Fraternity-Testvériség, 1942 (20. évfolyam, 1-5. szám)

1942-02-01 / 2. szám

6

TESTVÉRISÉG

By eleven o’clock that morning, a crowd estimated at

12,000 people had wedged its way into the streets surrounding his hotel. Col. Black, a distinguished lawyer, and a veteran of the Mexican War, gave the address of welcome.

There was a note of genuine, brotherly feeling expressed in the addresses and memorials delivered to Kossuth here in^ Pittsburgh. He was told, that as he entered this great Ohio Valley, that he would discover a new freedom, a newT independence. And in replying to one of their addresses, Kossuth said that as he crossed the Allegheny mountains, he discovered the truth of that old Swiss proverb “that the Spirit of Freedom loveth to dwell in the mountains.” The weather had been cold, he said, but the mountain hearts were warm. And up through the mountain snows, there sprung up around me, the very flowers of sympathy, benevolent as nature itself.”

Each day Kossuth was the guest of different group. He visited a dozen or more industrial plants, addressed the employees, and raised sums of money in each case. One delegation after another would come to his headquarters in the St. Charles Hotel and make their donations. He addressed the German Association for the Friends of Hungary; the Young Men’s Society of Pittsburgh; the Pittsburgh Literary

Club; the Society for the Increase and Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; and several church organizations. He was indeed a busy man.

I think the most interesting development of Kossuth’s visit here, was the formation of a woman’s club, known as

“The Ladies’ Association for the Friends of Hungary.” Remember, Kossuth was accompanied by his wife. So far as I

know, Madame Kossuth was the first European woman of high rank to visit the United States. And it was while Kossuth was here in Pittsburgh that he received the news of his mother’s death, back in his home land. These conditions may account for the interest and sympathy that the women of Pittsburgh manifested in Kossuth’s visit. But whatever the reason, the fact remains that the women of Pittsburgh led the movement in America for giving aid to Kossuth and the cause he represented.

A meeting of this organization was held in the Second Presbyterian Church on Thursday, Jan. 29th. This was Kossuth’s last public meeting in Pittsburgh. It was a great occasion. More than 1,000 people, most of them women, crowded into the building.

Kossuth was presented with a beautifully bound book, containing approximately 1,000 names of the women of Pittsburgh and Allegheny, who had enrolled in the organization. In presenting it, the Rev. Howard said: “I have been requested by the ladies to present you with this book. It contains the names, written with their own fair hands, of the Ladies’ Association of the Friends of Hungary, the members of which are now before you. I have likewise been requested to present you with this purse. It contains their humble contribution to the cause of Hungarian Independence.”

It was a most beautiful purse, wrought with green, red, and white silk, emblematic of the colors of the Hungarian flag, the words “Ladies Association for the Friends of Hun-