10. VII. 1910.
Dear Sir or Madam,
As President of the Council of Honorary workers in London, I am most anxious to bring before your notice the great work undertaken by the "Ada Leigh Homes" in Paris for British & American girls, & to make an earnest appeal to you for help in any form, to carry on this most important task, namely the care of our unprotected countrywomen [page 2] abroad. Few people in their sheltered British Homes realize the number of our young girls, too often the orphan Daughters of our Professional men, who seek to gain a livelihood in Continental Cities, of which Paris is the key.
Many of these Girls are at the mercy of unscrupulous agents, or of those who are ignorant of the grave differences of Foreign Law to our own.
Their youth & inexperience, linked with their slender resources & lack of knowledge of the language, expose them to unforeseen & grave dangers [page 3] in a strange land, where many watch them for evil & few have any regard for their good.
It is in order to assist & protect these women, that the "Ada Leigh Homes" were founded 38 years ago. Since then, they have had 23,339 young women residents, & have found through their Free [Registry] 10,799 reliable situations for them.
But of late years the annual expenditure has been greatly in excess of the income, partly owing to very heavy repairs to the property, the loss through death of some of the [page 4] largest subscribers, & also owing to the increasing number of applicants for help. Besides accumulating an ugly deficit, this cripples the work in its efficiency by the enforced limitation of its staff.
This work has been so very quietly done, that many do not even know of its existence, & it calls for a much wider circle of friends & supporters.
No country can afford to lose sight of its friendless & homeless girls, least of all, those of our more refined classes.
When such as one finds herself shadowed by so much which even [page 5] in our own land would be adverse to her highest interests, how much more intense is the appeal for help when she is a Stranger in a foreign City!
Yours sincerely
Princess Alexander of Teck
P.S.
All communications or offers of help should be addressed to the Foundress of these Homes. Mrs Travers Lewis.
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