The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1899-11-15

Rachel winslow and Virginia Pace
went out together. Edward Norman
and Milton Wright became 90 interest
% IN their mutual conference that they
walked on past Norman's homo and
came back together. Jasper Chase and
ths president of the Endeavor society
GOOD talking earnestly in one corner OF
TIE room Alexander Powers and Henry
MAXWELL rem. lied even after all the
others had gone.
II want you to come down to the
hops tomorrow and SEQ my plan and
>nhk 10 the men. Somehow I feel as il
you could get nearer to them than any
uue else just now" Z
u aon't know about that. bnt will
osne.' replied Henry Maxwell. q lit
10 sadly, How was he fitted tn stand
before 300 or 800 workingmen and give
them . messagei Yet in the movement
q hts weakness. a. he asked the ques-
don, he rebuked himself for it. What
vOald Jesus dol That was an end to
tAe discussion.
He went down the next day and
eoaAd Alsxander Powers in ais Office.
u lacked . few minutes of IL, and the
superintendent said. "Come MP stairs,
and IN show You what I've been try.
/, lng to do"
They went through the machine
hops. climbed q long flight Of stairs
and entered very large erapty room.
y had once been used by the company
~ . storeroom. Nt
"Since making that promise a week
80 hsve had good many things to
Mink o." said the superintendent
and among them is this: Our CON-
pony gives me the use of this room, and
] am going to At 10 mp with tables and
= co6ee plant In the corner there where
thcss steam pipes are. Ny plan is to
provide q good place where the men
can come up and eat their noon lunch
, md give them. two or three times a
week. the privilege of q Is minutes
talk ON some subject that win be real
hslp TO them in their lives
MAXWELL looked surprised and asked
u tho men would come for any such
purpose
"Yes. they'll come. After all, know
ths meu pretty well They are among
Ne most intelligent workingmen in the
country today. but they are. a. q whole.
entirely removed from all church iniiu.
snce. asked. What would Jesus dor
and. among other things. IL seemed to
me- he would begin to act in some way
- add to the lives Of these men more
phyuical and spiritual comfort Il Ia
v9y little thing. this room and what il
represents, but I acted on the first i'm.
pulse TO do the first thing that appealed
70 my good sense. and I want to work
out this idea. want You to speak to
tho men when they come up at noon. l
lave asked them TO come MP and see
The place and IN tell them something
sbout L. 4"
Henry Maxwell was ashamed to saw
bow uneasy he felt at being asked to
speak few words to a company of
workingmen- How could he speak with.
ont notes or to such a crowds He was
honestly In q condition of genuine
hight over the prospect. He actually
feit afraid OF facing these men. He
shrank from the ordeal Of confronting
snch q crowd. 70 different from the
sunday audiences he was familiar with.
There were half dozen long rude
tables and benches in the great room,
and when the noon whistle sounded the
men poured MP stairs from the machine
shop below and. seating themselves at
The tables. began to eat their lunch.
There were perhaps 800 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 favorably impressed The
room was large and airy. free from
smoke and dust and well warmed from
the steam pipes
About 90 minutes of 1 Alexander
Powers told the men what he had in
mind He spoke very simply. like one
who understands thoroughly the char
acter OF his audience. and then intro
duced the Rev. Henry Maxwell of the
First church. his pastor. who had cen.
sented 10 speak fe,, minutes.
Henry Maxwell will never forget the
feelings with which for the first time
he confronted that grimy faced audi
cnce OF workihgmen. Like hundreds of
other ministers. he had never spoken to
any gathering except those made mp 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.
He 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 IA cla.s distinct from
himself He did net use the term
''workingmen" and did not say a word
10 suggest any difference between their
lives and his own
The t,lo A