Show 1I 1 I THE CASE OF DR MABRY He Appears atthe Church fleeting fleet-ing Last Night I HIS FLOCK STANDS BY H LETTER FROM THE PASTOR TO THE CONGREGATION Ladies of the First Methodist Hold a TUeetinsr Rev Kirk May Take Temporary Charge of the Church Scandal Monger Start Rumors Galore I I I The revival meeting at the Methodist I Metho-dist church last evening was one of I the most successful of the series Perhaps I Per-haps it would not be just to attribute this to the fact that during the day it i i had been whispered around quite free j I ly among the congregation besides be j I ing announced in The Herald that Dr I Mabry would be present during the I meeting and would make himself heard When the meeting began the I hal was comfortably filled and before i was over the available seating room I was fully taken while there was a good sized crowd in the outer hall I near the doors Dr Mabry however was not present at the opening I I was whispered around that he was in I his study in consultation with some of his friends and that he would not be I present during the evening However at the close of Rev Kirks sermon the pastor came in accompanied by Dr Plummer and the latter sent a note up to Rev Kirk who read it to the congregation I was as follows Dr llahrjs Letter Brother Kirk Please say to the people that although I am pastor of the church and entitled to exercise all the rights and duties of its pastor I desire not so much to exercise my rights as to do that which is wisest i and best I prefer to voluntarily forego such rights and privileges until such i i time as I can stand before my people I j exonorated from the accusations I j I 1 against me Please say to them also that the confidence and sympathy shown me 1 by them and other friends in this j 1 I I dreadful trial touches me very deeply I I and affords me about all the comfort I1 find except that derived from my trust in the providence and care of i our Heavenly Father i Heayenl3 Fatherw W D MABRY The Pastor Appears The author of this had come in with downcast eyes and allen mein Few had noticed his entrance which was from one of the side doors and he did j not attract much attention except from I those in the immediate neighborhood of where he sat He was visibly affected affect-ed while the letter was being read and during the subsequent services The letter was received by the people at the meeting very much as a matter of course and no demonstration was made at the time though there were i several almost inaudible exclamations j such as are generally heard in prayer j I meetings j I Ills Flock Stands by Him After the meeting was over Rev Mabry was the recipient of the most flattering evidences of the affection of his flock Men and women crowded forward to where he stood in the front end of the hall and warmly grasped i his hand while whispering words of j I confidence and hope to him He received re-ceived them all with a commendable dignity though it could be seen that the strain on him had been something terrible I The Ladies Hold n Meeting 1 1 I Another evidence of the feeling of the congregation toward their troubled I leader was shown yesterday when the ladies of the church held a meeting which was largely attended Thers was i some discussion of the scandal and the i I action that should be taken by the I ladies in regard to i The feeling generally gen-erally was that the pastor had been cruelly wronged by some one who would yet be brought to light Rev Gillilan came in for his share of the discussion and there was some ltle suggestion that resolutions should be i adopted In the end however the meeting contented itself with sending a committee of condolation to Rev 1 Mabry 1 Rev Kirk May Take Temporary i Charge I is probable that Rev C L Kirk I who is fortunately here holding a revival I re-vival will take charge of iht church I until the grand jury has taken the J I case into consideration and either I killed the charge or disposed of it in j the other way He announced last evening i eve-ning that he will preach Sunday mornI ing and evening and also hold revivals reviv-als all next week He is a forceful taking preacher and though given to I revivals would probably be satisfactory satisfac-tory to the congregation until everything every-thing is settled Rumors Galore j I the reporters of the city papers I were minded to print all they hear in i the Mabry scandal the scandalmongers j scandalmong-ers would be gorged with material for discussion I is perhaps a good thing i for the morality of this people that 1 the young men whose duty it is to I collect information for the papers are satisfied with the work of getting information in-formation relative to the concrete work on the gravity sewer the position of the board of public works and the affairs of the county court There are more racy tales afloat than would fill the entire edition of The Herald The major portion of them are entire fabrications as a matter of course Some have a thread of truth running through the narrative but they are not at all pertinent The gossips having had their fill of the racy portion of the sensation are now devoting themselves to speculating speculat-ing on the probable outcome of the trial Having decided that their position posi-tion regarding the circumstances connected con-nected with tne affair is the correct one they are now measuring the degrees de-grees of punishment which shall be I measured out to the pair 6 i I is hard to get at the inside facts concerning the position in which this I minister finds himself By this is not i 1 meant anything concerning the details j of the arrest but the chain of acts which led up to i Yesterdays issue I detailed at some length the fact that the public is not satisfied with the actions ac-tions of the Rev J D Gilillan Events of the day demonstrated that the feeling I feel-ing against him is increasing and that of he water will find himself in the hottest kind I I Attorney George F Goodwin who represents the interests of the accused pastor in this matter said yesterday that there was nothing of interest in the case for the public The defense is outlining a policy and will be abl to make a showing when the time arrives rives Will There Be a Trial There is a strong feeling in relation to the matter which Is fast gaining ground and that is to the effect that there will be no trial of the case While there is no definite authority i for this assertion the little statements I which leak out at times are all lo that effect I is said in certain quarters I i quar-ters that the showing made toy the I defense will be of such a character that the prosecution will be only too glad to drop the whole matter J t i Or the other hand the friends of j I the accused pastor say that he cannot afford to shirk the responsibility of a trial In such an event the public would not be slow in saying that he was guilty and feared to meet his accusers But i is said with positive assurance that when the trial comes he will show up as deep laid a conspiracy conspi-racy as was ever designed to wreck the hopes of man A leading member of the Methodist denomination said yesterday that he could not believe the minister guilty He is a man of ability and could not afford to take the chances that are alleged Living as he does on his reputation and knowing that when of that was gone that all his hopes success were gone he could not have been so foolish said this man And so the talk goes on At the police po-lice station there is nothing to be learned Everyones lips are sealed as they were on the night of the arrest |