The trips to the West on the “Federation Specials” were delightful. No men save those in charge of the train—with one or two club husbands—were allowed on them. We flitted from one car to another, talking with old friends. A good deal of preliminary business was arranged on these jaunts. But, oh, the sufferings of the conductor! Mrs. H——, having found a long-lost friend in car “Zenobia,” desired to have her berth changed. How many women made these thoughtless requests it would be impossible to say. I only know that I have seen the conductor, sitting in his little end seat, balancing his accounts, with an expression of utter desperation on his face! One great club enthusiast was so anxious to take the trip on the “Federation Special” that she started without waiting for her baggage. She took a heavy cold, which was probably the cause of her death later in the summer. Our women have now learned to be more prudent and to husband their strength better. As chairman of correspondence for New Jersey, the desirability of a closer organization in the state became evident to me. Mrs. Charlotte Emerson Brown and Mrs. Sarah Johnson, president of the Orange Woman’s Club, were of the same mind, and we issued a call for the formation of a state federation, thus becoming its founders. It was my pleasant duty to assist in the direction of the state federation during the first eight years of its existence. Our beginnings were too sentimental for my taste. The discussions about a Federation flower seemed to me distinctly superfluous. We went on, however, from strength to strength, developing after much the same fashion as the G. F. W. C. Our third president, Mrs. Emily E. Williamson, of Elizabeth, was one of the ablest women I have ever met. It was a pleasure to work with her, unless you happened to disagree with her in opinion. She made up her mind as to the best course, and could brook no opposition. In spite of this defect, which led to her making some mistakes, the State of New Jersey owes her gratitude for her public services on the Board of State Charities and elsewhere. Among the things accomplished by the New Jersey Federation of Clubs in those early years was the inauguration of a system of state traveling libraries and the preservation of the Palisades. The former we owe especially to the indefatigable efforts of Mrs. Edward Houghton, of Cranford, the most devoted and unselfish of workers. The rescue of the Palisades from the greed and selfishness of the men who were digging them down was no easy task. The New York State women joined us, and after great efforts these beautiful natural monuments were saved from the maw of the stone-crusher. New Jersey was the first state in the Union to confer the franchise upon women, who exercised it for more than thirty years.