16 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
May 25,1917. 
Mothers and Teachers Hold First Council 
Dr. Payson Smith Speaks to Essex County 
Conference of P. T. A. 
MANCHESTER was the center of 
activity for the National Congress 
of Mothers and Parent-Teacher asso- 
ciations in Essex County and was in 
fact, for the day, the state headquar- 
ters on Tuesday of this week. In two 
enthusiastic sessions, with an aggre- 
gate attendance of more than 300 
delegates and members; inspiration 
was imparted by state and district 
officers to audiences who carried back 
to their respective “P. T. A.’s” a re- 
newed enthusiasm for the codperative 
effort of parent and teacher in the 
education of the child. It was the 
first conference of the Mothers con- 
gress and P. T. A. in Essex County 
and the fifth of the county confer- 
ences started within the past year to 
further the work of the association. 
In many respects it was one of the 
most successful of the series of con- 
ferences. 
“Unity,” the Keynote 
The keynote of the conference was 
“unity” and the appeal for codpera- 
tion was summed up in a stirring ad- 
dress by Dr. Payson Smith, Mass. 
comnissioner of education, at the 
evening session when he discussed 
“The Obligations of the Community 
to its Youth.” <A strong factor in 
pitching the enthusiasm of the dele- 
_ gates to the proper key was the pres- 
ence of Mrs. Milton P. Higgins of 
Worcester, Mass. state president, 
whose strong personality is in a large 
measure responsible for the vigor of 
the P. T. A. in Massachusetts. Mrs. 
Higgins spoke informally at the after- 
noon session of the conference at the 
Price School hall, took part in the 
discussions of the afternoon and 
clinched the appeal of the speakers 
at the evening session in Town hall 
with a few forceful words at the end 
of the conference. 
Delegates from associations in 
Gloucester, Danvers, Lynn, South 
Hamilton, Andover and, of course, 
Manchester attended the sessions. 
From Gloucéster the Collins School 
eT) Av theyEast- Gloucester <P: ‘T: 
As, Warde6-PiaT Aa Ward 2" 2D. 
A. and the Mothers club of the Con- 
gregational church were represented ; 
also the newly organized Danvers P. 
T. A., including all of the associations 
in that place, the P. T. A. of South 
Hamilton, Shepard school of Lynn 
and the Andover Mothers club. The 
conference was attended by the fol- 
lowing members of the state board of 
the N. C. M, and the P. T. A. in ad- 
dition to the state president: Mrs. E. 
M. Barney of Medford, Mrs. Earle 
William Smith of Waban, Miss Mabel 
Vella and Miss Julia Callahan of 
Lynn, Mrs. EF. V. French and Mrs. 
Bernard M. Allen of Andover, Mrs. 
Duncan T. Beaton of Manchester, 
Mrs. George Woodbury of Glouces- 
ter and Miss Ruth Bottomly of Wor- 
cester. 
The opening session at the Price 
School hall was called to order by 
Mrs. Duncan T. Beaton of Manches- 
ter, councillor for the district, at 2 
o’clock with about 125 delegates and 
members present. The invocation 
was delivered by Mrs. Higgins, the 
state president. Mrs. David O. 
Mears, vice president of the National 
Congress of Mothers, who was to 
have delivered the invocation, was un- 
able to be present at the conference 
owing to an accident a few days pre- 
vious in which she sustained a sprain- 
ed ankle. Regret at her absence was 
expressed by the chairman. 
Conference for Good Time 
“The purpose of this conference,” 
said Mrs. Beaton in outlining the 
plan of the conference, “is to have a 
good time. And, sub rosa, we always 
have a good time when our president, 
Mrs. Higgins is with us. To get good 
out of these conferences, that we may 
pass it along to others, is to have a 
good time. These county conferences 
are arranged for the benefit of the 
many who cannot attend the state 
convention. In this way the state 
convention is brought home to them 
in their own counties, state officers 
are brought in closer touch with. the 
local association and an opportunity 
is given for the delegates and presi- 
dents to hobnob together and get bet- 
ter acquainted.” 
“We are proud of our district coun- 
cillor,” said Mrs. William Follett, 
president of the Manchester P. T. A., 
in welcoming the delegates. ‘We are 
proud of our president—our state 
president, | mean—and we are proud 
of our fine local Parent-Teacher asso- 
ciation, with its big membership and 
well attended meetings. It is, I know, 
unnecessary for me to welcome you, 
for you must understand how glad 
we are to have you with us.” 
“T am glad to see the response to 
the invitation to attend this confer- 
ence,” said Mrs. Higgins, the state 
president. “It shows you are all anxi- 
ous to get what good you can and to 
do good in your own community. — It 
County 
in Manchester 
makes a difference whether we are 
‘absorbents’ or ‘radiants’ and I know 
from the spirit you show in coming 
here this stormy day that you are 
‘radiants’ and that you are going to 
take back to your communities the 
good you get from our conference.” 
Mrs. Higgins told of her recent 
trip across the continent, the route of 
which was prepared by the Mass. 
Commission of Education, and of the 
delegations which greeted her party 
all along the line. Great enthusiasm 
in all branches of educational en- 
deavor is shown throughout the west, 
she said, and Massachusetts, which 
enjoys the reputation of having ex- 
ceptional advantages, must look to its 
laurels. She made a graphic recital 
of the settlement -of Oklahoma and 
the creation of the city of Oklahoma 
in a day. The new city has a $750,000 
public school. “It is entirely inappro- 
priate,” she said, ‘“‘but it shows the de- 
sire they had for schools and for edu- 
cation.” ; 
At Denton, Texas, she found a 
splendid school of home economics 
and again she drew the lesson of the 
backwardness of Massachusetts. She 
urged the codperation of the Essex 
Parent-Teacher associations 
with the Agricultural school at Dan- 
vers, in the study of home economics. 
She wanted the local bodies to induce 
speakers from the school to address 
their meetings. At Fort Worth and 
El Paso she found more fine schools. 
In the latter city was a $500,000 
school building. While there she 
visited Juarez, Mexico. On the Sun- 
day morning her party proposed to 
cross the International bridge a story 
was circulated to the effect that an 
uprising against the “gringos” was 
purposed by the natives. Their fears 
were allayed by the arrival of the 
Mexican consul, who accompanied 
them on their tour of inspection. 
Modern Rip Van Winkle 
“It was like the experience of Rip 
Van Winkle to-cross the bridge, only, 
instead of advancing 20 years we 
went back hundreds of years. On one 
side of the river were modern stores, 
beautiful churches and a half million 
dollar school house, but on the other 
there was just one church, no schools 
and the houses were of mud. And 
such poverty, misery, beggary, super- 
stition and ignorance!. On one side 
of the river were the evidences of the 
benefits of citizenship and on. the 
other the lack of citizenship. It was 
