The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-03-20
|SOME NEEDS OF
kEOkUk TOLD Us
ForcefuI Woman Orator Addresses
Civic League on Some Modern
Problems Of commun-
ity Life.
ON THE NEW DEMOCRACY
Woman Suffrage, Children, School
Lunches, Visiting Nurses and
other Practical Affairs
Discussed Well.

the Civic league luncheon which was
held in the main dining room of the
Hotel Iowa yesterday at which Mrs.
Ira Couch Wood of Chicago. was
guest of honor and the speaker of
the day.
The guests were seated at three
tables which were decorated in crys-
tai baskets filed with spring flowers
and pussy willows. The luncheon
was served in six courses and yss
done in Hotel Iowa's best style.
At the tables were seated most OF
the club women of the city. At the
speakers table were the present off
GERS of the league and those who
have in the past eight years served
as president. The guests from out
of town were Mrs. Helen X. Well Of
Cambridge, Mass; Mrs. B. j. Norton
of st. Joseph, Mo-; Mrs. Wheeler Of
Council Bluffs, and Mrs. John F. Nc
Grath of Los Angeles. Calf.
Miss Florence Talbot, president of
the Civic league. presided very hap
PLY as postmaster.
The program opened with
soprano solo by Miss Martha Bald
win, with violin obligato by Eugene
Carter, and Mrs. Hugh j. ROBERTSON
SoAAo
"Star of Love-" and was never heard
to better advantage. The voice,
violin and piano blended with perfect
Harmony in the song For an encore
Miss Baldwin sang "In the Time of
Roses"
A Bralny Woman on Democracy.
Mrs. Wood had for the theme OF
Iher talk 1.-The New Democracy"
The Civic league has entertained
many gifted women at one time or
another, but no one has had more
pleasing personality or brought
greater inspiration for the work OF
civic betterment than Mrs. Wood.
iShe has an exceptionally good speak
ling voice and talked in "a direct,
straightforward way. No part of her
speech was mere words; she mad
something worth the saying in every
|sentence. She said:
Every institution in America mas
been tried in this war; some have
Isurvived and some have gone down.
eve have learned for the first
time just how much democracy we
have tn this country. Because our
constitution says all men are created
free and equal. we have rested
lsecurely IN the thought that the
Isimple declaration made it So When
lit was found that 100000 men IN the
iselective draft could neither read nor
write, and one-third of all the men
were rejected as physically unit, TINS
nation realized that thSe were many
things yet to be done to make ours
an intelligent, efficient citlzenshlp.
1--WE have learned. too, that no
low coll
lmocracy when it is governed by
ionly half the people, when one-half
has no voice in the government
which derives it's Just power from
1.-THE will of its people.
Lessons of the World War;
1--WE shall be dull people indeed,
Iif we do not learn many things from
this war. and one of the things which
we as women must do Is to keep
lalive the wonderful spirit Of working
together for common cause.
1--WE worked together in JOY, all
lclasses of women, in the shadow or
1.-The tragedy of war, and we can now
work together in the sunshine of
peace for the common good"
Mrs. Wood then enumerated some
lof the things which ought to engage
the attention of organized women.
She said:
women always put children first
lin their interests, and we nave
Learned recently through the weigh
ling and measuring Of children that
half million babies die every year.
We have learned that 1t is twelve
times as dangerous to be baby IN
America as it was to be soldier in
1.-THE front line trenches. II city OF
a half million were wiped Off the
earth every year we would think IT
a dreadful calamity and yet year
after year this awful death rate
among children has been going on"
She paid high compliment to DR..
Grace Meigs Crowder and to the
work she has done for the children
of America, and said that the baby
welfare work of the Keokuk Visiting
Nurse association is doing much to
save Keolruk babies. In speaking of
1.-THE schools she said:
One Crime Of Keokuk.
i eff your chools are not the very
hest that are to be found in COM
munity of equal size anywhere, then
as community you are failing in
fyour duty to your children.
ut is a crime that well organ
liked penny lunch system should have
been abolished in your schools, for
lin every city-and we have no
reason to believe that Keokuk is an
Iexception-there are children by the
scores who are undernourished.
mo child whose body is underfed
can make the progress in school that
child with well nourished body
can make.
| mo school system Is abreast with