The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1907-10-11
The MeddLer
III The eoaf jIis yoa, pm IL on. l"

III me c0af JUS YOU PW W oH'
Much has been written of late in
discussion of the experiences of the
Young woman who visited all the prin'
cipnl churches in New York and Bos'
ton and was given the glad hand in
only a very few of them. The met
dents in her pilgrimage were pr tied
in a popular magazine together with
list of the churches in which she re,
ccived a cordial welcome aud those
where no one greeted her, A young
man who recently came to Brattleboro
had an experience Sunday evening
/ with a church whore cordiality flour
ishes. In company with young WON
an with whom he was only slightly
| acquainted he went TO the evening
service. As the couple were leaving
/ the church at the close of the meet
/ ing an enthusiastic individual (presum'
ably an usher or deacOn) bubbling
over with cordiality rushed up TO the
young man and graspcd him by the
/ hand. CDR. H. said he, 81 m very
glad to see you with us this evening
and Mrs. H, too; | hope you will be
come regular attendants. And then
the couple were introduced to at least
dozen people ms DIR, and Mrs. H
/ and invited to come again, etc, until
/ the new man in town began to won
der if he really had been given a de-
gree of NJ D., and if il were possible
that he had been married without
knowing it.
This incident illustrates the other
side of the question about which there
has been so much discussion in the
newspapers lately. Churches that dis
play Strangers Are. Welcome signs near
/ their doors should not be condemned
because every stranger who attends
service is not given half.dozen hand
shakes. asked to "become one of us ~
and informed that a baked-bean sup.
per will be served in the vestry We'd
ncsday evening Many people, and
l The Mcddler is one Of that class,
would never think of going to church
if they thought they could not escape
at the close of the service without run.
ming a "howdy do " gauntlet equal to
that of a high school reception. When
people are anxious TO become identified
with the social life of a church it is
easy enough for them TO do so by sim
ply expressing their wish to some
member of the congregation. 1t
should likewise he possible for a per
son to attend church solely for spirit.
ual worship without having to he
welcomed.
While on the subject of churches
and religion The Medder is again re
minded of that terrible tale about the
reverend and the sandwiches, and
thought on this recalls another story
which bears the first some similarity.
\ BrattlehOrO man was travelling
homeward on the train from the south
the other day and was passing the
time by reading newspaper. The
seat beside him was soon taken by an
individual enjoying the inspiration
which is said to come from frequently
repeated draughts of spirituous liquor.
At length the Brattleboro man tired
of his paper and laid it in his lap,
whcrcupon his neighbor (like the hun
CRY man in the other story said
"Mister, if you are through with
that paper Ia like it myself. | tried
to buy one at the station but
couldn t. The Brattleboro man al
lowed that he didn want the paper
any longer and assured his ncighbor
that no money was needed to bind
the transaction. After protesting for
"A while for not being allowed to buy
the journal the stranger picked it up
and began to read. His conscience,
however, appeared to trouble him for
after few minutes he looked up and
said, "AIister, / don't feel right
about taking this paper, honestly |
don t. Won t yer take this nickel?'
Again the Brattlcboro man assured
his seat-mate that he didn t want any
money and the assurance had quiet
ing effect. But it was only tempo
rarv The man with the paper laid it
in his neighbor S lap and said sol
cmnlv, "Mister. We been thinkin it
over aud We decided that ! can t
take this paper unless you let me pay
for il. - This was about all the Brat
tleborO man could stand. Throwing
the newspaper to the floor of the car
he said in decided tones, ~ want You
to understand that | am absolutely
through with that newspaper. If you
want it you can have it by picking it
up but I'm telling You for the last
time that you cant buy it, This
seemed to SATISFY the man with con
science for he was soon lost in the
sporting page and the man from Brat
tleboro was allowed TO finish his jour
ney in peace.
~ never had much use for Brattle
boro," said man in the northern
part of the county the other day. ~
always thought it was a dead town
fast asleep, moth-eaten, rusty, behind
the times. But I honestly believe it,
is waking up. | was down there only
the other day and the first thing | no
ticed as I came up from the station
was a great big handsome sign-board
telling about the opportunities for
manufacturing that will be offered by
the new dam and its cheap power. [
tell you there S nothing like advertis-
ing" This, of course, is the opinion
of only one man and likely to be
biased at that, but The Meddler tells
of it for the special benefit of those
who are inclined to ask about the
aesthetic merits of the big board