The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-09
/ DO YOU WANT THE BDsTr
 Ross's ,Antiseptic Barber Shop is the place to go. Exchange Hotel.
CLUB WOMEN.
Passion of American Women for
 Forming Clubs.


 Ladies' Home Journal.
 me passion for forming clubs among American women appears to be absolutely u,,norldled: There would seem to be no a,'n.. n,it 10 It. One can only reach the. de- auction from the number of these clubs formed, that women have not the cour. age to stand alone on any single sub- }ect. Everything they do must be organic ror ioiks to come together and truly and openly discuss vital themes is always heipful. It is no doubt true that there is something in every life from which we can extract some lesson, some help But very multiplicity of clubs Is found one oi the worst elements in the complex lives of modern women. There are thousands or women in this country who have the club habit without rhyme or reason. They are nothing short of club-crazy. The club Is rapidly becoming veritabie intoxicant among women. It. has been one of my dlssipatons to study womans' clubs both at close range and at a comfortable dist ance, and I must confess that what I have seen of them is not to their credit. So far as I have been able to see and find out hundreds of women belong to clubs without Knowing why they do belong, and, as a rule, they get little benefit from them.
 I firmly believe that if one-haif the wo- men who belong to clubs would take an honest accounting of themselves and de- eide the actual good derived from their membership in this or that club it would nave two results: fewer clubs and fewer women Of Scattered energies Now, the club idea of itself is to be commended for man Or for woman, provided it Is pro- ductive of some good and 1t is kept in its rightful place. If a woman who is busy all day amid the routine of her household work belongs to some one good club to which she can go, and, leaving domestic cares behind, get into an entirely dinerent atmosphere, and secure mental stimulus or physical refreshment from the to hnn AAAfa al AlS..k an good. Therefore. 1t is worth while. It matters not what kind of a club it Is! If 1t appeals to her taste and she derives a distinct benefit from it: it is good factor in her life. The question for her to hon. estly decide is: Does she come away from the club refreshed or bettered? If she cannot honestly say. that such a result comes to her. then she should be honest club join some other from which she will derive some distinct benefit. or devote the time now given to that club to some other recreation which will do her. or someone else through her, some distinct good.
 All this senseless rush into which she plunges herself. whether it be in a maze of clubs, or a whirl of social life or into bewildering confusion of housework made difficult by permitting her home to be filtered up with useless trasf--all this, l say, and the woman who Is honest with herself will agree with me inwardly if she has not the courage to declare herself out. wardly. is not worth the while. Nothing Is gained from it.; nothing but irritating worries, shattered nerves and prema- ture decline of health. spirits and the freshness of womanhood. Why not be honest with ourselves and separate the chaff from the wheat the externals from the vital things, tho things unprofitable from the things worth while? There is a happiness for many an overtired woman in calm and sensible readjustment of her life.