The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-05-22
spccIal corregpOnleneo.

CLEVELAND, o., May 2O,-surprfscs
ana sensations tread upon each others
heels In this conference, so fast they
follow. u has been a rCcord-brcaker
from the start. Strange to say, the
Grs. record 1t put mp was In the line.
OF moderation. AZ It's converting 1t was
committed by the personnel OF its meme
bsrship and by the common eXpectu-
ton OF q vast constituency, to radical
action on the woman question: yet,
after fOw days. II had been persuaded
into a compromise. Then came the
nOlBcest and most unpleasant struggle
It has ever had with one OF its preside
ing bishops.
Little less unusual was Its action In
putting two bishops Oh tho retired list.
All but five In COMMITTEES OF l3G voted
to recommend such action, and IN q
conference u 53S only about thirty
stood up in opposition, It was practt-
caliy unanimous In this movement, yet
the course taken was u surprise to the
church, and II broke. In Its particular
way. all previous records.
These, however, aTe tribes In COM
pnrIsOu with developments which have
occurred since, Or. HoRs, the great
editor OF the Church South, who hap
pOned 10 be present nj the time, must
have looked on in establishment when
the conference committed itself, under
Or. Bucklcy's skIlful leadership, TO u
Colored bishop only in the abstract;
and so, doubtless, did many other peO-
Pile. both south and north. But II the
camel's nose was an astonishing Rppa~
ration. what Of the camel itself? In
other wordB. what OF n colOrcd bishop,
NOT In the abstract, but in the concrete,
as hG came into View On the FIRST ballot.
throwing Into the shade his white COM
pctitorS, and on the second ballot
ptungiuE so far toward the goal ~ 10
put IN against his name l75 votes? Not
only was this incident sensational IN
itself. but 1t distinctly fC.eshadowed
sensational results.
A dreadful shock will be the sight OF
this darkey in the Methodist Episcopal
woodptIts, to the prejudiceS OF The n. e,
Church South. and It will naturally re-
tRrd the movement on foot for q fedora
ton OF those two churches. on tho
other hand. however. the 100 cotored
ministers OF this so-called Northern
church. and OF the $4,000 members II
has OF that complexion. will be cOrre-
BpondIngly elnted, as they have a right
to be; for surely Il means not little
in the way OF social and ecclesiastical
recognition to be even entered as
starter in a race such as this, especially
when one has, as DR.. RowOn had, no
less thnn forty four distinguished COM
petitors, nearly all OF them pOlefRceS,
And, by the way. when that ever mem-
ornble first ballot disclosed the pre-
dicameut OF 50 many OF this number
~ Agnta
trenely pale some OF these faces werGt
Not a few had been hopeful ClndI-
dates for a dozen years, and the occa-
sion they Ind looked TO for n corona
ton scarcely afforded them q decent
burial Here again wore oil records
broken, and nearly all forecasts SMASH
cd. Happily, however, not the forecast
OF your correspondent; for his tiEst let
ter. four weeks ago, distinctly pre-
BCnted Or. Crunston as winner, and
admitted DIR. McCahe 90 have q good
chance; while the gate WINS left 20 wide
open that without the least dscredlt TO
his foresight, both Battz and Hamilton
might have clntered triumphnntlS into
theae green pastures. But the cOiored
man. who started in at such leading
pace, and DR.. Nicely, who began with
forty-scvep votes and got down grad
uRlly to seventeen, then jumping up
again 20 his maximum OF l72-thesC had
not, four weeks ago. loomed up in any
serious proportions before this writer's
vision. Thus far he pleads guilty.
But what OF that bishop who had
predicted 200 votes on the first ballot
for man who got only about thirty,
and that blosSominE genius OF tho
church OfilcIallsm who felt sure this
same ballot would elect a certain good
brother, who barely received recoEni.
ton in Il? Evidently this ts a bad year
for prophets: great record breaking
years always are Usually IN the vot.
Ing OF Il general conference q candidate
who begins to fail keeps At II, with
plenty OF generous help In his descent,
until he touches bottom and stays there.
But Chaplain MeCabe, who reached 2b2
on the third ballot and fell gradually
10 22s on the sixth, rose again by de-
Erecs until. on the eighth and ninth
ballots, he had go woes 10 his credit;
and his ViciSsItudcs did not end even
here. for he fell again gradually before
his final election, this time getting low
or down than in hts first fall. Or. Ham
iiton, too, on smaller scale and With
n different ending, shared the same
fate. No wonder the conference sang
with feeling, while these ups and downs
Of fortune were In proErcas--
Sometimes mid scenes OF deepest gloom,
where EdCn'A HOWerB bloom.
by waters SIN, DER troubled sea,
Yet It's Gods hand that leadeth mo
81