Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1917-03-02
Delivers Splendid Address at
Chamber of Commerce
Meeting Last Night
MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN
Closes With l47 New Mem
bers Added. DR.. Hills
Team Wins Contest

The meeting of the Chamber of
Commerce at the Hotel Washington
last evening was the largest as we'll
as the most entertaining gathering of
the Chamber held in several years,
and was fitting close to the very
successful membership campaign, a
campaign that has made the Chamber
the truly representative organization
it should be to become the community
builder it is intended to be.
After calling the meeting to order,
President Bruener had Secretary Nor
ris read report of the doings of the
executive committee since the annual
meeting in January. The report show
ed commendable activity on the part
of the committee and a satisfactory
condition of the finances.
w. c. Mumaw, chairman of the
membership committee reported the
capaign most successful, and that the
only puzzle he had was to discover
why the two ministerial leaders of the
contest had not attended the theater
Wednesday night.
Rev. Simpson, being called upon to
account for the defeat of his side by
that OF DR.. Hill, took the defeat in a
humorous vein, saying he was inclined
to doubt the announced result and
might demand recount. To which
Rev. Hill replied that Brother Simp-
son should have known that the sue
cess of his side was predestined and
could not have been overcome.
President Bruener followed with an
interesting talk on the enlarged Cham
ber and the splendid opportunities
now within the grasp Of Aberdeen,
and was heartily applauded when he
announced that the thru shipyard and
large paper and pulp mill were not
dead, but will without doubt mate
rialize.
Bishop Hughes, Of Portland, the
principal speaker of the evening, was
introduced and delivered an address
which was frequently interrupted by
applause, and which held the audi
ence spellbound for an hour. Bishop
Hughes is finished orator without
flourish or flights of oratory, who,
while occasionally illustrating his talk
with appropriate anecdotes, never lost
sight of the message he sought to
convey.
He took Tor ms tneme, 'Ine COM
munity Value of Religion" saying the
three bases of our civilization were, in
the order named, the home, the state
and religion and this thought stood
out in the entire address. The mis-
take reformors make. said the bishop,
is that they fail to deal with individ-
uals and ignore the fact that no
organization of society is better than
its membership, and that in attempt
ing TO dsai with humanity in the lump
they were trying to abolish effects in
stead OF the causes.
Dwelling upon the responsibility of
the individual to society, he directed
attention to the tendency of recent
years which leads men of personal
ginning of a system of responsibility
behind a corporate existence, citing
the argument of Daniel Webster in the
Dartmouth college case as the be-
ginning of a system of responsibility
that has become a menace to the
future OF the nation.
Space is too limited to give justice
to this excellent address, which would
require it's reproduction verbatim, but
that it met with warm response in
the minds of the gathering was evi-
denced by the ovation rendered the
bishop at its close, which was en-
phasized by his implied promise to
meet the citizens of Aberdeen upon
a future occasion.
Rev. T. II. Simpson and his helpers
paid for the theater tickets to The
Blue Paradise" at the Grand Wednes-
day night following the loss of the
membership contest. Rev. Z. NJ. Hill,
of the Methodist church and his as
sistants were the winners. The con-
test for new members closed Wednes-
day night with the Hill team scoring
50 new applications and the Simpson
team 65, total of 147 new members.
At the outset, Rev. Sipson, who is
nothing if he is not an optimist, said
the team headed by Rev. Hill would
find it difficult to win but the in
trepid preacher was doomed to defeat.
The contest waxed warmer as the
days went by and each of the pastors
gained the lead at various times. But
late Wednesday afternoon it became
apparent that Rev. Hills team had
won the contest and the losers cheer
fully paid for the theater party.