The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-02
AT THE WoMANs club.
the New England woman With the Idea n
the TactfuI President

! -SplenuiuI Tepcdpou bho hthO N'
with the New England accent. 1T was
farcioall'
Astonished looks from several Of her
| neighbors seemed TO demand further ex-
PLANTATION. She turned to make herself
heard above the confusion that always
accompanied the breaking up Of the Eco .
nomic Clubs meetings.
lam beginning to think with the men that
my sex is incapable Of sustained thought
along practical lines she said. Il do not
mean to cast any dlscredit upon the lady
who has just addressed us; her paper was
very carefully built. II was as good, L
think. as any we have had. In TACT. II was
typical
Her. comments were sufficiently I'M
expected to cause the -women III that part
OF the. room 10 move a little nearer. The
crowd thus formed soon amounted TO q
meeting in ITSELF with the little New Eng
lander valiantly defending) her position in
a manner that did credit TO her Plymouth
Rock ancestry.
Most Of the women were a little in awe
Of Mrs. B. She had been a Vassar girl
and was credited with bringing away from
Poughkeepsle something more b a
trunkful OF crushed waists.
Whenever she took n decided stand. az
she was doing now, the other members who
were disposed to oppose her usually left
the realm Of facts and fell back on sarcasm
Through some agency known only TO
women's gatherings every one present was
aware that an insurrection was on and that
Mrs. b was the head and front OF IL.
A large woman in lavender was slowly
moving toward the animated group. smiling
here, clasping a hand there. with a few
words or Il little confidential nod for each.
She was headed for the seat OF trouble,
although apparently unconscious Of the
outburst.
As she passed you instinctively realized
why she had been the clubs president ever
since it's organization. A superbly set up
woman, her appearance was made more
striking by reason Of a quantity Of white
hair against which softly rested two i'm
mense lavender plumes. hanging from a hat
of the same color. Her features were not
masculine, as popular conception likes to
lave them in a leader among women. They
we're large, mobile and sven motherly.
What made this woman such u success
as a club executives? Why were there no
scandals in the Economic Club? Tactl II
~phrenology had a separate bump for this
Nuhuly iltlo III 10 NliS ana 10 vi NNS
science.
AZ the edge Of the group she paused.
What new dissension was this2 Another
factional difference to require d~elioacy of
fell all the adjusting of the clubs internal
difficulties? 1t might be a petty Jealousy
or il might rend the club asunder. What
ever it was this discussion was denoralizing
to the club and must cease.
"Women's clubs fail" the intrepid Mrs.
r. UNA aaVinU shaOauaa thew Rarya M
practical end. Instead OF theorizing about
the influence the toga had upon the Greek
character, we might be seeking some prao-
tical means OF eliminating the. barbario
features of present day household methods,
which make the lives Of nine-tenths of our
women a ceaseless slavery to our manner
Of living. l say. let US turn from Greek
character to dishwashing."
Hear! Hear" said the clubs president.
and as the members turned in surprise
she stepped into the centre of the group
and continued: I'm sure that Mrs. BIS
suggestion will meet general favor in the
club. All of us have at some time felt the
need Of reform in the commonplace things
Il will carry Mrs. BIS suggestion a
little further and propose that we inaugu-
rate q practical seTies and aim TO have at
each meeting some plan for reducing the
labor incident to modern housekeeping
These plans we can very probably put
into actual operation and thus test their
practicability.
Il am sure that there is no one In the club
better qualified to address our first meeting
Of the practical series han Mrs. B..
As a member Of the committee on topics
l will ask her to discuss at the next meeting
the subject of dishwashing-an ever present,
never ceasing and time consuming drudgery
for the woman who does her own work"
There was a burst of applause as the
president ceased speaking and the little
New Englander raised her voice to say that
she already had a scheme by which the
dishwashing DOGGY was reduced TO a mimi
mum expenditure of time and labor, and
she would be delighted 20 tell the club of
it il it was deemed sufficiently important
by the committee.
II think this Ia tremendously interesting, :"
said a young thing in q violent looking rig
of mashed cherry tint.
A few Of the women smiled in her direc-
ton and she promptly blushed as deep
a hue as her gown.
sShe's going to be married this month, =
said n kind friend near the door in a stage
whisper.
But the young thing made good after
conouering embarrassment by saying:
my sister has a house out in Jersey and
she does all the work herself. She has the
most wonderful way OF busting or rather
not busting and still keeping the house as
Won't you tell US about it in a paper
president, turning to her.
The women had separated into little
groups and each member seemed to have
an original scheme for killing the giant
Housework, which she was anxious to ex-
plain to her sister members. Mrs. B,
the cause OF il all, was leaving the room
arm in arm with an elderly matron.
"Ten rooms and a family Of eight" the
latter was saying, and she probably had
a wealth OF experience TO draw from.
When the last of the members had passed
down the corridor toward the elevators
and the president turned to gather UP her
papers there was a dancing twinkle in her
eve. Was 1t tact after allf