To chronicle the social side of the twenty-third annual meeting of the
American Library Association is a pleasant duty. To recall all of the
courtesies extended to us by our hosts of the Middle West would take
more time than is at my disposal and more space than the Proceedings
allot to the frivolous recreations of the strenuous librarians. Through
the entire period of the meeting, the good people of Waukesha did
everything in their power to make the time pass pleasantly and Mr.
Walker, the proprietor of the Fountain Spring Hotel, worked early and
late to make the members comfortable. Golf had a few members marked for
its own, and these were not deterred by the
110°-in-the-shade-conditions. Dancing was in order every evening after
the meetings (Sunday excepted) and the gentleman from Washington is said
to have solved the problem of how often a man can dance with the same
girl in a given evening. The piazzas were ample and as each led to some
spring sooner or later, the "water habit" became popular. The
dining-room was, in the language of the daily papers, "taxed to its
utmost," but all shortcomings were treated with good-natured
indifference when it was understood that the hotel had never
accommodated so many people in its history, and the management promptly
increased its force of servants to meet the occasion.
According to the program the social side of the conference should have
begun on the evening of July 3 with "friendly greetings" at 8.30 p.m.;
but as the New York party did not arrive until 9 p.m., and the New
England party not until 2 a.m., it will readily be seen that the
friendly greetings had to be postponed. Social amenities, however,
commenced on the morning of "the Fourth" when the proverbial early bird,
arrayed in cool flannels or faultless duck, promenaded the long veranda
of the Fountain House and greeted the later arrivals. As the "later
arrivals" had almost all come from a distance during one of the hottest
weeks of the hottest summer known, and were consequently covered with
dust and cinders, it was tantalizing to see the earlier arrivals in such
cool array, and welcome speeches were cut short until the dust of travel
could be removed.
The coolness of the evening found a refreshed, summer-attired conference
wending its way to the Methodist Church where the public meeting was
held. The speeches were interrupted repeatedly by the festive small boy
and his Fourth of July crackers. The explosions caused untimely mirth
when they punctuated or emphasized the well rounded periods of the
orators. The formal meeting was followed by informal groups on the
veranda of the hotel and at the springs where thirsty mortals never
tired of drinking the "fizzy" waters, that have made Waukesha famous as
the "Saratoga of the West," and, indeed, the place has many features
similar to its famous Eastern prototype.
Friday evening was devoted to various dinner parties of the alumni of
the library training schools, and the dining-room with its long tables
and flowers presented a festive scene. College yells and class cheers
resounded through the halls. One got a good idea of the number of
technically trained library assistants now dispersed over the country.
Saturday evening the hotel management provided a dance for the guests
and the great dining hall was transformed into a gay ballroom. Although
Mr. Cutter was absent the dancing contingent was ably represented, and a
delightful evening was enjoyed.
The program meetings were well attended and the many papers presented
during the sultry days of the first week made Sunday a welcome day. The
Rest Cure seemed to be the order of the day until after lunch, when most
of the members went to Milwaukee to see the public library, where an
informal reception was held. Misses Stearns, Dousman, Van Valkenburgh
and Stillman entertained a party of 40 at White Fish Bay. A trolley ride
to Milwaukee and on to this beautiful bay proved a good appetizer for
the very excellent lunch provided. The view of the lake was keenly
enjoyed and the day was clear and cool. Twenty miles home and an early
supper, and most of us were willing to retire early, for the trip to
Madison next day was scheduled for an early hour.
Although the day spent in Madison was not strictly a "social" feature of
the conference, yet so delightfully did the citizens of Madison welcome
the visiting librarians that the record of the day in truth belongs to
the social chronicler. Its pleasures came as a complete surprise to
those who had not prepared themselves with Appleton's guide and other
works of ready reference. The building of the Historical Society is
certainly one of the most beautiful and sensibly arranged libraries in
the United States and its situation on the outskirts of the grounds of
the University of Wisconsin leaves nothing to be desired. In fact it
would be hard to picture a more beautiful situation for a university
town than this. The lakes, the undulating landscapes and the beautiful
roads extending for twenty-five miles and maintained by a committee of
public spirited men, who also are responsible for planting the roadsides
with hardy shrubs, trees and flowers, make the external conditions
ideal. The whole party was driven through the town, the university
campus, and through five or six miles of the park roads, and was then
escorted through the library building by Mr. Thwaites, Mr. Bradley and
the assistants. It was while the members were being driven through the
town that the new library anthem was perpetrated, and
"Of all the cakes
My mother makes
Give me the gingerbread!"
will go down in A. L. A. history linked with
"Here's to Mr. Bradley
Who smiles on us so badly,
gladly,
madly,
sadly!"
The whole 350 found chairs in the gymnasium of the university and
disposed of every one of the doughnuts promised to them by Mr. Thwaites
in his eloquent address on Luncheons the previous day. The afternoon was
spent in inspection of the beautiful new library building, and here an
hour or so later the "official photograph" was taken, the delegates
being seated on the steps of the library with its stately façade for
background.
Madison refused to maintain us after five o'clock, and on our return to
Waukesha we found that the City Federation of Women's Clubs of Waukesha
would be "at home" in our honor, so we put on our prettiest frocks and
were presented in due form. The reception committee comprised Mrs. H. Y.
Youmans, president of the State Federation; Miss L. E. Stearns, Mrs. O.
Z. Olin, Mrs. C. E. Wilson, Miss Winifred Winans, Miss Emily Marsh and
Miss Kate Kimball. A bevy of pretty girls served tempting ices and a
musical program was delightfully rendered.
Tuesday's program was almost too much for even the most confirmed
conference attendant. From 9 a.m. till 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. till 6 did
we sit and listen or stand and discuss the program. At 9 p.m. Mr.
Eastman's display of library architecture, by means of a stereopticon,
proved to be one of the most interesting features of the meeting. It is
wonderful the advancement made in this form of library development; and
still more wonderful how many bad libraries are still being built when
so much information is to be had on the subject.
Later the dining-room was cleared and the conscientious librarians who
had sat all day in interesting sessions were invited to relieve the
monotony of work with the terpsichorean muse. It was a pretty sight to
see the girls in their muslin frocks and all the young and old members
meet in the measures of a Virginia reel. And such a reel; it will go
down to history as _the_ dance of the Waukesha meeting. Staid librarians
growing bald with the weight of a nation's libraries; quiet instructors
in library economics, all unbent to the fascination of this
old-fashioned country dance.
Wednesday's sessions were somewhat broken by the necessary preparations
for departure. In order to leave nothing undone the hotel management
arranged a fire spectacle this last afternoon of the conference and the
fair grounds looked their best with flames leaping in the air and the
black smoke rolling on. There was a large attendance of spectators,
including the town fire department who declared the exhibition a great
success.
Then came the leavetakings, and after many handshakings and hearty
appreciations of hospitality, the conference gradually disintegrated and
only a small number of us were among that fortunate party lined up along
the wharf at Milwaukee to take the lake trip to Buffalo _en route_ to
our homes.
We stood in silence as the big white _Northwest_ loomed in sight. This
ship and its twin-sister the _Northland_ represent the perfection of
modern lake travel and rival the trans-Atlantic liners in elegance and
comfort. It was a sleepy party that sought staterooms early. The morning
came fine and cloudless, and although the dawn and sunrise on the water
seemed to come very early in this high latitude, it was a thing of
beauty--an aquarelle of Nature's best workmanship. The trip to Mackinac
was marked by the organization of the Infinite Eight, a secret society
having blood-curdling ritual and banded together for offensive and
defensive tactics in the war upon the cuisine--led by the gallant
survivor of the "Adventures of a house-boat." This company attacked
everything that was before it and demolished everything within its
reach. Not until the last day were any reverses recorded and then
Neptune with his trident reduced the gallant band to four. In memory of
this glorious record the survivors have applied for arms consisting of a
ship rampant on a field azure and the motto
Puellæ Pallidæ non ad cenam veniunt.
When Buffalo was reached the Pan-American exhibition claimed everyone's
attention. Most of the party were there by eleven o'clock and spent the
rest of the day. Mr. Elmendorf claimed a number of the men and gave them
a delightful dinner in "In Nuremburg," and everyone was in front of the
great pilons in time to see the electricity turned on at 8.30, after
which the gondoliers became popular. It was Georgia Day at the
Exposition and the A. L. A. members who had attended the Atlanta
conference were greeted by a familiar figure in the person of Mr.
Cabiniss, who had addressed the Association at Atlanta and was one of
the orators of the day. The most popular part of the proceedings,
however, was the singing of the refrain
"He laid aside a suit of gray
To wear the Union blue"
which was cheered and encored many times.
Sunday was spent at Niagara Falls by most of the survivors and
everything was accomplished, even to going under the American Falls.
Many goodbyes were said in the Nuremburg restaurant at the Exposition
that evening and the shutting off of the electric light closed one of
the pleasantest post-conference trips in the history of the Association.