of boys. The military drill cultivates prompt obedience to rightful authority, a respectful and courteous demeanor, and an alertness of mind and muscle that is of great value. Our boys take the triple pledge and keep it with rigid fidelity. Substitute Bohemian for Italian work, and we have mentioned the principal activities at Woodland Avenue Reading Room; add boys' library clubs, and we have more nearly outlined the work here and at Willson Avenue Reading Room, save at the latter there is no work for older girls under present limitations. Central Friendly Inn has been a pioneer in this unique combination of industrial, educational and spiritual endeavor, and the success resulting has stimulated the institutional church idea now setting so many new forces in motion under church direction. The germ of the Training Home for Friendless Girls was the "Open Door," though, since the establishment of similar institutions, it confines its efforts mainly to preventive work, taking girls who are in imminent peril, surrounding_them with the best of home influences and training them for honest self-support. The "Lakeside Outing" for working girls can only be mentioned, as also the Fresh Air Camp for careworn mothers, the latter enlisting the co-operation of many organizations outside of Cleveland. This Union has expended in the twenty years of its existence $176,932.55, not including $53,000 invested in Central Friendly Inn. Much of the Union's success has been due to its noble leaders, the first, Miss Sarah Fitch of revered memory, first and only president of the Women's Christian Association for twenty-five years, until "called up higher." When she found the superadded work of this organization too arduous, she laid it down and was succeeded, after three years filled by Mrs. S. W. Duncan and Mrs. M. C. Worthington, by Mrs. Anna S. Prather, whose genial friendliness, ready sympathy, and ability to inspire others with a faith in the Union's enterprises that prompted generous gifts for their furtherance, meant very much for many years of our history. She was succeeded by Miss Mary E. Ingersoll, universally loved and respected, whose cool, clear judgment, practical wisdom and unswerving fidelity to duty, eminently qualified her to guide the interests of this organization, setting Mrs. Prather free to develop the work made possible by Mr. Doan's gift of Music Hall for educational and philanthropic purposes. By the side of these honored leaders, till a few months ago, stood Miss F. Jennie Duty, in whose fertile brain originated many of the plans most fruitful in blessed results. She was a rare worker whose place will long be vacant. From the beginning this organization has been non-partisan and non-sectarian. It has held that the people differ so honestly, conscientiously, and intensely, in reference to governmental, financial and economic questions, that they cannot be driven or coaxed into any one party, any more than into one denomination; nor would it be best if they could. Interests so vital should not be imperilled by party antagonisms nor go down in party defeats. If, as Miss Willard now says, "parties are of no more value than so many tin cans," how much greater the folly of allying our temperance organizations to any party whatsoever. We rejoice that the position taken by this Union at the beginning, adherence to which caused its separation from the first State and National W. C. T. U., is fully vindicated in the light of recent events, even our enemies being judges." 66 The Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Cleveland owes a debt of gratitude to a host of generous, true-hearted men and women of all parties, who have made its work possible during all these years. Their continued help in multiplying safeguards about the tried and tempted; their encouragement in reaching out to those most likely to become a menace to society or to drift into the criminal classes; their generous aid in pushing the industrial, educational and religious phases of our work will make the greater Cleveland for which we hope and plan, the better Cleveland for which we pray and labor. “Cleveland W. C. T. U." was the topic assigned to Mrs. Sarah M. Perkins. She discussed the relation of this organization to reform work and city charities, in the main, speaking as follows: When we remember the Master's directions about doing alms secretly that we may be rewarded openly, we think that things have got twisted about a little when we tell our good deeds openly and get no reward whatever. But no woman with the love of Christ permeating her heart ever gives in charity expecting a reward. She does not even expect gratitude. If she depended on that sentiment for inspiration, she had long ago fainted by the way. But as temperance workers, total abstainers, with eyes divinely illumined, we see want and crime and misery all about us caused by the drink curse. We hasten to and fro on errands of mercy, caring for little barefooted children and discouraged, broken-hearted mothers. We go to prisons, workhouses and infirmaries and tell the shut-in ones the sweet story of the cross, of Him who came to save the lost and is not willing that any should perish. Our jail services in this city have been kept up for nearly ten years on each consecutive Sabbath day, and our faithful Mary A. Doty, who conducts these services, says that she has no fears of the weather; her hearers will be sure to be in their places, rain or shine. You all say that this work is most womanly; it is Christian, it is ladylike. But some of us are not blind, we see causes for all these evils, and we ask why do men with the ballot in their hands, American citizens, equal in power to the old Roman who exclaimed, “To be a Roman is to be a King'"- why do they allow two thousand saloons to exist in our city and never lift a hand or a voice for their removal? Why do they take a revenue from the miseries and the vices of the people? Why do they seek to regulate the curse by voting it into the next ward, or by taking a saloon up from our side of the street and putting it down on the other side? Our politicians would put their hands into the hottest fire and burn them off before they would say one word against the saloon curse. Why? They had rather lose their hands than their heads-their official heads, I mean. They dare not offend their constituency. Then do not blame us when we say that when we give a man a loaf of bread, we do not want another person to give him a glass of beer. Remove the beer and the man could earn his bread. There must be something radically wrong in our country when a man boasts that he has eighty millions of dollars, and he can stand on his palace steps and see ten thousand homeless, hungry tramps go marching by. It hurts a man's self-respect to receive charity. He should not receive it if it can be avoided. Therefore I plead to-day for the thousands of neglected, abused children who are growing up in ignorance and degradation, and say emphatically, remove the saloon, that these children may have a chance for education and self-respect. I plead for the poor, discouraged mothers, bending wearily over the wash-tubs, with shoulders blackened by blows, and tears falling from dim eyes, and say, remove the saloons, that these mothers may remain at home and properly train their children. These mothers cannot speak for themselves; they are not here to-day; therefore ever in our Centennial Celebration we should remember our duty to these neglected ones and seek to improve their condition. When we cry, "Is not this great Babylon that I have built? Is not this great Cleveland that we have built?" let us discuss the handwriting on the wall, "Weighed in the balance and found wanting." Then when another centennial is celebrated in our city, may there be no traps to beguile men to destruction; may the Golden Rule be the rule of every person, and all be working hopefully, remembering that what ought to be, will be, in God's own good tire. Let none of us forget that righteousness exalteth a nature, but sin is a reproach to any people. One man says, “Give us pure gold." Another says, Give us free silver. But we say, "Give us a nation of total abstainers, and our relief stations and our charities would be far less than they are to-day." God grant that it may be better further on. At 11 o'clock the subject of "Household Economics" was taken up, Miss Linda T. Guilford presiding. The Temple Quartette sang "The Parting Kiss," after which Mrs. Helen Campbell delivered an address on the topic, "A Stronger Home," the following being a brief report of the same: Mrs. Campbell's paper was devoted to proving that the discontent which was bringing woman out of her old-time subservience was her natural and rightful revolt against old-time conditions-and conditions existing in many quarters even nowadays -which made the expression, "the good old times," a mere travesty. She said that the country graveyard and the insane asylum bore testimony to the truth of what she said, the former being filled with the first, second, and often third wives of farmers, and the second being crowded with farmers' wives. She drew a picture of the New England graveyard, with its tombstones of two or three wives of the same farmer, side by side with that of the farmer himself, who died at a ripe old age," and she said that New England girls of former days, and, to a great extent, to-day, rushed into fourteen hours' labor in factories sooner than take the more arduous work of farm life. Mrs. Campbell pictured the ceaseless lack-luster routine of the life of the farmer's wife, with its constant cooking and mending, its tiresome sameness of diet, and its inevitable burying of the higher intelligence of the woman herself. She recounted a large picnic of agriculturists she had witnessed in Wisconsin, where three-fourths of the contents of the baskets were lemon pies, the only viand which seemed to be thought equal to the occasion. Six hours a day was devoted by the rural housewives to cooking the meals and clearing the tables. Salads were unknown to them, and soup an unheard of luxury. Fried meats, chiefly pork, and pie were the staples. The teeth and the hair of the women fell out, their backs bent, their cheeks hollowed, and they died young and went insane in large numbers. In common with their husbands, they had no thought save for the daily food and the mortgage. As the result of the object lesson afforded by all this, the boys and girls sought the city and its wider opportunities as fast as they could. The women had the right to reach out for a better condition of affairs. Otherwise they could not found the family, which physically, ethically, and psychologically should be the masterpiece of evolution. The good old times was a misnomer, and women of the present day were to be congratulated that they did not live fifty or one hundred years ago. In connection with all this, Mrs. Campbell caused laughter by saying that the new order of things which had produced the new woman, though not the new woman as often pictured, was producing, without his knowledge and consent, the new man, and when the last-named product of the age was perfected, a condition of society would exist which would be a joy and a gladness. A feature of the morning session was the introduction of Mrs. Claire Hoyt Burley, formerly of Massachusetts, past department commander of the Woman's Relief Corps and national superintendent of the National Women's Relief Corps Home at Madison, Ohio. Mrs. Ingham, at the close of the meeting, presented the following announcement: The civic patriotism developed at our meetings the past year among the women of Cleveland creates a desire on the part of many that these delightful associations continue. Responding to such sentiment, we appoint a reunion of members to be held in the Assembly Room of Public Library Building, No. 190 Euclid avenue, Friday, September 11, at 2:30 P.M. It is proposed to designate these attractive gatherings as pertaining to the Woman's New Century Club of Cleveland and the Western Reserve for the study of this city and surrounding country, our history, present needs, commercial achievements, the wonderful waterways, and in time our geology, flora, fauna, etc., never forgetting the tender reminiscence of the pioneer and the survey of every branch of woman's work, especially that pertaining to the happiness of home. Such a club should be open to all women, irrespective of age, occupation, religion or nationality. Please favor this broad venture with membership at $1, even if you cannot attend in person, as through this instructive channel intellectual help may come to hundreds. Yours for love of home and city, MRS. MARY B. INGHAM, Remit to Miss Elizabeth Blair, No. 802 Prospect street. The ushers at the Woman's Day exercises were Mrs. Mary E. McOmber, marshal; assisted by Mrs. C. L. Moore, Miss Mattie D. Irwin, Miss Marie Schwab, Mrs. Alice Mace, Miss Cole, Miss Ella Woodard and Miss B. Donavan. Miss Rentz was in charge of the register, where the 216 township historians signed their names. Jennie E. Dawson sold programmes, and Mrs. J. E. Bradley badges. Miss From 12 o'clock to 1:30 o'clock a reception and luncheon was given in the upper rooms of the Armory to the historians of the Western Reserve, the hostess being Mrs. Gertrude V. R. Wickham, historian, assisted by Mrs. Charles G. Smith, her able colleague, and the following ladies: Mrs. Charles H. Weed, Mrs. A. B. Foster, Mrs. A. R. Timmins, Mrs. W. F. Robbins, Mrs. C. E. Tillinghast, Mrs. J. A. Bidwell, Mrs. H. A. Griffin, Mrs. Francis Widlar, Mrs. F. A. Arter, Mrs. C. E. Lowman, Mrs. J. W. Lewis, Mrs. C. E. Pennewell, Mrs. Robert Aikenhead, Mrs. Arthur Adams, Mrs. J. H. Collister, Mrs. F. W. Pelton, Mrs. J. M. Henderson, Mrs. Harry McNutt, Mrs. J. F. Fisher, Mrs. A. C. Hord, Mrs. A. R. Teachout, Mrs. C. E. Lower, Mrs. Sigmund Joseph, Mrs. Sapp, Mrs. Werwage. The tables were set in the large rooms facing the lake. Each accommodated ten guests. AFTERNOON SESSION. At the opening of the afternoon session a number of aged persons were introduced by Mrs. Ingham. The first was Mrs. Warner, a great granddaughter of Moses Cleaveland. Others presented were Mrs. J. A. Harris, the founder of the Dorcas Society; Mrs. Peter Thatcher, who did much in establishing hospitals in the city; Mrs. Betsey Hulet Foster, daughter of a soldier in the American Revolution, whose daughter wrote the Centennial Ode; Mrs. Sarah K. Bolton, the authoress, and Mrs. Mary S. Bradford, president of the Cleveland School of Art and first vice president of the Centennial. The first hour was designated as "Club Hour." Mrs. Elroy M. Avery, president of the executive board, the first woman in Cleveland to be elected to the School Council, presided. In taking charge of the meeting, Mrs. Avery said: I am glad that the hour of my chairmanship is the civic hour. In our civic pride we recognize the fact that the building of such a city as this in a hundred years is conclusive evidence of activity and energy. This active and energetic city needs, and has, an active and energetic head. Cleveland's mayor is only a third as old as the city, the youngest mayor of any great city in the land. When the enthusiasm of youth reinforces wisdom, the combination constitutes the index of success. It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you our great city's honored chief, Mayor Robert E. McKisson. The mayor responded to this happy introduction as follows: Mrs. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is a great privilege for me to say a few words to the women of the Western Reserve on this patriotic occasion. We have assembled to pay a just and loving tribute to those who labored long and faithfully to build up the character of the Reserve home," which blesses all our people to-day. We have come together to make our acknowledgment and pay our debt of gratitude to the pioneers now present, who have carried forward the illustrious achievements of their mothers and fathers from old New England; we have met to properly inaugurate and push forward in the new century those elements of the new Connecticut, whose younger homes are so beautiful, and by this magnificent meeting we show our appreciation of the blessing and prosperity which we have so well enjoyed. The women of Cleveland and the Western Reserve have reason to rejoice in the completion of a hundred years of history for home and country as glorious and as grand as was ever written in the records of the world. It is therefore fitting and proper that we set aside this day for the commemoration of women's noble part, their progress, and their achievements in the declining century, and give to them our mutual congratulations on the successful past and express our loving faith in what their successors will receive at their hands. In this feeling and spirit, I believe, all true citizens heartily join. Who can estimate the power of devoted womanhood in these matchless counties of the Western Reserve? Her hand has rocked the cradle of presidents and kings; her home has been the paradise for generals and queens. To her, we owe our grateful thanks for the lustre this section of our State enjoys; to her, we give our hearty praise for the part her work has played in all the movements for the betterment of mankind. To the women of the Western Reserve and our distinguished guests our gates swing gladly inward and we bid you welcome, thrice welcome, to-day. It is also fitting for me to publicly thank the women of the Reserve who have taken so lively and important an interest in the success of this Centennial Celebration. Their untiring efforts, even amid early discouragements, have resulted in the happy consummation of not only their own hopes and desires, but those of every citizen having the interests of the celebration at heart. If any of our sister cities are contemplating similar celebrations within the next few years, I can heartily commend to |