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Show Miss Urdell Montgomery Talks at First Methodist Church Sunday Afternoon. TELLS ABOUT PECULIAR CUSTOMS OF THE ORIENT Bishop Berry Makes Comment on Architecture of Churches. Miss Urdell Montgomery, missionary to East India, addressed a meeting of women at tho First MoUiodist church Sundaj afternoon. Miss Montgomery's talk was an informal one, and those I who listened to hor address asked frequent fre-quent questions. The missionary spoke particularly of the pitiable condition of the women in India. It is nothing unusual, according to Miss Montgomery, for a girl to be married at Jl years of ago; in fact, if sho is not married by tho time she is grown tip. it is considered a disgrace. The marriages are contracted by tho and the young pcoplo have no voice in the matter. A bride is often widowed 'before she becomes a woman, and, according ac-cording io tho customs of her couutry, cannot bo married again. Sho is supposed sup-posed to have committed pome sin which causes her to lose her husband, and she has to spend her life in widowhood widow-hood as punishment. Miss Montgomery says that they havo considerable trouble with native parents, who have become Christians, contracting marriages for their girls with heathen num. The old hniidnrre of custom leads to the belief that the parents regard the wicrilico of a heat lien marriage less than that of the girl's remaining unmarried. To obviate obvi-ate this the missionaries ask permission permis-sion to establish schools for the girls and agree to find husbands for them when I hey becomo of suitable age, according ac-cording to American ideas, to marry. Customs of Household. The customs of a missionary's household house-hold were brought out "in an interesting interest-ing way, and tiic servant problem discussed dis-cussed in a. manner which made every woman present feel that this grea't question is not confined to America. Miss Montgomery says that the native servants can do housework, after a fashion, but that they are uot as neat about, it as an American housewife would wish. As long as the' are watched they carry out. what they regard re-gard as the cranky notions of "their American mistress, but. as soon as her back is turued they drift back into their slovenly ways. Since the missionary work is regarded regard-ed as more important thaji tho housework, house-work, however, tho servants are retained, re-tained, instead of tho missionary cariug Miss Montgomery will go lo Pueblo from here to attend the meeting of tho Colorado conference. She has mado a good impression during her stav here in atlondaneo at, the meeting of the Utah Methodist mission. "Some architects will have a high seat in heaven, t believe," said Bishop Uorrj-, in conversation with some members mem-bers of Iho Utah Methodist mission over which ho presided last. wcok. 'They deserve it from their contributions contribu-tions to church architecture. About Building Churches. "On the other, hand. I think that some will be cast into outer darkness." and tho bishop's eyes twinkled Avith humor, "for building such atrocious churches. I havo uo palionce with the idea (hat a church should be built like an opera house. There is nothing dignified dig-nified or churchly about it. "Tho only appropriate niy)c of church architecture is the pure Gothic. Any departure from this causes a house of worship to lose tho simplicity of outline which should characterize it "I think it is a great pitv that the location of churches and their style of aixhitecj.urc cannot be regulated by a committee appointed responsible to tho church authorities. This committee should have special training along tho lino of the best location and the most lilting architectural construction for churches. If this were tho case, fewer mistakes would be mado and ideas of church architecture would be elevated." |