The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-10-04
MINNESOTA CLUBS.

Now the club season begins In earnest, and
1T will be interesting to note how much
more serious, thorough and effective this
years work will be. owing to influence ex-
erted upon local clubs by the national or
ganizations formed for war relief purposes.
The real business Of the world absorbs more
of women's attention now than 1t did five
months ago. They are on the verge Of con-
viction that there Is part which they not
only could do, but ought to do. Says Self
Culture: 1.-THE women convinced that
the country cannot afford to do without
their services in time of war"
IF there Is a hungry family to be fed"
they are saying, 'is 1t the men who are
asked to get the meal7 If there are any
sick in the house, is it the men who are
asked to look after them? These gratuitou
tragedies, by starvation and neglect, would
not have occurred If the women had been
at the head of the commissary department,
IL the hospital organization had been in
dependent and composed partly Of women.
No woman was ever tangled by red tape.
Had women been In charge Of the sick
they would not have lain fever-stricken in
the sand while hundreds of cots were stored
only a few miles from them. AS was the
case at Camp Wikoh, If women had sent
soldiers convalescng from typhoid fever out
for a voyage with nothing but hard tack
water, horribly inadequate corps of physi-
clans and nurses, the world would not have
contented itself with saying that these wo-
men showed incompetence It would have
decided that women had proved, beyond ar
gument, the low status of their intellect,
and have adjudged them unfit companions
for men IN any capacity save as domestics."
Another evidence that club women are real
tZinQr FIJI oir ia no
fact that this year every federated club is re-
quested by the state organization to devote
one day to the discussion of school improve
n2ents.
Apropos of the subject, R. o. Armstrong
calls attention to defect in our educational
system which women's clubs might do much
to remedy by simply influencing the teachers
He says: The cultivation of good behavior
proper conduct under all circumstances, style,
politeness, noble action and beartng-in a
word manners-is the greatest part of educa-
ton, and is in fact the end to be aimed at.
But the popular mind does not associate
good manners" with great knowledge, nor is
the average college student generally accepted
as q model of department
Unfortunately, education has not as much
extension" in its meaning as it is capable Of
carrying This is a direct loss to the present
generation of students, for when ideals are
inferior in one direction, the whole life
suffers. and the general success Of the student
is to some extent retarded
Good manners, furthermore are Of national
Importance. The country owes more than we
think to the stated formalities of office and
public function. Some great men have said ::
Manners are the garments Of the spirit the
external clothing Of the being, in which char
acter ultimates itself" Virtue itself offends
when coupled with forbidding manners" "a
man has no more right to say an uncivil
thing than he has to act -ene-no more right
to say rude thing to another than to knock
him down" To which may properly be
added: HE that ruleth his own spirit is
greater than he that taketh a city" Man
ners make the man" is an old and weIl-ap-
proved maxim.
The smallest club yet reported is the Min
newaska Musical and Literary club, of Glen
wood. 1t numbers eight members, but the
fact that it appears in the year book as one
OF the federated clubs is proof that It's energy
is not to be measured by its size. It's object
Is the cultivation Of a musical and literary
tasts.
The Ladies' Literature class is the Oldest
organization in Duluth, and is among the
best working clubs in Minnesota Among the
lecturers 1T has brought to the city are: Prof.
Charles Zueblin, who begins his series of
lectures in St. Paul Thursday evening: Prof
Ely, Of Wisconsin, and Prof. Richard Bur-
ton. of Hartford