Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-14
"WHITE RIBBONERS. .
Women Who Work Earnestly in the
Temperance Cause.
FOUR OF THEIR LEADERS.
All Have Been Engaged in the W. @. T. q. and
All Have Accomplished Great Good-A Con-
vocation to Begin Here Tomorrow-Pro-
gram of the Exercises

lOfuOrTOW dIteruOOn I0trc Will hsscfioAc III
this city large and representative body of
women from all parts Of the country who are
interested heart and soul in the great question
of temperance. 1t is TO be a great convocation
of white ribboners'' held under the auspices
Of the National Woman Christian Temperance
Union
More than o hundred of the prominent tenn
perance workers from all parts of the land are
expected to be here for the sessions Of the con-
vocation, which will last until the following
Sunday, with two meetings each day. The
first session will be at Congregational Church,
but after that they will be held at the Foundry
NJ E Church, corner 14th and G. streets.
NOT CONVENTION.
This meeting ia not in any sense q con VEN
ton, nor is il probable that the women will or
gAnizs a. a body for purposes of business The
meeting is Q national one, but will not be made
up Of delegates or representatives from the
various districts into which the great field Of
work in this country is divided. On the con-
trary, the sessions will be devoted mainly to
papers, addresses, discussions of methods of
work and to advocating the principles of the
cause The annual convention of the union
was held in Atlanta in the fall and was largely
attended and aroused great enthusiasm on all
sides. The convention, occurring as it does
always in the fall, takes place during the recess
" OODSrcps anu to q Iccult, IL were utlu III
this city, it would not affect the members of
the body that the women Of the union are most
anxious to influence. Perhaps that has had
something to do with the calling of the convo-
cation for this city next week.
IMPORTANCE or THE NATIONAL W. c. To.
Few people realize the Importance of the
National woman's Christian Temperance Union
even from a numerical point of view, and when
il comes to getting together the statistics to
show the amount of work accomplished that is
too much to ask of any one. The union, with
Its fortyfour auxiliary state and five territorial
unions, besides that Of the District of Column
bia, Is the largest society ever composed exclu-
sively Of women and conducted entirely by
them. 1t has been organized in every state and
territory Of the nation, and locally in about
10000 towns and cities, Great Britain, Canada
and Australia, Hawaiian Islands. New Zealand
India and Japan. NADIA gsscar and South
Africa have also organized, and there are
As general estimate it has been
stated that there are about 10 900 local unions
including Young Woman's Christian Temper
ance unions, with a membership of about
5000 and direct following of z5O.O 900. This
society "a the descendant of the temperance
crusade Of 1874 and is . union of Christian
women for the purpose of educating the
young; forming q better public sentiment; re-
forming the drinking classes; transforming by
the power of Divine Grace those who are
.h.I,,,or ~ ,h Ii-,c, - a., - - 70 ,as.ai -
6cers OF he unida are as follows: Presid ent.
Miss Frances l. Willard, Evanston. H.; 4iiss
Anna A Gordon, private secretary, Evanston,
Ill: corresponding secretary, Mrs. Caroline b.
Buell., ONE, Evanston, ILL.,; recording secEe-
tary, Mrs Mary A. Woodbridge, kavenna,
ONO; assistant recording secretary, Mrs L. ii.
N Stevens, Portland, Me-: treasurer, Miss
Esther Pugh, Evanston, Ill
WHEN IT WAS ORGANIZED.
The National W CTU has no,x h.e, o--
- - ~" u
saiii<eo seventeen years Tvs WORK Is COM
prised under the general divisions OF pre-
ventiye. educational. evangelistic. social and
legal, besides the department of organization.
II began the movement for scientific temper
ance education in the public schools, having
been instrumental in securing laws to that end
N Az out Ten Oh the states. anu besides TINS IL
- yh;ch an An ;aes;,r;. "a ,ho oy means
Columbia are brought under the same statutes.
and one-half the children of America who are