=Woman and Necessity.= Women have chosen their work because of necessity as well as because of opportunity. A mother of two boys was left a widow with no money. Her people were all poor. If she went back home, the added burden would be an injustice to her parents and would work hardship upon her brothers and sisters. She had too much self-respect to take this course. She knew little about business and had no trade, but she found work in a store and by hard study at night and close application became an expert saleswoman. She sent her boys through college. One of them to-day is a successful lawyer and has served as senator in the state legislature. The other is a practising physician in one of the large cities of the Middle West. Both of these men are eminently successful. This woman contributed more than her share to society and was cheerful and happy in her work. In speaking of her one of the partners in the firm where she was employed said, “There is no person connected with this firm who has created such a wholesome atmosphere as she has done.” A little black-eyed boy was arrested in the north end of Boston and sent to the reform school. He was eleven years old and had become the leader of a gang of boys who had been robbing show-windows. His mother was a Jewess; his father had deserted her and left three children, one just a baby in arms. This woman could find nothing to do that would pay her enough to enable her to provide actual necessities for her children. The baby died and in the distress of the hour the mother appealed to a neighbor. She helped her financially and found a position for her in one of the millinery shops of the city. This woman, in reality a widow, had been able to struggle along but was not very capable. She fought her battle as bravely as she could and was always cheerful, but it was almost too much for her to do the earning that was necessary. Her little boy, without proper guardianship, with no place to play but the streets, got into trouble. It was not only because the mother was at work and thus unable to train her boy, that this new trouble came, but because there is no proper and adequate provision made for women left in her position.