ly visiting in the preceding pages have been
given with a view to elucidating some particular part of visiting work.
Some of the following instances show the possibilities and
discouragements of continuous visiting, and the last illustration
emphasizes an important fact in the life of poor neighborhoods; namely,
the unconscious but restraining and uplifting influence of good
neighbors. On this same phase of the subject, see Charles Booth's "Life
and Labor of the People," Vol. I, p. 159.

_Home Libraries and the Visitor._--A visitor reports that "a library has
been established in the room of Mrs. ----, where the boys of the tenement
house meet every Saturday afternoon to receive or exchange their books,
discuss with the visitor the books they have read, listen to stories as
they are read or narrated, and to play games. This little gathering
seems to have improved the moral and social atmosphere of the entire
tenement house."

The woman who has charge of the library first became known to this same
visitor over four years ago, {198} when she was struggling upon the verge
of starvation, and almost giving up in despair from the effort to support
herself and her two children. Through the efforts of the visitor she is
now comfortable and practically self-supporting. She has been made
librarian for the tenement house by the visitor, and is proud of the
distinction. The following are the exact words of the visitor: "She
welcomes the children into her room, made scrupulously clean and
attractive; and as she sits at her work and listens to their games and
readings, in which she frequently participates, her depressed spirits
rise, and she seems to gain courage, and to feel that there is after all
something bright in her life."--Sixteenth Report of Cincinnati Associated
Charities, p. 13.

_After Five Years._--The C. family--father, mother, and eight
children--were in a very depressed condition when I first made their
acquaintance, five years ago. The father, who was a consumptive, had
lost his position of travelling postman; the mother was ill; and the only
source of income was a monthly pension of $8.00 and about $8.00 a week
earned by the three eldest girls, who were saleswomen. The rent was
$15.00 a month, and the family heavily in debt. I succeeded in finding
them a house for $9.00 a month, and found assistance in flour, coal, and
clothing. An unknown friend undertook to add $1.00 a month to {199} Mr.
C.'s pensio