| Show PREACHING IN BROOKLYN 50 CONCORD street brooklyn r may xyth 1897 s the work here is assuming larger proportions fro portions about three weeks ago cider der kesler president of the mission here introduced the english method of reaching the public that is by street i prebi preaching aching our first meeting was held on the aristocratic brooklyn heights within speaking distance of plymouth church where once was heard the remarkable oratory of henry ward beech or r and now nowadays a ds the equally remark able theology of reverend lyman abbott our meeting was not a complete success or a complete meeting elder kesler had just made a few introductory remarks and the growing crowd were just becoming interested when a policeman made his appearance and approaching pro aching the speaker inquired in an undertone if he had a permit to conduct street se senu r vc cs ces the answer being in the ne negative gathre th the inee meeting ti ng had to be brought to a sudden termination the next morning elder kesler interviewed the mayor and secured four permits each for a different ward A few days later our president left for a month to attend a series of conferences in the newly added districts in the south the week of his bis dep arture we held three outdoor meetings without interruption at the last of them a policemen again came along but upon being shown our permit allowed us to proceed he suggested however that we notify the precinct offices when we intended holding such meetings that our officer might be present to preserve order we considered it a good suggestion and thanked him for his kindness it is su how quickly a crowd gathers at our meetings it is perhaps because trev are not accustomed to such a of evangelization as very lew few ot of the sects adopt it some of our audiences evidently think we belong to the salvation army fueard one or two who labored under this delusion give voice on approaching to such encouraging cou raging phrases as hallelujah praise the lord amen but they soon found out their mistake we feel gratified at the success of our open air work thus far and look forward to many fine meetings during the summer we have also resumed tr acting from house to house my district is largely catholic and has many tenement houses or flats containing ten twelve and ana even twenty families the catholics generally accord me respectful treatment and as a rule politely decline accepting a tract while a few others act quite differently it is somewhat discouragingly cou ragingly to climb up six flights ot of stairs and then get the proffered tract thrown back and the door slammed in ones face there are many ups and downs in more than one sense to this branch ot of missionary work still I 1 meet a few here and there who take an interest in the truth and though exceptional these suffice to make the work encouraging and bright there are at this writing the following elders at 50 50 concord D F edwards E T Burton William V haight george E hanks and myself we are all well and anxious to be ot some use to the lord in this part of the vineyard D J WATTS |
