HUMANE SOCIETIES 



2868 



HUMAN PERIOD 



most famous of these enterprises. At the out- 

 set Miss Addams secured ample financial co- 

 operation, and in this respect Hull House has 

 been fortunate. It is under the active man- 

 agement of Miss Addams, who has been called 

 the "first citizen of Illinois," and she is assisted 

 by resident workers, who are educated and 

 devoted people. Some of these live in the 

 main building, around which are grouped the 

 other buildings; these contain a gymnasium 



HULL HOUSE 



At the corner of Halsted and Polk streets, Chi- 

 cago ; a monument to the organizing genius of 

 Miss Jane Addams. 



with baths, a restaurant, boys' club rooms, 

 working girls' club rooms and a fine theater 

 in which the people of the neighborhood give 

 amateur plays. 



For eight months of the year, beginning in 

 October, instruction in industrial work makes 

 Hull House a busy center of activity. Printing 

 and bookbinding, sewing and cooking, wood- 

 working, metal-working, spinning and weaving 

 are some of the lines of work taught in the in- 

 stitution. Classes offering instruction in geogra- 

 phy, literature, music and art are well attended, 

 and classes in other subjects are formed as the 

 need for them is seen. Dancing, gymnasium 

 work and athletic sports offer wholesome recrea- 

 tion for young people, and good lectures are 

 given to interest both young and old. During 

 the summer months the settlement aids in 

 giving its people outings in the country. Miss 

 Addams has been the guiding genius in this 

 work, which directly influences about 9,000 

 people every week. Much of the interesting 

 life in the institution is described in her book, 

 Twenty Years at Hull House. See ADDAMS, 

 JANE. 



HUMANE, humayri, SOCIETIES, the pop- 

 ular name for organizations having for their 

 purpose the prevention of cruelty to animals, 

 the prevention of cruelty to children, and the 

 protection of birds. The first organization for 



the protection of animals was formed in Eng- 

 land in 1824. In 1888 the first American society 

 was formed in New York through the influence 

 of Henry Bergh (which see). Within the next 

 few years similar societies were formed in other 

 states, and in 1875 the New York Society for 

 the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was 

 organized, also through the influence of Mr. 

 Bergh. Within the next five years similar soci- 

 eties were organized throughout the country. 

 In 1877 a federation of the societies for the 

 prevention of cruelty to animals and the soci- 

 eties for the prevention of cruelty to children 

 was formed under the name of the American 

 Humane Association, which became a national 

 organization, and had for its main purpose the 

 treatment of animals transported long distan- 

 ces on railroads. Through the influence which 

 this association brought to bear upon Congress, 

 laws were enacted requiring better stock cars 

 and the unloading of stock in transit once in 

 twenty-four hours for food, water and rest. 



The Royal Humane Society of England was 

 founded in 1774, and had for its purpose the 

 recovery of persons who were nearly drowned. 

 The society is still in existence and has for 

 its motto "A small spark may perhaps lie hid." 

 See CRUELTY TO ANIMALS, SOCIETY FOR THE 

 PREVENTION OF. 



HUMAN PERIOD, or AGE OF MAN, also 

 called the PRESENT PERIOD, is that division of 

 the Cenozoic Era in geologic time which ex- 

 tends from the Glacial Period to the present 

 time. The Glacial Period came to an end with 

 the disappearance of the ice sheet from the 

 great area which it covered. With the removal 

 of this great weight from the land, there seems 

 to have been a slight elevation of the conti- 

 nents, but in the main the area, form and 

 position of the continents were practically the 

 same as at present. With the development of 

 climatic conditions there was a corresponding 

 development of plant and animal life as we 

 find them to-day. See GLACIAL PERIOD. 



But the great distinguishing feature of the 

 Human Period has been the invasion of the 

 temperate and cool zones by man, who in these 

 regions has developed the science and art of 

 agriculture, and thereby changed many condi- 

 tions of soil and with them modified plant 

 and animal life. See MAN. 



We are liable to think that in the present 

 era geological changes have ceased, but such is 

 not the case. Vokanoes are still active; gla- 

 ciers are still changing mountain valleys; ero- 

 sion is constantly taking place wherever rain 



