Minutes 17 February 1905
Item
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Title
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Minutes 17 February 1905
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Description
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[Page 1] The Book Club met with Mrs. Black on Friday aft. Feb. 17th. Ten members were present in spite of the swelling snow & ice which made walking so disagreeable. In the absence of our regular Sec., Mrs. Smith, the minutes of the last meeting were read by Miss Dupuy. Nearly all of the members present responded to Roll-call with items of interest. We were told that Napoleon Bonaparte’s old home at St. Helena is now used as a barn. An electric R.R. has been completed to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. After having recently spent an eve. in the study of the short story it was interesting to learn that Collier’s Weekly has offered some time ago prizes for three best short stories. 12,000 stories were sent in & the judges had a great deal of trouble deciding to whom the prizes rightfully belonged. The 1st prize of $5000 was awarded to Roland Thomas; the second, $2000 to Margaret Deland, & the third, $1000 to Raymond Alden. The current events were given by Mrs. Price. Among other things we learned that the Cuban Government
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[Page 2] has made a contract to remove the battleship Maine from the Havana harbor on account of its being a serious menace to Navigation. By the system in vogue in Germany a 110-pound package of merchandise can be sent from one end of the Empire to the other by mail at a cost of 30 cents. In a recent address Pres. Roosevelt pointed out the danger to industry & agriculture from the wanton waste of timber in our own country. He says that at the present rate of destruction a timber famine is inevitable. A young woman of Chicago after finishing her education has made quite a success of her work of bread making. She does this in preference to teaching or any other work & says that baking bread may be made as attractive as painting pictures. She has learned to make not only attractive looking loaves, but nourishing bread & having such an agreeable taste as to furnish a fine meal if eaten with nothing but water. What a bonanza it would be to our Southern housekeeper to know this wonderful art!
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[Page 3] The meeting was then turned over to Mrs. Black whose book for the aft. was “The Lighting Conductor.” She proved to be a fine “chauffeur,” who had left no stone unturned to find out all she could of interest about the authors, Mr. & Mrs. Williamson. Mrs. Chas. Norris Williamson was born at Exeter Eng. in 1859 and was the founder & editor of “Black & White,” an important London paper. Mrs. Williamson, who was an American girl, having lived near Poughkeppsie, N.Y. is now in the U.S. She went on the stage at the age of 21; afterwards contributed articles to “Black & White” and other magazines. She met Mr. W. While on a visit to England & married him several years later. Mr. and Mrs. Williamson spend their summers at their home, Whitehall, Hampton Court & travel the rest of the year. They often take long trips to out-of-the-way-places in their automobile. “The Lightning Conductor” is having based on facts, Mr. & Mrs. Williamson having taken such a trip as they describe in the book. The author they adopted in constructing the story was for Mrs. W. to unite all the American
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[Page 4] girl’s letters while Mr. W. wrote those of the English hero. Mrs. Black asked Miss Holt and Miss Dupuy to read two amusing poems “L’Envoi of the Authors” and The Hired Girl Problem.” After a discussion of the books, read since the last meeting, refreshments were served & enjoyed by all, especially as they carried with them a breath of spring & warmer days.
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Subject
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Women-North Carolina-Davidson-Societies and clubs.
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Books and reading.
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Women-Societies and clubs.
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North Carolina-Davidson.
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Creator
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BookLovers Club
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Publisher
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Davidson College
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Date
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17 February 1905
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Rights
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For permission to reproduce image, contact archives@davidson.edu
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Language
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eng
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Type
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Text
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Identifier
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bl-041
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Coverage
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1905
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4049696
