Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 4.djvu/1015

 On July 29, 1892, a grand rally in the interest of suffrage was held in American Fork, attended by the leaders from Salt Lake City and other parts of the Territory. Ladies wore the yellow ribbon and many gentlemen the sunflower ; the visitors were met at the station with carriages and horses decorated in yellow, and bands of music were in attendance. Mrs. Hannah Lapish, the local president, had charge, a fine banquet was spread, and the entire day was a grand feast of suffrage sentiment. C. W. Penrose was the orator.

During 1892 Mrs. Wells traveled in California and Idaho, and wherever she went, in season and out of season, spoke a good word for the cause, often where women never had given the subject a thought, or had considered it brazen and unwomanly. The annual convention in October was an enthusiastic one, but the real work of the women during that year was for the Columbian Exposition, though a suffrage song book was published and much literature circulated, not only in Utah but broadcast throughout the West; and Mrs. Richards did some work in Southern Idaho. .

In some striking respects 1893 was a woman’s year, and much was done to advance the suffrage cause indirectly. The association gave a large garden party in Salt Lake, with addresses by Mrs. Minnie J. Snow, Mrs. Julia P. M. Farnsworth and the Hon. George Q. Cannon.

At the annual convention Mrs. Wells was elected president, Mrs. Richards vice-president, and they continued in office during the time of the struggle to obtain an equal suffrage clause in the State constitution. Mrs. Wells made personal visits throughout the Territory, urging the women to stand firm for the franchise and encourage the men who were likely to take part in the work toward Statehood to uphold the rights of the women who had helped to build up the country, as well as those who since then had been born in this goodly land, reminding them that their fathers had given women suffrage a quarter of a century before.

In February, 1894, Mrs. Wells called an assembly of citizens for the purpose of arousing a greater interest in a Statehood which should include equal rights for women as well as men. The audience was a large one of representative people. They