Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1895-11-14
Correspondence.
Names Club Women.
OLDToWN, Nov. 4, 1895.


To the Editor of The American:
Having been requested by former res
THE AMERICAN of the gathering of the
womeniof the women's clubs of Maine at
Augusta, a few weeks ago, l proceed SO
to do. | must, however, be allowed few
words of preface.
The woman who requested me thus to
do is like all former residents of your
county, a lover of the place. She is like
all of .us, proud of THE ELLSWORTH
AMERICAN, which has always been and
STILL is such clean sheet that we are
glad to claim an interest i'll it. Again
she assured me that there was no county
with more bright women in proportion
to its inhabitants than Hancock county,
and as they were not as largely repre-
sented at the federation as they should
be, she desired this written, hoping it
would awaken an interest. Had but one
woman from each town in your county
attended the federation, they would have
become sufficiently enthused to have
awakened a lasting interest in all the
other women of their town.
The officers who have served for the
past year and were reelected at Augusta
to fill the same offices for the present
year are: Mrs. IL. +. Dowst, Bangor,
president; Mrs. Anna Sargent Hunt,
vice president; Miss Bertha l.. Soule,
Bath, treasurer Mrs. IL. M. Esterbrooke,
Orono, secretary; Mrs. Helen B. c.. Beedy.
Pennington, auditor. The various com
mittees were filled by able women, just
the ones for the places, it seemed.
The honored guests of the occasion
were Mrs. Ellen NJ. Iienrotin, president
General Federation Women's clubs, and
Mrs. Florence Howe Hall, state chairman
correspondence &. +. w. for New Jersey
The reception, which was the beginning
of the gathering, was the time when old
acquaintance were renewed and new ones
formed, which made Il most delightful
opening.
Thursday morning saw The real opening
of the fourth annual meeting of the
Maine Federation of Women's clubs. The
welcomes from the Current Events club
and the Unity club of Augusta, the clubs
through whose courtesy the federation
was thus entertained, We're given by Mrs.
Anna Sargent Hunt and Mrs. Emma
Huntington Mason, respectively. Mrs.
Dowst ably responded in her address d,
The various reports were then given.
Perhaps as interesting as any, and the
one in which all clubs should have vital
interest, was the reciprocity bureau by
Miss IneZ \. Blanch hard, of Portland,
from whom all information i'll regard to
this bureau should be obtained. This is
of great interest to all club BIS, and through
it each may gain knowledge of the
other. Its object is to make it possible
for an interchange of thought among the
clubs, by obtaining able papers given at
each.
The report of the National Household
Economic association by the vice-presl-
dent of Maine, Mrs. Sarah +. Hamilton, of
Saco, should by no means pass unnoticed
by any club. The report of the educa-
tional committees and the discussion
which followed on the State board of
educate ion is a vital question: Some most
excellent ideas were brought out, none
more apt than that given by Mrs. Robin
son, wife of Prof. Robinson, of Bowdoin
college.
The afternoon session brought out the
discussion of the relation of the State
federation to the club, by Mrs. Harriet
Haskell Mcdonald, of Brunswick, and
the relation of the club to the State
federation, by Mrs. Augusta Cakes
Learned, Auburn. Each was opportune
and showed that there was a close rela-
ton which should not be overlooked.
One of the most able papers of the con-
vention was 1.-The Value of the Bible in
Literary Study" by Mrs. Noah p. Burgess,
of Portland. | sincerely hope that every
club of the State will make an effort to
have Mrs Burgess come before them
with this paper. To get the full worth of
this-which is beyond the telling-it
needs Mrs Burgess to read this paper, as
she conveys a world of meaning to each
line.
The Parliamentary Talk, by Mrs. Eta
II. Osgood, of Portland, was most in
structive. 1t would be we'll if every club
could receive instruction from Mrs.
Osgood, who makes the instruction in
teresting and entertaining in her pleasing
manner.
The reports from the different clubs
were Of interest to all, and of course
formed an important part of the fedora
ton gathering. Miss Lillian Smith, of
Skow hogan, gave paper on Morality in
Fiction which was one of the able and
interesting events of the gathering. The
address in memory of Mrs. Charlotte
Emerson Brown was by Mrs. q. c. Frye,
of Portland; report of committee on
neurology, by Mrs Sarah A. Hanson, of
SkoW hogan.
40, b,,r, Il