Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1906-02-15

These words plunged my Iatner anu
me into great confusion Of mind. 1t
Is true they were spoken by one who
knew little or nothing Of the circum-
stances of the Rev. Mr.. Fuller-who
indeed had never SO much as heard OF
that gentleman until an hour before
but their effect was none the less dis.
astrous. My father coughed, I choked,
and aunt Gertrude asked me to obliSe
her by passing the water.
II suppose the collections in a place
like this are very trifling," said uncle
Sam.
1--WE collected fS last Harvest
Thanksgiving" answered the Rector.
"What became Of the money" asked
my uncle.
"All our collections are given away
in charity. The fS Of which I spoke
the largest collection Of the year-was
paid over to the Royal Agricultural
Benevolent Society"
"Oh, I see," said uncle Sam. "Now
this matter of collections In churches
Is one of the many things which we
manage better on the other side #
the Atlantic. I am not thinking of
Holdenhurst, for of course there Is
no money here to collect anyway; l
am thinking Of New York and London.
Why, I remember when 1 was a boy
in England In some churches the col
lecting boxes were fixtures Mt each
side of the door! Could anything have
been more absurd? Any effect which
the eloquent begging of the preacher
had produced died away like the men,
ory of dream as one walked along
the aisles, and the posts supporting
the money-boXes were passed as heed
lessly as the lamp-posts In the street.
After that If remember rightly, the
plan was to place 4 plateholder Mt
each side of the door. This was better;
but the plan had two glaring defects:
nothing was easier than for the people
in the middle Of the stream of pass.
ers-out to affect not to see the plates,
neither was there any check on the
VI tilC pluic hC iN ~
plan to be adopted, which recollcct.
was the passing of bag in front Of
each person present In church. This
plan, though an improvement, was not
without serious defect. A penny,
sliillfully dropped into the bag. chinked
as loudly as balf-a-crown or Il SOW
crci.A. and produced as good an effect
upon the other occupants OF pew
as would have been produced by one
or other of the more valuable coins.
After Il while plates were substituted
for bags, only partly removing this
objection; and this. think, is as far
as you have got in England"
How are collections taken in Amer
icdn churches" inquired Mr. Fuller,
with evident interest
"By the envelope system. Two dea-
carrying Il tray full of envelopes and
a pencil; the second an empty tray.
Each contributor places his contribu-
tion in an envelope, seals it, and writes
ber two collects the filed envelopes,
and at the next service the name of
each contributor, and the amount of
his contribution is publicly announced,
the giver of the largest amount first;
and so on. When there are several
persons who give a like amount, their
names are announced in alphabetical
order. 1t is a perfect plan, and have
unqualified admiration for the man
who conceived it--he read human ma
ture well. 1t meets all requirements,
and nothing in it can be objected to.
The man who wants to advertise him.
self Is invited, as it were, to assist the
Church equally with the simple-mind.
cd giver-fOr assume that the motive
for giving signifies nothing SO long as
the dollars are scooped. Fraud Is
checkmated, and it is impossible to
eXaggerate the Importance of that;
for surely no one will so abuse his
intelligence as to deny that in every
congregation Ananias and Barabbas
find more imitators than any other
Biblical characters
There is certainly q great deal of
villainy in the world" confessed Mr..
Fuller sadly.
You would say so with greater EN-.
ph2siS If YOU were Il member OF the
Stock Exchange" said uncle Sam.
At this stage my father made COM
mendable but not very successful ef-
fort to change the subject of conver.
satlon. Aunt Gertrude sat silent and
neglected, and everybody in the room
except uncle Sam appeared i'll at ease.
AS for myself, was desperately I'M
comfortable, and desired nothing SO
much as the termination of this men,
orable meal. My uncle, knew,
would not prolong it by one minute
that was not one of his faults-but
the Rev. Mr.. Fuller, who was a mira
Gle of slowness, had to be reckoned
with; and that gentleman ate as leis.
urely as he talked, which is saying
great deal. After some skilfui fenc-
ing my father ut last diverted his
brothers remarks from church affairs
to decimal coinage, Of which monetary
system uncle Sam was n redoubtable
champion; and from that moment un-
til lie rose from the table the guns of
his eloquence played mercilessly upon
what he was pleased to call the alb
surd English chaos of fours, twelyes,
and twenties.
TO be continued.
Wax Matches From England.
The best wax matches used in this
country are imported, and come from
Ennlnnd No otLnn m, NJ, q nt,,nn., IL,