The Greeneville daily sun. (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1918-1920, 1919-06-20
Methodists Open
Great Exposition

COLUMBUS, OHlO, June 20
(By United Press. This was tn,
! opening day of the Methodist Cen
{ tenary celebration, Until July i;
J the gates of the exposition ground,
will remain open to welcome the host,
of Methodism and their friends. Il
is regarded as the most ambition,
demonstration of missionary effort in
, home and foreign fields ever attempt.
ed. With pageantry, with music
with life plays representing the daily
existence of strange peoples in far
away lands, with replicas of far-off
communities and with innumerable
features and exhibits, the Centenary
Celebration emphasizes the one hun
dredth anniversary of the Methodist
church,s entry into the missiop field
| 1t is an all-American exposition,
The Methodist church and the Meth
odlst church, South, have Joined in
demonstration of the strength of
their denomination. Eight exhibit
buildings houss>the exhibits and life
plays. In the Coliseum, seating $500
persons, the pageant, "The Way-
farer,' is to be presented nightly, ex-
cepting Sunday, while a children's
pageant, "The Ohildren's Crusade" /"
is to be presented two afternoons
each week.
Seventeen thousand participants
have been enlisted to make this gath
ering a success. A choir of 1000
voices has been drilled for the page
ant, THE Wayfarer," which has also
an orchestra of seventy-fve pieces,
and the aid of the $685. pipe organ,
especially constructed. The chill
dren's pageant has duplicate choruses
of 500 voices each In addition there
is the Centenary Celebration from
bone choir of 100 trombones, the
only organization of it's kind in ex-
istence.
Noted men of this and other coun-
tries have been invited to participatef
and acceptances have been received
from Josephus Daniels, secretary of
The navy; William h. Taft, William
}. Bryan and Major-General Leonard
Wood. Eminent men of the Meth
odist church have signifed their in
'entions of participating.
The various exhibition buildings
ire assigned to nations having prom
nence in the mission field. The
China building encloses a walled Chi
lese city complete in all details, with t
emples, pagodas, restaurants and c
gathering places. The African build S
ng contains thatched Jungle huts and 9
he masonry structures of North At /
ica, remnants of Roman civilization. '
The India building contains the S
'azaars, shrines, burning CHATS and
'ther pertinent features of the mystic
empire. The Korea-Japan- Malaysia 7
encloses tea houses, temples, a
sland huts and industries The !
America building pre- v
ents bits of war-wrecked France and t
'elgium, shell-shattered cathedrals
nd an accurate replica of the t
hateau-Thierry battle ground. F
Everything in. the home mission \
eld is represented in the twin Amer Il
'an buildings. In the insular Amer n
AN building are found replicas of Il
lie dwellings of those Americans liv-
lg in Hawaii, Porto Rico and the Ii
o
The largest screen in the world. a
'read of white, 10 by 10 feet has p
cen erected for the exhibition of a c;
'eat series of pictures from all over m
e world, culled from the collections in
missionaries. Sc
A special corps of youths, the Cen m
nary Cadets, one thousand strong, ia
as recruited to guard the grounds re
I'd act as guides and messengers. tn
nearly as possible, one cadet was
avn from each church district in
e United States, forming a unique pa
urch cadet body.
The Centenary Celebration was de
ened under the auspices of the mt
int commission of the Methodist -
urch and the Methodist church.
nth, of which w. w. Pinson is roi
airman. S. Earl Taylor is director me
neral of the Celebration, with DR.. me
mes E. Crowther as his assistant. va
B. Beauchamp is associate direc- an
general, while the organizing On
rk was done by H. B. Dickson. no