The sun., 1900-04-30
uDELIGHTS or THE CONFERENCE.

As the Conference draws toward its conclu-
sion the interest in 1t ON tho part OF the dele
gates and of the public both seems to increase.
and the general attendance instead of falling
oil grows larger. There are constant demands
on the part of the delegates for extra tickets for
their friends, and the result is that only those
who come early to the meetings find seats On
Saturday afternoon TN" total attendance at oil
the various places whero sessions Of the Con-
ference were being held was probably the
largest thus far. lady who came In
from her suburban home 10 attend spent
the entire afternoon trying 10 lind some
place whore shc could see and hear, but unSnc-
Cessfully, and her experience was doubtless re-
peated In many other cases. FIRST she went TO
the missionary exhibit in West Fiity-siIth
street, whor" CuriositicS from the various mis-
sionary stations are shown, and there found
such n crowd that II was almoS, impossible TO
move around NeNt door. in the Church of the
Disciples, there WAS stcreop icon lecture by
one of tho foreign missionaries The visitor
tried that, and got q little farther than the
lobby The rear aislcS of the church were
crowded. and tn" best she could do was to find
standing room whore she could get IN occasional
peep AT the stereopttc N canvas when two large
hats in front of her happened to be- disposed
at divergent angles This wasn't what she had
come in from the suburbs To do. so she went
around to the Central Presbyterian Church and
was directed 10y the usher to 30 into the'gaery,
where, he said. she could probably find stand
ing room From there she went 10 the mnin
meeting al, Carnegie Hall Standing room only
was the order of the day there, too All the az
ternOOn there were numbers Of disconsolate
visitors wandering from meeting to meeting
looking for plnce to sit down and listen. and in
the evening still larger crowds were turned
away for lack of room.
One Of the prominent figures in the Confer
ence is Canon Edmunds of Exeter, England
He Is one of the readiest and most efficient pre-
siding officers that the Conference has brought
forth and that is saying n great deal. a. the
gathering IL made up almost entirely OF men
who are accustomed To public speaking, both
impromptu and prepared There ia a quiet
humor in Canon Edmunds's manner of speech
and q faculty for saying the appropriate and
happy thing in introducing speakers that is
fortunately combined with u decided brevity
Besides the interest which his personality
arouses wherever he j. heard the Canon shines
with sort of,rcflcctrd historical light, being, hy
virtue of his Office the custodian OF the
key to the cathedral library of Exeter.
which KEY he habltunlly carries with him.
The library is by, no means one Of the largest or
finest In England, but 1t has unique distinc-
ton which inakeS II known among all students
Of English literature within it. walls is the
Exeter Book, one Of the most famous books
In the world, u collection of the English
national poetry, codhed, written AT n timc
when English literature was practically dead.
the eleventh century and in all the succeeding
years has never, IL l. said, been outside the ca
thedral walls. Canon Edmunds i himself
bibliophile Of no mean at,ainmenrs lie is a
somewhat rigid observer of religious formali-
ties and when he Is on the platform and PRAYER
Is offered lac rises and knccl- with his face from
the audience.
"Of course, came here TO get all could out
OF the Conference. she said 10 little group Of
her fellow women conferecs. "but did hope to
be nhln to SOC something Of New York before
left Try ns might TO get time to do anything
else. have found that every minute has been
taken up by III" meetings. andi spite Of my
endeayors To be in half dozea places in the
same afternoon. have missed lots of things I
wanted 70 hear"
The main trouble iS" said another. that
everything u so extremely practical II isn't
AZ u mere was one practical speech at each
meeting that one wanted particularly TO hear
ana the rest were Just ordinary talks. Nine out