The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-11-28
A PLEASANT TRIP.
Delegates r etur n
From the Memphis
Convention.
w. CA. WORK is PROSPEROUS.
The Difference in Weather
Was Marked by the
Delegates.
Y. W. C. A. WORK is PROSPEROUS.

The work being done by the Young
Women's Christian association was
we'll brought out at the five days con-
vention which was held in Memphis,
Tenn, closing on Tuesday afternoon of
last week. Worcester sent two dele
gates, Miss Eliza Bernard and Miss
Lena Sheldon. Miss Sheldon was seen
at the Y. w. C. A. building, and she
gave The Spy man an interesting &C
count of the convention.
Miss Barnard and she were met by
the other Massachusetts delegates,
Miss Sarah Root and Miss E. A. Pratt
of Boston and Mrs. w. s. Buxton of
Springfield, and the two days journey
to Memphis was taken together. The
contrast from the New England wealth
er to the balmy air of the south land
was especially noticeable. In Memphis
door yards We're filled with roses IN
bloom, the trees had not yet shed their
foliage, the lawns We're covered with
velvety green, and the wraps that the
young women wore on leaving Wor-
cester were no longer required.
The biennial convention is regularly
given in October, but on account of
possible fear of yellow fever and the
extreme warmth of the early fall, it
was given this year a month later.
The sessions were formally opened
Thursday evening by Mrs. r. A. Dor
man, International president of the as
ISOLATION.
Addresses of welcome were given by
the mayor of Memphis, Hon. J. ]. Will
Jams, and by the pastor of the old his
toric Cumberland Presbyterian church,
Rev, DR.. Hugh S. Williams.
Mrs. Ella Watson, president of the
Memphis Y. w. c. A., gave an address
of greeting to the delegates, which was
responded to by Mrs. Dorman. Mrs.
John McDougall, in behalf of the Can
ada association, also responded. A
general reception and social followed.
The auditorium where the meetings
were held was lavishly decorated with
potted palms and fragrant flowers, and
festoons of Florida moss intertwined
with holly boughs covered with red
berries, were gracefully hung on the
walls. The convention colors red and
white, were displayed everywhere, and
back of the platform the word, "Wel-
come" was formed by the skilful blend
ing of cotton bolls with the red holly
berries. During the evening commit
tees were appointed on credentials, or
ders of the day, invitations, press and
resolutions
The president, Mrs. Dorman, was
presented with a beautiful gavel made
OF pine and cedar, encircled with silver
bands. The pine which composed the
handle was made from a fragment of
the first wooden sidewalk laid in Mem
phis. The cedar head was made from
a piece of an old post that marked
some historic memory of the civil war.
The church in which some of the
meetings were held was used as a
fortress during the war, and from its
port holes now almost covered with
ivy, in those days of fighting about
Memphis, a CALLING fire had poured
down from the massave stone walls
upon the boys in blue, who in turn used
the same building as refuge when
hard pressed by the confederate forces.
Mrs. Buxton of Springfield was the
only Massachusetts delegate to take
part in the convention. On the closing
day she read a paper on the duty of the
association to unemployed young wom-
en-.
On Friday there was a roll call,
responded to by II delegates, Commit
tees reported on new associations that
had been founded since the last con-
vention.
In the afternoon trolly ride was TAX
en- to Rawley Springs, a place of resort
about - miles from Memphis. In the
evening a reception was given in the
Young Women's building. Saturday
children from the Children's Home sang
and recited and invitations were ex-
tended by several pastors to worship at
their churches on Sunday Saturday
afternoon reception was rendered the
delegates by one of the prominent So
ciety women of Memphis, who was as
sisted by the mayors wife, Mrs. Will
liams. During the stay in the hospit-
able old southern city, another recep-
ton was given to the delegates by the
Daughters Of the Confederacy
An important announcement was
made of the Incorporation under the
laws of the state of New Jersey of the
International Women's and Young Wo-
mems Christian Association. The sum
of $155 was pledged towards an endow-
ment fund of the new board, of which
$50 was contributed by Mrs. H. w.
Page of Baldwinsville.
The convention closed Tuesday after
noon. The next meeting will be in
CLEVELAND Ohio in 1901