The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-02-08
NO FLATHEADISM.
Dir. W. S. Rainsford's Ad-
dress in the Lafayette
NJ. E. Church Yes
terday.
NEW GYMNASIUM DEDICATED
Rector of st. Georges Says the
Church Must Reform Its
Education of the
Young.
NEW GYMNASIUM DEDICATED

Nltz
Rev. DR.. William S. Rainsford, rector of
st. Georges p. E. Church, New York
city, he whose criticism of the approach
ing Bradley Martin ball kicked up such
a fuss in New York's 'hupper suckles,''
talked to a large congregation in Lafay-
cite M. e. Church yesterday afternoon
about Muscular Christianity The
worthy doctor is a fine example of h a
form of belief himself; being over six
feet. athletic in build and a sportsman to
his fingers tips.
The occasion of his visit to Lafayette
was the dedication of the gymnasium in
the rear of the church and to assist in
the exercises. Besides Pastor Charles e.
Little there were also Rev. I. w. Hath
away of Westminster Presbyterian
Church, Rev. T. J. Kommers of Lafayette
Reformed Church and Rev. George c.
Wilding of Hedding M. E. Church.
DR.. Rainsford did not arrive at the OPEN
ing of the proceedings and to occupy the
time the choir sang Sir Arthur Sullivan's
stirring hymn Onward Christian Sol
diers,' and a young lady with PRAISE
worthy persistency, but entirely out of
place there, sang a solo a quarter of a
tone sharper than the organ. If she did
set the audiences teeth on edge, it is
only just to say she did it to perfection
Their DR.. Rainsford arrived and the
wandering attention of the ladies quickly
came to a centre. 'sWho knows he might
say something about the Bradley-Martin
ball, and won't that be nice?' some of
them thought, n paid him the closest
attention.
With his hands thrust into the side
pockets of his short jacket the rector of
st. Georges began by congratulating
LAFAYETTE Church on the acquisition of
the gymnasium, which he said was in
harmony with the Divine command to
educateFourselves and give others the
opportunity to educate themselves. To do
the latter, he said, requires an awful lot
of money, and many people a enough
to do to make ends meet and often even
don't do hat. He believed that the
young should haye an opportunity to de-
velop themselves. The slums of the big
cities, he continued, are full of low, cheap
places where boys and girls attend, and
small blame to them if they had no other
place to go to.
You know" the doctor said, and took
one hand out of his pocket to emphasize
his words, "our idea of church is that we
shall gather there to pray. sing hymns
and listen to sermons Now, that's all
right in a way, but the ground I take is
that if you looked after the young more
and provided them with healthy amuse-
ment, you'd say better prayers, sing better
hymns and not fall asleep during the
sermon"
The doctor then went into a little sta
listics. He said that fourteen years ago,
when he went to st. Georges Church, it
was "a select congregation of fifty per-
sons with a seating capacity for 800. OF
these fifty communicates only one be-
longed to the laboring classes. During
that period of fourteen years in that
neighborhood, east of Fourteenth street,
1850 0 people had come into the district
and forty churches a moved out, and
east of Third avenue from the Battery to
Harlem, there wasn't a solitary church
paying expenses. Why?
"IH tell you,' said the doctor. ssThe
people who moved out never took any
steps to move Others in. They deserted
the church and that / call shameful
cowardice."
How then to fill the church, said the
doctor, was the problem and in his opin-
ion it was only to be solved by recruiting
it from the masses; from the young, and
how to attract the young was the prob
lem the Lafayette Church and his own
were solving.
1.-THE fault that our churches in down
town districts decrease is entirely our
own We say this way was good enough
for our fathers and it is good enough for
ne. That, my friends is what the jews
said to Jesus and they cruciied him.,
DR.. Rafnsford then described the boys
and girls in his parish before the estab-
~lishnaent of the ~clubrooms, and gave a
humorous account of the amusements
provided for, them. BY providing them
with gymnasium, etc, they were weaned
from the streets. The boys and girls paid
a few cents for the privileges of playing
billiards, etc, and they were Independent
and gentlemanly and behaved themselves
as we'll as the best people.
He then described the peculiar custom
OF the F1athead Indians, who, by shingles
compress the skulls Of their children until
they assume q queer conical pointed
shape. Society today, he said, was doing
the same thing to the young. The shingles
ought to be taken off their heads and they
should be given a show for development.
Turning to the public schools the doctor
otiA Nlidt GuuCdtiOA WdS NOT as IL SlOulQ
be there. 1t needed serious reform. The
church must prosecute vigorously these
reforms in its methods to educate the
young.
That's what we have to do" he con-
Guided. and not simply call a pastor to
a Church and hear sermons. That's not
the mission alone of a pastor. He must
tear off the shingles from off the fiatheads
of society"
Whether this last shot was intended for
the Bradley-Martin gang was uncertain.
but many of the ladies, and the men, too,
thought SO and they smiled.
Immediately after his address DR..
Rainsford left the church and Rev. G. q.
Wilding made a brief address. He said
he would do all in his power to promote
the growth of a progressive spirit in his
church..
Then the young men of the church pre-
sented the deeds of the new gymnasium
to the trustees and they In turn to the
pastor n the building was formally
dedicated by him. Hymns followed and
the proceedings came to a close. In the
evening r.. r. Doherty, the railroad
evangelist, made al interesting address.
The new gymnasium is about so feet
long by % feet wide and 18 feet s inches
in height; built of frame and has three
entrances. The interior is well fitted up
with the rop appliances and its cost
was about $1,000. About $500 will be need
ed for the apparatus and OF this $500 has
been raised BY the energetic Kings Sons,
the officers OF whom are: Walter Williams,
4 T2-@zrt 1870 - TQ@xz - W