Cortland Evening Standard, Monday,
October 15, 1894.
Trial of
the Cruiser Maine.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 15.—Secretary Herbert issued
today the formal order for the official trial of the machinery of the United States
armored cruiser No. 1, better known as the Maine, in the form of a letter of
instruction to Chief Engineer S. L. P. Ayres, notifying him of his appointment as
president of the board, and Chief Engineers Henry S. Ross and George Cowie as
members, and directing them to assemble at New London, Conn., at 10 a. m.
today. The official trial of the vessel will consist of a run for four
consecutive hours, during which careful observations are to be made for accurately
determining the indicated horsepower developed by the machinery. The contract
requires that the aggregate horsepower of the propelling air pump and the
circulating pump engines shall be 9,000 as the average for the four hours.
Advices
From Hawaii.
VICTORIA, B. C., Oct. 15.—The steamer Arawa
arrived here from Australia and Honolulu bringing Hawaiian advices to Oct. 5. Delegates
to the convention, which is to chose senators and representatives, adopted resolutions
that no one who was not openly in favor of annexation should be elected.
Registration for the election, which will occur Oct. 29, is proceeding
satisfactorily. Nearly 2,000 voters have registered already, which is only 800
less than the number of voters at the last election under royalty. It is
reported that Judge Weidman, one of the Royalist commissioners who is now in
Washington, is going to Germany and England to enlist sympathy for the ex-queen.
Confederate
Monument at Louisville.
LOUISVILLE, Oct. 15.—The cornerstone of the Confederate monument was laid today. The design for the monument is by Miss
Yandell of Louisville. The base is of grey granite, covering a circle of 42
feet, mounted on a column of pink granite, surmounted by a bronze statue of Fame,
the whole to be 75 feet high. It is intended that the dedication shall take place
during the encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic in Louisville next
September.
Female
Aeronaut's Great Ascent.
RUTLAND, Vt., Oct. 15. — Miss Ada Mitchell
ascended 8,000 feet in a balloon here, and after a violent struggle with dangerous
crosscurrents landed on one of the
highest of the Green mountains.
A CHURCH
FLOOR SETTLED AT THE M. E. CONFERENCE.
Chancellor
Day Kept His Head and Quieted the People—A Stone Support had Given Way.
(From the Syracuse Standard, Oct. 15.)
For the brief space of five minutes yesterday
at the First M. E. church in Syracuse an audience of over 1,000 persons experienced
the sensation of expecting to be at any instant overwhelmed in an awful
catastrophe—the collapse of the church in which they had gathered. The only
exit was by two narrow stairways leading around a passage to the basement,
which would have become as terrible a trap as could be conceived. The
cool-headed bravery of one man, Chancellor James B. Day, without question prevented
a dreadful calamity.
Everything went on smoothly during the
opening exercises until Chancellor James B.
Day of the university was half way through his prayer. The people who were
standing up were so closely packed together that they could not even raise
their arms and were rather uncomfortable; but the prospect of hearing the
bishop kept up their patience, and in silence they waited.
By 10 o'clock yesterday morning, every pew
in the First Methodist Episcopal church was filled, and a quarter of an hour
later it was impossible to get into the auditorium. It seemed as though every
Methodist in Syracuse and in all its neighboring towns had come to listen to
Bishop Goodsell's sermon. At 10:30 o'clock, when the service began, chairs had
been placed along the aisles, although this proceeding is contrary to law, and
not only were these additional seats taken, but every inch of standing room was
occupied. The ushers tried in vain to hold back the crowd, but those behind
kept pushing forward and down the aisles almost to the rostrum [and] moved the
phalanxes as solid in their file as prisoners in lock-step.
Suddenly a loud crash was heard. It sounded
to the audience like the breaking of heavy timbers. A moment later a second
dull report sounded. Instantly the audience to a man arose. The people in the
aisles turned and pressed for the doors. The jam at the exit was awful. A moment
more and those who were just outside the main entrance would be pushed over the
stair railing to the floor 12 feet below. A panic had started. It seemed as if
there was about to be a tragedy that would have discounted the catastrophe that
made memorable June 23, 1874, when the balcony of the old Central Baptist
church caved in and so many persons were killed.
Already the floor to the east of the central
part of the edifice had settled three or four inches. The crowd had completely
lost its self possession. Men stood up on the seats and yelled to the people
for God's sake not to make a rush, but no attention was paid to them.
No one in the building got off his knees any
quicker than did Chancellor Day, and when he had come to his feet there was not
a person in the building whose head was clearer.
"God gave you brains to use!"
cried the chancellor. "In the name of common sense make the most of them!
Be calm. If you are quiet all will be well. Let every one stand right where he
is and we will send some one downstairs to investigate. When we find out what
is the matter I will tell you the whole truth regarding it."
Hardly had the speaker stopped when some
excited fellow in the center of the house jumped on to a seat and screamed that
the chancellor was doing wrong in keeping the congregation within the building.
"In the name of humanity, let these people
get out of the building as quickly as possible," he yelled.
Chancellor Day made no response to this
senseless cry, but started to sing "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name,"
and while the audience was singing,
William
Nottingham and Rev. J. B. Kenyon, the pastor of the church, went down stairs to
discover the cause of the sensation.
After the last verse of the hymn, sung by
trembling and quavering voices, had died away, Bishop Goodsell announced that
he would not proceed with his sermon until the entrances were cleared. Slowly
the crowd moved out of the aisles, everybody quivering with excitement.
When the main obstacle to the easy egress of
the audience was removed and the greatest element in the danger from a panic
was eliminated, the bishop made a second declaration. He said that under the
circumstances he would dismiss the meeting until 2:30 o'clock in the afternoon,
when he would deliver his sermon in Crouse college hall. His calm announcement:
"There is no longer any danger, and the audience is asked to pass out as
usual, without any rush," restored the people to their minds. Frederick S.
Schlieder began to play a voluntary on the organ and the church was soon
emptied.
A number of amusing remarks were made by
various members of the audience. A fat woman from Onondaga Valley who weighs at
least 300 pounds and who sat right where the floor had settled the most, was
beard to say: "It's my fault. I should have stayed at home." This was
an actual occurrence. A number of divines were gathered near the door
discussing their readiness to leave this wicked earth, but it was noticed that
these reverend gentlemen were the first persons out of the building.
The real cause of the trouble, which
Architect Noah Dillenbeck, who was in the building at the time at once said, was
that the stone that supported one of the pillars had cracked. It was found later
in the day when the floor in the basement was ripped up that the pressure was
so great that this slab, (for it was not as it should have been, a heavy block
of stone,) had broken into three pieces. In the course of the evening by means
of jacks the old stone was taken out and a solid new one substituted so that
this morning the building is as safe as it ever was.
Indeed had the crowd stayed no further
settling could have resulted and the danger of a frightful panic was the only
one that imperiled the people. The floor would not have given away even under a
much greater pressure.
To the rare presence of mind exhibited by
Chancellor Day and Bishop Goodsell it is due that yesterday did not chronicle
one of the most terrible fatalities that the history of Syracuse would ever
have known.
BREVITIES.
— Rainfall Saturday and Sunday .63.
—An adjourned meeting of the board of
trustees will be held this evening.
—The Chautauqua circle will meet at the
residence of Rev. W. H. Pound, 58 Madison-st., this evening at 7:30 o'clock.
—The Stellae Noctis club will meet at Miss
Cora Darby's at 7:30 o'clock tonight. All members requested to be present.
—The clothing and furnishing goods stores
begin to-night keeping open till 8:30 o'clock. This will be continued till January
1.
—Lincoln lodge will hold a social at the
home of Adolph Frost, Jr., 109 Tompkins-st., on Wednesday evening, Oct. 17. All
temperance friends are invited.
—Mr. Dell Barber had the misfortune to badly
lacerate the palm of his hand by catching it upon a hook on a [train] car which
was being loaded with ice this morning.
—There will be a Christian Endeavor rally on
Wednesday night at the Congregational church to be addressed by Rev. H. P.
Beach of Springfield, Mass., and Rev. W. C. Dodd of Siam.
—The Rev. Hiram Gee of Ithaca has just given
Syracuse university $30,000. Some time ago he gave it $10,000 to establish a
fellowship in painting. Mr. Gee is a native of Cincinnatus.
—The Woman's Relief Corps will hold its
regular meeting to-morrow (Tuesday, Oct, 16), at 3 o'clock. As this will be the
last meeting before inspection, a full attendance is desired.
—The Republican state committee has booked
the Hon. Sereno E. Payne of Auburn for the following campaign speeches:
Tuesday, Yonkers; Wednesday and Thursday, New York; Friday, Cohoes; Saturday, Groton.
—Rev. Levi Bird of Auburn, who was a year
ago appointed by conference to a charge in Cortland county and refused it, has
asked from the present conference for his certificate of withdrawal from the
Methodist church, and it was granted last Saturday.
—A carload of ties are expected every day
now, so that there will be no more delays in the building of the electric railway.
Contractor Jacobs told a STANDARD reporter this morning that he expected that
electric cars would be running the latter part of November.
—Ladies' night at the Tioughnioga club will
occur on Wednesday evening of this week. The attraction will be a choice
program of music by the Presbyterian choir. It will consist of solos, duets and
quartets. Cards will follow and light refreshments will be served.
—Prof. W. A. Cornish has been secured for
instructor in arithmetic in the Y. M. C. A. evening class. It is earnestly
hoped that a number of young men will avail themselves of this opportunity and
join the class in arithmetic which meets for the first time next Saturday
evening at 8 o'clock in the Y. M. C. A. class
room.
—A box car on the E., C. & N on the west
side of Elm-st., which is
known as the "Hotel De Italio," as it was occupied by Dagoes, was
burned to the ground last night. Some one sent in an alarm of fire from box 314
on the corner of Elm and Pomeroy-sts., and the fire department responded, but
did not lay any hose.
Police
Court.
B. J. Bennett last Saturday evening near the
Cortland House was drunk, and using vile language when an officer cut his
discourse off short, and escorted him to the lockup, notwithstanding his threat
of suing the officer with a supreme writ. He paid $3 this morning, and said that
was the last time he should get drunk in Cortland.
John Reed was up this morning as a vagabond.
He said he walked yesterday to Cortland from Canastota and lived in Ithaca. He
was discharged.
William Davis and Blanche, his wife, were
arrested for being drunk on Church-st., Sunday. When the officer caught sight
of them, Blanche was belaboring William over the head with her umbrella. They
pleaded guilty and [were] sentenced to $5 or five days. They claimed Utica as
their home, and had a marriage certificate of recent date, and, as they had no
money to pay their fare, will enjoy a quiet honeymoon at the county hotel.
Purchased
the Laundry.
Mr. D. D. Bosworth, who some time ago bought
of Mr. R. E. Gladding an interest in the Cortland Steam laundry which has since
been conducted under the firm name of Bosworth & Gladding, has now bought
out the remainder of Mr. Gladding's interest and will hereafter be the sole
proprietor. Mr. Bosworth has the laundry equipped with all the latest and most
improved machinery and is prepared to do first class work.
Dr.
Queal on Trial.
Rev. Luke C. Queal, D. D., presiding elder
of the Auburn district of the Central New York M. E. conference, is on trial
before a committee of the present conference upon the charges of (1) disobedience
of the book of discipline of the Methodist Episcopal church, (2) perfidy, (3)
immoral conduct, and (4) lying.
The charges are preferred by Mrs. Lottie A.
Jones of his district. There are sixteen ministers upon the committee before
whom Dr. Queal is tried. Rev. S. F. Sanford of Homer is its chairman and Rev,
E. J. Brooker of McGrawville is another member of the committee.
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