The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-07-22

tents comfortably seat 5000 persons. and,
with the large churches OF the city, provide
a combined seating capacity OF nearly Co.
900, available at any given moment during
the convention.
4 splendid plan of receiving, registering
and assigning entertainment to the dele
gates has been devised. The Reception
Committee is informed OF the time and place
of the arrival OF each State delegation, and
send out members Of the committee to meet
the delegations at distance from the city.
On arrival at the station another set OF the
Reception Committee conduct the party to
the church which has been assigned as head
quarters for that State.
The programme provided that the eonyen-
tion should open Wednesday night with
twenty-five simultaneous meetings held in
twenty-five Of the largest churches In the
city. In almost every case these open meet.
ings were presided over by the pastor Of the
church in which the meetings were held. On
Thursday, at $50 O. M, and also on every
morning of the convention, were held thirty.
three early morning prayer meetings. all u.s.
ing the same general topic.
On Thursday, at $50 q. m, occurred the
first meetings In the three mammoth tents,
one presided over by President Francis E.
Clark. The principal features OF these three
meetings were Secretary John Willis Baer 9
annual report and President Clark's annual
address. Thursday afternoon was given up
to, ,denominational rallies. In the evening
meetings were provided for in the three
large tents, one large hall and FIVE churches,
the general topic Of all the meeting being
"Christian citizenship"
Every day Of the convention, at noon,
eva2gelistic services were held atthe Central
Union Mission and In various other parts OF
the city. TEeimmense chorus OF 4671 voices
has been In training for ten weeks, and dur
ing the. past week demonstrated its prof.
cheney In q series OF public rehearsals.
Several prominent public men were Sc
cured to make speeches during the occasion.
among them Postmaster.Genera Wilson
and former Postmaster General Wanamaker.
Sermons were preached by some OF the best
known olergymen In the country.
Children were assigned 10 bear a prom
inent part in the Saturday feature Of the
programme. They have been hard at work
for some weeks past preparing for the "Ju n
ior Rally" which 1t has been called. This
rally will take place In one Of the great
tents, and the children composing It Will be
addressed by prominent speakers on SUBJ
iects Of interest to their younger brethren
Origin Of the Society.
The first society OF Christian Endeavor
was established as recently as February 2,
1881, by the Rev. Francis E. Clark, Of Port
land, Me-. His object was to train young
people for service In church work; and this
continues to be the aim Of the societies, each
one Of which has place In its own local
church and denomination, and owes no
tealty and pays no dues to any central @ au.
thority. There Is, indeed, United Society
Christian Endeavor, with headquarters in
Boston. Mass, but it Is simply bureau Of
Information, having but this one object-to
spread the Christian Endeavor idea The
publication ofllterature and other business
enterprises are the sources Of its income. Its
chief officers are the Rev. Francis Clark, D.
D., President; John Willis Baer, General
Secretary, and William Shaw, Treasurer.