Omaha daily bee., 1883-06-29
ACCUSED OP A SINS.
for INDUCING In Worldly
Pastimcs.
Pittsburgh Dispatch.

Pittsburgh Dispatch.
There is trouble in Allentown, The
good citizens of the Methodist persua-
sion in that locality are wrestling over
that perplexing question, "a dancing
Christian" Last night the official board
of the Allentown M. e. church met to
try six of their aock, five for dancing and
one for visiting the opera house. The
latter criminal, Mr.. William Knox, was
absent at a meeting of the school board,
of which he is a member, and sent his
regrets, saying he would go to the opera
house as often as he liked, and the COM
mittee could do what they liked best in
the matter. The five guilty of the grave
offense of dancing were present. Their
names are Mr.. and Mrs. Richard Best,
Mr.. and Mrs. John Forse and MI. Sam
uel Simpson. Besides being respectable
citizens, they are, it is asserted, the pill
lars of the church and responsible for its
erection. The pastor, the official board
and the quintet of offenders were with a
few Others found in the little church
study last night.
That malice was the cause of the trial
Mr.. Simpson, the spokesman for the
guilty ones, said he was assured from the
! fact that the whole party had offered to
withdraw from the church before charges
; had been made, and were denied the
I privilege. This, he said, he was pre-
, pared to prove, and further, he could
7 prove that others had been allowed to
withdraw quietly from the church when
pleading guilty TO crimes such as drunk
enness, gambling, etc. When asked by
% the pastor whether they pleaded guilty
of the charges specified, the whole party
answered "No." They claimed that they
y had danced for years, and nothing had
been said about it until a fancy phantom
party was given, at which the p~artici
pants, men and women alike, were
is dressed in sheets, pillow cases ant
masks. Those who were not asked me-
at a sewing party, and to be revenged
rs the defendants put it, told the minis
|" ter. Talk was plenty, and contention
was above par. But the fun began wher
Of Brother Lowe, the class leader who made
the information, went on the stand. III,
admitted that he had not of his own VI
g. lition made the charges, but had beef
instigated by others.
He said it was very wrong to 60 +
o. operas and the like, and the ministe
g. nodded a%pprovingly, reading small POI
30 tons of the discipline by way of holdin
he up the hands of the good brother. On
of the wicked defendants, however, fel
sufficiently mischeyious to inquire
Brother Lowe, did you ever go to tn
an opera or to a circus since you were
gu member of this church, The look {
m CONSERVATION that overspread the Wi
ness face at this was almost audible, an
he nearly leaped from the chair when Oh
,r- of the good mothers, sitting on a palm
of fence outside, cried out in a familii
tn voice, "Now it's balance all, Broth,
in Lowell" He acknowledged he had 80 fl
forgotten his duty rs to see Jumbo, an
that once in New York he had unknoy
ingly wandered into a playhouse and wi
messed the production Of ''The Viii
Fairy" and-"Head couples, forward
on remarked the female on the fence-ar
ne the deacon moved u~neasily in his chair
,is he concluded that he did not approve
the play mentioned.
hd The evidence then went on, beir
re, chiefly to show that defendants claim.
"a the right to resign and join anoth'
rN church, denying that they were und
ny discipline because their requests of wit
'"' drawal should be acted upon before ii
charges against them, inasmuch as tn,
81, were filed with the board a week soone
Mr.. Forse submitted his case to the cor
30. mittee, but the rest will have a furth
,st hearing tonight. The excitement rul
ne high, the feeling of the entire neighbe
borhood being against the action of Pa
= tor Wilkinson.