Aurora Borealis, the first Norwegian female literary society, yesterday celebrated its twentieth anniversary with a banquet at the home of Mrs. Aagot Johnson, 666 North Hoyne Avenue. The Society has set for itself the task of spreading knowledge of Norwegian literature; it can have no more than twenty members; it was organized by Mrs. E. Pihlfeldt, Mrs. S. Mathiesen, Mrs. C. Arnet, Miss Svanoe, M. D., Miss F. Horstad, Mrs. A. Ibenfeldt, and Mrs. Selma Lunde.

The present board of directors consists of Mrs. C. Anderson, president; Mrs. T. Holt, vice-president; Mrs. Anna Hansen, treasurer.

At eight o'clock the members took their places about the tables...Mrs. 2Johnson had decorated the tables tastily with evergreens and with Norwegian and American flags. The ladies who assisted in the preparations were praised for their work. The president, Mrs. Carl Anderson. . . . welcomed the participants, especially the men who were the guests of honor. Mrs. Cecilie Gerner gave the following speech in honor of the day:

"I have the impression that we have arrived at the Zenith of the day of life, from which point we have a better view of the past and the future than we had in our days of youth, that period when one is racing enthusiastically up the hillsides and mountainsides toward the ideals that one wishes to reach in order to bring home the victory. Youth is magnificent. We do not wish to deprive youth of a single hope, a solitary enjoyment. The ideals of youth are immortal, for they spring anew in every young girl and in every young man. Perhaps, also, every new generation arrives somewhat closer to the realization of these ideals than did the previous one.

"Well, how far did we get? Did we reach our goal? Did we manage to accomplish 3that of which we were dreaming? Did we attain happiness? Perhaps on reaching one after the other of the glittering goals they appeared to us as mere mirages, fata morgana! But if through these we found the real values, if we discovered the great secret that joy has it origin within, that happiness consists in giving rather than in receiving, then we did attain happiness.

"If life has taught us charity and understanding and sympathy for all the children of men; if it has taught us to be mild in our judgment about others and stern only in our demand on ourselves; if life has taught us to be faithful in the little things, to do that which we found for our hands to do, and do it well; if the sorrows of life have cleansed our souls' windows, as it were, then our lives have not been lived in vain.

"It was stated at our tenth anniversary celebration that Aurora Borealis was a ten-year-old girl. On that basis she would now be a young woman of twenty--the flower opened to the sun and to life, wondering, waiting for 4the wonderful! Yet, even though we grow far past the twenty we still retain this attitude of wonder, of waiting for the wonderful; this profound, indescribable longing in every human soul never desists; I believe it grows stronger as the years go by. Some call this longing the quest for happiness; others call it the quest for God. We seek to satisfy it through love, through religion, through work, through art, through study, and it is at this point that Aurora Borealis, the literary club, becomes significant. This is the principle which has hold us together for twenty years. We have not reached far; we have not accomplished anything remarkable; we are not even of the women's suffrage movement--we are merely women who for twenty years have been able so far to rise above the everyday life so that we could gather about books. This much I know, that when we are to summarize the various individual sums in our lives, the Literary Club must be counted in. Besides, the Literary Club has had this significance: it has preserved Norway for us and within us, Norway, our Norway, its culture and its thinking."

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From two of the other literary societies, Vala and Glimt came telegrams and congratulations.