With the hope of checking the terrible evil of immorality which is doing
such harm in the city, several associations for the reformation of fallen
women have been organized by benevolent citizens.
One of the most interesting of these is "_The Midnight Mission_," which
is located at No. 260 Greene street, in the very midst of the worst
houses of prostitution in the city. It was organized about four years
ago, and from its organization to the latter part of the year 1870, had
sheltered about 600 women. In 1870, 202 women and girls sought refuge in
the Mission. Twenty-eight of these were sent to other institutions,
forty-seven were placed in good situations, fifteen were restored to
their friends, and forty-nine went back to their old ways. The building
is capable of accommodating from forty-five to fifty inmates. The
members of the Society go out on the streets every Friday night, and as
they encounter the Street Walkers, accost them, detain them a few moments
in conversation, and hand each of them a card bearing the following in
print:
[Picture: CARD]
This invitation is sometimes tossed into the gutter or flung in the face
of the giver, but it is often accepted. More than this, it is a reminder
to the girl that there is a place of refuge open to her, where she may
find friends willing and able to help her to escape from her life of sin.
Even those who at first receive the card with insults to the giver, are
won over by this thought, and they come to the Mission and ask to be
received. Many of them, it is true, seek to make it a mere
lodging-house, and deceive the officers by their false penitence, but
many are saved from sin every year. The inmates come voluntarily, and
leave when they please. There is no force used, but every moral
influence that can be brought to bear upon them is exerted to induce them
to remain. The preference is given to applicants who are very young.
Those seeking the Mission are provided with refreshments, and are drawn
into conversation. They are given such advice as they seem to need, and
are induced to remain until the hour for prayers. Those who remain and
show a genuine desire to reform are provided with work, and are given
one-half of their earnings for their own use.
The Midnight Mission is a noble institution, and is doing a noble work,
but it is sorely in need of funds.
[Picture: SCENE IN THE MAGDALEN ASYLUM.]
The other institutions for the reformation of fallen women are the "House
of the Good Shepherd," on the East River, at Ninetieth street, the "House
of Mercy," on the North River, at Eighty-sixth street, and the "New York
Magdalen and Benevolent Society," at the intersection of the Fifth avenue
and Eighty-eighth street. These are all correctional establishments, and
more or less force is employed in the treatment of those who are
refractory. Many of the inmates are sent here by the courts of the city.
The "House of the Good Shepherd" is a Roman Catholic institution, and is
in charge of the Sisters of the order of "Our Lady of Charity of the Good
Shepherd." The other two are Protestant institutions. The "House of
Mercy" is conducted by the Protestant Episcopal Church. The Magdalen
Society is not sectarian. All are doing a good work. The statistics of
the "House of the Good Shepherd" give a total of about 2900 inmates in
twenty-two years. How many of these were reformed, it is impossible to
say. The statistics of the "House of Mercy" are not available, but its
inmates are said to number about one hundred annually. The "Magdalen
Society" has a noble record of its thirty-five years of usefulness. It
is as follows: Total number of inmates, 2000; placed in private families,
600; restored to relatives, 400; left the Asylum at their own request,
400; left without permission, 300; expelled, 100; transferred temporarily
to the hospital, 300; died, 41; received into evangelical churches, 24;
legally married, 20.