accepted. At the same time a small capital was deposited to furnish loans to those who wished to start in business.

The Lette-Verein was no longer the only institution of this kind. In November, 1869, meetings of different associations of women for education and industry were called. I only mention the popular kitchens of Mrs. Morgenstern, the Victoria Lyceum, with its noble directress, Miss Archer, the Academy of Female Painters and Friends of Art, the Laborers' Union for learning and social entertainment — all these and many others were founded on the same principles. In autumn, 1872, the Lette-Verein settled in its own home, Königsgrätzer Strasse, ninety; the Victoria-Stift had thirty-eight residents, and a matron who was as a mother to the young girls. The commercial and drawing school, comprising a large number of classes, occupied two stores. Several halls were given to the ladies for restaurants. An agency for the registering of pupils was opened, and books were started to keep an account of the scholarship and development of different classes. The opening ceremony was honored by the presence of the Crown Prince Frederick Wilhelm, and the Princess Victoria, our high protectress. When the secretary, Miss Hirsen, had finished her report, the prince said: "Did I understand you well? You possess eight thousand dollars; you have borrowed twenty-five thousand dollars; you bought a house worth ninety-five thousand dollars, and you say this as unconcernedly as if everything was right. How will you continue?" "We don't know," she answered, "but we trust; the past gives us hope for the future." "Your faith will help you," replied the prince, and so it was. The words of our beloved emperor, who was himself so great a sufferer and so faithful a believer, were as a prophecy.

Twenty-seven years have passed since the Lette-Verein was founded. Its schools occupy three buildings; its pupils, now numbering fourteen hundred, come from every part of the world, many of them from America and Australia. We teach almost every branch of woman's industry — dress

making, manual labor, millinery, fine needlework, sewing by machine, cutting of linen, hair-dressing, ornamental drawing, fabrication of artificial flowers, washing, ironing, cooking, housekeeping, and bookkeeping. The course of study is optional. Pupils may choose a single branch or a number of branches. Charges are small and the teachers of the best. We seek to grant as much free instruction as possible. Our pupils are not from the poorer classes alone, but from the wealthiest families; many a bride seeks here to perfect herself in the art of housekeeping, that she may be able to instruct her servants properly. The house resounds with youth and gladness, and delight in work. Order and cleanliness are strictly observed, and the relations between pupils and teachers are most cordial. The certificates from the commercial school enable our pupils to find good situations as bookkeepers, those in manual labor open to them positions as teachers in manual training schools.

The agency and inquiry office in 1892 supplied as many as two thousand ladies with positions as teachers in scientific and technical branches, as kindergartenerinnen, lady companions, etc.

The institution last opened is a photographic school, where young girls learn not only the art of photography, but every kind of graphic reproduction, retouching, coloring, etc.

The Lette-Verein has grown until it has come to be one of our largest institutions. Its means are small, but its president and chairman, filled with a spirit of love, are working bravely and fearlessly; they try to recognize the needs of the time, and of life, and are always willing to exchange the good for the better.

Many similar institutions conducted on the same principles have been founded during the past years, and their prosperity shows the usefulness of their existence. Many tears have been dried, many eyes have grown brighter, many a young heart has won new hope; indeed, much has been accomplished, and, gratified with our results, we struggle on to mend the evils of the time.

A NEW AVENUE OF EMPLOYMENT AND INVESTMENT FOR BUSINESS WOMEN - ADDRESS BY JUANA A. NEAL OF CALIFORNIA.

While in 1836 only six occupations were open for women bread-winners, viz., teaching, millinery, sewing, tailoring, factory labor, and domestic service, now over three hundred are open, and women are successful in all these, with new avenues opening every day. Women entered four hundred applications for patents last year. Women are everywhere, in colleges, banks, stores, and counting-houses, as clerks and capitalists, managing with distinguished success both small and large affairs.

An avenue which has only recently been open to women, and which promises to her wonderful opportunity, is life insurance, which appeals to women as strongly as to men. Leading companies are among the greatest institutions of finance in the world. Thirty companies possess assets of over nine hundred and three million seven hundred and thirty-four thousand five hundred and thirty-seven dollars, and their total income for 1892 was two hundred and thirtytwo million twenty-four thousand nine hundred and ninetythree dollars. The number of policies in force in these thirty companies is one million five hundred and thirty-two thousand eight hundred and twelve; of these policies the number carried by women is estimated at only seventeen thousand. Policy holders were paid in 1892 one hundred and two million six hundred and twenty-one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one dollars, and in the last fifty years one billion five hundred million dollars has been paid to beneficiaries. This provision when realized by women must appeal peculiarly to them. What homes this has kept unbroken! We must acknowledge life insurance to be a safety-bridge that even death can not break.

The largest insurance carried by a woman in the United States is four hundred thousand dollars, one hundred thou