Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-09-11
Ministers of General Council Prove
Clergy Can Enforce Order and
Apply System.
DIR. sCHMATk IS MOVING FACTOR
One Of the Most Interesting Charac-
tiers Among Many Unusually In
teresting Men.
BY REV. {. +. RYDEN.

In North America, now in convention
+ in the two cities Il doesn't require
/ much time TO discover that the con
vention moves in a very precise and
orderly manner. with that master par
humanitarian, Dr. Theodore E
] Scbmauk. president of the council, at
( the helm.
DIR. Schmauk is easily the dominat-
ing figure il the convention. And this,
f by the way. is quite a distinction. for
4 in a general council convention there
are so many lights Of national impoF-
/ lance that one must be a star of the
/ first magnitude in order to do any
shining above the rest. Not only does
/ the convention see assembled some of
the foremost ecclesfastfcs and church
men Of the country. but there is also
( such an array of laymen as is seldom
seen in a religious convention, There
/ is even a generous sprinkling of the
far-famed Philadelphia lawyers" not
to mention a score of prominent bus
mess men, noted savants. and large
number Of men who have gained ma
uonaI renown as philanthropic work
/ ers
Does Not Procrastinate.
When business threatens to lag. Or
| Schmauk warns mp. Procrastinatton
is thing Intolerable to him. When
/ the debate threatens to go beyond
/ conventional rules, he generally
throws oil on the troubled waters by
/ injecting some of his ever-ready hui
NOR. And he is quite a humorist
Like all other really big men, he is
also gifted with observation-disclosures
I 'Tis said that in the midst of the rain
storm yesterday. he raised his cane
/ very carefully over his head. thinking
it was his umbrella Another story
( which is going the rounds In the con
vention has it that DR. Schmauk was
7 compelled to change hotels because OF
/ his Observation-Disclosures At first, so it
is said, he put up at the Manufactur-
ers' hotel in Moline But friends,
. fearing the good doctor might prove
a victim of MoIine's dangerous grade
. crossings. had him transfer his head
quarters 10 Rock Island.
One Of DR.. Scbmauk's chief aver
sions is to see his picture in print
He is not particularly a handsome
man. which may have something to do
with it, The picture published in
this paper on Thursday is said TO have
been the first ever published in a
newspaper It's said it was secured
from the catalogue of Mt Airy sem
mary. where DR.. schmauk is pro
fassor.
One OF the other really interesting
men Of the convention is DR.. J. A. ".
Haas. president of Muhlenburg col
Ieee. and also head Of the Pennsyl-
vaaia ministerium. In contrast with
Dr. Schmauk. who is giant in stat
ure. Dr. Haas is very dtminurive-
However. he has big mind, big
heart. and ne is mighty in battle. Al
ways sitting on the first bench Of the
convention. just beneath the great
Schmauk. he participates uninterrupt-
eddy in the proceedings Schmauk
seems to take special delight in
making the dimiuutive Haas the butt
of some of his choicest witticismsr
rhereupou Haas slips a little lower
into his seat and beams with delight
upon the giant towering above him.
DIR. Berkemeier Well Known.
Dr. G. c. Berkemeier, the German
secretary, is perhaps the best known
man engaged in charitable work in
this country. He is the house father
of the Wartburg orphanage at Mount
Vernon, n. Y, the largest institution
of it's kind owned by Lutherans in
America 1t consists of is buildings, /
nearly all of them memorial struc- (
lures. The institution last year was
offered a million dollars for its prop +
erty by a real estate agent Of New /
York who desired TO exploit it for
suburban property. The offer was re
fused The urphanage had its begin /
ming years ago when a certain father !
planned to erect a monument costing
$50. 900 10 his son who had been kill
ed in the Civil war His Lutheran pas +
tor persuaded him instead TO erect +
an orphanage memorial to his son, /
and the foundations we're laid for +
Wartburg.
Rev. Berkemeier is probably the +
leading wit of the general council. /
W BeE anyone ASKS where +ltuIL ' RI (
non is located, he receives the SUR
prised rejoinder:
why. don't YOU know2 It's next to .
the largest city in the country"
The three veterans on the floor Of
the convention are DR.. H. ". Roth Of /
GreenviIIe. Pa, Dr. Il " NechIing
and DR.. E. Belfour. Dr. Roth. a pa
triarch with white. flowing beard, was
one Of the organizers Of the general +
council. and its first secretary He
has attended nearly every session
since that time, and still takes a keen /
part in every discussion. Or. Mech +
ling not only attended the preliminary i
meetings OF the council, but has been
O. delegate to every convention since
that time. with one exception. He has
served a number Of years as secre-
tarv, and has always been a member
Of the more important committees
DR.. BeIfour, who is past 50 years, has i
been at almost all the conventions. i
He is Dane. who for 30 years has I
been IN English Lutheran work He
is now pastor Of Memorial English