The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-06

If the people of Michigan want the
 legislature to do anything let them en-
 list the services of Mrs. Caroline Bart
 lett Crane" That is what newspa-
 per observes in Kalamazoo, the city
 where Mrs. Crane has made her home and, among other tasks accomplished,
 built up a beautiful church for crowd- ed congregation, caused to be enacted
 and enforced law for slaughter house and meat inspection, shown the city authorities how to keep the streets clean, founded the Woman's Civic Inns provement league. induced the school children to spare and care for the
 birds, to plant flowers. to refrain from littering the streets and beautify the town and has caused to be appointed city visiting nurse for the sick poor
 It would take large space merely to outline the beneficient work which this lady has accomplished. Plainly she has found woman's sphere and con- fines her activities strictly within that, whether it be addressing the Michigan legislature to persuade them to pass a law migrating slaughter house horrors, exchanging pulpits with Rabbi Hirsch of Chicago or directing a Kalamazoo street cleaning brigade at o'clock in the morning. Rev. Caro- line Bartlett Crane practices the relig- ion she breaches.
 The pastor of the Kalazazoo Peoples church Is a slender woman,with face delicate and refined. It must have been a trial to this lady to inspect slaughter houses and clean city streets, yet she has never shrunk from that or from anything else. however repulsive, that cried out for betterment.
 Caroline Bartlett was born in Hud- son, Wis. She was graduated from Carthage college, Illinois, taking a postgraduate course at the University of Chicago. Then she was a teacher a year of two. After that she got glimpses of very real life indeed as newspaper reporter. She could have had no better training for a preacher. Newspaper people see enough to make of their lives if they are inclined for preachment.
 Miss Bartlett served on papers In Minneapolis and Oshkosh, acting for time as city editor. It may have been that what she saw then of the needs of the so called civilized race prompted her to quit Journalism, as she had be- fore been prompted to quit teaching. The teacher is bound hand and foot by cast iron rules. The newspaper re- porter or editor is fettered fast by the conventiona1ities and prejudices of the community, and especially of his jour- naFs advertisers. The only way for one who has something to say of him. self Is to strike out quite alone and sink or swim.
 Caroline Bartlett turned her face away from all she had wrought at pre- viously and in 1886 became pastor of There she remained till 1899, when she was called to take charge of the Unita- rian society of Kalamazoo. Then it was that Miss Bartlett was first regu- larly ordained as a minister of religion. But the spirit who could not be content as a teacher or newspaper woman was irked by a denominational name. Out of the Unitarian church to which she had been called she organized and built society for everybody and named 1t the Peoples church. She has per suasive powers that would move al- most the arch fiend himself, and she uses them always for the good of the greatest number. She induced her to take up Humanitarian and educational work along broad and noble ltnes Soon she talked to them of beautiful edifice, one with room for both religion and recreation, where the society and their friends, young and old. might gather. The church was at length built, and the warm, pure spir it at the head of the congregation was the most untiring of all in doing the