St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1915-03-17
WOMAN'S CLUB WORK
Mrs. Smile, President of The Yer
mont Federation Believes In One
Room SchOOIs---Other Speakers

On Saturday afternoon Mrs. Sarah
F. Hovey, president of the ST. Johns
bury Woman's Club, entertained the
members of the club and the public
school teachers at Pythian Hall in
honor of Mrs. George H. Smile of
Montpelier, president of the Vermont
Federation of Women's Clubs. Mrs.
Hovey welcomed her guests at the
door, the teachers being very we'll
represented in the company. This
was Mrs SMILES first visit to the St.
Johnsbury club and it was a great
pleasure to all to meet her and to
listen to a most inspiring paper.
She began by say that the 2,O0O,-
600 club women in the United States
form a force of great power and the
5000 members of the Vermont Fed
Grafton can and have accomplished
much. She mentioned the play
g; ounds maintained, the domestic
science courses introduced, evening
schools, extension work in home
economics, the help given tubercular
patients through the sale of Christ
mas seals and of the work which must
be done in getting a state orphans
home and home for the feeble-minded.
Among other things which club Wom-
en- of Vermont should work for are
medical inspection of schools, better
Fairgrounds, pure foods, meat inspec-
tion, clean streets, honest textiles,
more sanitary dwellings, different
method of disposal of household
waste and fighting the fly nuisance.
Mrs. Smile showed a great inter
est in the rural or "one-room" school
as she calls them, and argues that
as 80 per cent of the Vermont schools
are one-room schools, it is only right
that they should be. improved. She
spoke with pride of the six girls that
the state federation is sending to nor
NAL school on condition that they
teach two years in a rural school.
She would make every One-rOom
school a social center for the COM
munity in which it is located and told
how much could be done, even with
a few packages of seeds.
Two vocal numbers by Mrs. Ida P.
Brooks with Miss Alice B. Warden
at the piano we're greatly enjoyed
and Miss Caroline S. Woodruff spoke
on "The Relation of the Parent to
the School" Miss Woodruff's re-
marks were most complimentary to
the parents she has known and were
III InO way VI Pa oAoO SA6h ~ 40
cism. She said that a boys school
is his business and is just as impor-
tant to the boy as is his fathers to the
father. The teacher needs kind
words as much as anyone and the pa
rent who is dissatisfied with the
school would help greatly if he would
make complaint to the teacher rather
than to the pupil.
Misses Elizabeth Peck and Mario
rie Cramton gave a violin duet, &C
companied by Miss Warden, and re-
sponded to an encore.
The last speaker was Superintend-
ent Walter H. Young who spoke very
briefly. He said that every child has
certain inherent rights and the OBJ
ject of all education should be to mt
him to make the most of life He
objected to those laws of the state
which make it impossible to take
child away from wrong surroundings
and spoke of the great need of an in
stitution to care for our cripples and
feeble-minded At the close, So
cial hour was enjoyed and tea and
waters were served by the ladies OF
the church of the Messiah with the
girls of the church as mattresses.