The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-08-29
A Big Camp Meeting.

1000
sermons, ard a good deal of rural fun.
We glean the following about this
noted ummer resort
The Round Lake meeting was or
SanIZed some ten Years ago in what
was then almost a Wilderness beau
tIful wilderness To be sure, but entire
~ unprepared for a permanent camp.
The spot selected. consisting of about
two hundred acres, is situated twelve
milcs from Saratoga, ten miles from
Troy, aud twenty-fuur miles from Al
bany. on the shores of a lake called BY
the ahoTigines Ta-nen-da-ho-wa. A
grove of tai pines. interSpersed with
d~eciduous trees, Of which there are
forty-two varieties, affords the requi-
site shade, and the climate and neigh
boring scenery are all that could be
desir, d.
The leaders set at work to Law out
and complete a permanent camp. The
grounds were divided up into lots. of
which some 700 have been sold. and
800 are still for sale. At first those
who came to the meetings lived in
tents, which they either owned or
hired: but soon those who could af-
ford the expense began to put up cot-
tages. Nearly two hundred of these
have since been built, at prices ranging
" pow ~ e-.DCU. IDOdItl1lS houses
were also constructed. and tents were
never entirely abolished. There are
about seventy-five tents in the grove
this year. A hotel with most of the
modern ~conveniences has been erected:
also Il pretty and cOmmodious railway
depot. Restaurants, large enough to
accommodate 600 people at a sitting.
have been built and rented, like the
hotel to a responsible caterer. \
great deal of grading has been done.
drains have been laid, wells dug, and
a handsome fountain embellishes a
conspicuous lawn. A regular post
office is established. There are book
stores, newspaper stands, a drug store,
a grocery and provision store, a meat
and vegetable market, and a bread,
cake and pie bakery. In short, the
Round Lake emcampment has aSSum-
ed the aspect of a place of settled hab-
itation, to which people are invited to
repair, not merely for religious exer-
cises, but for physical and mental re
creation as well.
The government at Round Lake is
strictly religious, yet not sectarian, the
population being members of all de-
nominations \ Board of Trustees.
consisting Of twenty-One clergymen
and laymen, and the presiding elders
of the Troy Conference of the Meth
odist Episcopal Church, have full con
trol and management of the grounds.
\ superintendent is employed, and he
and some thirty policemen, with a few
other employees, are paid regular sala-
rleS.
The 500. COO so far expended in i'm
provements have not sufficed to de
stroy the primitive pictuIesqueness of
| tho ,rr-A--n Tho cannn bn1.n IC lnunx-a
full of incongruities. Streets of OF
tages, some graceful, some fantastic,
others plain or ugly, alternate with
rows of tents, old and new, clean and
weather beaten, neat and we'll furnish
ed, Oh tattered and presenting an APP
pearance of Sl~ovenlineSS and unthrift
Many of the cottages, and few tents,
have tidy door yards set out with
flowers. Where these embellishments
cease. stumps of trees and ~protIuding
powders begin, like those which sur
round the door yards of settlers IN the
back woods. Some cottages are VlV1dly
paiuted and abound with balconies,
verandas and gable windows, through
which their interior comforts and
~luXuries are visible to the passer by.
Over roofs of shingle and canvas,
sard-shaped or plain, tower the green
DIlll1llto VI III SioN1. -
few broad spaces have been cleared
away.
The tabernacle is a church not built
with hands, in the very center of the
CAMP. Seats for 5000 wOrShlpperS
are set in circles under the pines,
facing inward toward a platform. and
a broad sheet OF canvas is spread SO as
to cover d portion of the seats on rainy
days.
Numbers of sad-eyed women are to
be seen at all the meetings-poor crea-
lures, whose lives, many of them,
have been full of bitter experience.
Lonely widows. unloved wives, moth
ers whose children have proved II
worthy or ungratetul, household
drudgps. women with hopeless loves,
women whose lives have been one long
~self-sacrifice. and women who have
sinned in passion or despair-all are
here, seeking, whether the miracle be
true. that there Is rest at the foot of
the cross.
| stopped in front of a white cottage
to be introduced to Francis Murphy.
The leader of the blue ribbon move
ment came out and took me warmly
by the hand. He is a large, tall, pow
erful man, with rugged. handsome
features. piercing eyes, black hair,
heavy bfows and a thick black mus
tache slightly mixed with gray. He
was dressed in black broadc!oth, but
looked ready TO don a blouse and swing
a sledge or a scythe. AS matter OF
fact he used to compound punches and
cocktails. Finally he got TO drinking
them. One night-the night of the
Both of July, 1870, he found himself IN
Jail 4 few days after the preacher
came there and held a Gospel meeting,
and said to him in a conversation
"Murphy, there's hope for you 1t
appears that Murphy lever forgot
those words. He was released IN the
following October. Quitting prison
he signed the pledge. At an anti
liquor meeting he stated his expert