Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-11
A SUNDAY EVENING CLUB.
Success of Chicago's Institution to
Leaven the Loop District.

from the Chicago Record Herald.
A figure wearing long black mustache
and attired in heavy leather boots and a
big sombrero hat appeared in the lobby
of Orchestra Hall shortly after o'clock
one Sunday evening last spring. Too
late said an usher, as the stranger was
about to enter the auditorium. Sorry,
but there's not a seat In the house: we've
turned away 200 people here tonight.
The man removed the sombrero and gave
the black mustache a tug. ''Son, you
don't mean to tell me l can't go in? Why.
I've come all the way from Montana I
see this ere SHOW And so he hal.
This COW puncher from western Mon
tana had heard of the Chicago Sunday
Evening Club and had resolved that thu
next time he took a trip from home he
would come up here and see for himself
whether stories told ly fellow-pla. nsmen
were true. Nor was has trip. futile, for
something in the singular plea appealed
to the usher, who. seeking out President
Clifford w. Barnes, arranged for the
ranchman seat down in the front row.
But the man from Montana was not the
only Chicago visitor who sat enrapturei
With the music and listened to the sermon
that was preached that evening. Through
out the house were men and women from
almost every state in the Union, and
others whose homes were in the various
countries of Europe. Some were wealthy.
others not; some wore costly garments,
others did not: but all were inteI ested
spectators and all, like the ranchman, had
heard of the fame of the Cnicaso Sunday
Evening Club, and, in passing through
Chicago, grasped the opportunity, as had
the cowboy. of seeing and hearing for
themselves.
When the Sunday Evening Club was or
ganized. February Is, 1905, and Orchestra
Hail leased for the remainder of the sea-
son. ii was feared that the hall would be
too big. Those who favored a smaller
place of meeting pointed out that most
religious organizations have difficulty in
filing their churches Sunday evenings,
and that the empty pews had become a
big problem with clergymen Of many de-
nominations. But Orchestra Hail. with
its seating capacity of 1900. finally was
chosen, and since the initial service the
place many times has been filled to over
flowing. In fact, the club long since has
standing the addition of 800 seats. which
were provided by banking the stage, and
now IL is planned to find, ii possible, a
larger place of meeting
The basic idea of the club is to furnish
a religious center in downtown Chicago
to counteract various baneful Sunday
night influences at the loop. Acting on
the theory that there are in the down.
town district every Sunday evening some
5000 men and women. including strangers
at the hotels, transfers. in the boarding
house districts and young men and wom-
en- who make a practice of going down
town lust to wander about" promoters
Of the club devised program, the at
Effectiveness of which would bring thou
sands to a Sunday evening church serv-
Ice. The assistance of the most talented
musicals was enlisted, and speakers of
national and International fame were Sc
cured. To reach this class of people for
which the club is searching, framed in
vifatfnnR have hnan ptaco6 hnfoiS
rounding Chicago for a distance of fifty
miles. Three hundred railway stations
also have been supplied with these no.
tees, while the invitations in local hotels
and boarding houses are supplemented
by weekly postal card notices. The re-
suit has been that men from Maine to
California have introduced themselves to
ushers.