The Sunday globe., 1901-07-07
THE REVERSES
Encountered by Nathan Church,
Scholar and Philosopher
AND FRIEND OF JAMES G. BLAINE
Affect MOI His Spirit and He Works as a Com
mon Street LahOrsr ON the Streets OF Min.
neapOs-A Shining Example 10 All Who
Have Suffered from the MIslrsatment Of
The FCkIe Goddess.
Special Correspondence Sunday Globe
Minneapolis, Minn., July 5, 1901.

Minneapolis, Minn., July 5, 1901.
Mr. Nathan Church, scholar and
philosopher, one-time friend and COM
patriot of the late James G.. Blaine,
works for $3.50 a day with a street
cleaning gang in Minneapolis.
In 1867 Mr.. Church was a men,
Der Of the State Central Republican
committee, of Maine. Serving with
hlm on that committee were Congress-
man Littlefeld, Senator Frye, and
Fred N. Dow, son of ne temperance
lecturer, Neill Dow. Mr.. Church's town
was Naples, Cumberland County, Me.
There were II towns in the county,
and Mr.. Church represented the First
district while his colleague, James G.
Blaine, conserved the interests of the
Fourth district, in Kennebec County.
He is a personal friend Of such men
as Thomas b. Reed, Ex-Governor Pow.
ers, of Maine, and many others equally
prominent in the affairs of the nation.
He sat in the Maine legislature two
terms, from 1869 to 1871 He is 81
| years old.
| Still, Mr.. Church cleans the streets
Of Minneapolis with a SHOVEL and eats
his dinner out Of a tin pail. He turns
| out every morning at $50, and is ready
| for work at 7 sharp. The foreman Of
| the street gang says Mr. Church is a
| thoroughly reliable and capable work
man, and in this testimonial to his
| faithful performance of menial duty
the former man of affairs exhibits
much pride.
The explanation Of Mr.. Churchs po-
sition is an ordinary one. The family
! became reduced in circumstances
through a variety Of reverses. No ca
reer opened before a man of such ad-
vanced age, and, moreover, Mr.. Church
had no fancy for the confining exac-
tions of clerical position. Incidental
| ly he has no reverence whatever for
the black coat as a badge Of respecta-
bility
If labor l must for a few dollars
week." said Nathon Church, "I'll labor
in the great outdoors, under heavens
blue arch, where the birds sing and
the busy world goes by unheeding the
man with the pick"
So it came about that Mr.. Church
joined the street cleaning gang three
years ago. and since that time he has
put in his ten hours every day and
piked for home every night with a tre-
mendous appetite and a tremendous
capacity for sound sleep.
There is nothing in Mr. Churchs
manner suggestive of that despair pop
ularly supposed to characterize the
mental attitude of men brought down
from high position to the performance
of menial labor. On the contrary this
old man is as proud as Lucifer of the
muscles and sinews that enable him to
maintain his independence and to sus-
tain the comfortable If frugal little
home, And to a philosopher there is
nothing low in digging. Mr.. Nathan
Church thinks as he digs. Sometimes
he admonishes the foreman of the
street gang in choice Latin, for he is
a student of no mean pretensions, and
Latin is his hobby.
Mr.. Church was a great follower Of
Neill Dow, that great temperance
worker Of his time. His father and
grandfather before him were as he
was. Mr. Church tells a story Of his
grandfather going to his hotel, or tav-
ern, as it was termed in those days,
and filled with remorse at seeing some
Of his good neighboTs going to the bad
from strong drink, burst in the casks
that held the rebellious liquor, leaving
il free to run where it would do no
harm to humanity. From that day on
he never sold or handled it, and young
Nathan followed in his footsteps.
my grandfather was one of those
bluebellied old orthodox Congregation
al preachers, and he did nOt-mince his
, words or want his hearers to misin-
terpret them, either" said Mr.. Church
to the writer. 81 have often regretted
, that | could not have saved just one
barrel Of those half dozen barrels OF
, sermons that accumulated during his
, service as a preacher, but they were all
! lost in a fire. They would have made
/ good reading now, but might not be all
! printable"
{ Mr.. Church received his college edu
e cation at New Brighton academy, the
! same school where President Ingalls,
l. of the Big Four Railroad, received his
) He taught school in his younger days
Y and from 1864 to 1880 kept a hotel
e He comes Of good stock, too. His
s mother was a cousin of war Governor
- Andrews, of Massachusetts,.
Mr.. Churchs 12-year-old son is wait
p ing for the few years to pass until ht
D has grown to manhood. Then he vii
j also go to Maine or New York and
1 visit "Tom" Reed, as his father calls
{ the ex-Speaker of the House. He wants
: to see and meet the big man from
+ Maine who lately sent him fine larg'
! map of the United States and nic'
: letter accompanying 1t.