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ST. ELMO W. C. T. U. HAS INSPIRING MEETING
They Are Hot After Violators of Prohibition Law —Call On Their Husbands, Sons and Brothers to Help Straighten Out
Chattanooga—Some Beautiful Papers on “Motherhood.”
NE of the most inspiring hours dur
ing the recent visit of the Editor
of The Golden Age to Chattanooga,
was the session of the St. Elmo W.
C. T. U. Invited as one of the
speakers, he had the privilege of
listening first to a charming pro
gram prepared especially for the
“Motherhood Meeting.” But the
O
tender sacredness of the theme did not make
those fair, brave women forget their immediate
duty to the demands of citizenship. Ringing
resolutions were passed, endorsing the Mayor
of Chattanooga and the commissioners standing
with him, on their declaration in favor of law
enforcement; and then they proceeded to pay
their gentle respects to the Police Commission
er, who had openly said that the prohibition
law, as well as the law against the “Houses in
their midst,” could not be enforced, and, there
fore, they should be winked at.
St. Elmo Calls for Chattanooga’s Help.
St. Elmo, Tenn., famous with historic color
ing in connection with the great novel of Au
gusta Evans Wilson, is a beautiful suburb of
Chattanooga, but a separate municipality and
the women of the St. Elmo Woman’s Christian
Temperance Union called on Chattanooga to
“behave herself” for St. Elmo’s sake.
A Delightful Program.
After a stirring piano solo by Miss Mary Sea
gle, the honored president, Mrs. E. F. Heasty,
read the Scriptures, calling on Pastor Catron, of
the M. E. Church, for prayer. And, of course,
we all were glad to remember that the men
who meet to plan in favor of liquor never open
their meetings with prayer.
Miss Kate Roberts, president of the Hamilton
County W. C. T. U., made an inspiriting ad
dress on “The Crusade Days,” out of which
the W. C. T. U. was born.
Mrs. J. Fred Thompson gave a reading of
beautiful impressiveness, “The Heart of a Little
Child.”
Mrs. Sanderson, a widely beloved teacher in
the public school, made an address of striking
power, on “The Co-operation Between the Par
ent and the Teacher.”
Every “speech” on the program was so splen
did that we asked for the “whole business” for
publication in The Golden Age, hoping to in
spire other chapters of the W. C. T. U. to “go
and do likewise.”
Here are two of the papers which ought to
go into every mother’s heart, as well as her
scrap-book:
Mrs. Vesey, wife —indeed, the real “Assistant
Pastor” —of Rev. J. W. Vesey, the popular pas
tor of the St. Elmo Baptist Church, where the
W. C. T. U. rally was held, read the following
rich and wholesome paper on —
Mother’s Influence in the Home.
Mankind is sufficiently endowed with wisdom
and knowledge, so as to estimate the distance
from earth to the sun, to accurately measure
time and space, to converse by means of scien
tific instruments around the globe; and many
wonderful inventions by means of his ingenuity
have been given us and many perplexing pro
lems solved. But one remains unsolved and
will be to the end of time. No one can meas
ure or estimate the extent or value of influence
that we wield over another. Time may re
veal to some extent the amount of influence
of the evil over the moral, but God alone can
tell of the great, unbounded and unlimited in
fluence of the mother in the home.
May I ask: What is home ? So many beau
tiful definitions have been given this word, it
would be hard to say which is best; and yet to
each member of the household it carries its own
meaning. To the husband and father, it is a
haven of rest, where he is relieved of the bur-
The Golden Age for January 30, 1913.
dens of every day, by the loving influence that
surrounds him, and he is enabled to go refresh
ed and invigorated, into the battle of life again.
To the child, home is his world —mother is
there. He brings to her all his troubles, which
are soon forgotten in a loving embrace, and his
pleasures, which become greater as they are
shared by her.
To the wife and mother, whose life has been
given entirely into the Master’s keeping, home
means “Love,” a place where she reigns queen;
where she wields her influence involuntarily,
rnd unconsciously to an extent, for good. It
can not be otherwise —“for as the fountain, so
will be the flow.”
By her sweet smile, her soft touch, her gentle
influence, loved ones are impelled, even when
distance separates them, to turn from forbidden
paths into paths of righteousness.
A consecrated wife is constantly exerting an
influence for good over her husband. She
makes home so bright and cheerful, he looks
forward all during the day of toil to home-com
ing in the evening. By her spirit of patience
and kindness, she makes smooth and pleasant
the rough places of life, and develops in him
corresponding qualities; and he not only does
what he can to promote her happiness, but in
the outer world he also puts into practice the
beautiful lessons learned from her influence;
that is, making those happy in his business
circle.
If the wife is not one of God’s children (and
I trust I do not address one such this after
noon,) her influence is then for the world.
There is not that happiness and peace that
should make the home typical of the one pre
pared for us, “not made with hands,” and the
husband is repelled rather than drawn to her,
for a woman may be a star that leads a man to
where flowers forever bloom, or she may be a
dangerous magnet that draws to darkness and
despair.
Next comes the influence of mother over the
child. There is nothing sweeter than the im
plicit trust given from the child to mother.
What she says is just right. Oh! mothers, how
careful you should be that little one is trying
to emulate your example, just as you should
follow our blessed Saviour’s. In their young
and tender years, let all their impressions be
for good. Let your influence be about them so
vividly they can see and know you love and
serve the Saviour, when first you teach them to
lisp at your knee.
Never practice the art of deception even in
the most trivial thing, for their young lives
are in your hands to mould, as clay in the
hands of the potter.
Never leave the little ones entirely to the
care of a servant. No matter what your other
duties may be, home comes first. God has en
trusted into your care these precious lives, and
you should keep sacred His trust. As they
grow older, your influence becomes stronger,
and as they step out into the arena of life your
influence will still follow, teaching them to live
such beautiful lives, “that those they may meet
in after years—in the Christian world, in the
social sphere, or in a business way—may feel
their influence, wrapping itself around them,
in sweet benedictions and leading them to seek
a home in the bosom of the everlasting God.”
“The Responsibilities of Motherhood.”
Mrs. George W. Wimberly spoke “off hand”
on “The Responsibility of Motherhood,” but
her thoughts were so golden that The Golden
Age Editor “commanded on the spot” that she
put those thoughts on paper. Here they are:
Mothers, —this seems to me to be the biggest
subject in the whole wide world with which
we have to deal.
It has to do with both time and eternity.
Responsibility means a trust. From the mo
ment that little form is placed in your arms,
your responsibility begins.
You may be called upon to surrender back
to the great Creator this trust, in its infancy,
may be in childhood, in youth, or in maturity.
But, so long as you both shall live the respon
sibility exists; and the result as to how you
discharge it will go on down through the ages.
Eternity alone can measure the forces of
good or evil you have set in motion.
The responsibility of motherhood is three-fold
—embracing the development of the perfect
man, the physical, intellectual and spiritual na
tures.
The physical demands the attention first, re
quiring food, clothes and shelter.
The food must be wholesome and nourishing,
the clothes sensible, neat and sufficient for the
protection of the body; the home should be
sanitary and as comfortable as you can make it.
Everything should combine to promote the
health of the child.
You will have to exercise this watch-care as
long as it is necessary. Sometimes you
may have to be very positive, always remem
bering that health is of paramount importance.
Mothers Guilty When Girls Dress Foolishly.
Mothers, it is distressing to see how some of
our daughters dress. Go on the streets any
cold winter’s day, may be snow on the ground,
and you will find some mother’s daughter
wrapped in furs, about the upper part of the
body. Then look down and behold the dainty
velvet or suede slippers, and hosiery—oh, so
thin, exposing the sensitive ankle to the rigor
ous weather.
Again, you will see one with a lace yoke or
low neck, and coat loose or thrown back. You
feel chilly when you look at them. Yet they
tell you they are perfectly comfortable. Do
not be deceived. The only reason those girls
are not stricken at once, is because the vital
force is strong enough to withstand the shock
of exposure. Some day when vitality is lower,
disease will gain the ascendancy. Your daugh
ter will go into a decline and you will wonder
how it came about.
Teach your daughter that it is criminal to
invite ill health just to satisfy her idea of
beauty.
The sensible young men, who are frank
enough to express themselves upon the subject
of slippers and low necks, especially for street
wear, in winter, think it is too much like court
ing a hospital to want to marry such reckless
girls.
Boys, generally, are pretty sensible about
dress, but may impair their health by habits
that are more easily prevented than cured. Did
you see those young boys standing on the street
corners smoking cigarettes ? Mothers, I believe
this is the most pernicious evil we have to
fight. It not only destroys the physical, but
the mental and spiritual man, as well.
When you see a young boy, under sixteen
years of age, smoking, find out where he got
his cigarette and tobacco.
We have a law in our State against furnishing
tobacco and cigarettes to boys under sixteen.
If it is not your boy, will you not help the
other mother by reporting the matter, so that
the dealer may be punished to the limit of the
law?
Teach both your girls and boys the sacred
ness of their bodies, and the rules for keeping
pure and healthy. This is a vital part of the
responsibility of motherhood.
Teach your girls domestic science or domestic
art, if you do not know the science—the art of
home-making for nearly every girl will ulti
mately manage a home, and you are responsible,
(Continued on Page 7.)