Work at the Winch Dormitory
> ir girls are always enthusiastic
w! inv line of \vork is suggested to
• i aside from the ordinary. 1
• h.ive seen a class of girls more
wiling to undeitake h.trd work
this time it was not housee'.ean
; r anything of that sort. .1* it was
hristmas, when we felt winter
* ioiug its lest outside, and Mr.
1 tier k^ot on chopping wood to
ki- •• ms warm in the house. It was
; hing tue hig girls hadn’t tiied
■—'
c «• * acn one mukiug a new ores*
I for h self. At first they were happy,
I then they became very tjuiet after the
| vision of a new dress was crushed out
1 \ iie fe-.r that they couldu’t do it.
i i. kne w how to darn and mend
an-! tit* plain sewing. hut how could
they make a diess? I was p.rfectly
u;l lent that they could do it, for I
knew since others before me had pat
iently guided the little hands to use
the necdie ami do neat work it was
easy enough to put the crowning et
I fort < n their work hy teaching them
1 how to make a dress for themselves.
I Mr. I.erwn had faith enough in us to
B get the m.«teri..i in Kodiak, so wc
H started in.
The:e ,.;c no patterns sold up heie,
and even \ , there we e they would l.ot
fit our girls. Kach needed a different
pattern «:•. we attempted to make
n« twf -Im .'m-s nlike, to give them an
idea of different lines of work. We
ripped up old dresses to get patterns,
and used styles of dresses best suited
to each. Nida is eighteen, Mary
rainier and Julia sixteen, Lillian lit
teen. Mattie thirteen. The average
list measure is 30 inches. They
started together, and last week the
dresses were finished for our Superin
tendent to see. We < m always count
on his appreciation.
Of course the girls go to school, so
that it was before and after school,
and after the other work was done *
that they made their dresses.
There were many weeks with no
variation in the daily program; eat,
s.eep, school, wash 194 articles (not
including stockings and handker
chiefs) darn and mend week after
week, with snow and ice, and wind
howling outside, so 1 was often
thankful while working the chess
es. it was something different, some
thing to make us glad to see the neat
little stitches. We had good times
fitting the dresses, and laughed a
great deal, when sometimes we
hadn t finished fitting lie fore supper
and had to let out the skirt bund two
or three inches after supper. They
wouldn’t fit any more.
Julia hud to t>e excused often from
work which needed good eyes, but to
my surprise her vision became sud
denly fine ami her dress is neatly
(Continn d fagt f)