The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-11-29
VESTS 29th ANNIVERSARY.
West Sunday School Last Evening On
servesit 1wenty-Ninth Year Of a.
Existence.

Although Commander Todd Of the U.
$. s. Wilmington did not deliver an ad-
dress at the twenty y-ninrh anniversary ex' !
ercises of West Presbyterian Sunday
school in the church last evening, the exer.i
cses were interesting to the audience
which filled the auditorium and gallery OF
the church. The absence OF Commahdes
Todd was neccssitated by the ordering OF
his ship to Annapolis which WAS gtne
source Of much regret not only 10 the pSo.
pie in the audience but everybody In the,
city.
The church was beautifully decorated-y
the national colors, flowers sand plants1
furnishing the beauty The children Oh
the primary and intermediate depart
ment, were seated on an elevated piaS-i
form in tho front of the building and
were a happy lot. An orchestra OF ultesn'
pieces assisted the choir. II.
The exercises began att 7.8O O'CLOCK
Charles Baird, the Sunday School suporJ
tntendent pre- ,ided. The orchestra playeG
an overture, after which the congregatio4l
sang Lift the Gospel Banner" MrS
Baird prayed and the primary departmengt
sang, which was followed by scripture
reading byJ. H. King The congregation
sang 'pli be a Soldier" and superinteny
dent Baird submitted his report. In 1t hei
said the school WAS twenty mine years OLD,
on November l. y!
The membership during the year has in55I
creased which was the source OF muoh
sati sfaction. There are 50 officers antst
teachers, 535 pupils IN the advanced classt
es, 80 in the intermediate and 2O3 IN the4
primary, making q total OF 81 pupils com+
prislng the largest school In the State.
June aud July sessions had the smallest
congregations, the average attendance bea
ing but 1873. Tho average for. the othefi
nine months was 4b7. =
TIE largest attendance was 534 on A. -,rIT
1s. The smallest was Is on Auguss 49, Tha
receipts during the year wer :. sssl Al tht}
expenditures, s73s,Ts' lr living balance ots
hAhd 9I Si4s'o'' Aners were sixldeathsf
9Mng ware" woodrow on February III
jon" 8 Hoiton on April 10; Erness E3
, Koigwin, on October 8; Mrs. M3rlam p
Johnson, on Oct4ber ~; M mss Nnta'is S,n kA &
Sweeten, % October ~; anu N"'"''' -:
K ouartette composed of Miss WaltheHs
Mrs. Carpenter Mr.. Benson ana W.
'''vmer EanS eiess rp,cn tho aud,an-:.yp
lu .., "' Only" after t5s;
primary school again sang sevenvecu e.1.I 4
and thirteen boys were received into the]
advanced school. The children recited the
| Lords prayer the creed and scrlpturaI3
passages as an evidence that they were pre-
pared for the step. y
In addressing them Mr.. Baird impressed
on their minds that their promotion was !
not q graduation as might be believed, \
but simply advancement from one class
! In religious instruction to another. He
told them they would not graduate until
Heaven was reached. He presented to
each of the children Bible, the constant
st4dy Of which would bring them every
gsnd thing they desired. 4
,''esar Not" was sung by the congrega'
ton. Id WAS reach.
ed, according to the program, S,cez
apologizing for the Commanders abse. wv
Mr.. Baird remarked that Mr.. Todd was /,
hibited him from staying hero. 1t was
not within the Captains power to change J
the order so he had to sail To Mr.. Baird Y
the Captain:s said nothing had pleased him !
more while here than the exercises Of the /
children. Although not present in body
the Captain assured Mr.. Baird he would
be in spirit. Il
William X. Crosby. superintendent of
Central School, who took tho Com 1
mander's place, expressed some regret at ]
having to fill the vacancy caused by eas
Commanders absence. But he performed1
the duty satisfactorily. He congratulatedf
the school on the good work accomplished A
during the year. and urged the young peo'
pie on to a still greater work in the Chris-
tian world. -
Tho congregation sang "Tell tho Story" \
and cornet solo preceded an address py
Rev. A. n Kelgwin congratulating the \
children to become members Of the church,
Dr.. Keigwin pronounced the benediction1
and the assembly departed while the Or
chestra PLAYED march. -