Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-05-24
! . WORKING GIRLS CLUBS.
Interesting Papers Read at Last Nighi
Meeting In Leavanworth Hall. ~

! rooms of the Young Women's Friendly
league. There were about fifty out of
town delegates present. The following
societies were represented: United Workers
| Hartford, delegates; Perseverance club,
New Haven, 8; Independent club, New
Haven, 3; Working Girls club, New
Britain, 3; Young Women's Christian
league. New Britain, 2; Help Each Other
club, Danielsonville, l.; Earnest Workers,
| ford, 2; Hope club, Rockville, 2; Fidelity
league, New Britain, 6; Young Women's
Friendly league, Waterbury, 6; Havergal
| club, Ansonia, 8; Dauntless club, Bridge
port, 2.
The council meeting was called TO order
at 2:30 o'clock,s Miss Lewis, president
of the United Workers, Hartford presiding
Miss E. r. Eastman, of the committee on
| the vacation house at Madison, reported
that the place would be open July 1. The
council voted to hold its next convention
i'll New Britain. 1t was voted to amend
the constitution so that hereafter one meet
ing instead of two will be held in each
year. The following directors were elected:
First. Miss Woolsey of New Haven; Sec
ond, Miss Lewis of Hartford; third, Miss
Jarvis of Brooklyn; fourth, Miss Dates of
New Britain; fifth, Miss Hayden of Water
bury; sixth, Miss Lonergan of Rockville.
The evening session was held in Leaven-
worth hall and was very largely attended.
Miss Jarvis of Brooklyn, this state, pre-
| sided. The exercises opened with the
| singing of the association song. The form
al address of welcome was delivered by
by Mrs I. N. Russell, president of tho
Young Women's Friendly league. Mrs
Russell said:
| e. "It has been said, dress is woman's vo-
cation, and dressing her avocation.'
| Woman's interests can no longer be de-
| fined in that terse fashion; and in accept
| ing varied responsibilities she is often de-
prived of the safeguards of home at time
when temptation to at least spend her
leisure hours unproftably is especially
alluring. We are pleased to see so many
of our townspeople here, that they may
the better understand the purposes and
needs of the club in reference to these
self-supporting young women. Our league
| is very glad tonight that it joined the as
ISOLATION of Working Girls clubs two
years ago. At the time we felt hesitation
about assuming any outside obligations,
our active membership being less than
thirty, though by some misunderstanding
on our part we included our associate
members, and entered the association
apparently the largest society in the state.
Our active members number to-day 112.
But our relations with the association have
been so helpful to US that we have looked
forward to the May convention-since it
was to be held where SO many of the league
could attend-with anticipations of the
greatest pleasure and profit. The Young
Women's Friendly league of Waterbury ex-
tends to the officers and delegates of the
| different societies a most cordial well
come" ~'F
Miss Jarvis responded for the associa-
ton, Miss Dates of New Britain reported
the receipts of the year to have been SOL :;
the expenditures, .2S; balance, $40, ~.
Mrs Noble then read a very instructive
paper which should be read and pondered
over by many of our young girls. Mrs
Noble showed in a very lucid manner the
selfshness of those people whose first and
last thought is conferred on their own per-
son. She told of young woman among
whose papers after her death were found
| these rules: Always put aside your own
pleasure for another's convenience, your
own convenience for another's comfort,
your own comfort for another's want, your
own want for another's pressing need.
| These, she said were difficult rules to fol-
| low,yet they were the secret of a most sue
cessful life. "Many young girl falls
| into rough or unrefned ways of speaking
| or acting" she said, ''almost unconscious
| ly through daily association with those
who have never been accustomed to the
refnements of life and is often, cruelty
misiudged on that account. While it is by
| no means necessary that q factory girl
should be any less refined and ladylike in
her speech and manner than the clerk, the
stenographer or the teacher, the necessity
of loud speaking to be heard above the
noise of machinery, the free and easy asso-
cistion with men and boys who are not al
| ways as careful of the small courtesies of
| life as they should be, and many other I'M
avoidable features of factory life, do tend,
in many cases, to render a girl somewhat
| rough and careless in her ways, though she
may be really good and pure of heart"
The audience was then treated to few
| selections by the Pizzicati club. Miss
Margaret Sullivan of Hartford followed
with carefully prepared paper on some
of the important proceedings of the
national convention of Working Girls
clubs, held in Boston a few weeks ago.
| 1.-The Rose" and 1.-The Miller's Song were
then given in very acceptable manner by
the following quartette: Mrs R. N. Blakes-
lee, Mrs q. S. Treadway, Miss Gertrude
M. Smith and Miss Emma G. Townsend.
Miss Jarvis read a paper, contributed
by a working girl of Baltimore, on
''Women Branches in the Knights of
Labor"
Ex-Labor Commissioner Hotchkiss was
then introduced and delivered an address
which showed that the speaker was thor
oughly conversant with his subject. Mr.
Hotchkiss said that much of the difficulty
existing between employer and employe is
due to the want of proper understanding.
He gave brief history of factory life in
America and told of the time when the
only work the woman had to do was in the
home. Then she was not exposed to the
same dangers that surround her to-day.
He paid a high tribute to the Irish and
German immigrants of half century ago,
who came tn the shores of America with
honest hearts and willing hands in the
hope of securing better homes for their
children than they ever had known them
selves. The children of those people, he
said, are Americans in the fullest sense of
the word. The recent influx of immigra-
ton of southern Europe he considered in
ferior to the former. but thought that they
could be taken by the hand and lifted up
from their lowly state. The speaker said
that the labor question should be con-
sidered in a thoughtful, studious spirit
and no one had any right to look it over in
any other spirit.
A vote of thanks was rendered to
the Women's Friendly league of this city,
and at the request of the president the
audience rose and sang america"