meetings should be given to the Philippine Islands, which come next. Papers may be written on some of these topics, among many that might be suggested: description of the islands; the early history; the condition under Spain; the uprising of 1896; the physician, poet and reformer Rizal; the people to-day, their habits and customs; the establishment of a United States Commission and the work of the various bureaus, especially that of education. A discussion may follow: Should the Philippines be made self-governing? Read "The Philippine Islands," by F. W. Atkinson (Ginn).
Contrasted with these islands lie another group of three – Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. The first two have wonderful fauna and flora, hundreds of varieties of native woods and great natural resources, yet are in a singularly backward condition. Read "Seventeen Years Among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo," by E. H. Gomes (Lippincott). See also many recent magazine articles. Java, lying close to this, is wholly different. It belongs to Holland and is the important colony of the Dutch. Its early history is interesting and the remains of its primitive civilization are being unearthed. Read from "Java, Sumatra, and Other Islands," by A. Cabaton (Scribner). Have one entire meeting given to the beautiful island of Ceylon, before turning south.
New Guinea is near Australia and closely resembles it in striking physical peculiarities. It is but slightly settled, and the Dutch and English divide its ownership; the latter have found it rich in resources and are making it commercially profitable.
Several small groups of islands to the east may be studied next. The Fiji Islands were long known as the home of cannibals, and their turning toward civilization makes an interesting study.
The Friendly Islands, or Tonga group, lie farther south and east; they were inhabited by a wild and cruel people, now changed into a fairly civilized and educated little nation, with churches and schools; many of the people speak English.
The Society Islands are still farther west. The scenery here is magnificent, with coral formations and atolls, tropical foliage, and great waterfalls; this is called the Garden of the Pacific. The New Hebrides have a special interest from the work of John G. Paton. Read his life by his son (Doran). Close to these last groups lies Samoa, beloved of Stevenson. Clubs should read of it from his books. See "In the South Seas," and his Letters.
Of the three islands near the southern end of Australia, Tasmania, close to the larger country, is as large as Scotland. It was for years one of England's penal colonies, but to-day it stands for everything that is advanced and enlightened; its school system is remarkable and its commerce highly developed. It is practically the home of a part of the English people. Just beyond it lie the two islands that form New Zealand, which, from the point of view of sociology, is one of the world's places of mark. Read "New Zealand at Home," by B. A. Loughnan (Newnes, London), and "New Zealand in Evolution," by G. H. Scholefield (Scribner); also magazine articles.
Japan, one of the foremost powers of the world to-day, is confined geographically to four principal islands, with hundreds of smaller ones grouped around these. At least four meetings should be given to its study. The first may have a program on the physical features of Japan, its resources, its people; a description of the peasants, their homes and work; the cities, their houses, temples, and shops, with pictures of interest.
The second may present the early history of Japan; its feudal system, its religions, its varied government, down to the opening of the country in 1853. The third and fourth may study the development of the country under foreign ideas; the growth of the army and navy, the establishment of schools, the court life, the extension of commerce, the press, the new standards of government.
These should be followed by papers or talks on the late wars with China and Russia and their effects. Other meetings should be on Japanese architecture and art and on the different phases of the subject: The Japanese in America. Read from "Japan," by Lafcadio Hearn (Macmillan Co.), "Japanese Life in Town and Country," by George William Knox (Putnam), and "The Lady of the Decoration," and "The Lady and Sada San," by Frances Little (Century Company).
In studying the West Indies it is necessary to use a map at each meeting to keep clearly in mind the location of islands: the Bahamas, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, and the Caribbean or Leeward and Windward Islands. A brief study of Columbus should introduce the whole series. Follow with the story of the Spanish possession, and then take the coming of the English and the Dutch, their colonies, growth of power, and the wars which ensued.
This will bring in the romantic stories of the buccaneers; read of the extraordinary careers of Captain Henry Morgan, the notorious Blackbeard, and Captain Kidd, and have chapters from novels treating of that time, such as Charles Kingsley's "Westward Ho!" and "To Have and To Hold," by Mary Johnston.
Give the story of each important island: Jamaica, Santa Cruz, the two little republics of Haiti and Santo Domingo, Barbados, and Martinique, the last the birthplace of the Empress Josephine. The topic of slavery should have one paper. Read from the life of William Wilberforce.
Take next Cuba and Porto Rico. Study the war between Spain and the United States, and follow with the conditions to-day. Read from "The West Indies," in the Story of the Nations series (Putnam); "The English in the West Indies," by J. A. Froude (Longmans); and "On the Spanish Main," by John Masefield (Macmillan).
North of the West Indies lies a group of islands famous for their beauty – the Bermudas. Here Shakespeare placed the scene of "The Tempest." The English own the islands and maintain a military station there. Read from "The Tempest." Follow with a paper on the Azores, in mid-Atlantic.
Circling the North American Continent, clubs will find several separate islands full of interest. Little Staten Island, in New York Harbor, and Long Island are closely connected with our history. Cape Breton Island, on the northern coast of Nova Scotia, holds the old stronghold of Louisburg, and the beauty of the Bras d'Or Lakes is worthy of note. Read "Baddeck and that Sort of Thing," by Charles Dudley Warner (Houghton Mifflin Co.). Newfoundland, rugged and lonely, lies beyond. In spite of its great fisheries on the Banks, its people are poor. Read of the work of Grenfell among them. The Arctic islands farther north present little to study, if we except Iceland, well to the northeast. This is truly a wonderful little place, and clubs should give it one meeting. Its relation to literature is important. Read the little classic, "An Iceland Fisherman," by Pierre Loti (McClurg), and "Bound About the North Pole," by W. J. Gordon (Dutton).
Crossing to the west coast of British Columbia one meeting might be given to the Alaskan Island of Saint Lawrence and others of the Aleutian group; then, coming down the coast, Queen Charlotte's Island and Vancouver should be noted briefly. On the west coast of South America is the little island of Juan Fernandez, on which the sailor Alexander Selkirk spent five years alone, whose story suggested to Defoe his "Robinson Crusoe."
Just around Cape Horn lies the strange, wild land of Tierra del Fuego, of which little is known. Darwin, however, wrote of it in his "Voyage of a Naturalist," and scientists find in it much of interest.
CHAPTER VI
The Business of Being a Housekeeper
The following topics have been arranged in ten groups, but as many more may be added by dividing each main group into two, or even three or four. There may be readings at each meeting from the books given for reference, and discussion by club members.
The subject for the first meeting may be the Old Housekeeping and the New. One paper may take the comparison of housekeeping twenty years ago and more and that of to-day. Is there a real difference, or only a seeming one! Are rents, food, and clothing actually higher for the same things, or does life to-day demand
