Earlier text: In PeruFRANK S. BOND
By Frank S. Bond
BARCELONA.—In my last report I referred to our experience in the city of Reus, in being refused permission to sell tracts in that place. From there we went to Tarragona, which is the capital of the province where we were working. We endeavored to obtain permission from the governor to work the whole province, but were also refused that. It seems that every avenue for getting our literature before the people of that part of Spain is for the present hedged up. We were invited by the chief of police in Tarragona to leave for Barcelona by the first train. In these experiences we learn to appreciate the keeping power of God. During the past month we have been reading with a goodly number of promising listeners here in Barcelona, but during the past week several of these, upon being threatened with excommunication by their Protestant pastors should they continue to listen to these doctrines, have decided to remain in the old way, although they are aware that every week they are openly transgressing God’s holy law. The enemy of souls is hard at work, and wherever we go, we see evidences of his power over this people. The most conspicuous part of every town or village is its church, whose steeple towers far above everything else. One of the most interesting things, in that line, which we have visited is what is called “La Sagrada Familia.” This is a magnificent ecclesiastical pile which is slowly rising in the northern suburb of Barcelona. It has already been under process of construction for twenty-four years, and as it is the product of “alms of the faithful,” it is probable that a great deal of time will yet be consumed before it reaches completion. The picture [on the first page] gives some idea as to how it looks at the present time; but without seeing it, one can not appreciate the beauty of its exterior design. Its general architecture surpasses anything else we have seen in the church line, even including St. Peter’s and other fine churches of Rome. It is said that “the entire cost of this17 enormous work can not be less than a million and a half sterling.” Some distance away is a large convent where many nuns are stationed, and it is said upon good authority that this convent is connected with La Sagrada Familia by an underground passage, and it is also stated that underneath the church, cells have been constructed. It is further said that in another convent in this city are stored Mauser rifles and ammunition; so we can readily see that it would require no very great effort once more to establish the Inquisition in this fair land. Here are eighteen million souls who must hear this message, and in order to hear it some one must carry it to them. Are there not some laborers in some of our home conferences who have a burden for Spain? We feel the need of an interest in the prayers of all God’s children. GEO. W. CASEBEER
By GEO. W. CASEBEER.
AMBATO.— Our present situation is in the interior of the country, about two hundred miles from Guayaquil, at an elevation of about nine thousand feet. The climate is beautiful the year round; and although the people are more fanatical than those on the coast, they are not so corrupt. In this same town, a few years ago, a priest raised a mob to kill a missionary who was here, but was unsuccessful. The missionaries soon left, however, and the people have the idea that they drove them away, so we have this to work against. We have no reason to believe that the hearts of the priests have changed; but the government is now liberal, and I understand has separated church and state, so they have some fear of the authorities. We hope liberty will continue, so that the message may have free course, as far as government is concerned; for with all the advantages possible, the work is hard enough. We have no colonists here, and the work must be built up from native soil. But God has promised to give the increase, so we are trust him, and we expect to see some precious jewels rescued from the mire. There are many openings here, some similar to those Brother Perry, of Peru, has mentioned, and, thank the Lord, for which he has received help. A number of the leading young men have asked me to teach them English, which I might do for a short time; but I can not long be bound to stay in one place, after getting a little more of the language. I feel that the right persons could be self-supporting here in a short time, and some of our people should branch out a little more, and step into some of these openings. We are anxious to have some one here learning the language, because we have no time to lose. Central America
By H. A. Owen
YUSCARAN, HONDURAS.—The Lord has dealt with us tenderly. I am finding people all the time who listen intently while I tell them of the old paths, and urge them to study the Bible, which, here and there, I find hidden away from the priests. I have visited every town of any size in eastern and central Honduras, and am now working south, expecting to go into San Salvador. I do no open preaching or teaching as such, but each day I ask God to reveal Jesus to the people who come to my studio, and help me to speak the truth in an acceptable way. I know that men and women are receiving the seeds of truth in their hearts all over this little country, though none have come out and taken their stand for God's truth. If there are some families who want to come to Central America and take things as they find them, expecting much that is unpleasant, coming to bring the knowledge of a living Saviour to these people who now bow down to wood and stone, let them come prepared to stay when the next revolution breaks out, for we have revolutions quite regularly. We have thus far suffered nothing from them, and they do not usually last more than a year. There may possibly be yellow fever in some places on the coast. You can select a port of entry that is free, by consulting the United States Fruit Company in New Orleans. You must arrange for a special train to meet you at the coast. The conductor will be a dark-skinned man, with straight black hair and very little beard, with greasy clothes; and a hand-made cigarette that cost him the tenth part of one cent will be in his mouth. He will greet you politely, and tell you he is ready to serve you. The train?—It is nibbling grass off the too-little-trodden street—six, eight, or ten mules, some with riding saddles, others with pack saddles. “Such wee bits of animals,” you will say. But never mind; when you get to winding around over the edges of these mountains, your seat will seem high enough. A few days ago I was riding with my wife, around a mountain. She was mounted on a Chilean horse that would not be considered large in the United States. Hearing her voice, I turned, and saw Mrs. Owen checking her horse. “This horse is too high; I don't like him,” was her answer to my inquiry. The safety-wheel was an improvement over the old-fashioned high one; and once on these roads, you will agree with us that these little mules are “just the thing.” If you come expecting to meet and conquer difficulties, you will find much that is pleasant here. So I say to those who feel that this is their place of service. Come not to try Central America, but do what Cortez did at Vera Cruz, when he went inland to take Mexico City. We are in the center of Central America. We have a stock of Bibles furnished by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and once the Bible has been scattered through these regions, we can follow with denominational books. California-Nevada Camp-Meeting
By George B. Thompson
The annual camp-meeting of the California-Nevada Conference was held in the city of Oakland, Cal., July 19-29. The camp was a pleasant one at the corner of Forty-first Street and Grove Avenue. About one hundred and seventy-five tents were pitched, and probably seven hundred were encamped on the ground. A much larger number of our people than this attended the meeting, however. The members from the surrounding churches attended many of the services, and on Sabbaths the large pavilion was filled. The annual conference not being held in connection with the meeting, the time was almost wholly given to spiritual matters. Besides the regular laborers of the conference, Elders H. W. Cottrell, S. N. Haskell, W. C. White, Mrs. E. G. White, and the writer attended the meeting from the beginning. Elders H. W. Decker and G. W. Reaser were also present for a few days. Sister White camped on the ground, and spoke a number of times with great clearness and power; and her earnest, stirring words of counsel and admonition were greatly appreciated by those who were present. The meeting was a most excellent one throughout. From the first, an earnest spirit of seeking God was present. The preaching was practical, and directed toward calling the attention of those present to the distinctive features of the message which has made us a people. Several revival services were held, and a number gave their hearts to God. Sixty-six were baptized, and a number18 of others will be baptized in their home churches. The first Sabbath of the meeting all were shocked by the news of the total destruction of the Pacific Press printing plant. But though staggered by this tremendous catastrophe, and bowed in sorrow and humiliation beneath the stroke, a courageous spirit was manifested. The situation was laid before the meeting, and considerably over nine thousand dollars was raised in cash and pledges to assist in rebuilding, as the Lord may direct. Our largest printing establishment lies in ashes, but it lives in the hearts of those who love this message, and its work will not be finished till the end. Arrangements have already been made to continue work in a limited way. This disaster's following the loss caused by the earthquake, has greatly increased the seriousness of the situation. We need to study carefully the lesson God is seeking to teach us by this catastrophe. One thing is sure: the time has fully come when we should devote our entire energy to the spread of the message, when we should do this one thing and let every worldly thing alone. Though the Press is burned, the message lives, and will triumph in this generation. Time was taken at the meeting to study the needs of the mission fields. There is no subject of greater interest to our people than this. Following a talk on this subject, a collection was taken, and over five hundred dollars was received in cash and pledges as a First-day offering. A large number of most excellent young people attended the meeting, and the most of them are fitting themselves for work in the message. A number are in the canvassing work this summer, and many are planning to attend Healdsburg College the coming year. The indications are that the college will be full this year. Dr. L. A. Reed has been chosen as principal. He has associated with him a strong corps of earnest teachers, all of whom are planning to make the school a real training center for workers. Time was given during the meeting to the various departments of the work. One most excellent meeting was held in the interest of religious liberty. Some papers were read on different phases of this question, and a strong effort was made in the interest of the new religious liberty organ, Liberty. As a result, nearly six hundred yearly subscriptions were obtained, including copies which will be sent to the State lawmakers. Elder J. O. Corliss, the religious liberty secretary, is doing some effective work in this line. The special blessing of God was seen each day in this good camp-meeting, now numbered with the things of the past. There was a good attendance daily of those not of our faith; so much so, that it was deemed well to continue the meetings on the same ground for a time. Elders E. J. Hibbard and C. M. Gardner and others were left to develop the interest. While at this meeting I had the privilege of viewing the awful ruins of the earthquake and fire in San Francisco. No pen can describe the awful desolation. It seems almost impossible to exaggerate the calamity. Picture to yourself ten square miles of ruins of the business portion of a large, populous city, and you have some faint idea of the scene. And what is seen here is but a faint picture of the ruin in which the whole world will be involved in but a short time. We should labor now as never in the past that the work may be speedily finished. SIANG-CHENG.—In a few days I shall have some men here to study the Bible. One is a convert, but I am just teaching him to read the Bible. One is a man from the China Inland Mission, and he must be taught the Bible truth from the very first. Mrs. Selmon has her girls' school, and she has to teach some every day. She is also instructing the native woman teacher. When we opened the work here, this woman could not read a single character. In addition, there are the sick people, some of whom come from a distance of twenty and twenty-five miles, and we must help them. We have a thoroughly reliable man, who could be trusted in everything; but it is a well-known fact that a Chinaman can not handle Chinamen very well; and, besides, he is a young man. So you see that for us to go away for a while during the hot season would be almost like neglecting an infant for the same length of time. Most of these difficulties are peculiar to a new work, and would not be met with, of course, where a work had been established for any number of years. A. C. SELMON. An Opening for Missionary Work
By David A. Fisher
I NOTICED the article in the REVIEW of July 12, by Clifford G. Howell, in which he quoted a letter from some one who desired to know if there was a chance to do missionary work in that particular neighborhood. Now if there are others who would like to do some work, we earnestly invite them to consider Brunswick, Ga. We have been praying and asking for help in this needy part of the Lord’s vineyard for nearly two years, but thus far none has come. What we need is some one who understands how to conduct Bible readings. This town has been canvassed several times for our books, and we have sold a good many since we have been here, and have also scattered many thousands of pages of our good literature, but now it needs some one to follow up the interest thus started. If any one has a burden for this part of the field, please write to the undersigned. An Interesting Letter
By V. O. Cole
The Oklahoma Tract Society offered the students of Keene (Tex.) Academy a year’s scholarship if they would sell one hundred and ninety dollars’ worth of our books, and turn the entire proceeds over to the tract society. Several have started out to secure the scholarship during the summer vacation, and the following letter is from Brother R. P. Montgomery, who is one of this number, and who has averaged more than one hundred dollars’ worth of orders a week since May 30. The letter is headed, “At Summer School,” and reads as follows:— “Concerning the canvassing work, it is said, ‘The education obtained in this practical way may properly be termed “higher education.”’ Then we might say that we who are in this work are attending a school, for that is where we obtain our education. “Brother Chenault and I are attending this summer school in Choctaw County, Indian Territory. We began here May 30, and have never missed a day, nor have we been tardy. We have the best teachers, God and the holy angels. All we have to do is to obey our teachers and believe them, and we have good success, and thereby this school is made pleasant. We have a variety of schoolhouses, from a mansion down to a little log cabin or a tent, and are seldom in the same house more than one time. However, we try never to complain about our schoolroom. “The text-books we study are the Bible, Prospectus, REVIEW AND HERALD, Record, and Manual. As you see, we take five regular studies, and enjoy all of them. The Bible gives special instruction from our Great Teacher, and obedience to these instructions is the secret of our success at school. The Prospectus is the book we use most in our school, and from the study of the REVIEW AND HERALD and the Record, we can get a knowledge of how this great school is progressing throughout the world. The Manual is a study that gives great strength and encouragement to every student. It brings a person up when the trials and perplexities of this school life are pressing hard upon him. “Concerning boarding places, we scarcely ever stay at the same place longer than overnight. There are plenty of houses here, so you see we do not have to board at the same place long at a time. We also get plenty of exercise, for we do a great deal of our drilling while walking, as our boarding places are sometimes far apart. “This is entirely an industrial school. A young or old person can enter the school without a cent, and can work out all his board; the tuition costs nothing. All he has to furnish is the Bible and Prospectus, as the other books are given him free. If the student is industrious, he can easily work his way through school. “Brother Chenault and I are going to attend this school seven or eight weeks longer, and then have review and examination of what we have done. Then we shall find out how well we have done our work. “Some of the things to be learned in this school are faithfulness, honesty, truthfulness, meekness, charity, temperance, steadfastness, industry, discretion, foresight, tact, and perseverance. Those who succeed in acquiring these traits of character, will certainly make successful students. “To all who attend this school, and do their work faithfully, the teacher says, ‘Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.’ So you see we get our diploma and degree and our reward when our great Teacher comes. “But one great lack in this school is in the number of students. There are not enough; where there is one, there ought to be one hundred. I wish to say to my young friends, If you desire to enjoy the blessings of this higher education, come and attend school with us; there is room for all.” Thinking that it might be an inspiration to others to read this good letter, I therefore pass it on to you; and if at any time your hearts become stirred to enter this school of “higher education,” which will not only hasten the Saviour’s coming, but help you and others to meet him in peace, I would be glad to hear from you. Address me at 217 West Seventh St., Oklahoma City, O. T. Greater New York
By C. H. Edwards
NEW YORK CITY.—The work in this part of the great harvest-field is progressing. We have had no great demonstrations, but there has been a steady growth. Scarcely a week passes but we have new recruits who join the people of God. We have learned by a sad experience that it is not always the great outward demonstration which accomplishes the most in the end. At the time there may seem to be great success, but success can not be reckoned in that way. It takes years to determine the measure of real success. To-day there may be a large number added to the church, and this may be counted as a wonderful success, but it may take long years on the part of others to instruct and to bring them into the spirit and fellowship of the real truth, and even then it may be impossible to instil a gentle and quiet spirit in them, as they entered the truth under the impulse of a great enthusiastic movement. This same spirit, many times, continues, and unless there is the same outburst of excitement continually, they lose their love for the truth, and are lost in the maze of worldliness. This certainly is not success. The Lord has wonderfully blessed the efforts put forth during the past year, both spiritually and financially. At our last conference we had some old debts, left us as memorials, amounting to nearly two thousand dollars. By the prospering hand of the Lord these have all been paid; besides, we have been able to purchase three new tents and sufficient seats, amounting, in all, to nearly a thousand dollars. For all this we feel exceedingly thankful to our Heavenly Father. This summer we have six tents in the field, and nearly every one reports an increasing interest in the message. Four19 of these are located in Brooklyn. One is conducted by Brethren M. L. Andreason and G. E. Nord among the Scandinavians. Their tent is usually filled to overflowing. Brethren O. E. Reinke and Bernard Voth are among the Germans. Their interest is growing daily. Brethren L. H. Proctor and Amos Mitchell are laboring for the English-speaking people. They, too, are having a growing interest. Brother J. K. Humphrey has a tent located among the colored people of Brooklyn, and has had a good interest from the start. Brother J. J. Kennedy has located with a tent at Fishkill-on-the-Hudson. He is continuing the work which was dropped by Elder H. E. Robinson when he was called to the Melrose Sanitarium. The interest there is steadily growing. The writer is located at Mount Vernon, N. Y., one of the suburbs of New York City. The interest is deepening daily, although we have never had a large crowd since coming here. Taking everything together, we thank the dear Lord for his goodness and mercy, and we press on to final victory. E. P. AUGER
By E. P. Auger
CORINTH.—It is with much gratitude to God that I give the readers of the REVIEW a report of the work in this place. The first tent-meeting held here began early in June and closed July 22. There was much rain, which greatly hindered. For over two weeks the Baptists held revival meetings in a tent two hundred and fifty feet from ours. We held meetings on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings while theirs were in progress. We had the best of attention and good order. There were from one hundred and fifty to four hundred present Sunday evenings. The average during the week was about one hundred. Five have taken their stand, and many are convinced and anxious to obey. Elder D. G. Stephenson did most of the preaching. Elder F. R. Shaeffer, president of the Mississippi Conference, was with us the first week, and helped in the speaking. Elder R. M. Kilgore also helped for two weeks. We greatly appreciated his help during these meetings. There has been in attendance a good, intelligent class of people, and there is great need of a Bible worker to follow up the interest. Our conference has no Bible worker to send here, so I am praying the Lord to send us a consecrated man and his wife to canvass and do self-supporting work, as we have done. It might be that some of our Northern Conferences would be able to support such workers. We organized a Sabbath-school of fourteen members, and hope to have a church organization soon. Among the friends of the cause of present truth is an elderly lady, Mrs. M. A. Mitchell, who attended the meetings regularly, and her heart was inspired with a love for the truths she heard. She showed her interest in the work by donating from week to week many baskets of fruit and vegetables from her garden. She also gave money generously, and has donated a piece of land on which to build a sanitarium to be conducted on the principles followed by our denomination. This land consists of thirty-two city lots, 50 x 100 feet, valued at three thousand dollars, and is across the street from the National Cemetery, with its nice shade trees, promenades, settees, pavilions, etc., and the scenery is very nice. The deed is made so that this institution shall be always managed by the Seventh-day Adventists as a sanitarium. I had labored for eight years to prepare the way by medical missionary work, and there is a demand by the people and doctors for a sanitarium. The building will cost eight thousand dollars. We have the good will of the public, and a few hundred dollars have been donated. I will put eight hundred dollars into the building, and will give most of my time to build the same. We ask the co-operation of all who can in any way help us to carry this worthy enterprise to completion. Some have gone to our sanitariums from this place and were cured in a most remarkable manner. They are recommending our institutions very highly. Pray for the work in this destitute field. Alabama and Its Great Need
By A. J. Haysmer
One year ago I came to Alabama. It has been a year of careful study as to how we can best carry the last message to the people of this great State. Very little has yet been done to reach them. Nearly all the Seventh-day Adventists here have moved in from the North. Is it not high time that we get hold of right methods, and push them vigorously until every soul in Alabama has had the opportunity of hearing present truth? Alabama is a large State, there being three hundred and thirty-six miles from its northern boundary to the coast, and its width varying from one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles. It contains an area of fifty-two thousand two hundred and fifty square miles, and has sixty-six counties and about fourteen hundred townships. The population consists of 1,000,152 white persons, 827,307 negroes, and 238 Indians, or a total of 1,827,697. Alabama has two hundred and four incorporated cities and towns. It has sixty-three cities with a population of over one thousand, twenty-three with over three thousand, and nine with over five thousand, six with over eight thousand, and three with over thirty thousand; and only about one fifth of the population is in the cities. The industries of Alabama are good. The five kings of the industrial world reside within her borders—cotton, coal, iron, lumber, and cement. There are fifty-seven cotton mills, valued at over $9,500,000, employing over eight thousand laborers. There are seventy-five iron-smelting plants. Their daily consumption of pig iron averages nearly two thousand five hundred tons. There are one hundred and eighty-five mines, employing about eighteen thousand men. There are also about six hundred other mills, factories, shops, and plants in the State, employing thousands of laborers. The total investment in furnaces, steel plants, mines, and manufactures, in the Birmingham district alone is approximately one hundred million dollars. There are nearly ninety thousand persons on the pay-rolls, to whom is distributed every month from four million to four and one-half million dollars. The demand for labor, skilled and unskilled, is said to be far in excess of the supply, and the average of the wages paid is the highest in the South. The farming land, while not the best in all sections, produces fairly good crops. Grapes, peaches, and other fruit do well in many parts of the State. The price of land varies according to the section of the State and proximity to the large local markets. Land can be bought for five dollars to twenty-five dollars an acre. Some of the best land is held at from fifty to one hundred dollars an acre. The climate is considered good in most sections. The temperature in the northern part yearly averages sixty degrees, summer seventy-five degrees, winter forty-two degrees. The yearly average of the central part is sixty-three degrees, summer eighty-one, winter forty-nine. The southern yearly average is sixty-three degrees, summer eighty, winter fifty-two. I present these facts, prepared by the Immigration and Industrial Association of Alabama, that our people who are inquiring about Alabama may see that it presents the most attractive opportunities20 of the entire Southland to the home-seeker and canvasser. And this brings us to the second part of this article; Alabama’s great need. The Alabama conference is very small, and most of its members are poor in this world’s goods. The conference income will support only about three workers. At the present time there are two ministers and our conference treasurer on the pay-roll. You can readily see that it would take the present force of workers many years to carry the message to the fourteen hundred townships. We greatly need a few faithful ministers. If our more favorably situated conferences could send us ministers, and support them for a while in this conference, I believe it would meet the mind of the Lord. We also need a few Bible workers to enter the larger cities. Many can not be reached in any other way. Then we need a score or more of good men and women to enter the canvassing work. We have only two canvassers, and they are inexperienced. They are doing nobly. I believe there is no better territory for the canvasser than Alabama. Crops are good and bring a good price. Wages are also good. Now is the time to fill the State with our good books and papers. We also need many more good representatives of the message to locate in different parts of the State, and let their light shine by living a godly and consistent life, and scattering the literature in their neighborhood. If there are presidents of conferences, ministers, Bible workers, canvassers, or any of our people who are especially interested in the work in Alabama, and would like to furnish us a worker or come to help us, I shall be glad to hear from them. A. J. HAYSMER.
Elkwood, Ala. Can Young Ladies Sell Books?
By H. H. Hall
It has been generally admitted that young ladies can sell papers and small holiday books, but can they sell subscription books and make it self-supporting? Well, let us see. Nine young ladies went out from the Healdsburg College canvassing institute about the beginning of June. Their records up to July 20, for “Heralds,” are as follows:— | NAME |
HOURS |
VALUE |
|---|
| Inez Hoiland |
71 |
$405.25 |
| Bessie Hart |
236.5 |
277.25 |
| Lylon Hart |
218.5 |
263.25 |
| Elizabeth Gregory |
204 |
256.75 |
| Ella Olsen |
198.25 |
231.25 |
| Susie V. Barker |
175.25 |
213.30 |
| Esther Geer |
128.25 |
155.00 |
| Kathryn Metcalf |
110 |
148.50 |
| Gertrude Hildebrand |
103.5 |
142.60 |
Average sales, $1.44 an hour. These records are being made in various portions of California—in the suburbs of San Francisco, the business and residence sections of small towns, the business portions of cities, in mining camps, and out in the oil fields, which are located in the hottest part of the State. In looking over the preceding report, remember you are not examining the work of experienced agents, but of a class of girls only one of whom had sold books before. Perhaps you will say, “Will they deliver?” The largest deliveries have already been made, and they averaged almost one hundred per cent. “Well,” you may say, “California territory is particularly good.” Not so. In southern California, where the population is largely a floating one, made up of sightseers and health seekers, the reports are almost as favorable. And this is also true of the young lady workers in Oregon and Washington. The fact of the matter is, the Lord has said that the canvassing work is to be revived, and he is using instruments usually considered too weak for such work to fulfil his word. And now the fall season is drawing on apace. Are there not hundreds and thousands of children, young men and women, and older ones too, who will take up our periodicals and our popular forty-per-cent books and gain an experience that will enable them, a little later, to do successful work with our large subscription books? TEN are awaiting baptism as a result of the work done by a tent company at Niles, Mich. QUITE a little company have taken their stand for the truth at Albion, Ind., and will soon be baptized. AT both Oswego and Thayer, Kan., substantial buildings are being erected for church-school purposes. AT Galena, Kan., as a result of faithful Bible work, five persons have accepted the truth, and been baptized. AN excellent normal institute has been held in the West Michigan Conference, with about forty church-school teachers in attendance. As a result of the tent work recently closed at Chester, Ark., ten adults are keeping the Sabbath, and there is prospect that others will join the company. A GERMAN laborer is now holding tent-meetings in the city of Pittsburg, Pa., where there are about fifty thousand Germans who have never heard the message. REPORTS from the tent-meetings being held at St. Cloud, Minn., indicate a growing interest there, both among the English and among the Germans. Several have already begun the observance of the Sabbath, and others are debating the matter in their own hearts. FOUR tent efforts are in progress in Manitoba, at the following places: Winnipeg, Manitou, Regina, and Gladstone. From the last-named place Brother W. M. Adams reports the baptism of eight new Sabbath-keepers, with three or four more to be baptized a few days later. AT Parsons, Kan., the tent-meetings have resulted in nine taking their stand for the truth and following their Lord in baptism. Four others are keeping the Sabbath, and there is good reason to believe that others who are debating the matter will yet come out strong for the truth. ONE canvasser, who is having excellent success in his work, states that in his canvass he is making a strong point on the soon coming of the Lord. He says it is a matter of surprise that so many are willing to listen, and are so easily convinced that his coming is near at hand. BROTHER O. E. REINKE reports the baptism of eleven adults on July 14 as a result of the tent-meetings conducted in Brooklyn, N. Y. These new converts to the faith have all joined the German Brooklyn church. A good interest is still manifested there in spite of active opposition. MRS. W. A. SWEANY reports encouragingly from Grenada, British West Indies. They have a Sabbath-school started which numbers fifty-seven members, and there are about twenty-five ready for baptism. Very much of their work is of a colporteur nature, and the seeds of truth thus sown are bearing fruit. THE earnest work carried on at McAlister, O. T., has borne fruit. Eleven have signified their intention of keeping the commandments of God, and Brother C. Sorenson, who has charge, expects to organize a church there before camp-meeting. It has not been without a struggle that this victory has been won. Through earnest prayer and persistent labor the sheaves are gathered in. THE six weeks' series of meetings in Roanoke, Va., has closed. Eleven adults have taken their stand for the truth, and are ready to form a church after baptism. Quite a number besides these express their purpose to be baptized when the eleven are. A Sabbath-school of thirty members has been organized. One of these new Sabbath-keepers, who was working for the railroad company, was told that he could not be employed longer if he kept the Sabbath. But he was soon set at work again by the same foreman, with the privilege of honoring God in the keeping of the Sabbath. AT Sandgate, Queensland, Australia, a camp-meeting was followed by a tent effort, which grew in interest until one of the ministers of the town, taking alarm, invited a minister from another locality to “expose the Adventists and their work” in his church. The tent-meeting was closed for that night that all might hear what the visiting minister had to tell the people. “The night following this meeting,” says Brother R. D. Quinn, “our tent was full, and God gave freedom and power in proclaiming the truth. An excellent interest has been awakened by the opposition, and a goodly number have decided to obey, with a good prospect before us of establishing the work strongly in this center.” To be opposed is not the worst thing that can overtake us, if we are doing the work of the Lord. Western Pennsylvania
By J. W. Watt
INDIANA.—The town of Indiana has a population of about six thousand, and is surrounded by a beautiful farming district for a hill country. The coal interests are developing rapidly, and this whole county may be said to be on a boom; land has advanced greatly within the past two years. Brother Ned Ashton, his wife, and I, have a tent pitched in the town of Indiana. We held our first service Sunday night, July 22, with about one hundred present. During the week the audience ranges from twenty to forty. Last Sunday evening, July 29, we had about one hundred and fifty present. This week the audiences have been larger than last week; some are attending quite regularly, and the interest seems to be deepening. This is a new field, not one family of our people residing in this town. Within four miles of this place we have bought a farm with the intention of establishing a small school. My family and my son-in-law and his family are the only Sabbath-keepers in that neighborhood; however, it is now expected that others of our people will be located on the farm with us this fall, and we must try to start the school work. But we have no schoolhouse yet, and our finances are limited. If any of our people in western Pennsylvania would like to assist us in the matter, the help would be greatly appreciated. There are several counties in this part of our conference that are unworked by the truth. Brethren, pray that the Lord may give wisdom that the work may prove a success in this part of the field, and that churches may be raised up and established in the truth. Our courage is good, and we feel sure that this message will soon close with power, and the Lord will come. J. W. WATT. Drop in Your Hook
By A. O. Tait
A few weeks ago an individual was handed a copy of The Signs of the Times. In just a few days that person, together with two others, was baptized into this truth. Think of the good results of circulating just that one paper. God has asked us to be fishers for men. He is seeking to save men. One of the means that he is using in this work is the spreading of our literature. Would you not rejoice if you had been the individual who placed that copy of The Signs of the Times in that person’s hands? Are you in the great company of the Lord’s fishers for men? Write the undersigned at Mountain View, Cal., for plans concerning the circulation of The Signs of the Times or other good literature. Every one should be engaged in our work right now.