The Omaha Sunday Bee
PART TWO
EDITORIAL
PAGES ONE TO TWELVE
PART TWO
SOCIETY
PAGES ONE TO TWELVE
v.
VOL. XLI1I NO. U.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 8, 1!)14.
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
Finding Church in Omaha No Easy Job for the Stranger
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HERE are a. few churches in Omaha
that let It be known in .Various wayn
Just where they are located. They
invite the public.
There are very.Tnany more that
db nothing of the kind.
Church bells have gone out of date. No
other form of call to worship has taken their
place. Lights of a characteristic kind in front ot
the churches to guide strangers to the doors of
worship are not many. Lights of any kind over
the doors of the churches are few.
Thus the thousands of strangers who spend
Sunday in Omaha sometimes have a hard time to
find a church, when on Sunday evening they sud
denly decide to go to church.
The stranger writes a letter 'or two in the
writing room of bis hotel, and then decides to
look up a church. If ho is at the Rome, tho
Henshaw, tho Merchants, or tho Loyal, he may
find a framed church announcement hanging on
tho wall in tho writing room. It may give direc
tions to the church ho wants and it may not. In
many of the other' hotels ho finds no such di
rections at all.
If he happens to find a Saturday Evening Boo
ho can find the announcements for all the
churches for the Sabbath. If he doesn't find the
paper he can examine the walls in the writing
room of his hotel. Maybe ho is staying at tho
Loyal. Ho looks round and round the "walls and
finds but one church announced.
.A little brown frame greets his eye. It holds
a whlto pleco of paper with a picture of a church.
Under this picture are the words:
"Trinity Cathedral."
Capitol Avenue and Eighteenth Street.
Rev. James Arthur Tancock, Dean."
This information is followed by a schedule
showing the tinio of services on Sunday.
If this travelor-ls looking for Trinity Cathedral
he Is lucky, for not another church Is announced
on the walls of the room. If not, what does ho
do?
If he .happens to he stopping at the Hotel
Rome, he looks up from the writing desk and
finds another sign In a brown frame:
t "First Church of Christ Scientist."
This is followed by "a few directions. That it
not the church he la looking for. He glances fur
ther on. Hero is a frame announcing:
"Dletz Memorial Methodist Church,
Tenth and Pierce Streets.
C. X. Dawson, Pastor.
Farnam and Harney Cars Come to the Door."
Still that Is not his church. He looks farther
and flqds the First Presbyterian similarly sched
uled. Still, not his church. He looks around tho
room three times, but see no more directions. He
lu looking for a Protestant Episcopal church. He
stretches his legs and strolls over to tho desk to
bother the clerk to toll him where ho can find
such a church. Tho clerk is very -busy, and ho
cannot get at him for some moments. He loiters
about a fow minutes waiting to get an opportunley
to speak to Colonel Anderson at tho deskr-
Whllo ho Is waiting hero his eyes fall upon
a little card no bigger than a Christmas post card.
I: is stuck at the edge of the window glass In
the cashier's cage. It has a little plcturo of a
church at the top. Beneath it are the wordB:
"Trinity Cathedral."
Then follow street directions. Ho is happy. Ho
-has found his church and he need not bother the
clerk.
At tho Merchants hotel the Sunday visitor
will find the First Presbyterian church, Seven
teenth and Dodgo streets, advertised, as he will
also find tho First Church of Christ, Scientist,
St. Mary's avenuo and Twenty-fourth street; St.
Mary Magdaleno church, Nineteenth and Dodge
streets, and a complete Catholic church directory.
At the Henshaw ho will find tho complete
Catholic church directory; an announcement of
the Dletz Memorial church, and that Is all.
Thus It will bo found that In a few of tho hotels
in Omaha somo few of the churches are scheduled.
At the great majority of hotels and rooming
houses no church schedules are exhibited. ,
Also it will be found that it is only a few
churches that place their sigh and schedule In
the 'hotels, and that the great majority of the
100 or more churdhes of tho city make no effort
to announce themselves in the hotels.
Now if the guest starts in the dark to look
for a church he may find it readily if he is well
acquainted with the streets of tho city. It ho Is
not ho may not havo bo good luck. If ho wanders
off the car line, and gets within a block of tho
church, how can bo find it? Many of tho churches
have absolutely no light over the door to guide
the stranger. Many, It is true, have such lights.
But suppose the particular stranger is looking for
one of the churches that havo no light.
St. Mary Magdaleno churph Is without light
or other sign, except the name of the church
carved Inconspicuously In a gray stone set In the
side of the building.
A stranger seeking the First Congregational
'church, Nineteenth and Davenport streets, would
'have somo difficulty on arriving at the corner In
determining whether he had found the right
church or not. Hero stands the Imposing brick
edifice, absolutely without a light of any kind
over any o'f Its doors. The stranger may strike
a match and scrutinize either side of all three
iioors In vain for a sign that would tell him
whether or not be has found tho First Congrega
tional church. Ho finds not a scratch. Hesita
ting to enter without assurance that he has found
the right place he hugs the walls and walk's
around the church a few times In the bopo ot
finding somo clue. If ho leans up against the
west wall to rest a moment, thero Is ono chanco
in 100 that he may lean against a little weather
beaten board sign on tho bare wall, twenty-five
feet from tho nearest door. He strikes a match
ngaln and with difficulty, spells out tho weather
beaten letters which make up the wordBt
A-
will fare better. Arriving at Twentieth and! Daven
port stroetu he finds a huge red brick church,
with groat globed lights over both doorB. A'so
beside the door ho reads In bold plainly printed
words;
"First Methodist Church,
Titus Lowe, Minister,
Residence, 3346 Harney Street."
"First Congregational Church,
Founded IKS 6."
At the door of tho First Methodist church ho
At Seventeenth and Dodge streets he finds tho
First. Presbyterian church announcing itself i'n
bold letters on a sign beside the door. ,
At Eighteenth and Capitol avenuo tho stranger
will nnd n majestic stono church, with several
doors, but with no sign, whatever, over any door.
Ho may wonder and doubt, but ho can get no in
formation by staying on tho outside, Still In
somo of tho hotels ho will find the description
of this church, and find that it is Trinity Cathe
dral; also that Dean Tancock is on tho Job there.
Ho knows this is Trinity Cathedral' because ho
took account of the streets when ho was there,
and ho now finds that tho street numbers cor
icspond with tho dlroctlon given in tho little
framed announcement hanging in the hotel.
Kountzo Momorlal Lutheran church, the great
stono building nt Twenty-sixth avenuo and Far
nam street, mokes Itself known to tho passing
public at a glance. It has three great globed
lights over the door. Also it has fresh large signs
beside tho door announcing tho church, tho namo
of the pastor and tho hours of services.
Tho First Baptist church at Harney and. Park
avenuo has two lights on iron posts, one on either
sldo of the stono steps. Under each light on tho
stone approach is tho sign that guides the stranger
aright.
Tempjo Israel at Jackson street and Park av
nuo carries its name carved in bold letters la tho
stono high above tho door. Two. Iron light posts
nro set, ono at either side of the stono steps ap
proaching the temple, and two more iron fixtures,
ono on olthor side of tho door support flocks of
globed lights.
St. Mary's Avonue Congregational church at
Twenty-seventh street and St. Mary's avenue an
nounces Itself well by means of a gold-lettered
sign.
Many of tho best lighted and best labeled
churches are the most easily accessible tfrom tho
car lines. Thero are others, dozens of them,
too, that are not so easily accessible from tho car
lines. Dozens ot these are nestling quietly In
their Becluslon without lights over their doors, and
Bomo even without good plain labels.
"Neither do men light a candlo and put it
under a bushel," ran the word from the Sermon
on tho Mount.
Thero aro churches In Omaha, that, so far
from placing their candle under a bushel, do not
so niucii.as light their candlo.
It the steel king, the oil king,' or the railroad
magnate had invested a half million dollars In n
hundrod such Institutions In the city, would halt
ot them bo nestling quietly in secluded corners
of tho city waiting for someone to find them by
chance?