Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-04-24

George &. Ball, Nineteenth street, DelWeci
Tenth and Eleventh avenues. South High
lands. Telephone 9SS)
Birmingham is city of clubs, as every
one at all familiar with us is forced to
admit There are literary clubs, music
clubs, card clubs, bicycle clubs and lunch
clubs not to refer to the many well
managed mems clubs, which contribute
50 much to the pleasure and success or
Birmingham's social life. We have clubs
that meet in the afternoon, clubs that
assemble in the mornings and clubs
which convene when nature sleeps and
the lights burn brightly in the hospitable
homes of our city. We have clubs that
discuss the thrilling questions of the
day, beginning with political matters of
national and foreign import down to the
simplest details which pertain to the
every day existence of women and chill
dren. We have card clubs. We have
card clubs that play for prizes and card
clubs that do not, SO that the field APP
peared to be full, brimming full, and
running over, when 10! another organiza-
ton has come to my knowledge through
a quain little darby, who has lived a
placid, undisturbed life after the manner
OF little darkeys, no matter how the
world ways. Well, this dim!nutive maid
servant came to her indulgent mistress
a few days ago with this simple ques-
ton: Cant you let me off every Mon
day afternoon at half past o'clock?"
This apparently harmless request came
in the nature of a surprise, as this same
servant has that usual habit of her kind
of getting off, not only Monday after
moons, but all the other afternoons, If it
suits her fancy.
So the counter question naturally came
from her mistress: why, Julia, what
do you wish to do every Monday after
noon at the same hour?" "Oh," she re-
Piled, Il belongs to club and 1 want tol
go to the meetings" So 1t was that the
contagion, the club fever, had penetrated
beyond the lines and limitations of the
mistress life into that other phase or
condition of the south which has been
called a problem" But to woman
with the most pronounced clubable in
stincts further investigation of this new
organization naturally followed, and as
result found that fifteen little darkeyS,
who evidently have mistresses who be-
long to clubs, have formed themselves
into a body and propose to met every
Monday afternoon from to 5. They
doubtless have no constitution-there
are few blessings that come from ig-
norance-and they consequently do not
worry about knotty questions touching
parliamentary law, another blessing in
disguise, but they have name. After
discussing all the pros and cons in favor
of this name and that, they decided after
mature uellDeTdtlOH u " Dc hHOWH
henceforth and forever as "The Dog
wood Blossoms" Some of the dusky lit
tie members preferred to be called Snow
Drops" but the majority ruled, and Julia
is now an important factor, charter
member of 1.-The Dogwood Blossoms
The humor and incongruousness she does
not appreciate, so why tell her. She only
knows that the starry, white flowers that
have made drifts of floral snow on the
picturesque heights of Red mountain are
beautiful things that have come with
the early spring, and, with an uncon-
scious yearning after an ideal, she and
her club will hereafter be known as 1.-THE
Dog wood Blossoms" l think Julia will
be a regular attendant at the meetings
of the club, provided the club does not
burden itself with a constitution, by
laws and parliamentary rules. If it
should be so indiscreet, Julia will offer
her immediate resignation, for she will
soon become so mentally entangled, so
hopelessly confused that she will be an
imbecile and nervous wreck in few
weeks and l shall be compelled to dis
pense with her valuable services. Julia
is at liberty to be harmless "Dogwood
| Blossom" once week, but feel too sint
cere an interest in her welfare to permit
her to become constitutional, by-lawry,
| parliamentary "Dogwood Blossom" L
| feel in a. measure responsible for her
| mental and physical condition, and very
| few families of maturer years and whittier
| skin can stand any pronounced and pro-
| tracted spells OF constitution and by
| laws without suffering from nervous
| prostration of a violent form. shall
| protect Julia as far as In me lies from
| the serious and depressing evils and
| burdens of life. She can be four-petal-
] ed ordinary 'Dogwood Blossom" but