IMPRESSIVE SERVICE
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NEW YEAR FINE OCCASION FOR
MORAVIANS AT SALEM
^EW YEAR’S eve is anoth
er impressive occasion in
the procession of soul-stir
ring services of the Mor
avian church of the Salem
congregation at Winston-
Salem. Soldiers who were. able to
attend the New Year watch service
this year proclaim it an event which
time will never efface.
It is the hour when that historic
church looks back, in the reading of
the “memorabilia,” across it’s years of
noble history. This year the reader
of the “memorabilia” accounted for
more than 150 years of that congrega
tion, which is made up of the descend
ants of the sturdy men and women
who cleared the forests at Salem in
1771.
There are two services on New
Year’s eve. It is in the service start
ing at 8 o’clock that the history is
read. The church is still bright in
it’s Christmas setting of evergreen and
miniature Christmas trees and the
light of the great star, which hangs
from the dome of the auditorium.
At 11:30 starts the watch service.
It is a song gathering and jubilee of
praise. The Salem trombone band,
an organization which has handed it’s
reputation down through ten genera
tions, joins in the music. This band
holds no drums but the absence of
the “clatter-heads” gives the organi
zation the greater chance to express
every phrase of joy or sorrow. It is
this band which plays whenever a
member of the congregation dies and
these are the musicians who march
through the streets of Salem at the
break of Easter morn proclaiming In
their triumphal strains the glory of
the Risen Lord. It was this band
which welcomed George Washington
to Salem in 1778, when he worshipped
with the elders of the Moravian church
and marveled at their waterworks sys
tem, which was constructed from hol
lowed logs.
It is the inspiring song of adoration
“Now Let Us Praise the Lord” that
swells in full volume just as every
horn is proclaiming the birth of the
New Year. All the joy of reclaimed
peace was in the ring of that grand
hymn this year. It is said to have
been one of the most inspiring New
Year gatherings in the history of the
church.
The whole affair is beyond descrip
tion. One must needs be present to
be carried away by the grand spell of
it all. That song at New Year seems
to gather all the power of the years of
trial and simple joys that the Morav
ians have gone through since they
.THE CADUCEUS
builded their settlement more than a
century ago and with a firmness that
has defied the wrecking power of
time.
The songs the Moravians sing on
every occasion of the church are an
thems that the brothers and sisters
have formed themselves and which
carry the force of the deep convic
tion of their authors in their majestic
swing. They are to be found no place
else. They express the earnestness of
those who were willing to leave their
homes in Europe and to cross the
perilous sea to a wilderness in an
unknown land because their heart
courage was as great as their unfal
tering faith.
. The earnestness of the New Year
service is only one of the forces which
makes the institution of the Moravian
church one of the most respected or
ganizations of thsf south.
There is the little clanking bell in
the church tower, which is said to
have been the first bell made in Amer
ica, as it was cast from silverware
taken from the homes of Moravians;
there is the church itself which is
, only an enlargement of the little brick
structure which was reared in the
heart of the Carolina forests; there
is the quaint little bakery, which has
been in use for nearly a century and
a half. ’There is the “Brothers home,”
which like the many other structures
11
of the place was builded apparently
for all time. There is the beloved
“God’s acre,” where each headstone is
a simple flat marker, with no distinc
tion between the rich and poor, and
with a part of the yellow stones so
weather beaten that the names of
those who came from England, .Den-,
mark, Germany and Holland are almost
illegible. There is the Salem college
for women, which is one of the best
known and most highly respected edu
cational institutions of the south.
In fact there is ail of old Salem,
wrapped in the quiet of years of honor
able history and offering a spell for
all those who revel in the realm of
a simple, earnest. God-fearing work
which the onward rush of the world
has failed, to taint.
RECEIVE CUSHIONS
MOrJ SUVHGilKC-.
Through the thoughtfulness of sev
eral kind ladies of Memphis, T.enn.,
the Red Cross building has received
six beautiful hand made sofe pillows
which are most welcome. One of
them was fashioned by Miss Marie
Clebrant, a young lady of eleven years
who wished to do something nice for
the soldiers, among the other donors
are Mrs. Newton, Mrs. Cooper and
Mrs. W. A.| Whittington.
35uTfE5: Active s- ikactwh
MATTON DRUO COMPANY
107 NO. MAIN ST. both phonks no. ai HIGH POINT, N. C.
Our own Boys being in the Service “Over There” we know how to treat them.
Come in and call.