The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1912-05-30
meeting HELD BY
: new YORK QUAkERS
MATTERS of Practical Nature
Take Up Time of the
Conference.
palladium Specially


NEW YORK. May 3O.-To come sud-
denly from the yammer of Third ave-
nue. with its foreign bearded faces, it's
Thousand doors and noises into the quiz
ct of the brick street the New York
Society of Friends was holding its
yearly meeting was a relief to tired
senses But it was something of
| shock to hear from the clerks desk
the clear voice of woman proclaim
hing:
1.-THE electric lighting plant has been
bextended to the third floor
1t was not a place where one ex-
pected to hear of electric lighting and
similar tokens of modernity. Those
who went to the Quaker meeting to
hear the "thees" and "thous" and see
quaint bonnets were disappointed, for
yesterdays meeting was a business
meeting and there was reading of re-
lports and taking of minutes and dis
persing of funds all done in the most
businesslike fashion.
| But for lovers of the colorful there
was the meeting house itself, whose
red bricks and high prim windows
were brushed by the branches of the
big trees in Stuyvesant place. Inside
all was sunlight playing across the
/ high backed yellow pews that swept
UP to the banked seats in front. On
the right beneath the clerks desk
arched by the sounding board, without
one bit of decoration to break the sew
Gritty Of its curve, sat seven elderly
women But two of these wore the
Quaker bonnet and brown shawls.
These women were the visiting minis
ters and across from them sat their
men colleagues. They looked down on
a congregation whose women wore the
tgayest Of up-to-date flower sprent hats.
There were few young men in the con-
gregation. but plenty Of Quaker girls
tot delight the eye.
Golden-Haired Quaker.
A very small Quaker indeed whose
tangled gold hair was Just visible
above the pew back sat stiff and
straight through all the long meeting
lnodding her head in solemn approval
OF the reports of overseers and COM
mittees.
When the epistle from the Balti-
more yearly meeting was read there
was started a discussion interesting
as an indication of change in the old
customs.
The Southern Friends told of the
work that was being done among the
Indians and then urged that this work
for "our old time wards" be kept up.
But it was when they reported on
their new manual that the older men
all over the house got to their feet in
protest for the most part. The Balti-
moreans have gotten up manual of
Bible verses and quotations from the
Friends. To those who are accus-
toned to the "silent service" at flu,
nerals this came as surprise, and the
elders protested, some of them, that
this was too violent break.
La Verne F. Gardner spoke of what
seemed to him almost heartlessness
on the part of the paid minister at the
funerals of those of other sects. and
he was joined by a minister who de-
MED the necessity of any formula at a
funeral
Finally 1t was decided that no def
mite action on this new manual need
be taken by the New York Society
From Baltimore too came the sug
gestion that the meeting hauses be
made more attractive. so that there
the young people might find social
icenters And in this same epistle ii
was remarked that the yearly meet
ing came fortunately at time of po
litical activity, so that the Friends
might use their influence at the polls