fidelity and zeal. In every sphere where she has moved she has shown great energy and administrative skill, a genial friendliness of spirit, and a genuine love for everything good. As one indication of the order of her household, I have learned that during fourteen years of school life her daughter was never absent or tardy, save one half-day, and never missed a session of the Sunday-school in a still longer period. 'I used to think,' said Will Carleton, the poet, ' if my wife ever got to he a club woman, I would not live with her—much of the time. Since she has,' he added, 'I find I value her more than ever before—what there is of her.'
"To be at one's best, one needs to see each duty in its relation to the whole problem of life. For a person to become religious does not mean any undue withdrawal of time and strength from any lines of laudable activity previously enjoyed. Some such withdrawal often conduces to desirable variety and therefore to efficiency. These considerations have a special application to the vexed questions concerning woman's sphere."
Naturally, a woman of so great executive ability has been sought for as one of the leaders among women. Mrs. Boyden is one of the Board of Management of the Home for Intemperate Women, president of the Woman's Publishing Company, and treasurer of the Suffolk County Branch of the King's Daughters and Sons. Her chief work, however, is as the efficient leader of the Ward and City Committee of the Independent Women Voters, of which she is president. This organization has a deep interest in the welfare of the public schools. It is thoroughly organized, and is a power at every election. Mrs. Boyden's province is to arrange for campaigns, instruct the women in the twenty-five wards of Boston, confer with kindred organizations and political parties, and keep an outlook on all that concerns the city schools, always working for their best interests. Naturally diffident, it was with extreme reluctance that she accepted the position of president of so large an organization, but experience has so enlarged her opportunities for service that now she commands the forces with skill, wisdom, and tact. She has endeared herself to the women she leads. Strong in body, cheerful in temperament, cordial in manner, loving in heart, in the prime of life, she wields a potent influence in helping many of her sisters to a higher life and into broader paths of usefulness.
ADELAIDE E. BOOTHBY, the wife of Colonel Frederic E. Boothby, of Portland, Me., and one of the leading women workers in various charitable organizations of that city, is a native of Waterville. Me. Her parents were Charles and Vesta B. Smith. As Adelaide Endora Smith she was married to Frederic E. Boothby, October 25, 1871. Colonel Boothby was born in Norway, Me. , being the son of Levi Thompson and Sophia Packard (Brett) Boothby. In 1857 the family removed to Waterville. For many years Colonel Boothby has been an official of the Maine Central Railroad. His title comes from his service on the staff of Governors Bodwell, Marble, and Burleigh, six years in all. He was president of the Portland Board of Trade for five years, was elected Mayor of the city in the spring of 1901, and is now (autumn of 1903) serving his third term in that office. With the exception of a three years' residence in Augusta, Colonel and Mrs. Boothby have lived in Portland, their pleasant rooms at the Falmouth House being a hospitable social centre.
Possessing an unusually sympathetic disposition, Mrs. Boothby has proved a ready listener and a willing helper to many who have applied to her for aid and encouragement. She has held offices of responsibility in the Invalids' Home, the Temporary Home for Women and Children, the Home for Friendless Boys, and auxiliaries to the Young Men's Christian Association. Even in her social life she has remembered the claims of charity and philanthropy, and has caused the proceeds of whist parties and merry-makings to go toward the alleviation of suffering. Mrs. Boothby has been especially interested in the work for the girls of the Temporary Home, of which she is a practical and thoughtful officer.
Conspicuous among her energetic labors is##
