The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1895-11-01
STRIKE In THE CHOIR.
ax ronEnr j. nrEDErrr.


pare.i,s in an oil!
MAST church in Peoria. Ny legs were
.hor. and the pew was high. ana WHO
,iis,encd 10 the scrno, and swung my
Co., shacyled by lie unwonted anu
ar,,l shoon of the Sabbath day, oiteE
,,,od.red how many hundred years II
..oAl he ere could reach the iioorwit'i
-, feet as my father did. There were
Two fooistools in the pew. but II waS
considered wicked FOR boy to put MS
fc,, on one OF them. They We're made =
exclusively for grown-up people VINO
did no; need them. They were also .
used 10 trap the unwary stranger who
cam. sliding softly and sideways INTO
,he pew without an invitation. ne zen
over one and kicked the other. Iha'
notified the worshiper~ in the 'front.'
news What there was stranger withiil
our gates and they could turn arouhn
and look MT him. But for this auiom@-
lie :. stem of signaling. many "a desout
woman would have gone home without
knowing the particular KIND Oh cio."ins
the stranger wore
Straight across the rear OF the
church. high above the congregation,
ran .onr gallery. Here was the me
lodcon. which was the plpc-orgah OF
our day: here sat the choir. hter"hs
and unsteady out of sight ! re-
member We had an odd custom, oris'h-
atinr in some idea so old that nopons
could remember il. and the rest OF US
never knew il. When the congregation
ros.. 10 sing the closing hymn. ~ apout-
faced and looked at the choir Then az
.he md OF the hymn we faced ABOUT
once more and received the benedic'
@io,. I supposed this was done 10
give the congregation opportunity 70
So. who was in the choir ard what they
had on and also 10 enable the singers
- ,cmp;.:e their inventory of the con-
cr.yat,onal adornments. 1t must have
been tantalizing TO look at the pachs -
heads all through the service and guess
n, The face trimming OF every new bon
not in the house Because in thos'
dav, YOU had to walk all the way aroun'
a bonnct to take in the entire pattern
your mother. dear, did not wear a post
noe s,amp with two horns on II, an
call /, n bonnet. Men talk about TN
big hat YOU wear in the opera house
wish YOUR critic might have stood bs
hinI YOUR grandmother ut baptisi
out In Peoria back in the fifties. II
co,,rdn't have seen the lake nor yer
much OF the woods on the opposi'
shore. He might have caught giimp'
Of the sky if the day Was iair ana 70.
grandmother stood still. But when =
rose on her tip-toes 70 reach
Coronation" he could see her BONN
a-a rba, was ali. And shat was enouT
In that day bonnet was built 70 GOV
tha ,vear..s head. And neck. Aid
snction of the shoulders. And 70 o.s
shadow the face And hower-gard
in full bloom blazed and shone q
clustered around. above ana nche''
!, None of your buds and grasses
those days.
And our choir, Well. now. there y
choir th:t could sing. When I'll
telt ia good voice. which was eye
time they stood UP. you couldn't ~
III. nelodcon They read music
.iyl.f rs a proof-readcr reads pii
And ihev sang in = way that M
everybody else sing. Everybody wo
sing anyhow. therefore il was uSei
IA, ;hr lcadcr-nohciy called him
chorisfer then--to select new tunes
spring them upon the audience su"u
IL. The congregation would join III y
~, confidence lust the same. on the
ona word. and sing right along. onl
xxliaile or two behind. IL the ny
was OF tho usual length. ~ the
they sang through the 'hifa "a