A wave of joy and gladness has swept over Lebanon at the escape of His Excellency the head of the Lebanese government, Riyad Bey al-Solh, from the criminal attempt made against his life by a crazed young man.
The effect of this attempt on Lebanese public opinion was profound, and it declared its condemnation of it with all its bodies and classes, friends of the head of government and political opponents alike. The masses of the people expressed their delight at the escape of His Excellency the Prime Minister in great popular demonstrations that made their way to the Presidential Palace and to the residence of His Excellency the head of government, bearing their congratulations and their sentiments.
The magazine The Woman's Voice and the Lebanese Women's League raise their congratulations in turn to His Excellency Prime Minister al-Solh — may God preserve his precious life.
Mr. Edouard Ghorra, Lebanon's consul in New York, has returned from New York with his wife. Mr. Ghorra spent a period of time there during which he won the affection of the Arab communities and rendered great services on behalf of Lebanon.
He was received in Beirut by many friends and admirers of his activity. And as we welcome Mr. Ghorra and his wife, we wish them a pleasant stay amid Lebanon's beautiful countryside.
* Upon the expiration of Mrs. Evelyne Bustros's term as president of the Al-Nahda An-Nisaiyah Society, a new election was held, with the following result:
Mrs. Najla Kfoury — president.
Mrs. Afifa Mohammed Lafi — vice-president.
Mrs. Janette Nadrous — treasurer.
Mrs. Ellen Rajaleh — recording secretary.
Mrs. Salwa Shfeir — corresponding secretary.
The founding of this association
goes back a quarter of a century. Its first aim was to encourage working hands and to awaken the desire to acquire native textiles, so that work might be provided for idle hands and the current of emigration halted.
And in its new project for combating illiteracy, the Al-Nahda An-Nisaiyah Society has founded five schools for girls, in the remote villages where learning is available to boys but not to girls...
At the first meeting a resolution was taken to open three schools, to be carried out during this year in three remote villages. Thereby the lives of hundreds of Lebanese girls will have passed from the darkness of misery into the light of learning and happiness.
During the past month there was held in Damascus the conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies of the Near East, attended by delegates of the international League of Red Cross Societies, the Lebanese Red Cross, and the Syrian, Iraqi, Egyptian, Jordanian, and Turkish Red Crescents, together with delegates of the nutrition committee attached to the United Nations.
This conference was held on the occasion of the expiration of the term of work of the international Red Cross League, and of the visit of Count de Rougé, secretary-general of that League.
The delegates presented reports on their work for the Palestinian refugees; in fact this subject was the pivot of their discussions, with stress and insistence upon the necessity of returning these refugees to their country.
And Dr. Youssef Hitti delivered the address of the Middle East Relief institution.
The delegation of the Lebanese Red Cross was made up of the ladies:
the wife of His Excellency Georges Tabet, the wife of Mr. Salim Saab, the wife of Mr. Alfred Kettaneh, the wife of Mr. Mohyi al-Din Qaranful, and the wife of Dr. Habib Rihan; and Dr. Baqlini and Dr. Salim Idris.
It is worth mentioning that His Excellency the Prime Minister of
the Syrian Government, Khaled Bey al-Azm, took a personal interest in this conference, and his government showed exceeding hospitality and great zeal for the success of the conference.
The greatest credit for the organization of the conference goes to the Syrian Red Crescent institution, which worked with all its might until it had assured the conference an orderly course that earned the praise of all.
Last month the great educator Mrs. Aminah Khoury Makdisi set out on a visit to America that may last six months. On her way she stayed in London a few days, and she admired the excellent, orderly life led by the English people at large. In a letter to "The Woman's Voice" Mrs. Makdisi said: "Here we are now at the art exhibition in the Albert Museum, where the Queen Mother's carpet is on display. I saw in this exhibition Eastern and Western art, both old and new; but great indeed was my astonishment at the Queen's carpet, and at the thousands of people crowding to see it. We stood in line with the rest for about three-quarters of an hour until our turn came and we entered the hall where the carpet is displayed — a carpet to be placed in the most famous of museums, because it is the work of the fingers of Queen Mary, who is 82 years of age, and who spent nine years in weaving it. What moved her was her sense of the financial straits that had taken hold of her country, and of its need of the dollar to ease its trade; so she resolved to present her country with a carpet of her own hands' work...
The designs of the carpet are of the art of the eighteenth century; she chose the colors herself, and spent long hours studying the design before she undertook this arduous work.
The carpet is 10.2 feet long and 6.9 wide. It is made up of 12 squares, and on each square is the Queen's name and the date of her finishing its weaving... And the English people stream in by the thousands, gladly paying the fee, to see this great royal production..."