West Virginia freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1881-1886, 1884-05-28
Girls in Council.
BY NARCISSA E. WHITE.

. W - y 4AOlCS IIl4Et, |
ing! Well, it certainly would
sight worth seeing-a compaS,
of girls trying to hold a businS,
meeting!" laughingly exclaimed,
gentleman friend a few DAYS ae'
when 1 intimated that, having or.
evening 'of duty" in nv IN,
weeks lecture engagement I'll
Philadelphia, l proposed to snen3
that evening in visiting the bus.
ness meeting of the society unda.
whose auspices labored, !. E., thu
Philadelphia Y. w. C. T. U. Anj
as l sat that night in said 'bnai1
ness meeting l was so firmly per
suaded that my gentleman friend
was right, it was a "sight worth
seeing" that | only wished / coujd
bring in all the poor tired WORKERS
Of the mother W. C. T. U. to gain
new inspiration from the sight Of
these earnest enthusiastic youne
faces, and also bring in all the
halfhearted, derisive skeptics Of
the land, to show them how girls
do conduct a business meeting
But as I could not bring even the
"sisterhoods' there, let me try to do
the next best thing-give you q
pen picture of it.
Imagine, then, a beautiful par
lor in the beautiful home of the
President, Mrs. VIM. Patten. A
parlor adorned with choicest works
of art, and souvenirs of travel, but
this evening made even more at.
tractive by the presence of some
fifty bright, handsomely dressed
girls; for, as the president remark.
ed, owe love the temperance cause
SO much we always give it our
very best-write temperance notes
on our best paper, and wear our
best clothes to it's meetings." In
addition to these fifty young ladies
were some ten or twelve young
gentlemen.
Principally at the hour for the
meeting the president took her
seat behind small table at one
side of the room the vice presidents
seated themselves at her right, the
secretaries at her left. A few ap.
propriate passages of scripture were
read, then all kneeled reverently;
a few moments were spent in silent
prayer, and then the presidents
voice rose in audible words, thank.
ing the dear Father for specific
blessings, the increased member
ship of the Union, the health of the
members, the contributions to their
treasury and then asking for spe-
cifc requests, 4. e., directions in
their plans of work, blessings upon
each line of work, and general
awakening in the city,-in short
what my idea of real prayer is.
Then began the regular program
of the meeting.
The recording secretary called
the roll and read the numbers Of
the last meeting. The financial
secretary read Gas the Unions con
stitution requires) a full report Of
ali monies received, all calls made
by members of the union in behalf
of temperance work, all letters
written, all literature distributed,
The treasurer reported the amount
of money in the treasury at the be-
ginning of the month, monies re-
ceived, the orders drawn on the
treasury up to date, and the bal
ance remaining. When these three
reports were given all had very
clear idea Of the general condition
of the union.
Reports from standing commit
tees were called for: First, report
from chairman of ward work.
Ward work what kind of work
could that be ?D' l mentally asked,
but my mind was soon put to rest
when a fine looking young gentle
man rose and read Gall the reports
were in writing) a carefully pre-
pared statement of the attempt
made to canvass Systematically the
different wards of the city and IN,
troduce temperance papers and
other temperance literature, the
successes and failures of the plans
adopted, and then the report closed
with the sensible recommendation
h q t I 10 l1ninr, oil n,nn Low GOOD