Evening star., 1901-11-23
New York Churches Charged With
Selfish Exclusiveness.
USHERS STARE AT VISITORS
Complaints Made by Church-Goer
From Other Cities.
BISHOP POTTER's VIEWS
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star

an investigation which the men of its
staff had been making for several
previous Sundays as to the alleged want of
cordiality which the churches of New York
of all denominations extended toward
strangers. The published report bore out
the allegation with singular unanimity. The
stranger in New York who wants to have
his spiritual strength renewed, or even the
habitual New Yorker who, while belonging
to no church, occasionally experiences de-
sire to go to church, is not greeted with any
overpowering degree of effusion when he
yields to that uplifting suggestion. 1t might
be difficult to state this if the churches of
all the widely-diffused denominations were
not involved. Even the church edifces that
bear conspicuously in gilded letters on their
announcement signs the phrase Strangers
welcome" seem, when the strangers actual
ly appear, to be none too cordial in weicom-
ing Them. The visitor in New York who
attracted by the name Of some eminent di-
vine, idly fancies that he has but to make
his appearance at the rear of the middle
aisle to become the subject of dispute
among a number of ushers. each of whom
is desrous of conducting him to far seat
in front, quickly ascertains his error.
Not Likely to Receive Attention.
If he attracts any attention at all from
the ushers it is more likely to be manifest
ed by suspicious stares than otherwise, and
in most cases he finds himself fiddling with
his hat and feeling pretty uncomfortab BILE
for quite long time before one of the pew
openers after close scrutiny, decides that
he is worthy of being conducted to a seat
very much to one Side-and behind a pillar
as likely as not Many utterly vacant seats
may yawn ostentatfousy in their vacancy
far up in front, or midway, off all of the
aisles, but it is not often that the stranger
is taken to one of them, no matter how
religious his mien or how generally deserv-
ing his appearance and bearing. The stran-
ger. moreover, is virtually excluded from
such of those New York churches, of vary
ing denominations, that are noted for the
high class of their choir music.
1t is natural enough for the occasional
church-goer to select for his infrequent at
tendance a church where good music offers
a source of inspiration additional to the
reading of any dissertation upon the word.
yet 1t must be said that the difficulties in
the way of hearing the highest grade of
secular music are scarcely greater than
those confronting the visiting or infrequent
would-oe resident devotee who essays to at
tend some of the great musical churches
of New York. To some of them, indeed it
is almost if not quite impossible to obtain
admission, let alone to gain chance to sit
down.
Visitors Complain of Bad Treatment.
At this time of year New York is filed
with thousands of buyers from all parts of
the United States, and many of these tes-
tify in more or less heated letters to the
newspapers as to the difficulties they ex-
perience in endeavoring to keep up their
religious observances in New York. Some
of them have even gone SO far to maintain
that they have been held up by the
ushers of some churches-a fact which one
would hesitate to believe We're 1t not sup
ported by the most reliable authority. No
less church dignitary and eminent citi-
zen than Bishop Potter has declaimed in
unusually indignant terms several oc-
casions against the stiff and reserved spirit
to say the least-exhibited by many New
York churches toward strangers, and he
has even been known to quietly tour the
churches under his own jurisdiction for
the purpose of ascertaining If anything of
this spirit were displayed in any of them.
And yet there are ministers in New York.
attached to very fashionable churches,
who, when the subject of the treatment
OF the stranger is broached to them affect
to entertain a strong feeling in the matter
In favor of the stranger, and when one,
knowing this, repairs to one of these
churches imbued with the wistful hope and
belief that he is going to be cordially re-
ceived, he is confronted only by stony
gazes and non-beckoning hands.
School for Dramatists.
That school for dramatists'' that opened
SO auspiciously, not to say ostentatiously,
something over a year ago, has not as yet,
so the best-informed managers say, de-
veloped a pupil whose work is destined to
make Greek fire seem like a pale ilumina-
ton. However, the curriculum Is an ex-
tensive one, and there may yet be hope.
Meanwhile. the opportunities for writer's
OF plays are growing greater all the time.
Managers of the first rank find it abso-
lutely impossible to fathom why it is that
more intellectual men do not deliberately
devote themselves to a study of stagecraft
for the sake of reaping the harvest that
IS awaiting dramatists of even moderate
ability.
They're turning out novels and good
novels" one of them said to this corre-
spondent the other evening, land yet that
field is so overdone that actually clever
men who stick at that sort of work are
more than satisfied if they make a few
hundreds out of, a really good work of fc-
tion on which they have worked for
months, and in some cases years Why is
it that these men will not or do 40. per-
ceive how vastly better they could az in a
financial sense If they were to deliberately
go to work to fit themselves for the writ
ing of plays?
Don't believe all of these stories you
hear and read about the awful difficulty of
getting hearing for a play in New York.
They are not true. We are crazy to catch
even the sight of a manuscript that is
written by a person that know has
any ability at all. We are cuitivating folks
that seem to have play-writing ability. We
are schemeing to cut each other out in the
good will of persons who have given even
small evidences Of possessing dramatic
ability. There are, it Is true many rank
staring imbecles scattered throughout the
country who are writing what they call
plays and who send their gibberish to u.s.
but their matter is the merest iiliteracy,
and there is not one such manuscript out
of ten received at managers Office that
is not obviously the work of a person of
unbalanced mentality.
1.-The playwriting field is an absolute
klondike. It's strange that talented men
and women are not reaping the pay-dirt,
nor even making an effort to reap it..
Women Attend Banquets.
That somewhat leveling thing known as
"the clubable spirit" between men and
women is perhaps at the root of compar-
atively new idea in New York. This is the
attendance of women at mems banquats
There are scores of sumptuous banquets
given over here every season by clubs, as
sociations, fraternity organizations, and
what not. that are barely reported in the
newspapers. not for their lack of impor-
tance or interest, but for lack of space.
Some of the brightest of the after-dinner
takers give expression to wit that never
penetrates beyond the radius of the circle
for whose ears 1t Is emitted.
These banquets used to be ATTENDED ex-