Newspaper Page Text
Woman’s Page.
Q
Women Librarians.
The prospective candidacy of
Miss Ellen Dortch for the office of
state librarian makes interesting
all facts pertaining to the success
of women as librarians.
If appointed she will be the
youngest womuu in the coterie of
brilliant women occupying the
same position in the various states
and will doubtless prove her usual
ability to succeed in any position
she undertakes.
Mississippi "was the first southern
st ite to recognize the capacity of
women as librarians, and Mrs
Mary Morancy, of that state, was
the first woman distinguished by
the appointment. Under the old
constitution oi the state of Missis
sippi a woman was not eligible to
the office of state librarian, as is
the present case in the constitution
of Georgia.
When the democratic party came
into power in 1870, through the
magnanimity and generosity of
the men in power, Mrs. M >rancy
was appointed and enjoyed the
honor of being the pioneer woman
librarian of the southern states.
When she assumed the responsi
bilities of the office she found the
library incomplete, unsystematic
in catalogue and overcome with
worthless matter. With remarka
ble tact and energy she entered
into the work of reorganization,
and through her management the
Mississippi state library assumed
a standard second only to that of
Massachusetts. She made a study
of her department set In order the
tattered volumes of value, studied
the catalogues of all other state li
braries, and offered in exchange
any superfluous volumes she dis
covered. In mere exchanges she
is said to have added many hun
dred valuable books, and to have
exerted every means to elevate the
rank of her \brary to that of any
* countiyl
The law department is said to
be especially complete.
In IS9O the law was formally
established in Mississippi, making
it legal for women to hold the of
fice, when the following bill was
introduced and passed upon:
‘‘There shall be a state librarian,
to be chosen by the legislature on
joint vote of the two houses, to
serve for four years, whose duties
and compensation shall be prescrib
ed by law. Any woman a resident
of the state, and who has attained
the age of twenty years, shall be
eligible to said office.”
In 1890 Miss Rose Lee Tucker, a
young woman of culture and re
finement., succeeded Mrs. Morancy.
She occupied the position ably for
six years, when the present effi
cient officer, Mrs. Helen D. Bell,
was appointed. She is the young
est surviving daughter of the Hon
Wesley Drane, who was one of the
most prominent men of Mississip
pi. While still young, Mrs. Bell
was left a widow with the respon
sibilities of a family. She was the
first woman in the state to take the
civil service examination and re
ceiving a very high grade was ap
pointed to a position of responsi
bility in the Jackson post ftice.
Not long afterwards she was ap
pointed state librarian, her ap
pointment meeting with the wildest
enthusiasm in the house of repre
sentatives.
Mrs. Bell is a woman of unusual
literary attainments, and wonder
ful business qua'ifications She
is beloved socially and universally
popular officially.
Among the many women
throughout the country occupying
positions of state librarian are:
Mrs. Jai.e Ingram, of Nashville,
Tenn ; Miss Susie E Dorsey. Car
son City, Neb.; Mrs. L. C. Creigh
ton, Des Moines, la.; Mrs. Helen
M. Nixon, Denver. Col.; Mrs M
C. Taylor, New Orleans. La.; Mrs
Mary C. Spencer, Lansing. Mich.;
Mrs. M. B. R Day. Frankfort, Ky ;
Mrs. May L. Wood, Boies City, I
daho.
“MAYBE A SERMON—
MAYBE A SONG.”
This is a time of the year when wo
men are planning and thinking a great
deal about new clothes. The woman
who has devoted most of the summer
to serious work or study, and who is
counted an “advanced” woman is not
! open to the charge of being unwomanly
if, when the leaves begin to turn, her
thoughts also begin to turn to new at
tire. Many a fair head is gravely bent
in some sunny corner these autumn
days, and one wonders what serious
problem is occupying the space behind
the smooth white brow and thoughtful
eyes. It is quite likely that a ways
and means committee of busy little
plans for dainty clothes are gathered
there. She is going to have one sim
ple black frock because she knows it
makes her soft throat and fresh face
almost dazzling. How does she know?
V'hy, Jack told her she looked well in
black, and his eyes said much more.
And she smiles and pictures the pretty
frock, and beneath it her daintily shod
feet on the hearth some winter’s eve
ning; and beside them a distinctly
masculine pair of feet-Jack’s, of course.
We all smile this time.
People smile at women’s weakness
for pretty clothes as if it were a real
weakness. I regard it in another
light, whatever may be the views of
the man who pays the bills. Since,
for climatic and other reasons, we
must wear clothes they should be as
charming as possible. You remember
in ‘-Hamlet” Polonius advises his son,
Laertes, in regard to his clothes:
“Costly thy habit as thy purse
can buy,
But not expressed in fancy: rich
not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims
the man.”—
and much more the woman. It is true
that many brilliant women are careless
about dress, but these are exceptional,
and one feels instinctively that charm
ing and tasteful attire is a sort of index
to attractive mental qualities of the
wearer. Doubtless most women have
long since discovered by actual exper
ience, that a reasonable amount of
time spent on dress was not time
wasted, at least so far as immediate
results are concerned. Men are al
ways appreciative.
I should want to live in the country
always where I couldn’t sec many
people if nobody paid any attention to
clothes. 1 should think that love was
dead and people were no longer inter
ested in each other. In this connec
tion one might mention the notable
fact that in all the kingdom of animals,
with the sole exception of mankind,
the male displays more brilliant ..nd
marked coloring than does the female,
where there is any difference In color
ing at all. There would seem then, to
be something contrary to nature's in
tentions in the extravagant coloring
and fashion of woman's attire as con
trasted with the plainness of men’s.
Among the various reasons for it the
following will do, as well as any, to
mention here. In the comparatively
early days of our race men and women
dressed alike according to the prece
dent established in the Garden by that
unlucky first pair. Then the men
went to war with each other—they did
that from the start, but when they be
gan to own anything less bulky than
land aud cattle, the victors came home
from battle laden with barbarous orna
ments of gold and fine cloth stuffs.
Having no other safe place to keep
them they loaded their women with
thesi valuables. And that was how it
:.11 began, ages and ages ago.
How it will end nobody kuows, but
it is easy to see the present drift of
dress. Straws—and bloomers—show
which way the wind blows. You
might have guessed this would end up
with bloomers. A contemplation of
woman's dress naturally suggests a re
form. True, I began by extolling
frills and the feminine love of them,
but a charming and tasteful dress does
not always mean the fashionable dress;
;ind in the love of pretty things I only
see that innate longing tor tbe beauti
ful that all of us possess to a greater
or less degree. The ideal dress is one
that fulfils its only reason for existing
that of protecting the body, and allows
free play for the limbs and a perfect
development of the body. That is
why we need dress reform. The needs
of mankind in the matter of clothes
and food are very simple, indeed, and
when we go beyond our actual needs
in these things and burden our bodies
for pleasure or display, degeneration
begins.
This is one of the drawbacks of civ
il-’zatiun, I suppose. You will observe
that wardrobes dwindle in proportion
to the lack of civilization, until the
South Sea islander considers a
necklace of teeth and a string of fringe
quite good enough for any social func
tion which he may attend. Then,
representing the other extreme, is our
effete civilization, and our women so
swathed with skirts and stays that
they do not know what freedom of
body means. It is true that the aver
age woman knows nothing of the de
light of unrestricted motion; of walk
ing, riding and swimming for miles,
aud drinking in barrels of pure, fresh
air, instead of the tea and tonics she
l usually imbibes. What wc need is
original and daring women—women
who think—women who know what to
wear and how to wear it, who are
independent enough to do what they
know, The cranks and “queer” peo
ple of today are the pioneers of fifty
years hence.
But in the case of some pioneer it
would take a distance of about fifty
years to lend any sort of enchantment
to them. I remember seeing an old
picture of the original Mrs. Bloomer
in the original pair of the garment
that bears her name. She was no
doubt a very excellent woman; she
had the right idea about the need of
reform and she possessed courage suf
ficient to carry it out, but she made a
dreadful guy of herself. But she was
a pioneer in a good cause and the
bloomer girl of today, if she thinks of
her at all, should venerate her memo
ry.—Oh, no! I am not advising the
adoption of bloomers as regulation at
tire. I believe in dressing as the sea
son and one’s occupation requires, so
that the body will be perfectly free
to perform its duties and functions
with ease and strength. And believe
me, mes dames, a healthy body means
a healthy mind, and these are far
more beautiful than the trappings of
fashionable modesty.
The whirligig of time brings many
changes, and in this case 1 think the
whirligig is a bicycle and it will bring
a change to healthier notions about
dress. To speak in the fashion of an
allegory, not many years hence all of
the women will come forth from the
tents of slothfulness, where they grow
fat and narrow-minded for want of ex
ercise, and will convert the barbarous
gold the men bring home from the
modern commercial battles into bicy
cles. And they will make the fine cloth
into bicycle costumes, and they will
no longer worship the golden calves
of mammon but will prefer those of
good bone and muscle, that stand one
in good stead. And they will go about
in the evening looking like Greek
goddesse with their beautiful, straight
bodies and clinging draperies. Then
will civilization have succeeded in
making both ends meet . E. C.
The Rome Georgian’s recent anni
versary edition is noteworthy as being
one of the brightest and most readable
issues of that bright paper. The
Georgian is one year old and has lost
the awkardness of a new comer,
wearing instead, the air of one whose
place is assured in the journalistic
world, and whose merit is established.
The paper is essentially a woman's pa
per and gives more space to the inter
ests of women generally than it does
to politics from a feminine spandpoint.
The editor. Mrs. Beaulah S. Mosely,
is a charming woman and allows her
individuality full play in all depart
ments of her paper. For this reason
it possesses a very pleasant personal
flavor. I admire the paper and its ed
itor because both are womanly, and
are living proofs of the fact that a wo
man can “do something” and still be
womanly and charming—two things
that women can ill afford not to be.
Mr. Dabney Dougherty, of Rome,
who is a student in the school here,
and Mr. W. G. Raoul, of Atlanta, ran
a race on Main street here Monday
morning, in which Mr. Raoul was
beaten rather badly. The latter rode
his bicycle and Dougherty ran on foot.
Many of the spectators thought Mr.
Raoul’s defeat due to the unlucky slip
ping of one of his tires which gave way
when he sprang on the wheel, and
rendered high speed impossible. But
for this ill luck the race might have
ended differently, and would certainly
have been closer. Mr. Dougherty has
quite a reputation as a sprinter, hav
ing won all the races he has been in
here, besides winning in Rome on sev
eral occasions.
Our specialties —three distinct and
superior lines —Dress Goods, Clothing
and Shoes. You cannot afford to miss
either. Hollis & Hinton.
Memoriam.
Upon the stilled air of the sultry
August is borne to me the sad in
telligence that once again the sil
ver chord has been loosed and the
pitcher broken at the fountain—
that the pure, unselfish spirit of
Miss Viola Gilmer has returned to
the God who gave it. A shadow
falls across the sunshine, the odor
ous breezes lose their sweetness,
and from the sorrow in my heart
rises the instinctive desire to pay
loving tribute to her memory.
Four winters have come and gone
since we became friends, and each
succeeding one, I have watched with
no ordinary interest and pleasure
the development of this noble char
acter into the true character which
is builded only by the divine aid
of our blessed Master.
The fifth winter will feel strange
ly sad without the cheerful letters,
and vain will be the longing “for
the touch of a vanished hand, and
the sound of a voice that is still.”
But the angels keep better watch
than I, and with them she dwells
forevermore from all earthly care
and pain; and though vain will be
the longing for her bright face
here, her loved ones are made to
rejoice in the thought that they
will meet her beyond the river.
Modest in disposition, gentle
and kind in spirit, true to every
principle of right, hers was a char
acter whose beauty will live not
only in this world, but throughout
the cycles of eternity. In the gar
den of her youth there were no un
sightly tares to hide the golden
grains of an abiding love —no
clouds to obscure the faith that
gave her strength for all disap
pointments.
She has gone from the little city
among the mountains, with its
material charms, to one more beau
tiful and enduring, even the crSy ■
of gold, whose turrets gleam with !
precious stones, and whose
flowers are the blossoms of immor
tality, bedewed with the crystal
waters of everlasting life. She
has gone from the hearthstone of
her kindred to the mansion “whose
builder and maker is God.” Her
anthems of praise will never again
be heard in the church among the
stately oaks, but she sings a paean
of celestial triumph amidst the
groves of Paradise.
On the hearts of those who loved
her there is and will be a sadness
that only the consolation of the
Redeemer can remove, for He him
self hath promised to wipe our
tears away. None but those who
have been similarly bereft can
fully understand and appreciate
the utter sense of loneliness that
must have been the portion of her
family when they realized that the
charmed circle of home was again
broken. My warmest sympathies
goes out to them with the prayer
that they may find the roses of
mercy intertwining the rod of be
reavement. May her friends learn
well the beautiful lesson of her
life, and when each pilgrim shall
have lain his burden down, “Lord
Jesus grant us a place with thee at
home in heaven.” Allie Ozmer.
Lithonia, Ga.
Dalton District.
Nove über Quarterly conference ;
will be held at Subligna Friday before !
the first Sunday.
Summerville circuit at Raccoon mills
Ist Saturday and Sunday.
Trion station, first Sunday night and
Monday night.
Spring Place, at Spring Place Friday
before second Sunday.
Murray circuit, at McCamy’s second
Saturday and Sunday.
Broomtown, at Macedonia third Sat
urday’ and Sunday.
Kensington, at .Liberty Tuesday af
ter.
Tunnel Hill circuit, at Tunnel Hill
Thursday after.
Ringgold circuit, at Bethel Friday.
LaFayette and Chickamauga at La-
Fayette fourth Saturday aud Sun lay.
Annual conference at Dalton Novem
ber "25.
Trustees will present written reports
Stewards will press collections. Pas
tors will expect brethren to respond
liberally to collections to be made by
them.
This is my fourth and last year. Let
us make it the best. H. J. Adams,
P. E.
sg gStg®®®®
h LOVEMAN’S.
| Finest Dressmakiiig in the Seuth. |
J Exquisite Millinery, Jackets and Capes, g
& —lmmense Carpet Department. |
g —o — &
H w F,NE
jk % DRESS GOODS,
M \ SILKS, RIBBONS, H
$ LACES, GLOVES,
| . CORSETS, ETC.S
| It l
• ALSO A
& ’ ART DEPARTMENT. §
A EM BROIDERY, SILKS,&
& j S - STAMPED PIECES, ®
g ZEPHYRS,
■■ —o — &
Write for Catalogue. gR
| D. B. LOVEM/VN go. S
® CHATTANOOGA, TENN.
gi®®®®®® »B®®®®®i®®®®®®i®®®®®®j®
WHEN IN ROME
Do As Romans Do
—TRADE WITH —
F. J. ME & CO.
The Largest Stock of New Goods.
The Best Assorted Stock.
Many Things Away Under Price!
All Wool Filling Jeans 12 i=2C.
9oz “ “ “ •Gc
4=4 AAA Sheetings 4 and 4 I=2C
Best 27 in Cotton Plaids 5c
$1.50 Climax Shoes at only SI.OO
Turkey Red Prints 3 «=2C
Boys’ Knee Pants Suits 90c
Bed Blankets, only 20c
Mens’ Under Shirts 15c
Ladies’ Winter Vests 10c
These are a few of our prices and it will pay you to
look here before you buy. Come to Rome, goods
cheaper than ever before. Hake our place your head=
quarters. We want to see you.
F. J. KANE & CO.,
248 Broad Street, Rome, Ga.
RIP-AN’S
ul
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