Letters and News

• The Lebanese Women's League recently received a telegram from Mrs. Eva Badr, wife of the Honorable Minister Plenipotentiary of Lebanon in Washington, which said: "Her Ladyship the First Lady of Lebanon has charged me to convey her warm greetings to the Lebanese Women's League, in her capacity as its honorary president. This was the first thing she thought of upon reaching New York."

• The Arab press, and the mass of readers, continue to express their admiration for the magazine "The Woman's Voice." There appeared recently in the September number of the great magazine "al-Katib al-Misri" the following: "Here is a new magazine among the magazines of the East truly worthy of notice — I mean the magazine 'The Woman's Voice,' which appears in Beirut. I have before me today its July issue, and I could have wished it were possible for me to present it to readers at full length, that they might know that Arabic today possesses a women's magazine worthy of the name... were it not for the narrowness of this space; let it suffice me, in describing it, to quote for my readers some passages from this issue that lies before me..."

• Our gracious colleague, the distinguished newspaper "al-Jumhur," has entered upon its eleventh year. It announced in its latest number that it will suspend publication for a short while, in preparation for continuing its forward march with renewed vigor. We congratulate our friend Mr. Abu Shahla, and wish al-Jumhur a long life full of success and prosperity.

• The summering season this year was a very lean one compared with past years. The reasons are many; perhaps the chief of them is the high cost of living compared with other countries.

• The Misses Nihad Qaz'un and Maha Adwi achieved brilliant success in the baccalaureate examinations of the Syrian government. The said government has therefore decided to send them at its own expense to Europe and America for advanced specialization. Misses Qaz'un and Adwi are students of the Dawhat al-Adab Institute in Damascus. The reader will find in this issue an interview with the president of the institute, the excellent Mrs. Adila Bayhum al-Jazairi.

• There has arrived in Lebanon a bevy of our Lebanese girls who are receiving their education in the Nile Valley, among whom we recognized Miss In'am al-Saghir, a graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy of the Egyptian University. Welcome to the fair ones — and we await their works.

• The marriage contract of the notable Mr. Fouad al-Sarraf — of Minara — to the virtuous Miss Rose al-Zahir has been concluded. To the gracious bride and groom our heartfelt congratulations, and our wishes for a happy and radiant future.

• The great benefactress al-Hajja Makram Abu Khadra has donated a piece of land of 1,174 dunams, valued at fifty thousand Palestinian pounds, to the charitable hospital which she has donated to build in Gaza.

• Miss Najla Nasser Issa continues her literary activity in the Culture Society attached to the Women's Solidarity in Acre. We thank her for her literary efforts, and wish her and the Culture Society every progress and prosperity.

• The great woman of letters Mrs. Asma Tubi will favor the readers of this magazine with monthly articles on the literary and women's renaissance in Palestine from its beginning down to the present time.

• Among the deeds for which the Women's Union in Palestine deserves thanks is its visiting of the prisoners, looking into their condition, and petitioning the authorities for their release. We cannot but commend the valuable efforts exerted in this cause by that militant lady, Mrs. Sadhij Nassar.

• The literary committee of the Orthodox Club in Acre held a great oratorical evening, at which Mr. Khazen Abboud spoke on poetry in Lebanon; the rising woman of letters Miss Samira Azzam on "Madame Curie"; and Mr. André Azzam on "our social diseases." It will also hold its second gathering on the fourteenth of this month (September), which will be a debate on "Is it necessary for a girl to receive a higher education, or not?" Miss Abla Nasser will speak on the affirmative side, and Mr. André Azzam on the negative.

We congratulate the club and the literary committee on this fine literary spirit.

• The "Fatat al-Arab" Club in Haifa will hold its first literary gathering. A large number of Palestinian women writers will speak, and a prize has been set aside for the best essay delivered.

• There passed into the mercy of God Most High, on Wednesday morning, September 11 of this month, the excellent Mrs. Shams Ibrahim al-Tabsharani, mother of our dear friend Mr. Farid Mudawwar. Prayers were offered for her soul on the afternoon of the same day at the Orthodox Church of Our Lady of the Dormition in Ras Beirut.

To Mr. Mudawwar our most sincere condolences.

• His Excellency the President of the Republic received at his palace in Aley Mr. Michel al-Abed, newly arrived from Mexico. In the course of the visit Mr. al-Abed presented to His Excellency the President a check for ten thousand Lebanese lira, to be devoted to the works of the Lebanese Red Cross.

• Mrs. Salma Kilajian has kindly volunteered to represent the magazine "The Woman's Voice" in the city of Hama and its environs. We thank her most heartily, and ask our friends and subscribers to apply to her directly in all financial and administrative matters.