EVERY large city has its colony of vice, where those who lead lives of shame and crime congregate in the pursuit of an evil calling. Especially is this true of a great seaport like San Francisco, to which a world's commerce pays daily homage, and from whose Golden Gate sail fleets freighted with merchandise for all nations.
Each year sees the city's giant growth in population and wealth, with their baleful satellite increase of sin. And the rapid advancement of religious truth has by no means thinned the bold display of vice; on the contrary, “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2 Tim. 3:13.
The maritime position of San Francisco, the gateway for the Orient, has attracted to its shores large numbers of Asiatics, many of whom comprise an undesirable element, saturated with the worst features of oriental vice.
A Broad Field for Missionary Work.
It will be readily seen that in this big center of cosmopolitan life exists a broad field for the exercise of missionary work of a twofold nature. The good that can be done by the hand of spiritual and temporal helps is enormous, and the Helping Hand and Medical Mission, established on the confines of Chinatown and the Barbary Coast, has already accomplished much in mitigating and removing the evil results of localized vice.
The mission has done more. It has by no means confined its labors to the feeding of the hungry, the clothing of the naked, and the sheltering of the homeless.
The rescuing of the flickering sparks of manhood from extinction by the forces of penury and despair; the efforts to elevate the rescued to the spheres from which they had fallen; the reunion of families rent by the agencies of sin or misfortune; the restoration of converted children to praying mothers, and the cultivation of moral independence in minds shattered by evil habits and degrading influences,—these are a few of the many instances in which the Helping Hand and Medical Mission has been instrumental in widening its influence to the extent of a national benefactor.
Helping Hand Mission Chapel.
Helping Hand Free Laundry.
Cases of Individual Help.
Since the opening of the institution in February, 1898, there have been forty-four cases of individual help, amongst which may be mentioned instances where husbands have returned as bread-winners to their wives; wayward children restored to the friendship of the family circle; men of respectability assisted back to the plane from which they had fallen thru affliction, intemperance, or other causes, and many others where the jagged surfaces of life have been made smooth by the wonderful touches of the second great commandment.
Here are a few examples. Number one had left Maryland with a considerable sum of money, realized by the ten years' lease of his drug store. Dreams of wealth untold tempted him to seek his fortune in the golden regions of the Klondike. Like hundreds of others, he found only disappointment from the hour of his landing at the new El Dorado. He lost all his money, and after many hardships returned to San Francisco, broken down by the dreaded disease known to Northern miners as the Klondike scurvy. He sought the mission for medical treatment and shelter, which he received, and after some three months was enabled to secure a position at $90 a month. This man is now proprietor of a wholesale business house in San Francisco.
Number two is a Chicago man who had been engaged in mercantile pursuits in that city. He too became afflicted with the itching palm, and, leaving wife and baby behind, sped to the inhospitable regions of the Klondike, to extract golden ore with a miner's pick. He proved to be another of the disappointed ones, and got back to California so wretched and despondent that suicide alone seemed a happy method of terminating his woes. Thoughts of his once happy Chicago home, of a far-off wife and child now bereft of support, and of the sweet family influences that sweeten the cup of existence, had been brooded over and had well-nigh unbalanced a mind already weakened by months of hardship. After a few months' rest at the Helping Hand Mission, the position as manager of a book concern opened up for him, and now his San Francisco home is a model of taste and comfort. He is happily reunited with his family.
Number three deserted his family in Chicago, to become a wanderer on the earth. Arriving at San Francisco, he happened one evening to drop into the mission during Gospel services. Struck with the force of several testimonies to the saving power of Christ, he came forward and accepted the divine truth that sets sinners free. He is now holding a good position, and is united with his wife and children.
Number four is representative of a large class of American youth and manhood for whom mothers' prayers are unceasing. The chivalrous ideals of our American youth, their sanguine temperament, their thirst for travel and conquest of fortune, all combine to make the boys of Columbia wanderers from the parent home. While some succeed in life, many fall by the wayside, to become the objects of mother's solicitude. The mother's prayers for her wandering boy are long and tearful, and what sound has a more joyous ring than the postman's announcement of a letter from the long-lost prodigal, telling of a wonderful peace found thru reconciliation with the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world! John 1:29. Then has the tear of joy glistened with thanks to Him who had guided the feet of a loved son to some far-off mission, where the heavy-laden rest, to take up the burden of sin no more.
Only a few days ago, one of the Helping Hand converts, a bright young man, wrote to his aged mother, living in a neighboring city, that he was no longer a slave to drink or the deadly cigaret; that he had found salvation and a better life. The mother's joy was intense; she immediately replied by saying that her long hours of prayer were not in vain; for that prayer was at last answered.
Number six came to the mission about six months ago, a wreck morally and physically, thru drink and the cigaret habit. Engaged in worldly pursuits from early manhood, he finally drifted into the ownership of a California saloon, gradually becoming his own best consumer. Poverty and paralysis resulted from reckless dissipation, and for eighteen months he lay bedridden and speechless. Since his stay at the Helping Hand he has almost recovered the use of speech and limbs. The old man of sin, too, is dead, and the new man a monument of God's saving power.
The Helping Hand Free Employment Office.
Side by side with this leverage for the uprising of the fallen, is the inestimable benefit conferred by the mission's free employment office. The peculiarly helpless condition of a large portion of San Francisco's floating population, in its vain efforts to obtain honest labor thru lack of employment-office fees, has been a source of vexation and difficulty to thousands of poor workingmen. Homeless, shelterless, hungry, and despondent, these objects of deserved sympathy roam the city for jobs that rarely, if at all, turn up. To render their condition the more galling, they are13generally classed with the vagabond parasites of the town, who prey on the kindness of the benevolent, and are frequently compelled to accept the sheriff's hospitality in one of the demoralizing homes for criminals. The climatic conditions surrounding California render it the paradise of vagrants, they frequently subsisting on the fat of the land, while the indigent workingmen eke out a miserable existence.
Helping Hand Medical Department.
The Class of Men Assisted.
To throw out the life-line to this honest class of workers; to rescue them from the miseries of a large city; and to give them that honorable place in society deserved by all honest labor, has been the paramount consideration of the Helping Hand management. In assisting the unemployed the mission has, thru God's blessing, been eminently successful. The man showing evidences of a desire to lead a better life is given board and lodging in exchange for a couple of hours' light work around the mission. There are daily calls for help, and every ring of the telephone leaves the institution one less on the roll of candidates for positions. Thus the sheltering benefits and moral influences of the mission are thrown around a wide stratum of persons deserving the grasp of a helping hand.
Since the founding of the mission, nearly three years ago, more than five hundred have been furnished permanent positions, and more than four thousand provided with temporary employment. As a rule, the men furnished by the mission give satisfaction, and in one leading restaurant on Montgomery and Market Streets, five of its best employees are converts of the Helping Hand. These men, like hundreds of others, were taken care of by the mission until able to care for themselves.
Since the mission started, in February, 1898, more than one million and a half (1,500,000) have been fed and sheltered, outside the assistance given to poor families in the way of food, provisions, clothing, etc.
Religious Services.
Religious service is conducted every evening in the mission chapel at 8 o'clock, lasting one hour. It commences with a season of song, followed by prayer; then the chaplain's sermon and converts' testimonies, with an exhortation to sinners to come forward and resolve to lead better lives. The chapel is usually crowded, and, considering the location of the mission, in the center of the city's rougher elements, the general conduct of the audiences is exemplary. There have been more than seven hundred professed conversions since the opening of the mission, and, tho it is, of course, impossible to say positively what number of these have been real, the conclusive evidences of wonderful conversions are exemplified in the changed lives of many claiming salvation at the Helping Hand Mission. The other religious meetings of the institution consist of “family” prayer, at 8:30 A.M., attended by the employees and brethren of the mission, and the Bible study, from 7 to 8 P.M., conducted by the chaplain. Many new converts seeking Bible truths have been wonderfully blessed at this meeting. The “inquiry room” of the chapel has proved of much benefit in the explanation of doctrinal and religious points to those hampered by erroneous ideas and rooted superstitions. Truly the world is full of darkness, and the mission chaplain has no inconsiderable portion of his time devoted to the loving task of lifting the veil of human mist from the infinite ocean of God's love.
Medical and Surgical Department.
This department of the mission is in the hands of able physicians and surgeons, and the amount of good done within the past three years is enormous. The medical department is a free emergency hospital for the northern section of the city, and the cases for treatment embrace almost every bodily ailment common to poor humanity. The operating-room during dispensary hours presents a scene of professional activity, in which the visiting doctor of the day and his trained nurse form the central figures.
An important aim of the Medical Mission is to teach men how, in ordinary cases, to take care of themselves. Victims of tobacco, whisky, and other vile drugs are shown their physiological effect on the human system, and the instruction almost invariably ends with the patients' renunciation of these evil habits. Men whose faces bespeak approaching death are kindly reasoned with and told of a better life. Thus the doctors, who, cheerfully and without fee or reward, heal the sores and bruises of the flesh, gladly impart spiritual help to minds long diseased with the leprosy of sin.
The Mission Restaurant.
The mission restaurant has proved an invaluable department of the institution. Nowhere else in the city can be had five clean substantial dishes of hygienic food for five cents. The patronage is varied and extensive. Not only is it a boon to the poor soul down to the last few pennies, but a veritable blessing to those forced to adopt a system of rigid economy in order to escape the indignity of charitable appeal. Stripped of all its other machinery for the relief of the poor, the Helping Hand could readily base its claim to warm public recognition on its restaurant alone.
Congested cities are those of a population half of whom know not how the other half live. Seductive freaks of imagination paint pictures of far-off shores where wealth holds unbroken revelry; where brains and ability, unsupported by means and social influence, are welcomed with open arms; and where, if all else fails, one may sumptuously feast on the charms of an unrivaled climate. The immigrant loaded with these ideas—and his name is legion—soon finds his Utopian castles melt into thin air, and it is only a matter of a little time until his downcast features take a place among the street galleries of moving pictures so commonly encountered on the thoroughfares of large cities. Now it is that the oft-despised power of a lone dollar is recognized, and the blessing of the penny lunch-counter appreciated.
With the acquaintance of the restaurant generally comes an introduction to the free reading-room, where, amid the atmosphere of wholesome literature, dreams of golden images are dissipated, and the world seen in its stern reality. The helping hand of the mission is sought and cheerfully given, and soon the once despairing soul without friends and without hope suddenly finds himself possessed of both. Visitors to the mission are frequently not a little surprised to see at its rows of tables a large proportion of all classes, from the hard hand of honest toil to the polished grace of some learned profession.
The penny-meal tickets of the institution are issued singly or in coupons of one hundred, the latter proving more convenient to regular customers and to patrons of the mission, who, in the dispensation of charity, do not desire their gifts to be exchanged for beer instead of bread.
A most gratifying feature of the restaurant is its material assistance in the subjugation of depraved passion. Grains, fruits, milk, and vegetables comprise the bill of fare; they are the natural food of man, are easy of digestion, and capable of ready assimilation by the system. The consumption of animal food is the parent of the world's army of inebriates, slaves to the deadly habit of irritant stimulants, the foes of the physical, intellectual, and moral organisms. The great majority of our mission converts, when accustomed to the food of the restaurant, evince a repugnance to the use of flesh meat, and more easily overcome the cravings for intoxicants or other poisons pandering to human debasement.
The Free Laundry.
In nature's laboratory, water is a choice gift, and true it is that cleanliness is next to godliness. Recognizing this potent factor in the building up of the moral as well as the physical system, a free laundry was established, where, without money and without price, the poor would find the means of cleaning themselves. Since the opening of the mission, there has not been a single instance where anybody has been refused a bath during laundry hours.
As the chief aim of the Helping Hand management is to provide labor for the unemployed, it is proposed on the removal to larger quarters in the near future to establish a steam laundry, affording employment to no small portion of those adapted for such work seeking the help of the mission. So far the institution has been without a home for women, but this will be remedied by the operation of the steam laundry.
Both these industrial branches will not only prove sources of relief to the unemployed, but will enable the management to carry out its plans of relief, unhampered by a dread of financial embarrassment.
The sleeping accommodations, if judged by the paying patrons of the Helping Hand, are all that may be desired. They are far above those provided by the average lodging-homes for the same price. The charge of ten cents includes a free bath. On an average, two hundred free beds are given weekly.
Bathing and Fumigating.
The cleansing process employed at the mission is effective and simple. The applicant for a bed receives two tickets, one of which calls for a bath, and these are taken to the bath-room clerk. The bather now places his clothing, with the exception of hat and shoes, in a sack tagged with a number, the duplicate of which he retains for identification of clothes next morning. While enjoying the luxury of a hot bath, his clothes are carried to the fumigator, into which all insects enter, leaving hope behind. After donning a nightgown fresh from the laundry, he receives back his bed ticket, stamped on the back by the bath-room clerk. This he presents to the dormitory clerk, who shows the clean man to a bed. Permanent roomers at the mission are not, of course, compelled to obey this iron-clad rule. Any lodger, however, sleeping away from the mission, if only for one night, goes thru the same routine process as the newcomer. By this system the institution is always kept clean.
The place of this mission is 641-647 Commercial Street, San Francisco, Cal. J. A. DOLSON.
The Value of Motherhood
“No ASSET of the nation is so valuable as motherhood, no love so pure and dear as mother love, no memory more blessed in influence and delight than the memory of childhood and the tender, ever-present care that made its joy and comfort night and day. ‘Unhappy is the man,’ says Jean Paul Richter, ‘for whom his own mother has not made all other mothers venerable.’ ”
The Prayer Meeting Line
“DRAW a line between the folks who say, ‘O, I can’t be at prayer-meeting Wednesday night—I have another engagement,’ and those who say, ‘Wednesday evening? O, I can’t make any engagement for that night—I must be at prayer-meeting,’ and you will have nearly all the conscientious, reliable working force of the church on one side of it. Which side?”
Worlds of Note
On December 30 the Chinese peace envoys received orders from the emperor of China to sign the joint note of the powers and use their best endeavors to secure good terms and the suspension of hostilities. This order came much more quickly than even the Chinese envoys had expected. It is, technically, an armistice; but what influence it will have upon the real settlement of the question and the establishment of peace, none can say. The trend of events and the spirit of the powers seem to indicate nothing less than the partition of China. The continued aggressive actions of the foreign troops in China are not such acts as would be looked for in those desirous of maintaining the peace and integrity of a nation. A number of expeditions of the allied troops have come into contact with the Chinese, and the latter are reported to have suffered heavily in the engagements; and yet some of these Chinese troops were soldiers of the Chinese Government, who were anxious to avoid conflict.
The forces of the Boers have penetrated still farther into Cape Colony, and the Cape government has called upon the loyalists in 27 districts to assist in repelling the invasion by forming companies of paid militia, which will be used for the special purpose of checking the Boers. It is reported that at least 1,500 of the Cape Colony Dutch have joined the invaders. The Boers have captured Helvetia, 120 miles east of Pretoria. In this action the British lost 50 in killed and wounded, and 200 prisoners. They are also besieging Zeerust, 120 miles west of Pretoria; have invaded Natal, and isolated Kimberley, and are active over a wide stretch of territory. The fact that Lord Kitchener is unable to capture or conquer the burghers has led him to ask for re-enforcements, and that these be sent him as soon as possible. The Boer war seems to have taken a new start, and there has been no real progress recently toward bringing it to a close.
Within two weeks there have been 6 men killed and 12 wounded as the result of feuds in Clay County, Kentucky. The spirit of the feud still exists, and consequently more trouble is looked for. Hatred can not quench hatred. It takes water to quench fire, and it takes love to put out the smoldering embers of hate. Hate for hate, violence for violence, life for life, are a part of the policy of Satan. They open the old wounds, keep the sore fresh, and make an endless chain of misery and sorrow; but love for hatred blocks the stream of sin and misery, and makes the bitter waters sweet. The religion of Jesus Christ in the life will stop the bitterest feud the world has ever known.
Oriental advices give details of Russia’s latest attempt to gain her ends in Korea. The Russian minister has demanded of the emperor of Korea that he be allowed to interfere in the civil administration of the Korean Empire, the object being to introduce reforms. He also demands that all negotiations with foreign powers be referred to the Russian minister before definite action is taken, and that Korea shall not amend her treaties without Russia’s consent. It is reported that the Korean cabinet is greatly alarmed over the demands of Russia.
An appendix to General MacArthur’s report on the civil affairs of the Philippines shows that there are in the islands over 30,000 lepers. A commission is now engaged in the work of selecting a suitable island or islands for the purpose of isolating all the lepers in the archipelago. Leprosy was introduced into the Philippines in 1633, when the emperor of Japan sent a ship with 150 lepers on board as a present to the Catholic priests. The disease has been spreading until it now has a firm foothold in the islands.
The influence of the Boxer movement in China has extended to the kingdom of Korea, and Boxer proclamations have been posted in different parts of that country. There has been some anti-Christian rioting already, and the rioters threaten to exterminate the missionaries. As the majority of missionaries in that country are Americans, the American minister at Seoul is making strong representations to the Korean Government, and Korean soldiers have been sent to the disturbed districts.
On account of his desire that the pilgrimages to Rome should continue another six months, the pope has extended the holy year that length of time. The pope is of the opinion that the world will almost immediately commence a series of seven lean years in respect to international trade, with a consequent falling off in Peter’s Pence. Consequently, special efforts are necessary to replenish the papal treasury, and the extension of the holy year is expected to accomplish this object.
The United States Army transport Grant arrived at San Francisco from Manila on December 31, bringing a large number of sick and disabled soldiers, 79 discharged soldiers, 45 army prisoners, and 300 bodies of soldiers who had been killed or died of disease in the islands. Among the latter were 96 victims of smallpox. These are the fruits of the sowings of the imperial republic.
A Chicago organization known as the St. Luke Society has entered upon the work of establishing, throughout the city, penny lunch rooms for the benefit of the poor. Twenty restaurants in all will be in operation during the winter, and the price of the dishes will be one cent each. The society expects to be able to feed from 25,000 to 30,000 persons a day.
Many deaths from starvation are reported from the province of Shansi, China. The troubled conditions there have interfered with the planting of the usual crops, and a great famine is the result. So great is the destitution that human flesh is being offered for sale in many villages, and the authorities are unable to stop the practice.
The English public are beginning to feel the pinch of the war taxes, which are causing a considerable shrinkage in the incomes of the people. To many of them the burden is a discouraging one, because of the lack of progress toward peace in South Africa, and consequently expressions of dissatisfaction are heard from many quarters.
Three car-loads of Alaskan curiosities, including tusks, skulls, bones of mastodons, and numerous other relics, are soon to be shipped from Tacoma, Washington, to the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, N. Y. The collection also includes the skins of various animals and the utensils of the Indians.
A great financial crash occurred in London on December 28, when thirteen firms suspended operations. The first firm to go to the wall was the London and Globe Finance Corporation, with a capital of $10,000,000. The other failures followed in rapid succession, resulting in great depression in the stock market.
A storm of terrible violence swept over England on December 28, and scores of small vessels were swamped or driven out to sea and sunk. Ruin was left in the track of the storm on the land as well as on the sea, and wires are down in every direction. The loss of life, tho not yet reported, is known to be large.
The idea of attempting to establish communication with the inhabitants of Mars is again being agitated in Europe. Professor Schmoll’s plan is to reproduce in Europe, by means of luminous points, the outline of the Great Dipper, thereby attracting the attention of the Martians.
Recently Governor Sayers, of Texas, made application to Governor Roosevelt, of New York, for the extradition of John D. Rockefeller, who is wanted in Texas for breaking the anti-trust law of that State; but Governor Roosevelt declines to surrender Mr. Rockefeller.
A petition was sent to the president of the Senate on December 31 asking that body to ratify the African International Treaty, in the provisions of which the different civilized nations covenant to prevent the sale of liquor and firearms among the native tribes of Africa.
Professor Brooks, of the Smith Observatory, Geneva, N. Y., has discovered, by means of photographic plates, three small planets in the vicinity of the newly-discovered planet Eros. These belong to a series of small planets which are revolving between Mars and Jupiter.
The Japanese training ship Tsukishima Maru was sunk in a recent typhoon off the coast of Japan, and every one of her 121 officers, cadets, and sailors perished. Two other vessels were swamped in the same storm, one losing 22 men and the other 11.
The bubonic plague has broken out on Thursday Island, South Pacific Ocean, and, owing to the large percentage of Asiatics on that island, it is feared that many deaths will result.
Hiram S. Maxim, inventor of the Maxim gun and the automatic system of firearms, has been knighted by the queen of England. Mr. Maxim was a native of the State of Maine.
A congress of representative clergymen and laymen was held in Philadelphia on December 28, for the purpose of inaugurating a movement to suppress vice in large cities.
Owing to the financial stringency in Mexico, the great banking firm of Martinez, Negrete & Sons, of Guadalajara, has failed, with liabilities reaching $2,235,000.
Plans are being consummated in Philadelphia for the control of the steel tube industry in the United States, by a monster trust with a capital of $150,000,000.
A mail pouch containing about $100,000 in negotiable paper and an unknown quantity of money was stolen at Wyandotte, Mich., on December 28.
The great rubber trust of the United States has declared war on all independent firms by making a cut of about 25 per cent. in rubber footwear.
Mrs. Phebe A. Hearst is reported to have given a large sum of money to establish a temple of Christian Science in Washington, D. C.
Nicola Tesla’s system of wireless telegraphy is to be given an official trial by the United States Navy with a view to its adoption.
The crusade against vice in Chicago has resulted in the closing of the city’s saloons at midnight.
BUDDHISM IN JAPAN.
By J. R. Mott
[By Mr. J. R. Mott, of the World's Christian Federation.]
For many centuries Buddhism has been the great religion of Japan, but during the last nine or ten years it has manifested special activity and vigor. This is the result of the spread of Christianity and the wide diffusion of education. Among the evidences of this awakening are a revival in the study of Buddhism, the rebuilding of temples, the education of priests in certain sects, and the adoption of some of the methods of Christianity.
The chief hold of Buddhism is on the lower classes of Japan, who are so completely under the sway of its countless superstitions. It is a striking fact that it has no hold whatever on the educated classes. Among the large number of students and teachers whom we met personally on our extended tour thru Japan, we did not meet one who would call himself a Buddhist. The signs of the weakness of Buddhism are everywhere apparent. It is greatly rent with internal dissensions.
Its priesthood has been so illiterate that the government about two years ago issued an order requiring that priests receive the equivalent of a common-school education before being licensed. All bore testimony also to the shockingly immoral lives of the priests. As a class they seem to be corrupt thru and thru. It is said that the chief priest of the largest sect lives an openly vile life. The condition of things is so bad that even the secular press has warned the priests to reform or Buddhism must go down before Christianity. Even the government has issued edicts reprimanding the priests for their bad morals.
The Buddhists show consciousness of their weakness by adopting a number of the methods of Christianity, e. g., Sunday-schools, summer conferences, young men's Buddhist associations, women's work, the publication of magazines and tracts. Many of the priests have lost faith in Buddhism, and others freely recognize the superiority of Christianity, and would gladly unite with it.
We were told that there is a widespread feeling among the priests that Christianity is the coming religion of Japan. We would not, however, convey a wrong impression. Buddhism will die hard. Up to the present time the church in Japan has been so absorbed with the middle classes that it has not yet contested the ground with Buddhism among the lower classes. The power of superstition is very great. Its root is deep. For historical reasons the Japanese will long have respect for Buddhism. If it adapts itself to the changed conditions and keeps pace with modern education, the fight may be greatly prolonged.
In all probability, Buddhism, as a philosophy to be studied, will survive, but as a religion it is doomed. It may be changed in form, but it will still be a dead body—cold, lifeless, corrupt. It does not contain elements to make it a transforming force in human society. It has no regenerating power. It has no God. It does not nourish the soul. It can not satisfy man. It is without hope.
North Carolina School and Revival Reports
BROTHER DANIEL T. SHIREMAN reports from Hildebran, N. C., the erection of a two-room school building necessitated by his growing school. All this has been done by private enterprise, and is all paid for. One of the teachers at her own expense put up a two-story six-room house for a teachers' home. The clearing of the land, and the erection and painting of the building have been largely the work of Brother Shireman. May God bless the work.
BROTHER WILL L. KILLEN reports very interesting and profitable revival meetings in progress in the vicinity of Meadows, North Carolina, with five conversions.
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