Two Decades Part 6

Mrs. K. E. Cleveland, of Brooklyn, and Mrs. Emma G. Dietrick, of Lockport, each served for two years in securing day of prayer in week of prayer.

Mrs. A. G. Nichols, of Kingston, and Mrs. R. A. Esmond, of Syracuse, alternated as superintendent of the Unfermented Wine Department from 1880 to 1888, at which time the work was taken up by Mrs. P. J. Adams, of Moravia, who still continues in the department.

Prison and Jail Work in 1880 was in charge of Miss C. E. Coffin, of Brooklyn; in 1881, of Mrs. Knapp, of Auburn; and in 1882 Mrs. Frances D.

Hall, of Plattsburg, was appointed, and continued as superintendent for five years. The next two years Mrs. Richard Bloom, of Auburn, filled the position, and in 1890 Miss C. E. Coffin was again made superintendent, the work in almshouses being added. This was changed the following year, the Department of Almshouse Work being placed with that of Flower Mission, and both given to Miss Anna L. Thompson, of Newburgh, who had been made superintendent of Flower Mission Work in 1890. Previous to this time, commencing in 1888, Miss Lydia Howell, of Poughkeepsie (afterward Mrs. Albert A. Reed), had been the superintendent. In 1880 Reformatory and Almshouse Work was taken up, and Mrs. T. J. Bissell, of Corning, acted as superintendent for two years, and Mrs. C. C. Alford, of Brooklyn, for one year, after which no superintendent was appointed.

Sunday-school Work has had a number of superintendents, Mrs. Allen Butler, of Syracuse, being the first, serving two years. Mrs. S. R. Gray, of Albany, served during the next two years, Mrs. C. L. Harris taking it in 1884, to be followed by Mrs. Gray again in 1885. Next came Mrs.

Julia A. Bidwell, of Hartford, for three years, and in 1889 Mrs. T. M.

Foster, of Verona, was given the department. She was succeeded by Mrs.

S. A. Kenney, of Troy, who, after two years service, was succeeded by Mrs. Bidwell, now of Deposit, the present superintendent.

In 1889 Work among the Colored was added to the departments, and the work given in charge of Mrs. Maria R. Dougla.s.s, of New York City. In 1891 Miss Sara Collins, of Cortland, was made superintendent.

Foreign Work was made a department in 1883 and was continued for eight years, the following ladies acting as superintendents during that time: Mrs. A. K. Knox, of New York City; Mrs. C. E. Cleveland, of Perry; Mrs.

E. F. Lord, of New York City; Mrs. E. M. J. Decker, of Victor; Miss Rachel Carney, of Tonawanda; Mrs. Clara Vigelius, of New York City, and Mrs. George Aldrich, of Dutchess Junction.

Mrs. Sarah A. McClees, of Yonkers, was made superintendent of the Department of Soldiers and Sailors in 1883, and continued as such for three years, Mrs. W. W. Hoag, of Akron, being next chosen. After one year Miss Emma Nason, of Blodgett Mills, was appointed, and in 1888 the work was given to Mrs. Mary D. Ferguson, of Syracuse, who is still the superintendent.

Mothers' Meetings were first taken up in 1881, with Mrs. Horace Eaton, of Palmyra, as superintendent. In 1883 Parlor Meetings were added, Mrs.

Eaton still in charge. The following year Mrs. Van Benschoten, of Newark, was appointed, and in 1886 Parlor Meetings was made a department by itself, and Mothers' Meetings placed in charge of Mrs. Caroline B.

Randall, of Oswego. In 1888 Social Purity and Mothers' Meetings were combined, with Mrs. Mary J. Weaver, of Batavia, superintendent for one year. She was succeeded by Mrs. Anna E. Rice, of Batavia. The Department of Social Purity was first taken up in 1886, Mrs. Mary T.

Burt being the superintendent until it was combined with Mothers'

Meetings.

From 1888 until the present time the Department of Peace and Arbitration has had but one superintendent, Mrs. Sarah W. Collins, of Purchase, who has most faithfully carried forward the work.

Under the head of Police Matron Work, Mrs. Harriet Goff, of Brooklyn, did advance work, and it was Mrs. Goff who, as chairman of the standing committee on Police Matron Work, introduced into the legislature the bill making the law for police matrons mandatory in New York and Brooklyn. The work has since been made a department, with Dr. Sarah Morris, of Buffalo, as superintendent.

Rescue Work for Girls, a new department, was added in 1893, and placed in charge of Mrs. Mary J. Annable, of Brooklyn. This promises to be a most helpful and blessed line of work.

These lines of work are all evangelistic in their nature, and not until the records are read "up yonder" shall we know of the victories won "In His Name."

[Ill.u.s.tration: MRS. FRANCES W. GRAHAM.]

MRS. FRANCES W. GRAHAM.

(CORRESPONDING SECRETARY)

Mrs. Graham is just entering upon the fourth year of her office as corresponding secretary of our state union, and in this time she has eminently proved her fitness for the position and earned the t.i.tle of "a model secretary." Born in Lockport, N.Y., she became identified with temperance work as a child, first belonging to a juvenile society known as Cold Water Templars, and later becoming a member of the Sons of Temperance and Good Templars. She is active in all Christian work, being a member of the First Congregational Church of Lockport, in whose church work she takes prominent part, and whose solo soprano she has been for thirteen years; she is also an active member of the Christian Endeavor society and the King's Daughters.

In 1880 she was married to Almon Graham, whose help has made it possible for her to enter more fully into temperance work than she otherwise could have done. She was president of the Lockport Woman's Christian Temperance Union four years, and corresponding secretary of the Niagara County Woman's Christian Temperance Union for the same length of time.

In December, 1890, she was appointed _Union Signal_ reporter for the State Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and her reports have called forth warm commendation from editors and const.i.tuency alike for their conciseness and delightful presentation of facts.

Mrs. Graham possesses pre-eminently the divine "gift of song." Her voice, a sympathetic mezzo-soprano, goes straight to the heart, and its sweet tones linger there long after the words have ceased. At the state convention at Jamestown in October, 1894, she was musical director, and by vote of the convention is now entering upon a service of song for the unions throughout the state.

During her term of office her work has been of inestimable value to the state. Her initiation into the work of corresponding secretary of the state union was strong and vigorous. In October, 1891, she was elected secretary, and it was during the winter of 1891-92 that the legislative work was done that resulted in closing the state's exhibit at the World's Fair on the Sabbath, defeating the barmaid bill, modifying the infamous bill of the State Liquor Dealers' a.s.sociation, and preventing the introduction of the bill to legalize social vice. Mrs. Graham had printed and sent out all the pet.i.tions and protests relative to the above bills. Every senator and a.s.semblyman was addressed by her by letter, and her prompt and unfailing response to every urgent request was a large factor in the success achieved. She was then and is now always ready for "the next thing," and her sweet willingness of spirit is a constant source of comfort and inspiration to her fellow-workers.

During the past year she sent out the pet.i.tions to the const.i.tutional convention at Albany--one for the prohibition of the traffic in intoxicating liquors, the other for the full enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of women.

She counted all the names (over seventy thousand in number), pasted the pet.i.tions on white cloth (and when done they were over a third of a mile in length), tied them with white ribbon, and sent them to Albany for the committee to present. The work to her is a constant delight. Nothing is ever too hard--"It is such a privilege to do it," she earnestly says; and how well she does it, the work and the state bear witness.

Last year she was appointed one of the committee to prepare the history of the State Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and has given much time and thought to the work. Mrs. Graham is young in years, but already her work has told for G.o.d and humanity. Should her life be spared, what blessings may we not hope for the cause through her consecration and ability?

M. T. B.

CHAPTER VI.

LEGISLATION AND PEt.i.tION.

"The law of the wise is a fountain of life."--_Prov. xiii., 14._

As "all roads lead to Rome," so the legality of temperance measures is reached through legislation; and many times has the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, with memorial, pet.i.tion, and protest, marched over the roads leading to the legislative halls of munic.i.p.ality, state, and nation, asking for the enacting of new laws or the better enforcement of old ones.

This policy was inaugurated at the first convention, in the memorial prepared for presentation to President Grant and Governor Dix, and has been continued with varying success through the subsequent years. At the second annual convention a memorial was prepared for congress and the state legislature, from the last of which a single article is quoted, viz.: "That no license to sell intoxicating drinks in any place be issued except when a majority of women residents, as well as men, above the age of twenty-one years, desire such license granted." This memorial enrolled 6,328 names, and was presented to the legislature by Mrs. Allen Butler and Mrs. Mary T. Burt. Had the request been granted at that time, and its enforcement continued, the license question would now be solved.

April 12, 1882, the first pet.i.tion to the state legislature for a prohibitory const.i.tutional amendment was presented by Mrs. Mary T. Burt and Mrs. E. M. J. Decker. The pet.i.tion contained 10,431 names. Mrs Burt, in reporting the work at the next convention, said "A page carried the bulky doc.u.ment to the desk, and during its pa.s.sage thereto a smile crept over faces of members and dignified speaker alike, so large was its circ.u.mference."

As early as 1877 a memorial had been prepared relative to temperance teaching in the public schools, but not until 1884 was the law secured.

After the annual convention of 1883 this work was prosecuted with vigor.

Public meetings were held and pet.i.tions circulated in its behalf. These pet.i.tions recorded 57,419 names. February 5, 1884, the bill pa.s.sed the senate, twenty-two voting for and two against it; March 3 it pa.s.sed the a.s.sembly, the vote being ninety-eight to two; March 10, 1884, Grover Cleveland, then governor of the State of New York, signed the same, and it thus became a law of the state. The text of the law is as follows:

AN ACT relating to the Study of Physiology and Hygiene in the Public Schools.

SECTION I. Provision shall be made by the proper local school authorities for instructing all pupils in all schools supported by public money, or under state control, in physiology and hygiene, with special reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants, and narcotics upon the human system.

SEC. 2. No certificate shall be granted any person to teach in the public schools of the State of New York, after the first day of January, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, who has not pa.s.sed a satisfactory examination in physiology and hygiene, with special reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants, and narcotics upon the human system.

In 1883 the second pet.i.tion for a prohibitory const.i.tutional amendment was presented to the senate and a.s.sembly. It was defeated in the house by a vote of forty-two to fifty-four, and in the senate by a vote of thirteen to eighteen. Yet these figures show that the prohibition tide is rising.

In 1886 measures were taken toward securing a law prohibiting the sale of intoxicants upon fair grounds. Mrs. H. Roscoe Edgett, of Fairport, the superintendent of the department, was indefatigable in her efforts to secure the law, but it was not until February 29, 1888, that the following was enrolled on the statute-books of the state:

It shall not be lawful for any person to sell, have for sale, give away, or have in his possession for the purpose of selling or giving away, on the grounds or premises on or in which any state, county, town, or other agricultural or horticultural fair is being held, any strong or spirituous liquors, wine, ale, beer, or fermented cider; and it shall not be lawful for any person to sell or give away strong or spirituous liquors, wines, ales, beer, or fermented cider at any place within two hundred yards of the grounds or premises on or in which any state, county, town, or any other agricultural or horticultural fair is being held. This act shall not be applicable to the city of New York.

Until 1887 the laws of the state were such that a child ten years old could consent to her own ruin, and the despoiler of her virtue go unpunished. In April of that year the penal code was amended, raising the age of consent to sixteen years, as follows:

... Any person who takes or detains a female under sixteen years of age for the purpose of prost.i.tution, ... is guilty of abduction, punishable by imprisonment for not more than five years, or by a fine of not more than $1,000, or both.

Following closely upon this was the pa.s.sage of the police matron law, in 1888, which provided for the appointment of police matrons in all cities of more than 25,000 inhabitants, and the designating of separate houses of detention for female delinquents. In securing this law the Woman's Christian Temperance Union co-operated with other societies. In 1891 an amendment to this law was secured, mainly through the efforts of Mrs.

H. K. N. Goff, of Brooklyn, making the appointment of police matrons compulsory in the cities of New York and Brooklyn. The law as amended is as follows:

SECTION I. The mayor of every city in this state according to the last state or national census containing a population of 25,000 or over, excepting the cities of New York and Brooklyn, and in the cities of New York and Brooklyn the boards of commissioners of police of said cities respectively, shall, within three months after the pa.s.sage of this act, designate one or more station-houses within their respective cities for the detention and confinement of all women under arrest in said cities....

Through the efforts of Mrs. Helen L. Bullock, of Elmira, the following narcotic law was secured in 1889: