The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1903-11-06
Woman's Club.

lar meeting, Saturday, October 31st, in
Mrs. Fletchers parlors on Oliver street.
The club voted to secure these rooms
for all the club meetings this year. 1t
was Federation Day and reports We're
given by all who were at Grand Rapids.
Miss Tuthill gave delightful resume
of the lecture on Tolstoi by DIR. Lee s.
McCollister, given the first evening, and
the second evening of Mrs. Burdetts
talk on the care of the Junior Citizen
and the paper given by Prof. Demmon
on The present Literary Tendencies.
With q powerful search light, DR.. Nc
Collister showed us different aspects OF
Tolstoi's character, how at one moment
he would throw aside his soft raj
ment to work with the Peasant in the
field; at the next to lie for hours read
ing novels and allowing himself every
indulgence; how he allowed his estate
to run down, refusing to pay taxes,
though he knew his family would do 1t
for him. He gave the highest tribute
to the Countess who held her own bal
ance in spite of the vagaries of her hus-
band, holding him to his ideals, crlti-
Ching and revising his books, the
mother of sixteen. children, at times do
ing the manual labor of the house, she
still remained the Countess. DIR. Nc
Collister reviewed some of his books
and with the aid of the stereopticon
showed the contrasts in Russian life
how the magnificent side had been built
up by tyrants, how the Peasant worked
like beast of burden, not knowing better
than to work 30 hours at stretch with
no time for sleep or rest for taking food.
1t has been one Of the aims of Tolstoi to
arouse discomfort in the working man.
Mrs. Burdett's talk on the Junior
Citizen was something of remonstrance
to the women as to how they carried
themselves and what they said before
their children. She urged that women
stand together in defense of the mar
riage tie, that marriage should not be
so lightly entered into nor the bonds so
lightly broken. She spoke in favor of a
uniform divorce law. The next day the
Rev. Caroline Bartlett Crane presented
the following resolution:
Resolved, that this federation declares
it's desire for the enactment of uniform
divorce laws throughout the several
states of the union and that it will con-
fer with the other declarations to the
end that suitable steps shall be taken to
bring our utmost united efforts to bear
toward the enactment of uniform di-
vorce laws throughout the United
States.
The first morning of the convention
was occupied by Mrs. Gould as pre- 81
dent of the Federation. then by the re-
ports of officers and committees. The
legislative committee had tried to put
through the state legislature law to
the effect that one woman be appointed
to act on the board of institutions
for the blind, the feeble minded, the
deaf and such institutions as have
women for their inmates; the bill failed.
There were two addresses of interest
Wednesday afternoon, GA new law and
what we can do with it., by Rev. Caro-
line Bartlett Crane. She urged govern
ment inspection of meat. She had
visited seven slaughter houses of Kala-
mazoo and found unspeakable careless
ness and revolving filth. Diseased cattle
are killed and sold only to produce
tuberculosis and other injuries to the
consumer. The other address was,
1.-THE relation of the university to the
community" by Mrs. Jordan Dean, of
the Women in the University.
The ladies of Grand Rapids were most
cordial. A great many of them fur
nished carriages for two hour drive
about the parks and boulevards of the
city. They have three beautiful club
houses, the Ladies Literary Club, who
were the hostesses of the federation, the
st. Cecilia and the West Side Club.
They are all spacious houses with tea
rooms complete and large audien ,e
rooms with stages ready for any per-
Torrance.