The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1893-07-01
THE FIRST SERMON,

! "oftus Fnir-kev. DIR. Thomas Deliver
the First Sermon of the Sunday Series {,
aCongreEation Of Five Thousand People
WORLDS FAIR GROUNDS. CHICAGO
June 26.-''We all believe in an Amer
lean Sabbath as a day of rest, a day o
pure social enjoyment and a day o.
worship. This Worlds fair is, in its
infant school, a great church, and il
needs no religious service to make il
right to open the gates on Sunday
The service In this place to-day will
be carried on In the same respect as il
Would be in regufarly-ordained house
of God. excepting that no collection
will be taken up"
Prefacing the first sermon within
the gates of the Worlds Columbian
exposition on Sunday with these words
Rev. DIR. Thomas, facing an audience
of 5000 persons in Festival hall yester
day afternoon. called the attention OF
his hearers to the text, taken from the
! twenty-hrst verse of the seventeenth
chapter of st. John: That they maj
| all be one in us; that the world may
believe that Thou hast sent me-"
The day was warm, yet the visitors
to the fair came in great numbers tc
listen to the word of God. As the
Apollo club of Chicago, about SOC
strong, were singing the famous old
hymn, .'Olivet," the crowds poured
in at every door, and as the singing
was concluded the attendance num-
bered about 1000. Everybody remained
until the services were over, and re-
markably close attention was given
the preacher. After invoking Divine
blessing upon the people assembled to-
gether, the people and officials of the
great fair, DIR. Thomas proceeded with
his sermon.
MANS world is divided" he said,
but there should be great oneness
here between human beings as they are
also near alike physically. There may
be a vast difference in mental powers;
one man may be at the cotton and an
other ut the top of the ladder, but ma n
is man and all are equal. Man stands
alone in himself" DIR. Thomas con-.
tinued. ''He is self conscious of his be-
ing; this being now carried up to the
point of self consciousness is now deal
ing with all kinds of truths, the stand
ard of truth MS established by differ
ent races as their intelligence dictated.
Conscience is the same everywhere.
Conscience tells us to do what we
think is right and not what is right.
The prayer of Christ is that all these
people be one and that they eventually
will"
DIR. Thomas then reviewed the con-
structive era of the Fair, and told how
the present beautiful city of white pal
aces had been erected on what was,
three years ago. a marshy waste. 1t
took all kinds of labor to reach this
result, he said, and added: I'VE are
all one person working toward one
common end. Man is the helper of
man." bethany" and a benediction
dismissed the audience.
If later on religious services prove
attractive, the musical features will
be improved upon, as :here was no in
strumental music to-day except from
q piano, upon which Prof. Tomlins per-
formed and directed the work of the
chorus. No one has been selected to
preach next Sunday, but q number of
local ministers will be extended an in
vitation. and preachers visiting the
fair will he asked in time to deliver
sermons.
To Have the Grandes. Fourth of July
Celebration Ever Known.
CHIcAGO. June 2G.-American exhibi-
tors at the fair are aroused TO the inn
portance of an organization among
themselves primarily for mutual bene-
fit. Incidentally, they want to see the
grandest celebration on the grounds
the next Fourth of July the country
has ever known They intend to help
it along. and the meeting to be held to-
day will inaugurate n movement to
that end
Telegraphic invitations to be pres
ent with their stats will be sent to the
governors of all the states, and all the
military and civic organizations of any
note will be invited in the same urgent
manner. II is believed that any
amount of money needed will be sub
scribed promptly. and that lusty
hurrah will soon he heard throughout
the land. 1t is not too much for the
enthusiastic promoters of this scheme
to hope that a million people will be
brought to jackson Park one week
from next Tuesday. The American ex-
hibitors will overlook no attraction
oratorical or pyrotechnical or spectac-
ular-that will be an inducement
Statue of Gladstone Unveiled.
WORLDS FAIR GROUNDS. CHICAGO.
June 3G.-Tribute to the greatest liv-
ing statesman was paid yesterday af-
ternoon by the unveiling in the BAN
quoting hall Of Donegal castle, in the
Irish village on the Midway Plaisance,
of n colossal statue of William Ewart
Gladstone. The event was participated
in by an audience that crowded the
hall and placed itself on the lawn out
side. and in which there were many
Irish representatives from other parts
of the state. as well as from Wisconsin
and Michigan. The statue, which Is
nine feet in height and stands on q
twelve-foot pedestal, is a fac-simile ofthe
one unveiled in front of Bow Church,
in 1882, by Lord Carlingford, and is by
the same sculptor, Bruce Joy, of Lon
don, who was present Yesterday, and
was introduced to the audience.
Mayor Carter II. Harrison, presided
over the exercises and in the
course of a vigorous address compared
Bismarck and Gladstone to the infinite
advantage of the latter.
The Average Attendance.
WORLDS FAIR GROUNDS, CHICAGO,
June 26.-The attendance ut the fair
last week. although good. did not aver
age as large as that of the week be-
fore. The attendance for the week
ending June IL was T23, 796, an average
of about 1o3, 400 daily. For the week
ending Saturday the attendance was
7O3, 900, daily average of something
over 100000. With prospects of re-
duced rates and fine weather the COM
ing week the attendance is expected to
increase wonderfully, and the week of
July will probably be the banner