The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-04-12
CLUB WOMEN IN
WESTERN TOWNS
The Social Pavilion at State Fair
Grounds and Rest Rooms in
Cities Surrounded by Farming
Population Bring the Women
of Farm and Town Together.
BY KATHERINE L. SMITH.

Two new phases of women's club
work, which have recently sprung up
in the West and Midwest are social
pavilions on the grounds owned by
many state fair associations. and rest
rooms for farmers wives in the trad
ing centers of various towns. So far
the movement has come no farther
East than Ohio, but when it becomes
more generally understood, it will
doubtless spread to New England it
self.
The club women of Chippewa Falls,
Wis, were the pioneers in the work.
They have provided a social pavilion
at the local fairs for several seasons.
Here people gathered to rest and to
exchange ideas. Social and intellec-
tual stimulus was provided by lee
lures and travelling libraries, together
with papers and magazines for free
distribution.
During a street fair Albert Lea,
Mimi, adopted the same plan with
marked success, and gradually other
towns are realizing the usefulness as
we'll as pleasure of a temporary So
cial pavilion during the time of a fair.
the credit of opening the first perma-
nent rest room in the United States.
1t is the outgrowth of the Women 5
Clubs, aided by the business men, and
it is now a well organized institution.
The room, which is open daily in the
business portion of the city, is furnish
ed with chairs, lounges, rugs, and a
cradle which is frequently occupied.
Books and magazines are on the ta-
IL l.. ~
AS one tired woman, who had come
five miles with her husband to sell
their produce, said: ut is such a rest
full place and the children can look
at the sSftures."
To make everything complete there
is a little lunch room, where visitors
can warm up the food they bring or
buy what they desire.
Winona, Mortified and Faribault,
all in Minnesota, have opened similar
rooms.
small town surrounded by large
farming district. 1t has a flourishing
rest room which was started three
years ago. This was at first assisted
by the merchants, but is now self
supporting. A woman's exchange in
connection pays the matron's salary
and buys tea, coffee, and sometimes
wood. The kitchen is provided with
an oil stove, and the matron makes
tea and coffee for the nominal sums
of three and five cents. A library
provides books, which may be taken
home for two weeks.
Wisconsin has also joined the rest
room movement Probably the most
flourishing room is at Eau Claire,
where the work has been successful,
not only from a philanthropic but
from a business standpoint. The wom-
ans club, lumber companies and the
merchants are all interested, and they
have equipped the rooms with every
convenience from cots to baby car
riages. The guests average forty-five
day
Intelligent country people are quick
to see the advantages of these rooms,
and merchants contribute to their sup
port, not as a charity, but with the
idea of building up trade. Market
towns find that the restroom brings
in more people and it is as legitimate
an expenditure for retailers as that
incurred by wholesalers for the we'll
fare of those that they call their coun-
try customers.
The women of Piqua, o., stand
near the head in this work. The Town
and Country Club has well-equipped
rooms in the heart of the city, which,
in addition to being provided with the
convenienceS already mentioned, has
a deep closet for packages and a reg
ular checking system. Membership in
this club is 81 a year for each family.
The club hopes to broaden it's sphere
and have sewing classes.
Springfield, Ohio, has recently OPEN
ed rooms and there is a plan on foot
among the business men to erect a
suitable building with sitting rooms,
lunch rooms, and even a smoking
room for the men.
That the town and country clubs
are admirably adapted for bringing
in touch persons whom geographical
isolation has long separated is evil
denced by the prosperous condition
of a club of this nature in York, Neb.
1t has been in operation three years
and has a rest room where pro-
grammes of merit are carried out at
stated intervals.
Burlington, Kan, opened one of
these rooms a short time ago, and so
much ingenuity was displayed in the
furnishings that the farmers wife can
feel perfectly at home with work.
basket, scissors and thread handy for
repairs that are sometimes necessary
after a long and dusty ride to town.
Joplin, Mo-, situated in a mining
district, has had a restroom for sew
eral years in the interests of the min
ers and their wives.