Los Angeles herald., 1905-10-25
WHITE RIBBON SPECIAL ARRIVES
Leaders Tell of Delightful Journey
From the East

From the East
The "White Ribbon" special, carrying
nearly 1000 women prominent in the
temperance reform movement, came
into Los Angeles yesterday at / o'clock.
Special delegates from Indiana, New
York and New Jersey also arrived.
From early morning until late after
noon the reception committees ap-
pointed by the local women were at the
depots ready to extend the welcoming
hand and the wait at the Salt Lake
was a long one, for the delayed train
was scheduled to arrive between 10 and
II o'clock.
Two hours more than at first planned
were spent in Riverside, where the
women were royalty entertained by the
people of that city.
The committee sent from Los Angeles
Manday evening and headed by the
state president, Mrs. Emma Cash,
boarded the train at Riverside. and
before the delegates reached Los An
gees each had been assigned her place
of entertainment. When the train pulled
into Riverside the delegates were
greeted by the familiar strains of one of
the w. G. T. U. songs sung by the Los
Angeles women, and that was their first
welcome from Angelenos.
Everywhere yesterday afternoon there
were expressions of commendation for
the local women who, the delegates de-
clare, have left nothing undone. Every
where on the streets and in the cars
the sweet-faced women with the tiny
badges of white ribbon were to be seen,
and for ten days those badges will De
an ever familiar sight.
Mrs. Stevens Likes California
The national officers and several of
the national superintendents were just
leaving the dining room at Hotel Pepper
yesterday when a Herald reporter
called. A notable group of reform
workers and the name of each is known
throughout the country.
There was the national president,
Mrs. Lillian N. M. Stevens, who always
has pleasant greeting for all, no mat
ter how tired she may be. Mrs. Stevens
must have happy faculty of not get
ting tired for no one would have
guessed from her appearance that she
had just come off the train after long
and supposedly tedious journey.
1--WE have had such a glorious trip,
and everything here is so beautiful"
were the first words she said.
Then each of the other officers had
word to say about California and Cali
fornia hospitality. To those who be-
lieve w. C. T. U. women are all "blue
stockings" that little gathering would
have been a revelation. There was
nothing to be serious about. They were
more like party of school girls out for
a lark as they joked together and talked
California.
Mrs. Stevens is a bright little woman
with a sweet earnest face, from which
wavy brown hair is drawn back in
simple knot. She holds her hearers by
a quiet dignity of manner and voice
combined with a spirit of whole heart
edness. One would hardly imagine her
to be the leader of a great reform Or
ganization.
Miss Gordon Glad to Return
Mrs. Stevens assumed the presidency
of the national organization in 1898,
upon the death of Frances Willard,
after having several years of training
for the work in her home state, Maine.
Since that time she has succeeded in
carrying on the work of the much be-
loved leader in such a way that the
organization has an ever increasing
membership roll
Miss Anna Gordon, the national vice
president is different type of woman,
though she has the same interests at
heart She is full of enthusiasm and
in addition to her powers as an elouent
speaker, she has keen sense of humor,
which succeeds in winning her aud
fences when everything else may fail.
Miss Gordon is the composer of most
of the w. C. T. u. music and has pub
lished several poems.
I'VE grew to love California when
we were here a few months ago." said
Miss Gordon yesterday, land we are
glad to be back again"
'It will be the greatest convention
the w. C. T. U. has ever held added
Mrs. Stevens and then they returned to
the subject of their trip west.
everywhere the people turned out
to welcome u.s." said Mrs. Stevens,
land in places in which the train only
stopped for a minute we were showered
with flowers. At most of the stations
there was a crowd awaiting us with
offerings of fruit and flowers. AT
Omaha representatives of the Womans
club and the w. C. T. U. came to the
train with great armfuls of American
beauty roses. AT Lincoln, Nebraska,
there were more flowers, and at Grand
Junction, Colorado, we were presented
with fruit.
Serenade Train Crew
"The train was in two sections and
some times the sections would come to-
gether and there would be great fun"
"You know Miss Gordon is our mu-
sician," put in Mrs. Foster. the national
press superintendent.
"She has an organ, one of the folding
kind, which she brings with her and we
have gay times singing. Once, when
the two sections of the train came to-
gether-it was at Caliente, think-we
took the organ out and put 1t between