The San Francisco call., 1898-08-14
Spokane's Church Feud
 Revived.
BISHOP WELLS TO PROSECUTE
1Es MANY SENSATIONAL
 CHARGES.
MAKES
An Ecclesiastical Court Will Shortly Try the Dean-In Case of Con- viction Further Trouble
 Is Threatened.
Special Dispatch to The Call.


 SPOKANE. Aug. 13.-In a few days there Will assemble in Spokane an ec- clesiastical court for the purpose of trying Rev Dean Richmond Rabbit. DID,. LID, a scion of the famous Dean Richmond family of New York and late dean Of All Saints Episcopal Cathedral of this city. thet see church of the diocese of Spokane. which in ciudes all of Eastern Washington Ii iie is convicted of the charges against him the canonicai la7vs provide he shall be stripped of his authority as a priest of the Episcopal church. in other words, f'urfrocked.
 Besides being "a most unusual thing in the history of the Protestant Epis- copaI church this particular ecclesias- tical trial will be one of the concluding chapters in most sensational church row that has involved the society peo- pie of Spokane, and that in it's ranIii- cations has brought in outsiders and has stirred up interest as far away as the Atlantic coast.
 Dr. Rabbit left parish in Saginaw, Mich. in 1892 to go to Tacoma to as sume the reetorship of Trinity Church of that city, when Rev. Lemuel
 
 Rishop of. Spokane In 1895 Bishop Wells and tbe ciaaptermen of All Saints bCathedral brought Dr. Rabbit to Spo- kane as dean cf the cathedral. Dr. Rabbitt has seen many parishes. h addition he once was Q lawyer. So when he came he had a contract with the bishop and the chapter ms con- tract he claims, gives him a hfe tenure of the office of dean. And this Is where 1 the trouble arose
 ] of Bishop Wells at the Lambeth con ! ference of bishops in England, the l-chapter became dissatisfied with the l course of the dean, who, IL was l charged, was incurring bills Tor tEe parish and conducting the hnances Tn 1 manner not to the liking of those who 1 had to put up the money. With the l bills he had incurred the opposition oI I some of the bankers on the chapter. + Recently he had taken up Christian 1 socialism and vas preaching mucn on ! that line. Whatever the real reason 1 the chapter anyhow determined to get rid of him and so announced it was ! unable to pay his salary longer. He l declared if the chapter could not con- i duct the finances so as to pay his sal
 ary it was incompetent and snoulu re-
 sign The chapter said he should re, I sign. and the matter h7rnS hre uhlll |
 F. The bishop investigated ana deIerIn- l ined the interests of the. parish de
 manded that pr. Rabbit resign, reach l ing that conclusion after advising with 1 the full standing committee and Ioi- 1 lowing the advice of that body. The 1 dean refused to resign. He then was l removed from the position and ordered l to reIindufsh all claims to the deanship l by noon of October 15, 1SSh This order I was given son the evening of the 18th
 of october. That same evening the | 1lcnauterInen determined to prevent the dean stealing march on them ana 10 Ieduip the cathedral with new locks. They went there about midnight to Ecarry out their purpose. On arriving ] they found the Rev John Manning, the i dean's curate. in the study. MT Man l ming ordered them out and they or I dered him out. After some barley MT 1 Brooke, MT Vincent and the other gentlemen rushed upethe belfrey stairs to the study. grabbed Mir. Manning and ! carried him down, struggling and fight | ing, and deposited him in hack They then took possession.
 The following Sunday, October B, ] pr. Rabbit sought to enter the cathe- I dral. but was barred out by the chap
 termen Once after that he was denied 1 admission. The dean immediately
 commenced holding services in hall he hired for the purpose. Recently he se- T cured 2 church building Dy lease ana l has started services there, although the
 bishop on January ' ordered him to
 cease preaching in Spokane.
 Now comes the action of the bishop
 in bringing charges to unfrock the
 dean. First, 1t is charged that the dean l violated the canons of the church in not 1 obeying the order of the bishop to re- I linouish claim to the cathedral, that he 1 violated the canons also in attempting, on October r last, to perform the func- tions of dean of the cathedral.
 He is further accused of violating his I ordination vows in not submitting him
 self to the godly judgment of the bish- ! op by refusing to obey the order to re-
 frain from preaching in Spokane. It is
 also asserted that on December he took away certain church property of l the cathedral, including piano, an or