Omaha daily bee., 1905-06-16
WOMAN IN CLUB AND CHARITY

women were in attendance twenty-seven
states being represented, the meeting be-
ing held in the library Of the Hotel Chal-
fonte. The general officers in attendance
we're: Mrs Sarah Platt Decker, president;
Mrs. Philip N. Moore OF st. Louis, vice
president; Mrs. May Alden Ward of Bos-
ton, second vice president; Mrs John d.
Sherman of Chicago, recording secretary;
Miss Louisa b. Poppenheim Of Charleston,
s. c.; Mrs. Percy Pennybacker Of Austin,
Tex, treasurer. Also the following men,
bers of the board Of directors: Mrs. J.
e. Cowle. Los Angeles, CAL; Mrs. Alice
M. johnson. Central Falls. r. l.; Mrs. Mary
l. Wood, Portsmouth, N: H.; Mrs. Charles
p. Yardley, East Orange. n. j., and be-
sides these there were present chairmen
OF the following standing committees: Edu-
cation, civics and forestry civil service re-
form, library extension, child labor, indus
trial conditions of women, membership and
reciprocity, each bringing a report of in
terest from their respective committees.
Besides these there were present some of
the most prominent club women Of the
United States.
The visiting women were welcomed by
Mrs A. ]. Newberry, president of the New
Jersey federation; Mrs. Decker, replying
ness was transacted and although the ses-
sions were long, they were none of them
wearying. AS presiding officer Mrs.
Decker fulfilled all that was expected OF
her. Mr.. John Ford of the Asiatic asso-
citation brought an entirely new subject
before the women at the Wednesday after
noon session. in a presentation of the eX-
clusion of the Chinese, it's object being to
induce the women to. interest themselves
in the matter with view to influencing
public opinion.
Mrs. Mary l. Wood of New Hampshire
occupied the remainder of the afternoon
with an exposition of the new Bureau of
Information of the General Federation, of
which she has charge. Mrs Wood said in
part.
The Bureau of Information recently es-
tabhshed by the General Federation of
Womens Clubs is destined to become an
work of the General Federation but in
order to secure the best results, It will be
necessary for all the clubwomen in the
country to cooperate with the chairman
| in bringing the advantages of the bureau
before the individual clubs and federations
| On the one hand It is most desirable that
! each clubwoman shall be informed of the
existence of the bureau and OF the fact
| that the bureau does exist simply as the
| servant of the clubwomen, any one of
whom Is urgently requested to make use Of
| 1t. There are already valuable data on file
which are being increased; there are also
! a large number of study outlines, prepared
| by expert authorities and accompanied by
| bibliographies, which should be of ines
| timable value to the individual clubs of
| the country in the preparation of the work
| of the coming year.
On the other hand, each clubwoman, and
more particularly each woman in an Off
cial position, Is urged to send to the bureau
any Item which bears upon the work of her
| club or federation, the history of any. de-
partment, club, or federation with which
ciubwoinen and sketches of any work, par
| ticularly legislative work, which has been
done, or plans for which are now being
| made by club workers.
| In the discussion that followed a great
deal was said for and against the bureau.
| Mrs. Florence Kelly of the Consumers
| league said that in order to make the bu-
reau really effectual the Office would have
| to be a perpetual one Mrs. Wood admitted
that. Many Of the delegates argued that
the reciprocity bureaus now existing in
most of the states covered the field of the
General Federation bureau. but some of the
women who have longest been identified
with the national work urged its continua-
ton as the best means of centralizing the
interests of the women of the various
states. No definite decision was reached
bureau.
The evening of June was devoted tc
an exhibition of American and Canadian
arts and crafts. Thursday was devoted tc
reports of the standing committees, one OF
the most interesting being that of the
library extension committee. This l!
another project of Mrs. Decker's, its objec
being to establish closer association of thu
clubs with the General Federation to es
tablish General Federation travelling
library. The report was presented by Mrs
Morris of the council and was followed b!
one of the most animated discussions o
, the council. 1t was pointed out that in SOM
states the travelling and established librar!
conditions are as good as they can be. whil
in other states they are entirely unsatis
factory. Under the present system 1t q
, hardly possible to send the travelling
libraries from one state to another. II
many states the travelling library Is mad
/ possible through the courtesy of the rail
I roads, who transport the books free o
charge, but in case an interstate system |
established the railroads can hardly be ex
pected to carry the books from one stat
to another. Another argument was the re
. luctance felt by some less fortunate state
= to borrow or ask assistance OF other states
= and 1t was held that such hesltancy woul
be overcome If a state was borrowing fron
: the national rather than from another stat
4 organization. Against the project it wa
argued that the expense of interstate trans
portation would exceed any allowance tha
/, it is possible for the General Federation t
{ make. 1t would be necessary to maintai
a a central office with a trained corps @
D. librarians, which would be an additions
4 expense 1t was suggested that the burea
Il of information might serve this purpos,
il The question was referred to represents
- tives of the various state federations an
! will come up as one of the important issue
70 at the St. Paul biennial.
l6 nEhTH REc0Rn