The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1896-05-09
N. {. GENERAL CONFERENCE
Opening of the 28th Quadrennial
Session.
Ten Thousand Churches and Four
and n Half Millions of Com
muntcants Represented
ut Cleveland Today.

Cleveland, o.. May 1.-If the immortal
John Wesley, from his place under the
shadow of the Great White Throne, Is
enabled today to ook down on his
earthly sphere. who shall say that he
may not. harp in hand, lead the angelic
host In a song of praise and thanksgiv-
Ing? For, from his leading city of one
OF the greatest states of the new world,
there go UP today paeans of glory and
words Of duplication from the chosen
representatives of q mighty host of
Christians, developed from the seed
planted in q little country hamlet OF
England more than q century and q
half ago, by John Wesley and his broth
er Charles, and watered by the visit of
the two brothers to the United States
160 years ago this month.
1t was a notable aSsemblage that the
venerable Bishop Thomas Bowman of
st. Louis confronted, when he appeared
upon the platform of the magnificent
now arrnory at 9 o'clock this morning,
and. with a touch of his gavel. declared
that the twenty-eighth Quadrennial ses-
sion of the general conference of the
Methodist Episcopal hurch was for
mally opened. Before him in the body
of h hall sat between six and seven
hundred of the most distinguished d.
vines and laymen of the denomination,
gathered from every state and territory
of the union, as we'll as from India and
China, Japan and South America, Next
co. Europe and Great Britain. There
were millionaire business men and
bankers, lawyers of fame. teachers of
renown merchants and manufacturers,
farmers and physicians, revivalists and
staid philosophers, theological writer's
of worldwide repute. and representa-
| tives of nearly every profession and
branch of industry.
In the Illinois delegation sat William
Deering of harvester fame; in that Of
Ohio, j. N. Gamble. the greatest soap
maker Of the world, and Louis Miller,
the founder of C~hautauqua; amongst
the Pennsylvanians, John Field, the
merchant prince Of Philadelphia; Rev.
w. l.. Watklnson. the fraternal dele
gate from the British conference, sat
side by side with Rev. DR.. r. Crawford
johnson. representing the M~ethodlsts of
Erin's Isle.
From Italy We're William Burt and
Luigi Mando; from Japan the Hon.
Taro Ando; from Liberia, ]. H. Deputies;
from Norway, A. Olsen. Governor ]. T..
Richards headed the Montana contin-
gent, and Lieutenant Governor B. N.
Mansur that of Vermont. John w.
Butler and Cristobal Ludlow sat under
the banner of Mexico; Charles w.
Drees and Justus Cubic beneath that of
South America. f. Gutekunst and A. G.
Bruins represented South Germany; A.
II. Baker and j. II. Stevens South India:
j. N. Erickson and j. A. Anderson,
Sweden; ]. U. Wuhrmann and DR.. G..
Giesler, switzerland. and NJ. C. Wilcox
and Lydia A. Trimble the Foo Chow
conference of China The caustic DR..
]. NJ. Buckley of the New York Chris
tan Advocate, whose pen is eternally
dipped in gall, and whose writings are
In the nature of continuous firebrands
to the faith, loomed up in a front seat.
So also did DIR. Arthur Edwards, DR..
Buckley's chief rival as the journals
tic free lance of the denomination. DR..
John w. Hamilton of Boston was at the
head of the New England delegation;
DR.. C, C. McCabe, the famous debt
raiser, sat with the New Workers.; Drs.
Frank NJ. Bristol and Louis Curtis, with
the contingent from Illinois; DR.. 7. b.
Nicely, the greatest debater of the
church. and who will come out of inc
general conference a bishop, headed the
Philadelphians; Samuel Dickie. the ma
tional leader of the prohibitionists,
doomed up in the Michigan section, and
f. w. Warne was a solitary representa-
tive from Bengal-Burmah.