30 The Bulletin. 



LECTURES DELIVERED AT WOMEN'S INSTITUTES. 



On the following- pages are three lectures delivered at the Women's 

 uring 1908. 



WHY WE SHOULD ATTEND THE INSTITUTE. 



Institutes during 1908. 



By Mrs. J. C. Redfeakn, Anson County. 



When we consider the question of attending the meetings of the Woman's 

 Institute, one naturally asks, "Why should I go? Of what benefit would it be 

 to me?" To those of us who have attended the institutes, both in the county 

 and at Raleigh, the advantages are very apparent. 



The first and greatest reason why we should -attend the meeting is because 

 of the work that the institute is doing and hopes to do. The underlying princi- 

 ple of the work is the betterment of home conditions and the education of the 

 woman in the home to higher ideals. 



The institute is a convention of women who are deeply interested in home- 

 making and housekeeping. It presents an opportunity for wives and mothers 

 to come together and discuss subjects of mutual interest and benefit. 



The ladies who have charge of the work have spent years in the study of 

 domestic science and home economics, and are thoroughly capable of handling 

 the subjects. They insist on the co-operation of the members by the exchange 

 of ideas, and in this way we have an opportunity of profiting by the experience 

 of others as well as imparting to them some suggestions that have been help- 

 ful to us. 



It has been said that our home life is gradually slipping away from us, and 

 how true it is that many of us are so busy with our daily struggle for making 

 money that we lose sight of the fact that we owe a duty to our homes that 

 cannot be measured by a monetary value. Right here is where the institute 

 does some of its most effective work in teaching the wives and daughters that 

 the life that counts, the life worth living, is not measured by social success or 

 lucky speculation, but is the busy, useful life whereby we do our part towards 

 helping others to be useful and happy. 



How important it is that we, as housekeepers, may meet together and learn 

 from each other how the home life may be made fuller, more complete and 

 more conducive to the happiness of its members ; that we may learn to plan 

 and systematize our work, use more conveniences for saving time and lighten- 

 ing labor, and, instead of our life being a daily grind of work, worry and dis- 

 satisfaction, find that many hours may be devoted to rest, recreation and 

 improvement; that by attending these meetings we may catch the secret of 

 considering our work ennobling instead of degrading, and in this age, when 

 domestic help is hard to secure, that instead of admitting that we do our own 

 work with reluctance, as if it were a sign of poverty, we may refer with pride 

 to our well-regulated household. 



Another great advantage of attending the institute is the knowledge to be 

 gained of the subjects discussed. Perhaps you are interested in waterworks 

 for your home on the farm (and we can have this luxury as well as our town 

 friends), but we hesitate and put off taking any steps because we lack the nec- 

 essary information, whereas by attending these institutes we may receive all 

 the information we need as to cost and necessary equipments. There is a 

 great deal being said just now on betterment work for schools. This subject 

 also comes under the head of the institute work. At our State meeting in 

 Raleigh this work was discussed by Miss Edith Royster. She told us of a 

 community of ladies who wished to build up their school, and, lacking the 



