The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 17, 1901, Page 1

VOLUME XC—NO. 47. SAN FRANCISCO, WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 1901. PRICE FIVE CENTS. FPWORTH LEAGUE DELEGATES ARRIVE IN CITY IN BATTALIONS AND MORE THAN 3000 PEOPLE ENJOY MOST BRILLIANT FEAST OF SONG AND MUSIC EVER BRILLIANT SCENE AT LAST NIGHT’S CONCERT, WITH FACES OF SOME OLD AND YOUNG LEAGU!ERS. PROVIDED IN SAN FRANCISCO T /Q/f fi i [l i —p MAIN BODY OF LEAGUERS STILL ON THE WAY HITHER About Two Thousand Visitors Register at Headquarters in the Pavilion, With Many Night Arrivals to Be Heard From HE Epworth Leaguers are in our midst, and San Franciscans ere proud to do them honor. Sev- eral thousand ‘arrived yesterday, but the bulk of the big army, which was expected yesterday, will not arrive until to-day. Nevertheless, San he effect of the appearance in the of thousands of strangers wearing badges, white caps and the flut- tering flags and other Epworthian in- sign That the Leaguers have taken possession of the city for a period, the crowded thoroughfares amply prove. That they are being taken care of in a fraternal spirit, a glance at the head- quarters of the general committee will It is a glad season in which all alike testify by their acts to the cordial it y and friendship that binds ors from the East to their fel- the Pacific Coast. trary to expectations, the half-hour trains annou Cor nced on the previous even- ing for arrival, fafled to appear yester- day til after nightfall. Only two spe- cials arrived during the day, bearing per- haps 1000 delegates. That number was increased later by the arrival of other specials which had been detained in tran- sit from five to twenty hours because ot the crowded state of the roads, which rendered rapid travel impossible. Notwithstanding this fact there were Francisco’'s streets | unnecessary delays, caused doubtless by the misinterpretation of orders from headquarters. The result was great in- convenience to those who were expect- ing friends from the East, and who had been informed with positiveness that certain trains would arrive at specified hours. The hours came and went, but the expected train failed to materlalize for hours after the scheduled time. The Towa delegation arrived at the Oak- land Mole at 3 o'clock. On the arrival of the party on this side of the bay the mem- bers of the reception committes, who had been on duty since midnight, pro- vided them with accommodations and they went on thelr way rejoicing. The party numbered 100 persons. Specials which arrived last night were met at the Oakland Mole and escorted to this side of the bay by the reception detail at that point. The crowds were well handled and little confusion was notice- able. At midnight nearly 8000 Leaguers had registered at the Pavilion. Arrangements have been made to register 5000 more to-day. The registration force under the guidance of Chairman Kingsbury has been largely increased for the occasion. LI SRy Instructions to Reception Aids Chairman Charles H. J. Truman of the Continued on Page Two. RECEPTIONS TO DELEGATES ARE ARRANGED FOR Visiting Leaguers Will Be Shown the City and Reception Follows. HE visiting Epworth Leaguers who were fortunate enough to ar- rive yesterday and get settled will spend to-zlay in sight seeing. The places of interest will undoubted- 1y be thronged. There are no meet- ings for the delegates during the day. The indications at an early hour this morning, however, promised hard work for all of the committees during the day. In the evening State receptions will be held in many of the churches, and at all of them visitors will take prominent parts. These are deemed special preparation meetings and are often thought to be among the best of the sessions. The new home for Chinese girls, under the supervision of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society, located at 912 Wash- ington street, will be dedicated at 2 p. m. Bishop Hamilton, Bishop J. W. Joyce, Dr. J. M. Buckley and others will participate in the exercises. The public will be wel- come. President Keeps Early Hours. CANTON, Ohio, July 16.—The President was to have touched a button to-night to start the organ in the Epworth League Convention at San Francisco, but the meeting did not open until 8:15 there, which is 10:15 here. The President did not care to g0 to the telegraph office at that late hour and he sent a telegram of greet- ing instead. B LEAGUE SPECIAL TRAINS MEET WITH MANY DELAYS Schedule Time-Cards Utterly Ignored by Railway Officials, the Result Being Great Inconvenience to Many of the Travelers HE failure of the Southern Pa- cific Company to land the Ep- worth special trains according to schedule, thereby causing thousands of people who were ex- pecting friends to suffer inconve- nience, has provoked much unfavorable comment. In no instance has a train ar- rived according to schedule, and many were from ten to thirty hours late. The reason for this wild departure from schedule time has thus far been a mys- tery even to the subordinate railway of- ficials themselves. On Monday evening the raflway officials informed the reception committee that after 3 o'clock yesterday morning trains would arrive every half hour throughout the day. In anticipation of the rush about thirty members of the committee re- mained on duty at the ferry and in Oak- land. At 3 o'clock one train arrived, but there was no way of getting the passen- gers across the bay untll 6 o’clock. At that hour no other svecial had made its appearance, and it was 12:45 o’clock when No. 3, which is a regular overland train, hove in sight. About 100 leaguers from Kansas, Colorado and Wisconsin were aboard, and these were promptly cared for by the committee in charge of E. S. Finch. The next half-hour special was then announced to arrive at 3:30 p. m. This promise, like the others previously made, was not kept, for the train ex- pected at that hour did not arrive until long after nightfall. The result was that many persons who had gone across the bay to greet their friends had their trip for nothing. Those who were endowed with a sufficient amount of patience kept a weary vigil at the Oakland mole until the train arrived. — MANY NOTABLE LEAGUERS HERE Prominent Members of Order “7 in the City—Indian Delegates. The Rev. J. C. Simmons, pastor of the M. E. Church South at Woodland, came in yesterday morning. He is known up and down the Pacific Coast as “Uncle Jack’ Simmens. One year ago at the session of the Pacific Conference in 'Oakland he preached his semi-centennial sermon. He has been actively engaged in the ministry of the M. E. Church South in California for fifty years, having been but one year in the ministry when he came to Caiifor- nia. He is still hale and hearty, despite his advanced years, and his towering form, crowned with snow-white hair, makes him a conspicuous figure in any gathering. He will make the address of welcome at the opening of the convention Continued on Page Two. MIGHTY SOUND OF MUSIC + BURSTS FROM BIG CHORUS Overwhelming Impression - Produced by Audience and Legion of Singers--Extra- ordinary Obedience to Baton Shown By Blanche Partington. HE effect of a concert such as that given last night at the Mechanics' Pavilion by the Ep- worth League chorus is not of the kind that readily finds speech. The initial impression produced by the crowd itself, audience and chorus, Is of ~the . over- whelming sort, and the later impression of the great common song needs chorus and organ for its full interpreting. "It is by no means that the concert lacked matter for criticism, but the full- ness and majesty of some of the effects obtained simply carried one off one's feet. The chorus has been trained into an ex- traordinary obedience to the baton. Des- pite its size—there were 2000 voices—the attack was superb, the intonation almost faultless, and the shading good to a de- gree. The volume of tone was of course remarkable, the voices well-balanced, the quality of tone, particularly in the bass and soprano, exceptionally round and full. The choral programme began with “The Heavens Are Telling,” conducted by Rob- ert Husband, and accompanied by Wil- llam B. King, to whom special credit must be-given for his work as accompan- ist of the evening, In spite of its not In- variable success. Mr. King had the all but impossible task of keeping just about two seconds ahead of the beat, in con- sequence of the organ “speaking” two seconds after striking, and that he was generally “there,”” though the occaslonal lack of rhythmic accord between organ and chorus was the one blot on the escutcheon, is evidence of rare judgment and skill. But to return to the chorus. “The Heavens Are Telling’’ went with excellent swing and spirit under Mr. Husband’s direction. The “Gloria” of Mozart, con- ducted by J. M. Robinson, was also well glven. “Thanks Be to God,” under Isaac E. Blake’s baton, went with a fine rush and power. J. J. Morris directed Men- delssohn’s “Be Not Afraid,” that was also rendered exceedingly well, and the ever picturesque “Babylon's Wave” was given with stirring effect under W. C. Stadt- feld's’ direction. The choral part of the concert closed . with the *“Hallelujah Chorus,” directed by Robert Husband, and 'its splendid - climaxes made fitting end to the notable entertainment. During the evening W. F. Skeele of Los Angeles gave five organ solos on the new Stanford organ and was heard with great pleasure. But neither organ nor organist was heard to best advantage under the circumstances and the really fine instru- ment cannot be judged by its work last night. If it were possible by Saturday night—when, for the benefit of the thou- sands turned away last evening, the con- cert will be repeated—the console could be placed nearer the organ itself, why, it would benefit instrument, organist, bullder and audience alike. Mr. Skeele's good numbers were the following: Grand Choeur in D. (a) Barcarolle .... (b) Grand fantasita, ““The rm’ (a) Variations on a Scotch air (b) Toccato from Fifth Organ S; -Guilmant - Le Mare Lemmens Buck “Widor Another feature of unusual interest was the cornet playing of the Park sisters, a quartet of clever girls, who handle the brass like veterans and produce most pleasing results therefrom. They played a “Faust” arrangement, and, persistently encored, a transcription of ‘“Annte Laurie.”” A quartet by the Juanita Club of Chicago also added to the pleasure of the evening. But to those who did not hear last nighkt's concert, I would say, “Go on Sat- urday night,” though it Is true you will most likely have the {ll-fortune to strug- gle for a place with those who were there last evening. But it's a big thing, a worth-while thing and you're likely to love your neighbor better for going. et THOUSANDS FAIL TO ENTER DOORS More Than Eight Thousand People Hear Chorus at Pavilion. The principal event of yesterday, which In fact marked the opening of the week's exercises, was the grand organ concert at the Pavilion last evening, The superb programme, the chorus of mere than 1500 Continued on Page Twe,