Norwich bulletin., 1913-03-26
ANNUAL MEETING OF
 McALL AUXILIARY.
Mrs. L.. w. Bacon Elected President and Delegate to National Meeting.


 An interesting meeting of the Nor wich McAH auxiliary was held on Tuesday afternoon at the Norwich club house. with about forty persons in tendance. The meeting was conducted by the president, Mrs. Leonard w. Bacon, who opened it with-res ponsive scripture reading, followed by prayer by the Rev. Richard R. Graham anI the singing of the hymn Valiant Army of the Saviour, with Mrs. Charles Fl. Haskell at the piano. Miss Florence $. Baldwin of Boston then gave 3, brilliant and most entertaining address upon the mission work as she saw it in progress last summer. Of the 39 million people in France, only four
 million are nominally Catholics, soc, 900 are Protestant and all the rest-over thinkers. The McAll mission does no- attempt to proselyte. If any one has a perfectly good religion, what is the use of changing 1t! But if one has absolutely no religion at all. that is d different matter, and should be attend
 ed to. Many of this class will come to a McAu meeting when they would not g. near church or a minister. She described her visit to mothers meet ing in the Fanbourg St. Antoine. Fms is district of Paris where. if paving stones are going to be torn up in the city, they are torn up first in the F-ad- bourg. She found about 50 mothers assembled here. The oldest one was 96. She lived in a miserable little room too small to hold a stove and way up in the top of 8 building. SD that she had to climb on a ladder to get into it. All the women had brought their work. Some had stock iDgs to mend-the holes being so large she didn't see how they could fill them One was making bathing shoes for [ cents a dozen and another bead leaves af f.1 hundred. They have a horror of gO ing to the almshouse and so are allow ed pension of s6 a month instead 4 room costs them & and the other S4 must pay for food and clothing So they earn what they can besides. One fainted away at an early meeting from lack of nourishment. so Mrs. Graves also furnishes chocolate at each meet ing now at her own expense. Miss Baldwin then told of her visit in Lille ih which she was especially interested, as that is supported by the Bostcn auxiliary. Here she pictured the Sun day school held in the Peoples home At least 200 children brought in out of the slums are learning songs and truths and temperance lessons The men in Lille are largely ironwork ITS and the girls work in the lisle thread factories-a, terrible place for girls From the foreman down. they are in constant danger: 50 of these girls were having a c. E.. meeting and striving to g ain strength for future need. They have classes in cooking and sewing Boy Scout work has been introduced and is doing much good. as in this way the boys are kept out of danger on Sunday and out of the saloons of which Lille is crowded The strongeSt work now being done in France is that of reforming drunkards. Four boys began praying for four drunken fa- thers. Three of them soon signed the pledge. After some time the forth be- gan. He signed it 20 times before be finally kept 1t. Lately he and his fam ] fly gave a tableaux vfvant. of their life before he signed at all, which was all 1 lesson to their audience 1 Miss Baldwin concluded with a visit tc | the military zone outside the fortifca- tions of Paris. where the Apaches live. Here is where Dr. Anderson goes on l his errands of merey-the worst place l anywhere Even the gendarmes can l not make the place safe. Here is the | rag market and the free fair. Miss | also told of the poor woman l who wanted to entertain three dele 1 gates. Her landlord lent her vacart | room for the night She let. one sleep l cn the mattress another on the spring, | while the third had the rest of the l bed, and she herself sat up all night
 After the address the annual reports 1 for the year were given by Miss Louise | E. Meech, secretary pro tenn, and by | Mrs. Samuel H. Howe, treasurer. Miss | Sara l.. Huntington was given q | hearty vote of thanks for her long and | faithful service as secretary and her | accepted with regret.
 Election of Officers.
 Mrs. B. P. Bishop gave the report of | the nominating committee and the | following officers were elected: Presi- l dent, Mrs. Leonard W. Bacon first | vice president, Miss M. Louise Sturte- want; second vice president Mrs. VII liam Carr; secretary, Miss Elizabeth l Parker; treasurer, Mrs. Samuel H. | M Huntington. Mrs. George W. Lare | Mrs. Thomas J. Wattles, Mrs. Amos A. l Browning, Mrs. Herbert J. Wyckoff, l Mrs. Burrill w. Hyde and Mrs. Frank | A. Roath-
 Mrs. Bacon was named as a dele gate to the national meeting in Pitts | field, Mass. May 14 and Is, the othe~ | four delegates to volunteer.