The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-11-19
I N SOC I E T Y


 Joke-blind. ]" Tn a controversy upon this subject between two mere mem was agreed that they should make test upon friend Of theirs. she, of course, not to know their Intention.
 At convenient time and place one Of the gentlemen told this story in her presence: A pleasure party was upon cruise in the Mediterranean. Among the party was lady whose accomp- iishfnents were social rather than lit- erary. She went on deck one morning and seeing some splendid snow capped mountains in the distance said to her husband, John. what Is thatg' That Is Greece" replied John. She was rather puzsled at the answer. but knowing John. asked him nothing more.
 Presently. meeting another of the party. she said to hiin: 'Nfr. A.. what Is thas vSIte on the mountains in the dikts=c.: Why that" fsS replied, lis snow" "Ah, hai'' she exclaimed, that shows how much John knows about it. He told me it was grease"
 4 ripple of laughter went around among the gentlemen present, but the lady. the innocent victim of the test. said, Well, that may be funny. but fair to see any connection between grease and snow"
 It issvery safe to say that this lady was not club-wotlan, else she could readily have seen that there is a very close connection between grease and snow. For as the fabled goddess of love and beauty rose out of the turbid and turbulent waters of the dark sea. so out of the grease and grime of modern industrial conditions, sordid, selfish. grinding. destructive of our finer instincts and nobler attributes. has risen the snow-white spirit of hu- manitarianism. and altruism, that has come to be the controlling genius of our club-women of today
 But I sometimes fear that our mod ern woman. adorned and honored as she is, is prone to think that because of the things she is accomplishing and the things she is striving to accomp- fish. in an altruistfc way that she is superior to alR the womanhood of the past. Is she really Justified in these opinions or does the knowledge of her unimpeded ptowess fli her with self confidence and pride?
 Is it true that In the uplift struggle of yesterday woman has played an in. significant part as compared to what she is accomplishing todayf If Tn re- trospect we could sec what has been achieved through tine agency of wo- man, when she occupied a position so inferior we would probably take bet- ter COKntSanGG OA OuEEEAfOD AAN0 SFA-s all the more to be ever worthy the position that is ours.
 One of the chief purposes Of our organization. the Federated Ciubs or Alabama, Is the diffusion of edaeation and culture. 7 In that remote period when barbar. ism was beginning to take on that polish which was to sundue tne say. age and ennobIe his soul. the travei- Ing troubadour from the more cultured South lands, sang the praise of wo- man, whose service he entered ana whose protection he courted. The bar barian in whom domestic virtues began to develop. and who had begun to solt- en and mellow under the innuence or the distaff at his areside. became cavalier in honor of woman. And tne memory of a lilly maid" at home pol" ishfng and embroidering his escutch' con spurred him on to deeds or ,Vaior and glory, which made men brave and women virtuous.
 Who could enumerate the countless iegions of saintly women who nave couth men, polishing, refining and lead- ing them onward and upward.
 Ours is an organization for the diff fnaIon of the beautiful. But when we review that period in which the srtis- tic sense became supreme, and the beautiful was the only measure of ap- pratsement of all things, true, In that Age of the Renaissance we ma shat then. toe. womahis Influence was a potent factor.
 Michaei Angelo. the central figure of this. creative period, would probably never have been half the Michael An- gelo he was except for the inspiration of a rare woman, the gifted Italian poetess. viTlora Colona. Idealizing her in his boundless love. this great artist reproduced her matchiess glory in the hard and brittle marble with such per- lection, that 1t seemed as if the chisel had been yielded by hands Divine. , I might give example after example proving that the sway of woman. though 1t may seemingly have been disputed. has, in fact, never been op- posed in the most essential things of human existence. This becomes more appafent as time progresses and man becomes more willing to accede to the expansion of woman's activity. But 1t is true that there Is a difference in the manner in which woman takes part in the affairs of the world of today as compared to the manner in which she took part in the affairs of yesterday. Then she only became an active factor on rare occasions. There was then but one Maid of Orleans, but one Queen Elizabeth. Nevertheless, in her pas- sive way, woman's influence was not less potent in those remote times when she inspired man to weave and spin about her the best, truest and most beautiful that the human mind can conceive. That influence, exerted al- ways for the true, the good and the beautiful could not always remain con- fined to the freside. The homage which broadened for her from year to year has emboldened her more and more until she has gradually stripped off the restraints of the law of eus- tom which held her tied and shackIed and today she stands in world whose horizon Is bounded only by her ca pacity and her endeavor.
 It Is only of today. that a TennysonI has stringed his Tyre to sing the re- nown of a Queen Victoria; when histo- rians speak in profound disquisitfons of the importance and greatness Of the Victorian era; only of today, that George Eliot has been ranked among the foremost of modern intelleets: only of today, that the discoveries of Madam Currie have startled the old teachings out of their established channels and rsvolutionized our cosmic ideas.
 But after all, the woman of today Is but a child of the woman of yester- day. If she appear greater. it Is only in proportion to the progress that has been made possible by the struggle of those who have preceded US. Other women have labored and we have en- tered into the harvest of their labors We must now take up our own line of investment of personality and begin to SOW a life of happiness and useful ness for others rem embering always that our responsibilities increase with