Show = ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° fl j I rrhere the Tafts Ij Attend the Easter Service L OOOOOOOOOOOCXDOCOOOO OO = = OO = OOOOOOOO 1 3 i I a 4 t ill IiEY W CLJPEiYE I I I I PIiESOIIT I P l I h t ck4 77u mJTOR SI I 1 4 ci 1ct Q ± PR3D2W7 W7 CWCW I i i II W4JWO7W t I s Z rfj flVf rtTORC OLD 57 uOt1 ChUCH t 1 WAvtIClTQN or 4C 1R TAFT 15 A NiWDE I lIE present occupants of fI the White Houso alike to most of their prede J1r r1 cessors have been regular g r regu-lar attendants at church r but as In the case of t3 Its the average citizen special t spe-cial significance attaches re 1L7iD to their participation In < J CbIl divine worship on Easter Sunday As concerns M the president It may bo said that part of this significance Is In a religious sense and part Is In a spectacular spec-tacular sense It Is not tho special music and tho flowers which make for the latter so much as tho disposition on the part of a large share of the public to seize the opportunity to get a glimpse at close range of the president presi-dent of the United States As has been said the president attends at-tends church service almost every Sunday morning In tho year but there Ib no certainty as to his appearance nor on the ordinary Sabbath does tho president Invariably attend tho church of which he Is a member Indeed not Infrequently I tho chief executive accepts ac-cepts an Invitation to worship with some congregation of another denomination de-nomination If tho occasion be a special spe-cial one of any kind On Easier Sunday Sun-day however the president goes to his own church and only the most exceptional circumstances Interfere with his attendance at the morning service Knowing this throngs gather at the church whereas a good sized crowd Is suite to follow the president nil the way from tho White House gates to tho church As was the case during the Roosevelt Roose-velt administration the president and his wife are adherents of different religious re-ligious denominations and hold membership mem-bership In different churches in Washington Wash-ington President Taft comes of a Unitarian family his father and mother both being Unitarians and his grandmother having Joined the Unitarian Uni-tarian movement with the famous Dr Channlng William H Taft like his father boforo him was a member of the Unitarian church In Cincinnati After entering official life In Washington Washing-ton ho took a pew In tho only Unitarian Uni-tarian place of worship at the national capitalstately All Souls church which Is located not more than half a mile from tho executive mansion The now Presidents church Is one of the most historic churches In what might bo termed The City ol Famous Churches John O Calhoun Daniel Webster Dultluch and the late Senator Hoar have been among Its r j j tg O ii 41 members and the late Edward Everett Hale frequently occupied Its pulpit President Taft jvlll be summoned to worship on Easter morning by the far reaching tones of a great bell cast by the famous Paul Revere of revolutionary revolu-tionary fume This bell which has place In if lofty belfry has sounded on great public occasions since 182Z tolling successively for Lincoln Garfield Gar-field and McKinley Tho pastor of All Souls who preaches President Tafts Easter sermon ser-mon Is Rev Ulysses Grant Baker Pierce and he appears In tho pulpit In a black gown such as Is worn under un-der similar circumstances by many Episcopal clergymen novo Plerco Is a native of Provldenco R I and was born In the closing year of the civil war which readily accounts for the choice of the name bestowed upon him lIe was educated In New England Eng-land and at Hlllsdalo college Michigan Michi-gan and also pursued advanced studies at Harvard Tho pastor had charges In Iowa California and Ithaca N Y ere ho assumed his present position po-sition In 1891 In wlilch year also ho was married Rev Pierce like tbs I distinguished member of his congregation congrega-tion has traveled extensively and lectured > lec-tured considerably upon travel subjects sub-jects Mrs Taft llko airs Roosevelt worships wor-ships at a different church from that attended by her husband and by odd coincidence these two successive first Indies of tho laud have had the samo I religious affiliations The Easter mecca mec-ca of these two wellknown women Iff old St Johns Episcopal church located loca-ted just across the pant from the White House and often called tire church of the presidents from the fact that every President from Madison Madi-son to Lincoln and several since that time have worshiped there The quaint little edifice has also been dubbed the court church from the fact that during every administration many leading foreign diplomats and high officials of tIme nation have regularly regu-larly attended Its services A pew In the church Is always set aside for the use of the president of the United States and his family and this pew Is now used by Mrs Taft In place of the I pew whici she formerly rented Miss Helen Taft Is also a member of thlw church and usually accompanies her mother to tho services when In Wash lugton at Easter but the presidents I sons are wont as were the Roosevelt boys to go to church with their father when at homo for tho Easier holidays I or on other like occasions ris 9T7 |