TROISIÈME SECTION

— 418 —but I would never go where she is living now. I think thatwhen I save some money,.it will be my turn to get the familytogether and live comfortable once again. Please tell me whatis best to do, you are wise and kind.""God has been good to me for He has given me morethan I feel I deserve. I could never stand alone if I dit nothave the feeling that I could go to you when I am in troubleor out of work."From a letter to one of the matrons."Very sorry to hear that you are unable to attend mywedding, but am very grateful to you for your sincère wishesand only hope that I can live up to your estimation of me.I feel that I have struggled very hard to do what is right, andfailed to give perfect satisfaction in every instance. There issome satisfaction derived I assure you in knowing that I triedto live as you taught me. I thank you from the bottom of myheart for ail you have made me. I am older now than I waswhen at the institution and now realize how patient and kindyou were to me. Al ways bear in mind that some girl thinks ofyou. You may think sometimes how disobedient I was but thosedays are over. I would love to live them over again for onereason only. This is the reason,—I would be near you onceagain and then appreciate your worth more than I ever didwhen at Hudson. How well I remember this stanza:—"The mill will never grind againWith waters that are past.""It will not be a great time before the holidays begin tocome. I bet the girls are looking forward to them with pleasure.I would like to add to their pleasure in some way. Perhapsyou would like to let some of your lonely little girls who haveno friends to write to me. I might write them a cheery letterto encourage them in their struggle to win those ribbons. Imight be a big sister to them as I have none of my own andit would give them something. to work for if they knew therewas a sisten in the outside world wo loved them and would beproud of their success." . . '..— 419 —Health.—There have been no épidémies and no deathsduring the year and the gênerai health has been excellent.The milk supply has been enlarged and the quality greatlyimproved.During the year the number of girls committed whenpregnant has increased. This is a source of regret, for the influenceof such cases on the other girls is seldom of benefit andoften is positively bad. The babies naturally receive more orless attention and this not only softens for the immature andthoughtless girl the true aspect of her situation, but may arousein her a very regrettable vanity. Moreover, the mothers sometimesare given spécial food or they may need to be excusedfrom heavy work and thèse favors incline their undiscriminatingsisters to be envious.The mothers, themselves, often more children in years,rarely exhibit any sensé of shame or regret and they seldomshow any deep affection for their children. This is, perhaps,hardly to be wondered at, considering their youth, but it iscertainly difficult, since they necessarily mingle with the othergirls, to impress the latter with a proper feeling for illegitimacy.The dental work has again fallen far short of the actualneed because only half the money asked for in each month'sestimate has been allowed. Rarely has a girl given any careto her theeth before she cornes here and practically everyoneneeds work done immediately after admission. With the amountallowed, we are able to attend only to the imperative cases,and, moreover, the rapid change in population during the pastyear has made it impossible to attend thoroughly to the teethôf the out-going girls. Consequently, they frequently have tospend some of their first earned money for dental work andthis seems hardly fair. The School should give them a goodstart in this as in other respects.It is désirable that we have a visiting opthalmologist whoshall look after complicated refraction cases and do any operativework necessary. The ordinary cases are attended to by therésident physician but many require the services of a specialist.As it is now generally agreed that much nervous irritability is