The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 3, 1897, Page 1

This Paper nct! | to be taken from i the Library.++++ & St e VOLUME LXXXIL—NO. 3"5 SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY MORNING, JULY 3, 1897. PRICE FIVE CENTS. - T (A o) fievfifi P e e G W - W —,fizfi[fio S HRISTIAN Endeavor- ers vill be welcome in California. It is won- derful how all classes of the population of ing a great interest in the coming of 20,000 Christian‘Endeavorers for a few days™ careful deliberation at. their six- teenth annual convention. The streets are alive with countless signs of activity, and- all classes are dec- orating buildings and taking as much interest as if all were members of the great international organization. Regardless of faith or. lack of faith the great bulk of the population is making a holiday. and a weicome of the" occa- sion, recognizing the far-reaching mission of the famous organization, and extend- ing to all who come undsr its banners the’old-fashioned California welcome, a welcome given without let or hindrance |, San Francisco are tak- | | to every worthy cause, to every stranger | who comes to California in pursuit of |'happiness, a livelihood or the accom- | plishment of any good purpose for the | good and we'fare of mankind. There has not been so much of general | interest to the public for many years as | the coming of this great band of worthy | and enthusiastic workers, and thousands | of people who know little of the general % purposes of the order, yet who know that | they make for good, have taken an un- usual interest in the coming of the large | band of workers. It shows the depth | and extent of the great principle of human !sympathy and the tendencies of all men | to give aid to that which makes for the upbuilding of humanity, whether vnder the name of a religious society or whether under the banners of some great pro- gressive movement combining various organizations. For many months there has been great earnest Christian workers and the labors of the local committeemen have been almost endless for many weeks. The programmes of the local meetings are very interesting and extensive. There { will be many speeches and much of a general character to interest the thousands assembled in the various departments of the great work of the society. It is the purpose of THE CALL to give a fair sum- mary of the things that will be done dur- ing the deliberations of the various bodies assembled, together with an account of the origin of the society as told by its founder and others familiar with the work in its details. A great part of the work of the pre- liminary committees will be in the field of reception. More than 200 of the com- | mittee will be stationed in various parts 7 N | | interest and activity among Christians of {o’ the City to welcome the visitors as all denominations apropos of the coming | they come and provide for their ent=rtain- of so large and distinguished, a body of | ment while they are here. Forty of the rail- road committee will go to Sacramento to- day to meet all incoming trains, and about 200 will go to Fresno to me=t trains in ths same manner. The committeemen will all wear white caps and reception badges. The first great gathering of the con- vention will be at the Mechanics’ Pavilion on Tuesday. Nearly gooo chairs have been provided and the prospects are that all of the seats will be sold by to-night. On next Saturday night there will be receptions to the delegates in fifteen of the principal churches of the City. e e THE ARMY COMING On toward the Golden Gate comes a | grear a'my, crowding railroad trains and steamers and thronging the railway sta- tions along the - route. - From - north, | | by letter. east, south and west they come, all moving toward the one goal—San Francisco. At the very borders of the State the hand of welcome will be exiended and at every station along the road fellow- workers will greet them and with out- stretched hands and a cherry “God speed’’ pass them along to their destina- tion. Upon theirarrival in this City adazzling arrav of {irple and gold, mingiing with the National colors, will burst upon their view. Market street fiom the ferries to McAllister street is fairly roofed in with arches of flags and bunting and the busi- ness men vie with one another in the dec- orating of their buildings. President F. E. Clark, who has been traveling abroad, was greeted with a let- ter and telegram from headquarters as soon as he arrived in Boston. In reply he sent the following letter: June 25, 1897. My Dear Mr. Watt: Thank you v:ry much for your kind welcome both by telegraph and Your dispatch reached me just as Iset footon American soil, and was almost my first greeting from the Christian Endeavor in America. Nothing conld be more cheering than your appropriate Seripture references. [ am glad to hear of ‘he preparations success- fully carried out so far, and am rejoiced to find even a greater enthusiasm for California than I'expected before I reached home, though Iknew it was very deep and strong. Istop at Minneapolis for a rally by the way, join the excursionists again at Salt Lake City, and reach San Francis:o on Tuesday, July 6. Once more thanking you and all your associates for your kind wishes, sincerely yours, FraNcis E. CLARK. The comimittee of '97 met Thursday evening at the headquarters, Y. M. C. A. building, for one of the last sessions pre- vious to the meeting of the convention. There were present Messrs. Watt, Web- ster, Perkins, Rigdon, Kelly, Dille, Rader, Wiles, Merritt, Johnson, Baker, Mackenzie, Campbell and Littlefield. The following resolution was presented and was unanimously adopted: This committee records its high ap- preciation of the generous spirit of hospitality so spontaneously mani- fested by all classes of our citizens in anticipation of the ccming of our Enstern guests, and especially the atti- tude of our business community, which has so worthily maintained the ancient reputation of our City aud State large and liberal things and princely provision for our guests. The convention will have no desire to imposs its own views or moral standards upon its hosts, who are all the people of the City: but we would remind our fellow-citizens that one of the convictions most strenuously held by every Christian Endeavorer is upon the subject of Sabbath observance. | for | for { | | room should be secured in the Y..A Most of the meetings of the conven= tion will be in the interest of such ob: .- servance, and most of our guests comé from communities where the Sunday is more stricily observed than with us; therefore, we submit that it would be a gracious mark of respect to our guests, ° and of courteous deference to their’ dearest convictions, and an added pleasure to their visit if all traffic and trade, as far as possible, be suspended ° in this Cityr on Convention. Sunday; July 11, and as far as practiéable all . places of business and amusement be closed on that day. We bespeak tho co-operation in this movemen: of . all classes of the community. R The matter of receiving and providing entertainment for those oi the delegates who arrive earlier than Tuesday ‘and Wednesday of convention week was dis- cussed at considerable leiizth. The tertainment committee reported that'i _ receiving daily applications for entertain- ment, and it was finally decided thut'a A. building, where all who wished to T ister and receive assienments of ént tainment could be sent. Members of “the registration and entertainment commit- | tees will be on duty in this room to-day and Monday, and on Tuesday the work will be taken up 1n the Mechanics’ fv’;.'\-_ Continued on Fifth Page. CHAIRMAN WATT'S WELCOME. To Convention-Bound Endeavorers: San Francisco Cal., July 2, '97. > On behalf of the Committee of '97, we extend to the incoming delegations of Christian Endeav-- orers our most cordial greeting and hearty welcome. We trust our: arrangements for your reception and entertainment will prove sa.t.-"v isfactory and that your stay in our fair City may be all that you . We regret that any misfortune should have -oc-: " curred in the transit of our people across the continent, but the number injured compared with the whole number coming is very small We appreciate the difficulties under which the transportation com- panies are operating, and credit them with having put forth the very best efforts on behalf of a safe and have anticipated. our delegates. pleasant .journey for ‘all San Francisco is bedecked in red, white and blue, and purpl'.e_ o and gold, impatiently awaiting your arrival. There is every prom- ise that the Convention will be one of the most interesting and - and the attendance will probably be quité equal to that of a number of conventions held in Eastern cities:.. All eyes will be upon you, and we are sure the cause so near our - hearts will be made still more potent through the influences your - profitable ever held, presence will exert upon this community. '97 Committee Headquarters, point in San Francisco. and in fact to o (Hlacrimo Cha Yours, faithfully, You will be welcome at . every other place and .~ irman Committee '97.