r them independent
of charity, and capable of self-support.

Three ladies (and perhaps more), Mrs. Springer, of St. Louis, in behalf
of the Ladies' Aid Society of that city, Miss Katherine P. Wormeley, of
Newport, R. I., and Miss Helen L. Gilson, of Chelsea, Mass., applied to
the Governmental purveyors of clothing, for the purpose of obtaining
this work. There was necessarily considerable difficulty in
accomplishing their purpose. The army of contractors opposed them
strongly, and in the end, these ladies were each obliged to take a
contract of large amount themselves, in order to be able to furnish the
work to the wives and daughters of the soldiers. In St. Louis, the terms
of the contract were somewhat more favorable than at the East, and on
the expiration of one, another was taken up, and about four hundred
women were supplied with remunerative work throughout the whole period
of the war. The terms of the contract necessitated the careful
inspection of the clothing, and the certainty of its being well made, by
the lady contractors; but in point of fact, it was all cut and prepared
for the sewing-women by Mrs. Springer and her associates, who, giving
their services to this work, divided among their employes the entire
sum received for each contract, paying them weekly for their work. The
strong competition at the East, rendered the price paid for the work,
for which contracts were taken by Miss Wormeley and Miss Gilson, less
than at the West, but Miss Gilson, and, we believe, Miss Wormeley also,
raised an additional sum, and paid to the sewing-women more than the
contract price for the work. It required a spirit thoroughly imbued with
patriotism and philanthropy to carry on this work, for the drudgery
connected with it was a severe tax upon the strength of those who
undertook it. In the St. Louis contracts, the officers and managers of
the Ladies' Aid Society, rendered assistance to Mrs. Springer, who had
the matter in charge, so far as they could, but not satisfied with this,
one of their number, the late Mrs. Palmer, spent a portion of every day
in visiting the soldiers' families who were thus employed, and whenever
additional aid was needed, it was cheerfully and promptly bestowed. In
this noble work of Christian charity, Mrs. Palmer overtasked her
physical powers, and after a long illness, she passed from earth, to be
reckoned among that list of noble martyrs, who sacrificed life for the
cause of their country.