The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1902-12-04
BILL APPS LETTER
He Finally Becomes Reconciled
to Clubs of Both Genders.
GIVES REASONS FOR HIS CONVERSION
Gets Copies of General Jackson's
Speech on "Wanderer," and Dan
eli Webster's Last and Great
est Grafton at Capon
Springs.
Springs.

I've been watching these women.
these club women. For long time
did not like the name, but am recon
ciled. never visited a mans club but
once. It was gathering of very nice,
well behaved social gentlemen with
eatables and drinkables in the back
ground, but nobody partook to excess
while l was there. The excess came
afterwards. if it came at all. But
Wcmans club has neither eatables nor
turntables nor cigars. OF course it is
a very social gathering, but they mean
business and they do it. Only few
years ago few ladies of this town de-
fermined to do something for the town
and they formed The Cherokee
Club and soon had more members
and went to work. All the members
had passed their teens, and the mar
fied ones had laid by their crop. They
secured a charter and .nen got lease
from the city and the state for fifty
years control of the ground between
the hotel block and the railroad and
adorned it with grass and gravel
walks and enclosed it with chain
fence and placed handsome iron seats
by the shade trees and planted beau
fiful fountain in the center and peo-
pied it with gold fish This beautiful
park is the frolicking ground for the
children and cheerful resting place
for their tired mothers and trysting
place for young men and maidens.
Near by the trains are passing at all
hours, and our new beautiful passen-
ger depot is near at hand, where our
people cOngregate to receive their
friends or bid them goodby. And the
club did it all, for the old depot would
still be there if the women had not
stirred up the men to demand another.
Then these women began to plant
flowers and shrubbery in the school
house grounds, and next they started
a small library in a small room, and
circulated good books among our peo-
pei and kept on and ON until they got
a larger room and more books, and
kept it open two days in week, and
the demand for books soon widened
to the country and every week they
sent cut four boxes of sixty volumes
each along the mail routes, and so
have established a rural circulating
library that has proven blessing to
our whole country boys and girls, and
the books always come back unhurt
and are sent out on another mission.
Next these good women started a
sewing society among the poorer
classes in our community and are
taking turns in teaching the girls how
to cut garments and make them and
where they are very poor they give
them aid and comfort. 1t is all char
fty. But last of all and best of all
they have actually laid the foundation
of Club Library building that will
hold thousands of books and where
all the best magazines of the country
will be taken. The city fathers gave
them beautiful lot, and ii the wealth
er permits the building will be finish
ed and paid for and occupied in three
months. 1t will not only be a library
for books, but place for rest for the
travelling man as well as for our
country friends and their wives and
daughters when they come to town.
Besides these uses it is intended to
have literary and musical entertain
mentS there that will be far more ele-
waiting and refining than the average
shows that perform in our opera
house. These same women organized
a lyceum course for two winters and
succeeded fairly we'll, but to send afar
OF for lecturers costs too much for
town of this size, and SO they are GO
ing to secure home talent from Allan
ia and Rome and Dalton and have en-
gfeTtainments at popular prices, say at
10 cents admission, as Professor Proc
tor, the great astronomer, did up
north. He told me he never charged
more in a manufacturing town and
always gave, the working people the
preference of seats and always had
crowded house. 1t was cheap and
0GASAtlul oIuOO1 W Iu0ul. w udI THESE
club women will do next | do not
know, but they mean business. They
mean to elevate their own sex first
and if the men and boys come in they
will find welcome. I suppose that
this library building will be the first
that anS club has erected in the state,
and what T wish to remark and en-
phasize is that there is not a respec-
table town or village in the state but
can do something on this same line
Now, hear you ask, where did you
get the money to do all this? "Heav.
en- helps those who help themselves
Our women began very little. The
railroad gave them $50 to start on
and gave them part of the seats in the
park. Then the club gave an oyster
supper and made good little sum.
Later on they held bazaar, and later
ON a concert, and after awhile anoth-