Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1893-08-14

CHICAGO, Aug. 13.-The telegraphic
account Of the unpleasantness in the
Board OF Lady Managers have necessar-
lily been OF such fragmeutary charac-
ter that the public generally is much
bewildered as TO what it = hs all about.
The demonstrations of thu difficulty oc-
Cured at perplexingiy irrlgular inter
walls, and with apparent ftrrelevance,
and were given by the HESS to the
public Ia the same way. n short
brief, clear. continuous nartkt Of the
facts in the case, seems advisable and
this has been secured Ny the AS
sociated Press from one Of the members
of the Board, who for obvious reasons
prefers not to be known In the matter.
In the first place, il should be under
stood that the present trouble is largely
= sc,r,atinuatlGe Of the Phoebe Couzins
quarrel, which caosea>So >rau22h unpieas:
autness shortly after the formation Soi
the Board. Mrs. Meredith, of Indiana,
ona of the parties to the late
unpleasantneSs, was an active agent In
the removal of Miss Couzins from the
secretaryship of the board. Mrs. Ball,
of Delaware, was an equally active
fighter or Miss Couzins' side at the time,
and has ever since occupied a position
Of antagonism to the opposing party.
When a few months ago the commit
tea of awards OF the Woman's Board
was formed, Mr.. Ball was made mem
Der of il, and was subsequently elected
its secretary. Mrs. Meredith was the
chairman of this important committee,
which had the duty OF selecting the
women Jurors. Almost as soon as the
committee entered upon It's work the
old antagonism came to the front and
soon produced strained relations be-
tween its members.
These-fve in unumber-were Mrs.
Meredith, Mrs. Ball, Mrs. Ginty, OF
Wisconsin, Mrs. Stevens, Of New Jer-
tey, and Mrs. Fosdck, Of Alabama.
Whatever the differences of opinion
between Mrs. Ball and the other mem
bers Of the committee-who opposed
her as a unit-the public knew nothing
of the trouble till it came before the
board in the following manner:
Miss Cunningham, a member from
South Carolina, in open session made
rather Incorporate protest against the
nOn-representation Of the State on the
juries OF award, charging Mrs. Mere
dith, Chairman Of the Awards Commit
tee, with malice in the matter.
This precipitated the first public
row. the old Couzins faction
rallying to the aid of Miss Cunningham,
while the conservative element as
speedily ranged itself under Mrs, Mere
dith's banner, with much bitterness,
excitement aud Tecriuination upon
both sides. Mrs Meredith made a scath-
ing arraignment Of Mrs. Ball, the Sec
retary of the Committee on Awards
She stated that from the very outset
Mrs. Ball hal been inimical to the In
terests Of the committee and openly
allied with its enemies.
The nervous tension OF the board was
intensified by the general understands
ing that Mrs. Ball would speak in re-
ply, supporting Miss Cuuningham's
charges OF malice against Mrs. Mere
dith." The opportunity for this speech
from Mrs. Ball did not occur, and when
10 was, nevertheless, published in the
morning papers of the following day,
then the fight was on indeed. Mrs.
Ball made another speech, even
more bitter than the published one.
She dlsclaimed responsibility for the
latter, and Miss Cunningham sprang up,
midst hisses and loud cries Of "shame,"
to say herself was the person who had
furnished typewriter copies OF Mrs.
Balls intended speech to the press.
Mrs. Ball wound up with an indictment
of Mrs. Meredith as IA cruel, mer-
cless, vindictve woman" concluding
with an attack upon Mrs.
Nancy Huston Banks, the
member Of tho board Ia charge OF It's
press interests, whom she charged with
having given the article to the report
ers. This was obviously absurd, follow
ing Miss CunniBgham's admission that
she herself was the guilty party. But
Mrs. Banks, nevertheless, now came into
the wrangle TO the extent
of makiug statement of her
connection with the affair. This was
an earnest effort, looking towards the
suppression Of the article as was plainly
in the line of her duty as press repre-
sentative of the board. That let Mrs.
Banks out, but the row went on with
unabated fury, and report from the
Committee on Awards, asking that Mrs.
Ball "be excused from further
service" brought things to climax.
This document was signed by every
member Of the committee, excepting,
Of course, Mrs. Ball. and was finally
adopted after terrific struggle, cOnsti-
tuting virtual impeachment Of that
lady. On the following day, after what
she considered a public vindication,
Mrs. Meredith withdrew the so.called
report, thus restoring things to stdtu
QltO.