The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-02-23


in mind and body, hospitable to de-
gree and charitable and warm of heart,
and yet with a reserve withai which
refuses ever to be Hobsonized, the
women of California are the peers OF
their sisters of any age or cline.
Throughout the world, in all paths
of life, in the sphere of art, literature,
| music, behind the footlights and in the
fields Of science, the names of Callfor-
MIA women are among the first. Wnen
! SO recently our great nations cry lot
aid rang throughout the country the
| first to respond to the call were the
sons of California-and they are ngnt-
| ing nobly now; and, cheering them on
proud Of their yalor and the nation that
called them, with smiling hips ana acn-
ing hearts, were the brave daughters OF
| this fair State, whose patriotism mas
been proven as well as that OF their
brothers. All the qualities which make
women most worthy of love, admiration
and respect are to be found IN the
women of California-God bless them.
| One of the most graceful and fel1c-
! itous of all the addresses was that OF
Mrs. William Mead. In response to
Social Calls she said, in clear, Well
modulated tones:
| Madam Toastmistress and ladies:
In the words of Charles Dudley War
ner, I would like to call attention to
the noble, self-sacrifcing spirit of
American women. There are none like
them in the world. They take up all
the burdens of artificial foreign usage
where social caste prevails. and bear
| them w a oicr, W of a
cause. They indeed represent these
usages to be a burden almost intoler-
able, and yet they submit to them with
a grace and endurance all their own.
Probably there is no harder worked
person than a lady in the social season
let us say in Sacramento, where CALI
ing is carried to perfection, and where
woman's effort to keep the social fabric
together requires more energy than is
needed to pass all the laws of Califor-
MIA.
Merely in the item of keeping an ac-
count of the visits paid and due a
woman needs a bookkeeper. Only to
know the etiquette of how and when
and where and in what order the visits
are to be paid is to be we'll educated
in matter that assumes almost the
first Importance in her life. This is,
however, only a detail of bookkeeping
and OF memory; to pay and receive
these visits of ceremony is a work
which men can admire without the
power to initiate. The round of social
| life, While it lasts, admits of no rival
1t seems as important as the affairs of
state. Perhaps no one can tell what
confusion would arise in the political
relations If the social relations of the
| Capitol We're not oiled by the system
| OF exchange of these minute calls
among the women. 1t may be that So
ciety al large would fall into barbarism
If our pasteboard conventions were
/ neglected
Fearing that in the near future even
these minute calls will be shortened, if
not eliminated, l would suggest an ex-
periment-a kind of social clearing
house-in which all cards should be de-
l1vered and exchanged and all social
debts of this kind be balanced by ex-
perienced bookkeepers, so that civiliza-
ton would not fall back into a print
| tive state.
"All honor to the self-sacrifice of
womani"
To Labor and Reward Mrs. T. J..
kirk made the following happy re-
Spouse:
ION reading last evening of where
Lincoln was called on for little after
dinner speech, those round the table
remarked how easily he talked: they
We're sure his speech was impromptu,
and that he had not thought five min
utes before of what he was going to
say, when his Private Secretary, who
was sitting near by, said: You are
badly mistaken have the fifth copy
of that speech in my pocket now, and
he has read and reread it many times
this afternoon Now, if an orato
makes SO much preparation for little
talk, what ought to be expected of a
| woman who is wife, mother, house,
/ keeper and numerous other things
And still l do know ladies who per-
form these manifold duties, and then
go to the club and read very inter
esting paper that she has prepared of
evenings after her days work is lin
ished. While I sympathize with the
mother who is overburdened with so
many cares, l do believe that GER
tain amount of work is necessary to
make us enjoy and appreciate to the
fullest extent the many blessings that
surround us. Until lately the world
regarded labor as a curse, but we now
look upon it as one of mankind's great
est blessings.
IAN eminent writer says: "A child
that is INDUCED until it cannot appre-
ciate small gifts is to be pitied.'
LAS many forms of labor promote
physical health, SO do energy and in
dustry in overcoming difficulties pro-
duce mental and moral strength. In
other words, many blessings come to
US, in disguise. Herbert Spencer says:
| Happiness is the purpose of our lives,
but it is. never attained by direct FUR
suit From him who seeks it most in
tently it flies. Like the will. O. the
wisp. it ever eludes his grasp, when
it seems just within his reach But
to him who, forgetting self, devotes his
life to the noble purpose of doing good
to others, happiness is a constant COM
panion.''
Ladies of the '99 Club, we who until
| lately were strangers to you will never
! cease to remember the cordial greet
ling and the sincere welcome which you
| extended to us on coming to your city.
And your sociability, continued hospi-
| tality and efforts to make us feel at
| home among you are so marked as to
call forth our most gracious acknowl-
edgment and our heartfelt thanks. May
we hope that the acquaintance so au-
spiciously begun will ripen into warm
est friendship