Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1908-07-31
BOSTON BIENNIAL.
A GRAND ASSEMBLACE AT THE
hub"
Ninth Biennial Convention OF the General
Federation Of the Womens Clubs s-Two
Thousand Accredited Delegates Were Pres
ent-One OF the Bcst-Planned Benniala.

Thousand Accredited DELEGATES We're Pres
ent-One of the Best-Planned Bienniala.
EDITOR STANDARD:
The ninth Biennial Convention of
the General Federation of Women s
Clubs. with its official meetings, IT'S
numerous social functions. and its
many excursions. is now drawing to a
close. for there are but two days re-
manning of it, Everything pertaining
tn the convention appears to be rum
ming along in the smoothest. most sys-
tematic manner. thanks to the untir-
ing eXertions, for nearly two years
past, of more than two thousand of the
clIb women of Massachusetts. under
the able management of Miss George
Bacon, the chairman of the Boston Bi-
ernial Committee and the recently
elected president of the Massachusetts
State Federation of Women's Clubs.
All agree in saying that this is one of
Che last planned Biennials that the
General Federation has ever had. with
in the neighborhood OF two thousand
accredited delegates and alternates to
the convention, and some six thousand
other visiting club women in the city
AS can be readily imagined. the town
is fairly taken possession Of, for the
nonce. by all of these fail women, and
| % uh nd no vii
stantly see in every direction ladies'
wearing one or more badges. thus in
dicating to the most unUbserving that
something out of the ordinary is going
on in this Athens of America 1t is
said that not a few of our visitors are
accompanied by their husbands who
are desirOus of sharing with their bet
ter halves some of the noteworthy oc-
casiOns of the convention. Judging,
hewever. from the scarcity of men
seen at these affairs. those who have
ventured to brave this vast concourse
of females are not having, as the latter
are. one of the times of their lives.
Mrs. Platt Decker. the head OF this
great organization of women for the
PAST four years, is keeping up her rep
utation as an ideal president, for al
though she disclaims being a parli-
amentarian, she. nevertheless, by her
. dignity. firmness. untiring energy,
: playfulness, wit and tact, keeps the
vast assemblages in perfect order. and
at the same time by her winning ways
infects all with a spirit of kindness
and good nature. Besides Symphony
Hall, where all of the official meetings
are held, there are other places for
duplicate ad overflow meetings, for
there are so many women on hand
here that we have no suitable auditor
ium capable of holding them all at
once.
Through most Of Monday and Tues
day. great excitement was caused by
the delegates presenting their creditials
and getting their badges, without
which no one could gain admittance
to the much coveted Biennial meet
ings. But very few of the Massachu.
sets club women hace been able to
get in at all. and those who are work
ing hard on the various committees
connected with the convention, deem
themselves fortunate as they are thus
able to catch glimse, now and then,
or some of the interesting proceedings.
With the official recognition as a dele
gate to this Biennial, came the booklets
and the invitations to the numerous
functions OF a social nature, and to
the excursions which were to take
place during the ten days of the Bien-
nial. Among these in an especial pro-
g-amme presented to each delegate,
which appears in the Federation Bull
letin, the official organ of the General
Federation of WOmen's Clubs. and. al.
so, a beautifully bound, STANDARD guide
book of Boston and vicinity, in which
Is forewOrd to the women of the con-
ventiOn by Miss Helen Whittier. a
prominent club women of this state.
All this literature is furnished by the
literature committee of the Biennial.
iI evidence with other committees, I'm
the halls and lobbies of Symphony
Hall. After We had armed ourselves
with these important documents. we
all felt free to turn our attention to
the events Of the day, and to select
those of the many affairs transpiring
which we desired the most to attend.
devoted myself more particularly to
the official meetings in Symphony Hall,
mornings and evenings. while other
members Of the Oregon delegation
went off occasionly to some of the fine
excursions. of which there have been
many.
| There are seven delegates from the
Oregon's women's clubs. headed by
Mrs. Sarah A. Evans, a director in
the General Federation, and the Ore
gon state president of the Federation
clubs. We have seats very near the
stage, with Tennessee and Oklohoma
women in our immediate vicinity, and
have been able to hear everything that
has taken place in Symphony Hall.
The opening gun of the Biennial was
fired by the professional Women's
Club Of Boston who gave a grand
breakfast on Monday noon, at which
the leading lights of the Biennial were
present. with post-prandial speaking
later. Then came a delightful concert
| ty members of the famous Boston
Symphony Orchestra in Symphony
Hall. a hall built especially for the
| orchestra
| AT the formal opening of the Bi.