The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-11-18
An Eloquent Address.

| Responding to the cordial welcome ex-
| of Selma club women to the federation
| delegates, Mrs L. NJ. Bashinsky of Troy
| spoke as follows:
| Madame President. Women of the Fed
Grafton Hostesses of Selma:
| ITO be the mouthpiece of so intellectual
and representative a body of women as
| is assembled here is honor enough to
weigh upon my shoulders. but to reply to
| compliments so gracious and addresses SO
| eloquent as those we have just listened
| to, carries with it the disadvantage Oh
placing me in the penumbra under the
| brightness of the brilliant efforts which
| have delighted our hearts; and in all SIN
cerity ] feel unequal to the opportunity.
ION the wings of your eloquence, and
| in your generous idealization of our ef-
| forts, we are so uplifted and gratified as
| to be in danger of forgetting to retouch
old mother earth but our sense OF COM
mon responsibility will save us, let us
hope, from the fate of our NEUROLOGICAL
heroes and bring us back to a consdera-
ton of the duties which await us. ! am
sure friends of Selma, that you have al
ready read i'm our faces the response of
happiness and pleasure that are seeking
every avenue of expression, and do not
need this Inadequate voice to tell you
what we think of your wondrously
gracious manner of doing things.
'It is sweet to receive the hospitality
| of your homes, for the term home In your
midst denotes a wealth of family and So
cial graces In environment most aesthetic.
And when that hospitality is broadened
| out into your civic and industrial life,
| your club life and life social, truly are
we welcomed into world where mani
| fold energies are of absorbing interest and
| helpfulness.
Traditional Greatness Of Selma.
.selma stands today as one of the old
est Of our historical cities, the story of
whose development is the story of the
rise and development of our state almost
| from its very beginning. Here to Selma
were lured the eastern settlers. At that
time this section was the great southwest
| of America--that southwest which fired
the ambitious dream of empire in the adj
venture of Aaron Burr. Here vas the ro-
| mantle grounu Of a new Eldorado, whose
| wealth was not dug from mines but
poured in ceaseless stream OF beautiful
| warmth from the fertile lands hereabout.
| Here, too, the migrating cavalier In
search of treasure-trove, came face to
| face with the descendants of the rench
| crusader as they wended their way north
| eastward from Louisiana, on the same
motive bent. Thus 1t was that In tne set
| Element 70 these western iHlains of Ala
hanna the noblest blood of the Oldest fam
| lies of Europe commingled producing a
civilization high born and rare: and with
| In that society of pride and culture with
| its increase OF wealth, there developed
| that peculiar epoch In our states history
known as the flush times of Alabama of
which Selma was the very heart and
=, center. 1t was period of unclouded hal
| cyn days. wnen your good people seemed
| to have been chosen by a specia provi-
dence to receive all the blessings of earth
and ifeaven-a period of peace, conducive
in making you cultured. refined, high
minded and truly representative or all
that Is best and noblest in the southern
character Do we wonder. then. that ira
0ition In our state still regards Selma as
its representative center. remembering
that from Selma was chosen the only
vice president from the southwest of Vir-
ginia and that our people honored them
selves In choosing two of your grand old
statesmen Morgan and Pettus, as their
highest intellectual representatives in the
most exalted council of the nation.
Every club woman OF Alabama feels an
abiding interest in Selma as the maiden
home of Mrs. Robbins, the gifted editor OF
the federation organ. None has labored
more forcefully. and unselhshly for the
fedora TONS cause than she, and none
supercede her In the estimation of her
Co workers
In the midst Of such ethical forces with
your century OF upward growth. It would
be we'll for US to heed their silent coun-