'

"It would be impossible to describe the effect of the Rev. Mr. Strong's
talk upon the audience. Once the applause was so long continued that it
was a full minute before he could go on. When he finally closed with a
tremendous appeal to the wealth of Milton to use its power for the good
of the place, for the tearing down and remodeling of the tenements, for
the solution of the problem of no work for thousands of desperate men,
the audience rose to its feet and cheered again and again.

"At the close of the meeting the minister was surrounded by a crowd of
men, and an after meeting was held, at which steps were taken to form a
committee composed of prominent church people and labor leaders to work,
if possible, together toward a common end.

"It was rumored yesterday that several of the leading-members of Calvary
Church are very much dissatisfied with the way things have been going
during these Sunday-evening meetings, and are likely to withdraw if they
continue. They say that Mr. Strong's utterances are socialistic and tend
to inflame the minds of the people to acts of violence. Since the attack
on Mr. Winter nearly every mill-owner in town goes armed and takes extra
precautions. Mr. Strong was much pleased with the result of the
Sunday-night meetings and said they had done much to bridge the gulf
between the church and the people. He refused to credit the talk about
disaffection in Calvary Church."

In another column of this same paper were five separate accounts of the
desperate condition of affairs in the town. The midnight hold-up attacks
were growing in frequency and in boldness. Along with all the rest, the
sickness in the tenement district had assumed the nature of an epidemic
of fever, clearly caused by the lack of sanitary regulations, imperfect
drainage, and crowding of families. Clearly the condition of matters was
growing serious.

At this time the minsters[sic] of different churches in Milton held a
meeting to determine on a course of action that would relieve some of
the distress. Various plans were submitted. Some proposed districting
the town to ascertain the number of needly[sic] families. Others
proposed a union of benevolent offerings to be given the poor. Another
group suggested something else. To Philip's mind not one of the plans
submitted went to the root of the matter. He was not popular with the
other ministers. Most of them thought he was sensational. However, he
made a plea for his own