El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-03-01
IS YEARS IN
LORD s WORK
Rev. Mr.. Easter Sees Evolu-
ton From Gambling to
City of Churches.

Thirteen years of service as rector OF
the church OF st. Clement was com
pleted by Rev. Henry Easter this week
His church work here began in the
little frame church on Mesa avenue
where Nations Supply company now
has a big store. He now Freacnss ~, ~
a large gray stone edifice, one On ~
largest and handsomest cnq li J y1l,le5
ings in the city with wen epuiPP0N
parish house adjoining. ....ho-o
From a wide open El Paso, Where
gambling and infamous houses lloHt
ished openly, he mas seen me ~
grow in the IL years 20 one where law
and order predominant over the Ola
order OF things ~, ~. ,,-,,.-,
] came here said rev AZ. M liiafieef
was that II was one Of the dlrllest
places that 1 had ever seem The stteSts
were rough and i'll kept even IN tue
heart Of the business district IheIS
were but one or two stfeels III
the railway track with more man 4
block or two Of continuous sidewalk
Bottles and Cards.
Another thing that attracted my
attention was the number or Droken
bottles and playing cards eVery ,.. ere
q. M & s. A. depot, which is nov.
well kept grass plot was then hid
eous triangle Of sand and mesquite
bushes where all the loose paper ana
urally to grayitate. This seemed 10
he particularly q gathering place for
old cards. for here they always az
tracted my attention. Several packs
Of them seemed to have been streWn
in the neighhorhood every night
Morally Dirty.
"The city was about as dirty NOR
ally as Il was i'll kept Thirteen years
ago were the days of the wide open
gambling and gambling dens and other
III. If nFn my fIOmTfEhon.
Antonio street and FL Paso street well
nigh killed themselves in business
way by too long harboring the most OF
so-ealled sports, who made these
places for women. It was day when
a young man must have in him very
real amount OF moral fiber to stanu
alone.
Few Reputable Men.
ct was quite impressed recently when
n well known banker said that in the
early days Of the Citizens league, the
organization that finally broke up the
gambling. the reputable young men OF
tie town who had been brought up in
El Paso. could be counted on the
fingers Of one hand. This l could cas-
lily believe, as in the early DAYS not
week passed but that some young man
who had been decoyed into some or
the games and had lost all MS own
money and perhaps some that belonged
TO his employer as well. would come
TO my study i'm the little church and
in n flood Of tears would confess his
fault and beg me to guarantee his
board bill or let him have Few dol
lars fcr absolute necessary expenses
until he could hear from home. TOO
often it was the idle sick, who then
came here in very great numbers and
who were roped in by the gambling
sharks and robbed Of their all.
City Of Contrasts
This was only 10 years ago. II IS
hard for people who come to Ell Paso
now and see our clean, orderly, wen
paved city. with it's hundreds Of ster-
ling young men, to realize that so
short a time ago Ell PasO was a plague
spot. with q most unsaYory reputation
as the Monte Carlo Of America We
have outgrown this past now, with
gpeed that fairly takes ones breath
away but the outside world does as
yet not know il.
Advertise the Churches
knowing this / am constantly as
frnfshed that our level headed business
men in their advertisements OF the
city stress so little upon the really
wonderful equipment OF churches ana
schools in the city. We have hardly
been able to keep up with the demand
in supplying schools and churches. The
ton will advertise US in the right
direction. Heretofore we have advertised
chiefly the things that were already
Known or us-now let us tell the best
The growth Of the churches and schools
will tell the story Of the new Ell Paso
and will bring us the kind OF men and
women we want-the men and women
with families to bring up in the care
OF the Lord"