Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-03-29
casters OF ALL CHIMES.

is no day in the church calendar other
than Christmas which is so generally OBJ
served as Easter.
And each nationality has it's Easter pa
rade. OF course, these individual pa
rades do not compare in glittering mag
nificence to the bewildering pageant
which winds and coils through Fifth av-
enue from end to end, but the people who
compose them are just as proud of their
finery and as happy with their sweet
hearts as the gilded young men and dia-
mond-crowned misses who lead the
sparkling show on the recognized parade
grounds of fashion.
In those sections of the city occupied
by the Latin races 1t is easily apparent at
Easter time that the season is full Of re-
ligious meaning to the people-more SO
than to the average native of the city.
To the latter 1t is a festival of fine dress,
but In the italian. Spanish and French
quarters the sancity of the day is more
strictly observed.
In the Little Italy of which Mulberry
Bend is the center there is one of the odd
est churches in the city Forty thou
sand of the poorest people In the town
worship there and on Easter Sunday
from the first break of dawn until late
In the night it will be filled with an ever
changing congregation of devout and
humble men, women and children.
Church of San Joschim.
In Roosevelt street at No. 26, is the
Church of San Joachim. 1t was estab-
lished ia 1888 by Father MorelIi, who at
tends to the spiritual welfare of vast
army of parishioners. There is little rest
for this priest When he isn't marrying
some one he is reading the burial SER
vice over others, or christening babes or
saying mass. To attend to the religious
wants OF so many people is no small mat
ter.
The church building itself is very much
cut of the ordinary. The ground floor of
the building Is occupied as rag ware
mouse, and the rag pickers and rag pack
ers may be seen plying their vocation on
week days, while above their heads Of
teDtimes the solemn masses for the dead
are being said or sung, and the resound-
ing tones of the organ swell and still into
momentary silence the babel voices of
the throngs OF idlers in the street below.
The entrance to the church is at the
side of the main building up broad
Hight Of stairs aiding to a hallway, upon
one side of which is the auditorium and
on the other the quarters for the priests.
Above the Rag House.
The church above the rag house Is well
worth visit. Its altar equipments are
OF the simplest character, almost tawdry,
in fact, but gaining dignity from their
very simplicity. The chairs for the cler-
gy~behind the chancel rail are uphol-
stored in horsehair, and the candles are
well night burned to the sockets from
constant use.
There Is a small pipe organ in the rear
gallery. and along the side walls are
shrines, glass inclosed. the presiding
saints of which are laden down with of
ferings of flowers, both real and imita-
ton. The roof is supported by rafters,
painted a wash-out blue. The auditori-
um has accommoda lions for 1900 people.
There are six masses each Sunday. and
each Is fully attended. so that about 5000
souls attend church In San Joachims
every Sunday. Most of these people do
not understand English. They might
just as well be in Italy as In Roosevelt
street for all the understanding they
have of the institutions Of the land OF
their adoption. They are ministered to
by priests who cannot speak English,
CONTINUED on Nineteenth Page,