A PRACTICAL DUTCH CHARITY. 109 



the family meals be palatable though simple. It is believed that the 

 result of such teaching will make many homes more attractive, and 

 keep the men from seeking outside of the house conditions which 

 they should find within. 



The clubs also serve as valuable adjuncts to the work in hand. 

 They are usually groups of persons of the same sex and near the same 

 age who meet under the guidance of some experienced man or woman 

 for social intercourse, for practice in debate, playing of chess, the 

 reading of some standard author, or the discussion of places and peo- 

 ples. In all of these meetings, as well as under all circumstances, the 

 people in attendance are taught polite behavior by example rather 

 than precept, and every precaution is taken to avoid any reflection 

 or invidious comparisons that might tend to keep away the people 

 whom Our House is intended to benefit. 



A word might be said about the travel club. Early in each 

 autumn a proposition is made that during the following summer a 

 trip will be taken to such and such places, usually naming one near 

 by, within the kingdom, and another farther away, as Brussels or 

 the upper Rhine. Persons desiring to visit either of the places named 

 unite in forming a club. They meet at stated times to listen to ac- 

 counts of the place selected, its historical associations, and the points 

 of interest en route, and also to pay into the treasury an amount 

 agreed upon. For example, last summer one club, upon the saving 

 of a cent a week by each member, was able to go to Haarlem and 

 spend the day in seeing the city and the many places of interest in 

 the neighborhood. In another, each member contributed ten cents 

 a week, and the club was able to make a two days' trip to Brussels. 

 By this simple means persons otherwise unable to go beyond the 

 confines of their native city have the opportunity to get at least a 

 glimpse of the outside world, and under such conditions and with 

 such special preparations as to obtain from the trip the maximum 

 interest and profit. 



The only thing that is free in Our House is legal advice and 

 the writing of legal documents. In Amsterdam, as elsewhere, the 

 poorer people have too frequently an exaggerated idea as to their 

 rights, and rush into " law " for fatuous protection. Such persons 

 are liable to fall into the hands of unprincipled lawyers who help 

 to nurse the fancied wrong and encourage a suit for damages, or put 

 up an idle defense for the sole purpose of winning a fee. To protect 

 this class by giving them the most unselfish advice possible, a number 

 of the best lawyers of the city have cheerfully offered their services, 

 and every Thursday evening from eight to twelve o'clock one or 

 two stand ready to give gratuitously the best advice they can upon 

 such legal points as may be presented. That this service is appre- 



