New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-10

II.
today as II was ten years ago. No plans for It's
building have as yet been made by the n'hoP anu
nothing definite az to the time wheh t''e "oiA
would he pushed could he learned IheFe l. = sle''
deal Of preliminary work to be done. as the iounda
ticns have stood 50 long that the services OF d
competent, engineer would be required 70 ascertain
whether or not they could be used
rh. Roy James H. Mitchell. Chancellor Of Brook
! lvn and Nic.-pre filcnt Of the Historian 9'c'eF
said to Tribune reporter: the reason for the meet
ing of the society and the reading Of the papers was
not to evolve any definite plan for the completion oil
IN. cathedral but merely t. bring before the minds
OF the people the fact that the cathedral Is sun u
mis- You know that no work has been dohe Oh
it since ma Bishop LoughlIn. under whose direc-
| ton the work began, thought mat there were
other needs of the diocese more pressing than mat
for =, c,holral church. At that time there were no
alrlshouscs or no pitfalls orphan asylums ana the
| Bishop turned from The building OF the cathedrd!
- the building oi these other Institutions Where
ne STONED the work t. stands to-day As to the
difficulties that must hc encountered IN the finishing
! OF the building / cannot say The plans for the
! chapel vcstry AM foundations were finished but
| know OF ~ one who has eyer seen a complete plan
of the cathedral Mr Kceley. the architect under
| whose direction the work WAS carrei on. Is now An
Old man and Il would be out OF the question for him
:, finish the work that he has begun That the
cathedral will bee finished At some future date
have no doubt. but when that time will be, you
| know we'll l.
THE PRESENT a POOR TINE.
John Good. OF tho John Good Cordage and Ma
| chine Company 30 - Washingtoa-ave., when asked
his opinion tie subject. said: II DO not live in
BROOKLYN now and consequently have lost touch
with many Brooklyn enterprises. But in my
opinion this IS a poor time TO begin any such great
Undertaking as the finishing Of the Brooklyn cathe-
| iral The financial condition Of the country has
been In bad shape for long time Money is tied
dp closely is hard get and consequently there
would bc Jess money contributed than at a time
when business becomes little more brisk AMI
active That business viii brighton and pick up in
a short time have not doubt. and then the enter
/ prise might pee pushed along 10 better advantage.
| one trouble with the cathedral II now stands is
/ that the original plans were never finished, ana
/ thi. is apt % clus, some trouble"
! Eugene f. O'Connor. the New-York lawyer. who
lives at no q, Clcrmont-ave. SAID: The OILY facts
that know about this movement gained from a
/ hint dropped by Bishop Mcdonnell some months
/ a,o He WAS delivering address nj the unveing
OF the Turner memorial bust az the pro-cathedral.
! and In the course Of his remarks he said that he
| hoped the next monument to be unveiled would
! hc .lrgcr and more lasting ono 70 the memory OF
the late Bishop Loughin. I'm finishing the work be-
San by him. meaning. Of course. the cathedral.
This would Indicate that he has had the work in
mind the times concerned. | do not
believe that the success of the undertaking would
be Influenced IN the least by them our Catholic
! churches are built not SO much by the wealthy
people who involved In the financial pressure
as by the people who always poor The mite OF
| the poor man. the poor woman. the poor child,
willingly and freely given in good times bad. Is
what does the most 10 build churches. and
would go furthest in building cathedral have
the utmost confidence In Bishop Mcdonnell and
believe that any time ne may will lie the right
time"
DIFFICULT TO RAISE LARGE SUMS.
John c. Kelley Collector OF Internal Revenues.
was seen his home. No. 2i7 Hancock-st. When
he told what views held the subjec, by
some other prominent Catholics he said: Il don't
believe that the financial condition would influence
the undertaking.. except perhaps. at the start. The
Bishop might want II get two or three hundred
large subscribers TO head. the list and set the ball
rolling The raising Of these larger sums OF money
might be difficult at the present time. But aside
from that the condition OF the money market would
make difference. In my opinion. now as good IA
time rs any The present Is always than the
future. do not know the Bishops plans | have
spoken him about this very thing and asked him
when he thought he would begin the movement to
finish the cathedral but he told me | would
not want TO such task begun unless IT could be
finished. To start the work and then be uniccess-
fu is just what would most dislike to have done
But Bishop Mcdonnell Is a man OF wonderful execu-
tive power and ability My confidence in him IS
supreme, and believe that whatever he undertakes
II finish viii be finished. whether the prospects TO
dark not. | know comparatively uttle
about the work. and an that can say IS thai
believe that now Is as good time any"
NO WORSE TIME POSSIBLE
John Ioughran, the president OF the Manufact
uIers' National Bank, by Tribune re-
porter his home. No. South Portland-aye In rc
gard to the proposed movement he said: Il don't
know anything about the inside workings of this
move but In my opinion there could be no worse time
than the present for such an undertaking. Exactly
now ihuch money would be required do not know
but II would be large amount. with the money
market in its present condition. with business al
and nobody has been for two three years this j.
anything but promising time to try 10 gather TO-
necessary TO build the cathedral cannot say any
thing more on the question. but say again there
couldn't be worse time than now"
The cathc dral about which much talk has been
raised was 10 he known as the Cathedral of the !
Immaculate Conception. and was conceived as a |
necessity by Bishop Loughlin soon after his con- !
secretion the first Bishop OF the diocese of Long
Island. The block bounded by Lafayette Wander. |
bilt Greene ard Clermont avenues was nurchosed !
10y John McCahill from Maria, jeremiah and Mar |
garet q. Spader. 10y deed dated November /, 1860 A
mortgage being given by John McCahll for $4,000 |
was recorded. which transferred the property from
John McCahl 10 John lOushin, Roman ca holic !
Bishop OF Brooklyn. The mortgage was assumed by |
the Bishop and was satisfied November IS. 1865 The
property was 200 feet on Lafayette and Greene ayes
and 40 feet Clermont and Vanderbilt ayes.
intrustcd to Patrick Kelley. who had already |
drawn the plans for several of the largest Catholic
churches In America. As soon as the working plan |
for portion OF the building was finished. the work |
was begun. and on Sunday. June q. 1865. the
stone was laid by Bishop Loughlin assisted by a |
large number Of bishops and priests. among them !
being Archbishop McCloskey. who afterward be- /
came cardinal certain sum of money laid !
portant and pressing task of providing charitable /
Institutions put stop TO IL. No one, except Ii be
Mr. kecey himself has ever seen a completed plan
OF the structure. II Is understood, however. that
the architect took for his model the celebrated