The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-01-12
OF INTEREST TO
 CHURCH WORKERS
Religious Me.Ds of
 Montgomery

London, Jan. 11.-(Special )--It is last becoming a Herculean task to pre- serve the splendid church structures tnat dot old England. Time has been good to them considering their age, but the hour of decrepitude has came at last. The tottering towers and the leaning walls with the rotting beams all tell the story of the inexora ble work of time.
 Their passing, however. is not to be allowed without a struggle. Those who have watched them for years feel that the aid of the architect and the builder may yet save them for sev- eral seneratLons. It will take money to do 1t, but the generous public is depended upon to have sufficient rev erence Tor these patriarchs of religion to be willing to save them. Appeals are coming from all parts of the United Kingdom for this or that venerable relic Of the early days of the church the days when churches were fort resses and the priest as much of a warrior as he was a man of God.
 It Is a long list now that seeks the aims Of the people to save them from crumbling death, from being left to the mercy of the winds and the weath- CT, and finally in the last extremity. to furnish fuel for the poor. The calls come from no one section in particu- lar. Selby. Croyland Shrewsbury and Glastonbury Abbeys, all widely sepa- rated. are demanding recognition. Pe- terborough and Westminster Cathe- drals are in need of funds for their restoration and preservation. St Mary's Church and the Cistercian Church of Abbey Dore call for their snare in the general scheme of re- building.
 Large Restoration Funds.
 The amount subscribed toward the restoration of sacred buildings during the last twelve months has been re- ally remarkable. It is announced that the total funds provided for the res- toration of Selby Abbey now amount to $lS5,OO0. The Gloucester Restora- ton Fund already totals more than half the required amount, over s30,00O having been subscribed up to the pres ent. Then there Is the fund for the purchase of Glastonbury Abbey, to which the subscriptions and promises exceed $105.oo0.
 In nearly every case age has brought about this present necessity for action In the case of Selby Abbey, however It was the fire of year ago that laid low this famous structure and left it only hollow mockery of it's once stately beauty, So generous has been the response for money for the repair OA eHC eDoCy LHdL LHe I1AJOT portion or the building is now open again, the work thus far having cost about S225,- 900, though with the reopening of the famous nave the work is only half done. The restoration has been splen- did. An old drawing was found that gave the architects the details, and the faults of the old church were cas- fly remedied as the work progressed The poor foundation for the tower has been strengthened and the plan now Is to carry 1t to the height ordinarily intended. The old builders, headed by Benedict of Auxerre. in laying the foun- dations of their beautiful monastery, did not trouble to dig down to the clay bed for their foundations, but stopped at a seam of sand lying only two or three feet above the clay.
 On this unstable base they laid huge