Arrangements for the General Conference by A. G. Daniells

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 20, 1913

Arrangements for the General Conference

By A. G. Daniells

IN response to the general interest manifested by our people in the approaching General Conference, we avail ourselves of the columns of the REVIEW to report the progress being made in our preparation for the meeting. All who contemplate attending the Conference should read with care the information given in the REVIEW from week to week regarding railway arrangements, and entertainment during the meeting.

In our endeavors to secure favorable railway accommodations we have found the railway officials most obliging and willing to do all for us that the general regulations of the railroad associations of the country will allow. The Baltimore and Ohio is the only road running through Takoma Park. This road has granted all we have asked in the way of local accommodations. Thirty trains pass through Takoma Park daily over this road. Some are local trains, and some are fast express-trains running between New York City and Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Chicago. During the first three days of the opening and also at the close of the conference, every train running through Takoma Park will stop. None of our people traveling on this road need leave the train at the Union Station in Washington. All the agents of this road will be instructed to ticket our people and check their baggage to Takoma Park. And on leaving, all may purchase tickets and check baggage to any station on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

The General Conference Reception Committee will have persons at the Takoma Park station to meet all trains. These persons will collect all railway baggage checks, and give in their place Conference claim checks to be presented at the Conference grounds to obtain baggage. Conveyances will run between the station and the grounds to carry passengers and baggage. The conference grounds are about one and one-half miles from the railway station. There is now a good cement walk all the way. The vehicle road is nicely macadamized from the station to the grounds, and the entire distance is lighted with electric lamps. A new subway under the railroad has just been completed, so no one will be exposed to danger by having to cross the tracks in a crowd.

We have been greatly favored in securing the lumber we shall need to floor the family tents, the large pavilion, the dining-tent, and others that may need to be floored. We have purchased the large reviewing stands used by the President and the senators on inauguration day. By taking the large quantity of lumber in these stands just as they stood, we were able to make very favorable terms, and this will make it possible to lighten the expense of our people who attend the meeting. We have also been favored in securing good beds at a reasonable rate. We are doing all in our power to provide for the comfort of our people, and as cheaply as possible.

The dining arrangements will be on the cafeteria plan. Brother E. G. Fulton, of Los Angeles, who has had large experience in this line, will have full charge of the arrangements. Plans are being made to seat six hundred at a time. In addition to the cafeteria, there will be a lunch-stand and a grocery.

There is one thing all should remember, and that is that it will not be possible to supply many furnished rooms near the grounds. The rooms in the Sanitarium and nurses’ dormitory will all be required for the sick. Nearly all the rooms in the Sanitarium are now occupied with guests, and new ones will be coming each week. The rooms in the Seminary buildings will be used for those attending the Conference, but these should be reserved for three classes of delegates: those who are advanced in years, those who are not strong physically, and married couples from foreign fields. These we must care for first. We shall make the tents just as comfortable as possible, and we shall notify all who apply for rooms whether it will be possible to supply them, so that there need not be any disappointment in this matter.

All who contemplate attending the Conference should apply at an early date, so that there may be time to make provision and assignments and send back information regarding the arrangements we are able to make. Send all applications to L. A. Hansen, Takoma Park, Washington, D. C.

A. G. DANIELLS.