The Woes of a Traveling Church Ida L. Brooks AN- antique and venerable frarae structure iv the city of Oakland, known as St. Paul's Church, Is making a. pilgrimage. It is do lng this in the face of precedent and convention and regardless of old age I and the rigors of an unusual Califor nia winter. Big St. Paul's Is nearly fifty years of fpc, mighty active for Its years, and as good a traveler as ever. For it must be known that this Is not the only Jour ney the church has ever taken. In the first place it wasn't a church; It was one of a group of buildings known as Brayton Hall, or California College. Those were the days of Its unregen eracy. When St. Paul's was organized ci an Episcopal parish In the early *70's the building took orders, as It were. entered the ministry, accepted the faith. Incidentally, It was moved to the south, west corner of Twelfth and Webster streets, where it was allowed to remain until June, 18S0. Business liad come (closer and closer. St. Paul's pulled up Its Etakcs. took another trip, this time two blocks cast and one north, and drove them — the stakes — in again on Harrison street, opposite Fourteenth. Within the last few years St. Paul's has given promise of becoming a land mark. But more recently It has de- Iveloped that becoming a landmark has been no part of Its scheme of things, fit. Paul's prefers travel. Any building can be a landmark, just as any girl can be an old maid. If she prefers that sort of thing. P Makes Room for a Hotel On the other hand, St. Paul's was really evicted, turned out on the street, left to shift for itself. A hotel was des tined to take Its place. It Is in the van Jn the exodus of downtown churches that now threatens with tho Increase of business In Oakland and the rearrange ment of residence and business districts. But their affairs are another story. , Their woes will be treated of by an other historian. I The picture of churchly unrest and misery that confronts us today Is St. Paul's trekking decrepitly up the way that leads to the end of its Journey — the end. of course, being merely hypo- thetical as yet. Only for its wooden Insusceptibility St. Paul's would have' succumbed' long - before the present Etage of the Journey, perhaps the most painful part of the whole affair was the capital operation .to which the poor church had to sub mit before it could even so much as be .led off tho land. It was too large to be moved as a whole. Two hideous Incl- HOW THE MARCHETTE COMET WILL NOT DESTROY THE EARTH THIS MONTH H. C. Williams V* COMETS always have been objects / of terror In the popular mind. % Their sudden appearance, their flaming appendages, or tails, their erratic and rapid movements have all raised the question, "Whet would hap pen were one to strike the earth?" The statement given through the dispatches the other day that Mar chette's comet, on the authority, of Professor Matteucci of the Vesuvius observatory, would encounter the earth Borne time in March and might causa a tremendous catastrophe was proba bly the practical joke of some Italian news reporter, as the professor himself has denied it. It caused, however, the usual excitement and alarm, and to us In San Francisco, who have not yet rocovered from the nervous shock due to the catastrophe of last April, there came a vision of a new vial of wrath and a feeling that In the popular slang Is known as "leary." - / It is very certain that the earth has several times passed through the tall of a comet, but there was "nothing do ing." and only the mathematicians were aware of the event. Tho telespectro \u25a0cope. together with mathematical anal ysis, has disclosed considerable about them, and it Is now known that they contain so little mass or weight that at the very, worst only a brilliant meteoric display would happen w«re the ; earth to encounter one of them. With many iions were made.->nd t'.ie wounds are still R»p!ng wounds even now, two months and a half afterward. . St. Paul's is a ctiurrh of part*. The first part reached the place where Twenty-second street meets Lake Mer- v ritt, and it stopped thereto wait for v the other parts to catch up: part two arrived at the junction of Twentieth etreet with th*: lake, when It became necessary for the moving squad to di -vert its attention to the affairs of the; third part: the latter, gaining with quite unseemly rapidltj' on Its brethren — the excuse was a week of fair weather — was brought to a stand until they gave place before it. If a stranger rtops you and asks. 1 "Where is St. Paul's V you Bay to him "Which piece, sir?" If he does not understand, you explain to him St. Paul's present moM dittressing cut-"up Ftat«*.. Then if ho Fays, musing on tb« three parts. "Assuredly, St. Paul's phould b* railed Trinity," you cay "Tea, verily, for the three parts could not be assumed to rtnnd for the world, the flesh and the devil." But If the rever end rector of St. Paul's is standin* by b« will say. "Xot so. but for the high, the low, and the broad." terms of some significance in the ears of the Church of England churchman. , At any rate. St.' Paul's is divided against Itself, its very sejf torn asun der and Its congregation forsaking It. Presumably it were better wisdom to forsake It even in its great adversity. Service Sunday mornings at the church would have its distractions, its incon veniences, its unsatisfactory features, doubtless. The choristers would start serenely up the diverging stairways to ' the nave above, singing their proces sional, and all would bo well until the unpleasant hiatus that would come In their singing as well as their progress from the front part to the middle and from the middle to the rear. There could but l«* difficulties— one might al most say insurmountable difficulties The churc', i 5i 5 lluraliy in a disman tled condition. Its front elevation was formerly garmented in a becoming dress of greenivy whose tendrils had mounted even to the cler« story, r It was easy to forget how plain the big building, was in contemplation of- its artistic covering. But now St. Pauls is bared to! the world. The marks of the ivy are still there, but none of the greenness. A strayed .brown twig has clung to a door knob. A branch of ivy geranium hanging to the rear wall of the church -half way to tho top. planted against _it by some sexton many years ago, ' •keeps green in spite of everything and will not let go. There is picturesqueness 'about this ung-alnly building in its fragments! con dition., /With the gums in the fore ground and the lake, the green, «>arth and beautiful homes in' the/ back-" ground, there is something', decidedly enchanting about so huge a. ;piece of not even this, would, occur .and people would observe nothing; out of the or dinary. *_~-'Z It Is now generally believed by.as tronomers that comets are generated or thrown out by the sun. : Many, appear from - the depths of ; space, as .if gen erated from some star which really is a eun to some distant planetary sys tem. Their trajectory of motion some times varies little from. a straight line, end their velocity is often many times greater, than the sun's power, of gravi tation alone could produce. The comet of 1842 was first observed at a great distance from the sun. and It .was headed directly for, it. and r astronomers thought it would certainly fall Into it. It approached with the highest'^veloc ity ever observed of a bbdy ; tn the solar system, or 565 miles a second, and ac tually grazed the solar upper '• atmos phere. It described, 2J2; degrees, of! lts vast orbit, when near the sun, in a lit tle more than twelve hours, and then seemed to be burled away from it with the same amazing velocity It \had.ap proached. Its tail was twenty millions of miles Jong, pointed ' opposite* to » the eun hotrUncomlng and outgoing (which is true of all comets)' and its extremity, swept -over the vast circle of -283 de grees with an apparent velocity of 2300 miles a second — a ."Velocity^ of translation of material '". substance en tirely inconceivable and only to be ex plained by assuming that .these *api pendages .of , comets are ~ electro-mag netic discharges upon the ether-^-a con clusion which the phenomena of the "spark .gap" In wireless. telegraphy renders^ probable, for If seems- that sufficiently powerful and rapid; electric discbarges - have' capacity -\u25a0 to overcome the Inertia^ of » this* strange i fluid: and render It xlslble ,in the > smallest ; of fall transplanted antiquity. Its . incom pleteness and its emptiness bring up thoughts of ruin and desolation and pillage . and fire and earthquake, though none of these have anything, to do with 'lt. The windows and doors have been removed, the knotted ends of the win dow cords dangling, idly from * the casements. The interior is open; to the vulgar gaze. There Is none i who may not see the.c ruel, ; lacerations," the splintered ;laths. the crombllng; plaster, the torn paper that gave; way before the saw's edge.' , . /'.'-. - .".<• '_\u25a0 Week day seclusion ..Is no longer known. The "great nave "\u25a0 ' no longer, echoes to the lightest: footfall^ of ; the sexton's tread. ; ; The • wind . whistles through unchecked,, the noises of sth« thoroughfare are 'the portion of St. Paul's. v .^BHoiH9ni \u25a0 - \u25a0 :.'\u25a0'\u25a0 The passerby laughs scornfully at its discomfiture. Its old. age W is .no protection .from insult.. Teamsters turn aside where It blocks the .way with no indefinite tones of disapproval. When" day •* closes and .the "calm -'of night settles; down upon .itsthe :moon comes out and ; lights . up; all ; its ! misery. But better, that than 7 the .'drenching rains . that* assailed Us unprotected ness" in the ; early ' 'stages -'of,; the -jour ney.... And the snow - one night and the - hall and . the high '" winds - that threatened it with .complete :demoll-; tion.' ; But; no * doubt St. Paul's '; has learned, long slnco : ; to count; Its:bless ings. It has "been; literally 'steeped with religious' discourse. -For,'thirty five ; 'yeurs^ St. , Paul's \u25a0 has 'never failed to attend ,'services. ',} Nevertheless. .in ' : times of affliction there is eomfort.Jn unity. -The church should: standy for -unity. And 'yet -St. Paul's,' held In" the strong clutch -of 'cir cumstances,' is all against it. . assumed particles— the electron. -; But, there is. other." evidence :that". the tails and even the nucleli. or bodies, of comets " are , at the most-fl imsy 'and ' ethereal structure: ; The -.writer, = whlle viewing Rordame's comet In? 1903;; with an eight .'and a", half inch " telescope," saw ; a \ star of '-. the eighth magnitude through;' the. entire, body^of '.the; _ta!l-~ , about :B0,000^ miles in dlameter-7-apparf ently. undlmmed. _ Asjthefslkth' magnl-' tude . Is : the \u25a0 smallest . that ', can be \ seen with the . sharpest naked ,« ey© /vision,' this .little, blinker . would: have^ : been obscured ;>y a hatful of f cloud I .! vapor, and therefore : the comet's 1 , tali V. was nothing at all In the form of real 'mat-, ter; with whicl^we - are '"acquainted." j»tarsvhave r .been>seen" through" thelcen- ; tral body, or v nucleus, which.s; if-^com posed of solid, particles,; must 'have , been so : loosely arranged ' as ' to . be ', less than the most gauzy, dust;cloud. : "i -' ...The mass, or :\u25a0 weight, ;of the;densest comets is so'i trivial 'i that;. they : produce .no appreciable 'effect upon the bodies of , the • solar system : - near ' which'i" they have passed.. , The "comet of. 1770 j tra versed.:, the * system'' of ! ? Juplter's";fmoofis without causing' the slightest perturba ' tloni. to'; • these ,icomparatlvely-> small bodjes, and the saraecomet passedivery. close ;to earth "'.with; an f altogether insensible^effect. But : while t some . comets ; seem com posed of • small meteorio particles in > a condition *of -loose diffusion; others are : entirely ., gaseous,', of >, which !• a' 'hydro carbon /similar^ to ", marsh; gas \u25a0 Is * the principal ; constituent."; The ; spectroscope /discloses lines usually visible in * the aurora borealls,^ thei solar f corona," and! some nebula. ln ; ? this * .-;- form seems f-. to ?.be i radioactive.^ likej rad\um," and' to be^endowed*, with; a strong o Part one, having [stood ;. for- so long, a : time — a month, * almost— by ; the Make,;; and having shown ,\a ' decided" leaning toward - It, hinted 'at \u25a0 seeking ' a* watery 5 , grave.: But : the. balm; of death .was I not ;to be its meed. ; T JuBt in the,nlek of time the • movers, \ the - horses,% capstans, \u25a0\u25a0 bars,^ •chains," pins and all ', the .rest of the mov- " Ing paraphernalia hove in sight and' the, last.stage of the journey >began. The ; distance from 'the' site omHarrl sbn street tothe.newjslteat'the'corner. ,of-,Webster; street! "and avenue* is: "approximately; three-quarterslbfia; mile;- Three-quarters' ofi a' mile iin.f let jus three .months,: giving; the "movers \ the benefit of the! doubt ; •\u25a0; 1320^ feet i, In a ; month",' 44- feet a day.^Thlnk; of .travel ing: three x morith3- and:; covering, three- ity of mutual- repulsion,.: like the^X rajv . Often ' the .' tails ", of ,; comets .are seen '; to Ccorruscate'i like'; an..; : aurora, where ' the : cor r uscatl on • seems Jto \ begin at i the" head and ? to flash < along ; through the millions* of miles r of tall. lnacoupln "of. seconds.; So It is quite posslbloHhat these ; bodies, '^ instead .of .being ;in a state ; of } htghV Incandescence, f are ? com paratively/cool. r fevenjcoUl— for the ac-. ".tlvity^ofradlum v iis; actually, increased at a temperature close to 469 below the ; zero "of • Fahrenheit.*.'; . : ":"\u25a0 \u25a0''. '\';'.\ '.The; reals solarTcornets.v which have a regular, period ;ofirevolution. around the sim, :> are \u25a0 seen r slowly V to 'disln tegra te ! after,- a ; few "\u25a0 revolutions,'^ and' ; the j me-^ teoric ' matter; becomes T strewn v along ; its orbit. - ." Several '-Jof^our* periodic;; meteor showers " ; are; thoughts, to^ be I from •fluch' ,wreckage,^andt the (examination T f of meteoric matter discloses £ large Vquan-: titles,': of \ gases,' usually, 1 ; hydrogen Him prisoned rwlthinUheiinetallio 5 matter/as if it ha for a man ? would jibelmore? hurt ;; if vhlt-' by. a handful' ; of \u25a0 .than he ~ would; by^ the ] tall ; "of •the "\u25a0 larges t et. i'^The ' atmosphere V aff 6rds f, protection i "\u2666 even, against S the*? heavier;- meteors,^ for.,' they, strike >it i.with s " uch * *niazlng 1 velocity; thatfourfapparently •' fllmyj airj becomes rigid ', as r steeU'i andtielthery burns i meteors > up JbyjSthel heat fof |or \u25a0 smashes them into harmless dust, and a' meteorshowerj Is [the! veryjjWorst'ithat' the* most '* vicious t" comet jean* do *« to ; tho; ear thjandf Its I living tformB^ '\u25a0\u25a0"'-''.?" -\u25a0'-\u25a0.:,' :l':- ',\u25a0"\u25a0' In the twentieth century it seems past belief that f any thing' so v old* fashioned as -the = process^ of < house moving \u25a0 by; I horsepower. 7 should still _ be .? In • exlst |ence.V; Crude as ltls/ however.'the pro- i I'cessMs -effectual jas .5 alway s and *• satis- ;- ; -factory, provided one is* not In a rush.- . ' Is J aldignity { about .' St.',' Paul's 5 even , In r the Imost \ trying (circumstances. V .' Soberly, ; if ; disjolntedly, ' It ; passes - over • She San Jtonsisco Sunday..CalL the roller*, releasing the last on« »o \u25a0lowly as to be almost unobserved and moving? on to the one In front In like fashion. Although "hurry up"' ls the motto of. the century, poBSlbly.lt would be a little unseemly for St. Paul's to have arose sprinting up the street with the velocity of an electric car. Per haps even today public opinion would be against Innovation In such a case. So Tom, the veteran house-moving horse, and his companions continue to step carefully across the ropes and wind them Inch by Inch around the capstans, turning them by means of the capstan bars to which they are harnessed. And Idlers alone the way watch the shade trees struggling with the sections of the big building as they pass and losing leaves, perchance, in the : struggle. For each section Is no large that It reaches : from gutter to jcutter. thus completely blocking the war- . . None of the residents past whose homes the church has been wending have evinced any pleasure at the ar rival of the ecclesiastical visitor. But one. ln particular has risen In his wrath upon the approach of each section and into the Innocent ears of the workmen thrice he; has pelted his epithets. He is a man without, poise, without self repression, without patience and resig nation. 'These are virtues that tha church teaches. Here was the church coming to his very door and he would not accept its teachings! Fortunately for the, moving 1 , lon* blocks and other considerations have necessitated the cutting of but few wires. ; The crossing of the one car line on the - route has been' observed by night prowlers alone. For buildings are permitted to cross car tracks only after the owl car 3 have been run Into their, barns for the night. So, after 2 o'clock In the morning, tho crossing has been effected. "When St. Paul's gets settled on its new brick*" foundation faring Grand avenue and the carpenter's stitches are taken that will make of part 1 and part 2 and part 3 a unity once more. the whole is to be clothed in shingles to imitate the modern architectural idea; and the old church will look chip per and youthful again. The real significance of this uproot ing and transplanting of St. Paul's is that the church has gone to its people. The usual Idea is that people go to the church. However, the church must seek a location convenient to the residences of its members. It must go ; half-way, so to speak. And St. Paul's parishioners are scattered from the water front to the Piedmont hills. •If. the expectations of the vestry are realized there will have been com pleted within the next three years a new st Paul's., a .handsome $75,00» with a Webster-street frontage on th» ?Z2«W JUSt . or on . other Tt-^ ett fT Bulted ' * or - church purposes. • Jhen old, b^. Paul's day. of doom will sXyj?-"5 om *; The .building will be torn Itob from limb and will no* longer be seen of. the sons of men. Norwill tt b« l a , c«c «> r