The Portland daily press., 1895-10-11
The Meeting 9''', Of tile Federation Of
Women's Clubs.
MEETINGS so ORDERLY THEY ARE
ALMOST PAINFUL.
Full Account of the Opening Day-Promi-
nent Women Who Are Ihefe-W hat
They Said and Did.
ESPECIAL TO THE PREss.]

and we'll conducted Douy aS Gne aSSeinD-
lage which occupied the Representatives
hall today, there will be a marked change
in the manners of the law makers A
body of e15O men makes considerable
noise. The delegates to the convention
of the Maine Federation OF Women's
Clubs satsas still as the traditional mouse
and Madame President, although she
spoke III ordinary tones, had no difficulty
in making herself heard in all parts Of
| the room. In place of the hustling pages,
tearing up and down the aisles with a
great clatter of feet, several young ladies
of the Augusta clubs moved about as
quietly as nurses in hospital. In this
parliament of literary women, no one
! wrote letters and newspapers did not
| rattle an accompaniment to the remarks
of the speakers. Neither did two Or three
members strive to get the floor and talk
at the same time; nor were there any
of those little exchanges of compliments
which enliven masculine gatherings.
1t was all very decorous and, it must be
confessed, to the visitor accustomed to
the hustle of session of the Maine
House of Representatives, the very deco
rum was at times little depressing. The
ladies who made UP the convention
seemed to be perfectly familiar with
parliamentary usage, and it was notice-
able that among the delegates were
many evidently still in the early twen-
ties. On the platform sat Mrs. Dowst OF
Bangor, the president, and the other
officers of the convention. Among those
in attendance were many ladies promi-
nent in club work in Maine. There
were Mrs Helen Coffin Beedy Of Farm
ington, Mrs. Harriet II. Mcdonald OF
Brunswick, Mrs. Geo. G. Frye, Mrs John
Blanchard, Mrs. Augustus Stevens. Mrs.
j. S. Heald, Mrs. Noah Burgess and
others OF Portland; Mrs. Charles Wood
man. Mrs Godfrey and Mrs Thiesell of
Bangor, and others from all parts OF the
state.
The convention really began last eve
ming when the reception WAS held at the
State House. The apartments were galiy
decorated and the reception was a bril-
liant affair. The guests of honor were
Mrs Ellen Horotin Of Chicago, president
of the National Federation and Mrs.
Florence Horne Hall Of the New Jersey
Federation.
: The real business of the convention
began this forenoon when the delegates
gathered in the Representatives cham
Der where the pasteboard signs on the
walls informed them that the House
meets at $780," An interesting feature of
the forenoon's programme was the re-
ports from the clubs These consisted of
two or three-minute addresses from the
members and from these remarks one
was lead to an appreciation of the educa-
tion and culture of the women OF Maine.
The reports dealt largely with the courses
of reading followed and these included
the best authors in a,wide range of topics
from ancient and modern fiction, and
poetry to history and the sciences. The
club women take keen interest in
the schools as was shown by the reports
of the committee on education, presented
by Mrs Woodman of Bangor, and Mrs.
Osgood of Portland. Mrs. WOodman in
her report for the central and eastern
sections of the state, told how Gardiner
club women had petit1oned for two now
schoolhouses and kindergarten and
hoped to get them. In Bangor the wom-
en- of the clubs had protested against the
appointment of an unsuitable person 10
place on the school board. The OBJ
jectionable person was appointed, but
Mrs. Woodman thought that the remon-
STRANGE in the casefmight dc. good in the
future as it had shown that the women
are awake In another case in one of the
towns from which reports were made,
the protests of the ladies' had prevented
the sending of children to school Kept
in basement room.
Mrs Osgood in her remarks, spoke
OF the failure of many of the clubs to
respond to the circulars of inquiry sent
to them. Mrs. Osgood was constrained
to believe that circulars in envelopes
with one cent stamps were sometimes
| consigned to the waste basket. One club
reported that it had had no time to at
tend to the matter, a statement which
Mrs. Osgood declared did not need COM
ment The teachers in the public schools
of Portland have organized number
of valuable clubs among themselves.
Mrs. Osgood told of the growth OF the
kindergarten system in the Portland
schools and tho establishment of the two
manual training schools The teaching
OF cooking in the school, she SAID, was
something to which they now looked Tor
ward. Mrs. Osgood also referred to the
recent establishment of manual train
ing school in Westbrook.
The delegates then discussed at some
length the various methods OF securing
pictures and statuary for the aGornment
of school rooms. Mrs. Henrotln,, VINO
occupied a Seat on bne plttloIH ooie u
the ARCHITECTURAL beauty OF the schooi
buildings of Denver, Col .Eand the care
given to the surroundings in country
where every shrub and every blade OF
grass has to be watered. The children ap,,
preciate these efforts, for the lawns and
flower beds are neyerstranpled upon.
Mrs Beedy had a word to say OF the
desolate appearanceyof many of the coun-
try school houses The flag now waves
over nearly all of them. but many have
neither green grass or growing. trees
nearby. The Pathological Society is con-
sidering this matter
| Mrs. Hunt of Augusta and Mrs. DoWst
of Bangor told what had been done i'll
the way Of providing pictures and other
| works of art for the high school build
| ings of those cities, and then Mrs. Rob-
| inson of Brunswick called attention to
the cigarette evil and said she wondered
| if it was known that there was an anti
cigarette league in the Brunswick schools.
The delegates were evidently favorably
| impressed by the ideas of such leagues,
one declaring that while the adorment OF
the school houses was certainly praise
worthy understanding, the cara OF the