Evening star., 1943-05-23
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star

Fifty years ago the Presbyterian Gen.
eral Assembly was in convention at
Washington and,
TrioI Of while there was
Non -Conformist much other busi-
ness to transact,
public interest was centered almost en-
tirely on the ecclesiastical trial of Prof.
Charles Augustus Briggs for heresy. The
year before he had been tried on this
charge by the Presbytery of New York
and acquitted. An appeal, however, was
taken by the prosecution to the General
Assembly in Washington. "Dr. Briggs
Speaks" announced The Star of May
Is, 1893. "Dr. Briggs said-the Presby-
terry of New York, the largest in the
church, after long and patient con-
sideration of the merits of the case, gave
verdict of acquittal. Would the Gen.
erai Assembly be willing to give the same
amount of time and the same degree of
patience to the consideration of the
merits Of the case if the appeal should
be entertained" Briefly, DR.. Briggs had
expressed the opinion that the Bible
"e1o iiOO ILL o11lDiC, buU SUllIdlIlGu tIIOIS
of fact and doctrine. The Washington
trial was dramatic, but DR.. Briggs lost.
Some time after his conviction he took
orders in the Episcopal church and re-
mained clergyman in that faith until
his death in 1913
Social Washington was concerned with
the presence of royalty, the Princess In
fanta Eulalie of Spain.
Visiting Although our relations
lnfonto with Spain were none too
cordial at the time, this
had no effect on the warmth of greet
ing for the princess. The Star of May
%, 1893, said: Tonight the Infanta
Eulalie and Prince Antoine will
dine at the White House at o'clock.
There will be covers laid for SO guests.
Today the mansion was closed to sight
seers, as the florists were busy decorat-
ing the rooms. :" = Tomorrow morning
at ii o'clock the royal party will set
sail for Mount Vernon. The royal yachts
IN these waters at present not being con-
sidered just suitable for the entertain
ment of the princess, the Manchester has
been chosen. The party will consist of
about so persons, the cabinet and their
ladies, the members of the Spanish
Legation and the foreign ambassadors"
There was trouble in Nicaragua. The
Star of May %, 1893, explained: What
is believed will be
Central American the decisive battle
Disturbance OF the revolution
against the author
ity of President Sacaza has been opened.
The revolutionists are enthusiastic.
They believe the engagement now In
progress will result favorably to their
cause and hope it will be the decisive
battle of the movement to overthrow
Sacaza"
Tucked away in a corner of The Star
OF May %, 1893, was a small item whose
significance was entirely
OIL Burning unknown at the time, no
Ship guess being hazarded
that it would revolution
ize navies and ocean traffic: "The
steamship James Brand, the largest steel
tanker aaoat, arrived here Philadel-
phia) yesterday from Dartmouth, after
a passage of 16 days. The voyage
demonstrated that petroleum fuel for
steamships can be used. For the first
three days the Brand generated steam
through the burning of petroleum, and
the undertaking worked satisfactorily
until the supply was exhausted.
Coal was used during the balance Of the
trip. The Brand is the first trans-At-
lantic vessel to make the experiment"
Peary came into the news via an &C
count in The Star of May %, 1898:
plans for 1t. Robert E. Peary's next
Arctic expedition are nearly complete.
Writing = = to friends from st. Johns,
Newfoundland, where he is now making
his final arrangements, the lieutenant
says the sailing steamer Falcon will be
ready to sail by June 15"
in the service. George McAfee made a
national reputation at Duke University
and with the Chicaco Pears nc ma ~