The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-05-10
GEORGIA LEAGUERS
FIRST MEETING OF NINTH ANNUAL
STATE CONFERENCE.
MANY DELEGATES PRESENT.
WELCOMED on BEHALF OF LOCAL
LEAGUERS by MIR. p. f. BROWN.

| Meeting Held at Wesley Monumental
Church Which Had Been Hand
sOmeIy DecOrated-The Attendance
Exceptionally Large President
Leon p. Smith Responded to Adj
dress of WeIcOme-''TriaI of Jesus
From Lawyers Standpoint" Dis
cussed by MIR. Walter VI. Chandler.
The Programme of Meetings for
To-day.
The first meeting of the ninth annual
state conference of Epworth Leagues was
held at Wesley Monumental Church last
night. 1t was attended by most of the
state officers of the league, by a large
number of delegates, who had arrived dur
ing the day or the night before and by
a congregation that filed the auditorium
| of the church.
The church had been tastefully decor
| ated for the occasion: orange and white
bunting, the colors of the League, was
fcstooned on the gallery ratings, the rail
of the choir loft and on the banisters of
the steps leading to the platform on which
were the officers of the league and the
| choir. The same colors entered in the
scheme of decoration of the platform also
and were most conspicuous in a huge
Maltese cross, that. trimmed with incan-
descent lights, was suspended above the
| altar
Many of the delegates arrived on late
trains. and the audience generally was
so slow in reaching the church that the
| services which uUor to her Q
did not begin until $50. The programme
| began with a number of hymns sung by
choir and congregation under the direc-
ton of Mr.. c. P. Milelr. These were fol-
lowed by a Bible lesosn, and prayer by
Rev. r. F. Fakes of Atlanta.
After the solo and chorus, Building
Day by Day." Mrs. N. ]. Alderman and
chorus, Mr.. P. F. Brown, chairman of
the Reception Committee, made the ad-
dress of welcome. 1t was fit
ting, he said that in this. the
first year of the new century, Methodists
should meet in Savannah, the city that
! harbored John Wesley, and in the church
erected as a monument to his honor. Then
continuing in a lighter vein, he alluded
to the peculiarities of the cities repre-
| scented by the delegates, and warned the
| delegates of the differences between those
| cities and Savannah. He advised his hear
| ers to see the interesting places in and
| near Savannah, mentioning among them
| TYbee, and the Te.far Academy of Arts
| and Sciences, and the Georgia Historical
| Society.
A response to this address was made by
Mr.. Leon P. Smith, of La Grange pres
ident of the state league. He was sure.
he said, that the welcome with which he
| and the other delegates had been re-
| ceived had come from the heart, that Sa-
Vannah, and Wesley Monumental Church
| in particular, was the place of all places
in which leaguers should feel at home
He hoped, he said, that the conference
| would be signaiized by the spirit of God
and that good would come of it, not only
to Savannah, but to the whole state.
The chief address was made by. Mr.
| Walter NJ. Chandler of New York who
spoke on the Trial of Jesus From a
Lawyers Standpoint"
In the course of his Introductory re-
marks he had occasion to refer to Rev.
| Sam Jones, who he said he regarded as
one of the greatest preachers that has
| lived since st. Paul; one that has done
more good for mankind than all the poll
ticians that have ever held office at Wash
| ington.
He disagreed, however with Rev. Jones
on his location of hell at half mile Of
/ VII Vic Contrary ne was IN
| clined to think Savannah within a quar-
ter OF a mile of heaven, for he was sure
| that he had met at least a thousand an
| gels since he had reached the city.
Getting back to the subject of
| his lecture, he first asked
whether the crucifxion of Christ
had been murder or justifiable homicide
| 1t could be best answered, he said, by
| consideration of all the facts concerning
| Christs trial, and these he gave with a
minuteness and completeness that showed
| his intimate knowledge of Jewish laws
and customs drawing by logical sequences
the inevitable conclusion that Christ's
death was brought about by the violation
| of both the Jewish and the Roman laws
under which he was tried.
The meeting closed after the announce
ments of to-day's meetings had been
made. The programme for to-day is as
| follows:
Z a. m.-Sunrise conservation meeting at
| Thunderbolt led by Mr.. f. Prentice Pea
! body, district secretary, Weycross, Ga.
| 9:S0-Bible study class, conducted by
Mr.. A. C. Harte, Y. NJ. C. A. secretary,
Mobile. Ala.
1O15-Missions study class, Conducted by
Rev. p. l. Cobb, Nashville Tenn.
11:O0-Song and devotional service.
1110-Reports of officers.
| 11:30-"The Devotional Feature of
League Life" by Rev. w. N. Aims
| worth, Dublin, Ga.
12:0O-"Literary League Life" by Rev.
]. j. Ransom, d. D., New Providence,
| Tenn.
$3.50 .. m.-Song and devotional service
3:45-"Methods in Junior Work" by
Miss Lucille Ham, ex-fourth vice presi-
| dent. Gainesville, Ga.
4:l5-"The District League Conference"
! by Mr.. NJ. w. Howard, first vice presi-
dent cambridge, Ga.
4:45-'"rhe Committees and Business
Meetings" by Mrs. P. l.. Cobb. for
merly travelling secretary OF the Y. M.
| c. A. Nashville, Tenn.
515-Business session.
S:OO-Song and devotional service
s:S0-"The Early Days of Lovick Pierce
or the Conquest Of Georgia by the Metho-
| dists end Baptists," by Rev. Walker
| Lewis, d. D.. Atlanta. Ga.