The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-03-11
AN uNINTEREsTING LECTURE.
Monthly Meeting of the Nonsensicai
society.

| ted, the RECORDS OF tne pfeNiVus hSSNi"5
were read, and there being no oblectlon
they were approved. An amendment 10
| the constitution and bylaws was then
adopted, whereby persons not totally
foolish may become associate members,
but without power to vote.
After the business session was over Mrs.
Chocktalch was introduced and she
stated that il was her puropose TO de-
liver a lecture on "a Trip Through Jerusa-
lem by Electricity" and TO illustrate her
discourse by ereoptico1 views. The
lights were then eXtinguished.
Mrs. Chocktalch first told OF how the
trip started one forenoon, recently. She
hailed car at the great bridge and was
soon seated and ready for her journey.
Pictures were here put upon the screen
showing the western end OF the Provi-
dence Board of Trade Building that for
classic simplicity of architectural style Is
not excelled by any structure in
the world. The beginning OF the
Journey was somewhat delayed by long
line of sturdy Norman horses attached to
a'longer line OF curious little cars, such as
may be seen all over the United States
This line, as shown by the stereopticon
TO be passing between the lecturers car
and the building above referred to, gave
a pleasing vividness TO the picture and
was highly appreciated by some OF the
audience who had themselves witnessed
the actual sight.
Then stretching away to the south was
the beautiful river with its parallel lines
Of docks and forests of masts. Mrs.
Chocktalch described the river with such
accuracy and vividness that her listeners
could almost imagine that the sub-com-
mittee on refreshments in the next
room was cutting up Limburger
cheese for the collation. that was
to follow the lecture. But on
! the speaker proceeded, new scenes were
| described and flashed upon the sheet.
! There was the picture OF an immense
| white church with towering steeple and
| behind that on the brow of a hill was a
diminutive brick building that Mrs.
| Chocktalch pointed out as the Normal
| School In which the teachers OF the State
| with the biggest percentage OF illiteracy
| are educated.
Next the stereopticon showed a sombre
looking, brown painted building almost
| as severe looking as the Board OF Trade
and this was the Quaker Meeting House
OF which the speaker gave a brief but in
teresting historical sketch. Then she
told Of the sense of excitement, experi-
enced by herself and fellow tourists
as they were whiZzed along right in front
OF the guns in the front yard OF the Capt.
tol building of the country in which she
was travelling at that time. She also de-
scribed the Capitol building itself in lam
guage that the association stem
ogrspher could not catch. Beyond
the guns and on the other side
of a picket fence, was a medium sized
III IL
blue and black sign bearing the words
"Charity Building" and with the rest OF
IL concealed from view by another sign
telling applicants for aid TO cali at
the back door. This method of
calling attention TO the place where aims
are given at the public expense, Mrs
Chocktalch explained, had been adopted
for economical purposes. Real worthy
poor people who would work il they
could and hated to be objects
OF charity, she said, would not
go To building so elaborately
decorated that any one could be seen to
enter il from a mile away. Therefore a
great many dollars of the public money
had been saved. Tint about ended the in
PRODUCTION To the real lecture. One more
church was shown, a big brown ediiice,
and nearly opposite this little unimpos-
ing building whore gold had formerly
been received. But after that the speaker
Of the evening said there was not hing
more OF interest until Jerusalem itself
was reached and she described the scenes
and incidents aboard the car
as it waited seven minutes at the foot of
Constitution Hill until anot her car from
the north. could get by. The story
OF ascending the hill was one OF the fea-
lures of the lecture. Travel was greatly
delayed by babies playing on the
tracks, by peddlers' carts, and by
entire families of the hill
dwellers, who had been evicted on one
side OF the street, moving their goods
across TO take a tenement on the other
side. But these delays were not Disagree
able. They only afforded the tourists a
better opportunity TO enjoy the strange
sights and smells and to study the costumes
OF the people. One of the natives,
apparently more intelligent than the rest,
got aboard the car and for q small coin
interpreted the hieroglyphics on the shop
windows and doors. Occasional glimpses
OF the domestic life could be obtained.
There was one scene that an artist in the
party made a hasty sketch OF, and has
kindly allowed me to reproduce il
with the stereopticon. The assistant at
the lantern then inserted a slide showing
woman in the act OF spanking a young
child with an elongated loaf of bread, be-
cause the child had fallen down in mud
puddle. The next picture showed the
tear stained face OF the child peering over
the edge OF the table upon which his parent
was cutting the loaf for the family meal.
But at last the baby strewn tracks had
been cleared, the cars were drawn off, and
before any of the evictei families began
to move across again the car had forged
its way through and reached the
brow OF the hill. The rest
OF the outward trip was
not of much interest and but a hurried
account was given. One picture showed
vast area, dotted with white stones aud
monuments, that Mrs. Chocktalch said
had been recently named Reynolds Park.
On the way back the lecturer told OF
another section of Jerusalem. After a
| plunge down Randall street into tho wide