The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-04-13
PROGRESS AZ rEcNylLLu.
coasaRtacs &steRNooa SESSION.
Devoted 70 EE5.sisss 81 Historical Society
and Rev. Or. HuanI Address.

90 '
Devoted 70 E25.aisss of Historical Society
and Rev. Or. Aua'I Address.
Nss.erday afternoon was exclusively
deY3.e1 TO anniversary exercises Of the
H.storica! society. Rev. Marley 5.
Hard, OF Scranton, presided, aud ten
u1ilutu addresses were made oy Thomas
If. Dale, Rev. j. X, Peek, NJ. A., OF
Kingston, and Rev. G. Y. Arnold, Of
BlaghaMlCu. Professor Carter pro.
sided at the organ and preceding the
ex.,cesss rendered one OF the prelude
r,cillS which be has SO msritOgiouSly
given at various p9riods OF the confer
euva and wlicn have won for him the
praise Of all ths members.
a male choir OF twenty voices con
Quoted the singing,
Iae exercises opened with the sing
.u2 VI Lend Ne, Savior" after which
u brief responsive service occurred.
praye. WA offered by Rev. J. L. Rae,
o. Ola Forge. The Wonderful Story
81 love WAS chen sung.
Mr.. Dole, Rev. DR.. PecE aud Rev.
Mr.. Arnold laeu spoke briefly on the
following subjects respectively What
! KNOW About Scranton Methodism, a"
"Naac l Know About Making Au-
p0.afusnts' and What Know About
Moving,
The hymn, "L5t Us Hear You Tell
t. was sung and lev. Sandiori Hunt,
D. D.. senior agent to the Methodist
Book Concern, was introduced and in
the absence Of Rev. Gsorgs r. Crooks,
IL. D., OF Drew Theological seminary,
delivered an address on The First
OIe Hundred Years OF the Methodist
Book Concern h said III substance.
ITS I~ARvELOUs GROWTH.
TIE publishing business Of the Methodists
was started IN Philadelphia in l7S9 by Rev.
John Dickens with Il borrowed capital OF
So.J.
IN 1904 the house was reno we'd from
Philadelphia to New York, where it still
remains. IN lso3 the first building was
erected on Mulberry street bat was burned
in 1856 Contributions OK about $4,000 were
made and q new building spraug up in
which all the business was carried on until
1869, when the building et the corner Of
Eleventh street and Broadway WAS pur.
chased. This building was sold a few years
since, as well as that on Mulberry street,
and the ayails Of both put into o new
ba;lding on Fifth avenue.
IL 1870 a branch house was opened in
tie city OF Cincinnati. This was deemed
necessary on account of the difficulty Of
transportation and the condition OF the
currency IN the west. Books must DO sent
from New York to western purchasers by
wagons over the Allegheny mountains to
Pltt.hUrg, and thence down the Ohio river.
ER4| r.# .H HIa .#h.lNrHN.,.p 80 sI. L-.a.
il C.lclauat! tie agent was not allowed
TO print either books or papers. Martin
Eu;er, taa c~aJarprising egent, did venture
to print two bOUEs-a SCrInturai Cate.
Ch.su and % Primrr-bdthe did this on his
own personal responsibility. i5 was not
until l-vi that authorization was given 20
manufacture books.
Experience has shown that o church
should provide the literature for it5 peo-
pie. Ibe occasion required men VINO
were profoundly convinced OK tho ueces-
SHY Of % .leratire which would build Up
In Christian faith those VINO vera placed
under tgpir charge, and with whom the
profits " The Business were q secondary
na''er such were Ar. DickiEs oud his
C..sG rels.
Tine $3.50 originally borrowed for The
c.:Gu!g.eemegt has rolled up in;oa capt
tai ~ over 5000 900 at New York and
Cincinnati.
Tie two uoasas lave paid up 20 thi4
tia.a about 60. 600. 700 for tie support Of
81 p"rnuuuutcd preachers ana other works
oi charity OF 0ifertu. kinda lg has paid
10 The conferences 81 $50 900 for the sup
pore ~ -sup5rauruated pgelcnars and
widows and orphans; iJ % souewhaJ 70.
Variable that about OnO.haii OF this
amount has been p.id 80 these benelciarigs
within she lest Ten years. During tho iTst
100 yeHrg u he history Of the Book Con
crru about SO, ION, 900 worth OK books and
papers were published, but O]Helialf Of
That amount was published daring the last
seventeen years OF that term.
The readers or the literature Of the
church have grown much more rapidly
than the membership itself, and the mem
beTship IA the whole United States has
grown more rapidly than the population
o. tie United states.
In 1850 the number Of inhabitants in the
United States was about 1000 900: the
number OF members in the Methodist
Episcopsl church was about s., 900; the
population Of tue United States during
the one hundred years was fifteen fold
the Increase 81 the membership OF the DIFF
fereut branches of Metbodism was nj least
sixty.fold. or fonr times that OF the popu-
lation.
When the Methodist Book Concern was
started in l71S, nor for twenty years there
after, was there a religious newspaper in
the United Stntes. OF the forty-three pa
pers, political aud local. published in 1899,
the combined circulation did not equal in
material that Of the New York Christian
Advocate.
ITS EXAMPLE FOLLOWED.
One Of the grandest results Of tho Book
Concern in the United States il the fact
thAt Young publi.hing houses are spring
iGg up all over tine world, There ia al
ready one in Mexico, one In Japan, China,
India, South America. Germany. and last
but not least in old Rome. The last is
worthy Of special note.
In order to find the solid foundation for
the corner stone Of the structure, II was
necessary to dig through the debris OF
three different layers Of earth and stone
which had accumulated in the centuries,
and been buried and lost in history.
Through al these, excavations were made
80 solid rock, and there viii rcst tho foun-
datious Of a structure costing $780, 900 with
its grounds. Old Rome when Paul preached