New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-05-09
Breaks Ground at St.
John the Divine
Ceremony.
WHITMAN AND MAYOR
AMONG THE SPEAKERS
Impressive Services Mark Mile
stone in Construction of
Great Edifice.

With impressive ceremony, ground
was broken yesterday afternoon for
the nave of the Cathedral of ST. John
the Divine, on Morningside Heights.
The nave of the cathedral will extend
west from the completed transept,
whose immense round dome is one of
the landmarks of the northern part of
the city, to within eighty feet Of the
curb OF Amsterdam Avenue.
Promptly at 4:30 o'clock a long pro-
cession of choir boys, singing the pro-
/ cessional hymn, followed by Bishop
J David II. Greer, dignitaries and trus-
tees of the Church and by the Gov
ernor and Mayor, filed from the ca
/ thedral TO the grandstand which had
been erected in the field where the
nave will stand. More than two thou
( sand persons were seated in the open
| on three sides of the platform to wit
ness the ceremony and take part in
| the divine service that followed in the
I church itself.
In the centre Of the hag-draped
stand were Bishop Greer. Sufragan
Bishop Burch, Mayor Mitchell and Gov
ernor Whitman, who was attended by
eight of his personal staff in uniform.
After pronouncing the prayer, Bishop
Greer delivered an address on the ca
thedraPs future, in which he ssd
I'VE make this new venture to-day
in the hope that it will be the begin
ming ofsanother great chapter in the
history of this cathedral. When the
nave is finished. we hope that the ca
thedral itself will go on to completion.
D { u. L. -.
destined TO endure, this cathedral will
forever stand. ! speak with conf
dence. because believe that the peo-
pie of this community, having once
put their hands to the work, will see
that IL goes on without fail. What
the cathedral we are building will then
mean TO the people the boldest vision
cannot foresee."
Governor and Mayor Speak.
The Bishop of New York then intro
duced Governor Whitman, who spoke
on the significance which a great com
munity church like the Cathedral Of
St. John the Divine should have for
the people. Mayor Mitchell followed
the Governor with an address on re-
ligious freedom in this country, and
the gain that had been accomplished
by the separation of Church and State.
This cathedral will stand" he said,
for the highest and most promising
element in American civilization"
President Nicholas Murray Butler OF
Columbia gave a brief history OF the
rise of the historic churches in Europe
in past centuries. after the passage
Of all these years" he said, land after
the momentous changes that have so
materially altered the state of clviliza-
ton. we find ourselves on another con-
tinent repeating these significant and
previously enacted scenes of the past.
As the cathedral fabric rises, We shall
slowly see rising into visibility the
fabric Of a peoples soul DR.. Butler
spoke of the vital meaning OF the
presence of the highest representatives
Of the state and city on the ground
where the immense nave of the eathe-
dral will rise.
Bishop Greer Uses the Spade.
Following President Buffers address,
/ Bishop Greer, with the silver spade
made for the purpose, removed the
! first earth from the ground at a spot
| that will be in the exact centre of the
/ future nave of the cathedral, saying
/ al the same moment: 81 break the
/ ground for the nave Of the Cathedral
I Church of St. John the Divine, and
may the Lord bring our undertaking TO
prosperous end"
Following this ceremony the choir
sang the Gloria in Excelss, the Bishop
uttered brief prayer, and, to the
music Of the occasional, the process
sion filed back into the cathedral.
Among those present were Bishop
/ Lawrence Of Massachusetts, Bishop
| Courtney, Mrs. Greer and Miss Greer,
/ the Rev. William Wilkinson, Bishop
Of Wall Street; Justice Arthur r.
Page, II. L. Hobart, Stephen Baker,
IF. +. Baylies, Commodore z. F. Bourne,
George Zabriskie, Haley Fiske, Ralph
| Cram, the architect, who carried the
silver spade, and Lawrence Greer, the
/ Bishops son.