Club Minutes: Mutual Improvement Association, 1896-1900

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Wrenwood Oct 21st 1897

In spite of the cloudy weather and the absence from the neighborhood of many of our members quite a large company assembled at Wrenwood. The secretary being one of the missing Ellen Farquhar was asked to take the office. After reading the minutes our hostess gave the following sentiment "No life has fulfilled its purpose unless some other life is made better and stronger there by". She also read verses called "My Mamas Hands". Cornelia Bentley gave us the verse of "Incompleteness" but could not finish because of hoarseness. Alice G. Stabler read "The most beautiful pearl" a poem showing that sympathy was better than the material gift. Hallie Lea had nothing

Hallie J. Bentley read two entertaining scraps "A hard bargainer rebuked" and "The good old things" a dyspeptics complaint of the modern fancy cookery. Herinetta Snowden, Helen Stabler, Rebecca T. Miller and Annie B. Lea had nothing for us, neither had Louisa Nesbit but her friend Mrs. Phillips gave some sweet verses about babies and rosebuds and she told of the good done in Stamford by the Ladies' Civic Society. Carrie S. Brooke read the minutes of the first meeting of the Association in 1857. Elizabeth G. Thomas read "Labor is Worship" by Mrs Osgood and "The land of Love". Sally A. Bond gave Whittiers

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"Eternal Goodness" which is always beautiful.

Lydia G. Thomas read a sketch of the womanly "Queen Victoria", Anna F. Gilpin whom we rejoiced is welcome among us ever more, showed some beautiful Mexican Pearls and a miniature loom for weaving Navajo blankets.

Martha Holland had nothing. Sarah E. Stabler read an account of the "anti rubbish club".

Albina O. Stabler read for her mother "Our Own" and also "Don't blame the world".

The next meeting is to be at Norwood the third Friday on the 11th Nov.

Ellen Farquhar sec. pro tem

11/18. 1897. Found the Association convening at hospitable Norwood with nearly all the members in attendance and Esther Wetherald, Alverda W. Easter, Elinor Hough, Caroline S. Brooke, Dollie E. Vedder, Sarah T. Moore, Mary A. Gilpin, Rebecca T. Stabler Julia Hallowell, Alice and Beatrice Tyson guests.

Eliza N. Moore's sentiment was "We cannot prevent the birds of sadness from flying over our heads but we may prevent them from making nests in our hair". Anna F. Gilpin, who received a sort of silent ovation when she once more took her seat in our midst read "The little boys lament" for the freedom of his grandfathers house, and also a few verses of sound wisdom commencing - "Only a day at a time, there may never be a tomorrow"

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Sarah H. Stones offering was a postal card telling of the extreme illness of a former resident Sarah Anne Chandlee who several years since returned to her old home in Virginia (Note, she passed away a day or two after this but she will long be remembered here by those who recognised her sterling worth of character.) Esther Wetherald, always acceptably with us at Norwood gave a quaint story by Thomas Wood entitled "The fall of the Leaf", reading fluently without the aid of glasses although she has passed her 82nd birthday.

Sarah A. Bond's article contrasted the two ways of taking life's disasters and sorrows, one is to struggle and refuse to yield, the other to make the best of all circumstances and by so doing keep the heart young and make the individual happy. Mary E. Moore contributed some short paragraphs containing both sense and fun and a longer extract on "Boys Rights" - a plea for justice to the boys who are too often ill used or ill judged. She gave by request some incidents of a recent visit to Toronto and Buffalo and of the N.C.T.U. meeting which seated 8000 people. Margaret S. Hallowell told us of a lecture delivered by Mrs Hoffman of Kansas who recounted an experience of her father; long years ago in New York he determined to try the experiment of harvesting without the aid of whisky to his men and of his success although his neighbors thought it could not be done.

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He answered that he would not gather his crops at all if such were the case. M.S.M. read a description of an ostrich farm in California, a good pair of the birds is worth $500.00, the male is more valuable because of handsomer plumes, he takes his turn at sitting on the eggs and is supposed to be in favor of feminine equality. A Keystone egg beater was exhibited which some had found satisfactory.

Ellen Farquahar read of a cooking school in San Fransisco by a teacher thereof who deplored the general lack of knowledge in culinary matters. The French term the preparation of suitable and palatable food "one of the minor moralities"

Martha A. Holland had a helpful clipping, "Time safely wasted". Of all our belongings it is the only thing equally distributed, we can neither give nor lose, borrow nor buy. One wrests from it an education, a livelihood, a happy and useful life while another may have almost nothing to show for just the same number of days.

Sarah E. Stabler gave us a discription of a "Pleasure book" in which a woman entered each day a record of something that had made her happy and thus counted her blessings instead of her woes. Lydia G. Thomas entertained us by an account of a sort of mock luncheon in Europe comprised of bread made from wheat, found in an Egyptian pyramid, said to be 4000 years old, of butter that had been in an English mill

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where it was placed when "Good Queen Bess" made progresses in a ruff and farthingale and of wine so ancient and earthy it was doled out by the thimble full. Elizabeth G. Thomas read extracts from the book written by Miss Jessie Ackerman after her trip around the world in the temperance cause. Alverda Easter of Baltimore answered a number of questions relating to her late travels in Europe; of especial interest were her Norway experiences and her presentation to the Pope whom she thought a man of beautiful presence and who granted to her daughters and herself the privileges of the charming gardens enclosed by the Vatican.

Hallie J. Bentley and Carrie S. Brooke each had several short selections ranging from grave to gay and Mary G. Colt a cute poem which brought in the names of all the old familiar friends. Elizabeth C. Davis read a criticism of a new life of Queen Victoria and certainly this royal lady has, and has had, a place in American hearts from her birth.

Elinor Hough was asked by Sarah Stone to read some statistics of women workers in New York, there are now 900 industries in which women are engaged in that city. We feel that these notes are a very imperfect presentment of an exceedingly bright and varied session of the Association which adjourned to Plainfield

Mary Bentley Thomas sec.

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