e interior of the church was papered and painted by Elder B.
A. Carlan at a cost of less than $1,000. New cushions, carpets, etc.,
brought the total up to $1,564.

The one annual event was the Sunday school excursion, when all went on
board a barge, which was towed by a tug to a grove on the sound or on
the Hudson. Dancing was tabooed, but a "melodeon" was carted to the dock
and hymns were sung. The tickets were fifty cents for adults, but Sunday
school children were free. Robert S. Taylor, veteran secretary, was
chief ticket seller, not only on the dock that morning, but in Wall
Street for weeks before. The president of the Temperance Society once or
twice put in an excursion just ahead of that of the Sunday school, and
there was dancing. But this was generally disapproved.

Miss Fanny Crosby often came to the Primary in those days and many of
her hymns were first sung there. Mr. Blackwood, her attendant, married
Miss Devlin, the teacher of the class.

In those days Market and Henry Streets had many two-story and attic
houses and in almost every one of those about the church people lived
who went there.

Teachers whose names stand out about this time were: Hans Norsk, James
Brown, Thomas Miller, William Stevenson, Evan Price, James Smith,
William Gibson, Robert Pierce, Dr. Theodore A. Vanduzee, Jesse Povey,
Mrs. B. C. Lefler, Mrs. S. M. Nelson.

The excursions gave rise to a committee of young people who started to
provide amusements other than dancing: swings, songs, and so on. There
came also an "executive committee" that asked many questions, and Dr.
Hopper, in a courteous and kindly way answered them in full: that was
the first report made to the congregation. Till then the annual meeting
had consisted of reading the names of the subscribers who had
contributed by means of the monthly envelopes, and the amounts they
gave.

But Charles J. Lemaire could not understand why this excursion amusement
committee should not become a permanent organization with literary
purposes. Thus began the Lylian Association that for twenty years was
a mainstay of the church and in its days of dire necessity was a vital
factor. From it came the young men that in later years were trustees,
and it was the opening wedge that was to transform the whole church
work.

When two of the young men came to the trustees for permission for a
literary society to meet weekly, it was questioned whether anything but
religious meetings might be