The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1899-01-20
WILLIAM It. STEAD.

WILLIAM T. STEAD.
Mr.. William Il. Stead has been tax
ing quite an active interest in the dis
armament r9an Of the Gar. He has
recently cornn-I eel the ruo 'lca''"t
of a paper entitled War against u ar,
which is intended to be the mouth
piece of those who sympathize with
the disarm ament idea.
MFR. Stead has written to many
prominent persons throughout the
world asking their opinions upon the
subject, and among the answers,
which appear in the first issue OF MS
publication, is one from Mark Twain.
who, in his characteristic style says:
1.-The Gar is in favor of disarmament
and so AIN |. There ought to be no
trouble about the rest of the world"
Mr.. Stead's prediction for graphing
with orld-probleIns, and his III
tense desire to utilize any influence
which he thinks might aid him In the
accomplishment of his purpose, re-
minds us of, hitherto unpublished,
incident connected with his trip to
this country in the year 1888. The In
cideut referred to occurred while Mr..
Stead was in Chicago, and was re-
counted to us by one who was on the
ground and saw and heard Mr.. Stead
In an interview upon the subject
our informant says: at was in the
latter part of the year 1893, shortly
after the close of the Worlds Fair
Mr.. Stead had been in Chicago for
some weeks, and was then busily en-
gagged in investigating both high and
low life in that city, preparatory to
the publication of his remarkable
book upon the subject. He had been
given considerable space in the news
papers, in the shape of interviews.
being the editor of The Recie1c
of ReUieaCs, and he had called to his
assistance many of the philanthropy
cally inclined citizens of Chicago, as
we'll as those who are interested in the
Improvement of the sociological condi-
tioi of the masses. He had pursued
pretty much the same tactics as
in his present effort to create interest
in his disarmament campaign and
had succeeded fairly well in concen-
trating public attention upon his IN
dertaking.
1t was at this stage of his proceed
ings that the Chicago dailies an
nounced that Mr.. Stead and several
prominent citizens would address q
public meeting at Central Music
Hail." on the afternoon of the follow
ing Sabbath and that Mr.. Stead, who
was to deliver the principal address,
would speak upon the subject, what
aC0uId Christ sag, should he come to
Chicago"
Central Music Hail." will be re-
membered by many who visited the
Worlds Fair, as the building in which
Mr.. Moody, assisted by Rev. John
McNeill and other noted evangeiists
held their daily meetings during the
fair.
Those who had heard of Mr.. Stead,
and especially those who had read his
writings in the Reoieao Of ReoietOS,
naturally felt curious to see him and
hear what he had to say upon such
a unique subject. At tine appointed
hour Mr.. Stead appeared upon the
platform, together with a number of
prominent ChicaSoans, among whom
were not few ladies. After the open
ing prayer by one of the ministers
present, Mr. Stead was introduced and
prefaced his remarks with an apology
for the absence of one whom, up to
the evening previous, he had expected
to have had with him, prepared to
speak upon the subject. He eXtolled
the character of his absent friend as
one who was greatly interested in
matters pertaining to the sociological
improvement of his fellow man, stat
ing that he had dined and spent the
evening before with him at his house,
and had learned that positive en-
gagement for that Sabbath afternoon
made it impossible for his friend to be
present at the Music Hall" meeting.
The person, for whose absence Mr..
Stead apologized. was none other than
Mr.. Oscar Neebe, one of the Anarch-
lists who had been convicted and SEN
fenced for taking part in the celebra-
ted "Haymarket massacre" and who
had been recently pardoned by Gov.
Altgeld.
Those of Mr.. Stead's audience who
read the newspapers of the morning
following must have been impressed
with certain antithesis in sentiment,
as demonstrated in the proceedings
upon the subject "What would
Christ say, should he come to
Chicago" under Mr. Stead's direction,
and that contained in the press re-
ports, of a procession of several thous-
and men, on that same Sabbath day,
and in which Mr.. Neebe figured in u
prominent way. 1t was the annual
procession TO the burial ground of the
hanged anarchists of ''Haymarket"
fame, for the purpose of decorating
their graves and listening to an grafton
suitable for the occasion, Mr.. Neebe
was the orator of the day and occupied
the position of honor in the procession.
at the head of which marched little
girls dressed in white, bearing wreaths
of flowers, followed by bearers of
banner, upon which was incribed
There is no God.
1t must not be understood from this
that Mr.. Stead sanctions S ;cialistic
infidelity or Anarchistic views, but it
aptly illustrates his Willingness to
adopt extraordinary men and meas
ures to accomplish his ends.
THE COMPTR REPORT
State Comptroller, Phillips Lee
GolGsborough on Friday submitted
his annual report of the finances of
the State to Governor Lowndes. The
report includes all financial operations
of the State for the fiscal year which
ended September 80, 1898. The total
receipts during the year aggregated
81. 095, 314.22, and the increase over the
receipts for 1897 was 1926, 1882.
The State debt is 1924, 1856 "a, the
same as last year. Deducting from
this the assets of the State, amounting