St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 18

i SUNDAY MORNING ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH OCTOBER 24, 1897. 18 REV. OBERMEYER'S NOVEL EXPERIMENT. Lutheran Minister Audiences at His English Services Larger Than When He 1 1 3 The German Preaches in cncusn AT THE CHURCH.

Speaks German. AT THE CHURCH. BE sure to carry your card of admission to the church Every Sunday. ON attend a wedding to which you have Invited. It is not good taste not been ith you.

Jkm7 Ccc I with you. I 1 I i Do try to smile graciously hen the usher leads you Don't create conf usion by iJ marriage ceremony. Try to get there on time." Don't stand In the aisle. Don't wear evening clothes to a morning wedding Bon stand on the seat, while endeavorlnr to to a back seat on one of the side aisles. Do remember that you are not In a theater, but In a sacred edifice.

Do wear appropriate clothes. Do realize that it is not au fait to bow to any member of the bridal party during the procession to and from the altar. Do remain seated until after the officiating clergyman has retired. REV. CHARLES F.

OBERMEYER, pastor of the Zion German Evangelist Lutheran Church at Twenty-first and Benton streets, has hit upon a scheme which has increase -d the nim-ber of his friends two-fold. At the same time ho has delighted not only tho members of his own congregation, but se veral hundred outsiders. In that part of North St. Louis there is a dearth of English churches. The nearest is at St.

Louis and Garrison avenues, a distance of twelve blocks. In the territory surrounding Twenty-first and Benton streets are eleven German churches, each with a large membership. But, while th.U part of the city is essen glimpse or the bride. Don't eommeTit nnnn I'eisunai innnriTiru v. Do make only complimentary remarks about the entire i Hng attendants where you can be overheard by mmil affair.

Reserve your private opinion until you return to their families. ueniDers or come again. They said they would. And they did. They commenced to behold each other In a new light.

Their friendship was strengthened. Young people who spoke only Engl.sh and those who spoke German and English were thrown together and speedily became more sociable. Then and there promises to call were made, and the older folks looked on approvingly. It was all very pleasing. In the common everyday language of the public at large, Mr.

Obermeyer had made a hit. His neighbors told him so. And his congregation decided that he had doae well. The church was crowded as It had not been for months. The 1,400 seats were filled.

The choir sang with livelier spirit. The preacher smiled. The brethren looked pleased. Even the old sexton stepped around more spryly than was his want, and all was well. Mr.

Obermeyer was delighted with the result of his experiment and has decided to extend his plan indefinitely. As long as the proper appreciation is manifested by outsiders he will preach every Sunday evening in English. The morning services, as usual, will be in German. "Mv aim in conducting these Sunday Don't cry because the groom wa home and mother. once your most ardent admirer.

Do try to observe the customs of the church In which 'ents. who are no. in the marriage is solemnized. Don't demolish the floral decorations In a mad attemnt to secure souvenirs 0f the occasion mpt leae the church until after the departure of the bridal attendants and the family party. Do wear a small hat.

Do be as considerate as possible of the comfort of others when the church is crowded. tially German, there are manv English the habit of attending religious services. They cannot understand the Gorman language, and therefore do not attend the German places of worship, and the others are too far away. In fact, that whole district, as far as the English jieoplo are concerned, may bo said to be without a church. AT THE HOUSE.

AT THE HOUSE. SPEAK to your hostess as soon as possible after your arrival. Do remember to pay your reception call within two night English services," said Mr. Obermeyer. "is to make our Lutheran doctrines fa- "1.

in muke our Lutheran doctrines la- V.rt- S- A lKyO0JW 111 the wedding partr. 1J 3 he ls not 0oJ fm. and Jt not always agreeable to the persons involved. English friends. I feel mat miliar to our to let them ts.no la duty This thought occurred to Mr.

Ober-meyer, and he considered it carefully. The more he studied It the greater the opportunity for good appeared. He deter- ui nis xormer affaires d'amours. Don't overstay the conventional fifteen-minute ston at events of this description. Don't ask the groom if he Is nervous.

Tk 1 who we are and what we are. If they cannot speak our language or understand it. it becomes my duty to speak theirs, and that I will do. I feel much encouraged by the number of strangers who hae come to me and begged that the I I -v i 3 A W. II Irl It tr MS ASAW 1 weeks after the event.

Do be courteous to the people about you. Introductions are not necessary at large receptions. Do remove your gloves while partaking of refreshments. It is no longer good form to keep them on. Do remove your wraps before entering the reception-room.

Do say something pretty to each of the bridemaids. Cordiality is never amiss. Do leave quickly and gracefully when once you have made your adieus. Do remember to thank the attendant who assists you with your wraps. Good breeding demands courtesy at all times.

Do try to understand that you are not the only guest who enjoy ice cream and wedding cake. continued Indcnniteij. i-V -A' S-Ayl services be -Resides this, there is a social tr. the nuestlon. A great juur wraps in me reception-room or lth the footman.

Take them to the place designated by the attendant. Don't forget to congratulate the- bridal couple, but don't fill an entire volume with your good wishes. Don't tell the bride that she looks excited. Don't be careless of the wraps of others, when searching1 for your own in the dressing-room. Don't leave without bidding your hostess good-bye.

many of the young people of my congregation were eager to have preach in Englisn, because RHY HUGHES' DISCOVERY. milieu id put. ins piau Into execution. He knew that his action would create surprise throughout that portion of the city, and ho was just a little eager to see what effect tt would have. If the members of his congregation did Cot approve It, and if outsiders did not appreciate It, he thought.

could easily be abandoned. At all events. It was worth a trial. So Mr. Obermeyer announced to the public that every Sunday evening he would deliver his sesmon in English.

His neighbors could hardly" believe It. Such a thought had never occurred to them. In fact, it had H-en so long since they had attended church that the mat Yayng Experimenter Finds a Simple Way to Make the X-Ray Harmless. this would serve- to bring mom and their young English-speaking friends closer together in a social way, by affording a place of worship for both. While the young people were really the ones to it, I find that the older folks take quite as great an interest in the change, and are quite as free in urging rr.e to continue it.

In fat, everybody seems to be agreeably surprised at the success of the idea. "The Sunday evening attendance has been doubled. This is due or.ly to the natural desire of the public to attend some form of religious service, for I have no sensational methods. I simply preach the doctrines of the Lutheran Church, the only difference being In the language. We Germans have no sympathy with sensationalism in rc-Hglous matters.

"As church members, I believe, they are more faithful than almost any other class of people. Especially is this true of the Lutherans. This is probably due to the fact that we have parochial schools adjoining the churches and insist on parents sending their children to them." mattet w3 given off from the tube or its appendages and was of such a nature as to penetrate the skin of the patient, thereby causing the burn. This plausible reason, given by so prominent an authority, had the efftct of prejudicing many people against the X-ray, about which very little is known, at best. "After experimenting a long time I formed a theory.

The dangerous element a.boui its use, as I found it, and as believe I can demonstrate satisfactorily. Is latent electricity. Having established this fact, the rest was comparatively easy. Before exposing any one to the glare of the ray, I always wrap a very thin rubber bandago around the part to be penetrated. This acts as a non-con luctor and renders the trial absolutely safe.

I have experimented with the human body repeatedly since making this discovery, and not the slightest injury has occurred in any case. "How the electricity enters the body ls hard to tell. But that it Is present, and that It does enter the body, has been demonstrated. The burns and injuries sustained by victims are exactly like those sustained by a person accidently shocked by electricity. In experimenting I have shocked by holding my hand too close to the tube, but never since I adopted the use of the rubber bandage.

When one is frequently exposed to the rays the pigment of the skin It gradually lost and discoloration takes placs and the hair follicles lose their hairs. It would seem reasonable to infer that the sympathetic! nervous system Is affected, a that presides over the skin, and the superficial circulatory system, which, supplies these parts with nutriment. "In examining a burn produced by the X-ray, the similarity between it and one produced by an actual cautery, that Is, a common burn, is marked. But, of course, they are not exactly alike. The one produced by the cautery shows immediately, while the one resulting from thn X-ray does not appear for several days.

The common burn does not have the thick covering that appears over the other severs! days after the solution of continuity takes place. "I have never known an exposure to the ray to be the cause of death. In cases of persons shot through the spine dota may be safely attributed to that Injury, always dangerous, and not to the deleterious effects of the X-ray." "I have made a discovery," said Ray M. HugheJ, "which will undoubtedly abolish any dangerous features now existing in connection with the X-ray. Not a week passes but that, in some part of the country, some man dies after having been exposed to the X-ray.

In the popular mind the belief exists that these deaths are due directly to the effects of the ray. Other cases are recorded where patients have been severely burned and have sued the operator for damages. "Jlr. Tesla advanced the idea that the trouble was due to the fact that atomic ter gave them but little concern. But here nas a novelty.

For their own especial benefit a sermon was to be preached In English. They would hear it. And so they they were delighted. They not only sang the they sang so long ago, but they heard a pleasant discourse and mingled with their German friends and were Invited to Hmm fwl mm mm 111 Wu r-w mmm BELLEVILLE'8 SEXTON liA5 BURIED 17,000 BODIES, OSEPII R. JAMES has been sexton of Walnut Hill Cemetery at Bellevillo for forty-two years.

He has buried (M) men, women and children. He expects to keep on burying people until some other sexton buries him. In the fail of 1S54 James, then a lusty young Cornishman. arrived in Belleville with his bride from England. The following May the City Council elected him pexton.

May 15 comes out here and bfgs me to dig up the coffin. "I meet them all with the same argument: 'If the chiiil wasn't I say to them, 'it is sure dead now." That generally satisfies them, and they will go away, but I suppose as long as they live they continue to doubt if the child was dead. That shows what a thoughtless remark can ao. "A few have come to me who were so convinced that a live person had been buried for a corpse that all I could say had no effect on them. I have opened several graves to give them a chance to see, but I never found anything to indicate that consciousness had returned after a person was buried.

"I have read of such things happening, and 1 suppose it ls possible for a person to 1 in such a deep trance as to be taken for l. ad. but I have never known a live person to be buried for a dead one in Walnut Hill Cemetery. Ghosts? Well, now, I tell you, if there are any such things they ought to hang he went up on the sldo hill and dust a ALL day long Mary Morgan walks up and down the hard floor of the observation ward at the City Hospital, pausing occasionally to peer through the bars at some curious visitor. Her face is young and pretty she is only 23--and her blue eyes can assume an appearance of the most unaffected Innocence.

Her mouth, which is small and well shaped, can tremble piteously when it will serve her purpose, and her shapuly nose JJCSIDE of the heavy brick walls of St. Mary's Orphans' Asylum, at Fifteenth street and Clark avenue, dwells Sister Leontine. My presence only disturbed the heavenly quiet which reigned in the great hallway. Sitting there waiting for the sound of the sister's coming, the peace of it all was met by an answering peace in my heart, and I seemed for the nonce to be in a world where strife is unknown. The pure, sweet atmosphere, the quiet and the restfulness, were so different from the harsh and Uproarious scenes outside.

grave. That was No. 1. There were only a few hundred graves there then. Now the population of Walnut Hill, tht? city of the dead, equals that of Belleville, the city of the living.

Then Walnut Hill was away out in the country. Now the city Is fast surrounding it. As softly as the splashing of ripples on the bank of a peaceful stream the slip- can lrlTa up contemptuously when she chooses to denounce something derogatory the it the sister pattered down the unenrpeted stairway, and presently she of pered feet ft around a place like this, oughtn't they? Of course. Well. I lived a good many years right in the cemetery and then I moved right down there across the road from it.

I have through It at all hours of tho night. I have dug graves at midnight by the light of the moon. But I have never seen a ghost or anything that looked like ghosts are supposed to look. There may be such th.ngs as ghosts, I can't say there ain't, because I don't know. But if there are any lie i-'-l'ei a nave rn iuwu.

"Drunk and disorderly; attempted suicide; no home." This tells the story of pretty Mary Morgan, and a pitiful story It is. As I stood amid the groans and shrieks of the observation ward an 1 heard the cries of poor creatures bereft of reason and talked with Mary Morgan, her faded calico dress In tatters, her curly hair in wild disorder, I said to myself: "Here is a pitiful wreck of what might have been." The consequences of a depraved appetite, the bitterness of opportunities wasted, are visible in every ne of her face when It is in repose. Arrested many time, twice in the Work-house, separate! from her husband, a drunkard, a homeless wanderer, under cbservntion respecting her sanity, twice a would-be nulcide and only 23 years old! Surely it is a tale to stir the most hardened heart, and when I hear the details seemed even more terrible. Mary Morgan was born In Toughkeepsie. X.

Y. Six years ago. when only 17. was married. Her husband was a steady young mechanic.

After a wtiSIe they mv1 to St. Louis. For some reason, which she will not reveal and which nobody has Dee able to find out, she took to drink. At f.rrt she confined herself to the houe' before long became reckless. She ventured in-o the street.

Whisky seemea craze her brain. She would tear through the streets in the southern part or i city with a bucket of beer in either Land, yelling and curbing and tearing her clot until she was almost nude. At such times her strength was almost superhuman. was evident the first time fhe was arrested. Several policemen were requ Irea 0 due her.

She fought them viciously, tearing their uniforms and scratching tlieJ i with her har; nails. With each succeeding arrest he seemed to become more l-a a to dash her brains out against tlie bars ii.cj are about as careful a3 most Through all the changes of this eventful period Sexton James has been true to the trust reposed In him. Year after year the successive mayors have reappointed him sexton, and the successive Councils have confirmed him without a vote of dissent. He has converted Walnut Hill from a bramble-grown wond to a v. il-k.

ni rn park of the dead, with sha.b-d drives and walk and vistas which would, bo pleasing If they were not dotted w'th the marble signs of homes bereft and hearts broken. James Is now 73 years old, but he ftill gives his personal attention to the preparation of the narrow homes for the dead. He had just finishel rounding off with professional care ttie top of a freshly-mad." mound on which the eun cast the shadow of a mar-le cros3 which rose above an adjoining grave. The procession of sorrowing relatives and friends had novel Slowly away. The old man leaned upon his pad aa he ta'k-d.

"Yes." he said. "I have been sexton here tnce 1S5. Something 17.) times the bereaved have gone away like this and 1. ft their dead In my care. Tho 17.0i do not in.

clud those I buried in otlu nor the dead ones that I have raided and transplanted. I have buried live ones." "IIve ones!" "Yes; a live corpo is a fresh one one people are to avoid graveyards at night. "I ll tell you what I think about ghosts. i.opie who exp-ct to see them and think they them, do see them-in their minds. It all in their Imaginations." The new-made mound at the feet of the old sexton was covered with evergreens and flowers, symbols of grief and bympathy.

Iney WPrn beginning to wither. "And the living." I to hinli thou. sands who have mourned for the hundreds na stood in the doorway near me, smiling like a friendly spirit. As she stood there looking at me through her kindly blue eyes, her round face with its good-natured mouth lighted by a smile, her figure clad in a blue serge habit, with broad white cuffs extending nearly to the elbow, a girdle clasping her waist, her rosary hanging at her side, her face surmounted by a blue bonnet surrounded by an extensive white frill, which stood out like a halo, she would have made an ideal model for an angel of mercy. Her forty years of convent life have only made her face more fair and her nature more saintly.

I felt at home with her at once, and felt little hesitancy about questioning her concerning her duties. "Do you simply minister to the spiritual wants of the people?" I Inquired. "No, indeed," was her reply. "It is a poor time, when a man is hungry, to talk about his soul. We provide food for those who need it.

clothe the poor and give encouraging words to those who wl'J listen. Often we find that kind words aro more acceptable to those whose lives are clouded by sorrow than all the temporal necessities we could supply, however badly needed. Many there are who go down to desolate graves every year, yes, every day, simply for the lack of a kind word. The soul can starve as truly as the body. "With thirteen other Sisters I share the work of taking care of the 249 little waifs now in the asylum.

My day begins at 5 o'clock In the morning. First we nave pray, is, then breakfast. All the duties of the building devolve upon us, with the exception of the assistance given by some of the older children. Beds are to be made, clothes to be washed and ironed and mended, rooms to be sw-ept and meals to be cooked. All in all a wonderful amount of work ls required, and we are kept busy from morning tni night.

"My especial duty. In sides helping with, some of the housework, Is teaching school. The children are divided into rooms and classes, just as they are In the public schools, our hours in the class rooms are from 9 o'clock in the rnurning nntil noon, and from 1 to 4 p. Af'er that we rest an hour. The girls are taught how to sew, to keep house and do everything elsa necessary to fit them to become good wives and mothers.

If they Usvtlop any especial talent it is ciiefully cultivated and opportunities are given Lit to take a higher course in that particular branch." "What a grand charity, and what a grand life to lead," I thought, as I sat there and looked at tho gentle Sister. "We put the little ones to bed at 8 o'clock," she continued, "and after that the Sisters all have a substantial supper of vegetables, meat and bread. We retire at 9 o'clo and a different Sister is appointed each night to go through the children's dormitory, to see that all is well. "I am usually selected to visit the sick and poor find minister to their needs. Having lived thirty-three years of my Sisterhood with he orphan children and seven years In the hospital known as Hotel Dieu In New Orleans, I have led a busy life, and It has been a happy one.

In doing for other3 I have forgotten myself, and the years that have pas.sed have seemed like so many weeks. The secret of true happt-litss in this life is found in helping others." Tho looks of Sister Leontine confirmed her words. Her whole life has been spent In aidii poor, starving, suffering humanity, forgetting herself, but not forgotten by oth. trs. She is thought of wherever she goes as tho sweet Sister of Charity, the angel of inert reward Is not this worK iin srirsirn arrei eQml tiiiiri.

Station. Ten uays she was again olice. strong men thouh rr.i., -i l. rt f'lfv Tlrinfil TK, re same tning. men sue was u.

i. --J m-rong her, and decided to sf-o If there was her. iliev are. tired of battling with Do they wno have died. What of tinem7 still mourn? Do thev rnmw from her on account -th her mentally.

Her husband having secured a divorce cars ui habits, he claims, there was nothing left to do but to turn licr over i "See these flowers? Wilting, ain't they. city. as ueaa as the corpse 6 feet below flttea tor Mary Mor un oee this wreath of evergreen? It Three different times a comiorianie uwie irome nna Dirn mood. whl live many davs hut i -m Hi wrecked it. When once she lapsei im" gan, but as many times she has turlil for the first timo, you know.

i i iirtiior. ones ara, thMU whlcH me uuuk -w v. -7 iiiiu jira it. H-t-inii i nr nn i With manv It is as brief as tline." the life of the flowers. With some it Is as lasting as most things earthly.

With a very furniture and evcryimi.K aa Vif ne her husband paid the fines assessed against her In the rolSca Court. tired of that, as it seemed to be uscl. ss. After her third arrest he sen girlhood home at roughkeopsie, and she remained there for i te.t apparently happy. Th, n.

according to her story, she r'ei back teio row of life. Her mother died. Soon after that she returned and rew it never dies. It is well shown by tho attention they give the graves of their de p.i. iovea ones.

Ofiener than not they her old associations and old haolis. ocon District Tarv' con! luct has become so notorious mat mc on c- are neglectd arter a few weeks or months "iou may have noticed that of late lots nr.nn arrest as a matter of jrse tnouga seems to be fc course nijljf i i "Have you ever buriej a real 'live one? "If I have I don't know and I have no lesson to suppose It. Somet.mes people, mostly women, come to me a few days arter a relative has bee a burled and ask me to open the grave to are If ha was really dead. Oonerally It ls a -woman whose, child has been burled. After the funeral somebody says 'how natural tho chlij looked or ornethln like.

that. Or maybe th of the rhild not tiAv-in ben dead. The mother is unstrung and nervous and imaginative. She thinks ver it until she conn to think ni, ii nave been left without attention for and fury. Her ca her count looking i years are being put In good condition.

That i.ie" raid IV. itter, ns wo stooa in no ee "but" she inanely drunk. From Hospital frrtm th Wr, KW Is because the gf-neral Improvement in the appearance of the cemetery and the care given oilu-r lots -itas made them look shabby ioth.hi. iii owners have become sshamed of themselves. The fear of what people might caUBtng.

thpm t0 make and her thud tiM ol dva uuiwa how of remembrance.".