Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 250, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 October 1916 — 6000 MEN PUSH RELIGIOUS ORDER [ARTICLE]

6000 MEN PUSH RELIGIOUS ORDER

FIRST OF NEW STONEMAN FELLOWSHIP LGRI MAGES FROM PHILADELPHIA TESTS THE RAILROAD FACILITIES Train Movement Also Made to Show The Pennsylvania's Ability to Handle Soldiers Pittsburg, Pa. When the Rev. H C. Stoneman an Episcopal clergyman of Philadelphia, led approximately 6000 members of the Stonenien Fei lowship, organized by him about a year ago and which is named in his honor, "Stonemen,” to Pittsburg to form a similar fellowship here, it was a unique and impressive' religious enterprise. The excursion was also expected to De a demonstration of the facility with which the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. could move soldiers- in the event of. a. hurry call from the War Department. The Stvnemen, whose distinctive creed is the brotherhood of man and who call every man whom they meet 'brother/’ came to establish the order here, and in this they succeeded to au extent that enrolled several thousand? The original plans contemplated oc* cupancy of all the Protestant pulpitain the city, but when it was reported that it was a fraternity in which the conferring of degrees played a pirt and that the first degree could be conferred only by an Episcopalian clergyman, some of the other Protestant ministers withdrew from cooperation and declined to yield their pulpits to the visitors, claiming that the denom inational limitation prevented formal countenancing of the organization. One of the visitors holding an official position in the brotherhood denied the report in this language. ‘‘lt is not true. I will not deny it officially, but it is not true. We Stonemen do not deny these stories. We have no quarrel with ministers or anyone .else. If the ministers oppose us, that is up to them.” Music is a conspicuous and effective element in the invasion. There was the Stone band of 100 members, an orchestra of 50 and several ward organization bands, and between them they kept the music going almost continuously during their stay of one day.

The founder of the fellowship came here with the expectation of enrolling 20,000 men,-which was not realized by far, yet the outcome was not the least discouraging to the idea of these big pilgrimages, which are already sched pled for Buffalo and other cities in the east, to' be ext c., tied later to other sections of the country. Speaking o£ the membership expected here, Dr Stoneman said: - _ “When we consider that 70 per cenl of that 20,000 are without a church heme and in no way affiliated with thuich organizations we can understand the importance of our pilgrimages. We have received 24,000 applications in Pittsburg. We shall make a pilgrimage to Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Brotherhoods are to be estab'ished in those cities and in others throughout the country as fast as the work can be handled.” The trains were all composed of 10 c< aches, with a baggage car in the center of each fitted up as a commissary, to show that troops could be fed in a similar manner while being rush ed over long stretches of country. These cars carried sandwiches, coffee urns, cakes and soft drinks. Every man aboard, even the crews, was a stoneman and all wore straw hats.