The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-11-23
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

am a convention fiend, a regular conventionite, for it is not only my bus-
 ness but my pleasure to attend any and all kinds Of public gatherings It is the way I have of keeping In touch with men and women and things. I always learn something new from each one of them, becldes adding to my list of aculiain-
 lances. If any man gets 1t into his head
 that women do not know how to run a convention just let him attend one They do it well. I have noted that most women in rublic speaking go direct to
 the point, and are less given to rambling
 than men. I have heard fewer of them
 than saen set up to speak without Drep-
 sraticn. If they are on is programme they take the trouble to get realy, ana
 thereby t,ea. their audience with some
 consideration
 l happened to be in Atlanta when the
 first womaps suffrage convention was
 held in the south and, of course, I was there at each session. Everything ran smoothly until the time for the election of officers arrived. Susan B. Anthony had turned over the chair to one of the vice presidents, whose name I have for gotten. It was a hot contest and there was scene of wild disorder was wait ing for the rar pulling to begin, when Aunt sus;,n," sensing that the precise psychological moment had arrived for her to take the sisters in hand, quietly | arose, seized the gavel, glanced out over her god-rimmed specs at the turbulent body, and without raising her voice, said: My dears, if you don't watch out ycu will be as long eleetlng your office as nacn." It showed she snew her crowd, for not one of the deiesates wanted to dc anytn!lg iife mel. except vote, and they ;,a took their seat and peace
 reigned supreme.
 But taen to my own Baptlst women They greatly enjoyed the visit of MT. Davison. 1 hate to Tell on some of them. I'll be Christian enough not to
 tell names, but quite a lew of them played Inc oley and went to the Jeffer- son and heard him Wednesday night. When they confessed it to me, they seemed as guilty as school girls who had run away on April Fools Day and got caught in a shower. They asked ine if I blamed tGem. I had to forget ali dbJut being the editor of thelr denominatioa oaal ol gan, and that I was preacher; for it was such 8 human thing to do that l solved their consciences as best l could. It's q great thing for the mothers of men o Keep g.riish hearts.
 l For 16 years I remained away from the | Woman's Missionary union state conven- tons. for I got it into my head that even 1 the editor of the Alabama Baptist, al ! though he gave them page each week | for their wdrk, was persona non grata; {, only 10 learn that it was my extreme i Eodesty which had kept me from being received with open arms. and that they were not at all afraid Of men. I spoke to them Ihrrsday morning and got the ova- ton ol nay life. q used to try and get 1 into tine womans meetings at the S4uth- ern Baptist convention, but was politely
 kept on the outside). From hencefort tn 1 am going to be a regular attendant on | the state convention,
 The twenty fourth session, which closed 1 last night at the southside Baptist | church, was a record breaker in the way
 of attendance as over 900 delegates and
 visitors registered Probably several 1 hundred more were present, but failed
 10 turn in their names It has been said l that Birmingham was too big and too 1 busy to show the old-tme southern i hospitality. but when hospitable homes l open their docrs to a thousand guests, it
 shows that the charge is untrue. Weakness l day the Baptist women of the suburban 1 chuic ches furnished lunches for the
 crowd, and Thursday the young matrons 1 of the Southside Baptist church under i took the job. Both parties did it we'll Henry Ba:terton furnished the coffee, 1 while Sid Lee donated the Buffalo Rock I delegates did not drink his ginger ale
 on account of it's suspicious color.)
 | We'll, it was a great convention. When l ever a thousand women get together to
 plan for church and missionary work you can just know that they are going l to accomplish great good. It was truly ] an epoch making meeting. Not a jar
 ring note was heard on the floor. Ev- l erything went along pleasantly and on l schedule time. Mrs Charles A. Stakely | is fine parliamentarian and gracious :, and tactful in handling the speakers as well as the delegates. She has little to 1 say herself, but in a word or two pre- 1 sents each one on the programme in q ] manner to put them at their ease and ! to let their hearers know what they were l doing in kingdom work.
 And what did the convention accom- plish? It sent Miss Laura Lee Patrick, the secretarytr treasurer, back to her desk at Montgomery heartened for the work of the new year that was just opening. It put new fife into Miss Clyde Met
 calfe, the Young Peoples leader, to do still greater things for them. It gave Miss Addie Cox burning desire to
 break her own wonderful record as al,
 untiring field agent It showed the won,-
 en of the headquarters committee that
 they could lean heavily on their constit-
 uency and plan the work on liberal
 scale. It gave the zeal to the associational
 presidents. It spurred the delegates tc
 ho,r av,d T tEai, t,, ai, loon