Page:The part taken by women in American history.djvu/433

398 women of that city were made officers, Mrs. Hoyle Tomkies, president; Mrs. Frances Shuttleworth, recording secretary, and Mrs. A. B. Avery, corresponding secretary. The object of the organization, which works hand in hand with that of The National Rivers and Harbors Congress, fostered by the leading men of the nation, is to secure for our posterity the conservation of all our natural resources, and in particular to preserve and develop two of the greatest, waterways and forests, for it has been said by an eminent scientist, "no forests, no rivers."

The number of members at the time of organization was seven, and in about a year there was enrolled through individual and club membership, more than twenty-two thousand, and this because the object of the association is so vital. At the first convention held in Washington, D. C., which had a fine representation, The National Rivers and Harbors Congress' Bill was endorsed, which called for an annual appropriation from Congress of fifty million dollars for ten years for waterway improvement, instead of a wasteful policy of appropriating small sums biennially for this purpose. The Woman's National Rivers and Harbors Congress is having conservation taught in the public schools.

At the meeting held last December, in Washington, D. C., the following officers were elected to serve two years: President, Mrs. A. Barton Miller, Charleston, S. C.; First Vice-President, Mrs. Herbert Knox Smith, Washington, D. C.; Second Vice-President, Mrs. F. H. Newell, Washington, D. C.; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Elmer G. Laurence, Cincinnati, Ohio; Recording Secretary, Mrs. Mary M. North, Snow Hill, Maryland; Treasurer, Mrs. William Brison, Muscogee, Oklahoma; Auditor, Mrs. H. R. Whiteside, Louisville, Ky.; Vice-Presidents-at-large, Mrs. Hoyle Tomkies, Shreveport, La.; Mrs. E. A. Housman, Brookfield Center, Conn.; Mrs. de B. Randolph Keim, Reading, Pennsylvania.