The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-01-25
CLERGYMAN BUSY ALL DAY
Routine of City Minister'S Life Set Down With
Great Detail

At 8 o'clock the Rev. A. B. folded
up his napkin, pushed aside his chair,
rose from his lonely early breakfast,
gathered up his morning mail and and
passed through the hallway leading
from the dining room of his house to
his office" in the church, says writer
in the Independent. In reality his
days work. had begun an hour be-
fore, for when he came downstairs he
found a newspaper reporter waiting in
the parlor for a half hours interview,
and later had divided equally the other
half hour between his breakfast and
the daily paper; he would have no
other chance to look at it throughout
the day. 1t was Thursday morning Of
week in January, and the busy sea-
son of the church's year was on in
earnest.
In his office at a desk he found his
secretary waiting for him. Both these
things, the secretary" and the 'office,"
are modern innovations in the machin-
cry of church activity, and are abso-
lutte essentials in the doing Of church
work today. The secretary is the
pastors confident, and does, upon a
salary, all those things which former
ly were thought to be the special du-
ties Of his wife.
At the outset Of his course A. B. was
wont to dream of long, uninterrupted
days for study, meditation, compost
ton and the pursuit of his own desires;
but does he ever think of those dreams
now as on each morning he takes up
his diary to note the special duties for
the day? On this Thursday morning
not hn nd FIo holt Of
the week has been taken up with half
day tasks of an extraneous nature
two funerals, one conference, a we'd
ding, q luncheon and a trip out of the
city for a lecture Tuesday night-so
that he still finds all his regular week
ly work ahead of him. This means
two sermons for the coming Sunday,
the weekly lecture for tomorrow night,
a course of Bible class instruction
Saturday afternoon and special pa
per to be read next week at the Blue
Monday clubs monthly meeting. But
before even thinking of any Of these
he must note the special entries in his
diary for this day, and even before
looking at those, in turn, he must ex-
anime his mornings mail.
His Morning Mail.
In that mail he found twelve letters.
The first, q gushing note in fine fem
mime handwriting, assures him in terms
as eXtravagant as tardy how much
somebody enjoyed his address last
week at the Art club. This letter con-
tains what Mrs. Malaprop would cali
"a arrangement OF fine epitaphs,' and
therefore requires an answer carefully
phrased. Next come two anonymous
notes; the first calls the attention of
''the speaker of last Sunday to a mis-
| pronunciation in a word quoted from
Hamlet; the second expresses thanks
in terms that are really pathetic from
a heart that is really sincere for uplift
received from that same sermon. Ten
years ago the first would have upset
him for g, whole day, but he has grown
wiser; he losses it into the fire unno-
ticed and files away the second with
a few lines like treasures to cheer him
in some future dismal hour. Next
comes q request for him to make an
address at the laying of a cornerstone
III q distant city, which opportunity for
popularity would engross three days
time of the busiest week of the busiest