The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-05-14
WOMAN MISSIONARIES Proceedings of the Twenty Sixth Annual Meeting of the New Haven Branch, Woman's Board of
 Missions.
REPORTS AND ADDRESSES
THE BENEFICENT WORK OF THE BRANCH IN FOREIGN FIELDS.


 Impressively Set Forth in the Reports of the Various OfHcers-A Cheering Message Sent to Brave Workers in Distant Fields-Miss Susan Daggett of New Ha- ven Presided at the Meeting-Mrs. Hotch- kiss of Torrington Made the Address of Welcome--Addresse by Mrs. William H. Child of Boston, Home Secretary of the Woman's Board Officers Elected-A Pa per for Young Ladies by Mrs. H. A. Smith ofNew Haven-Discussions and Large Amount of Regular Business Transacted.
 The twenty-sixth annual meeting of the New Haven branch of the Woman's Board of Missions was held at the Third Congregational church, Torring ton, Conn.,, Tuesday, May Ii, 1S97 Miss Susan E. Daggett presiding.
 The minutes of the last annual meet ing read by Mrs. McLane, were follow ed by the singing of hymn 79S, Thou Whose Almighty Word"
 Scripture messages were delivered by the representatives of the four counties of the branch, and a response was giv- en through Miss Daggett from the ex- ecutive committee.
 Prayer was offered by Mrs. Macphie of New Haven.
 An address of welcome was given by Mrs. Hotchkiss of Torrington.
 The report of the recording secretary, read by Mrs McLane of New Haven, was as follows:
 REPORT OF THE RECORDING SEC
 RETARY.
 A year ago the New Haven branch celebrated it's twenty-fifth anniversary with appropriate exercises. There were tender "reminiscences and thanksgiv- ings, gifts and congratulations, greet ings from sister branches, stirring mis- sionary addresses, rehearsal of the work accomplished, and an appeal for the growing needs of the future The memory of these two is a very pleasant one, and 1t was hoped by those who, long beforehand, with thought and prayer, had planned for the occasion, that the good effects resulting from it would extend far into the coming year.
 To aid in securing this the executive committee of the branch held special meeting soon afterwards, and endeav- ored to gather up and summarize what ever practical suggestions had been made. These together with the best thought of the committee regarding new needs and new efforts, were en- bodied later in a paper and sent out through the vice presidents to auxilia- ries. To this paper Mrs. Sheldon con- tributed thought suggested by one of the anniversary hymns-that we are indeed standing at the portal" with a great opportunity before us; and Mrs Hume brought, among other recom- mendations, this-that at every auxil- iary meeting these two subjects be pre- sented: Increased membership at home and more prayer for the work abroad. A paper of similar import was prepar- ed and sent throughout the junior de- partment.
 It was found that the special anniver- sary offering had amounted to S1,600, but the treasurer, not satisfied with this, still held the door of opportunity open, and wrote letters to delinquent societies inviting them to live up to their privileges. This resulted in a further contribution of over $500, mak- ing the total amount of the anniversa- ry offering $2,111.16. The treasurer pre- pared also special message concern ing the claims of the treasury to be read at the county meetings.
 By November it became evident that these measures were wisely taken, as the Woman's Board at it's annual meet ing made an appeal to it's constituency for permanent advance of s1O.000, this sum being needed to sustain the natu- ral growth of its work. In response to this appeal the New Haven branch de- cided to ask its societies to assume a moderate amount of additional work and consider it permanent; and to make this possible a systematic effort for increased membership was under taken.
 The question how to reach uninter- ested women-a question which is al- ways present with the executive com mittee-was earnestly discussed at the
 
 Der, and the following conclusions were reached: To interest the uninterested there must be individual earnestness. personal effort, constant stimulus, giv- en to auxiliaries, a thorough canvass of churches. readiness in using approved means, and ingenuity in devising new ones. The value of the missionary con- cert in churches was dwelt upon, and an earnest desire was expressed for the more hearty cooperation of pastors in furthering the interests of the Womau's Board.
 As a practical outcome of this dis russion it was decided U prepare a brief statement regarding the work of the woman,s Board, its present needs, and its desire for larger constituency. and to ask the pastors throughout the ter ritory of the branch to read this state inert previous to a thorough canvass of the churches.
 This measure, which was favorablv