St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-09-14
THE CORNER STONE LAID.
Exercises at the Y. NJ. G. a
Building Yesterday.

Several hundred people and quite a
number of carriages. sufficient to block
the street. gathered at the corner of
Tenth and Mary place, yesterday after
noon at 4 O'Clock. to do honor to the
laying of the corner stone of what is to
be one of the most elaborate Y. NJ G.
A. homes in the country. 1t was glad
day for the association, as it marked an
event to which they have all been look
ing forward for some time. and the
members made the most of 1t. The
people lined the curb on the opposite
side OF the street. and the huge cut
stones and piles of brick in front of the
building helditheir complement of sight
SeerS. Behind the huge corner stone
that hung suspended from its derrick
were arranged several dozen chairs.
upon which prominent members of the
association and the local clergy were
seated, and an orchestra occupied a
point Of vantage at one end. The
whole scene was picturesque in
the extreme, so much so that
the inevitable photographer with
impossible footing upon shaky stone
to get view of the scene. Precisely
at the appointed time the chorus opened
with song. accompanied by the orcheS-
ira, and Rev. George r Merrill, pastor
OF the First congregational church,
read the Scripttlral lesson, followed by
the invocation by Rev. w. K. Marshall,
ID. d., pastor of the Simpson Nj. E.
church. John Ii. Elliott read histori-
cal sketch giving the history of the gem
eral association, and concluding with
that of the local branch and its efforts
to erect the handsome building which
&c IL
was interesting in the extreme to those
interested in Christian association work.
Following the reading Mr.. Elliott placed
the sketch in the tin box prepared to
ut under the stone, where he also placed
copies OF the morning and evening
paper oil even date, the roll of the local
branch of the association and numer-
Gus other papers that might be of inter
est to future generations. The timer
then soldered the box and the general
secretary placed it in its receptacle.
The pulleys creaked and the huge stone
was raised few inches, the blocks re-
moved and layer of cement placed be-
meath, when, with few remarks be-
the order, the mass of brown rock set
tied down in position and he pro-
nounced the corner stone laid.
Rev. Frank NJ. Bristol, ID. D.. pastor
of the Trinity nj. E. church of Chicago,
was introduced. He is young man Of
pleasing address. and spoke in clear
voice not devoid of certain dramatic
power that kept his audience in wrapt
attention. He is a fluent and rapid
speaker, and the address, though rather
long, was thoroughly enjoyed. He first
congratulated the people. of Minneapo-
lis for their remarkable growth as
shown by the census report, and then
he congratulated them upon the acaui-
sition of SO great and handsome build
ing as the one before them was to be.
He spoke upon the present age as an
age of wonders, and asked what the
wonder of the age should be. In his
opinion it was to be the winning OF the
young man to the cause of Christianity.
He said that at the present time the
young men were filling the important
and dangerous posts in the great works
of the world, and he took pains to
enumerate the percentage of young
men occupying positions in railways,
telegraphS and other pursuits. The
newspapers were not forgotten, and the
young men of the prSeS were eharac-
teriZed as everything that was bright
and honorable. Then he began to give
statistics to show that a vast proportion
OF the young men of the country were
rather bad than otherwise. Only about
5 per cent were church members, while
the saloons, gambling dens, bad thea
tiers and the like were almost wholly
supported by them, He told of the
numbers of young men in history who
had achieved greatness while yet young
men and enumerated them, yet for all
these there were thousands who went
down to sin and degradation before
they reached the age of thirty. He told
of the objects of the association, and
dwelt upon the public spirit and benev-
olence of the rich men of America,
which he adroitly managed to lead into
a touching appeal for local men to give
literally toward the completion of the
building. Another song was sung. and
after the benediction by Rev. NJ. F.
Negus, pastor of the Fourth Baptist
church, the gathering dispersed, and
the corner stone of the building of the
Young Mems Christian Association of
Minneapolis was laid.