p. 45 | MEETING-HOUSES AND EASY SPEAKING

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 6, 1879

MEETING-HOUSES AND EASY SPEAKING.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

Every public speaker knows that there is a great difference in houses and halls so far as easy speaking is concerned. Some houses have such a ring that it is almost impossible to make yourself distinctly understood; others are so constructed, having just the right proportions, that they seem to aid the speaker in his work. In such houses the slightest whisper or the loudest tone can be distinctly heard. I always dread to commence meetings in a new house, from the fact that I have found so many of them very poorly constructed in this respect. In some houses I can speak for hours, day after day, with scarcely any feelings of weariness; but in other houses I am tired out with a half hour's effort. Other speakers are aware of the same fact.

Now as our brethren are building meeting-houses all over the country, this is a matter that should engage our attention. Probably not less than twenty Seventh-day Adventist meeting-houses will be built in 1879. And if the work is not done more carefully than in the past, one-half or two-thirds of these houses will be almost utterly ruined, simply because they are not properly proportioned. Carpenters undertake to construct a house, who have not the least idea as to the proper proportions. They are simply guided by the means of the builders or their own taste. When the house is up, it is found that it rings like an empty hogshead.

I have just held meetings in two new churches in Ohio, and both of them are defective in this respect. One of them rings so badly that it almost ruins their social meetings and Sabbath-school. They cannot hear each other twenty feet apart. Now we suggest that our brethren who have meeting-houses to build, should use more caution about this matter. An experienced draftsman or architect should always be employed to draw up the plan of the house. This may cost twenty-five dollars; but it is worth several hundred dollars in the end. Thus far, our meeting-houses do not vary much in size. Three or four sizes would cover about all the meeting-houses built by our people. It is also a matter of importance to have a house of the right proportions outside, so as to look well. Then the construction of the seats, the pulpit, the location of the stoves, and the ventilation, are matters of much importance.

To aid our brethren in these matters, drafts of different sized houses are being made in Battle Creek by competent architects. Those who wish to build should send for these before commencing their houses. State about the size of the house and the expected cost; then full drawings of such a house will be sent for a reasonable price. D. M. CANRIGHT.