“ One of the great dangers a new club has to face is the ambitious tendency to begin with some abstruse, difficult subject rather than with a simple one. The Literature of India, or the Philosophy of the Greeks may be tempting, but even with all the reference books in the world such subjects are a mistake for beginners. Something should be selected which is interesting to every one, not too far away from their every day reading, not too utterly unfamiliar. A country club may like a season on Bird Study. A village club may find Town Improvement full of suggestions. ”

“ Multitudes of women on farms, on remote ranches, in little villages, in great cities, have felt their impetus to a broader and more useful life. They have instructed those of limited education; they have given a wider horizon to those hemmed in by circumstance; they have trained the timid to speak, and, of late years, they have prepared the way for women of leisure and influence to take up what is called "the larger housekeeping," the bettering of social and civic conditions. ”

“ There are two books any club can own which are invaluable; one is called The Opera, by R. A. Streatfield, which gives a sketch of each composer and an estimate of his work; the other, Two Hundred Opera Plots, by Gladys Davidson tells the story of each opera. In addition to these (and of course whatever is to be found in a good encyclopedia) the score of any opera can be bought at a music store, and a pianist can illustrate a talk with leading airs; or, if practicable, one of the modern musical machines can reproduce the voices of famous singers in their great parts. ”

“ Popular themes, the books of some well-known author, the magazines of the day, a philanthropy, a brief study of a political figure, all work out easily. Above all, whatever theme is selected, there should be a discussion of the subject at the close of the meeting. Women do not speak easily and naturally impromptu, and it is an immensely valuable training to be obliged to present one's views clearly, concisely and to the point before even a small audience, and even a short experience of this kind in a club is of enormous assistance. ”

“ What should never be done is to write a paper without making an outline; the result of that is vagueness and repetition.
The value of a discussion after a paper cannot be over-estimated. One joins a club not so much to acquire information, because that can be done by reading books at home, but rather to learn to express oneself readily and intelligently. This is why in planning a club it is best to emphasize the two points; first, that members must talk over the subjects at the close of each meeting, speaking briefly and always to the point ”

“ To make club work successful year after year it should be remembered that a club is not a [Pg 22] university; that it should not be scholastic, but full of human interests. Tastes of members vary, and so the subjects selected should be attractive, fresh, and stimulating. In a large club there may be committees on different subjects, art, civics, child study and the like, each one a little club in itself, meeting weekly, and the whole club can gather once a month and the committees in turn present a program on their special subjects, and so every member be satisfied. ”

“ Notice the formal gardens, the Italian gardens, the sunken gardens, the rose gardens, the massed shrubs, the walls of brick and stone, covered with vines. The adjuncts of the gardens are often most beautiful also, the pergolas, the marble and terra-cotta vases and seats, the sun-dials, the fountains, the lily-ponds, and the vistas cut through the trees.
Old-fashioned and herb gardens, kitchen and market gardens, growing violets and roses to sell, and the raising of unusual seeds and plants are all topics of interest both theoretical and practical. ”

“ As to the subject of a debate, it is a safe rule to choose the concrete rather than the abstract, a large subject rather than a limited one, and one of general interest. There should also be two well defined sides, rather than something accepted by everybody. Such things as the views of some writer on socialism, or the permanency of the work of a well-known novelist or poet, or political, but not partizan, questions are always acceptable. ”

“ Debates are always of value to club women, for as we know too well, they are not naturally logical; debating soon shows one how easy it is to think in a hazy, indefinite way, and how difficult to say clearly and concisely what is to be said. ”

“ Once a club is started, the great question is, What shall we study? And of course the field is limited only by the tastes, the education of the members, and the number of books to which the club can have access. If there is a good public library, they may choose almost any literary subject. If there is none, the next thing is to find out if a travelling library can be had from the state librarian, and whether enough books can be borrowed to cover the whole subject thoroughly. ”

“ Often clubs can invite a speaker from outside to take up most of the hour; a traveller, a settlement worker, a college professor, an actor, a journalist, a judge of a Children's Court, a student of bird life, all have something worth while to contribute. Perhaps a writer will read from his books; or a musician will sing or play, or an artist will tell of life in the ateliers of Paris or Rome. Even in a small town one can find some one who has a friend who will come and help in such ways, and there is no better way to rouse [Pg 310] interest in a club than to offer such meetings occasionally. ”

“ If you would like to organize a club, begin by making out a list of ten or a dozen of your neighbors and friends, those whose interests are much like your own, and tell them that you think it would be pleasant to have some sort of a little circle for reading, or study, or social companionship. ”

“ Musical clubs are usually limited to a few members, except in cities, but this is by no means necessary, for numbers of women love to listen to good music who can neither play nor sing, and perhaps they can contribute their share of work by writing or speaking of the lives of the composers.
Clubs interested in practical themes may take up civic questions, municipal reforms, or children's courts, or cleaning up their town, or studying factories, or labor laws. There is an excellent magazine called The Survey which deals with all these topics, and suggests many more on the same lines. ”

“ HOLLAND AND LEARNING, ART, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE
There is only one great university in Holland, that of Leyden, founded in commemoration of the great siege by William the Silent. Learned men from all over Europe flocked there at one time, and its students numbered two thousand. To-day there are only a few hundred, as in the other two smaller universities. But Leyden is still famous for its museums, among the richest in Europe. ”

“ There is much that is curious about the folk-lore of the Russians and kindred peoples. They have the old, original nature myths, with hero stories added. There is the same setting as in Scandinavian mythology, of cold and storm. There are epics in three cycles which embody some stories almost identical with those of the Greeks. There are, however, two striking differences between their legends and those of other countries: one is, that sorcery, witchcraft, spells, exorcisms and incantations abound; the other is that nearly all tales have folk-music accompanying them. ”

“ VIII—GERMAN FOLK-LORE
In many respects the folk-tales of Germany are more interesting than those of any other country. They do not deal with the great, simple myths, except as they have been transformed into certain fairy tales, but are centered largely on more recent stories. There are tales of the Middle Ages, of knights, besieged castles, huntsmen and hermits; there are Rhine legends, with princesses and giants; there are mining tales of dwarfs and goblins, and stories of water fairies and forest elves. ”

“ Of late years, short stories, largely written by women, have crowded our magazines. It is impossible to choose more than a few for a program, but club-women may add to those suggested all their favorites, and bring in short stories to read at one meeting. In addition to the older writers, Rebecca Harding Davis, Harriet Prescott Spofford, and others, take the following:
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, though the author of several novels, is perhaps our greatest short-story writer. Her characters, especially those drawn from New England rural life, are reproduced with marvelous fidelity. ”

“ What can be done to make over a city house that is unattractive? A paper can easily be written on this up-to-date theme, showing how a narrow brown-stone house with high front steps, a basement dining-room, and small rooms can be made over. The outside can be covered with brick or stucco, and perhaps blinds added. ”

“ Sometimes where there is no library at hand, a Magazine Club makes a good preliminary step to larger things. Members tell a chairman what magazines they take, and agree to have them at the home of the chairman one day each week or fortnight. She will look them over and divide the contents into several parts, travel, biography, essays, stories, poetry, and so on. Then she will portion out among the members parts of the programs; one meeting may be on travel only, a second on essays, a third on poetry, three or four members reading selections from articles on these. ”

“ She would probably take up some of the following topics. The effect of the public library for children of the poor, of their interest in it, their delight in the warm, charming reading-room, their growth in personal cleanliness as they learn to care for the books entrusted to them. Of what books children draw from a library; of the reading of history, of fairy stories, of poetry, of books of adventure. Definite and helpful suggestions will be given for children who have books at home, of what parents should give them to read, and how to interest them in good literature. ”

“ There are water fairies, some with human souls, and dwarfs who have homes in caves, and live and work like human beings. The whole of their folk-tales are filled with these little creatures, benign or malicious, who are closely in touch with the real lives about them. ”

“ The modern tendency is to plan everywhere for clean, wholesome amusements for old and young, and the woman's club can coöperate with the mayor, school trustees, and intelligent men and women, to carry out their plans. ”

“ After years of obscurity, the life of the farmer has suddenly become of immense importance to society. To-day the Bureau of Agriculture and other forces are rapidly changing its future. State fairs, granges, courses of instruction for men and women in school-houses, and "farmer's bulletins" give instruction; experiment stations deal with such difficulties as weeds, soils, drainage, and pests, and teach scientifically about cattle, poultry, bee keeping, crops, and the dairy. ”

“ How does the furnishing of an apartment differ from that of a house? Present the suggestion that as the rooms are apt to be small there must not be too much furniture, and that what there is should be plain, and simply upholstered. The wall-paper should be rather light in color, and plain or self-figured; to have it all of one kind makes the apartment look larger than if several kinds were used. There should be few hangings, and light curtains. Note also these questions: How can spaces be saved in sleeping and other rooms? What about heating and ventilation? Is living in an apartment hygienic? ”

“ Another paper might notice the growth in the spread of the study of myths and legends. Since Thorns in 1846 coined the phrase "folk-lore," societies have been formed in every civilized land to preserve the old stories, songs and traditions, and to study them scientifically. Immense value is placed to-day on their importance as throwing light on history, literature, religion, and language. One writer says that a full knowledge of the folk-lore of every nation would be synonymous with the history of human thought. ”

“ Chairmen sometimes find real difficulty in making out club programs, puzzled how to divide a subject into its best points, and subdivide each of these general topics into others, for individual papers. [Pg 18]
One of the best plans is always to look up any subject in the encyclopedia, first of all. It is surprising how much help one can get there, for history, art, literature, politics and everything else can be found. Then next, the public library is to be consulted, its card catalogue looked over, and the books drawn out, or at least glanced through for suggestions. ”

“ V—PERSIAN FOLK-LORE
The Persian and Arabian folk-lore is really one, and stands quite by itself. It is unusually rich in well developed stories, many well worth study. The original myths of light and darkness were typified under the names of Ormuzd and Ahriman. The Zend-Avesta embodied their religion and literature, and is full of beauty. Later, however, the early and simple mythology degenerated into something complicated and almost puerile. The legends, preserved for us in The Thousand and One Nights, are marked by Oriental splendor. ”

“ France is equally careful, and every forest is guarded, though its schools are not as many. England has a forest policy which calls for the planting of nine million acres, ten thousand each year. Russia has such enormous forests that as yet the care of her trees does not seem to her critically important, yet she too is beginning to conserve her resources. Italy has been almost stripped of her forests by neglect, but she is at last waking to her peril and beginning to foster what is left. ”

“ In studying the Hero stories, get reproductions of famous pictures of the Rhine, legends, and look up Abbey's pictures of Arthur and his knights.
Clubs composed of mothers and teachers may take up the subject of telling fairy stories to children; which ones to tell and which to omit, [Pg 82] and how to tell them. Hero stories are always interesting to growing boys, and teachers can suggest to them which are the wisest to choose. Instead of reading stories and legends at every club meeting it is well to have them told by some one skilful in the art. ”

“ Mozart, though a German by birth, was trained under Italian influence. His first opera was written when he was twelve years old, and given in his native town. His greatest work was Don Giovanni, though his last, The Magic Flute, is best known. But it was his influence over other musicians, like that of Rameau, which was even [Pg 104] more important than his own music. Mozart is one of the most delightful topics for club study. His charming personality, his friendships, and his life-story are full of interest. ”

“ But many women to-day still feel a certain timidity [Pg 12] about venturing to start a club, and an inability to make out a consistent line of study. They have a lingering idea that it is all difficult, and that only the expert may try to handle these things. So for these women here are the simple, fundamental things about club work, which any one can follow. ”

“ His orchestra had thirty-nine instruments, and the effect of the whole was to open a new world of music. At once opera-writing became the fashion, and in fifty years all great Italian cities had their schools of opera, and France had adopted the same ideas. The subjects of all were classical, allegorical, and pastoral, and to the recitative, alone, were added songs and arias, and the overture was developed. Some clubs might take for a year's work the subject of Italy of this period, [Pg 102] adding the study of art and literature to that of music. ”