelings of horror among a large part of the Indian population...
...My Dear had also learned the futility of too prodigal words, however soothing...
...Comrade Roussel, Secretary of the Teachers' Union, in hia speech on the relations of the teachers with other members of organized Labor, laid stress upon the need of cooperation with the masses of the people in the interest of both the instructors and the pupils and said his organization was returning to the ranks of trade unionism in all modesty and with no desire to play the part of leaders., German Unions Closing Ranks ' Following the recent amalgamation of the German Railway Men's Union «and the National Union of Railway Employes, at a joint congress held in Cologne, into the United Union of German Railway Men, an alliance was concluded early in August, embracing the Railway Men, the Transport Workers and the two unions of public employes* of the lower and higher categories, for the defense of their mutual interests...
...And of course, there's the secretary...
...Looks like a child, and an ageleas woman...
...Then how did he make love to her...
...With such pretty Christian mottoes...
...Toe bad he had loat loat hia laat job, but it gave her a chance to help him...
...Then aloud;'" '>lT>i"Where's ahe living...
...She would send him a little check for a present...
...That's just why I ssy he's worthleas...
...She was like a surfeited spider...
...Braxen—that's what I call her...
...What did they take her in The Rest for, anyhow...
...Secretary Otto Streine pointed out that the German Painters' Union had just declared against such fusion and that the painters in Holland, Denmark and Sweden were also opposed to giving up their independent organizations...
...Oh, you're too tired, let me take care Of her...
...Indian Rsilrosd Men Lose The long strike of tome 40,000 members of the All-India Railroad Men's Federation on tht Northwest Railways for the eight-hour day and slight Increases in wages has been lost...
...i Did My Dear go to his former employer and see why he was discharged...
...of the creature* who grey on my sympathies...
...Oh, yea, come, up please...
...And Miss Murphey says they're so pressed for funds—" An Ageless Woman "H'm...
...And then, I can buy those calendars, and order more, if neceaaary, and distribute them among the prisoners...
...Nice chap, and to thoughtful...
...I don't know what you're talking about...
...He should have had them ready months before...
...The Sparrows Must Hare Nests My Dtsr went silently about clearing the cluttered desk...
...Anywsy, the poor boy ha* three or four thousand of thtm...
...Still, it was sweet to be thought of...
...New International Born At a meeting of representatives of organizations of merchant marine deck officers recently held in Paris, the International Mercantile Marine Officers' Association, with headquarters in Antwerp and 33,000 members in twenty unions, was born...
...Choking heat companioned the girl...
...It crinkled noisily...
...Twenty-six, eh...
...He had said he did all he could for the chap, but that he just wouldn't work...
...My Dear—the girl had no other name within this cloistered velvetnets—hesitated for a sighing instant, then pushed aside the draperies...
...The: delegates were all agreed as to the necessity of fighting for the ratification by all countries of the Geneva Convention of 1921 of the International Conference of the Labor Organization of the League of Nations limiting the use of white lead and for restriction upon quick dryers and similar concoctionB injurious to the health of the workers...
...Poor boy...
...Brazen things...
...The bitternest prevalent among the workers is too great to be suppressed for long by force...
...She has—a— baby...
...Who ia this-—person...
...The horizontal line* puckered tp a greater thinness...
...Her temerity terrified her...
...Her own opulence streamed sluggishly into the creases and hollows of the tufted cushions...
...She feels •he must spare him another—temptation...
...Miss Mayden jerked her balloon Read erect...
...I can't reca'l all...
...She does not speak English, Mil* Mayden...
...Shameless thing...
...Ruaaion, eh...
...Mi** Mayden slithered slowly along the dueky path* at a drop of' water trickles down a pan* of glaaa...
...You should learn to be more charitable...
...I can help him, and another cause, at the same time...
...Don't you think that would brighten up their cells, arid help them be better men...
...Nice people are never so beautiful...
...Preying on good Christian young men...
...Had a good home at The Rest, and then she corrupted one of the secretaries...
...Hanging about in the park, at this hour of the night...
...And besides, she thinks It looks bad to have her there —with the baby...
...The railroad management, pleading poverty and the restrictions imposed by the Dawes Reparation Plan, gas rejected the men's demsnd snd negotiations are now under way for the purpose of * voiding a strike...
...And 'My Dear' knew better than to ask any favors, or suggest any doubtful enterprises on that day...
...They're cheaper, than...
...They found out she was not married, and wouldn't keep her...
...It is so warm here, and you've been in all day...
...I'm sure 1 don't know...
...In commenting upon the outcome of the strike, the News Letter'of the International Transport Workers' Federation saya: "It should be considered that the organizations are young and as yet poorly organized, that hitherto the strike was unknown as means of resistance, and that in a country with a weak Labor movement the employers have recourse to widely different measures than is the case in the old industrial states...
...I'm tired...
...The strikers were ejected from their homes and brutaliy persecuted by the police...
...Brute force was freely used...
...Serves her right...
...A far-aeeing and satiric fat* had lured her parents to name her Hope...
...She whispered, with fearful eyes toward the pink curtains, and the girl went away, more steady...
...Aad why do the stores want them so early, anyhow...
...There were so many place* in the city where there wa* not a tree...
...The small plup—plup—plup—died echoless in the room, like acorns falling in mud...
...Doesn't mean much to that girl...
...Why do they send her to me...
...That's what comet of helping these foreigners...
...I don't know, Miss Mayden...
...The girl—She burst out in broken glitteroua speech...
...Her velvet-cloyed room was incense drugged...
...She should be sent to a reformatory...
...A little air would do me good...
...But wben the years had accumulated until people smiled v.nan >he aaid aha was twenty-eight, ami a few years later, laughed outright when she admi ted thirty, she banned mention of birthday.-,, and dropped the Hope...
...This was meant to' signify that they were prepared to shed their blood for their cause...
...There's one down tfliere—that blond chap—who always smiles at me, and holds my hand, if I offer to ahake hands...
...Fridey morning, that'a almoat a week...
...But somehow, that printer chap had found out the day...
...Send her away...
...The grata glistened beneath the street light* The bencbe* were crowded with a motley gathering...
...Miss Mayden interrupted to ask if My Dear had seen that lovely box of candy he had given her for her birthday...
...How old is she...
...She could make the poor child understand her, all too readily...
...She wondered where the poor sparrows built their nests...
...I don't know where ahe has been- staying'•since...
...He had taken her out to dinner once, and now this tremendous box of chocolates...
...This i* Mit* Mayden, Clorit...
...A fresh tjreexe waa toying with the young leaves...
...And a third: She hat no right to be so beautiful...
...She peered over the note, at the girl standing juat beyond the arc of light, a sombre pine against a June sunrise...
...Birthday's Come Aad Hope Goes She reached dreamily for another chocolate...
...No one buys calenders until the 1st* minute...
...I'm afraid he's rather worthless...
...The air hummed like wires in the vind, though she spoke no word...
...Upright Christian young man, .too...
...He had so many things to think of, that ho just forgot them...
...The example was set by the president of the organization who had written his name on the flag in blood...
...Everybody speaks Engli*h—except Italians...
...A Dream Interrupted "Yet...
...lith that shameless wax face...
...It would do you good...
...He's so kind and gentle—thoughtful, too...
...I Didn't Give Her the Baby" "Well, I can't help it...
...My Dear found a gauze shawl, and laid it softly across the pudgy shoulders, and together they were absorbed by the dripping velvet...
...Some people were so—so grasping...
...He Just Wouldn't V/ork My Dear explained that the former employer was a very kind man...
...Words were the only things spent recklessly among the people with whom she worked, so she had , learned to use them frugally...
...LABOR JOTTINGS FROM ABROAD Painters Delay Fusion Action | At a conference of the Painters' International, held in Dresden the last days of July, and attended by a doarn delegates from eight countries, H was decided to delay action upon the question of amalgamation with the Building Workers' International until conditions were more favorable for the success of such a move...
...She has been turned out of the boarding house Where The Rest sent her...
...French Teachers Join C. G. T. The National Union of French Teachers, which embraces more than half of the some 160.000 school teacher* in the Republic, has at last voted, ISO to 6, to affiliate with the Confederation General du Travail (General Federation of Labor...
...The meeting adopted resolutions for the eight-hour day, or the 48-hour week, and instructed the secretariat to carry on propaganda for this idea and to aubmit a plan of action along this line to the next congress of the Association...
...Mist Mayden was tapping plump fingers on the arm of her cha.V...
...Bring her in...
...Then ahe had been more than just Miss Mayden...
...But, Mitt Maydtn, she needs food, lodging, now...
...Well, I wish you would the first thing tomorrow...
...Her voice clayed cat-like on the plushed air...
...Doesn't apeak English...
...And the exact number of inmates'1" "Why—yes—" My Dear was still breathless...
...My Dear, please talk sense...
...Of course, he could not afford it...
...Tell her to come back— Wednesday—no—that's the day of the Charity Fair...
...Get themselves into trouble with their pretty faces, then expect me to get them out...
...That" Girl Again And he can't get rid of thtm...
...Who...
...How she must have tdrmented him...
...1, for all classes of railroad workara...
...This move, taken at the organization's recent congress in Paris, It being hailed with delight by the Labor press of all Europe at an indication of the reviving strength of the old French Federation of Labor, headed by Leon Joujiaux, which has had such a hard fight with the Communist disrupters, but * now coming out on top...
...At times, dear Miss Mayden almost lost' her faith in human nature...
...My Dear curbed her thin stride...
...What doe* thit mean...
...I'm too tired tonight...
...Oh, I'm sorry to have wakened you...
...One must keep one's self-respect...
...The fragile night lost courage long before it ventured to thit removed spot...
...Even 'My Dear' never dared mention the hateful day...
...You recall, he printed all of those calendara at Christmas time...
...My Dear bit her lips to silence...
...She gave me quite a start...
...Yes...
...Why couldn't the And one of her own heathen kind...
...A few moments later, ahe congealed again...
...A deeper voice whispered beautiful 1 -How beautiful...
...My Dear watched her miserably, and wished the room darker...
...Wickedly beautiful...
...The thin girl moved like a 'ead poplar shadow across the pink draperies, and seemed to melt into them,—a shadow drowned by a thicker one...
...He's married already...
...Bring her in I" Tmi cat-like voice tore the air with the sound of ripping silk...
...It's hard for him, Miss Murphey says...
...That was a week ago...
...It hed baen many a year since anybody had remembered 'B« birthday with even so much as a box of chocolates...
...The park was darkly cool...
...her voice was thin and heat-clogged...
...She was hardly aware of what Miss Mayden was saying...
...Had a good home at The Rest, and then she corrupted one of the secretaries That's gratitude, for you I Send her away...
...Although the joint forces of the police and employers have triumphed, it is only a temporary victory...
...Mitt Mayden stopped, panting...
...Can't I have a moment to myself...
...She apoke low, piteously...
...The parks, probably...
...My Dear trembled !tst the crackling cacophony should reach Miss Mayden, wobbling ahead...
...Worthless...
...And yesterday, this great box of chocolates came by special messenger Miaa Mayden smiled and munched on another...
...Hastily, she pulled something from her pocket, and crushed it into the girl's hsnd...
...Miss Mayden snapped on a light, near her chair, and peered at the note...
...Through long social work, ahe had gained a smattering of many tongues...
...Brazen, I tell you I Just shamelessly braxen...
...She sighed plumply, and melted bark into the deep folds of her chsir...
...Poor boy...
...It's that little Cloris Bredowski —the one whom The Neighborhood Rest wrote you about...
...Chloris Bredowski...
...Immoral-lot 1 Why doean't The Reat take cart of...
...Ia the opposite comer, a thin girl aat at a dealt cluttered with papers, shrouded in the dust of many yeara sandalwood...
...There had been a time when birthdays were gala days of flower*, and candy, and books...
...She's a young Rutaian who lived at the Rest...
...One of the secretaries fell in love with her...
...Her black hair gleamed in thia room where no light was, and shrouded her eye* with grey-purple shadows...
...It was like r»in falling, falling against th* sun...
...So uplifting...
...Beautiful...
...They go out of style to quickly...
...Against the anaemic room, she was a black tulip bowed by a spring storm...
...I don't think words'matter—so much...
...So much she voiced...
...Which secretary was it...
...You do not understand people as I do...
...The devil's beauty...
...Yes, but it's different working for oneself...
...And pouncing on people...
...Decent felk don't hang about in parks...
...The whole park was brittle with the sound...
...The telephone thudded on the cloyed air like a atone in a viscid pool...
...Mis* Mayden had juat fallen aaleep, and was drifting off into a dream of a charming young man, who fed her chocolates, and called her young...
...Twenty-six, she says...
...My Dear you should not make snap judgements...
...Tomorrow would be a busy d^v...
...You know I hate riddles...
...What nonsense...
...I'm sure I always wait...
...But she looks like a child—and an ageless woman...
...The girl from the Neighborhood Rest...
...The nerve—My Dear, tell her to get eut of my way...
...Above the wretchedness of her clothes, her face glowed like marble in the lifeblood of a dying aun...
...Friday, Friday morning...
...She fumbled about, keeping her spare aelf between the desk, snd Miss Mayden's slitted eyes...
...Being kind to people waa such a delicate task, and so little appreciated...
...But he didn't finish them until a week before Christmas, so he couldn't stll many of them...
...This move, is related with the demand of the German railroaders for a modeat wage increase, effective from Sept...
...The delegates also voiced their sympathy with John Scopes, the center of the Dayton anti-Evolution trial, and damned the Tennessee lawmakers for their narrowmindedness...
...There was that fresh air thing to see to, and that note to get off to the Union Charities—and they mutt take up that matter of the trees with th* Park Commissioner...
...The thin night breeze, Angering the edges of tht stale sandalwood, withdrew abashed, and lulled her to near sleep...
...8he bussed on | and on with the garrulity of a fly...
...They were thus made to suffer from the beginning, but this'did not prevent tnem from resolutely carrying on the struggle and fighting to the last ditch...
...My Dear dropped back, her hand on the girl's arm, and htr .-yes fattened on Miss Mayden's stiff head...
...My Dear pushed ths girl gently out of sight, out of hegaVg...
...Thuraday—we're going to the country Thuraday...
...You expect me to remember everything...
...1, 1024, the membership of the affiliated unions was 71,704...
...The Rest gavtiaer a bottle of milk today, for the baby...
...Her plump face waa scratched by three horixontal lines pinched by t vertical one...
...Secretary Streine, who was unanimously reelected, reported satisfactory progress in organization and education during the last two years and said closer relations with the still unaffiliated national bodies were being constantly created...
...IT WAS m warm night, and Mayden had worked hard all day...
...The railway company refused to negotiate and the British Viceroy would not interfere to force arbitration, as requested by the railroad men and the All-India Trades Union Congress...
...H'm...
...It itemed queer—Prisons...
...Then- - "Would you care to welk In the ptrk for a little while...
...On Jan...
...We—II...
...But, Miss Mayden, do you think he will amount to anything...
...Miss Murphey sent a note with her...
...Old enough to know better...
...Up and down, up and down, they went until the dusk was atar-pricked night* Misa Mayden's self-complaj cence waa blown back by the breeze...
...I've been thinking it over, and I have a good idea...
...I'm aure I didn't give her the baby...
...That is delicioua candy...
...She1 has nri money, and the hat had almost nothing to eat...
...Shalh I read it to you...
...She began to talk...
...The representative of the Brotherhood of Painters, Paperhangers and Decorators of America, who was present as a guest, also spoke against the amalgamation project...
...Let me see—What Was I saying...
...My Dear bit her lip, and ignored the suggestion of a reformatory...
...Tell Me Your Story" The girl inclined her head in a gesture recalled from the distant aget when she was a Pharaoh's daughter...
...Or have her come tomorrow—" She shot a hopeless pitiful glance at a break in the curtain...
...Fear purred along the edge of the girl'a voice...
...I thought I told her I would not see her until Friday...
...Nonsenae...
...She can't help being so beautiful...
...H'm...
...The almost visible perfume made her drowsy...
...Perfectly right...
...Vo i know, this is not the first position he has been discharged from...
...The Paris congress adopted resolutions supporting the bank clerks in their strike for better conditions and wages and demanding immediate peace in Morocco...
...Tell me your story...
...Far down, prostrate among the glittering apartment buildingt, thj tiny park gloweo softly, like moss at tn* bottom of a well Miss Mayden grew omplacent, looking thru half-closed eye at the remote park...
...Oh yes, do you think you could find out how many prisons there are in the United States...
...He's new st the business" "Ye*, but he's always been a printer's assistant...
...Not with the—baby...
...But / never encourage him...
...So many people just took advantage of one's kind heart...
...Serve* Her Right" "The Rest should provide for her, if anyone does...
...The spirit which animated the strikers is illustrated by the fact that in Lahore, on May 30, 10,000 strikers marched through the town carrying flags which had been dyed red with their oWn blood...
...Those pretty calendars...
...And here I was that nice young painter chap...
...Miss Murphey says they haven't enough money...
...She spoke a few words to the girl, then hurried on...
Vol. 2 • September 1925 • No. 37
