Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-14

Praise God from whom all blessings
f1ow.'
Strange sentiment that, 1t seems, to be
uttered with musical emphasis by half
thousand men and women. who, having
been convicted of crimes against the laws
of God and man, are restrained within
prison walls. And yet, strange though 1t
may seem to hear such sentiments from
convicted thieves, housebreakers and vicious
persons that was the paean of praise that
filled the rotunda of the District Jail last
Sunday afternoon at the close of reli-
gIous song service. participated in by the
prisoners
Ordinarily, it may said without fear of
contradiction, the big, gloomy jail, with it's
iron-barred doors and heavily-grated win
dows, is a forbidding looking place without
any attractive features. But notwithstand-
ing the repulsive appearance of the ex-
terror there are times when the great house
OF correction resounds with melody and its
interior is transformed for the time under
the influence of the temporary illusion.
irto a great sacred concert hall in which
there are no barred doors. iron cages Or
grated cells, and where every one seems
free to come and go without restraint
This transformation occurs every Sunday
afternoon when a song service conducted
under the auspices of the Epworth League
of Wesley NJ. E. Church is held in the
rotunda of the jail, beginning at about B
O'Clock. During the past ten years the
young peoples organization of this Meth
odist church has had charge of a Sunday
afternoon service for the prisoners at the
jail The committee in immediate charge
of the service consists of Mr.. Frank L.
Woodward who secures speakers for short
addresses; Miss Fowler, who officiates at
the organ, and Mr.. D. D. Lore, who leads
I, I, oet.1 Ixr,,th c,~1n, off
Shortly before o'clock last Sunday
afternoon the neutrality-suspicious. 500
in number-were let out Of their individual
cells and permitted to seat themselves OH
the steps and platforms in the Iron cages
that extend from the floor to the ceiling
on the north and south sides of the ro-
tunda. Then at about the hour to begin
the service the outer doors of the jail were
opened and the two hundred or more visit
ors to the service were admitted to seats
in the body of the rotunda. Song books
were passed out among the prisoners and
visitors, the organist took her place at the
instrument and the first song was an
nounced.
The visitor to the jail for the first time
no doubt felt an interest mingled with
curiosity in the unique service. On either
side of the visitors the great Steel-Wlre
ca ges stood loaded with human beings rest
ing in tiers on the stairways. There We're
more than 800 colored men and about 1OO
whites in the two cages, while in the rear
were about seventy white and colored
women.
AS the organ struck into the first strain
of the hymn and the leader gave the signal
for the singing a great volume of melody
suddenly, but gently, broke from the two
cages which fanked the visitors, and grad
ually swelling to a crescendo In response
to the baton of the leader. finally burst into
a great flood of music. and sweeping
through the rotunda awakened every echo,
which in turn took up the harmony and re-
peated it back again, to the surprised but
delighted ears of the listeners
Softly at first those prisoners sang:
"Would You Be Free From Your Burden
of Sin?" and then. with gradually increas-
ing volume There's Power in the Blood
of the Lamb Each part in the harmony
was represented in the powerful chord.
The owner of the high, clear tenor voice
on the right which sounded so sweetly
above the volume of sound. was serving
time for stealing. The low bass on the
opposite side, whose rich, mellow voice vi
brated like some low note in great pipe
organ was probably serving sentence for
assaulting some person with dangerous
wea pom or for housebreaking. But what
ever their crimes, they were all singing. not
with voices highly cultivated, but they were
music of their souls. causing a tremor
about the heart of the visitor who respond