MEMORIAL TRIBUTE TO SARAH C. MINK.

Mrs. President and Members of the Fifteenth National Conven

tion, W.R.C.:

Of all the duties that have ever devolved upon me in any Convention, I hold my present one the most sacred and value its privileges the highest; and I thank you, Mrs. President, for assigning to me this office, that I may pay this last tribute to my friend, whose name is the synonym of noble deeds, Sarah C. Mink.

In the gray and gloom of a December morning there came to one hundred and forty thousand of her co-workers the message that this beautiful woman had passed the strange, mysterious boundary we call death, into that silent land from whose far shores there is no returning; and most tenderly did our National President announce to us her departure, in those brief words,

"God's finger touched her and she slept."

Sarah C. Mink was born in the town of Mayfield, N.Y., April 7, 1837. She came of good Revolutionary stock, whose patriotism had been tested in the time that tried men's souls, and her impressionable mind readily received and retained those early lessons in loyalty which were to influence all the after years of her life. The qualities of her mind were luminous. She grasped and assimilated all that she read. Possessing a remarkable memory, with a judgment swift and unerring, she was able at any moment to use the material garnered in that well-stored mind.

She was a natural leader- forceful, tactful and persuasive. No man or woman could hold out long before the potent charms of that earnest woman, who "proved all things and held fast to that which was good." Her religion permeated every thought and action of her life; she offered no lip service to her God or her country. She undertook nothing into which she did not throw the whole weight of her convictions, and, once having entered upon a task, she was as steadfast as the eternal hills to every purpose she had formed. When the New York Department of the W.R.C. was formed, Mrs. Mink entered with all the earnestness of her helpful, generous spirit into the work, and by her wise counsel and rare social gifts aided materially in placing the young organization on a sure foundation. During this time she was President of Root Corps of Syracuse, an office she filled for three consecutive years. At the close of this service she was elected Department President, and served in this capacity three more years.

The National Convention, which met in Indianapolis in 1893, recognizing her splendid administrative ability, unanimously elected her its National President.

This Convention marks one memorable milestone in our history. Resolutions were adopted advocating the introduction of patriotic teaching in our public schools, a subject hitherto ignored by educators and legislators, and it was a source of great pride and satisfaction to Mrs. Mink that as National President she was the first to appoint a Committee on Patriotic Instruction, which committee represented seven States; and was able during her administration to carry out in a large measure the decisions of the Convention upon this vital point. In her annual address she used these thoughtful words: "The time was ripe for this portion of our work to be enforced, for the American people are rousing as never before to the fact that the children of our foreign population must be educated in our public schools to become loyal citizens of this Republic, and to reverence our flag, the proud ensign of this nation for more than a century. The American flag has never been trailed in the dust by foreign or domestic foe. Wherever it has floated to the breeze, in every sea and upon every land, it has been welcomed by all people of all nations as the inspiration to humanity, to society, to the attainment of equal rights. Let the old flag speak to the children in our schools from one end of the land to the other. Let this symbol utter the voice of freedom upon every festive occasion."

We admire the sentiment as we did the woman who uttered it. We meet here today in this, her native State, and we miss her, oh! so much, and we feel that

"The gap this breach hath left is wide,

The loss thereof can never be supplied."

Mrs. Mink felt it one of the great privileges of her life to do and care for the veteran and his dependent ones; it was a part of her life and, although she traced her ancestry back to Revolutionary times and was proud of it, she first and at all times remembered that there was among us the living veteran of the Civil War and his dependents to care for and give aid to, and that they are the men who saved and redeemed the nation that Revolutionary fathers gave birth to. Her home life was ideal. She knew that her efforts were always appreciated by one whose loyalty and courage had

never been doubted. Her husband was to her the white plumed knight without fear and without reproach. The beautiful character of this woman was exemplified by her death. With unfaltering faith in her Saviour she approached the grave, with but one regret, - that of leaving the one whose love had sustained and comforted her, and to whom she was dearer than life itself. And while we meet here we feel that another soul has broken the chains that bound it to mortality, and as we bow in reverence and say "Thy will be done," we drop a tear of sorrow at her taking away. Farewell, dear friend, wise counselor, and strong, pure spirit.

66 Sleep till the end, true soul and sweet,
Nothing comes to thee new or strange;
Sleep full of rest from head to feet;
Dry dust secure of change."

National President: Mrs. Sherwood will memorial service for Mrs. Mink prepared by her.

now read the

MEMORIAL TO SARAH C. MINK AND MARIE HASENWINKLE.

Mrs. President and Members of the Fifteenth National Convention, W.R.C.:

One year ago when we assembled in St. Paul to join in the duties and pleasures of Fourteenth National Convention, our hearts were saddened by the intelligence that one of our dearest and most honored sisters and co-workers was lying nigh unto death, stricken by a fatal malady. At the same time our hearts were cheered with the presence and support of one who was in high health and full of noble ambition, one of our hostesses upon that great occasion, whom we made the National Senior-Vice President of our Order, in recognition of long and faithful services in Corps and Department work.

Today, we meet in memorial service in memory of these two noble women, realizing that in the thought of God there is no distinction between the time allotted to the weak and the time allotted to the strong. The injunction is, "Be ye also ready," for we know not what day or hour we may be taken home to our Father's house, eternal in the heavens. Sometimes we feel that those who are set above us in authority, who are absorbed in some great problems of human leadership, who live continually before the public gaze, lose that need of personal sympathy and interest,