where twenty-four of us had dinner and then sped on again, climbing to the stars. By the courtesy of Dr. Campbell the observatory was opened to us, and Dr. and Mrs. Campbell and their able staff of helpers gave us a wonderful hour. Was it Friday night or Saturday morning when we got back to the Hotel Vendome at San Jose? Those who were of the party know-others need not know; but there were hours left for sleeping before it was necessary to arouse one's self for the pleasures of Saturday. What can one say of that day and luncheon in the Vale of Eden? It was a different note than had been struck

in any of our hospitalities of the week. Here we were privileged to see a California home, to meet a host as well as a hostess, and to be welcomed by many members of Mrs. Hayes' household. The restfulness of wandering about the house and grounds, the many hammocks hung in shady nooks, the inspection of the growing fruits and flowers in luxuriance, were all ours. Is it any wonder that our host had to put us in automobiles, or personally walk with us, to the station platform late that afterneon? Did he not know that had he not thus helped us away we should be there still?

Back to San Francisco or on to Monterey, to Hotel Del Monte or to Santa Barbara, we scattered for Sunday and Monday. As many of us as could assembled on Tuesday at Los Angeles to show our loyalty to our youngest branch. We were assured that, though but a handful of us could be present, our coming would be a help and an incentive to the branch. It was but another day of pleasure to us. The meeting has been referred to in the "minutes," but permission was not given there to speak of the roseate luncheon, where twentythree of us sat about a wonderful rose covered table and enjoyed the produce of Southern California's marvelous soil and climate. "Subrosa," may we ask would Miss Salmon's paper on the Economics of Spending have justified it all? A reception, an automobile ride through the city and parks of Los Angeles, and finally a box party at the theatre closed the day. It was, of course, fitting that at least six members of the A. C. A. should pass upon the merits and accuracy of "The College Widow."

This is given as a memory to those who were there, as a Barmecide ménu to those who were not, and to all as an incentive to come, see, and taste for themselves next year.

ELIZABETH LAWRENCE Clarke.

The roll call at the luncheon of Thursday showed that graduates of sixteen of the twenty-four colleges and universities were present as follows: Boston University, 2; Bryn Mawr College, 4; University of California, 123; The University of Chicago, 3; Cornell University, 6; University of Illinois, 1; Leland Stanford, Jr., University, 30; University of Michigan, 7; University of Minnesota, 1; The University of Missouri, 1; The University of Nebraska, 1; Radcliffe College, 3; Smith College, 12; Vassar College, 10; Wellesley College, 8; University of Wisconsin, 5. Total, 217.

EXTRACTS FROM REPORTS FROM THE BRANCHES

THE WASHINGTON BRANCH: Membership, 64. The branch has counted among its privileges and pleasures the presence of Miss Gill, who has made Washington her headquarters for the past year. The programs of the year's meetings have included a report of the Quarter-Centennial Anniversary; addresses, by Miss Gill, on "Some Future Possibilities of the A. C. A.;" by Miss Burstall, Head Mistress of the High School for Girls in Manchester, England, on "Some Educational Problems in England;" by Mrs. Austin, on the "Housekeepers Alliance," an organization recently formed in Washington to attempt to solve some problems of household servants; by Miss Sevasti Callisperi, Inspector of Schools in Athens, Greece, on "Girls' Schools in Greece."

At the May meeting the Committee on Poetry for Children reported that the work was all in the hands of the printer and that the pamphlet would be issued about the first of July

THE NEW YORK BRANCH reports this year, as last, an increase in membership. The average membership for 1907-1908 has been 230. Has held four meetings: the first, a luncheon to introduce new members; the next two devoted to the special topic for the branch, Industrial Education; the fourth, the annual business meeting. The topic of Industrial Education has been presented as follows: "The Professional Aspects of Domestic Economy," by Dean Russel of Teachers College; "Industrial Kindergarten Work," by Miss Bertha Richardson; "Industrial Education from a Collegiate Standpoint," by Prof. Charles R. Richards, of Columbia University; "Industrial Education from a Teacher's Standpoint," by Miss Anna C. Hedges, Principal of the Hebrew Technical School for Girls.

An important change in the administration has been made by uniting the offices of president and branch-director, making the new officer presidentdirector for a term of three years. Voted: "That the sentiment of the New York Branch is that the privileges of membership should not be extended beyond the limits of eligibility to the general Association." Has voted fifty dollars to the general endowment fund of the Alice Freeman Palmer Fellowship.

THE CALIFORNIA BRANCH: The foremost interest of the year has been the anticipation of and preparation for the national meeting of the Association. It has been the policy of the branch to keep in touch, especially with the two colleges in this vicinity, to which end it has co-operated with organizations of the University of California in adding to the Infirmary and Freshman Hall Funds; its promise has been given to assist the Stanford women this fall, to raise money for a woman's club house. Through the Committee on School Legislation the branch has worked to keep the present high standard of education in California, and has tried to increase the salaries of women teachers. The committee for securing certified milk for San Francisco has worked faithfully with committees from various organizations, and the certified milk has been secured.

As a member of the Local Council of Women, the branch has been active with the Telegraph Hill Association and the California Club in securing one doctor and four trained nurses, to examine the children in the public schools of San Francisco, with a view to preventing the spread of contagious diseases and improving the general health of the pupils.

A Committee on Branch Records has been trying to replace the records destroyed in the fire. The roll of the branch has been increased by sixty new names. It has been an especial pleasure to welcome visiting guests from the Eastern Branches

THE PHILADELPHIA BRANCH: Membership, 97. Eight meetings have been held during the year. The general subject for work and discussion has been the Girls' High School of Philadelphia. A committee from the branch has visited the Girls' High School and made a special study of various subjects— the courses of study, the health of the pupils, housing conditions, et cetera. This work has been done with the sympathy and aid of the principal of the school. Its aim has been to gain a closer knowledge of the system of high school education of the girls of Philadelphia, and, with the aid of the teachers, to correct or lessen any evils that may exist. The branch will go on with this line of investigation next year. At the December meeting Mrs. Cornelius Stevenson addressed the branch on "Moral Training in the Public Schools."

The Branch contributed this year $50 to the A. C. A. fellowship established in memory of Alice Freeman Palmer.

THE BOSTON BRANCH: Membership, 450. Besides the pleasant task of entertaining the delegates to the Quarter-Centennial Convention, the activity of the branch falls under three heads: The relation of the college woman to (1) the community, (2) the school, and (3) the home. These topics have been covered by addresses as follows: "Social Service," by Rev. S. M. Crothers; "The Living Wage of College Women," by Mrs. Ellen H. Richards, and Dr. Susan Kingsbury; "Pragmatism and Education," by Dr. H. H. Horne; "Business Opportunities for College Women," by Miss Imogene Conland. In connection with the first division should be mentioned, also, a lecture on "Peace," to which the

branch was invited, and the efforts of the Forestry Committee. The second division has been in charge of the Education Committee; the third, of the Living Wage Committee.

The Association has had few distinctly social activities but we may mention the entertainment of the Quarter Centennial, the reception to the new members on Jan. 1st., and the outing planned by the Forestry Committee.

THE CENTRAL NEW YORK BRANCH: Membership, 53. Has held four meetings, the programs of which included the annual luncheon; a report of the Quarter Centennial Anniversary of the A. C. A.; an extended discussion of the question of associate membership in the A. C. A., at the close of which it was voted to send suggestions to the committee, extending the membership somewhat; the entertainment of the women members of the graduating class of Syracuse University at tea. The standing committees have worked, as usual, with the Municipal, Philanthropic and Educational Committees of the Syracuse Council of Women's Clubs, and have worked for various local reforms. The Philanthropic Committee has seen the reward of its labors in two points. The Truant School condemned some time ago by the committee has been abandoned by the city and a new one will be built, and the mayor has promised to attend to the matter of a special attorney for the Juvenile Court.

THE MINNESOTA BRANCH: Membership, 83. Has conducted the College Club, a local organization auxiliary to the A. C. A. branch, the two holding their meetings together. Twenty-two meetings have been held, with programs of varied interest: The reading of delightful original manuscript stories by Mrs Frances Potter, Mrs. Katherine Evans Blake, and Miss Mary Peek; a reading of Monsieur Beaueaire by Professor Richard Burton of the University, for the benefit of the scholarship fund; talks on the work of the Associated Charities in Minneapolis, the Juvenile Court of Minneapolis, Recent Progress in Bible Study, the Work of the Settlement, and the Art of Bernard Shaw; a report of the Boston meeting; a New Year's reception. The serious work of the year has been the attempt to raise a scholarship of $150 to be given a woman of the senior class at the University of Minnesota next year. The sum has been nearly raised and the effort has elicited a ready response.

THE CHICAGO BRANCH: Membership, 268. Has held eight regular meetings. A new feature has been the luncheons, under the direction of the alumnæ of different colleges, which have preceded the business meetings Speakers have been chosen by the college in charge to talk of college days and of other matters pertaining to their Alma Mater.

The subjects of the business meetings have been as follows: A Musical; Medieval Castles, by Prof. James Westfall Thompson of the U. of C.; Women in Russia by Prof. Ralph C. H. Catterall of Cornell; an address by Miss Laura D Gill on the aims of the Association and plans for cooperating with other associations for aiding the activities of women; The Plan of Training for Trades in the Public Schools, by Prof. Graham Taylor; The Attitude of Organized Labor towards Industrial Education, by Mr. Luke Grant; The Arguments in Favor of the Enfranchisement of Women, by Mrs. Elia Sears Stewart; Woman Suffrage and the Labor Movement, by Mrs. Raymond Robins; The Social Interests in College Life. The branch maintains the following committees: Child Study Correspondence, Educational Information, Educational Legislation, Hospitality Library, Membership, Physical Welfare of Public School Children, Social Service, Vacation School, Library, Home Economics. It has subscribed $25 to the Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial Fellowship fund.

THE DETROIT BRANCH: Membership, 108. Regular meetings have been held each month, the programs being of a miscellaneous character, as follows: The Music, Poetry and Temples of Sicily; report of the Quarter Centennial Meeting at Boston; a musical program, rendered by the Beethoven Trio; New Professions for Women; Social Purity; Some Recent Books; The Annual Luncheon, followed by the Annual Meeting."

The branch has withdrawn from active connection with the East Side Settlement, but continues its annual subscription of ten dollars.

An appropriation of forty dollars to the Student's Loan Fund was voted.

THE WESTERN NEW YORK BRANCH: The Educational Legislation Committee has inaugurated an effort to secure retiring pensions for teachers in the State Normal Schools, and, if the work is approved by the Committee on Procedure, will carry it on next year under more thorough organization.

The Committee on Peasant Handicrafts has two distinct successes to its credit, and has discovered among the Poles and Italians several women whose work can probably be made profitable to them. The Italians, both peasants and priests, have been very responsive. The College Créche has been carried successfully through another year, 4072 children having been registered, at a total cost of maintenance of about $1300. Two members of the branch, Mrs. Porter and Miss Cloak, have made this year a study of living conditions in the families represented in the crèche, the report on which investigation, together with a report from the Committee on Peasant Handicrafts, has, at the request of "Charities and the Commons," been filed with their Bureau of Social Investigations. Miss Elizabeth Berry, another member of the branch, has investigated the sanitary conditions of twenty-three of the public schools of the city. This report has been sent to the Tuberculosis Committee of the Charity Organization Society, and, with their endorsement, forwarded to the Superintendent of Education.

THE INDIANA BRANCH: Each meeting has been addressed by some woman who is making a success of work that is of interest to educated and publicspirited women—a woman who is employed by one of the large trust companies of Indianapolis to take charge of the savings accounts of small depositors among working people; another who is interested in having a larger provision made for industrial training for the blind; Miss Sarah Montgomery, a college woman who has been in charge of the state institution for homeless and incorrigible girls; and at one meeting the branch had the pleasure of the presence of Miss Gill, president of the Association, who made a most interesting and helpful address. In addition to the interest the meetings of the year have had for the branch, they have provided it with work for the coming year, and possibly for several years. The branch has kept its usual delegate in the Local Council of Women, to express its view of such civic matters and questions of education as are brought before the Council..

THE EASTERN NEW YORK BRANCH: Membership, 60. A study of the colleges and universities represented by its members has formed the program for the meetings. In May a luncheon was given followed by a brief business meeting, with about fifty members present. It has been the aim of the branch to attract college women to its ranks, the success of which effort is evidenced by a gratifying increase in membership.

THE OHIO BRANCH: Membership, 85. Has held four meetings with programs as follows: A reception at Guilford House of The College for Women, to which were invited all members of the classes graduating in 1907 who resided in and near Cleveland, and a few others who might be interested in the work of the Association; reports of the Quarter-Centennial Meeting; the Annual Meeting and luncheon held at the Euclid Club, with an address on "The Education of Women in India," by Dr. Thwing, President of Western Reserve University; addresses by Miss Gill, the president of the Association, on "The New Work of the Association," and by Mrs. Moore, general secretary of the Association, on the question of "Associate Membership."

THE RHODE ISLAND BRANCH has held four meetings, as follows: In November, Mrs. Camillo Von Klenze spoke upon "Prominent Women in German Literature;" in January, Miss Lisi Cipriani spoke upon "The Romance of the Rose;" in March Mme. Jeanne R. Jandvier gave a program of Chopin and Chaminade; in May another musical program was enjoyed. The chief effort this year has been to devise ways and means to assist still farther in promoting interest in college education for women in this community; and to this end the branch has given (1) a scholarship of $75 to the Rhode Island girl presenting the best set of papers at the June examinations of the College Entrance Examining Board; (2) a prize of $15 to the girl graduating in June from a high school in any Rhode Island town, presenting the best essay on "Why Should a Girl Go

to College?" (3) a series of talks by members of the branch in the different high schools of the state, on "The Advantage of College Training for Girls;" (4) two informal talks and a tea to high school girls.

THE CONNECTICUT BRANCH: Number of members, 158; new members, 28. Monthly meetings have been held, with a varied program of subjects. As a result of the investigations of the Education Committee, a petition was presented in the name of the Connecticut branch, to the Joint Education Committee of the legislature, asking for the appointment of an expert commission to consider an entire public school system and report to the next legislature. A bill creating such a commission was presented to the legislature. It was not passed, but the Joint Education Committee was instructed to investigate as it saw fit and report to the next legislature. Five members of the committee, with President Luther of Trinity College as chairman, were delegated for this work.

THE LOS ANGELES BRANCH in its one year of existence has increased from 10 members to 42, which increase is due largely to the inspiration afforded by the visit of the national officers and delegates who came down from San Francisco and held the closing session of the national meeting in Los Angeles. Mrs. Philip N. Moore's paper on the work of the Association was read and was especially helpful to a branch so newly organized.

Most of the work done by the branch during the year was in perfecting its organization and preparing for the September meeting. Early in the year the branch was addressed by Prof. Moore, the Supt. of Public Schools. Monthly luncheons have been given where necessary business has been transacted. So many Eastern graduates come to Los Angeles that we hope we shall have the honor of greeting many members of the National Association from various parts of the country, at our monthly meetings.

THE KANSAS CITY BRANCH: Membership, 77. Has held eight meetings, of which the subjects for study and discussion have been "The Civil Government of our City" and "State Laws for Women." The principal speakers and the subjects of their addresses have been: Hon. Frank P Walsh, Tenement Problems: Judge Henry L. McCune, The City's Children; Hon. Wentworth E. Griffin, Clean Streets; Senator Cooper, Missouri Laws for Women; Mrs. Clinton Rogers Woodruff, Women and the New Civic Era; Doctor Cutler, Pure Food; Ex-Mayor Henry M. Beardsley, Municipal House-keeping.

Through committees the branch has cooperated with the Institutional Church and Y. W. C. A. in Educational Work, by teaching and by raising and contributing funds for the establishment of permanent classes. The Committee on Child Labor reports success in getting several favorable state laws. The scholarship for a student at Kansas University has been continued, and the support at Summer School, this year, of the young woman who now holds that scholarship has been undertaken.

THE ST. LOUIS BRANCH: Membership, 49. Has held six meetings, including a luncheon, with a report of the Boston meeting, and addresses on the subject for the year-the Law as relating to Women and Children-as follows: Introductory, by Mr. Daniel M. Kirby; Property Rights, by Mr. W. Scott Hancock; Domestic Relations, by Mr. H. L. Christie; Laws relating to Children, by Mr. E. M. Grossman. The branch was entertained by Mrs. Trelease at her home at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

THE PITTSBURGH BRANCH: Has held eight meetings, the programs of which included the following: A recital, given by artists, for the benefit of the fellowship fund; a reception and entertainment at the Pennsylvania College for Women to the senior girls in the city high schools; a luncheon at the Hotel Schenley, with a most interesting address by Miss Gill, president of the Association; a group of addresses on civic interests given by members of the Pittsburgh Civic Club and others; a reception to the teachers of the city high schools at Carnegie Institute, with a talk on the annual exhibition of paintings, by Mr. M. B. Leisser, many years principal of the Pittsburgh Academy of Design.

THE COLORADO BRANCH: Membership, 68. Holds monthly meetings. The social element is considered the most valuable feature of the local associa