The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-12

casionally We gave them concerts and
other entertainments in plce of lectures.
We included insurance and sick benefits
in the clubs features. We saw to it that
some person of Intelligence and force Of
character not one of them. was among
them IN each room every night, IN ordeu
10 keep the current always turned in the
right direction. The games included bill
lards backgammon, checkers and the
like but not cards. The refreshments
served did not include beer. In my iudg-
ment beer would have ruined everything.
We excluded cards out of respect to the
prejudices Of the town. They might have
been no more harmful than checkers, pro
vided there was no gambling, but it
would have been foolish to allow card
playing in a Philadelphia workingman's
club"
I asked Dean Hoffman, if the work of
the club in which the members weren't
much worried about religion attracted
many Of its members to the church.
Reformed Many Drunkards.
by degrees. yes We didn't hasten
matters but now and again there would
be a death or sickness in the family of a
workinsman who had never before called
in a clergyman but who had come to
know the rector of St. Marks through the
club and would send for him al once. To
me the most surprising thing about that
club was the number Of drunkards it re-
formed, though that feature doesn't sur
prise me now. Many men become hard
drinkers simply because they have no
pleasant places, excepting gin mills TO go
10 and talk with other men of an evening,
and believe that the wholesale establish
ment of proper places Of resort in the
poorer quarters of our great citeis would
do more than anything else that has ever
been devised TO lift the moral and mental
level OF the working masses"
DR.. Hoffman, soon became personally
acquainted with virtually every member
of the club. and after it had been running
a little while he surprised the good people
of ST. Marks with a novel pulpit an
nonucement:
beginning with next week" he said.
substantially "a special Sunday evening
service viii be held in this church. l do
not wish to see regular members of the
church and congregation in ST. Mark $
pews at those services If any Of you
come / shall request you to go away. You
have the privilege of coming TO church
twice on every Sunday; you don't need a
third service, and / want this beautiful
edifce thrown open once a week for the
free use of those living near by who have
no church home"
1t made no end of talk among the peo-
Pile both in and out of the church. OF
course, there was opposition from some
church members. few were even bitter.
However, the first of the special Sun
day evening services was held on schedule
time and an audience of more than 1000,
not used to worshipping God in st. Marks
Church, filled the pews. Some went from
curiosity, no doubt, as shown by the
presence of Quakers, who, according TO
the traditions of their faith, kept their
hats on throughout the service. In little
time the plan was seen by every one to be
a thorough going success and before the
first year of the Hoffman, rectorate was
over the communicates of ST. Marks had
more than doubled in number.
Visiting Smallpox Cases.
Dr. Hoffman, remained rector of St
Marks till 1879. In his ten years serv-
ice he had become personally acquainted
with some member of each of the nearly
1000 families in the parish. His aequaint-
ance with his pensioners was by no
means perfunctory-he knew them as
friend who always visited them when they
needed him, even when they Were suffer-
ing from contagious diseases. This was
true, also in every one of his earlier
locations. From Brooklyn, from Elizabeth
and Burlington, ". j.. and from Phna-
delphia come stories of visitations that
were little less than heroic made by him
in times of pestence His theory seems
to have been that the clergyman is need
ed quite as much as the doctor when
death is near and he never hestated TO
visit a sick parishioner even when the
disease was smallpox or yellow fever.
During the prevalence of a smallpox cpl
demic In one of his New Jersey parishes
he visited the patients so regularly that
the Mayor of the city threatened to lock
him up unless he would promise to stop
the practice, for fear the disease would
be spread by his comings and goings.
He was not stopped either there or in
Brooklyn where he went freely among
patients afflicted with yellow fever. DR.
Hoffmann's house to house vlsitations
were such a noteworthy feature of his
work as long as he served the churches
that his parishioners felt free TO call upon
him in every sort of emergency. Thus
at Elizabeth little girl rushed into his
study one day. crying:
Mother hopes youll come to the house
right away. sir. Father says he's going
20 kill her.
The doctor left the sermon ne was pre-
pairing and followed the child. AT the
house he found the father crazy drunk
As the young clergyman entered-this was
all of forty years ago-the fellow raised a
chair high in the air as If TO brain the
intruder.
I'm not afraid of you nor no othel
man." yelled the drunkan man, land
you'd better clear out"
Il don't want you TO be afraid of me-"
replied the clergyman, but there's one
chap you'd better be afraid of. His name
is James Anderson. He lives here, and
when drunk he's dangerous
The chair dropped to the floor at this
unexpected speech, and James Anderson,
already half sobered, begged pardon for
his brutality and promised to keep the
peace. Then the rector went placidly
back TO his sermon writing
Dean Hoffmann's business ability Is con-
sidered of a high order by New York men
of affairs, and his capacity for doing
things is recognized by his associates
in seminary management, who sometimes
make a play upon his initials &c. Al and
call him Executive Ability HOFFMAN,. He
is popular alike with students and faculty.
1. ID. Marshall.
WaycrOss News Notes.
Waycross, Ca, June 10.-Mr. j. c. Hope