October, 1912 
Tints 
THE NOVEMBER NUMBER 
HE next issue of AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS, 
the November number, will be introduced by a beauti- 
fully illustrated article describing one of the most interest- 
ing American homes at Tuxedo Park. The second article 
will be descriptive of a most attractive Massachusetts home 
and its interesting furnishings. Olden Time Bandboxes 
will be the subject of an article describing these little known 
relics of the days of crinoline, and the illustrations will be 
from photographs of bandboxes in the remarkable collec- 
tion gathered by Mr. A. W. Drake, of New York. “Lit- 
tle Houses for Little People” is the subject of an article 
on playhouses, a fresh topic full of interest to the home- 
maker who realizes, as every home-maker should, the value 
of a properly-planned and designed playhouse for develop- 
ing the child’s sense of orderliness. The double-page fea- 
ture for November will consist of a number of reproduc- 
tions of photographs of attractive and well-designed chim- 
neys. ‘Weather Vanes” is the title of another illustrated 
article out of the ordinary, and will present many sug- 
gestions for adding notes of interest to the home premises. 
A beautiful country home not far from New York city. a 
house of distinction and architectural character, will be de- 
scribed and illustrated with photographs of exterior and in- 
terior. Archery as a pastime for Americans is the subject 
of yet another article, and the November number will be 
further enriched by other contributions and by the usual 
departments, ‘‘Within the House,” ‘Around the Garden,” 
and “Helps to the Housewife” that have helped to make 
AMERICAN HoMEs AND GARDENS maintain prestige in its 
field. 
WILLIAM BOOTH AND THE SALVATION ARMY 
QUARTER of a century ago there was hardly a day 
passing when ridicule was not being heaped upon the 
shoulders of William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army. 
The public felt that the assumption of “General” by him, 
the blare of trumpets, the pounding of drums, the mar- 
shalling of his “‘soldiers” in uniforms and all that were mat- 
ters for its levity. The death of William Booth marks a 
long standing revulsion in public sentiment which seems in 
itself a justification of the Salvation Army’s work as di- 
rected by its restlessly energetic founder through years of 
sacrifice, devotion and sincerity of conviction that ennobles 
any cause. We need not concern ourselves with those 
methods which might awaken our criticism and of which, 
even to-day, we cannot all be expected to approve, but tak- 
ing the Salvation Army’s labors from the viewpoint of its 
social aspects alone, we must concede to it the accomplish- 
ment of a tremendous and uplifting influence. The sensi- 
tive may deplore the blatancy with which the organization 
appears to conduct much of its work, but it reaches out a 
helping hand too far beyond casual charity’s feeble effort 
for even the comment of the sensitive to stand in condem- 
nation. General Booth combined with his religious enthu- 
siasm a rare zeal—even the zeal that permits a fanatic to 
accomplish incredible things—but it was a zeal well directed 
and guided by remarkable executive ability and the qualifi- 
AVEC AN  FIONES “AND GARDENS ix 
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cations that lead to business success. William Booth, like 
John Wesley in his generation, brought about an awakening 
of a realization within us of the possibility of penetrating 
the darksome ways of modern life, which in this era 
before Booth’s advent, had been too much shunned by those 
who sought souls to save in pleasanter and less dangerous 
places. The founder of the Salvation Army recognized the 
fact that the untroubled peacefulness of our homes de- 
pends upon the moral cleanliness of neighborhood envi- 
ronment. The greatest metropolis of America is now 
awakening to a public realization of its shameful bondage 
to organized vicious influences, an awakening which the Sal- 
vation Army in America has done much in an unadvertised 
way to bring about. Would that everyone of us were pos- 
sessed of such zeal as made William Booth’s name come to 
be honored throughout every land in the world, that every- 
one of us could walk along the path of his own perception 
of righteousness as undeviatingly as did this remarkable 
man, for the world needs thousands of men and women who 
are willing to assert their convictions, exemplify their prin- 
ciples and give the world one of those good old-fashioned 
moral housecleanings it only receives once in every three or 
four centuries. 
VACATIONS IN WINTER 
ECENTLY an attempt was made in Europe to inter- 
est employers in the subject of Winter vacations for 
employees. In commenting on this unsuccessful effort the 
New York Times has this to say: ‘The offer of some ex- 
tra days—as many as there are weeks in the Summer vaca- 
tion—will be tempting, of course, but more than counter- 
balancing the temptation will be a realizing sense that there 
are not nearly as many pleasant, healthful, and inexpensive 
things to do out of doors in Winter as in Summer. And 
freedom from work is most desired at the season when 
work is the most irksome and exhausting, which is dur- 
ing hot weather, and while a bank clerk may not greatly 
enjoy his labors when icy winds do blow, at least he does 
not then have to refuse any pressing invitations from forest 
and stream. It probably could be proved that the Summer 
vacation custom is advantageous to employers as well as to 
the employed, since it enables the latter to give better service 
to the former than would a vacation passed as it most likely 
would be in Winter. 
“KNOW-YOUR-CITY” CLUBS 
HERE is much that might be accomplished through 
“‘know-your-own-city”’ clubs. In the smaller cities 
throughout the country the task of gathering sociological 
data as a working basis should not prove an especially diff- 
cult one. Such clubs should meet at stated intervals and 
concentrate major effort upon some one civic problem that 
through energetic and well-directed effort might be solved 
to the betterment of the conditions it affected. In connec- 
tion with this work, an outline map of the city wherein such 
a club might be located would be an invaluable aid, when 
properly charted to indicate slum sections, factories, amuse- 
ment places, etc., in planning a study of the cities we live 
in and in our united efforts to make them clean and decent. 
