The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-09-17
WOMEN LAY BRICKS.
 BUILDING CHURCH
Jersey City Sect Determined the Edifice Shall Pc Erected
 With Their Own Hands
THE MEN GARRY THE HODS
Foundation and First Floor Finished and Two More Stories Are
 to Go Up.

New York. Sept 17.-Ha1f a dozen
 women, their aprons bespattered with
 mortar, and trowels in their hands, labored beside about a dozen men, by lantern and torchIight last night. in
 building the first floor of church on Wayne street near Baldwin avenue,
 Jersey City Heights. Faithfully the
 men, each carrying his load of mortar
 or bricks. toiled up the short ladders that led from the street; and faith
 fully, by the light of the f1aring and 1aboriously p1astered them into place. When a line of one bricks thickness was successfully laid along one wall they rested for only a mo- ''G1ory bei'
 A surprised policeman who happened upon them in the midst of their la bors was told that the work had been going on there for some time, and that the bricks and mortar, laid thus upon
 woman suffrage or equal right basis. l would ultimately be the new Apostolic Church, whose congregation of about 300 members have hitherto been hold ing their worship in meeting rooms just adjoining the present site
 < The congregation, he was told, was determined that this should be. liter ally. their own church, and so had de- cided to build it. brick by brick, them selves. Incidentally, he was told this would be most economical, as the work would be given quite free, and the
 building grow in exact proportion to
 the funds in hand to buy material. Those engaged in the work would not tell anything about themselves.
 They merely said they were a sect
 that believed in taking all the old Bi- ble doctrines literally. In charge of l the work of construction was Mps. Sarah B. Earle, pastor of the congTe- gation. Among the other women, it was said were five sisters, and an- daughter of a Confederate Colonel. All of them wore dark suits of, heavy I material literally sprinkled with lime and mortar.
 Mrs. Earle. finally explained that they were going to build a three-story i structure on the lot, 67 feet long and | 36 feet wide. It would have a base | ment, an auditorium on the second, l and meeting rooms on the third floor. l She said the original impetus had been 1 given to her few years ago When altogether, without solicitation on <her part, small contributions began to pour l in upon her, without any suggestion as to what should be done with them. IShe saved them until she had $7O0, | and then preached to the congregation the plan of building new church. It took at once. i foundation, feeling that unless real masons should build this important groundwork, they would labor in vain who built it. Finally, she said, some member of the congregation who was in the building trade volunteered to 1 look after the foundations. There after another member of the congre- gation who was a bricklayer gave in- structiohs to the rest in the gentle art of laying bricks, and after nightly re- hearsals they were able to lay the
 bricks, men and women alike. to suit the most exacting boss. The head | brick1ayer of the congregation, it was said, was John Lutz. - The members took part in the work. in relays of eighteen or twenty persons
 Last night the first floor of the new building was almost completed before the men, laid aside their hods and the women their trowels and aprons. All looked tired and ready for sound sleep.
 They said however, that the work would be pushed steadily as fast as
 the material for building could be pur- chased