The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1896-04-04
w. G. T. u. COLUMN.



g. Il. U. convention held at Pierre last
September, Mrs. Cranmer speaks of the
curfew ordinance as ION of the encour-
aging signs Of the times" 1t had then
been adopted by twenty seven cities and
towns 10 Minnesota and by a few of the
cities OF our own state.
Mrs. Cranmer said: Aberdeen has
tried it a number of months with good
results. Promptly at nine o'clock q
whistle blows and the city bell tolls nine.
Fer the ninth stroke peals forth, little
feet car be seen scampering home.
Could this have been the regulation in
the past all over our nation. our prisons
would not be so full and our police sta
tions would not be doing such u bust
ness"
The chief of police at Lincoln, Neb.,
says that during the enforcement Of the
curfew law for the first month in that
city there has been a falling off in crimes
and arrests of seventy five per cent over
former months.
Omaha dispatch, /: The city council
passed the curfew ordinance over the
mayors veto. The law will go into of.
feet at once.
Soon after the superintendent of the
city schools called the attention of our
citizens to the need Of a curfew here, he
received a letter from a gentleman we'll
and favorably known throughout the
state, who said that he heartily endorsed
all efforts to keep the boys and girls off
the streets at night, and that he had
seen the curfew tried in several places
with good results, and hat he hoped
that Madison also would adopt it.
First, however," he added, II hope the
mothers will organize Mothers Meet
ings and see that something is done to-
wards making the homes more attract
i've to the children, for" he continued,
~ verify believe that some homes are no
more fit places for the children than are
the streets and that unless there is an |
improvement in this respect the curfew
will fail to accomplish what it is design
ed to do"
Mothers Meetings have been held in !
Madison now for several years. They
were organized by Mrs. A. c. Blackmsn,
and under her efficient leadership proved
both interesting and profitable. Since
her removal to another state, we have
not been able to find q leader to equal
her, but the meetings are still kept up,
and those who attend, wish them to be
continued.
Though all members are invited, and
everyone would receive a cordial well
come. still it is probably true that rare
ly, if ever, does the mother whose boys
and girls roam the streets at night, find
herself at a. mothers meeting. We're
she specially invited to attend some par
ticular meeting, she would probably re,
ply that she had not time and that she
thought she would better stay at home
and do this, that or the other thing for
her family, and possibly she feels a self
satisfied complacency in comparing her
self with Mrs. So and So who attends DO
many meetings.
But the mothers who attend these
meetings are not the ones whose chill
are neglected. They consider their
children their most precious treasures,
Of such rare value that it is both q duty
and a privilege to spare no pains to pro-
mote the best interests of the children
not only physically, and mentally, but
also morally and spiritually. And it is
the mothers feel the need OF
help in their responsible work Of train
ng immortal souls that they attend
these meetings, hoping to seceive aid by
comforting With one another, and in
unison praying for divine guidance.
The aim of all Mothers Meetings is to
help the mothers, and the only reason
Tor holding such meetings ia, hat the
mothers may receive from each other in
these meetings suggestions that will aid
them in training up their children to be-
come useful and noble minded men and
,,rc,a