His Excellency President Chamoun decorates Mrs. Lodi Eddé with the exalted Order of the Cedar
• The building of the Chamber of Deputies witnessed, on Wednesday the 16th of last month, the ceremony inaugurating the new hall of the Society for the Advancement of Lebanese Industry, attended by the President of the Republic and his wife, with a select gathering of pillars of the state and of men of politics, standing, the press, and the diplomatic corps.
The ceremony was opened by Mrs. Laure Tabet, president of the League of Women's Organizations, with a splendid speech in which she said:
“The idea that guided the president, Madame Emile Eddé, in founding the Society for the Advancement of Lebanese Industry was to put an end to the misery which the Lebanese villages suffer through the emigration of their sons to the cities and to foreign lands in search of a livelihood. Fifteen years have now passed over this institution, and despite the obstacles that have stood in its way, it moves forward under the banner of humanity and the homeland.”
And she went on to say:
“We began the work with nothing
but a vast dream and a zeal without limit, and now the Society for the Advancement of Lebanese Industry provides work for more than two thousand workers, women and men, in a great number of villages.”
She was followed by Mrs. Michel Sara with a gracious word in French...
Then President Chamoun rose and hung about the neck of the society's founder and president, Mrs. Lodi Emile Eddé, the exalted Order of the Cedar in the rank of Commander... Then he pinned the Order of Merit on the breasts of the active members, Mesdames: Hanna al-Khazen, Albert Kashou, and Bechara Tabbaa.
The magazine “The Woman's Voice” seizes this opportunity to raise its sincere congratulations to the president and members of the Society for the Advancement of Lebanese Industry, wishing them success in persevering in this noble undertaking they have taken upon themselves, in the service of the Lebanese family and the Lebanese village through the encouragement of national industry.
• In the middle of the current month the Young Muslim Women's Association invited His Excellency the Minister of Finance, Mr. Rashid Karami, to a tea party in the courtyard of the institute, attended by a large number of official and civic personalities; its purpose was to acquaint public opinion with the institution's works and to appeal to them to extend a helping hand toward the enlargement and quickening of its cultural and humanitarian projects.
The president, Mrs. Habiba Shaaban Yakan, delivered a gracious word in which she welcomed those present and touched on the history of the association's founding and on the stages of progress it has traversed in this short period. She then invited the guests to inspect the departments of the institute and to view the exhibition of handwork made by the pupils. Finally everyone repaired to a buffet laden with all kinds of sweets, most of them likewise made by the association's members and the pupils—which met with approval and appreciation.
• On the evening of the ninth of February the Ahl al-Qalam Society will hold a memorial gathering for the poet Fouad Suleiman, in the hall of the Ministry of Education on Sheikh Bechara Street. Speaking at this gathering will be Messrs. Salah Labaki, Ghassan Tueni, Abd al-Latif Sharara, and Musa Sulayman, and the two ladies Emily Fares Ibrahim and Edvick Jureidini Shayboub. There has also recently appeared, by the poet whose memory is being honored, a collection of verse, "The Songs of Tammuz," which has come out a splendid artistic gem in both form and meaning. As a guarantee of the excellence of its production it is enough that it is among the publications of "Dar al-Ahad." In the next issue, a word on "The Songs of Tammuz" by Fouad Suleiman.