The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1898-10-25

or the Kindness OF the LADIES', ana tnelr
ravenous appetites were abundant
proof of the excellence OF the feast set
before them, fit even for king. He
felt that he could not do justice to the
subject las he had to the feast) but that
he desired to pay tribute to the woman
illness of their hOstesseS and testified to
their excellent culinary and house
keeping qualities as well as to their
culture. Although the sphere of wO-
man is the home. she should not neg
lect the heart and mind.
The influence of a band OF women,
united for common intellectual pur-
pose, as is the Friday Club. can not be
over estimated in the community in
which they live. Not only are they
personally improved mentally and NOR
ally, but their influence goes out to the
other women of the community. and
the men in sheer shame are driven to
talk something else besides shop and to
post up upon current literature and
themes other than politics and bust
ness. Such an intellectual wave, thus
started by the Friday Club, goes out
and out almost to infinitude, like the
waves of the ocean. He said that the
influence of women in the past has not
always been upon the side of the good
and beautiful, as witness Cleopatra and
Helen of Trov, but he quite agreed
with Toodle when he said:
Woman is q trump,
II to her share some human errors fall,
Look in her face and you'll forget them all.
Or with the other poet who said:
AS for the women,
You may scorn and fout 'em,
You may live with
But you cannot i've without 'em.
An old bachelor proposed the toast:
THE union of the states and the union
of the sexes, the one is the beginning
Of mans independence and the other is
Mr.. Kuehnle proposed as substitute
the following toast: Heres to indie
pendent woman, who first inspired man
for desire for independence, to whom
he willingly resigns his personal inde-
pendence and without whom independ-
ence is not worth having"
The speaker referred to the wonder
full progress made by woman in late
years. She has taken wonderful
strides-in fact, she has been great
stopper. (Laughter).
He paid a fitting tribute to woman;
to her benign and restraining influence
ever man, her helpfulness, her kind.
ness IF heart, her charitableness, her
sympathy, her cheerfulness. and above
all, her lndying devotion and love. In
all that pertains to the heart, woman
excells man as the mountain peaks DER
top the plains. Her presence is q bene-
diction. her love the:protecting Aegis Of
man. Her smile is music and poetry.
And vet, great and potent and power
full aS she is. without man she would be
like Sampson, shorn of her strength.
The speaker closed with q poem en-.
titled ''The Mermaid Club" which
gave an account of the Mermaid Gull
tnre Club at their club house meath
the sea, as they discussed. .'Sunshailes
and umbrellas, tan slippers or prun-
ollas''
And when at last mermaid roso
And read thesis to expose
The latest n,veltv in hose,
felt my reason rocking.
But when at last thing was DER,
Aud I was again back on Shore
fell to moral Eing.
And as remembrance came to me
OF other clubs not in the sea.
OF essays read by ladies fair,
Upon tine "why" and whence" and "~here.'
Said 1, ITS not surprising
Mr.. Kuehn!e's toast was we'll re-
ceived and was followed by Mrs. Nc
Coy's on 1.-The Submerged Half, or tho
Men we have left Behind Us.o
The dauntless courage of woman ia
shown in the fact of her attempting to
dispose of even the Submerged half''
in two minute speech. That she has
also discretion-that better part Of
valor-may be gathered from her wait
ing till after her audience had eaten.
according to the good old theory that
the best time to approach q man upon
difficult subject is just after he had .
good dinner. The Friday Club has re-
vised that as we'll as some other theories
as it finds by experience that it is the
only time it can get . man to listen to
it at all. So far in our history no mem.
Der of the sterner sex has paid the Club
the compliment of visiting it at com
mon working meeting. Two or three
times year we lure them in with
promises of something to eat and hay
ing killed the fatted calf in their honor
and given at least semblance of 9 pro-
gram, for even at our festivals. we
never forget that we are literary club
we listen meekly to some alleged wit on
our efforts, aDdto show our Continued
good will in few months do it ali Over
again. 1t is said there 10 q tide in
opinion rs well as well as in the affairs
of men, " and as that tide seems to be
setting strongly woman's way we can
afford to be magnanimOus. for with
all their faults we love them stillo and
would not do without them il We could.
The kind of "men we have left be-
hind us" is illustrated by the following
or true tale:
Once upon time. in a certain conn.
ty, which shall for the present he
nameless. the old settlers decided to
have picnic and a feature of the occa.
sion each township was to be repre-.
sented by one of its citizens, who. in a
brief speech was to give items of inter
est concerning early days in his com
mnnity. The day came, bright and
sunny. and after dinner and the usual
prelimiDaries were over. the orators
were called upon. Alasl of the twenty
townships but three responded. and
they were the ones that had wisely
chosen women to represent them. Sly.
teen men and not word to say. No
equal number of women ever had
record like that.
"The men we left behind us'' are
those who still believe in an education