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Show THINGS ! UNUSUAL I I By T. T. MAXEY i t it t, 1924, Western Newspaper Union.) NEW YORK'S OLDEST CHURCH St. Taul's church, which stands at. the northwest corner of Broadway and Vesey street in "Little Old New York" is one of the three public hui'.J-Ings hui'.J-Ings erected before the days of the Revolutionary war which have withstood with-stood the ravages of progress in that fast-changing city. The third church to be built, it is the oldest church edifice edi-fice still standing on Manhauan island the other two having passed into history. This venerable, yet exceedingly well-preserved house of worship was commenced in 1704 and first opened for worship on October SO. 170t The conflagration seme years later ruined a considerable portion of the city and laid to waste buildings on all sides of this religious home, but by reason t.f the fiatness of the roof which enabled the firemen to mount it and extinguish extin-guish the fires which were started by brands blown from other buildings falling on its roof, St. Paul's escaped with but little damage. A few years later a steeple was added. The interior of this splendid example ex-ample of early-day church architecture architec-ture was fashioned after that of St. Martln's-iii-the-FIelds, London. The building is 113 feet long, 73 feet wide, and its tall, old-fashioned spire is made up of a series of differently shaped sections stacked one on top of the other. In keeping with the majority of ancient an-cient houses of worship, St. Paul's is surrounded by a burlai plot which, in turn, is Inclosed by a tall Iron fence. The grave of Francis Dring bears the earliest inscription of all of those In this yard 1707. Behind the chancel within the church rest the remains of Gen. Richard Montgomery, who lost his life in the battle before Quebec in 1775. A condition which at once raises a question In the mind of the looker-on is the peculiar fact that this church turns Its back on Broadwny and faces toward the Hudson river and the New Jersey shore. It is explained Unit this came about because of Uie fact that at the time of Its construction It was believed that the territory between be-tween the church and the river promised prom-ised the greater development as the future unfolded. It has come to pass, however, that the reverse is true. In 17SD, a special service was held In St. Paul's following t lie inauguration inaugura-tion of George Washington as the first president of the United States. |