The BcptUt Church In Fredonle. New York." Where the First Kttllnrtffht Woman's
Chrlstlcn Temperance Union Was rjdd-
"* *\HEN history shall have recor'd
\ A Jed the events of the nineteenth
\f XJ century, prominent among them
\ }f will certainly be the woman's
crusade movement which start
ed twenty-seven years ago, gaining added
vigor each year, and whos* strength will
not be spent until the goal has been
reached for which thousands of women
have worked and prayed for over a quar
ter of a century, viz.: the abolishmen 1 . of
the legalized saloon.
Probably few people fire aware that in
Fredonia, N. V., still stands the church
wherein was begun that world-famous
movement, and that the real founder of
the Woman's Christian Temperance Un
ion, Mrs. Esther Lord McNeil, is still liv
ing in that place; yet such Is the truth.
The history of the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union, written by Mrs. Mary
Towne Burt, for several ! years president
of the New York State division, contains
the following paragraph:- "Hillsboro,
Ohio, claims the birthplace and Docembir
j23 as the birthday of this movement.
True that from this place and day the
Influence and strength "of the movement
deepened and widened/spreading to other
localities with wonderful rapidity, but to
Fredonia, Chautauqua County, New. York,;
is accorded the honor of inaugurating the
work on December 13, 1873." ':;
The starting of this movement- was
brought about as follows: Saturday even
ing, December 13, 1873, one Dr. Dio, Lewis
of Boston delivered a ¦ lecture on temper
ance in the Fredonia Baptist Church. To
a large and enthusiastic 'audience he out-'
lined a ¦ course which he thought would
be successful in doing away, to a certain
extent, with the liquor, traffic In that
place. The plan was for the. women to
gather and visit the grog chops and, after,
prayers and hymns, to make an appeal
to the, proprietors to close their places.
Thus was implanted in Fredonia the seed ¦
of temperance which grew into that;
grand and -beautiful plant, the' Woman's.
rr ' h Hstian Temperance Union, whose in- ;
fluence for. good has spread over the 'en
tire world. ;'..•; '-¦*. rXi
Dr. Lester Williams was thrn pastor of
the Baptist Church and said that he be
lieved in "striking while the iron was
hot." and asked nil of tho women who
sympathized with the movement to arise,
and In , an Instant every woman In the
house was on her fee.t. A committee Was
appointed to draw up an appeal to bo pre
sented to the saloonkeeper and a meeting
was called for the following Monday'to
decide upon an appeal nnd prepare a plan
of action. On the morning appointed
about SOO women gathered at the. church
and adopted the following appeal:
"Knowing, as we do, that the sale of tn»'
toxicating liquor is the parent of all mis
ery, prolific of all woes, in this . w,orld
and the next, potent alone in evil,
blighting every fair hope, desolating fam
ilies, the chief Incentive to crime, we, the
mothers, wives and daughters,^ represent
ing tho religious and moral sentiment 'of
this town, to save the beloved members
of our households from the temptation. of
strong drink, from acquiring an appetite
for it. and to rescue, if possible, those
who have already acquired an appetite
for it, earnestly,; request that you; will
pledge yourselves to 'stop the traffic here
in these goods, 'forthwith, and forever.
We also add the; hope that you will stop
your gaming tables." V-
The women ; then formed a line of
march \ to' the ; 'i'aylor* House,' that then
stood- where now ¦ stands the = Columbia.
These women were the wives and daugh
ters of the very best men- in'the place;
they -were venerable and -revered women
who dared to do right and for. the
•welfare f. of their .husbands, > son 3 and
brothers, ; e%*en, if < necessary, -to igo '¦ into
the saloons arid be scoffed at and insulted.
The band; immediately. l made known i their
mission and Mrs.* Judge Barker read the
appeal \ to the 1 proprietor.. "A -. hymn '¦ was
sung,«after;whlch: all Joined; in' repeating
the | Lord's , Prayer, j followed by a j prayer,
from Mrs. Tremalne. , Mr. ' Taylor, was
then asked to accede to their appeal, and
he finally said he would If the other li
quor dealers in the place would do so.
The work was continued for a 'week -and
one hotel and one drug store closed their
bars. ' Thus was started the" movement
known as the crusade- that swept around
the. world,. carrying its mission of happi
ness to 'thousands of homes. •
\On- Monday, December 21, 1573, the women
met to perfect fi permanent organization.
This they named the Woman's Chr'ctlan
Temperance 'Union of : "Fredonia. The
pledge adopted at the meeting was: "We,,
the undersigned women of Fredonia, feel
ing that; God has laid. upon us a work for
temperance," do hereby pledge ourselvrs to
united land j continous j efforts ¦to suvipre^
the trafficking .cf j Intoxicating liquors in
our village until/ the- work Is accom
plished;'and that we stand- ready for.
united effort 3 upon' any. renewal of the
traffic. We .will also do all in our power
to : alleviate the sufferings of . drunkards'
: families and to rescue ; from drunkenness
all : who 'are pursuing/ Its ways." Soon
after this unions \ were ! formed in ; various
places throughout the State, and the work
"assumed "\ far ¦ '. greater than '
everi'the most sanguine had thought pos
sible, and it was decided to hold a meeting
for the "organization of a State union. Thi3 '
¦meeting was held in Syracuse,' October 10,
1874. The- work . steadily ; advanced,' not .
only !in this ? State, but; spread -through
every State In/ the United States, an i
finally a national union ! was formed, nn<l
later an" International Woman's Christian
Temperance Union. ¦' . . :
? Most; prominent among the workers In
this first crusade was:' Mrs. Esther Lord
McNeil, who Is known throughout the en
tire country as "The Veteran Crusader,"
Mrs. McNeil was born in Carlisle, Schoha
rie County.- New York, in 1812,- and at tha
age of 10 years she was left fatherless lum
family of ten children. At 20 she was mar
ried to J ames McNeil ; and moved to Fre-~
donia,' where she has since resided, living
a noble life given to charity and the tem
perance cause. ' . ¦¦¦ ':¦--'-
EMMONS K. ELLSWORTH. ,
of Owens River and a number of other
streams fed by the melting- snows of the
high Sierras, it is now intensely alkaline,
and In the last few years lias steadily be
come lower. Soda is the most important
constituent and work,< for its manufac
ture have been erected on the east side
of the lake.
This lake was once more than 2DO feet
higher and was then a body of fresh
water. The old stage line from Mojave to
Keeier follows north alone the eastern
side of the Siorra Xevadas, past Coyote
Hole. Indian Wells and along the sandy
slopes uf the great stretches of Salt Wells
L»e*crt. At lust as one approaches Little
Lake he .-ei.-s that the road is winding
up and along an old river bed. On the
left risrs the mighty wall of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains; on the right a great
Muff of black lava. It is an interesting
thought that this passageway between
two mountains, cut out by nature ages
ago. has now become of great value to
man.
Here may be seen great bowlders, once
rolled along in the dashing current, and
the ledges over which the waters poured.
At the old station of Little Lake our road
passes upward between 1 two walls of
black lava, and a little beyond we come
out upon a long marshy lake. High upon
one side frowns a precipice of lava
c= Jr == HE recent exceptionally dry years
have set people to questioning as to
£ whether the climate of California
nay not be undergoing a change.
lian) think that they have detected a
slowly growing aridity in different parts
of the State iir.rt tear that parts of Cali
fornia now fertile are do.-tine<l ta become
deserts. In all probability such fears are
groundless. The weather bureau reports
havfi been kept too few years yet for us
to draw any safe conclusions from them.
I: is. however, undoubtedly true, from the
ptundfi'iint of the geologist, who is ac
customed to view with complacency !onir
stretches of time, that the climate o-f
California is really changing. It has al-
been chancing and always will con
tinue to d-j so. but whatever this change,
whether toward a more moist condition
or a drier one. it is certain that it is co
s=l<rtv that none of us can detect the
or-arisre in a lifetime or even in a dozen
liietimes.
We need net fear that our rivers will
iti the course of each succeeding: year
carry noticeably more or less than the
average amount of water. But we do
r:eed fczr and should take great care to
prevent the grassed and forested areas
be:np so disturbed that the water of win
ter will quickly run off and leave the
pround dry and parched the remainder of
the year.
The climate of this State, geologically
speaking:, has recently been very different
from what it is? now. During the placial
period, which perhaps was not more than
• 10JOM years ap,o, the precipitation upon
the Sierra Nevada Mountains v;as» very
niuch greater th»n It is now, and the
nu-itins: snow and ice of the glaciers pup
s>li*-<i a vast amount of water for the
prcat lakes, which filled the large valleys
of Nevada and portions of Eastern Cali
fornia. So numerous and c-xtensive were
th<".«e lakes that v."c would not have recog
nized the country. The former size anil
level of these lakes Is Indicated by ter
races Ftretchir.g around th<* ' borders of
many of the deserts. At the time of which
¦we are speaking the marshes from wnich
our salt and borax come were lakes.
I have recently examine;! some very In
teresting things of this kind in Inyo
County: that region of strange contrasts;
of scorching deserts and moun
tains. Owens Lake, at the lower end of
the long valley of the wme name, is a
large body of water, perhaps eighteen
miles long. Though receiving the" waters
History of the Organization of the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union
above the present lake. We trace this for
miles In and out around the ' hills " and
mountains, till at last we find that'thls
old beach corresponds to the upper end
of the old river bed. For thousands of
years, perhaps, the la>:e was high, and the
river flowed south and tumbled its waters
into the Salt Wells Desert. There It col
lected and finally overflowed Into what is
now the borax marsh in San Bernardino
County. ' Then another lake was formed,
and lasted for a long time, as the,beauti
ful terraces along the Slate and Argus
ranges show us.
Go where we will through California, we
find traces of a once heavier rainfall or
snowfall. The country . v-p.s moist and
lakes were everywhere. Old river beds,
no.v dry. are to be found in many places,
and jntrlfied trees where now there are
no forests. • -'>'4- ;^^
/California was then very much more,
moist, but that parts of it are so dry now"
docs not prove that it is still becoming
'dryer. Our climate depends largely, upon
the Pacific Ocean and the height and po
sition of the. mountain rangrs. . The posi
tions of mountain ranges vary, with time.
If they are lifted. higher, more rain and
snow will fall upon them, and if they are
lowered, less will fall. Which of.these two'
processes Is in the ascendant In the Sierra
No.vadas at present we do not know. Th«
geologist and the meteorologist will have
to work together for many years to de
termine this momentous question. In the
meantime we may go on as usual planting
our crops, feeling sure that though it may
rain a little less one year, it will make up
for it another, so that, as far as a few
¦ A rare little relic of old piety Is an an
tique Yordes belonging to Orrin Peck. A
very old Broussa Is an appllqued rug of
the Bengtiiat colloctlon. having colored
floral designs stitched upon v light back
ground. A Persian silk la adorned with
letter ornaments. The sillj rugs have a
nap as lons as sealskin and fee! aa
plushy.
The Old Scutari door hanging follows
the outline of the Moorish cj-r-h. It is
heavy cf material, marie to hang without
folds. The gold embroidery, is for the
most part In the forms of letters.
Smaller but no less valuable articles
were Oljplayecl in caser.. Chier among
these, to Mohammedan eyes at any rate,
vras an old copy of the Koran belonging
to Mrs. S. C Blgelcw. It van illuminat
ed copy, the designs bei-.ig chiefly in gold
Each leaf has been remounted on new
paper and replaced In the original covers.
It is the book which stands to all Mos
lems as the fountain head of science,
knowledge and law. It Is the book which
was counted precious enough to be kept
by Mohammed's followers In tha frag
ments in which its words were uttered,
"either committed to memory or written
down on white stones, palm leaves.
pieces cf leather, shoulder-blades o"
sheep and camel." as Stobart tells us. - It
was precious enough to be copied out In
one volume by the Secretary Zeld-lbn-
Thablt. so that other copies could be made
from that copy and others from those,
and the one we have here Is one of the
many— a slow and laborious task, done by
some patient and pious hand— nobody
knows when, nobody knows where.
Two silver Koran-holders show how
dearly the book is treasured. One fa a
tiny thing for individual use — a loan from
Mrs. Bixlcr. A larger one belongs to Mrs.
Will Crocker. Both are wrought In t:»e
most intricate of Intricacies, in such elab
oration of detail as only the Oriental
craftsman has mastered.
So the Mohammedan brings good gift*
to sacrifice and worships with costly np
polntments. But if he be a righteous be
liever he remembers the words of . hto
prophet:
"Woe to everj' slanderer and backbiter
who heapeth up rlche3 and thinketh they
can render him immortal. He shall be
cast into 'Al Hotama,' the fire of hell
kindled by God."
THE SUND^ir CALL.,
tique. It is of Yordes (Ghiordes) archi
tectural design and is one of the largest
rugs • exhibited. Perhaps its pious Mos
lem owner who stepped aside from • the
crowded • street or the N busy shop for his
daily devotions thought to perform them
the better for having much space upon
which to sit, stand or prostrate himself
in the solemnity of his worship.
A rug loaned by Miss Mary Crocker is
also Anatolian. It is a copy of an old
Yordes rug and has a Ladik border. The
blending of colors is exquisite— so exquis
ite that one wonders what the original of
the copy may have beeri.
An odd little bit of embroidery la a
Persian girl's rug. The ground of it is
quilted white silk and embroidered flow
ers are scattered over this. From it as a
kneeling ground the prayers of some little
maiden have risen — some one whose face
was seen, we may be sure, only by her
household. Says the Koran: "Women
shall be unveiled only before their hus
bands, fathers, fathvrs-in-la'x, children,
children of husbands, brothers and
m-phews." The Koran lias spoken. Frcm
that day* to this the veiling of women has
been a sacred duty, and some cf these
veils were sent to the exhibit by Mrs. E.
S. Howard. . ' . ; .
They are long, flowing black lace veils
of the finest mesh, embrotdered in pure
gold. They must have belonged to a
treasured beauty, surroundf-d by wealth —
the kind we picture as leaning in a high
balcony, where she can see, but not bs
seen Jn the midst of her splendid Orien
tal hangings.
We know something of what the spteu
dor of these hangings is from .the pur
daks or portieres on One of these
is a Bokhara of Miss Crocker's. White
silk is the ground, while over this trails
and winds a vine that bursts everywhere
into gorgeous red blossoming. -It is heavy
and tropical and fit to screen beauty of
the Orient. L -i?W
"Shiran" is a label on the little rug
for children. Another Anatolian i 3 col
ored with vegetable dye, its peculiarity
being a green border. AH its colors are
gay. A Daghistan has seven borders an«l
the comb design is unusually plain. The
Rood Mosien does not go to his prayer
with disarranged attire or with hair and
beard uncombed.
• -.¦¦¦.-¦./.'. * , - ¦' ¦ V
he tells us that California may became a
desert or as ¦ green as Washington. We
must know what he means.
« - H. W. FAIRBANKS.
ever high enough to flow aown this old
river bed? In the morning when the air
Is clear and everything is; sharply de-
tlned we can see an old beach line far
hundred years are concerned, we can de
tect no steady variation. .
The geologist deals wit^ the thousands
of years and'we must not be'"alarmed If
Abraham Lincoln's Private Car.
PETITIONS are in circulation among
prominent colored people of Omaha
asking the City Council to make an
effort to secure as the permanent
properly of the city the famous old Lin
coln car. now slowly falling to pieces on
n siding down at the Union Pacific shop*.
They feel that any relic so closely associ
ated with thfe great emancipator should
be better treasured, by the community,
lest it go into decay entirely or pass into
other hands and be taken from the city.
Overtures have been received in times
past by the Union Pacific from private
parties, but always dfclined. It la be
lieved that the road will feel differently,
however, were it approached by repre
sentatives of the city.
This old car was built at the United
States military car shops in lS&t especially
for President Lincoln on plans approved
by him. It was peculiarly constructed, in
that heavy armor plate that would resist
the heaviest rifle bullet was set between
the inner and outer walls, so that the
President could with safety go to. the
front. The car was thus used on several
trips to visit the army of the Potomac.
Although it was a monster then, it looks
like a pygmy by the side of the modern
Pullmans. It is 42 feet long and S^i feet
wide, and is divided into three compart
ments. There is but one entrance, that
leading into a narrow hallway -the entire
length of the car. The interior of the car
was richly upholstered in crimson silk
and furnished with easy-chairs and a big
sofa that could to unfolded and was used
as a bed by Mr. Lincoln. The larger of
the three apartments was used by him as
an office and reception room.*
Then, again, the car was used on a most
memorable trip— that which conveyed the
remains of the martyred President from
Washington to Springfield. 111., for burial
—a trip that included every State capital
on the way and many large cities, lasting
from April 21 to May 3, 1865.
After the . war, when the Government
was selling unserviceable property, the
car went at auction and was bought by
Sidney Dillon, then president of the Union
Pacific, and General Durant and brought
to Omaha. For several years It was used
as a Union Pacific directors' car. but on
account of Its heavy armor its grea.l
weight was an objection.
So the old car was retired to the "Lin
coln shed" in the yards, to remain till
;iKuin called to public notice by the Trans^
Mississippi Exposition, where it was
placed in view and visited by hundreds of
thousands of people. Then it went back
to the shop yards, to disappear In decay
unless the colored p*»ople or some other
enterprise rescues It In time.
J. B. HAYNES.
False Teeth of Antiquity.
Tho manufacture and use of false teeth
Is undoubtedly a pract.'ce of great an
tiquity. The ancient Egyptians were no
mean df-ntl.-us. Jawbones of mummies
have been found with false teeth in them,
and also with teeth filled with gold. The
ancient Greeks also knew how to fill
teeth with gold and how to make falsa
teeth.
There Is plentiful evidence of skilled
dentistry among the Remans, for many
of the old Latin authors have reference*
to false teeth. In the "Roman Laws of,
the Twelve Tables" there are distfnet ref
erences to artificial teeth. - The first part
of No. 10 forbids useless expense at funer
als in general, but an exception is permit
ted by No. 11, which allows that the gold
fillings of false teeth or the gold with
which they were bound should ba burled
or burned with the deceased.
THE prayer rugs of San Franclrco
have been meeting together. The
Sketch Club gathered them for ex
hibit into its little California-street
cottage, where they were arranged tJ
point any but Mecca ward. This was not
¦as it had once been, for the rugs were in
the ruthless hands of the unbeliever.
From the homes on our hilltops and our
beach-stretching- avenues the prayer rugs
were brought, and along with them cane
other things sacred to the teachings <:f
the prophet. A purely Mohammedan ex
hibit was what the Sketch Club, started
out to make, and although same of the
rarest Buddhi.it trophies that San Fran
cisco owns crept in to change the pl£>n,
nevertheless llohammedan thought -/was
the basis of action and 'Mohammedan
treasures occupied the main room and
much of the others.
"Regularly perform thy prayer at the
declension of the sun. at the first darkness
of night and the prayer of daybreak: for
the prayer of daybreak is borne witnvss
unto by the angels." So says the Koran.
And again: "O, thou wrapped. up, arise, to
rayer, .and continue therein during the
night except a small part; that is to suy,
during one-half thereof. • * • Verily
the rising at night- is more efficacious lor
.steadfast continuance in devotion/
! Day and night and ever between it mu*t
have been "steadfast continuance of devo
tion," judging -from the look of the rug?.
Kneeworn they are,- threadbare in spots,
many of them with hints of raga and ta;;s
about the edges. A. splendid-modern Per
sian rug loaned by Raphael Welll— a ru.?
spick and span and fresh from the weaver
—contrasted with the old prayer rugs and
• sets . cne: guessing what they; tori, ma/
have been -before prayer, which Moham
med named ""the pillar of religion" ani
"the key of Paradise," wore away their
fresh beauty.
*• Many of the prayer russ were from the
H. E. Benguiat collection, although . Mr.'
Benguiat has made a specialty of Jewish
jcurios. One of his rugs marked "Atia
jtolla". is odd in effect, having s.plashts of ;
color rather, than minute detail of con
tTast usual to the Oriental fabric de
signs, . .'
.Another marked "Anatolia" was loaned
by. Mr. M. B. Mlhran, and is very an-
San Francisco Has a Meeting of Prayer Rugs
and Other Mohammedan Treasures.
7
marked with Indian <rtctures. From
this we learn that it was before
the Indians ' came that the mighty
river rolled here. Mile after mile
the rca<l follows the i winding river
bed northward toward Owens Lake. It
offers a magnificent passageway for a
railroad as well as for a wagon road. We
follow the winding course, where the old
river has cut through mesa mountain,
till we come at last to its head and the
sar.dy slope about Owens Lake. But, you
may ask, how do we know the like was