People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1899-11-09
By Charles NJ Sheldon.

rachel Winslow and Virginia Page
went out together. Edward Norman
and Milton Wright became so interest
ed in their mutual conference that they
! walked on past Norman's home and
came back together Jasper Chase and
the president Of the Endeavor society
stood talking earnestly in one corner Of
the room Alexander Powers and Henry
Maxwell remained even after all the
others had gone
II want you to come down to the
shops tomorrow and see my plan and
talk to the men. Somehow | feel as if
you could get nearer to them than any
one else just now.
81 don't know about that but l will
come" replied Henry Maxwell, lit
tie sadly. How was he fitted to stand
before 200 or 300 workingmen and give
them a meSsageH Yet in the movement
Of his weakness, as he asked the ques-
ton, he rebuked himself for it What
would Jesus dof That was an end to
the discussion.
He went down The next day and
found Alexander Powers in his Office
It lacked few minutes of IL, and the
superintendent said, Come MP stairs
and III show you what I've been try
ing to do.
They went through the machine
shops, climbed a long fight Of stairs
and entered a very large empty room
It had once been used by the company
for a storeroom.
"Since making that promise week
ago have had a good many things to
think of, said the superintendent
land among them is this Our COM
pany gives me the use of this room, and
am going to fit it up with tables and
a coffee plant in the corner there where
those steam pipes are My plan is to
provide a good place where the men
can come up and eat their noon lunch
and give them, two or three times a
week, the privilege of a Is minutes
talk on some subject that will be a real
help to them in their lives"
| Maxwell looked surprised and asked
if the men would come for any such
purpose
Eyes, they'll come After all. know
the men pretty we'll They are among
the most intelligent workingmen in the
country today, but they are, as a whole,
entirely removed from all church infu-
ence. l asked, What would Jesus dot
and, among other things, it seemed to
me he would begin to act in some way
to add to the lives of these men more
physical and spiritual comfort. 1t Is a
very little thing, this room and what it
represents but acted on the first i'm
pulse to do the first thing that appealed
to my good sense, and / want to work
out this idea | want you to speak to
the men when they come up at noon.
have asked them TO come up and see
the place and III tell them something
about it.
Henry Maxwell was ashamed to say
how uneasy he felt at being asked to
speak a few words to a company of
workingmen. How could he speak with
out notes or to such a crowdH He was
honestly in a condition of genuine
fright over the prospect He actually
felt afraid of facing these men He
shrank from the ordeal of confronting
such a crowd. 60 different from the
Sunday audiences he was familiar with
| There were half a dozen long rude
tables and benches in the great room.
and when the noon whistle sounded the
men poured up stairs from the machine
shop below and, seating themselves at
the tables, began TO eat their lunch
There were perhaps 300 of them. They
had read the superintendent notice,
which he had posted up In various
places, and came largely out Of curl
osity
| They were fsvorsbly impressed The
room was large and airy. free from
smoke and dust and well warmed from
the steam pipes
| About 90 minutes Of l Alexander
Powers told the men what he had In
mind He spoke very simply. like one
who understands thoroughly the char
scter OF his audience, and then intro
duced the Rev. Henry Maxwell Of the
First church, his pastor, who had con
sented to speak few minutes
Henry Maxwell will never forge. the
feelings with which for the first time
he confronted that grimy faced audi
ence OF workingmen. Like hundreds of
other ministers. he had never spoken to
any gathering except those made up Of
people Of his own class in the sense that
they were familiar in their dress and
education and habits to him. This was
new world to him. and nothing but
his new rule Of conduct could have
made possible his message and its effect
de spoke on the subject Of satisfaction
with life, what caused it, what its real
sources were He had the great good
sense on this first appearance not to rec.
ognize the men as a class distinct from
himself He did not use the term
i"workingmen" and did not say a word
to suggest any difference between their
lives and his own.
The men were pleased. A good many