Fifteen sisters are now members of the teaching force of the school and there is an attendance of a hundred and seventy-five day scholars and a hundred and twenty-five boarders who live at a distance.

Sidney has two Lutheran churches. The English Evangelical Lutheran, presided over by Reverend Kahl, who also has Gurley charge of Reverend Karl Fenske, and the Trinity Lutheran church is under the guidance of E. Borgmeyer and is called Southeast Trinity.

The Methodist Episcopal church at Lodgepole recently dedicated a new church building, Bishop Homer C. Stuntz, officiating, assisted by District Superintendent Dr. M. E. Gilbert and Reverend Henry F. .Martens, who was appointed to this charge in 1918. The consecration ceremonies occurred in December, 1920. This church was established in the Union Pacific depot January 1. 189S. A stone church

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

was dedicated the following year with Reverend Dr. Shank, the editor of the Omaha Christian Advocate, as master of ceremonies. It took nearly ten years to pay off the debt and mortgage on the building. J. R. Young, Fred Lehmkuhl, Lewis A. Ganson, Charles N. Coates and John F. Ganson were the members of the building committee of the old stone church. The building committee of the new church were R. O. Bond, H. L. Lucke. F. H. Wolf, B. J. Watson, W. T. Hafer, and Fred Lehmkuhl. The last named, served on both building committees. The comer stone of the new building was laid July 2, 1920, by Grand Master Joseph B. Fradenburg, of the Masonic order of Nebraska. The edifice cost thirty-five thousand dollars. Reverend A. W. Amsbury held the first quarterly conference here January 21, 1893. and the constitution of the church was drafted by J. F. Ganson and Charles N. Coates.