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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 1904)
October 23, ltfok THE OMAIIA ILLUSTRATED BEE. J ! Dedication of Omaha's Magnificent - ' . : ma l ;r .'V' A- .;'.; ' V,:.; ,' . ' . . ' ' 1 '.' ' ' .1 1 1 THE OLD FIRST" AT F1FTKENTH AKD DAVETNPORT STREETS. I of the First Baptist church marks opment of this denomination In Omaha and In the state. 1 Baptist work began In Omaha In 1836, when Rev. Stephens opened a mission in a small building at the southeast corner of Capitol avenue and Fifteenth street, and continued work until 1857. In 1858 the First Baptist church was organized. Rev. J." W. Daniels of Glenwood, la., preached the recognition sermon, and Rev. O. W. Barnes became the first pastor. He came from New York state urder the appoint- , ment of the Home Mission society and or- ' ganlsed churches also at Florence, Cum ing City and Bellevue. He left Omaha the following year, and during the period of the civil war the church seems to have made little or no progress. But in I860 the work was revived and services were held In the court house, which then stood upon the corner now occupied by the Pax ton block. The following year Rev. W. J. Kermott of Almond, N. Y., having com west some years before aa a missionary of the Home Mission society, became pas- tor of thla church, and continued till 1870, during which time the church made encour aging -progress. Shortly after Mr. Kermott began hla work a lot was purchased on the corner ef Davenport and Fifteenth streets, and a foundation put In for a brick edifice. The church being unable to go forward with the enterprise, a temporary wooden struc ture was built upon the foundation. After having been occupied for several years, this building was bought and removed by the Swedish Baptist church. In 1870-71, during the pastorate of Rev. J. W. Daniels, the basement of the new building was com pleted and occupied for church work. Sev eral brief pastorates followed and the church had little growth until In 1878, Rev. H. B.- Jameson became pastor. He served with marked efficiency till 1880. During this time the membership showed an encouraging increase, and good work waa done in paying a? floating indebtedness. Erection ot Old First. Iwe pastorate of Rev. J. W. Harris, ex tending from 1880 to 1886, covered an impor tant period in the history of the church. The work of completing the building waa at onoe undertaken and It waa dedicated In 1881. The property bad cost 143,000. Ten thousand dollars of thla ameunt had been secured from the Missionary society in New York as a gift and J10.00Q aa a loan. The latter, however, waa soon pain in full, Mr. W. T. Seaman giving one-third of the amount. The membership Increased dur ing thla pastorate from 150 to 407. During the last two years of this pastorate the membership was greatly reduced by per sons withdrawing to start four new enter prises. Rev. A. W. Lamar, from South Carolina, was the next pastor, serving from 1887 to 1891. Large congregations and encouraging church growth marked this period. The building at this time was repaired at a cost of tE.OOO, and membership Increased from 12$ to Stil. , In 1893 Rev. W. P. Hellings became pas tor and continued until 1K. Thla waa a period of iniportant changes. December 4, 1894, the building at the corner of Daven port and Fifteenth street, which had long been the center of the life and activities of the church, burned. After worshiping a year in the Young Men'a Christian aaao- ' elation building a new site was secured at Thirty-fifth and Farnam streets and a tem porary building waa provided. After contin uing work at the location for about a year Dr.. Hellings resigned and waa succeeded by Rev. T. L. Ketraan, who served till Sep tember 1, 1898. Shortly afterward measures were taken which led to the union of this . church with the Beth Eden Baptist church. Thla union will be referred to mora fully., further on. -!!- Branches Mpread Out. It-la now necessary tu go back and not the beginnings of other interests growing out of the First church. There axe at pie nt thre coloyrd Baptist churches, two Swedish churches, one German church and six Kngllsh speaking churchea in Omaha and South Otiiaha, all directly or Indireo.ly connected with the old First church. Also a number of members were dlamlaeed to aitsltit in forming a church In Council Bluffs. In 180 this work ot going OJt icgan when the Tabernacle church was organ ised. But It became apparent that there was not at that time a demand for an- ' other Baptist church and, soon thla .body disbanded and went buck to the First church. But aa Omaha grew It, in time, became evidont that new Baptist churches muat be organiaed. March IS, 1SSA, Rev. F. A. Genius and eleven others were given letter to orgauise a German Baptist churc. In 1&86 a mission chapel waa built on Twenty-fourth, near Cuming street, at a cost of 11.300, The work her developed rapidly and on November XX 1884, latter were granted to forty-eight persons to form the Calvary Baptist church. The mla alon property waa given to the new eoc ety. This church now ha a membership f over 4 and occupies a fine new edlnce oa the Xa:a--A.O-:A.!A :-,Aa';-;AA--. 1) j ' ' . ; corner . of Twenty-fifth and Hamilton streets. ' Several other ohurches were organized largely "by members from the First church. : ' Prosataeat !f.n la Memershlp. The membership llat of this old church has the names of many men and women who have been intimately connected with the life and growth of Omaha. Its board of trustees la 1867 waa made up of Darius Pearce, William H. Churchill, Thomas Bonner and Watson B. Smith. The last named was a colonel in the army, United States commissioner and clerk of the fed eral court, was shot at the door of his office in the old custom house in 1SS1. a martyr to the cause of civic righteousness. A fearless defender of the law, he fell at the hand of a cowardly assassin. But the present First Baptist church, a already suggested, Is a union of the old First church and the Beth Eden church. Thla sketch therefore calls for the nar rating bf the history of this latter organ ization. In the early '80s the rapid growth of Omaha to the southwest and the rapid de-. velopmant of the Hanscom park district mad It apparent that a Baptist church was needed In that portion ot the city. On November 4, 1886, forty-eight persons hav ing received letters from the old First church organized a' new society, . to be known aa the Beth Eden Baptist church.' Of the -forty-eight constituent members thirteen are still connected with the church. The earlier meetings of this- new organiza tion were held In the homsa of Mr. A. M. New (Copyright, 104, by Frank O. Carpenter.) 3yT. LOUIS, Oct. 2t (Correspondence sf I o'f The Bee.) I give you today 1 A Via mritH Tip ThAOdOP Ta,M the kaiser's commissioner genera-, on the Twentieth Century Oer. many. Dr. Lewald la one of the high offl- clala ot the Oerman empire. He is con nected with the interior department ' and la one of the Imperial privy councillors. He was commissioner from Germany to the exposition at Paris, and he has had every thing to do with the exhibit at St. Louis. Before giving my talk with him I. would say a word about the German exhibit. It Is on of the finest and most complete of all sent in from abroad. The emperor is anxious to Inoreas the friendly relations which obtain between the United States and Germany, and he has don all in his power for the BL Louis exposition. This can b seen by visiting the imperial Ger man pavilion, which 1 composed of rooms copied after some of the most famous apartments of the Imperial palaces. The emperor has sent over his own paintings and tapestry for these rooms, and in one of them are cases containing his wedding presents. Indeed, the pavilion vie In' beauty with many of the palaoea of Europe, showing what the Germane can do to re produce the glories of their historic past. The exhibits In the other buildings show the live, up-to-date, aclentlflo, pushing. In dustrious, thrifty Germany ot today. It would take column to describe them,' and I will only say tnat they indicate the won derful advance that that nation Is mak ing along educational. Industrial and so cial lines. I am told that the German gov ernment haa spent more than 31,000.000 oa Its exhibit, outside the money spent by th Individual exhibitors. American, aad Genuaa, Workmen. The first part of my talk with Dr. L wald waa devoted to the American work Ingman in comparison with the German. Dr. Lewaid had to use the American 'mm borer to put up hla great buildings and te arrange hla exhibits. He don't think much of him. Said hie: "I can't understand how th . United Statea can hold Its own In the markets of the world it th labor conditions of St. Louts are typical of those of th rest-of th country. W have bad a terrible time her whenever w have had to employ American workmen, We used them la erecting our buildings and the wages wer outrageous We have paid tl an hour to common mechanics who in Germany would be considered second class workmen. The would work only elifnt hours per day, and it we found fault with their work or asked them to remedy any defects in It they would throw up th job and leave. They seemed to have no desire to please us, and their sole object was to put in th time and get th money. On of our Oer man mechanics, who came over with us, thought the conditions outrageous. I don't know that similar ones prevail through out the United States, but if they do they cannot but work to your industrial Injury. "What I your situation as to labor mat ters. Dr. Lewald?" "We have our troubles, too, but we are far better off than you are. Our people are more willing to give a fair day's work for a fair day's wag and they are yearly be coming mora skil ful through our technical schools, which are now to be found in every Industrial center." "What are yea doing In Insuring your The -....V;! ; : - J Uv-'v.v: -"!.sj 0- ; j r-r i s a a a i , - a .. i . f . . . . ". i i -o., MA A:': 'At- mvi(A (Rev. J. W. Conley. John R. Webster. Clarke and Mr. J. IL Dumont Later the St. Mary's Avenue Congregational church was secured for a Sunday afternoon, and a Thursday evening moating. It was about five months before the first pastor, Rev. H. L. House, was secured. Start of Beth Eden. Immediately after organization steps were taken to secure property and a loj was i Germany of the worklngmenT" "More than almost any other country," was the reply. "The movement for work men's lnsuranoe began with Emperor Wll helm L He proposed It In a message In 1S81, and the sentiment in favor of it has so grown since then that we have a regular system of lnsurarico under the control of th government, by which every German workman receives financial assistance In case of accident, sickness and invalidity or old age. More than 3300,000 is dally spent In this way upon the protection of our worklngmen, and in a single year some thing like 5,000,000 persons receive help of on kind or another from this source. In the seventeen years from 188S to 1901 60,000, 000 people were so benefited. They received all told about 31.000,000,000. "The money for this Insurance fund," continued Dr. Lewald, "is raised by a tax of about 4 per cent on the wages of the employes, two-thirds of which is borne by th employes and one-third by the em ployer. In addition to this there are wo k. Ingmen's clubs wklch give benefits to their members in sickness, and we have associa tions providing for indemnities in case of accident or death, "The Insurance against Invalidity includes o!d age. Every German workman over 70 geta a pension, and if one of the Insured becomes an Invalid through accident he. 1 swemi n,pi,wsii i w n Mi'';ewywiwaaiiiiuMiiiiii imiisuw"ai..inn!i'i h A.IT; 'rACAs-AAA'1,',A f ; ?; - ' - i ' trW X CTS v Ah VsERMAN COMMISSIONER GENERAL, o ksw Emcm or ths rmtT bxptibt church 3 i . . - 1 . 1 . i - ! 7-V ' - - F - -. r-- rrr- V V ItA JtKf tun ii t " ' At i i Amos Field. Dr. VS. E. Womersley. J. A. Sutherland. BUILDINO COMMITTEE WHICH HAD CHARGE OF ERECTION OF NEW CHURCH. purchased for 37,000 on Park avenue, Just south of Leavenworth street . Upon this lot a building was erected at a cost of 310.162.28 and dedicated March K, 1883. Dr. H. C. Woods of St. Paul, Minn., preached the dedication sermon. Mr. J. A. Sunder land, chairman of the present building com mittee, presented the report of a similar committee on that occasion. This church was self-supporting from the also, la pensioned. There are now mor than 13.000.000 persons insured as to In validity. "In addition to this the insurance fund has accumulated a reserve capital ot about 3375,000,000, which is being used for the general benefit of the worklngmen. Through it we are constructing worklngmen's dwellings, hospitals, homes for traveling men, public baths, systems of waterworks and other sanitary improvements. Indeed, it seems to me that our system of work lngmen's insurance ia excellent." Do Expositions Pay The conversation here turned to the St. Louis exposition, and I asked Dr. Lewald whether he thought that it paid his gov ernment and Its exhibitors to show their wares at such places. He said: "We cannot tell whether this exposition will pay Germany for the trouble It is spending uin iu That Ii a matter for the future trade to determine. There is a prejudice cgalrwn American exposl Ions among our manufacturers, owing to your high duties. They say: 'What Is tie use of our trying to compete when we are taxed 45 per cent by the customs house? This tax makes It out of the question for Germany to send many of Its products to the United States, and the remit is that our exhibit here does not adequattly rep resent the Industries of th country, it is ' . ... . AT TUB BT. LOUIB WOULD! FA ITU New First Baptist Church ' ' .3 or ouula. Hi. f w ft II H. H. Baldrlge. D. L. bhaxie. beginning and among Its earlier acts was the adoption of a schedule for benevolent collections. At Its first regular annual business meeting January, 1887, Dr. E. E. Womersley, J. L. Worley and J. 8. Rich ardson were chosen deacons and J. H. Du mont, A. M., Clarke and J. A. Sunderland trustees. x Mr. House's pastorate continued until March 31, 1891. The church membership Twentieth fine In comparison with that of other mv tions, but It Is limited to a few branches of trade. We have, for instance, a good drug and chemical d-splay and a fair ex hibit of art works. Transportation is well shown and the government exhibit U large. I do not know that the cost -of, the indus trial exhibit will be repaid by a p.opoitljn ate Increase of orders of such goods as are shown. Sometimes it pays; sometimes not. We had a great difficulty to get our manu facturers to exhibit at Par., but those who did so gov a large busi,.eis. Take th inventors and makers of Kalserzlnn, for instance. They hod a big trade during th fair and at the close they opened an es tablishment In Paris near the opera and they are doing business there still. One of our piano factors made a . great deal of money from the French through his dis play at Paris, and this was the case with many othera. The Kaiser Oar Friend. "The proflts of these expositions are not only commercial," continued Dr. Lewald, "they are political and social aa well. That fair at Purls did much to wipe out the hard feeling the French held as to th Germans. We made many friends there, and as a re sult the anil-German sentiment is dying out Our exhibit here at tit. Louis is largely a matter ot luieriwtlonul friendship. The emperor and his people loot upon th United Statea as their triend, and we want t? take part In any International affair of this nature fathered by you. At the pres ent time the United States is much looked up to In Germany and American goods are very popular. Indeed, they are Quito the mode." "What does our trade with you amount toT" "In 1902 it was about 3340,030,000, or which more titan 323O,OO0,uuu was made up of our purchases from you and a little over 1112. 000,000 of what you bought from us. We buy more than twice as much from the United State as we sell to it. We buy more from it than from any other nation, and next to Great Britain we are your best customer. It must be remembered, how aver, that much of our purchases consist of food and raw material, and that we soli you chiefly manufactured articles." Th American Shoe la Germany. "How about the American shoe?" I asked. "That is an anomaly which our people cannot underslsnd. They say there is no reason why shoes made here should be sold In such quantities in Germany. We hav th same leather that you have. W im port our machinery and our workmen are better than yours. Nevertheless, your shoes continue to compete with ours In our home msrketa I can only explsln it by the fact that you make shoes In such large quanti ties that you may be able to make them Cheaper." "How are your colonies doing, Dr. Le wald?" I asked. "Fairly well," was the reply. "W hope they will psy us In time. We have a vest territory In our colonial possesi ons. They are altogether more than 1.000.000 square miles, or mor than Ave times as large as Germany Itself. Ws are developing some of them and prospecting others. In German East Africa we are raising cotton, and In German Southwest Africa we are experi menting with cattle. Bom of these lands are so new that w do not know yet )ust what they contain nor what they will produce. A-- nAmpA:$ -Aa;.: ! .-; W a a '.fife S - WW - BETH EDEN snore than doubled during thla time. In creasing from 62 to 135. Rev. E. N. Harris became pastor October 12, 1891, and after a succeseful pastorate of nearly two years resigned his charge and went as a missionary to Burma, Asia, where he and his devoted wife are still laboring. Period of Steady Growth. Mr. Harris had been gone from the church less than two months, when Rev. D. D. Odell, Ph.D., of Peoria, 111., waa se cured to take up the work. Dr. Odell'a pas torate continued two yeara and was char acterized by great activity and aggressive ness. Many were added to the church, the membership increasing from 146 to 275. Au gust 31, 1SS15, greatly to the regret of the church, Dr. Odell closed his pastorate to take up work at Lansing. Mich., where the very existence of the church was imperiled by a crushing debt. Dr. Odell believed that however promising the work In W3maha he must go to rescue the Michigan church, which work he nobly performed. The following November Rev. W. W. Everta came from Haverhill, Mass., to the pastorate of this church and remained two years. While this period was not marked by large additions to the church, it was a time of careful organization and helpful instruction. - Mr. Everts resigned to accept a call to St. Paul, Minn. He waa suc ceeded March 5, 1838, by Rev. C. B. Allen, ,D. D., whose pastorate continued for tnre years. Shortly after his entrance upon his work negotiations were begun with the First Baptist church, then located at Thirty fifth and Farnam streets, looking toward Century Is not Germany overcrowded?" "I do not think so," said th Imperial German commissioner. "We hav a large population In proportion to our area, but so far we have plenty of room. We have now almost 69,000.000 people. This is 20,000.000 less than the United States, and we are In creasing at the rate of 2.000,000 or 3,000,000 a year." America German Nation. "How about your emigration? Is It as great as in th past?" "No; business is now good, and everyone has plenty to do. Our emigrants Inoreas during hard times and fall off when times are good. So far' you have bad the bulk of the Germans who have gone abroad. It is estimated that 5,000,000 of our people hav como her since 1820, and that now one sixth ot all your population have German blood In their veins." "What kind of Germans come to this country?" "A very good class. The lowest classes have not the money to go away, and they do not consider foreign emigration se- rlously,' although they do move from one part of Germany to another. We are now having a considerable exodus from th farms to the cities, but that la going on all over Europe and to some extent here." "Then the towns are growing at the ex pense of the country?" "Yes, the movement away from th farms began shortly after 1871. Since then th town population has gained 16.000,000." "Give me the size of your biggest cities, Dr. Lewald," said I. "I will reply to that after the American method, taking each city and it Immediate suburbs. The Greater Berlin has now 2,634, 000; Hamburg, 988.000; Essen, 758,000; Dres den, 63I.0C0; Lelpslg, 606,000; Munich, 626,000; Barmen Elberfeld, 519,000; Cologne, 481.000; Breslau, 475,000; Frankfort-on-the-Maln, 439.000, and six other cities over 300.000 each. We have 1,000 towns ranging between 6,000 and 1C0.O0O and thirty-three of more than 100.000 each. Altogether more than one vixth of our people now live in towns of 100.0CO or over." The Germans as Maaafwetnrera. "I suppose the Increase In the cities In dicates the change of Germany from an agricultural to a manufacturing nation?" "Yes. At the time of the Franco-Prussian war a great many of our people were en gaged In farming. Today there are more working at Industrial pursuits than upon the farms, and th farm population stead ily decreases. The tendency is to large fao-, tortes rather than small ones. It used to be that we had1 a vast number of workmen who carried on their trades In tholr own homes, and there were many small manu facturers. These are decreasing, and es tablishments managed with large, capital are Increasing." "How about your trusts?" "We hav some, but not on such a scale as your." "Have you many rich people?" "W hav many well-to-do from a Ger man standpoint, but very few rich from the American standpoint. We have, you know, an Income tax, and we can tell Just what everyone owns. According to the as sessments in TrusHla. which country has about three-fifths of our people, ther ar , a large numoer or millionaires, uui mill ion marks is equal to only about 1:60 000, so that they do not represent a very great amount, after all." FRANK O. CARPENTER. l tiling,, P'HJ,,iWwg,,, jT.Wyn i ""--twi ' ' '" ' ' J M J 4i - "A v" A'"' '.t -Hj t-; i mi i'--. f?. 74?:v.I--il..-.L--r ' BAPTIST CHURCH. the uniting of th two Churches.' Union of Two Churches. This union was effected October 18, 1391, and the following resolutions wer adopted by the united church: Resolved, First, That It Is a union of th First Baptist church and the Beth Eden Baptist church under the corporate or ganization of the Beth Eden Baptist church und under the corporate name of th First Baptist church. Second, That such union is not th ab sorption of either church by the other, but a voluntary union of the two for the better upbuilding of the Master's cause. The membership of the combined churches amounted to 443. But many of these wer nonresidents, and a thorough revision of the list reduced the number to 845 on Jan uary 1, 1902. Shortly after the beginning of the pres ent pastorate, February 1, 1902, steps wer taken looking toward the ereotlon of a new house of worship. The following were appointed as a building committee: J. A, Sunderland, H. H. Baldrlge, John It. Webster, Amos Field, D. L. Shane and E. E. Womersley. This committee began at one to look tor a site, and on January tS. 1903, the lot on the southeast corner of Park avenue and Harney street was unani mously selected by the church. This lot faces 170 feet on Park avenue and 135 oa Harney street snd cost about 39,000. On Easter Sunday, April 12, 1903, pledges wer taken for the new building amounting te nearly 330,000. John McDonald of Omaha was selected as architect and work would have been, commenced at once had It not 1 been for th general strike at that time. . ,' Laying; of the Cornerstone. The building was begun October 29, 1903. The cornerstone waa laid with appropriate exercises January 14, 1904. Dr. W. M. Walker of Des Moines, la., delivering th principal address. D. L. Shane has been Superintendent of construction and th work haa been done with marked satisfac tion to all concerned. The building is a departure from ordi nary church architecture and presents an imposing appearance. The style f archl- , tecture Is Italian rennaissance. The length is 112 feet, width 70, height 64. All exterior walls are pressed brick, with Bedford ston trimmings. It Is cruciform In shape, with an octagonal dome. The principal feature of the front Is a portico thirty-three feet In height, supported by six Ionic stone columns twenty feet high snd two feet In diameter. Under this portico ia the main entrance, which Is reached by a flight of stone steps twenty feet wide. The features of th north and south sides are the projection' of transepts, with pedi ments, and rich art glass windows. In fact, one of the striking features of th building Is the beautiful art glass through out the entire structure. A large base ment, wholly above ground, on the Harney side, is divided by rolling partitions Into parlors and Sunday school rooms, with all the modern appliances for church work. Immediately back of the pulpit and under the organ and choir is a Mezzonlne story, where are located the pastor's study, choir room- bln room, toilet and so forth. Th main entrance leads Into a vesti bule, twelv by thirty-eight feet, from which broad oak stairs 'lead to th gal lery above and also to the basement. Th auditorium, occupying the main part et the building, is sixty-six by sixty-six feet, not Including the galleries. The vaulted celling, forty feet high, Is finished In th center with a skylight of art glass, twenty feet in diameter. Fine Interior Finish, Th Interior wood work and furniture are of quarter sawed white oak, with a rich old English finish. The heating Is direct steam and very special attsntlon has -been given to a thorough system of ven tilation. The organ, built by the Austin Organ company of Hartford, Conn., Is an Instru ment of great 'range and power. It is really five organs In one. Great organ, swell or gan, orchestral organ, pedal organ and solo or "echo" organ. The entire cost of the building and fur nishings, including the organ, was about 361,000, making the cost of the entire prop erty 300,000. The work of the church Is prosperous. The present memberehlp is 435, and It Is confidently expected that the annual meet ing r.ext Thursday evening will show all current bills paid and the balance due on the new building all covered with sutUfao tory pledges. There will be no mortgage placed on the property. The dedicatory re'rvlces will be held Sun day morning, October 23, at 10:30 o'clock. Rev. M. W. llsynes, D. D of Chicago will preach. In the evening there will be a special organ Installation service. On Monday at 8 p. m. there will be a re ception and fellowship meeting, with greet ings from other churchea. Tuetday at I p. m. will be g'vn an orgtn recital and concert, with Prof, J. Louis Browne, the noted organist, and Pi of. Hans Albert, the celcbiated violinist, g v Ing th leading numbers on the program. Wednesday evening will be given to his torical sketches and rem'nlsornces. Thursday evening, annual banquet, roll call and bualnres. Friday evening a rally of th Trt-Clty and Omaha Association of th Baptist Young Peoples' union. i. W. CONLk-f. CA .A I