The Women Who Packed Washington Into a World's Fair

Notwithstanding the inclement weather, a large number of ladies assembled in the parlors of the Olympia Hotel this afternoon to meet Mrs. Alice Houghton of Spokane, one of the lady commissioners of the World's Fair, and Mrs. Slaughter of Tacoma, who is in charge of the art department of the exhibit. Both ladies are enthusiastic and untiring in their work, and with the cooperation of the ladies of the state will endeavor to show what Washington really is, both as to people and products. They realize that this is one opportunity the state will have to introduce itself to the world, and that it resolves itself into a financial and advertising proposition.

Mrs. Slaughter's art league takes in all men, women and children who can assist in showing the advancement of art, and desires contributions of original work. Efforts will be made to present pictures of our state scenery, animals, birds, fish, fruits, flowers and things indigenous to the state. Mrs. Slaughter urges all who sympathize with art and art development to encourage the formation of a state art league, advanced by the cooperation of local leagues.

The interior decorations of the Washington building at Chicago will show at a glance what the women of Washington are capable of. The league at Olympia has already been formed, with Mrs. S. H. Barbee as president.

While both Mrs. Houghton and Mrs. Slaughter work for the same object, their fields are different. Mrs. Slaughter, as art director, encourages original art; Mrs. Houghton has outlined a varied and original plan by which the women of the state can show their ingenuity and the vast resources of fields, forests, mines and streams. The first object is a state display in the Washington building that will outdo all other states. Washington has the third-best space on the grounds for a state building, and the material has been donated. Mrs. Houghton asks the ladies to assist in decorating the building. A number of ladies in the state have been found who can do wood carving; the architect can use 100 carved panels of native wood for inside and outside decoration. On ten varieties of highly polished wood will be painted various scenes in the state. It is also intended to display women's ingenuity in wood carving by separating the woman's department with Moorish fret-work hung with rich drapery.

Under various heads the women will show the press, education, progress of labor, invention, Indian work and missions, benevolent societies, native birds, flora and stuffed animals. The educational exhibit will be important, showing the excellence of state schools. The flora exhibit will be another feature, in which Washington ranks third in the union in variety. Mrs. Crane of Spokane has undertaken a difficult and tedious task in this direction and asks assistance from ladies throughout the state. She is painting on silk bolting cloth a collection of the entire flora of the state, classifying each variety and mounting the collection on handsomely tinted paper. She asks Olympia ladies to forward specimens. Mrs. Crane already has over 100 varieties.

In the floral department will be a nursery for the handsomest flora the state can produce, preserving always the state flower, whatever it may be. All states are making fine collections, and the women propose to see that Washington's shall be the most varied and attractive. A collection of Indian curios and several engravings from Italy over two hundred years old, owned by a lady of Seattle, have been promised. It is proposed to show every industry carried on in full or part by women of the state, to collect all literary work of merit by women, and to form a complete compendium of every avocation of women in life: fine needlework, embroidery in silk, etching on linen and metals, modeling in clay, illustrating books, inventions, carving and sculpturing. To carry out these plans, Mrs. Houghton is endeavoring to form clubs in all cities and towns of the state and has prepared constitutions and by-laws for their use.