The herald., 1896-03-12
THE WOMAN'S PRESS CLUB
Held Its Second Session Of the Conven.
tion Yesterday
Husic and Social Gathering In the
Evening-A Satisfactory Day

| The second day Of the Southern Califor-
mia Woman's Press club convention, held
in the chamber of commerce., yesterday
| passed very successfully with two open
sessions, afternoon and evening, which
evolved from the literary character of the
beginning to very decidedly social turn
at the end. The transition probably arose
| from the interspersion of musical features
in the last program. Or the reason may
| have been congenial element introduced
toward the close, of brief and witty
speeches by men of letters.
At the afternoon session Mrs. j. Torrey
Conner of Los Angeles read an essay In
the Footsteps of 'able-in which she gave
characteristic impressions of New Orleans,
that city romantic in its reality, which has
been explored in fancy through the power
full pen of Gable.
ldealism in Literature was the next
topic. which was written and presented by
Miss Ella A. Giles. This address as a
literary composition was very finished
production. 1t drew fine comparisons be-
tween realism and idealism. The chief
distinction between the two methods of
writing was believed to be style. Miss
| Giles also turned the trend of her thoughts
to the adaptation of idealism to every day
hum-drum existence. Through it ran a
| very pleasing thought, disillusioning the
| no poetry. She believes that even in the
daily grind the path of the idealst reveals
vistas of beautiful thoughts and ennobling
ideas.
| Mrs. Susie NJ. Sweet of Pomona followed
| with a paper on Scraps. She mentioned
many kinds or scraps, beginning with those
| of the housewife and what che does with
them, to the literary, scientific and musical
scraps. With the musical, short intervals
| appeared that were appropriately filled in
with illustrative songs, very artistically
| given by Mrs. HelenM. Taylor of Pomona,
formerly of New York city.
| Personal "Reminiscences of Literary PEG.
! pie was next given by Miss A. A. Chevail-
lier of La Crescenta. Living in Boston
| nome in an atmosphere of literary charac.
teIs, Miss Chevaillier was enabled to We
interesting memory sketches of Longfel-
low, Emerson, Bryant. Edward Everett
Hale, Bellamy, Walt Whitman, Lowell,
Robert Browning, Wendell Phillips and
many others.
| Mrs. G. M. Severance, at the close of the
afternoon session, made the first and only
real address of the convention by wo.
man. she gave many interesting reminis-
cences OF her personal acquaintance with
sally Joy White. Kate Tannatt Woods,
Mary A. Livermore, Lucy Stone and her
daughter, Alice Stone Blackwell, Mary
Mapes Dodge and many others,
In reference to her own work she said:
My own beginnings in public ways with
the pen and press were in my young wife,
hood and motherhood, as social questions
| and needs forced themselves upon me, and
and as beg an to realize that nothing hui
man is foreign to the home and its inter-
ests, and as the years went on my convic-
ton and my ardor grew.
10 press women and other writer's Mrs.
Severance addressed herself thus:
NJO not lower yOCIr own idaolo To n o,,x,-
| posed necessity. Appeal to he highest and
| best in the human mind and you will find
| it. Make your work distinctive, after your
! own Ideal. and your success must come in
time, and l am sincerely happy in this
belief, for my faith in woman's capacitv
! and possibilities is almost boundless
"Another word is borne in upon me. No.
where else have seen such utter disregard
! OF the ninth commandment. l impiore
you women OF the pen to restore it and to
save the city from opprobrium and from
| threatened danger"
In the evening W. G. Patterson of the
chamber of commerce opened the exer-
cses. The Guitar and Mandolin club was
on the program for two numbers, These
were found 30 pleasing that several encores
we're insisted on, Which were gracefully
complied with.
Miss Hattie j. Elliott reviewed the wears
work of the club, and Miss Josephine Gil
man OF Chicago gave q very fine recitation,
A paper very cleveriy written, setting forth
the details OF WON m work as journalist,
by Mrs Lillian 2. Ferguson of San Fran.
cisco, emitted. A Press Clubs Possibilities.
was read by Mrs. Clara 5. Brown.
Mrs. Rebecca Spring followed with a few
beautiful "reminiscences of her association
many years ago with Robert an 4 Et,zabeth
Browning, Bryant and others, after which
two very taking speeches were made nv
Major Carrere of the Express and William
II. Knight, president of the Science asso.
citation.
Mr.. Knight said many charming and
complimentary things to women generally.
and to the women of the Press club i'm mar
ticular. Major Carrere expressed his ideas
very .wiftily and to the great satisfaction of
all the women on the subjects in news.
paper work that he thought women conId
do better than men. But he believed tha,
women had not yet arrived at the stage O,
being good ed tors. He knew it to be onite
impossible for number OF women after a
journalistic squabble to 60 out and have a
drink OF soda water together.