tihvary of Che Cheological ^eminarjp 
 
 PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY 
 
 PURCHASED BY THE 
 HAMILL MISSIONARY FUND 
 
 BV 2630 .S65 1912 
 Somerndike, John Mason, 1877 
 
 On the firing line with the 
 Sunday-school missionary 
 

 "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and fmliid them not." 
 "It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of 
 these little ones should perish." 
 
G^ 
 
 ^ 7 19?3 
 
 y ^ 
 
 ^imM b' 
 
 On the Firing Line 
 
 WITH THE SUNDAY- 
 SCHOOL MISSIONARY 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN M. SOMERNDIKE 
 
 Philadelphia 
 
 The Westminster Press 
 
 1912 
 
Copyright, 1912 
 By F. M. Braselmann 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Beginnings 3 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 The Field 17 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 The Northern Prairies 33 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 The Middle West 51 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 The Rocky Mountain District 67 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 The South and Southwest 83 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 The Pacific Slope loi 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 The Negro Problem 115 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Obeying the Great Commission 125 
 
 APPENDIX A 
 
 Questions for Study Classes 131 
 
 iii 
 
iv CONTENTS 
 
 APPENDIX B 
 
 Reference Literature 136 
 
 APPENDIX C 
 
 The Foreign Mission Work of the Sunday- 
 S.CHOOL Board 138 
 
 APPENDIX D 
 
 The Department of Young People's Work 143 
 
 APPENDIX E 
 
 Tables 146 
 
 APPENDIX F 
 
 Missionary Illustrations 149 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 The study of missions in the homeland is incom- 
 plete without a review of the labors of the Sunday- 
 school missionary. A cause which has assumed 
 such proportions as this within the short space of a 
 quarter of a century, and upon which the Presby- 
 terian Church is expending- more than two hundred 
 thousand dollars annually, is worthy of prayerful 
 study and investigation. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church at large has been sadly 
 lacking in knowledge of Sunday-school missionary 
 work. It is a form of missionary effort which has 
 a sphere distinctly its own, cultivating fields beyond 
 the reach of the activities of any other benevolent 
 board of the church, and producing results that 
 should satisfy the most exacting. Indeed it is a fre- 
 quent remark of those who are led to examine into 
 the details of its operations, "I had no idea our 
 church was engaged in missionary work of that 
 kind ; I want to have a share in it." 
 
 It seemed proper, therefore, that the cause should 
 be presented in all its aspects and in concrete form, 
 as a live missionary issue ; not a history of the work 
 of past years, interesting as that would be. Neither 
 could it be a biography of the faithful workers who 
 have labored so self-sacrificingly on the firing line, 
 some of them for a quarter of a century ; though 
 that of itself would form an inspiring record of 
 missionary service. 
 
 V 
 
vi FOREWORD 
 
 The aim has been to lay this cause — which is so 
 far-reaching in its influence upon the future of our 
 national and church life — before Christians every- 
 where as one which should be earnestly and gen- 
 erously supported both as a religious and as a patri- 
 otic duty. 
 
 I am indebted to the field workers who have sup- 
 plied the incidents demonstrating the value and 
 adaptability of Sunday-school missions to the needs 
 of rural, unchurched parts of our land, and to the 
 faithful fellow workers who encouraged me to carry 
 the work to completion. 
 
 May God use it in creating a deeper interest 
 throughout the church in this great missionary 
 enterprise, stimulating larger gifts for the sending 
 of more laborers into this white harvest field. 
 
 J. M. S. 
 
 Philadelphia, October, 191 2. 
 
BEGINNINGS 
 
I know of but one blot upon America as a spiritual power. 
 That is the exclusion of spirituality, as one of the great 
 facts of the world, from the education of the young. We 
 admit Darwin, we admit the philosophers, the biologists — 
 we admit the scientists, of every class ; and I think there is 
 no fact in nature or history that ought to be excluded from 
 study. We admit all the facts of the universe, save and 
 except the supreme fact that religion, after all, is the funda- 
 mental influence in all the movements of mankind. We teach 
 the life of George Washington and his work, and teach it 
 rightly and profitably. We teach the life of Abraham Lin- 
 coln and his work, rightly and profitably. But for some rea- 
 son, chiefly because there is a fear that we do not agree 
 among ourselves respecting some of the details, we exclude 
 Jesus Christ and his wisdom among men. 
 
 Because there are these differences, the state, asserting 
 neutrality, excludes religious education. That is not a neu- 
 tral position. That is not the state taking neutral ground. 
 If, for instance, diff"erences had sprung up among the geog- 
 raphers concerning the character of the earth's surface, and 
 we had said because of these diff^erences we would not teach 
 geography at all, would that be neutral on geography? Would 
 not that be throwing the balance of power against geography? 
 And in excluding spirituality the state has thrown the bal- 
 ance of its power against spirituality. Unless children can 
 receive this instruction in the schools, at the age when their 
 character and mentality are forming, they lose it altogether. 
 When they pass out of the school they pass into manhood 
 and womanhood, and if the day of education is postponed 
 it is postponed forever, unless the pupil has the advantage 
 of other means of instruction. Thus, one of the most con- 
 serving, one of the most exalting facts in the whole universe, 
 one of the most useful facts that constitute knowledge, the 
 fact of the life and work of Jesus Christ, is omitted in their 
 instruction. — Hon. Peter C. Grosscup. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 BEGINNINGS 
 
 Sunday-school missions is one of the oldest of History 
 missionary movements in the United States. For 
 fifty years this work was carried on almost ex- 
 clusively by undenominational agencies. It is a 
 significant fact, however, that the work was lib- 
 erally supported by the Presbyterian denomination, 
 and leading Presbyterians were active in directing 
 its operations. 
 
 Subsequent to the Reunion of the Old and New 
 School Branches of the Presbyterian Church in 
 1870, when the whole country was rejoicing in 
 peace and pulsating with new life, there came an 
 awakening of church consciousness. The program 
 of the united body called for a broadening of all 
 forms of church activity. It summoned the church 
 to an advance in missions both at home and abroad, 
 missions to the children on our own frontier as well 
 as to the darker-skinned boys and girls on foreign 
 shores. Undenominationalism was a spent force. 
 The feeling became universal among Presbyterians 
 that church loyalty demanded that we perform our 
 full missionary responsibility in the homeland by 
 having our own force of Sunday-school mission- 
 aries in the field. 
 
 Moreover, the Sunday school as a missionary and 
 evangelizing agency w^as beginning to receive a 
 
 3 
 
4 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 recognition which it had not hitherto enjoyed. In 
 * the plans of the united church, the Sunday school 
 
 and its interests were given a prominent place. 
 The leaders of the church, with statesmenlike vision, 
 saw the need for extending its influence, but under 
 denominational supervision. One report on the 
 subject states : 
 
 "It is surely high time for the Presbyterian 
 Church to move in this matter, as her sister-churches 
 are already moving. We are now, as a body, strong 
 enough to conduct this distinct and most important 
 enterprise. It is believed that our ministers and 
 people are ready and anxious to enter upon it with 
 all vigor. Certainly, other denominations are look- 
 ing for us to be among the foremost in this enter- 
 prise, which must be productive of vast results for 
 good. We might expect every Sunday school or- 
 ganized through our instrumentality to become a 
 center of salutary influences, and many to lead to 
 the organization of churches." 
 Dcnomi- Already the church was beginning to feel the 
 
 Supervision truth expressed years later by the Synod of Iowa. 
 After telling of work accomplished, the synod 
 said: 
 
 "It is in the light of such facts in Iowa, largely 
 duplicated in other synods, that one learns whether 
 denominational Sunday-school work pays. It is 
 practical and definite. It yields something perma- 
 nent, and when we contrast these abiding husbanded 
 results with the absence of anything tangible, at 
 least to our church, from general union eflfect, are 
 we not justified in appealing to our people to con- 
 
BEGINNINGS 5 
 
 centrate their gifts for Sunday-school missionary 
 work upon our Board's treasury?" 
 
 The General Assembly put itself on record thus : 
 
 We do not disparage what has been done by other 
 agencies in the field : God bless them and prosper their 
 work. But we submit that it is better to work through 
 the agency of the church, which can take care of the 
 results of the work, gather them into permanent organiza- 
 tions and exercise over them continued and loving care — 
 impossible to the undenominational or union work. There 
 is no force in the plea for non-denominational work as 
 being better adapted to reach the masses. People will 
 love the agency that cares for them ; they will love the 
 Presbyterian Church, and come into it gladly, if the Pres- 
 byterian Church proves that she loves them and seeks 
 their good. So we urge our people to stand loyally by 
 their own church agency for this work, and to give what 
 they have for this cause through our own Board, as- 
 suring them that this is not only right and wise, but that 
 it is also the most fruitful use they can make of their 
 means. 
 
 The country was entering upon an era of ex- The 
 pansion greater than any that had preceded it. F"'"'"'"' 
 Large areas were thrown open to settlement in the 
 West and Northwest. During the previous year 
 (1869) the golden spike had been driven uniting 
 the two great railroad systems, forming the first 
 transcontinental railway and linking the East with 
 the new West. The immediate effect of this enter- 
 prise was seen in the rapid growth in the population 
 of this region, many of the states doubling their 
 population within a few years. But the church was 
 not keeping pace with this advance. Under the 
 homestead act thousands of families had gone from 
 
6 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 the East and from the Middle West to take up 
 homes on the frontier. Towns were springing into 
 existence everywhere along the lines of new rail- 
 roads, and in the absence of restraining legislation 
 the saloon with its attendant evils flourished. The 
 forces of sin held full sway. The dance hall and 
 the gambling hell were the social center of the com- 
 munity. The Sabbath was desecrated, and the re- 
 ligious teaching which many of the new settlers 
 had known in earlier years was neglected. Chil- 
 dren were growing into manhood and womanhood 
 in such surroundings, and with what results ! Too 
 far removed from the influence of the settled min- 
 istry and without even the semblance of a religious 
 atmosphere, was it any wonder that the cry of the 
 perishing children of the plains touched the heart 
 of the church and prompted her through the lead- 
 ing of the Spirit to undertake this great mission to 
 the neglected? 
 
 One of the earliest of the Sunday-school mis- 
 sionaries relates an experience which accurately de- 
 scribes the conditions which he and other such 
 workers met as they began their labors : 
 
 As I walked along I met a farmer and I greeted him 
 with a cheerful "Good-morning, my friend." He kindly re- 
 turned the salutation and a conversation was begun. I 
 told him who I was and the purpose of my coming — to 
 visit the Sunday school and also to hold service. He re- 
 plied, "I was at the Sunday school last Sunday, and, if 
 spared, I will be there to-morrow." Then, looking at me 
 very earnestly, he said, "Friend, why did not you or some 
 one else come out years ago and start Sunday schools in 
 these settlements? My home is three and a half miles 
 
BEGINNINGS 7 
 
 farther out than the settlement, and I have lived twelve 
 years there, destitute of all means of grace, and my boys 
 are growing up and they are not turning out well." As 
 he spoke tears dropped from his cheek. Such grief was 
 to me a sure indication that behind these tears there was 
 a sad story. I made inquiries as to the "boys" and found 
 that one of them was in prison. On learning this I was 
 better able to grasp the eloquence of the father's tears. 
 Since then another of his "boys" has come into the meshes 
 of the law. This incident revealed similar conditions that 
 could be counted by the hundreds all over this state. 
 
 For a number of years the Board endeavored to 
 use its colporteurs (or missionary booksellers) to 
 do this Sunday-school mission work, but it proved 
 impracticable and unsatisfactory to the church at 
 large. 
 
 After much discussion and consideration, the Reorgani- 
 General Assembly of 1887, in session at Minne- (^^5°°,^ 
 apolis, adopted the report presented by a special 
 committee appointed the previous year, which gave 
 to the Board of Publication its commission to de- 
 vote its energies henceforth, largely to this form 
 of itinerant missionary work, making it the chief 
 concern of the new Board of Publication and Sab- 
 bath-School Work. It was now to be a missionary 
 Board ; its marching orders were "beginning at 
 Jerusalem," its field nation-wide and its watchword 
 "the children for Christ." 
 
 Thus was this new missionary enterprise brought 
 into being, bringing with it opportunities that chal- 
 lenged the choicest spirits of the church. It opened 
 a field of missionary service for laymen, calling for 
 staunch, courageous and consecrated men who were 
 
8 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 willing and able to sacrifice comforts, endure hard- 
 ship, separation from their families and exposure to 
 extreme heat of the summer and the severe cold of 
 the winter. It required men of brain as well as 
 brawn ; men of patience, tactfulness and "sanctified 
 common sense" ; men who saw no discouragement 
 in difficulties but only opportunities for victory. 
 
 A typical experience related by a Montana mis- 
 sionary illustrates this statement : 
 
 You will doubtless be unable to sympathize with con- 
 ditions out here during the winter weather. For the past 
 two weeks there has been zero weather; one day it was 
 twenty-eight degrees below zero. We had a fine drizzling 
 snow for three days ; with the thermometer standing be- 
 low zero, to go out in it meant to be frozen. I started 
 out with my horse on a twenty-five mile ride through the 
 bad lands and over coulee and plain; but before I reached 
 my destination the blinding snow storm overtook me and 
 at five o'clock just five miles from my destination I de- 
 scended into the Cotton Wood Creek but owing to the 
 darkness and snow-covered trail, I could not find my way 
 out. I traveled down the creek with the hope of finding a 
 way out but found instead a slough across the mouth 
 from bluff to bluff. Then I came across a cabin where I 
 found some old paper and dry wood and kindled a fire 
 by which I sat and kept warm till the moon came out 
 from behind a cloud, which was ten o'clock. I then started 
 out on an exploration trip and in an hour's time came 
 across a house where I had the privilege of sleeping on 
 the bare floor for the night, while my poor horse had to 
 stand out in the cold all night. It was twenty degrees 
 below zero that night. 
 
 Fundamental Tlic principles upon which this work was to be 
 Principles carried on were clearly defined at the outset. The 
 
BEGINNINGS 9 
 
 Sunday-school missionary is not simply an itinerant 
 preacher ; he is an organizer gathering the scattered 
 lambs everywhere into the fold of the great Shep- 
 herd. It is a missionary enterprise and as such it 
 throws itself upon the benevolent spirit of the 
 church. It is a mission primarily to the children, 
 and it works through the agency of the Sunday 
 school. The wisdom of the plan conceived by the 
 Assembly's committee has been vindicated by the 
 remarkable results that have been accomplished. 
 
 With rare wisdom and foresight the church de- 
 cided that this work — which, while missionary in its 
 highest sense, was also directed toward the Chris- 
 tian nurture of the youth — should be placed under 
 the care of the Board that had already rendered 
 distinguished services in this field through its labors 
 in behalf of the Sunday schools already in existence : 
 
 "The nature of the work of organizing, fostering 
 and strengthening Sunday schools naturally falls 
 in with gratuitous distribution of books, religious 
 visitation to families and sales of the Board's litera- 
 ture. The Sunday school is demanding the atten- 
 tion of all religious denominations as never before. 
 The time has come when this work must be pushed. 
 The church which enlists the children under Christ's 
 banner, under the blessing of God will be the grow- 
 ing church, the aggressive church, the church of 
 the future. We have all the paraphernalia, all the 
 resources needed, all the artillery and ammunition, 
 but we need organization and leadership. This 
 work belongs to the Board of Publication naturally. 
 As already stated, seventy-five per cent of its publi- 
 
10 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 cations are directly in the line of Sunday schools. 
 No other board could successfully carry on this 
 work." 
 
 Rev. Howard Crosby, D.D., outlined the new 
 work proposed very clearly : 
 
 Forerunner The direct missionary work of the Board (of Publica- 
 of Churches tion and Sabbath-School Work) is largely that of a fore- 
 runner to the work of the Board of Home Missions. It 
 can occupy a field newly opened before the home mission- 
 ary can reach it. It collects materials and starts a life 
 to which the home missionary comes afterwards. It plants 
 the school, which the home missionary converts into a 
 church. It visits a settlement before the houses are roofed 
 in, and gathers the children to receive religious instruc- 
 tion — it may be under a tree or in a barn. It seeks to 
 sanctify a community at its birth, and so prepare the way 
 for larger spiritual applications. The work is laborious 
 and full of vicissitude, requiring faith and zeal and tact 
 that are not extensively found. The self-denying Sunday- 
 school missionary meets with every variety of experience. 
 He pushes on under the burning heat of summer and the 
 biting cold of winter. He puts up with a rough diet and 
 rougher lodgment. He faces objections, indifference, rude- 
 ness, and open opposition. He is satisfied with a meager 
 salary, and finds his reward in a good conscience and the 
 knowledge that he is working in the front for his Lord and 
 Saviour. With all the disadvantages that he meets he 
 founds the school, he establishes its system, he appoints 
 its officers, he instructs them in its manner of conduct, 
 and, having fairly constructed and launched the new enter- 
 prise with earnest prayer, he proceeds to the next station 
 to repeat the useful work there. 
 
 Adminis- The ncw work committed to the Board was im- 
 
 tration mediately placed under the care of Rev. James 
 
 A. Worden, D.D., who for several years previous 
 
(j(Aj^(Xr^c/jU^ /kQ^ 
 
 Secretary of the Board of Publication 
 and Sabbath-School Work. 
 
BEGINNINGS II 
 
 had been rendering efficient service to the church as 
 the secretary of Sunday-school work. Under his 
 new title as Superintendent of Sabbath-School and 
 Missionary Work, he began his duties at the head 
 of this department of missionary activity, shaping 
 its policies, selecting the workers, developing their 
 efficiency and presenting the cause to the church 
 with such zeal and fervor that during the first year 
 of his incumbency a debt of twenty-four thousand 
 dollars was removed, and many thousands of dol- 
 lars were raised in addition, for the support of Sun- 
 day-school missionaries. For eighteen years Dr. 
 Worden continued in this position, seeing the force 
 of missionaries grow from fourteen, in 1887, to 
 one hundred and ten, in 1904. In 1905 the Board 
 was reorganized and the work of Sunday-school 
 missions was placed under the care of the secre- 
 tary. Rev. Alexander Henry, D.D., who since that 
 time has directed its ever-expanding activities with 
 marked efficiency. Under his supervision this cause 
 has developed in a most satisfactory^ way. Its in- 
 come has largely increased and the force of work- 
 ers has been greatly enlarged. It has grown in 
 favor with the church at large; and its scope has 
 been widened to include every phase of Sunday- 
 school activity. He put into operation the plan of 
 educational Sunday-school work which is accom- 
 plishing so much for the development of our Sun- 
 day schools in organization and efficiency. Under 
 his guidance the Board's ministrv' to the spiritual 
 needs of the foreigner in our midst has become one 
 of the chief factors in the scheme of immigrant 
 
ization 
 
 12 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 evangelization. His leadership has been effectual 
 also in organizing and supervising the young peo- 
 ple's work of the church which the General Assembly 
 committed to this Board, and which is rendering 
 splendid service in training the young people for 
 Christian service. He holds frequent conferences 
 with the Sunday-school missionaries on the field 
 and with the representative committees of presbytery 
 and synod. 
 
 Field Organ- Xhc ficld Organization is complete. Each Sun- 
 day-school missionary is placed under the direct 
 supervision of the Committee on Publication and 
 Sabbath-School Work in the presbytery or synod 
 to which he is assigned. He reports monthly to 
 the chairman of this committee and confers with 
 him in planning his labors. This committee acts 
 in harmony with the missionary policy of the pres- 
 bytery, counseling with the Home Mission Commit- 
 tee with reference to strategic points that should be 
 occupied, and arranging for the effective develop- 
 ment of fields in which Sunday schools have already 
 been established and which are ripe for the services 
 of the pastor evangelist. Here is an opportunity 
 for cordial cooperation ; one sows, another reaps, 
 but both partake of the reward of the faithful. 
 
 The Sunday-school missionary labors quietly, pa- 
 tiently and without ostentation, but he clears the 
 path of the home missionary, who is to follow him, 
 of obstructions that otherwise would be a constant 
 menace to the success of his labors. 
 
 It is a matter of record that scores of fields 
 in which we now have flourishing Presbyterian 
 
I Rev. Tames A. Worden, D.D., LL.D., Secietary ot babbath- 
 schobl Work, 1878- 1887; Superintendent of Sabbath-school 
 and Missionary Work, 1887-1904; Supermtendent of Sab- 
 bath-school Training. 1904 — . 
 
 2. The outgrowth of Sunday-school missions in a destitute com- 
 munity in the mountains of Tennessee. 
 
BEGINNINGS 
 
 13 
 
 churches would have been lost to us had not the 
 Sunday-school missionary by his tact and persever- 
 ance held them ag'ainst difficulties that were most 
 disheartening. Sometimes it is necessary for him 
 to reorganize a school a second or a third time, but 
 this fact does not discourage him. 
 
 A Sunday school may die and be revived a num- 
 ber of times without weakening its influence as an 
 institution for good. Temporary failure may be 
 caused because the wrong person was chosen for 
 superintendent, or because of a neighborhood quar- 
 rel, or by the removal of those who assumed the 
 leadership. A visit from the Sunday-school mis- 
 sionary, a word of encouragement, a reorganization 
 and a selection of new officers usually results in 
 the revival of interest and enthusiasm. No Waste 
 
 There is no waste in Sunday-school missions. 
 Even though a school should die, it has done a 
 blessed work while it lived. Let none presume to 
 say that even the Sunday school that dies is a fail- 
 ure. God's Word cannot die nor fail in its power. 
 Brief though its existence may have been, children 
 have been brought in contact with spiritual things, 
 they have read and studied the Word, they have 
 heard the story of salvation ; they have heard pray- 
 ers offered, and they have learned hymns for his 
 praise. Surely this precious seed, sown in faith, 
 cannot perish. The Sunday-school missionary 
 leaves the increase to the Master of the vineyard. 
 It is his to sow, to tend and to water; and this he 
 does in humility and patience, even though he may 
 not see all the fruitasre from his toil. 
 
THE FIELD 
 
The Sunday school has been described as "the most flex- 
 ible, adaptable and far-reaching institution ever designed for 
 the conversion of the world." The Sunday school in its mis- 
 sionary phase has been one of the chief forces for the evan- 
 gelization of new-country communities, and the pioneer of the 
 church on the frontier. Missionaries, churches and redeemed 
 communities throughout the land testify to the efficiency of 
 this popular and rational method of evangelization. — J. O. 
 Ashenhurst. 
 
 The beginning of the reconstruction of a country place is 
 often the founding of a Sunday school. The limitations of 
 Sunday-school work are well known, and you will find these 
 limitations if you do Sunday-school work ; but it is well 
 to go ahead to the limit before you try another method. 
 Country people are religious. They believe that their chil- 
 dren should learn religion. More than they crave the gospel 
 for themselves, they believe in it for their little ones. It is 
 frequently possible to enlist rough men who know no Scrip- 
 ture and profess no religion in the support of an active school 
 for the children on Sunday, because of the universal belief 
 of all serious men in the necessity of religious training for 
 the young. — Warren H. Wilson. 
 
 i6 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE FIELD 
 
 The field of Sunday-school missions is unlimited. 
 The force of this statement that nearly one half of 
 the children and young people of America, from 
 six to twenty years, are not enrolled in Sunday 
 schools, has suffered somewhat because of its fre- 
 quent repetition. Nevertheless, it is a true state- 
 ment as shown by the latest statistics. The church 
 cannot be blamed for this condition of things, neither 
 can she disclaim the responsibility for providing a 
 remedy. It is not altogether due to the fact that 
 the individual church has neglected to gather into 
 its Sunday school the boys and girls in its own 
 neighborhood, although it is unfortunately true that 
 many of our Sunday schools, especially in the cities, 
 have failed to live up to their opportunities in this 
 direction. A careful study of the situation reveals 
 the fact that the greater portion of the twelve mil- 
 lion children and young people who are outside the 
 Sunday school are living in the unevangelized re- 
 gions, the rural parts of our land into which the 
 Church of Christ has not yet penetrated. They may 
 be found in the scattered homesteads, on the bound- 
 less prairie, in the rude cabins of the southern moun- 
 taineers, in the lumber and mining camps of the 
 Northwest and the Rocky Mountains, as well as 
 among our dark-skinned brethren of the South. Is 
 
 17 
 
l8 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 not this a field of missionary opportunity that thrills 
 the soul? And does not the thought of the neg- 
 lecting such a field make us fearful for the future 
 of the church and of the nation? 
 The Study "\Yg ^rc living in an age which recognizes the 
 
 supremacy of the child. Never in the history of 
 mankind has so much thought, energy and means 
 been devoted to the interests of the child. Science, 
 literature and law are busy in formulating ideals, 
 in creating public sentiment, and in passing pre- 
 ventative legislation in order that the child may be- 
 come a stronger man morally, mentally and physic- 
 ally. But who will provide for the development of 
 the soul of the child ? A friend was expressing his 
 views upon the religious training of children to Cole- 
 ridge one day, advocating the elimination of Chris- 
 tian teaching. "Very well," said Coleridge, "treat 
 your garden the same way. Plant nothing good 
 there. Let it alone and see what it will grow of 
 its own accord." 
 
 Shreiner said, "The first seven years of life make 
 us, the rest only furnish the veneering." The Chris- 
 tian Church is in duty bound to see that the chil- 
 dren are not religiously neglected. We must do for 
 their soul's culture what secular education does for 
 their intellectual development. 
 
 During recent years all denominations have scored 
 an encouraging advance in efficiency of method in 
 Sunday-school work and in the preparation of suit- 
 able courses of study. For this we should be pro- 
 foundly grateful ; but while we have been standard- 
 izing our Sunday schools and training the teach- 
 
THE FIELD 
 
 19 
 
 ers, we have allowed our missionary efforts for the 
 boy and girl outside to be neglected. We should 
 be just as anxious that every child shall have his 
 place in the Sunday school as we are that he shall 
 be given a secular education, whether it be in the 
 million dollar edifice of the metropolis with all its 
 expensive equipment, or in a sod shack on the west- 
 ern prairie, with rude benches for seats. 
 
 Let us analyze the situation a little more closely. Extent of 
 In one district in the northern part of Wisconsin Dg'Jt^tutioi 
 there are one hundred and sixty-five villages, with 
 a population of from twenty-five to one hundred 
 persons, where the people have no regular preach- 
 ing of the gospel. In California there are one hun- 
 dred and eighty thousand children and young peo- 
 ple who are not enrolled in any Sunday school. 
 Of every ten negroes in our southern states only 
 one has been gathered into the Sunday school. Of 
 North Dakota's one hundred and sixty thousand 
 children of school age only about sixty thousand are 
 receiving religious teaching in the Sunday school. 
 Approximately the same proportion holds true with 
 reference to South Dakota and other states west of 
 the Mississippi. Idaho, Washington, Oregon and 
 Montana are experiencing an unprecedented increase 
 in population. The new settlers will demand the 
 public school, but who will plead for the re- 
 ligious training of their children? Arizona has 
 forty thousand children in her public schools and 
 fifteen thousand members in the Sunday schools of 
 all denominations. Rev. W. O. Forbes, D.D., in 
 connection with a recent survey of religious con- 
 
20 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 ditions in Washington, reports approximately one 
 hundred thousand children of school age not en- 
 rolled in Sunday schools. He writes : "Here are 
 thousands of children in this state yet without even 
 the privilege of going to the Sunday school, out in 
 the foothills, on the homesteads, in the dry farming 
 and timber lands, in the mining and lumber camps, 
 away out in the scattered open country and farming 
 communities there are children, and many of them, 
 that are without Sunday schools or other gospel 
 privileges. I have preached in localities and or- 
 ganized schools and churches where the children 
 were growing up ten, twelve, sixteen and even 
 nineteen years old, that had never been in a church 
 and had never heard anyone preach but myself; 
 and out of these very places have come many of 
 the choicest experiences of my ministry and some 
 of the most promising and permanent results. 
 Then the foreign population, nominally Catholic, 
 are woefully neglected in so many of our mining 
 towns." 
 
 The synodical Sunday-school missionary in Cali- 
 fornia, in describing the religious conditions in 
 northern California writes : 
 
 There is a great stretch of territory, 16,556 square 
 miles in area, reaching from the Golden Gate to the Oregon 
 line, with a population of 192,000 of which 84 per cent are 
 in the country or villages. I have met a young woman of 
 eighteen years of age, who, with her sister of twenty-two, 
 had recently come from within the bounds of that pres- 
 bytery. Both are attractive and with really wonderful ar- 
 tistic ability. Just a few weeks before the beginning of 
 my knowledge of them they did not know who Jesus 
 
THE FIELD 21 
 
 Christ is ; yet they were born and reared in CaHfornia ! 
 There are many such. What can we do? 
 
 Another Sunday-school missionary whose labors 
 have been largely in Nevada, writes : 
 
 No one who has any conception of the conditions can Their First 
 possibly doubt the needs of Sunday-school work among Religious 
 the people of the state. The conditions have long been ^^'■^■" 
 such that there are many who have never been able to 
 attend any religious services at all. Hence there is prac- 
 tically no knowledge of the Bible and its teachings in many 
 parts. Many do not in any way keep track of the rest 
 day and its meaning to the human family. At one time 
 a girl eighteen years of age rode six miles on a wild 
 horse just for the sake of attending the first religious 
 service that ever came to her notice. At another time 
 a family of five children, the eldest being twenty-one, all 
 attended church for the first time in their lives. One man 
 asked that the missionary "say grace" at the table. After 
 it was done he remarked that he had not heard a blessing 
 asked on the food in thirty years. A young mother of 
 two children attended her first service, and the night fol- • 
 
 lowing spent most of the time singing over the songs she 
 had heard. A man once said that he had lived in one 
 community twenty-seven years, and that no religious serv- 
 ice had ever been held there. "We need you" was the 
 greeting once given a missionary. "Life is worth living 
 now" said another after the Sunday school had been organ- 
 ized. At one time an old gray haired man stood looking at a 
 notice of a service, and then said he had lived there 
 twenty-six years and never had seen anything like it before 
 in that place. 
 
 From these facts we see that while the old fron- The New 
 tier, as we understood that term fifty years ago, ^''°""" 
 has passed away, there is a new frontier that lifts 
 
22 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 a beckoning finger to the church, a wide-open door 
 of opportunity, a mission field that promises an 
 abundant harvest for the kingdom. It may lack the 
 romance of the Concord Coach, the prairie schooner 
 and the cowboy, and it may even lack remoteness 
 which to some is the attraction to missionary serv- 
 ice; but we must awaken to the crisis that we are 
 facing. Mighty forces are at work in our land seek- 
 ing to lead our boys and girls away from the founda- 
 tions of truth and deceiving them with false theories 
 and doctrines. We are face to face with a critical 
 missionary situation, and we must arm ourselves 
 for the serious task of doing the part which prop- 
 erly belongs to us as a church in giving every boy 
 and girl in America the opportunity of Christian 
 training. 
 
 The frontier of to-day may not be the "open 
 range" dotted with roaming cattle, but it is the 
 homestead farm ringing with children's voices, 
 children for whom, the Master cares, whose value 
 he first taught us, and in whose salvation he is in- 
 terested to-day. "He shall gather the lambs in his 
 arms and carry them in his bosom." Shall we not 
 help to bring them to him that he may gather them 
 into his fold, and keep them for eternity? 
 
 It is foundation work that is needed here. The 
 home mission pastor is not needed so much as the 
 pioneer Sunday-school missionary. So this is the 
 agency through which these fields will be won and 
 held for Christ and the church. The value of this 
 form of evangelization was forcibly expressed by 
 Rev. J. C. McClintock, D.D., a few years ago, who, 
 
1. A pioneer schoolroom in a South Dakota settlement. 
 
 2. A dug-out settlement on the plains. 
 
 3. The beginning of a church in a new settlement. 
 
 4. Sunday school in an unfinished building — the only available place for re- 
 
 ligious services in this new town. 
 
THE FIELD 23 
 
 in addressing a large gathering of Sunday-school 
 workers, said : 
 
 It has the value of action. It is prompt and loses no ^^e Value 
 time. The great demand of our farmers is for a harvester " , "° *^" 
 
 ., . , ... School 
 
 that will gather the crop quickly when it is ripe. The old Missions 
 sickle would do if you had a small crop, or ages of time 
 at command; but here is a work that demands immediate 
 action. My observation teaches me that a great deal of 
 time may be lost in planting a church in a needy locality, 
 and establishing the formal preaching of the gospel there. 
 A committee or two to visit the field, a report to pres- 
 bytery, a petition from the people for an organization and 
 a minister, some more red tape, and perhaps six months 
 (I have known it to be two years), before the work is 
 really under way. But the Sunday-school missionary 
 comes along, sees the need and the opportunity, and he 
 goes to work the same hour. The first Sabbath day there 
 is a meeting. The school is organized and begins its 
 blessed work at once. 
 
 It has the value of economy. Our engineers want the 
 locomotive that can do the most work with the least fuel 
 at the least cost. Evangelization costs. How can we make 
 the means at command go furthest and accomplish most. 
 If there is a way to reach more people at the right time, 
 with the gospel, and at less expense than by this Sunday- 
 school movement, I have failed to find it. Most of the 
 work is freely given as the willing offering of Christian 
 love for the souls, the fruit of honest desire to do good. 
 A few dollars cover the necessary outlay for books and 
 place of meeting, and your school thrives and does its 
 work where no other form of Christian activity could be 
 supported. You can take your Sunday school to a thou- 
 sand places, where it would be impossible to take the regu- 
 lar church organization. Compare the cost of this work 
 of saving a boy by the gospel, with the cost of taking care 
 of a lost boy by the courts. A careful inquiry was made 
 by a well-known Sunday-school missionary into the ex- 
 
24 
 
 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 pense of the trial and execution of a man after his arrest 
 for the crime for which he was finally hanged. When he 
 had gathered up all the items he found their sum was 
 equal to the cost of organizing forty new Sunday schools 
 in frontier neighborhoods, or it would have supported an 
 average school of one hundred for twenty-five years. 
 
 Raral 
 Recon- 
 struction 
 
 The little mission Sunday school may well be 
 considered also as a means of rural reconstruction. 
 About it may center all the social life of the com- 
 munity. The only opportunity the people have of 
 coming together for social intercourse may be found 
 in the services of the little school. One missionary 
 in Colorado encourages the schools he organizes 
 to minister to the social life of the communities in 
 which they are situated as well as to their spiritual 
 welfare. For example, he writes — 
 
 An institute was arranged for the neighboAood sur- 
 rounding the little church at Burdett, located out on the 
 plains seventeen miles from the railroad. Burdett is a 
 country store and post office kept by an elder of our little 
 church. The people were invited to bring samples of vege- 
 tables, grains and flowers and decorate the church, and 
 otherwise display the products of their labors. A large 
 quantity of vegetables and grains were brought in and 
 artistically arranged about the room and on the pulpit 
 platform. At least one hundred and fifty people were 
 present and enjoyed the program. 
 
 At noon a large tent was erected under which tables 
 were spread. At two o'clock a game of ball was called for 
 all who wished to participate and in which the pastor took 
 an active part and the superintendent of the Sunday school 
 umpired. While this was in progress the regular pro- 
 gram for the day was taken up for the benefit of those 
 who were not interested in the ball game, and two hours 
 
THE FIELD 25 
 
 were devoted to the discussion of practical Sunday-school 
 topics. At the conclusion of the ball game the participants 
 came in, packing the house, and a splendid address was 
 delivered by the pastor. 
 
 The spirit of the whole occasion was beautiful to wit- 
 ness, and the people departed to their homes with the con- 
 scious feeling of having spent a happy profitable day, due 
 recognition having been given to the bountiful hand of a 
 loving heavenly Father who had so graciously and abund- 
 antly crowned the efforts of the season with such a 
 harvest. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORK 
 
 In addition to its pioneer work the Sunday-School 
 Board is not unmindful of its responsibility to the 
 little Sunday schools throughout the church which 
 are struggling along, ofttimes with inefficient lead- 
 ers, and with correspondingly inadequate results. 
 That there is great room for improvement in the 
 organization and conducting of our Sunday schools 
 is universally recognized. The feeling has arisen 
 that something ought to be done by the church at 
 large to build up the average school, the small 
 school of less than one hundred members, training 
 the officers and teachers and reorganizing their 
 forces for efficient service, setting before them a 
 standard of excellence and helping them to attain 
 that standard. 
 
 This feeling was voiced by the General Assembly 
 of 1909, which instructed the Board to place in the 
 field selected men with special aptitude for work 
 of this character ; men who are thoroughly familiar 
 with all phases of Sunday-school work, to be known 
 
26 
 
 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 Duties of 
 Educational 
 Superinten- 
 dents 
 
 as Sunday-school specialists. Responding to these 
 instructions the Board immediately undertook this 
 work through its Sunday-School Department, ap- 
 pointing several such workers with the title of Dis- 
 trict Educational Superintendent, each being as- 
 signed to a synod or group of synods, under the 
 supervision of the Educational Superintendent of 
 Sabbath- School Missions, located at headquarters. 
 He trains and encourages the field workers, keep- 
 ing them in touch with the latest developments in 
 Sunday-school method and practice. The slogan is 
 "Better Sunday Schools." Whereas the work of the 
 Sunday-school missionary is extensive in character, 
 the educational superintendent's work is intensive. 
 Briefly stated, the following are the duties of the 
 district educational superintendent: 
 
 1. To represent the Board in its work for the im- 
 provement of all Presbyterian Sunday schools. 
 
 2. To assist Sunday schools in his district which 
 need help in introducing graded lessons and other 
 reforms. 
 
 3. To keep on hand and distribute leaflets and 
 other literature for the improvement of Sunday- 
 school work. 
 
 4. To cooperate with the Sunday-school mission- 
 aries in his field for the improvement of the mission 
 and other Sunday schools. 
 
 5. To cooperate with the presbyterial committees 
 on Sunday-school work. 
 
 6. To hold institutes and other meetings for the 
 encouragement of Presbyterian workers and to assist 
 others in holding such meetings. 
 
THE FIELD 27 
 
 7. To encourage the formation of teacher-train- 
 ing classes and to supervise all Presbyterian teacher- 
 training work in his district. 
 
 8. To enroll, examine and recommend to the 
 Board for diplomas, all teacher-training classes 
 which desire to enroll under the Presbyterian 
 Church; his office being the Presbyterian head- 
 quarters for all such work within the district. 
 
 9. To cooperate with the organized adult class 
 movement and with all other movements for im- 
 proved Sunday-school work. 
 
 10. To aid all the Sunday schools of his field to 
 attain as soon as possible to the ten points of the 
 Westminster Standard of Excellence. 
 
 Thus far this phase of the work has accomplished 
 gratifying results. The district educational super- 
 intendents find the demand for their labors far 
 greater than they can meet. These men have al- 
 ready rendered valuable service in stimulating the 
 demand for trained teachers, and classes for the 
 study of teacher-training courses have been organ- 
 ized in scores of Sunday schools. They are holding 
 series of institutes throughout the year with groups 
 of Sunday schools at which all phases of Sunday- 
 school work are discussed. They are showing even 
 the little school with its limited equipment that it is 
 not necessary for its work to be conducted in a 
 haphazard way, but that they also, by the applica- 
 tion and adaptation of modem Sunday-school ideals 
 may attain a standard of efficiency equal, in its 
 way, to that of schools possessing better advantages. 
 One of these workers writes : 
 3 
 
28 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 Teacher- In rural places alone twelve teacher-training classes 
 
 Training were organized, with a membership of eighty-one ; -while 
 ten others live too far away to join a class. They are 
 studying the course by themselves. In our larger centers 
 the normal work progresses, but not rapidly. That any 
 school can have a training class if it so desires may be 
 judged from the class that graduated at Sand Creek, four 
 miles from the station and without an organized church. 
 
 This is a work that is destined for great things 
 in Sunday-school development. While interdenomi- 
 national organizations are in many cases providing 
 the stimulus by their periodical conventions, it re- 
 mains for each denomination to get into close touch 
 with the workers of the individual school ; to show 
 them a vision of larger things ; to enable them to 
 adapt to their own needs, the various methods of 
 work that are constantly being exploited. Thus we 
 see that the Sunday-School Board labors not only 
 for the extension of the influence of the Sunday 
 school in godless communities, but also for the im- 
 provement of the work of existing schools through- 
 out the entire church. 
 Sunday- In 3. siugle year more than one thousand Sunday- 
 
 Schooi school institutes were held at which three thousand 
 
 Institutes 
 
 Sunday schools were represented. Presbyteries 
 and synods, realizing the importance of the work in 
 and for the Sunday school, are adopting the plan 
 of an annual institute for the discussion of Sunday- 
 school topics. As increasing emphasis is thus be- 
 ing placed upon the necessity of efficiency in this 
 work of soul culture for the youth of our Sunday 
 schools, good results are bound to follow. Not only 
 
THE FIELD 29 
 
 will the Sunday school and its methods of work be 
 brought to a higher standard, but all of our work- 
 ers in the Sunday school will have a higher appre- 
 ciation of the responsibility of the service in which 
 they are engaged ; they will see the necessity for 
 equipping themselves thoroughly as "workmen that 
 needeth not to be ashamed," and our pupils, to a 
 corresponding degree will be better prepared for 
 lives of Christian consecration and usefulness. 
 
 Synods not yet supplied with such workers are 
 calling for them, and the Board will enlarge this 
 phase of its activities as rapidly as its funds permit. 
 
THE NORTHERN PRAIRIES 
 
The simple organization of the Sunday school makes it 
 peculiarly fitted for the special service it has rendered in 
 the rural parts of our land. As a force for the evangelization 
 of urban and rural life it is greater than it has been at any 
 previous time. There are two phases of Sunday-school work : 
 the first is an evangelizing agency in pJaces where no local 
 church exists ; the second is as a part of the regular work 
 of an established local church. In the first, it is a pioneer ; 
 in the second, it is "the Bible-studying-and-teaching service 
 of the church." — J. O. Ashenhurst. 
 
 Our Sunday schools are the pioneers of Christianity and 
 of Presbyterianism. Few places can be found in this country 
 where the mission Sunday school has not preceded and pro- 
 duced the organized church. For years the home mission 
 forces of our church have followed a "blazed trail" in their 
 work throughout the West and South because others have 
 gone before them, visiting homes, gathering the children into 
 Sunday schools, thus introducing the gospel and the estab- 
 lished means of grace. The agency through which this 
 work has been done has been the Board of Publication and 
 Sabbath-School Work, laboring through Sunday-school mis- 
 sionaries who are the real pioneers of Presbyterianism in this 
 country. — E. Trumbull Lee. 
 
 I am growingly impressed with the vital importance of 
 our Sunday-school work, and also with the tireless devotion 
 with which our synodical missionary and his coworkers 
 are pushing the cause of our Sunday-School Board. No more 
 imperative responsibility rests upon our churches than in 
 connection with sustaining their labors. No investments bring 
 larger or quicker dividends than those made for the instruc- 
 tion of the young in Bible knowledge, which is essential to 
 the safeguarding of our national life and the saving of future 
 generations to Christ. I feel confident that the churches will 
 be stirred to greater efforts to make the waste places rejoice 
 and blossom with the planting of the Rose of Sharon. — 
 /. E. Bushnell. 
 
 32 
 
CHAPTER III 
 THE NORTHERN PRAIRIES 
 
 MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN 
 
 The Sunday-school missionary has left the im- 
 press of his influence in hundreds of communities 
 scattered over the plains where he has been the first 
 and in many cases, for a considerable length of 
 time, the only gospel messenger. 
 
 From the discovery of St. Anthony Falls in 1680, Minnesota 
 by Father Hennepin, to the establishment of a 
 trading post at St. Paul in 1851, Minnesota was 
 frontier country in every sense of the word. The 
 entire population of Minnesota in 1850 was a little 
 more than six thousand. According to the census 
 of 1 910 the population was two million seventy-five 
 thousand. 
 
 Navigable rivers and an extensive system of rail- 
 roads (over eighty-five hundred miles) have made 
 it easy for the European immigrant to reach the 
 interior of the state by direct routes, with the natural 
 result that there has been a large influx of foreign- 
 ers. About three fifths are from the Scandinavian 
 peninsula. They are thrifty and industrious, and 
 they are raising up a race of sturdy Americans that 
 are filling important oflices in business, political 
 and professional life. 
 
 Sunday-school missions is the medium through Seizing 
 
 Strateg* 
 Points 
 
 33 
 
 which the Presbyterian Church has operated to ^"^"''^"^ 
 
34 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 take the gospel to these newly settled parts. When 
 the Board of Publication and Sabbath- School Work 
 entered Minnesota, the field was ripe for the launch- 
 ing of an aggressive missionary movement. Itin- 
 erant Sunday-school missionary work which could 
 adapt itself to a field of such widely diversified con- 
 ditions as Minnesota, was, as it is to-day, the only 
 successful method by which the gospel could be in- 
 troduced into new communities in the rural districts. 
 But the work must be done systematically ; strategic 
 points must be seized; adjacent fields must be 
 grouped to form a preaching circuit for the home 
 missionary; diplomacy must be exercised in deal- 
 ing with opposing forces and in winning them to 
 the cause of truth. 
 
 To find a man with the qualifications to meet such 
 conditions seemed a difficult problem, but God raised 
 up Robert F. Sulzer, who had been in training for 
 a number of years in mission work among children 
 in eastern cities. And he was equal to the situa- 
 tion. With an intensity of earnestness in proclaim- 
 ing the "good news"; with a marvelous foresight 
 in building for the future, and with an unusual 
 faculty for enlisting workers, he has led the pioneer 
 forces of Presbyterianism across the prairie and 
 through the great pine forests, establishing mission 
 Sunday schools and developing them into Presby- 
 terian churches ; encouraging other weak churches, 
 and visiting from house to house and setting up the 
 family altar in thousands of homes. In the days of 
 beginnings, when traveling was difficult and settle- 
 ments widely scattered, the task that lay before the 
 
-^ff*' "^ ■^[■■■■■■l— — 
 
 1. Mr. Edwin H. Grant. 
 
 2. Rev. Joseph Brown. 
 
 3. A homesteader just arrived on his claim. 
 
 4. Rev. Edwin M. Ellis. 
 
 5. Mr. Robert F. Sulzer. 
 
Developed 
 
 THE NORTHERN PRAIRIES 35 
 
 Sunday-school missionary was one which required 
 firm faith and a strong-hearted determination. 
 
 As the state has developed other workers have 
 been added and assigned to the various presbyteries. 
 It is due to their united labors that Minnesota stands 
 at the forefront of the western states in its record 
 of aggressive pioneer mission work, showing re- 
 sults that amply justify the investment of means 
 and energy. 
 
 Twenty-five years of Sunday-school missions in Churches^ 
 this state show twenty-four hundred Sunday 
 schools organized, with a membership of eighty 
 thousand, out of which two hundred and two Pres- 
 byterian churches have been developed. These 
 churches have erected buildings valued at nearly 
 three hundred thousand dollars. In the course of 
 their labors the Sunday-school missionaries have 
 visited one hundred and twenty-six thousand six 
 hundred and ninety-two families in prairie home- 
 steads, in the mining and lumber camps and in the 
 small towns and villages that have sprung into ex- 
 istence throughout the state. Adams Presbytery is 
 largely the result of Sunday-school missions. Mr. 
 Thomas Scotton reports thirty-seven Presbyterian 
 churches as the result of his twenty years of 
 Sunday-school missionary labors. The missionaries 
 of the Home Mission Board have faithfully followed 
 the Sabbath-school missionaries, providing regular 
 preaching services and thus making it possible for 
 the Sunday-school workers to push forward into 
 new and unoccupied fields. One missionary gives 
 this glimpse of the character of the work: 
 
36 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 I visited a town with three hundred people that never 
 had a Sunday school or church of any kind, but they did 
 have seven saloons. When I saw the boys rolling beer 
 kegs across the street and into the saloons, I shuddered 
 to think of their future. 
 
 I visited the business men and explained my mission. 
 They agreed that I could not do anything there. One 
 gentleman took me aside and said, "I would dislike very 
 much to see you leave town discouraged, so in my judg- 
 ment the best thing for you to do is to leave town be- 
 fore you undertake to do anything." I told him I would 
 stay and fight it out. "If you feel that way about it," he 
 said, "you can depend on me, and I will do all I can to 
 help you." 
 
 We secured a place in which to hold a meeting, the 
 hour of service was set, the homes, places of business and 
 saloons included were visited and all invited to attend 
 the service. After doing all this I felt that one thing 
 more must be done to stir the people. So I took my 
 stand on the street corner between two saloons and sang 
 a gospel song. Then I invited all present to attend the 
 meeting. The meeting was held. The attendance was not 
 large, but we advertised services to continue every night 
 for the remainder of the week. 
 
 The next day when visiting the homes, I was passing 
 the blacksmith shop. I saw that the blacksmith could 
 not hope to attend to the wants of all who were gathered 
 there. They were quarreling among themselves as to who 
 should have first attention. Seeing my opportunity, I 
 stepped up to the smith and offered to help him. "Are 
 you a blacksmith?" he asked. "Yes," I said. "But you will 
 soil your hands and clothing," he urged. "Never you mind 
 that," I replied, "give me an apron and I will help you 
 out." He did so, and I stepped to an idle forge, built a 
 fire, and soon I was turning out work with the greatest of 
 ease and pleasure. 
 
 I think it would be safe to say that before evening 
 every man in town came as far as the door of the shop. 
 
THE NORTHERN PRAIRIES 37 
 
 That night the congregation more than doubled, and we 
 had — what we did not have at the first service — a goodly 
 number of men. Services were continued every night of 
 the week with increasing interest. 
 
 On Sunday morning we met in the schoolhouse for 
 another service, and then the first Sunday school in the 
 town was organized. In the early winter a series of meet- 
 ings was held in which a number were converted, a church 
 was organized, and steps were taken to build a church. 
 
 I want to tell you about a doctor that was converted. 
 He had lost his reputation, and his practice was largely 
 gone, but in that meeting he became a new creature in 
 Christ, saved from the sin of drunkenness. He united 
 with the church as one of the charter members; later he 
 was elected as chairman of the Building Committee. He 
 superintended the building of that church, and when not 
 engaged in his practice he could be found with hammer 
 or saw hard at work on the building, trying to honor him 
 who had saved him from a life of sin. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church has reason to be proud 
 of the achievements of her Sunday-school mission- 
 aries in Minnesota. Nowhere have the principles of 
 this form of pioneer work been better demonstrated 
 and their effectiveness better proven. The seed is 
 still being sown. Four hundred thousand children 
 are yet outside the Sunday school. The Sunday- 
 school missionary will continue to be the church's 
 advance guard in this state for many years to 
 come. 
 
 Very little was known concerning the needs of Wisconsin 
 the rural population of Wisconsin when our Board 
 was called upon to enter that field. But Sunday- 
 school missionary work, with the cooperation of the 
 home mission forces, has wrought a transformation. 
 
38 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 Seventy-eight new Presbyterian churches have been 
 organized as the outgrowth of these labors. 
 
 Our Sunday-school missionary work in Wiscon- 
 sin is carried forward in a manner that promises 
 permanence. In a country district, in Winnebago 
 Presbytery, the first Sunday-school mission chapel 
 was erected twenty-three years ago, at a cost of a 
 little more than one hundred dollars. Since that 
 time fifty such chapels have been erected, at dif- 
 ferent points throughout the state, through the 
 generosity of churches, Sunday schools and indi- 
 viduals who have seen in such work an opportunity 
 of helping toward the early development of these 
 mission Sunday schools into churches. In nearly 
 every community where a chapel is built a Presby- 
 terian church develops. 
 
 The good influence of these mission Sunday 
 schools was demonstrated in a unique way at a 
 Children's Day celebration in a Sunday school which 
 has developed from very weak and unpromising 
 beginnings. A tableau was presented showing the 
 character of the community before the Sunday- 
 school missionary visited it. Young men and 
 women were seated around tables playing cards ; 
 others were dancing, and beer bottles occupied a 
 conspicuous place. The second scene, showing the 
 difference after the Sunday school had been doing 
 its good work for several years, presented a picture 
 of the ideal home. The parents and children were 
 seated about the home table, studying and reading 
 the Bible, Sunday-school papers and library books. 
 
 One of the earliest of the missionary pioneers in 
 
THE NORTHERN PRAIRIES 
 
 39 
 
 Wisconsin was Rev. Joseph Brown — "Father" 
 Brown, as he is affectionately spoken of by many 
 of the people in the country districts. Mr. Brown 
 tells this of the beginning of his work: 
 
 On the ninth of July, 1888, I reached Stevens' Point An itinerant 
 and reported to Rev. Waher Frame (now deceased) who Missionary 
 was at that time pastor of the Presbyterian church of 
 that city. He greeted me most cordially and gave me my 
 first instructions as to the manner in which my work 
 was to be performed. Standing before the map of Wis- 
 consin, with pencil in hand, he sketched my pathway from 
 Stevens' Point to Ashland, across to West Superior, 
 thence down by Spooner to Chippewa Falls and Eau 
 Claire, and back again to Stevens' Point by way of Ab- 
 botsford, saying as he did so : "Stop at all the stations 
 along these lines, go out into the country homes to the 
 right and left, find out the needs of the people, do what 
 you can to meet them, and then report to us. Personally 
 we pastors do not know the spiritual needs of these coun- 
 try regions. Do your best, organize as many Sunday 
 schools as you can, hold gospel meetings in the homes 
 of the people and in schoolhouses ; do all this in humble 
 dependence upon God, and may his richest blessing rest 
 upon you." 
 
 With this broad commission, Mr. Brown went 
 forth in the strength of Christ and the victories of 
 his faith have been many. Others came upon the 
 field later. Their work is not less fruitful, and 
 they are doing their part most faithfully in train- 
 ing the boys and girls in the outlying localities for 
 Christian life and service. 
 
 In these two states the first educational Sunday- 
 school worker began his labors, and here the value 
 of these labors is being fully demonstrated. The 
 
40 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 synods have expressed themselves in enthusiastic 
 terms concerning the upHft which is being given 
 to their Sunday schools through his efforts. The 
 results of this form of work in Minnesota and Wis- 
 consin have encouraged other synods to ask for 
 educational superintendents. These requests will 
 be granted as rapidly as the Board finds itself able 
 to support them. 
 
 NORTH DAKOTA, SOUTH DAKOTA AND EASTERN 
 
 MONTANA 
 
 Much of this district — covering about two hun- 
 dred and twenty-five thousand square miles — is still 
 pioneer territory. It is real missionary ground. 
 While in North Dakota especially there are quite a 
 number of foreigners, American settlers are pouring 
 in from the middle west and homesteading large 
 tracts of land. Within the past twenty years the 
 population of this vast region has increased two 
 and one half times. Large areas which formerly 
 were government reservations have been thrown 
 open to settlement, and tens of thousands, attracted 
 by alluring advertisements and convincing stories 
 of the productiveness of the soil, have made home- 
 stead entries. In one section of North Dakota there 
 were as many as twelve thousand entries in a single 
 month, and it is estimated that at least fifty thou- 
 sand new families migrated to that state within a 
 single year. In his book, "The Greater America," 
 Mr. Paine thus graphically describes the arrival of 
 the homesteader: 
 
THE NORTHERN PRAIRIES 41 
 
 Each family was permitted to take, free of railroad The Home- 
 charge, ten head of live stock, together with household **=""*"■ 
 goods and farming implements. When their train trailed 
 up into the new land the pilgrims were emptied into little 
 towns just springing up, or dropped upon the bare and 
 open prairie, one hundred here, two hundred there. Once 
 a party of two thousand overflowed one village of four 
 hundred people. The few settlers who had arrived be- 
 fore them drove in from many miles around and helped 
 the newcomers as best they could. The freight cars were 
 backed on sidings and used to sleep in until the immi- 
 grants could build their own homes. Every dwelling, 
 store, church and schoolhouse within twenty miles was 
 filled to overflowing with these families. 
 
 Within a week, however, the overflow had vanished 
 from the little towns and the freight cars on the prairie 
 siding lost their lodgers. The immigrants brought their 
 horses and farm wagons with them. As soon as their 
 homestead claims were located and filed, they hauled out 
 lumber to build shacks, or with the help of neighbors made 
 their sod houses. Then the homesteader loaded his fam- 
 ily, his household goods, and his farming tools into his 
 wagon, and trailed out across the prairie to his new home. 
 The day after he had put the house to rights he began 
 to break land for the spring sowing of wheat. The prairie 
 seemed fairly to swallow these thousands of settlers and 
 to cry for more. 
 
 South Dakota and eastern Montana have shared 
 in this inrush of new settlers. The opening of the 
 Rosebud Indian Reservation, the Cheyenne River 
 Indian Reservation, and other pubhc lands has 
 brought hundreds of thousands of acres under cul- 
 tivation. The railroads, too, have contributed largely 
 to the development of this section. They are 
 obliged to lay out new towns every twelve miles. 
 As soon as the prospective railroad extension is 
 
New Settlers 
 
 42 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 surveyed a few board shacks will be erected for a 
 store, a saloon, hotel, and so forth, and thus towns 
 are started. Sometimes the course of the railroad 
 is changed, and it is not unusual to see a new town 
 put on wheels and moved to another site in order to 
 be on the line of the new road. 
 
 How can the church keep pace with this rapid 
 development? It must throw out its picket line 
 reaching across these great stretches of prairie, seiz- 
 ing these places in their infancy for Christ. 
 Needs of Thc Synod of North Dakota recently erected a 
 
 new presbytery comprising the counties of Ward, 
 Williams and a part of McLean and McKenzie. 
 This is a territory of about ten thousand three hun- 
 dred and thirty-four square miles, all of which has 
 been newly settled by homesteaders. In a single 
 year, in Williams and McKenzie counties alone, over 
 six thousand homestead entries were made ; bring- 
 ing an addition to the population of at least twenty 
 thousand. Ward County alone is nearly as large as 
 the state of Connecticut, and in McKenzie County, 
 so far as we know, no regular religious services 
 were held previous to the coming of the Sunday- 
 school missionary. 
 
 We have a few home mission churches scattered 
 over this vast territory, and if Sunday schools could 
 be planted around them, they would soon be self- 
 supporting, and would be able to build church 
 homes. Thus the work would be greatly advanced. 
 The few who have religious privileges are now 
 worshiping in schoolhouses, halls, homesteaders' 
 shacks and even barns and wagon sheds, while many 
 
THE NORTHERN PRAIRIES 
 
 43 
 
 other communities are entirely destitute of any 
 means of grace. 
 
 Growing accustomed to their lack of religious life, 
 the people soon become indifferent and drift away 
 into worldliness, Sunday-breaking and all kinds of 
 wrongdoing, and the children are left to do just as 
 they are inclined. As there is no gospel service or 
 Sunday school to attend, Sunday is spent in hunt- 
 ing, baseball and other recreations. Branches of 
 the great railway systems are building into this new 
 part of the state and new towns are springing up. 
 They should be held as strategic points. The Sun- 
 day-school missionary is the only representative 
 of the church to do this new and pioneer work and 
 bring salvation to the lost. He not only organizes 
 a Sunday school, but he secures a town lot for the 
 church building which follows after. He keeps in 
 close touch with the leading people, and gathers sub- 
 scriptions toward paying a neighboring minister for 
 occasional preaching services. In the meantime he 
 arranges for holding the Sunday-school sessions in 
 the upper room of a store, or in the town 
 hall. 
 
 One of the chief advantages of the mission Sun- 
 day school in these new localities is that it can be 
 maintained without the necessity of a large initial 
 outlay. In many cases the gospel seed has found 
 fruitful soil in the hearts of boys and girls gath- 
 ered about the stove in a homesteader's shack, and 
 there has been an abundant harvest. Out of such 
 humble beginnings some of the best churches in 
 these prairie states have grown. 
 4 
 
44 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 One presbytery in the western part of North Da- 
 kota comprises nearly one third of the state. It 
 covers a territory as large as the German Empire. 
 The chairman of the Sunday-School Committee of 
 the Presbytery traveled a hundred miles to reach one 
 mission school and one organized church. The 
 thermometer registered forty degrees below zero, 
 but the little chapel was crowded. There were 
 young people present who had come sixteen miles 
 through the snow and cold. Such a field requires at 
 least three Sunday-school missionaries. One such 
 worker has been laboring here with splendid re- 
 sults, but how much more might be accomplished 
 if he could divide the field with one or two other 
 missionaries ! 
 
 There are hundreds of mission schools scattered 
 over these prairies which never have developed and 
 probably never will develop into churches. The 
 community may be small and the financial ability of 
 the people may never be sufficiently large to sup- 
 port a settled pastor. Such schools the missionary 
 keeps under his own pastoral care, visiting them as 
 he has opportunity, encouraging the officers and 
 teachers, supplying them with suitable literature and 
 helping them in every possible way to make the 
 Sunday school a factor in the community. For in- 
 stance, a little crossroads Sunday school was 
 started about twelve miles from the nearest town 
 in a needy section of Minnesota. The community 
 could not support a church, and the Sunday-school 
 missionary was the only pastor they knew. A little 
 distance down the road were two saloons, both do- 
 
THE NORTHERN PRAIRIES 45 
 
 ing a good business. Side by side these agents of 
 Satan and of Christ worked for three years, each 
 striving to overcome the influence of the other. But 
 the Httle Sunday school won the fight, and the boys 
 are now being trained for Christian living instead 
 of for the saloon, since both saloons were obliged 
 to close their doors. 
 
 The people in these unchurched sections of the 
 Northwest are not godless because they prefer to be, 
 but because of our neglect. The Sunday-school mis- 
 sionary, after tacking a notice on the door of the 
 village store announcing that he will hold a preach- 
 ing service immediately following the Sunday school, 
 is greeted by a crowded schoolhouse. It is not an 
 unusual sight to see the room filled to overflowing 
 and a group of men — a strong sturdy type of men 
 they are — standing outside at the windows listening 
 eagerly to every word that falls from the mission- 
 ary's lips. 
 
 We need to catch a vision of the greatness of For a Higher 
 the opportunity in this work of laying the foun- 
 dations for Christian lives and for the work of the 
 settled ministry. The boys and girls who to-day 
 are in these little schools, will some day wield an 
 influence for good or evil. If they go to the city, 
 what shall they contribute toward its betterment? 
 If they go to college, as so many of the boys and 
 girls from these prairies do, will they have had a 
 predilection toward the gospel ministry or the mis- 
 sion field in heathen lands? When they enter busi- 
 ness or professional life will they sacrifice them- 
 selves to greed and corruption, or will they stand 
 
46 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 firm and immovable in advocating the cause of 
 truth and honesty? 
 
 These are questions which must concern us vitally 
 as a nation and as a church. To evade them is sin- 
 ful. To strive for their solution is the great mis- 
 sion and responsibility of the church. We have only 
 played at this task. When the importance of the 
 religious training of the boys and girls of the west- 
 ern plains is before us in its proper perspective, we 
 begin to see how poor and insufficient has been our 
 investment for its support in the past. It is not a 
 cause which may be left to the children of the Sun- 
 day school to support, but one to which every Chris- 
 tian should give first consideration in spending the 
 Lord's money. It is estimated that a presidential 
 campaign costs several millions of dollars. In the 
 twenty-five years of our Sunday-school missions, 
 two and one half million dollars have been con- 
 tributed, and the harvest of souls won for Christ is 
 beyond telling. The church is awakening. 
 
 In the three synods of North Dakota, South Da- 
 kota and Montana, two hundred and fifty-seven 
 Presbyterian churches have been developed from the 
 pioneer work of Sunday-school missionaries dur- 
 ing twenty-five years. The Board of Publication 
 and Sabbath-School Work has fourteen Sunday- 
 school missionaries at work in this region, two of 
 whom are synodical superintendents and one is a 
 district superintendent. 
 Consecrated A word should bc Said in passing concerning the 
 labors of those who have directed the work in these 
 synods. It was Mr. James B. Clapp, a consecrated 
 
THE NORTHERN PRAIRIES 47 
 
 layman, who opened and developed North Dakota 
 as a mission field. Not sparing himself he traveled 
 for many years, by all sorts of conveyances, through- 
 out that region organizing and developing schools 
 and encouraging the workers. With rare talent as 
 a singer and by the persuasiveness of his message he 
 led thousands of souls into the kingdom. While he 
 has been called to his reward, precious fruit is still 
 being garnered from his sowing. This synod is 
 now grouped with Minnesota under Mr. Robert F. 
 Sulzer. 
 
 In South Dakota we have another example of the 
 effectiveness of lay service in this branch of mis- 
 sionary work. Here Mr. Edwin H. Grant has 
 labored for a quarter of a century, loved and revered 
 throughout that whole region. His influence upon 
 the lives of young and old and his self-sacrificing 
 humility in the service of Qirist have been the means 
 of transforming many a wayside home. 
 
 The Montana work is supervised by a veteran in 
 the service, Rev. Edwin M. Ellis a man of deep 
 piety and missionary zeal. A feature of Mr. Ellis' 
 work has been the establishment of home classes 
 among widely scattered settlers who were prohibited 
 by long distances, from gathering together in Sun- 
 day schools. In this way hundreds of families 
 in their lonely prairie homes are studying the Sun- 
 day-school lessons regularly. Mr. Ellis has one 
 of the most needy synods in the entire West, and 
 with the limited means at his disposal to support 
 workers, he is opening many promising fields for 
 the church in that vast territory. 
 
THE MIDDLE WEST 
 
In a state so well churched as Kansas even, there is one 
 whole county — Grant — which has no church organization. 
 Haskell County has only two ministers ; Morton County 
 only one. In Washington there is a valley six miles wide 
 and sixty miles long already well filled with settlers, and 
 of them all not one fifth are to-day within any reasonable 
 reach of Christian worship — to say nothing of Christian pas- 
 toral services in their homes. These are but samples of a 
 condition quite common through the West — regions of wide 
 extent wholly neglected in home mission enterprise, while 
 there is an absolute scramble of rivalry to keep a footing in 
 other places that would be better ofif with less attention. Of 
 course, the neglected districts are those less promising of 
 growth and wealth — less likely to develop "self-supporting 
 churches." But on that very account the struggling settlers 
 need the comfort of religious ministrations all the more. All 
 the home mission agencies of the nation, in fact, ought to 
 have an infusion of more courage to undertake work never 
 expected to "come to self-support." The great construction 
 camps along irrigation and railroad projects, for instance, 
 are temporary communities soon to disappear, but they ought 
 to have preaching while they last. Many a mining camp, 
 even though permanent, is passed by because there aren't 
 enough Christian people in it to make a church organization. 
 — Nolan R. Best. 
 
 SO 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE MIDDLE WEST 
 
 This section has outgrown its former classifica- 
 tion as frontier missionary ground. Indeed it is be- 
 coming more and more a helper in sending forth 
 laborers into white harvest fields further west. 
 
 We are not accustomed to consider the Synod of Illinois 
 Illinois as missionary ground, yet at a recent meet- 
 ing of that synod one of the leading pastors who 
 has studied the missionary situation, made a strong 
 appeal for an aggressive Sunday-school missionary 
 campaign. He said: 
 
 Calhoun County, the best apple county in the state, 
 spells opportunity to the Presbyterian Church. While 
 there conducting special meetings, I met a young man 
 who later came out as a Christian, who had not the least 
 understanding of the Scriptures or of the plan of salva- 
 tion. He asked me "Why did they kill Jesus? Did he 
 do anything mean?" "No," I answered, "Jesus never did 
 anything wrong." "That's what I thought," he said. He 
 was raised in a German Lutheran home and community 
 w'here all the service is in German, but he does not under- 
 stand it, and so gets nothing out of the service. And he is 
 one of very many who might be reached. My pastorates 
 for thirteen years were in Iowa, so that I was familiar 
 with conditions and with the splendid results of the Sun- 
 day-school missionary work there. Coming to Illinois two 
 years ago, I quickly discovered the great need of just such 
 workers here. I did not dream the need was so appalling 
 in this great state. 
 
 SI 
 
52 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 Calhoun County is without a railroad, and many can 
 be found in these sorely neglected districts who can neither 
 read nor write. I find now and then children twelve and 
 fifteen who have never been to Sunday school. The pas- 
 tors are busy men and need the help of the Sunday-school 
 missionary and could cooperate with him in caring for 
 organized work, but we must have a man to organize. 
 
 Much of the new population is foreign, but this 
 only serves to make the problem more difficult. 
 Their children attend our public schools and learn 
 to speak English. The church has an opportunity 
 here to train these Americans by adoption for Chris- 
 tian citizenship by taking the Sunday school to them. 
 i"'^* In Iowa the Sunday-school missionary has worked 
 
 hand-in-hand with the home mission forces "to 
 strengthen the things that remain." Under the 
 splendid leadership of Rev. S. R. Ferguson, 
 D.D., who for twenty-two years has been in charge 
 of the work in Iowa, the Presbyterian Church has 
 made wonderful advances. In the earlier years 
 many mission Sunday schools were organized 
 which have since developed into Presbyterian 
 churches, becoming in turn liberal contributors 
 toward the work in other places. Like Illinois, the 
 Synod of Iowa has always required the services of 
 Sunday-school workers to "skirmish'' the outlying 
 districts, opening new fields for the home mission- 
 aries. Much of this work has been of an evangelis- 
 tic character. One of the Iowa Sunday-school mis- 
 sionaries reports : 
 
 Besides other work I conducted meetings in eight places 
 last year, most of them in county communities where the 
 
THE MIDDLE WEST 53 
 
 spirit of the Lord was poured out on us in mighty con- 
 victing and converting power. Two hundred and thirty 
 took a definite stand for the Lord, most of whom united 
 with the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 A few months ago I held meetings in a country district 
 where envy and hatred pervaded the entire community. 
 It was a hard proposition, but "there is nothing too hard 
 for God." We worked, prayed, visited, and conducted 
 meetings; and the Spirit of God began his work, quietly 
 and steadily, throughout the whole neighborhood. There 
 was one family, fine Swedish people, whose three bright 
 children attended the meetings each night. Returning home 
 after one of these meetings, the girl, eleven years of age, 
 said to the father and mother, "I want you to forgive me 
 for all the wrong things I ever did." Then the lad of 
 sixteen asked them to do the same thing, and the little boy 
 of six made a similar request. The parents were all 
 broken up and brought under a deep conviction and con- 
 fessed to neighbors that they were not Christians, al- 
 though they had been members of the church for years. 
 When I gave an invitation for anyone who was willing to 
 accept and confess Christ, the lad led the way, the father, 
 mother, and little girl followed. The whole family entered 
 the Ark of Salvation. 
 
 A bright lad of twelve, in a home where there had 
 been much indifference to things religious, was in the Sun- 
 day-school class. Although living quite a distance from 
 the church he was there every night at our service, and 
 the rest of the family had to come too. The father be- 
 came interested and finally accepted Jesus as his Saviour. 
 At the close of the meetings the whole family — father, 
 mother, a young girl of sixteen and the lad — joined the 
 church. Since then the father has been elected an elder, 
 and is doing excellent work. 
 
 Another missionary's experience showing how this 
 work is carried on in these older synods is interest- 
 ing: 
 
54 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 Organizing I find many opportunities for service in the investlga- 
 Schools ^Jqj^ q£ j^g^ fields, conferring with the people as to what 
 
 might be accomplished in these needy regions, and visit- 
 ing weak and struggling schools, in the endeavor to in- 
 crease their membership and inspire them with a new en- 
 thusiasm. 
 
 But the organizing of two new schools was perhaps 
 the most important service rendered. One of these schools 
 was organized at a new town on a new line of railroad. 
 This was the first time that a religious service had been 
 held in this community. I had previously called in every 
 house in and around the village and — although the day 
 was very stormy — we had a wonderful gathering of both 
 old and young. One woman who was the mother of seven 
 children had previously expressed a bitter regret that she 
 had moved into that part of the country at all, where 
 there was neither school nor service of any kind for her 
 children; about two hours after the expression of this 
 regret I appeared in the village and made known my mis- 
 sion. 
 
 The hall in which the school was organized was only 
 in process of erection, and was still without doors 
 and windows, and we found it necessary to nail up can- 
 vas all around as a protection from the storm. Although 
 I hurried through with my part of the work, they remained 
 until five o'clock, conferring and asking questions about 
 the future of the enterprise. They are already planning to 
 have a church and preaching in the near future. 
 
 The synods of Kansas and Missouri are grouped 
 with Iowa to form the district over which Dr. Fer- 
 guson exercises supervision. Here again the church 
 is fortunate in having a man of rare tact and con- 
 secration to set the pace in missionary advance. His 
 ability to win friends to his cause, his sweet Chris- 
 tian spirit and his never-faihng cheerfulness under 
 the most trying circumstances are qualities that have 
 
1. Rev. Samuel R. Ferguson, D.D. 
 
 2. Orchestra and Cradle Roll of a Nebraska mission school. 
 
 3. The superintendent, assistant superintendent and seven members of a 
 
 mission Sunday school in western Kansas. 
 
 4. Rev. J.^mes B. Currens. 
 
THE MIDDLE WEST 55 
 
 gained him a hearing in many a sin-cursed com- 
 munity from which other workers had departed in 
 discouragement. He is filled with the spirit of mis- 
 sions and in presenting this cause before churches, 
 presbyteries, synods and General Assembly he has 
 rendered invaluable service. He has had a most 
 efficient helper in A. R. O'Brien, a former sea cap- 
 tain who found Christ and forsook all to follow 
 him. As an evangelist of unusual power he is 
 known throughout the Middle West. Dr. Ferguson 
 says, "Many times in places where we were hold- 
 ing meetings, I have known him to rise early in 
 the morning and in a room where the thermometer 
 registered twenty degrees below zero, with his fur 
 coat wrapped about him, to spend an hour or two in 
 Bible study and prayer." Is it any wonder that the 
 blessing of the Spirit has been so richly manifested 
 in the labors of these workers? 
 
 In Kansas the work of the Sunday-school mis- Kansas 
 sionary is confined largely to the immense territory 
 covering the western half of the state. One mis- 
 sionary has an automobile which greatly facilitates 
 his work of visiting the scattered homes on the 
 plains. He is verily "proclaiming the gospel to 
 the poor." The crop is uncertain, and long periods 
 of drought have impoverished many of the people. 
 Dugouts and sod houses are numerous, but out of 
 them have come some of the most faithful and effi- 
 cient workers in the mission Sunday schools. This 
 missionary, who has a field consisting of thirty 
 counties covering twenty-four thousand square 
 miles, reported for one year : 
 
56 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 I have traveled ninety-eight hundred and eighty-three 
 miles on foot, with a horse and buggy, by railway train, 
 and with an automobile. More than four thousand miles 
 have been covered in the automobile. 
 
 I have visited seven hundred and sixty-three families, 
 organized seven new Sunday schools, organized four more 
 where there had been none for a long time, revived one and 
 visited twenty-nine others. 
 
 The spiritual destitution of some of these counties 
 would be almost complete were it not for the Sunday 
 schools. In four of the counties visited I found but one 
 resident ordained minister. Other counties are better off 
 — ^they have one minister to the county! 
 
 In one of the western counties we held a Sunday- 
 school convention in a little schoolhouse away out on the 
 prairie. For the forenoon session the building was filled. 
 In the afternoon it was packed ; one hundred and twenty- 
 five were in attendance. "Where did all these people come 
 from?" I asked; for it was a sparsely settled neighborhood. 
 I learned that many drove from fourteen to twenty miles, 
 some thirty. That is the way they appreciate a conven- 
 tion opportunity. I was delightfully entertained by the 
 superintendent and his family in their little sod house. 
 They had set up the family altar in their home, and the 
 spiritual fellowship was fine. They were big hearted and 
 strong spirited; they carried the whole community on their 
 hearts. 
 
 I have related this incident, not because it was isolated 
 and striking, but because it fairly illustrates a fine body of 
 people scattered over these western prairies, where there 
 is not a church within reach and only occasionally a min- 
 ister seen: a Saviour of life unto life in their commun- 
 ities; standing true to Christ and holding fast to the Sun- 
 day school. It gives one a deeper conception of the in- 
 valuable service being rendered to the citizenship of this 
 nation by the little country Sunday school. 
 
 Away down in the southwest, along the Cimarron 
 river, I walked over the sand hills, through the sage- 
 
THE MIDDLE WEST 
 
 57 
 
 brush and soap weed, where there are miles between the 
 scattered homes. People are living in dugouts, half-dug- 
 outs and shacks, holding down their claims — some of the 
 finest people I have known. We organized a Sunday school, 
 a wee bit of a school with two classes. It has come up 
 through hard struggles, but is winning out and getting on 
 its feet. It is the whole religious life of the community. 
 What would they do without it! There are many just 
 like it. 
 
 I drove twenty-six miles through the mud one Satur- 
 day afternoon, arriving at five o'clock at the home to 
 which I had been directed. Replying to my questions, the 
 members of the family said they would like to have a 
 Sunday school ; they needed one, but there were not 
 enough people in the neighborhood to sustain one. They 
 were sorry, but were sure nothing could be done. It was 
 too late and too muddy to go elsewhere. They gave me 
 their best accommodations for the night. In the morn- 
 ing the man accepted my invitation to drive around with 
 me and visit the neighbors. We visited the people, and 
 that afternoon we organized a Sunday school of twenty- 
 two members. Later I was told that the average attend- 
 ance had grown to about forty. 
 
 At the meeting of the Synod of Missouri this Missouri 
 statement of conditions was made: 
 
 The location and resources of this state, and its re- 
 ligious needs and opportunities present to our denomination 
 a loud and most insistent call for a definite and forward 
 movement. 
 
 Missouri lies in the heart of our nation. It ranks 
 seventh in population among the states. To the east, north 
 and south of Missouri are twenty-three states which are 
 older, were in the Union before this state, and years ago 
 outnumbered this commonwealth in population and in value 
 of annual manufacturing. 
 
 They were large producing states before Missouri saw 
 
58 
 
 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 Snnday- 
 School 
 Missions in 
 Cities 
 
 its first factory put into operation, and yet to-day this 
 state ranks seventh in manufacturing, having passed six- 
 teen of the older states in its rush to the front. With 
 all this progress it is still in its infancy as a manufacturing 
 center, but the indications are that soon it will outrank 
 Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania. This rich state is rapidly 
 becoming the center of the nation's population. This all 
 has a tremendous bearing upon the responsibility and work 
 of our church in this synod. 
 
 When we view intelligently the religious needs and 
 conditions in this state we are forced to the conviction 
 that there is an opportunity for almost unlimited mission- 
 ary expansion. There are vast areas scarcely touched by 
 our church or any church. There are many counties with 
 not a single Presbyterian church in them. 
 
 The vast Ozark region, and the lower river counties, 
 more familiarly known as the drainage districts, are rapidly 
 developing and filling up with people. The church of 
 Qirist is not keeping up with this growth. In this im- 
 portant region there are large towns which have no church 
 of any denomination. It is doubtful if we are meeting our 
 opportunity and obligation in the great cities of our state. 
 
 In both city and country Sunday-school mission- 
 ary work has been the method of advance. One 
 missionary, located in Kansas City, reports that 
 within the city limits he has established six new 
 Sunday schools, all of which now have settled pas- 
 tors. By this means Presbyterianism has been able 
 to keep pace with the rapid advance in population 
 in this important center. Results like this show 
 the efficacy of this method: 
 
 At the close of special meetings, a church was organ- 
 ized among the converts. A young man who had been 
 the champion pool player in these parts became a faithful 
 Sunday-school superintendent. The man who had been 
 
THE MIDDLE WEST 
 
 59 
 
 the organizer of the neighborhood dances, became inter- 
 ested and assisted in many ways. He has since with his 
 own hands made a beautiful pulpit, donating it to the 
 church, and his bright children are always at Sunday 
 school. Not a dance has been held since the coming of 
 the Sunday school to this neighborhood. 
 
 Aggressive missionary work is being done in the 
 Iron Mountain district. This region covers thir- 
 teen thousand five hundred square miles and is vir- 
 gin missionary soil. Over this entire field a Sunday- 
 school missionary, a consecrated young layman, has 
 traveled largely on foot, visiting from house to 
 house, and establishing mission Sunday schools. He 
 finds a discouraging lack of efficient workers, on 
 account of the ignorance of most of the people, 
 but his labors are supplemented by faithful home 
 missionaries who share with him the hardships and 
 sacrifices of that isolated field. This presbytery in- 
 cludes the famous "lead belt," where several chapels 
 have been erected by the Sunday-school missionary 
 to house the mission schools he has organized. The 
 Home Mission Board has placed settled pastors and 
 women teachers in charge to develop the work. 
 This field presents a most hopeful missionary pros- 
 pect. 
 
 According to the latest census, the population of Nebraska 
 Nebraska has increased only one hundred and thirty- 
 four thousand in twenty years, an average of sixty- 
 five hundred each year. The western section of the 
 state is now entering a new period of development. 
 Stimulated by extensive irrigation schemes and suc- 
 cessful dry farming, the ranches are being broken 
 5 
 
6o ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 up into smaller farms, attracting many new settlers. 
 One presbytery (Box Butte) includes seventeen 
 counties, covering twenty-three thousand nine hun- 
 dred and twenty-two square miles, with a population 
 of twenty-three thousand. Here the Sunday-school 
 missionary finds pioneer work beset with difficulties 
 because of the distances to be traveled and the lack 
 of community life. A glimpse of the conditions is 
 given by a missionary in a recent report: 
 
 This report is being written in a sod house which is 
 Iixi2x6j^. The house is occupied by one of our home 
 missionaries, his wife and child. Three days ago the home 
 missionary met me at the railway station. The train was 
 nearly four hours late, which meant a very late start, for 
 a thirty mile ride through the sand hills. We rode from 
 a quarter past six in the evening until half past one in 
 the morning. We arose from the supper table at three 
 o'clock. After a few hours' rest we started again. Our 
 destination was thirty miles bej'ond, at Overton Ranch. 
 We reached the place just as the Sunday school was clos- 
 ing, in time to talk to the school, and to preach immedi- 
 ately afterwards. We had been able to make the place on 
 time by doing without dinner, our only refreshment in 
 many hours being a mouthful of snow. In other words, 
 we traveled more than sixty miles over bad roads through 
 the sand hills in less than twenty-four hours, having had 
 three or four hours sleep, and conducted two services with- 
 out rest or food. It may interest you to know that in that 
 drive of sixty miles I saw only eight or nine inhabited 
 places, and only one schoolhouse besides the sod house in 
 which I spoke on Sunday afternoon. 
 
 Other Sunday-school missionaries are faithfully 
 at work in the older parts of this synod, where dis- 
 tances are not so erreat and where the fields are 
 
THE MIDDLE WEST 6l 
 
 easier of access. The present policy in Nebraska 
 is more in the direction of development than of 
 planting new work. This is important in cer- 
 tain stages of missionary activity, and to hold 
 the ground already gained is always wise. Never- 
 theless, the need of the services of the itinerant 
 Sunday-school missionary is becoming increasingly 
 apparent. 
 
 The church loses ground when it has no repre- 
 sentative who is free to travel through the rural 
 districts visiting the homes of the people, and pro- 
 viding for the religious training of their children, 
 even though such provisions are of necessity of a 
 very humble character. What is needed is a larger 
 investment of home mission funds to follow up the 
 work of the Sunday-school missionary. While this 
 is being done, we should not neglect the shepherd- 
 less lambs who need Sunday schools even though a 
 church may never develop from it. 
 
 A pioneer Sunday-school missionary — a mission- ^Mission- 
 
 , . tit, ^"T Pioneer 
 
 ary hero m every sense — to whom the church owes 
 much, is Rev. J. B. Currens, who for twenty-five 
 years has traveled over Nebraska, ministering to the 
 spiritual needs of the rural population. As he ap- 
 proaches the sunset of life he still labors faithfully 
 in the cause he loves. This man has made sacri- 
 fices unknown to most of the men in that field to- 
 day. Through his labors, he has led thousands into 
 the kingdom, and scores of young men have been 
 helped into the gospel ministry through gifts which 
 he made out of his modest salary, entailing much 
 personal sacrifice on his part. The influence of the 
 
62 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 work of this faithful missionary of the Cross will 
 bear fruit through many generations. 
 
 In the synods of Indiana, Michigan and Ohio 
 Sunday-school missionaries are engaged largely in 
 development work. Their labors are directed more 
 toward the reviving and improving of Sunday 
 schools connected with the rural churches, than to 
 the organizing and opening of new fields of mis- 
 sionary effort. Under most efficient committee 
 supervision the work is well organized in Indiana 
 by districts with a synodical superintendent. Rev. 
 F. W. Grossman, D.D., in charge. The labors of 
 the Sunday-school missionaries are directed with 
 the view to the closest cooperation with the home 
 mission forces. Indiana sets an excellent example 
 of self-support in Sunday-school missions, asking 
 of the Board only as much as she contributes. 
 When the work is sufficiently enlarged to supply 
 a missionary for each synodical district, Indiana 
 doubtless will contribute liberally toward the de- 
 velopment of Sunday-school missions in the more 
 remote fields. In Ohio and Michigan the educa- 
 tional feature of Sunday-school missions is held 
 forth prominently, although some parts of Michigan 
 present needy fields for pioneer Sunday-school work. 
 The fact that less than one half of Michigan's chil- 
 dren and young people are enrolled in Sunday 
 schools is an indication of the need of missionary 
 work in their behalf. The name of Rev. David A. 
 Jewell will always be associated with Sunday-school 
 missions in Michigan. He was one of the workers 
 of the Board under the colportage system, and be- 
 
THE MIDDLE WEST 63 
 
 cause of his activity in doing Sunday-school work 
 wherever the opportunity offered, he was engaged 
 as one of the first of the Sunday-school mission- 
 aries. "He being dead, yet speaketh." 
 
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN DISTRICT 
 
The Sunday school becomes the community institution 
 which bears up the whole task of religious education. The 
 farmer takes his place as teacher of a Bible class. His in- 
 fluence on his own sons is exerted when they come to him in 
 their turn with the sons of other men to be taught what he 
 is best qualified to teach. His wife becomes the teacher of 
 the Primary Department and all the children of the com- 
 munity come to her, including her own. Through this de- 
 partment she teaches in the community much better than she 
 could teach in her own home. 
 
 Religion itself, as understood to-day, cannot be taught in 
 the household. Modern pedagogy and the methods of teach- 
 ing which are used in the schools, and colleges can be 
 adopted by Sunday schools, but cannot be adopted by fire- 
 sides. Most parents are incapable of teaching in the terms 
 of modern religious education. For this reason the Sunday 
 school becomes the community center in religious education. 
 All the children of the countryside — not merely the children 
 of church members — can be brought together and thus as- 
 semble for learning at the feet of Jesus Christ. — Warren H. 
 Wilson. 
 
 6S 
 
CHAPTER V 
 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN DISTRICT 
 
 This section includes we^ern Montana, Idaho, 
 Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. Here we have fron- 
 tier life with all of its glamour and romance. This 
 is a district to which Sunday-school missions is 
 peculiarly adapted and in which three times the 
 present number of Sunday-school missionaries 
 would find ample opportunity for service. The 
 Federal Government is spending millions of dollars 
 to bring vast areas of arid land under cultivation. 
 Scientific farming has demonstrated the possibility 
 of raising a fair crop even on dry land, and here, 
 too, the new settler is rushing in. It is only within 
 recent years that the Presbyterian Church has done 
 anything in the way of aggressive missionary work 
 in this region. The cattle ranger has been pushed 
 further west before the oncoming sweep of civili- 
 zation. The miner and the promoter have reaped a 
 harvest and many of them have passed on to other 
 localities. The land boomer has had his opportunity 
 and now this region is settling down to an active 
 and steady development which makes for perma- 
 nency. 
 
 Colorado first came into prominence as a min- Colorado 
 ing state, but the developments of recent years have 
 brought it to the front as an agricultural region. 
 To own an irrigated produce farm in northeastern 
 
 67 
 
68 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 Colorado is quite as profitable and far less risky than 
 to own a mine. An acre of land which a few years 
 ago could be bought for a few dollars is now worth 
 from five hundred to eight hundred dollars. The 
 railways have been an important factor in the de- 
 velopment of this state. Twenty-four railways 
 penetrate every section of the state. Branches of 
 the trunk lines bring the newer sections within easy 
 reach of a market. Along the line of one of the 
 extensions recently built, thirty new towns came into 
 existence in a single year. Irrigation schemes of 
 marvelous magnitude are being promoted on every 
 hand. This vast development, and the incoming of 
 thousands of settlers to occupy the arid portions 
 of the state as homesteaders, combine to present to 
 us as a denomination one of the greatest opportuni- 
 ties for pioneer Sunday-school work ever offered 
 in the history of this region. 
 
 In the cities the churches are strong and are 
 reaching out with a missionary spirit that is most 
 gratifying. The population of Denver has ad- 
 vanced sixty per cent during the past decade ; sub- 
 urban residential sections are developing rapidly, 
 and in each of them the Presbyterian Church is well 
 represented. This has been accomplished through 
 the aggressiveness of the Sunday-school mission- 
 ary, W. H. Schureman. Ever on the alert, he has 
 seized strategic points everywhere, has placed them 
 in charge of workers from the Denver churches 
 and has seen many of them grow into flourishing 
 churches with commodious houses of worship. The 
 example of the Young People's Society of the Cen- 
 
of Results 
 
 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN DISTRICT 69 
 
 tral Presbyterian Church in Denver might well be 
 followed by similar societies in other cities. The 
 interest which has been developed since they began 
 to assist Mr. Schureman by providing workers for 
 the new mission schools which he established in the 
 vicinity of Denver, has been so great that it has 
 stimulated every phase of church activity. The 
 missionary atmosphere is predominant and they have 
 experienced a wonderful blessing. 
 
 It is estimated that nearly one hundred thousand a Specimen 
 new settlers took up homes in the eastern section 
 of this state in a single year. One Sunday-school 
 missionary assigned to this region finds the task far 
 too great for him and more workers are urgently 
 needed. Shall we hold back while such opportuni- 
 ties are beckoning us forward? During twelve 
 months this Sunday-school missionary traveled nine- 
 teen thousand nine hundred and six miles, visited 
 nine hundred and seventeen homes and individuals 
 in the interest of his work, attended and assisted in 
 two hundred and fifty-three public meetings, organ- 
 ized thirteen Sunday schools, revived four schools, 
 made fifty-nine visits to schools already organized, 
 including church schools. Out of these schools three 
 Presbyterian churches grew during a single year. 
 Six church organizations are erecting houses of wor- 
 ship. To assist them the missionary raised by per- 
 sonal effort twenty-four hundred dollars. He estab- 
 lished ten new preaching points and assisted in rais- 
 ing about eight hundred dollars toward pastoral sup- 
 port on these fields. At one time he had under his 
 care thirty-five Sunday schools with an average at- 
 
70 
 
 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 tendance of two thousand officers, teachers and 
 pupils. 
 
 Another Colorado Sunday-school missionary 
 writes concerning a district covering two hundred 
 square miles, with a population of twelve hundred, 
 and not one Protestant church or minister. He 
 says: 
 
 Eleven Sunday schools were organized and one was 
 reopened. This item, we believe, involves our most im- 
 portant work — seeking and finding communities without 
 gospel services and supplying them. The organiza- 
 tion of these schools does not simply mean forty-four 
 teachers and more than four hundred pupils gathered 
 into new schools, but that people to the number of one 
 thousand to one thousand five hundred were provided with 
 the gospel who formerly were without it in regular or or- 
 ganized form. 
 
 In two communities where the people were so few and 
 far apart that even a Sunday school was not practical, 
 Home Departments were started with one visitor and 
 twelve members in each. These faithful women visitors 
 call on their members every month carrying with them 
 the Sunday-school literature and receiving the reports of 
 their members. 
 
 Foreign The claim has frequently been made that from 
 
 i!!om'p^o"" *^^^ ^^^^^^ mission schools organized by the mission- 
 neer Schools arics of the Board of Publication and Sabbath- 
 School Work may be found those who are going 
 forth in consecrated life service for Christ. Here 
 are two instances of this : 
 
 The College of Idaho — a Presbyterian institution 
 in Caldwell, Idaho — has graduated a young woman 
 who — as a girl — got her first glimpse of Christ, and 
 
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN DISTRICT 71 
 
 a desire for a larger and more useful life than she 
 had been living, or had seen around her, in a little 
 Sunday school organized near her country home in 
 the mountains of Colorado, Now, as a Christian 
 teacher, she will labor for the Master and seek to 
 win others to him and train them in his service. 
 
 Another young woman graduate, who has been 
 accepted by the Foreign Mission Board of her 
 church and is waiting to be sent out as a mission- 
 ary to India, became a Christian in a little Sunday 
 school organized by a Sunday-school missionary. 
 
 Twenty years ago when the first Sunday-school Wyomim 
 missionary entered Wyoming, there were four 
 churches in the state, and these had been organized 
 by the great home missionary. Dr. Sheldon Jack- 
 son. The story of the development of missions in 
 this state is told very graphically by Rev. H. W. 
 Bainton, who has rendered splendid service there 
 and whose labors are a mighty factor in the greater 
 development now in progress. 
 
 One Fourth of July the missionary reached a 
 road-ranch on the Medicine Bow range where a 
 party of cowboys had rounded up for the night after 
 celebrating the day by carousing, incidentally hold- 
 ing a "necktie sociable" over a suspicious character 
 whom they had suspected of killing cattle belong- 
 ing to their outfit. They cut the stranger down 
 before life was extinct, and after his confession to 
 the deed he was sent down to Fort Collins, the 
 county seat, to be tried with due process of law. 
 The ringleader and chief spokesman of the party 
 had been educated as a lawyer and brought up re- 
 
72 
 
 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 ligiously, though his language was most profane. 
 In the presence of the missionary he said that he 
 wished he had left the man to hang, so as not to 
 bother the county with him. Then the speaker asked 
 the missionary his business in the country. When 
 he was informed he begged a thousand pardons for 
 the language he had been using, protesting that he 
 had been reared to know better. "But you are a 
 strange bird in this neck of the woods," he con- 
 tinued. "Let me give you a pointer: you have 
 heard of bellwethers and how the whole flock fol- 
 lows; just get the toughest old sinner in the park 
 converted and you corral the whole bunch." 
 
 As Colorado was a quarter of a century ago, so 
 is Wyoming now: its undeveloped material re- 
 sources are just as great, and in another decade 
 or score of years it will leap to the front. There 
 is coal in every county but one. The average 
 traveler passing across Wyoming on the Union 
 Pacific, and looking out the car window, thinks 
 this is indeed the great American Desert; for he 
 sees none of the fertile valleys of the interior of 
 the state, which must be reached by a spur of 
 road or by stage. 
 irrieation At Icast twcuty million acres are susceptible of 
 
 cultivation either by dry or irrigated processes. 
 The United States Reclamation Service has spent 
 ten million dollars on two projects at the Shoshone 
 and Pathfinder Reservoirs, which will make the 
 Big Horn and the North Platte Valley blossom as 
 the rose.. Twenty-four irrigation enterprises are 
 in operation, as well as the two immense Govern- 
 
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN DISTRICT 'j'^ 
 
 ment irrigation plants, while army engineers re- 
 cently passed upon the feasibility of irrigating a 
 vast territory in southeastern Wyoming. With all 
 these resources, which the hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand of present population cannot begin to develop, 
 people looking for homes are bound to be attracted 
 and the future of Wyoming is assured. Its climate 
 is like Colorado, and its altitude varies as much, 
 from nine thousand feet above sea level in Yellow- 
 stone Park to thirty-seven hundred at Sheridan. 
 
 At Sheridan the missionary found one part of the 
 town unchurched. He organized a Sunday school 
 in a fine, large brick schoolhouse and over a hun- 
 dred were gathered in after a few weeks. He ex- 
 plored the Big Horn Basin and started a Sunday 
 school and Ladies' Aid Society in Cody, the home 
 of Buffalo Bill. 
 
 Returning to Sheridan to see how his Sunday 
 school was prospering, the missionary found that 
 the people wanted a church organization and had 
 taken the initiative themselves, electing a moderator 
 among their number and an ofiicial board to care 
 for finances, expecting recognition by the presbytery. 
 He advised them to elect elders. Then he ordained 
 and installed them. A board of trustees was chosen, 
 and the promise was given to send a minister. 
 Sheridan has grown to be a little city of twelve 
 thousand, the second largest municipality in the 
 state. The church has grown with the town. From 
 the schoolhouse the organization moved to the town 
 hall, and now the people worship in one of the most 
 beautiful church buildings in the state. 
 
74 
 
 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 Moorcroft was also organized, with a Sunday 
 school and Ladies' Aid Society. The church now has 
 a neat little edifice. Powell, Grey Bull, Nasin and 
 Gillette have all been cared for as to their spiritual 
 development by the Sunday-school missionary for 
 northern Wyoming. In 1908 the Synod of Colo- 
 rado divided the Presbytery of Wyoming, erecting 
 the Presbytery of Sheridan out of these churches 
 and the ministers in the northern half of the state. 
 The southern half of the state is known as Cheyenne 
 Presbytery. 
 
 Goshen Park has six Sunday schools, all fostered 
 by our missionary. From these three churches have 
 been organized, and an ordained minister from Vir- 
 ginia is riding the circuit. Guernsey attracted the 
 missionary when he was being invited to preach the 
 funeral sermon of a boy dragged to death by a 
 broncho. At Lost Springs, Centennial, Elk Moun- 
 tain and Areola the Sunday-school missionary was 
 the first on the field. General Assembly has been 
 overtured to set aside another presbytery tO' be called 
 Laramie, to include all the region southwest of 
 Laramie, along the Union Pacific. This will make 
 three presbyteries at work in Wyoming — enough 
 for the organization of a synod. 
 
 In all of this work the Sunday-school missionary 
 has been the pioneer opening the way for the pastor 
 evangelist and the home missionary. 
 Idaho Idaho is in the front rank of the states show- 
 
 ing the largest percentage of increase in population 
 during the past decade. It is one of the three states 
 whose population increased more than one hun- 
 
1. Mr. William H. Schureman. 
 
 2. The mountain stage coacli frequently used 
 
 by the Sunday-school missionary. 
 
 3. Home built of bottles, where the Sunday- 
 
 school missionary is frequently entertained. 
 
 4. Rev. Hugh W. Rankin. 
 
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN DISTRICT 75 
 
 dred per cent. It is only recently, however, that 
 the rush of immigration to Idaho has been large 
 enough to attract special attention. The statistics 
 published by the transcontinental railroads showed 
 that more than one hundred thousand new settlers 
 came into Idaho, western Montana, Oregon and 
 Washington within six months, at least one half of 
 them settling in Idaho. The numbers are not de- 
 creasing. 
 
 The magnitude of the government irrigation 
 scheme for Idaho will be seen in the following, 
 quoted from the government engineer in charge: 
 
 This area is more than twice as great as the Salt Lake 
 Valley of Utah. It is greater than the area of land irri- 
 gated at the end of the last decade in any of the arid 
 states of the West, with the exception of Colorado, Cali- 
 fornia and Montana. Owing to climatic conditions which 
 prevail throughout these valleys and the character of the 
 soil, the tendency is toward a subdivision of the land into 
 small farm units, which insures a dense agricultural popu- 
 lation, intensive cultivation, and the very high returns 
 which will follow scientific agriculture. This area should 
 support a population of at least three hundred thousand 
 people. 
 
 Summed up briefly, the projects contemplated by the 
 government in this state provide for the reclamation of 
 about six hundred and fifty thousand acres of desert land, 
 and the regulation of the water supply for nearly as much 
 more. 
 
 The greater number settling in these lands are 
 people of small means, but honest, upright and in- 
 dustrious. Among them are school-teachers and 
 employees in stores and factories, whose health has 
 6 
 
New 
 Settlements 
 
 76 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 broken and who are compelled to seek a living in 
 the higher altitudes and pure air of the mountains 
 and plains. Many have a hard struggle to make a 
 living until they get their land under cultivation. 
 
 Rev. Hugh W. Rankin for many years has pio- 
 neered this vast stretch of country for the kingdom. 
 The triumphs of his faith have been many. Rarely 
 will one find a man so well adapted to frontier mis- 
 sionary work. Nothing seems too difficult for him. 
 No discouragement overwhelms him ; indeed his 
 Christlike spirit seems to disarm opposition where- 
 ever he goes. Largely through the results of his 
 labors the erection of the Synod of Idaho was made 
 possible. 
 
 He writes: 
 
 We meet some very pathetic cases. Some of these 
 localities are far removed from civilization. I organized 
 a Smiday school in a little shack consisting of one room 
 with a lean-to on one side for a kitchen. The occupants 
 of that humble home were a young man and his wife 
 recently from the East, not very strong physically, and 
 possessing but little of this world's goods, yet refined Chris- 
 tian people. They had taken a homestead in this new 
 country and broken up a few acres of land, hoping to 
 make themselves a home. Within a radius of three miles 
 I found several more families. Among them were three 
 Presbyterian and Congregationalist families. Some had 
 no church affiliation, but all were anxious for a Sunday 
 school. When we organized the school, about twenty per- 
 sons were present. This was their first gospel service 
 and it was deeply appreciated. With tears of joy the 
 people expressed their gratitude and urged me, if possible, 
 to come again soon. 
 
 After traveling eighty miles by stage and twenty-five 
 
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN DISTRICT yy 
 
 miles on horseback, we came to a mountain hamlet at 
 an altitude of nine thousand feet. Here were thirty or 
 forty miners, and five or six families with several children. 
 We invited them to a service in the evening in the little 
 log boarding house, the only available place to meet. 
 Nearly the entire population was present. Before the meet- 
 ing began a boy inquired as to the nature of the meeting. 
 I told him it was a meeting where he would hear about 
 a Saviour, and what we must do to be saved. He looked 
 at me intently for a moment, and replied, "A Saviour; 
 who is he? I never heard of a Saviour." This boy had 
 grown almost to manhood in this mining camp and had 
 never heard of a Saviour. One of the miners said to- me, 
 "I have lived here fifteen years, and this is the first gospel 
 service ever held in this camp. You are the first mission- 
 ary to come in and speak to us." 
 
 During eight years twenty-four Presbyterian 
 churches have grown from one hundred and three 
 mission Sunday schools. 
 
 The development of the church at Twin Falls, 
 Idaho, is an illustration of the immediate results 
 which may be expected from pioneer work in this 
 state. Eight years ago Twin Falls was a sagebrush 
 prairie. It now has a population of six thousand. 
 There is a Presbyterian church of three hundred 
 communicants, which contributes liberally to the 
 boards of the church and raises over four thousand 
 dollars a year for congregational expenses. At 
 Pocatello, four weeks after the Sunday school had 
 been planted a church was organized, two thousand 
 dollars subscribed toward a chapel building and six 
 hundred dollars for the support of a pastor. These 
 are not exceptional cases. They represent the nat- 
 ural development of the pioneer Sunday-school mis- 
 
78 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 sionary in new localities, where a church organiza- 
 tion is possible, and show conclusively the value of 
 the Sunday school as a missionary agency in find- 
 ing and holding these places for Christ. It is the 
 Sunday-school missionary who discovers the stra- 
 tegic points, leading forward the home mission 
 forces to take possession. 
 
 Additional This field suffers sadly from the lack of workers. 
 
 Needed A Strategic field such as Idaho should be manned 
 
 by two or three times the present number of mis- 
 sionary pioneers to seize the outposts and hold 
 them for the church. May God speed the time 
 when more of those to whom he has committed 
 large means may understand the responsibility of 
 their possessions and pour out liberally of their gold 
 and silver to support missionaries in such fields as 
 this. Why should the church hesitate in the face 
 of such an opportunity? Christ's kingdom will 
 come and America will be his, but he has given to 
 some the privilege of helping largely. Will they 
 accept it? 
 
 Utah Utah develops far less rapidly than Idaho, mainly 
 
 because of the blighting influences of Mormonism. 
 Seventy-five per cent of Utah's population is Mor- 
 mon. Here the work is exceedingly difficult, and 
 many a home mission pastor has passed years of 
 apparently fruitless labor in ministering to small 
 and discouraged flocks. Through the medium of 
 the mission Sunday school, however, many victories 
 have been won which otherwise would have been 
 impossible. Recently, in one town of two thousand 
 people, of whom less than fifty were Gentiles, a 
 
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN DISTRICT 79 
 
 mission Sunday school was organized which has 
 since developed into a church. This would have 
 been impracticable if an attempt had been made to 
 start the work by holding regular preaching serv- 
 ices. Similar work was done at Ferron, Utah, 
 where the home mission forces are now in charge 
 and are conducting a day school in addition to a 
 flourishing church. 
 
 The only hope of redeeming this benighted re- Mormonism 
 gion is to win the children. The Mormons realize 
 the value of work for children, and they give strict 
 attention to it. If the Church of Christ will rise in 
 its power and support a vigorous and persistent 
 campaign to teach the gospel to the children of 
 Utah through the extension of Sunday schools, we 
 may reasonably hope to check the advancing in- 
 fluence of this deadly foe of truth and righteous- 
 ness. If we are indifferent, we shall surely awaken 
 in a not far distant future to face far more serious 
 conditions. When Mormonism shall have spread 
 over this entire region with its withering influence, 
 opposed to the genius of true Americanism and set- 
 ting itself up in defiance of our laws and institu- 
 tions, it will be too late. The task is one that de- 
 mands attention now; and all the missionary forces 
 are ready to cooperate in an aggressive campaign, 
 as rapidly as the men and means are provided. 
 
 Shall we not find in the Sunday school an effective 
 agency to help in stamping out this evil? 
 
THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST 
 
A denomination which stays with the people in their days 
 of adversity is the church of their choice in the years follow- 
 ing. In proportion as a mission board provides for rural 
 communities is its later work in the cities prosperous. City 
 churches are largely built up out of small towns. A gen- 
 eral officer of a prominent body complains that in a wide 
 section of the West his church is almost without a following. 
 He gives as a reason their pioneer neglect of rural com- 
 munities there. The type of Protestantism to which the 
 Southwest will respond and which will become the church of 
 its adoption, is the type that not only selects advantageous 
 centers where conditions are least primitive, but which also 
 starts with the people at the bottom and builds itself into 
 their daily stress and struggle. Whatever church is to figure 
 largely in the Southwest must begin now. It must invest 
 largely and contribute its highest type of men. It will reap 
 what it sows. A hesitating administration will prove dis- 
 astrous. — Ward Piatt. 
 
 82 
 
ameers 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST 
 
 This section has been combined to form a dis- 
 trict under the direction of a superintendent located 
 at Nashville, Tennessee. It includes the work 
 among the mountaineers, and the more extensive 
 work in the new and rapidly developing southwest. 
 
 THE MOUNTAINEERS 
 
 The mountaineers present one of the most inter- The 
 
 ■• 1^ 1 ^ • 11 ij Southern 
 
 esting studies of all mission fields in the homeland. Mount- 
 They live on the hillsides and in the quiet valleys 
 of the southern Appalachians, extending through 
 nine states from the southern border of Pennsyl- 
 vania to the northern counties of Georgia and Ala- 
 bama, covering a region about six hundred miles 
 long and two hundred miles wide. In the more 
 than two hundred counties included in this area 
 about four millions of people are dwelling, a popu- 
 lation seemingly large, but comparatively small con- 
 sidering the large territory. 
 
 The situation of these hardy people has been de- 
 scribed in these sentences : 
 
 The tide of westward emigration flowed over the 
 southern Appalachians, but ebbed away from them as the 
 advancing flood flowed westward. Domestic emigration 
 and foreign immigration alike pushed on toward the magic 
 West. The Civil War served also to divert attention from 
 
 83 
 
84 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 the mountain ranges of the South. And so the nation 
 went on about its toil and expansion, practically oblivious 
 of one of its most valuable possessions. The southern 
 mountains were for a long time almost as much a terra 
 incognita to the American people as was the far northwest 
 before the Lewis and Clark expedition. 
 
 And as the entire section rested in seclusion from the 
 nation's knowledge, so did each part of the purely moun- 
 tain region live in practical isolation from the rest of the 
 section. There were no pikes or well-built highways; 
 oftentimes only bridle paths led from settlement to set- 
 tlement or from cabin to cabin. There are almost no 
 natural lines of travel or transportation, such as are so 
 liberally afforded in the northern Appalachians by navigable 
 rivers and lakes. For several hundred miles north and 
 south no railroad crossed the mountains. Even at present 
 there are many counties that are not entered by a railroad. 
 During the rainy season, travel even by horseback is diffi- 
 cult in the mountain recesses. 
 
 Thus the mountaineer's horizon was limited by the 
 summits that rose on every side, shutting him in from the 
 rest of the nation and forcing him tO' find his world in his 
 own small neighborhood. And so the mountains have 
 merely rested in what Ruskin would call their "great 
 peacefulness of light," unknown and unknowing so far as 
 the outside world has been concerned.^ 
 
 The ancestors of the mountaineers were almost 
 wholly Presbyterian, Scotch-Irish largely, with a 
 considerable contingent of Germans and a much 
 smaller company of Swiss, Dutch and French. 
 Owing to our neglect they have drifted from us, 
 yet without us they have maintained a limited knowl- 
 edge of God's Word, 
 
 They are all farmers. Usually the valleys are 
 
 1 Rev. S. T. Wilson, D.D. 
 
THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST 85 
 
 very narrow and often the mountain sides are too 
 steep to be plowed. So the corn must be planted 
 and cultivated with hoes, which are handled by 
 women and children as often as by men. 
 
 Long distances and rough roads deprive the hus- 
 bandman of that strong incentive to industry — a 
 market for his products. So the people have settled 
 down to raising no more than enough, for they say, 
 "Enough's a plenty." Consequently the majority 
 of the people in the back counties are very poor, 
 living in small cabins, often of a single room and 
 sometimes windowless. 
 
 The opportunities for getting an education have 
 been small, but — with few if any books, and no 
 papers — the demand for an education has been 
 smaller, for the mountaineer can hoe corn, trade 
 horses and even preach without "larnin'." One 
 such thus announced his services, "Come to meetin' 
 to-night; you'll hear the pure gospel, for the man 
 who's goin' to preach hain't got a smidgen of 
 larnin'." 
 
 The one supreme incentive needed by these peo- 
 ple is found in the Sunday school, which brings to pj"^""^ 
 the people the Bible and helps in its study, giving 
 both the ideal life and the impulse toward it. Every- 
 body, old and young, attends the Sunday school. 
 It restores the sanctity of the Sabbath, it stirs the 
 people to searching the Scriptures for themselves, to 
 discover its truths and to apply these truths to their 
 lives. Now that there is something in their hands 
 to be read, many of the older people learn to read. 
 One Sunday-school superintendent said : "When 
 
86 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 Brother Baxter (one of our Sunday-school mission- 
 aries) came to our settlement we knew nothing about 
 Sunday schools. He asked me to be superintendent ; 
 I couldn't read, but I was willin'. Now I can read 
 the Bible as well as common readers." Dozens in 
 our Sunday schools can give similar testimony. As 
 a result the day schools have a larger and more 
 regular attendance. For these better teachers are 
 demanded ; the desire is for those who can help in 
 the Sunday school. The bare walls of the houses 
 are decorated with Sunday-school picture cards ; 
 the people begin to dress better. One superinten- 
 dent of a new school came five or six weeks in his 
 shirtsleeves, overalls and bare feet; the secretary, 
 a woman of about forty, came in her bare feet, 
 but soon the superintendent had on new shirt, new 
 trousers and shoes, and the secretary had a new hat 
 and a pair of new shoes. The Sunday school in- 
 cites to better things in every direction. One old 
 man said, "I'm mighty glad you come, you done a 
 heap for my old woman (she was converted), and 
 you've raised the price of land." 
 
 Among the mountaineers, as elsewhere, the Sun- 
 day-school missionary has a distinct task which he 
 can carry forward alone if need be to the point 
 where churches are organized and buildings erected 
 for them, and the way fully prepared for the home 
 missionary. Through the labors of these work- 
 ers twelve hundred mission Sunday schools have 
 been organized in this vast region. Out of these 
 schools seventy-two Presbyterian churches have de- 
 veloped. 
 
THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST 87 
 
 Many of tlie schools, however, may never develop Developing 
 into churches, but when we consider that in many 
 cases they stand as the only influence for righteous- 
 ness, it will be agreed that their faithful officers 
 and teachers are doing a work that will count for 
 eternity. One of our most successful mountaineer 
 Sunday-school missionaries came from an obscure 
 mountain Sunday school. There, under the faith- 
 ful teaching of a consecrated woman, he found 
 Christ and was led to devote his life to saving 
 other mountain boys and girls. Several successful 
 Presbyterian ministers, who have been called to be- 
 come pastors of prominent churches, found the im- 
 pulse toward the service of Christ in one of the 
 little mountain Sunday schools, meeting perhaps in 
 an old log district schoolhouse. 
 
 A Sunday-school missionary who has labored for 
 many years in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, 
 writes : 
 
 In the past twelve years there have gone out from our Helped into 
 work here about fifty men and women who are now hold- 
 ing lucrative positions in seven or eight different states, 
 and are doing excellent Christian work. This is hard 
 on the work here, for just as soon as the boys and girls 
 are educated enough to do Sunday-school work, and be- 
 come of age, they leave home and seek associations more 
 congenial to^ their new life. Never has one whom we have 
 brought up in the Sunday school brought dishonor upon 
 the work, but wherever they have gone they have been 
 noted for their strict adherence to the teaching of God's 
 Word. 
 
 During the few months of Sunday school held under 
 a tree at Upper Chloe, two young men were led to Christ. 
 They came to Pikeville to school, and to-day one is county 
 
 a Useful 
 Career 
 
88 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 superintendent of public instruction here in Pike County, 
 and the other is in business in Cincinnati, with a large in- 
 come. 
 
 A West Virginia missionaiy says: 
 
 When I think of the two hundred and eighty workers 
 and seventeen hundred and fifty pupils in these neg- 
 lected localities on my field — when I think of them lo- 
 cated in little schoolhouses almost without equipment — 
 when I look into the bright, eager faces of those who are 
 hungering and thirsting for the glad tidings, I say there 
 is no work that pays so rich dividends as the work of the 
 Sunday-school missionary. Dividends in workers — men 
 and women trained up for God and Christian citizenship. 
 
 Think what this means to the future of this re- 
 gion. Is it not to the lasting credit of our church 
 that she sends forth messengers to perform this 
 Christhke service? 
 A Faithful In studying the conditions and the progress of 
 
 missionary effort in this field, mention should be 
 made of the noble and self-denying labors of Dr. 
 Christopher Humble of sacred memory. 
 
 In 1895 the Board of Publication and Sabbath- 
 School Work first secured the services of Dr. 
 Humble, placing him in charge of Sunday-school 
 missions among the mountaineers of West Virginia, 
 Kentucky and Tennessee. For fourteen years Dr. 
 Humble labored faithfully in that field, living the 
 life of the people in those mountain fastnesses, and 
 ministering to their needs in many ways. With 
 rare patience, with sweet and gentle spirit, and yet 
 with a firmness born of true conviction, this man 
 
 Worker 
 
1. Rev. W. a. Provine, D.D. 
 
 2. A mining town in the Southwest. 
 
 3. A mountaineer's home and family. 
 
 4. A mission Sunday school in the Kentucky mountains. 
 
 5. Rev. Christopher Humble, M.D. 
 
THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST 89 
 
 of God wrestled with the difficult problems con- 
 fronting him. The mountain work in those days 
 was not yet organized. 
 
 With the aid of the missionary funds of the 
 Board he succeeded in gathering a force of eighteen 
 or twenty Sunday-school missionaries, locating them 
 at strategic points. From their labors the results 
 have been truly marvelous. Dr. Humble also origi- 
 nated the plan, and organized the work, of the 
 women Bible readers of the Woman's Board of 
 Home Missions, whose labors have been blessed 
 of God in following and developing the missions 
 planted by the Sunday-school missionaries. 
 
 Dr. Humble was beloved by all the mountaineers. 
 He understood them, and they trusted him implic- 
 itly. Many benighted souls in those dark mountain 
 cabins found peace and freedom, as the light of 
 God's love dawned upon them through the Christ- 
 like character and faithful words of this man, who 
 opened the Book to them and gently led them out 
 of their ignorance and superstition. The mem- 
 or>^ of this hero of the Cross remains fresh and 
 honored among these appreciative people. 
 
 This was his appeal in their behalf: 
 
 Long these people have waited, silently except to God. 
 Is it for the Presbyterian Church they are waiting? So 
 God's providence seems to say, for truly its word is, "Be- 
 hold. I have set before thee a door opened." Shall we enter 
 while the door is open, or shall we permit this noble people 
 at our very doors, now awakening, to be the prey of im- 
 morality, Mormonism, or other forms of godlessness? May 
 the voice of God move our church and move her now to 
 the rescue of our mountain brethren and their children. 
 
90 
 
 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 Growth 
 
 THE NEW SOUTHWEST 
 
 It has been truly said that "if American Protes- 
 tantism were to center in the Southwest all its mis- 
 sionary energies now employed in different parts 
 of the United States, it would find there an ample 
 field." 
 
 In our view of the Southwest we must make 
 a comprehensive survey of a vast territory. The 
 states included are Arizona, New Mexico, Arkan- 
 sas, Oklahoma, Texas and the western section of 
 Louisiana, with a total population of over eight 
 million. In missionary literature we have grown 
 accustomed to refer to this immense field as "The 
 New Southwest," mainly because of the amaz- 
 ing progress of its development during the past 
 decade. 
 
 The population of Oklahoma has grown in ten 
 years from three hundred and ninety-eight thousand 
 to one million six hundred and fifty thousand. 
 Texas added nearly a million in a decade. Arizona 
 and New Mexico almost doubled their population 
 during the same period. Never has our country seen 
 such rapid development of new land. Towns and 
 villages spring up as though touched by the magi- 
 cian's wand. The railroads report overloaded trains 
 carrying home-seekers into this new land of promise. 
 Section after section carried thousands into the rich 
 and well-advertised Pecos Valley, where men and 
 women from every walk of life hoped to find health, 
 wealth and happiness. One hundred thousand a 
 month was the rate of increase in population dur- 
 ing the flood tide of emigration. 
 
THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST 
 
 91 
 
 The immensity of this region is well described 
 by Dr. Strong: 
 
 Place the 50,000,000 inhabitants of the United States 
 in 1880 all in Texas, and the population would not be so 
 dense as that of Germany. Place them in New Mexico, 
 and the density of population would not be so great as 
 that of Belgium. Those 50,000,000 might all have been 
 comfortably sustained in Texas. After allowing, say 
 50,000 square miles for "desert," Texas could have pro- 
 duced all our food crops in 1879 — grown, as we have seen, 
 on 164,215 square miles of land — could have raised the 
 world's supply of cotton, 12,000,000 bales, at one bale to 
 the acre, on 19,000 square miles, and then have had 
 remaining, for a cattle range, a territory larger than 
 the state of New York. Place the population of the 
 United States in i8go all in Texas, and it would not 
 be so dense as that of Italy; and if it were as crowded 
 as England this one state would contain 129,000,000 
 souls. 
 
 This region presents a most inviting field for 
 pioneer missionary work. Here the work must be 
 done from the ground up. It is distinctly a work 
 of foundation-laying, and the Sunday school is the 
 most effective agency through which to do it. The 
 people who are making their homes here are ab- 
 sorbed in the struggle for existence. They have no 
 money to support a church and a settled pastor if 
 religion were brought to them in that form. But 
 they welcome the Sunday school, and will gladly 
 send the children, besides helping in it themselves. 
 It makes no financial demands upon the community, 
 but it is the wedge which opens the way for the 
 church and makes its necessity felt. 
 7 
 
92 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 Arkansas Couiity after county may be found without a 
 
 single minister of the gospel. One correspondent 
 writes of a section of Arkansas comprising sixteen 
 counties with but five ministers. Seventeen counties 
 in eastern Texas have but ten active ministers. 
 Amarillo Presbytery comprises forty-six counties in 
 the state of Texas and covers forty thousand square 
 miles. Think of a single Sunday-school missionary 
 working that vast region ! Until a few years ago 
 these wide extending plains were in the hands of 
 the cattlemen, and were used as ranches for cattle. 
 Now, they have undergone almost a complete 
 change, having been in late years cut up into com- 
 paratively small farms and settled by the thousands 
 of home-seekers that in the last few years have left 
 the older settled parts of our country to seek their 
 fortune in this promising section. Railroads are 
 crossing and recrossing this new country, and nu- 
 merous towns and cities are springing up like magic 
 in every direction. Our church has organizations 
 in nearly half of the county seats. Less than half 
 of these churches have their own Sunday schools. 
 The future of this very interesting new country — 
 a rich agricultural district larger than many of the 
 eastern states — is uncommonly promising, and its 
 occupation by the church presents a strategic op- 
 portunity to us to accomplish a great mission. The 
 public schoolhouses springing up everywhere stand 
 with open doors to the Sunday-school missionary 
 who gives the scattered children of the plains the 
 opportunity for the regular, systematic study of 
 the Word of God. 
 
THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST 93 
 
 A similar story of marvelous growth may be told Oklahoma 
 concerning Oklahoma. A few years ago its thirty- 
 nine thousand square miles were alive with cattle. 
 There were no settlements, save now and then a 
 cowman's ranch with his cowboys and the Indians. 
 All this has undergone a change, as if by magic. 
 To-day civilization rules supreme. 
 
 The church has met the demands of development 
 in the cities; but in smaller towns and in the 
 country the work is far behind. There are small 
 settlements off the railroad, many of which have 
 never been visited by an ordained minister. 
 
 A Sunday-school missionary whose field covered 
 more than seventeen thousand square miles of east- 
 ern Oklahoma, traveled nineteen thousand miles by 
 team and afoot during two and a half years of 
 labor. He visited two thousand five hundred fami- 
 lies, preached two hundred and forty times, dis- 
 tributed three hundred Bibles, besides a large num- 
 ber of religious tracts, and organized twenty-five 
 Sunday schools, all of these being located in dis- 
 tricts where the people were entirely destitute of 
 any religious influence. It is estimated that three 
 fourths of the men and boys, and one half of all 
 the people are outside any religious body. 
 
 What is to become of the children growing up 
 under such influences and with so few advantages ? 
 The Sunday-school missionary is the only man who 
 goes forth with a special message for the children 
 — the message that lifts them up and inspires them 
 with hopefulness. How shall we determine the 
 character of the future men and women of Okla- 
 
94 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 homa but by the religious training the children of 
 to-day are receiving? 
 
 This entire district is under the supervision of a 
 district superintendent, Rev. W. A. Provine, D.D., 
 with headquarters at Nashville. Dr. Provine en- 
 tered upon his work subsequent to the union with 
 the Cumberland Church. He had long been identi- 
 fied with the Sunday-school work of that denomi- 
 nation as the president of its Board of Publication 
 for a number of years, and was the beloved pastor 
 of one of its flourishing churches. His ripe experi- 
 ence and his familiarity with the conditions through- 
 out the South and Southwest have made him one 
 of the most efficient of the Board's field superin- 
 tendents. His capacity for leadership is unlimited, 
 and the pastors as well as Sunday-school workers 
 in that vast region look to him for inspiration and 
 stimulus in their efforts to possess the field for Jesus 
 Christ, 
 Arizona and Arizoua and New Mexico have entered statehood. 
 They present a fertile field for missionary effort. 
 One Sunday-school missionary, who has been labor- 
 ing alone in that great field for several years, de- 
 scribes the situation thus : 
 
 It is conservative to estimate that 25,000 people came 
 to us in 1910 and 191 1, and they are permanent settlers, 
 having come to take advantage of the large opportunities 
 provided by the government in its improved irrigation sys- 
 tem. Salt River Valley alone gives us 250,000 acres, all 
 ready now for settlement, Imperial Valley, watered from 
 Laguna dam, gives us the advantage of 150,000 more acres, 
 which will have abundance of water in the next six months; 
 Casa Grande Valley with its 7S,ooo acres is to be watered 
 
THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST 
 
 95 
 
 from the Gila River, and more than a half-million acres 
 of other lands like San-Simon and Sulphur Springs Val- 
 ley, and numerous other tracts where they anticipate water- 
 ing from pumping plants, small streams and mountain 
 watersheds will give resources for the largest agricultural 
 claims in the United States. 
 
 Arizona has reached the point where it does not de- 
 pend on mining for thrift ; mines have always been an 
 uncertain quantity. We have one mine in the state where 
 we thought we could do good work; for the company 
 refused to have liquor sold on the ground. But they were 
 just waiting for their price, for a man has purchased from 
 the company the right to sell liquor, and pays the com- 
 pany fifty cents per head for every man working for it ; this 
 amount he pays every month. Fifteen hundred men were 
 at work when the contract was made, and the camp is 
 growing. No difference what a man's attitude to the 
 business of selling whisky is, if he works for this com- 
 pany, he is sold for fifty cents per month to support the 
 whisky business in that camp. Sunday-school work is 
 pretty hard in that town. Though they have two thou- 
 sand people, there is no church. 
 
 The need of a Sunday-school missionary is great here 
 for the reason that these people now coming in want re- 
 ligious services and yet cannot have churches and pastors. 
 It takes much preparatory work before they can have these 
 privileges. Schoolhouses have to be built for the educa- 
 tion of the children, while the bread earner must keep 
 busy at his post to support his family till he gets his ground 
 in condition, and water for it so that he can raise a crop, 
 and in this time a pastor in such a territory would suffer 
 for want of support. The Sunday-school missionary will 
 organize a Sunday school in that schoolhouse and visit 
 them as often as he can and hold services for them till the 
 community is sufficiently strong to have a church building 
 and a pastor. 
 
 The Sunday school has met the needs of rural districts. 
 In such places I have organized over sixty Sunday schools, 
 
Camps 
 
 96 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 and from these schools there have developed twelve 
 churches and nine of them have built chapels. 
 
 Only one church of any denomination has come 
 from other work than his own in seven years. 
 Mining The same missionary tells in his characteristic, 
 
 breezy fashion a most interesting story showing 
 something of the lights and shadows of missionary 
 life in this needy region : 
 
 Miami is a good example of what Sunday-school work 
 can do to meet the needs of rural communities. It is 
 twelve miles from Globe and had about a thousand people 
 before anyone ever preached there. No railroad had yet 
 reached it; there was no hotel, and scarcely a place to eat. 
 Visits had to be made to the kitchen door, and they had 
 to be very short. There was no place to preach, not even 
 a schoolhouse. The stage made the round trip in the day 
 time and night was the best and only time for a service. 
 I asked for the privilege of holding a service out of doors, 
 and was told I could do so if I wanted to take the risk 
 of getting an audience. I drove out from Globe so that 
 I could return to a place to sleep. That night I had a 
 large congregation. I found that no one would entertain a 
 Sunday school in his house. I asked them if they would 
 read Sunday-school papers if I would send them to their 
 homes. They said they would. The next trip I found a 
 lady who was willing to take the school as long as she 
 stayed in camp. While she was getting ready to move, 
 the missionary was busy with the company and finally suc- 
 ceeded in getting them to build and equip a little chapel 
 for the Sunday school. 
 
 In Miami Flats we have a church building worth $2,000 
 and a membership of nearly one hundred and fifty and 
 six Sunday schools, all within a half-hour's walk. 
 
 The rural Sunday school has met the need of all of 
 the waste places in the southwest for many years. I know 
 
THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST 
 
 97 
 
 of one Christian family living one hundred and twenty 
 miles from a railroad station. The father superintends 
 the Sunday school, buries the dead and by virtue of his 
 civil office — performs marriage ceremonies. I know a lady 
 in one of the small camps in Arizona, who — so far as I know 
 — is the only Christian in the camp. She is superintendent 
 of the Sunday school and is called on to conduct funerals. 
 One day she was asked to conduct the funeral of one of 
 the roughest miners in camp. 
 
 Some of our rural Sunday schools have arrangements 
 by which members are received on the visit of the general 
 missionary and enrolled on the books of the nearest 
 church. The pastor sends them encouraging letters occa- 
 sionally, stimulating them in their Sunday-school work. 
 
 Rightly administered, and with an adequate in- Whkening 
 vestment of missionary funds, the reUgious develop- " * 
 ment of the Southwest should keep pace with its 
 growth in population. The moral sentiment is there 
 and it expresses itself in no uncertain terms. This 
 is the section that has set the pace for the older 
 parts of the country in stamping out the saloon. 
 They have grappled with the problem fearlessly, 
 and at the very outset Oklahoma took its place in 
 the ranks of prohibition states. Texas has ex- 
 pressed her desire for the overthrow of the liquor 
 traffic, eighty per cent of the state being "dry" ter- 
 ritory. Arkansas has driven out the saloon from 
 sixty-three of her seventy-five counties. Arizona 
 and New Mexico both have effective local option 
 laws. Should not the church with all its mighty 
 force of men and means follow up this advantage? 
 This is no time for begging for paltry hundreds; 
 the need demands thousands. There should be an 
 
98 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 outpouring of every available dollar of misssion- 
 ary money, investing it, with a deep-rooted faith in 
 God's blessing, for the support of workers to evan- 
 gelize these "waste places." 
 
 In the older parts of the Southwest the Sunday- 
 school missionary finds that while churches have in 
 many cases been organized many years ago, they 
 have never had Sunday schools. This condition 
 revealed itself especially with reference to the Cum- 
 berland Presbyterian churches which came into our 
 Assembly under the union of 1907. Scores of these 
 churches were without Sunday schools. The call 
 came to the Board of Publication and Sabbath- 
 School Work to send its missionaries into these lo- 
 calities and to establish Sunday schools. Churches 
 which have had an indififerent existence for years 
 have thus been revived, rebuilt and their influence 
 extended since they have established Sunday schools 
 for their children. This is a feature of Sunday- 
 school missionary work which is not met elsewhere, 
 but it is to the credit of our church that we have 
 a force of workers who could awaken these churches 
 to the necessity of caring for the religious training 
 of their youth. 
 
THE PACIFIC SLOPE 
 
I am an ardent believer in the cause of Sunday-school 
 missions and my belief is grounded on a practical experience. 
 While coming into touch with home mission stations, as 
 chairman of synodical committees, in Colorado and Minne- 
 sota, I came to see that the pioneer work was really being 
 done by Sunday-school missionaries who were prospecting 
 the territory of new settlements and planting schools where 
 there was a sufficient number of children to permit of organi- 
 zation. Very frequently, for years, the school thus planted 
 provided the only means of grace for the settlers in small 
 villages and country districts. My churches for years have 
 supported a Sunday-school missionary. The dividends are 
 already assured. — IV. H. W. Boyle. 
 
 The field in which this work is being done is the most 
 needy on American soil. It is not in our cities, or in our 
 prosperous rural districts, but in remote places which have 
 no stated means of grace, or those nearer at hand that are 
 inhabited by non-churchgoing people, chiefly foreigners or 
 natives who have so far fallen away from their Christian in- 
 heritance as to become practically heathen. Out through these 
 districts the Sunday-school missionary goes, opening schools, 
 holding divine services in schoolhouses, or in homes that are 
 easy of access, visiting from house to house, and spending 
 seven days a week in personal religious work. No one can 
 overrate the result of such activity. Families long weaned 
 from church and religious obligations are awakened, the chil- 
 dren are given, for the first time in many cases, religious in- 
 struction ; and a Christian testimony borne to the careless 
 and wicked which is arresting and, in a large number of in- 
 stances, must prove transforming. These men are reaching 
 neighborhoods hitherto untouched by our Home Mission 
 Board, and doing it in the most wholesome and practical 
 ■way. — John Balconi Shaw. 
 
 The church of God does right nobly, but did any body of 
 people in any age live in such a world at home, and face 
 such a world Pacificward as do we just now? The situation 
 is as glorious as stupendous. Nothing but our best will save 
 other races and ourselves. We rise or fall together. We 
 cannot leave this for another generation. It will be deter- 
 mined before then. The battle is on. America is the fortress. 
 Who wins America wins ultimate world-capitulation. — Ward 
 Piatt. 
 
 100 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 THE PACIFIC SLOPE 
 
 In the states of Washington, Oregon, CaHfornia 
 and Nevada, Sunday-school missions has scored 
 many triumphs. It has proven its adaptation to the 
 needs of the mining and lumber camps as well as 
 to the scattered families in the agricultural sections. 
 This work has figured largely also in the develop- 
 ment of the cities on the Pacific Coast. A notable 
 instance of this is the Westminster Church of Port- 
 land, which was organized as a mission Sunday 
 school in 1889, and which — in June, 1912 — laid the 
 comer stone for its new edifice to cost one hundred 
 and seventy-five thousand dollars. Within three 
 years seven Presbyterian churches were established 
 in King County, Washington, and in Seattle and 
 vicinity — as the result of Sunday-school missions. 
 In Spokane, five Presbyterian churches developed 
 within six years, and four in Tacoma. Though the 
 force of workers has been comparatively small the 
 results are large, as we think of the influence which 
 this agency has wielded in planting the blue ban- 
 ner of Presbyterianism in these great commercial 
 centers, and in holding these fields until the home 
 mission reenforcements could come in and take pos- 
 session. 
 
 The growth of this state is little short of mar- Washington 
 velous. Its population in 1900 was five hundred 
 
 lOI 
 
102 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 and eighteen thousand one hundred and three, while 
 according to the 1910 census it was one milHon one 
 hundred and forty-one thousand nine hundred and 
 ninety. Doubtless the next census will bring it 
 easily to the two million mark. The opening of 
 the Panama Canal will give increased stimulus to 
 the development of the coast states, and there is 
 every reason to believe that the next decade will see 
 even mightier movements in this region than the 
 past with its record-breaking growth. Rev. W. O. 
 Forbes, who for many years has rendered faithful 
 service as a Sunday-school missionary in this state, 
 writes : 
 
 The urban population — in towns of 2,500 and over in 
 the state — is 605,530 comprising 27 cities in all, an increase 
 of 166.4 P^r cent in ten years ; while the rural population — 
 all the towns under 2,500 and the open country — is 536,460 
 an increase of 87.7 per cent. There are 150 incorporated 
 towns in the rural parts. Forty-two of these have a popu- 
 lation between 1,000 and 2,500; 45 have between 500 and 
 1,000. There are 63 towns of less than 500 people with a 
 total population of 120,533. Four hundred and fifteen 
 thousand nine hundred and twenty-eight live in the open 
 country. While the urban population in the whole union 
 increased but 34.9 per cent in the decade Washington 
 urban population increased 166 per cent and while the 
 rural population of the whole country increased but 11.2 
 per cent that of Washington increased, as stated above, 
 87.7 per cent. This will show the rapid growth of our 
 state with which we have tried to keep a pace in our 
 missionary activities. 
 
 Take Grandview Church for instance. Ten years ago 
 there were not enough people located there to make a 
 voting precinct; now there are over 2,000 people, all in the 
 open country, excepting those in the little town of Grand- 
 
THE PACIFIC SLOPE 103 
 
 view, Where there are 320 people. This town is on a forty- 
 acre tract which was the home of an elder in the Behna 
 church, organized eight years ago in the Belma school- 
 house. In another schoolhouse near by I organized an- 
 other little Sunday school and church called Calvary. Two 
 years later we consolidated the two, and moved the Belma 
 church building to Grandview. Two years afterwards the 
 consolidated church became self-supporting, paying its 
 pastor a $1,200 salary, enlarged the church at a cost of 
 $3,000, and reported last year a Sunday school of 236 
 pupils. 
 
 Some of our best opportunities for work are afforded Lomber 
 by the people of the lumber and mining localities. Our Camp» 
 church has been particularly attentive here. Some of these 
 
 towns grow up quickly and make emergency cases. P , 
 
 for instance, a mill town owned by the company, grew to 
 a population of 1,500 in one year. There were 1,000 peo- 
 ple in it before a Sunday school was organized and I 
 organized that in a mess-house with 83 present. In a 
 month it had grown to 130 and was a well-equipped school 
 with supplies, songbooks and an organ. The company 
 controlled the situation and urged a union church which 
 was finally organized before the end of the first year, a 
 self-supporting church on the plan of the Moody church 
 in Chicago, with a Presbyterian minister as pastor -who 
 is still in charge. They now have a church plant cost- 
 ing $5,000, self-supporting, on a salary of $1,200 and manse, 
 reporting a Sunday-school membership of 351. 
 
 Out in the foothills, on the homesteads in the dry 
 farming and lumber lands, in the mining and lumber camps, 
 there are children, and many of them, that are without 
 Sunday schools or other gospel privileges. I have preached 
 in local cities and organized schools and churches where 
 the children were growing up, 10, 12, 16 and even 19 years 
 old, that had never been in a church and had never heard 
 anyone preach but myself, and out of these very places 
 have come many of the choicest experiences of my ministry 
 and some of the most promising and permanent results. 
 
104 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 Then the foreign population nominally Catholic are woe- 
 fully neglected in so many of our mining towns. 
 
 Work in many of the isolated communities does not 
 always mean permanency, but it does mean blessing. In 
 such places, and through our work, many of our country 
 boys and girls are sent out for an education. Many of 
 these sturdy fellows have gone into the ministry and other 
 professions, and many of the girls have entered on useful 
 and happy lives. I have no patience with the idea that 
 no missionary work is worth while that does not issue in 
 a church, or, when it does result in a church, if it does 
 not promise speedy and permanent self-support. 
 
 Oregon ^he development of Oregon has not kept pace 
 
 with that of its neighbor on the north, ow^ing largely 
 to the lack of railroad facilities, but this is novi^, 
 happily, being remedied. The area of this state is 
 equal to that of the New England States, besides 
 several of the Middle Atlantic States. A single 
 county is as large as the state of New York. It is 
 said that the state of Iowa could be dropped into 
 Oregon without any side of it touching a railroad. 
 
 New railroads are now under construction and 
 the future is rich with promise. Large develop- 
 ment is certain. Irrigation of arid lands will open 
 large tracts of land for settlement, furnishing many 
 fields for missionary work. One county in eastern 
 Oregon has but two ministers, and several others 
 have but one or two; in some cases the Presby- 
 terian denomination has not a single representative. 
 
 The Board of Publication and Sabbath- School 
 Work has six Sunday-school missionaries in this 
 large territory, besides an educational superinten- 
 dent whose district includes also Idaho and Wash- 
 
THE PACIFIC SLOPE 
 
 105 
 
 ington. This leaves five pioneer Sunday-school 
 v^orkers to occupy the skirmish line, planting the 
 outposts. 
 
 One of our Sunday-school w^orkers, vi^hose field Ministering 
 comprises nine large counties in eastern Oregon, re- mote^Pam 
 lates a pathetic incident which serves as an illustra- 
 tion of the need of Sunday-school missionaries in 
 these remote parts, and the good that is being ac- 
 complished through their labors: 
 
 One evening last winter I was called to the long-dis- 
 tance telephone from a distant village, where I had or- 
 ganized a Sunday school, and this is the message I re- 
 ceived: "Aneta died to-day; we want to bury her on Sun- 
 day. Is it too much to ask you to come?" I answered 
 "I'll come." Next morning at six o'clock I was on the 
 stage, ready for the long, cold ride of fifty-five miles. It 
 was the coldest day last winter, the thermometer register- 
 ing ten degrees below zero. The stage driver said, "Are 
 you compelled to take the trip such a day as this?" I 
 answered, "Yes ; one of our little Sunday-school girls died 
 yesterday and I am wanted for the funeral." He said, "It 
 seems to me it is too much to ask a man to go so far on 
 such a cold day." I said, "It wouldn't be too much if it 
 were my little girl." He said, "That's right." And for a 
 long while the horses seemed to engage his attention. The 
 next day a large company of friends and neighbors gath- 
 ered and we buried Aneta on a sunny slope in the Blue 
 Mountains overlooking "Camas prairie." There were no 
 dry eyes in that company as we looked on the cold, life- 
 less form of the sweet little maiden of eleven years that 
 had gone from us to be with the Saviour she had learned 
 to love, and I know of more than one who that day at 
 Aneta's grave gave their hearts to Jesus and have since 
 openly confessed their faith in him. The little mission 
 Sunday school is now an organized church. Aneta's 
 father, mother, two sisters and two brothers, two uncles 
 
I06 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 and two aunts are members of it. They have a home mis- 
 sionary to preach to them, baptize their children, marry 
 their young people and bury their dead, and it is no longer 
 necessary to send fifty-five miles for the Sunday-school 
 missionary. 
 
 The synodical superintendent in Oregon, Rev. 
 James V. Milligan, D. D., is a true pioneer. 
 He has organized the Sunday-school work, mis- 
 sionary and educational, in that synod in a most 
 efficient manner. Not only are the pioneer districts 
 being reached as far as it is possible to do so with 
 his limited force of workers, but he is also cooper- 
 ating in the plans of the educational superintendent 
 who is doing aggressive work in standardizing the 
 schools throughout the synods of Oregon, Wash- 
 ington and Idaho. Dr. Milligan knows the needs 
 of every part of the field, and he is in the front 
 rank of the missionary leaders on the Pacific slope. 
 What a blessed thing it is that the Presbyterian 
 Church has an agency through which she can min- 
 ister to the spiritual needs of such as these. How 
 eagerly these people await the coming of the Sun- 
 day-school missionary ! Creeds and prejudices are 
 forgotten and all rejoice in hearing the Word as 
 it falls from the lips of this messenger of Christ. 
 They realize the difficulty he has experienced in 
 visiting them; they understand the hardships that 
 he is called upon to endure, and they are grateful 
 to the church that sends him forth upon his mission 
 of love. 
 California Sunday-school problems in the Synod of Cali- 
 
 fornia are. increasing. This synod, which is com- 
 
1. Rev. George C. Butterfield. 
 
 2. Rev. James V. Milligan, D.D. 
 
 3. Rev. W. O. Forbes, D.D. 
 
 4. The interior furnishings of many mission Sunday-schools from whicli 
 
 flourishing churches have grown. 
 
 5. The outgrowth of Sunday-school missions in a mining town. 
 
THE PACIFIC SLOPE 
 
 107 
 
 posed of two states, California and Nevada, as large 
 as several large eastern states combined, has a 
 variety of climate and resources making it attractive 
 to people of every nation. Japanese and Hindoos 
 are seeking here a home. Soon they send for their 
 families and friends. Italians and Portuguese are 
 coming by thousands to live in this land of per- 
 petual summer. There is a large rural population 
 throughout the state which is poorly supplied with 
 religious privileges. Throughout this vast terri- 
 tory there are but four Sunday-school missionaries 
 at work, and ripening fields are languishing for the 
 want of consecrated workers. It is estimated that 
 there are one hundred and eighty thousand children 
 in California who are without an opportunity for 
 religious training. 
 
 The Sunday-school missionaries are doing their 
 utmost to overtake the need. In some instances, to 
 save time and expense, and because they find it im- 
 possible to respond to the many demands for their 
 services, they get into correspondence with the dis- 
 trict school-teacher, urging her to open a Sunday 
 school, supplying all the equipment needed free of 
 charge. One of these teachers, in a remote moun- 
 tain district, replied: 
 
 This county is a missionary field, a veritable wilderness. 
 There is no Protestant church in the county outside of 
 the county seat, and the children are growing up in abso- 
 lute ignorance of Christianity, under the wing of the saloon 
 and gambling den. There is absolutely nothing here to 
 oflfer the young men by way of recreation or diversion. It 
 is small wonder that we have drunkards and idlers, 
 
I08 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 gamblers and murderers. The children are given nothing 
 good to ennoble or even occupy their minds. I have made 
 an effort to teach the children of my district something 
 that would be of real help to them and have stirred up 
 the hostility of my leading trustee. In the work of 
 organizing Sunday schools in this county, you can count 
 on violent opposition on all sides. But there are many 
 people who wish religious training for their children and 
 religious life for themselves. 
 
 There is a great stretch of territory, sixteen thou- 
 sand five hundred and fifty-six square miles in area, 
 reaching from the Golden Gate to the Oregon line, 
 with a population of one hundred and ninety-two 
 thousand, of which eighty-four per cent are in the 
 country or villages, many of whom do not know 
 who Jesus Christ is. 
 The Need jn t^g q[i g^d mining sections the need of pioneer 
 
 work is equally pronounced. A Sunday-school 
 missionary visiting among the homes in this region 
 was greeted thus by an anxious mother : 
 
 I am glad you were sent to this valley. My boys and 
 girls are worse than heathen in their opinion of God. I 
 have drifted to the Devil. I am a "goner," but I want the 
 children to learn about God and our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 My Tommy went down last night where you were camped, 
 with the cowboy and the sheepherder, just to learn about 
 God. All that he hears from them is swear words. 
 Tommy will go to Sunday school, sir, and you must teach 
 him the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed. May the 
 blessing of God be upon your reverence, and upon the 
 schools and churches that support you. 
 
 This is a region in which Sunday desecration 
 and all the vices attendant upon the lawlessness of 
 
THE PACIFIC SLOPE 109 
 
 mining camps must be combated. Shall we leave 
 the children of these communities to the poisoning 
 influence of their evil surroundings? We cannot, 
 by any means, escape our responsibility for tlieir 
 salvation. 
 
 In this state there should be at least one Sunday- 
 school missionary for each presbytery. The field 
 calls us to a noble task, one that is worthy of the 
 brain and brawn and money of the Presbyterian 
 Church. It is a task for the present generation. Shall 
 the call of the perishing children pass unheeded? 
 
 In Nevada the work has been largely among the Nevada 
 mining towns. The Presbyterians have twice as 
 many churches in Nevada as any other denomina- 
 tion, due to the faithful labors of the Sunday-school 
 missionar}^ Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 
 Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland 
 and Virginia cover about the same area as the Pres- 
 bytery of Nevada. There is more than enough 
 "standing room" to accommodate all the inhabitants 
 of the entire globe. 
 
 In one district comprising about one fourth of 
 the state there are sixty-three public schools, 
 seventy-six teachers, one pastor and two Sunday 
 schools, w^ith a total membership of about one hun- 
 dred. 
 
 At the close of a meeting an old gentleman passed 
 the missionary in going for his team and said, 'T 
 think none of my children ever attended a religious 
 service before." The missionary then said to the 
 wife who stood by, "You will pardon me if I ask 
 how old your children are?" She said, "That one 
 
velopmeat 
 
 IIO ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 there is twenty-one; these two are twins, they are 
 nineteen; that one is sixteen." So, for twenty-one 
 years the family had been entirely separated from 
 all religious life. Sometime later those girls went 
 sixty miles to see a railroad — for the first time in 
 their lives. 
 Future De- Great irrigation schemes are being projected for 
 reclaiming thousands of acres of arid waste in this 
 state also. The eyes of thousands are turned toward 
 Nevada as an agricultural region. Its development 
 in this direction has already begun and soon the 
 shifting tide of emigration will be moving toward 
 this land of promise, and these desert regions will 
 give place to beautiful fields of waving grain to 
 satisfy the world's hunger. As they come in to take 
 possession shall we not meet them with the open 
 Bible and provide Sunday schools for their chil- 
 dren? 
 
 California Synod has its own synodical super- 
 intendent of Sunday-school work, Rev. George 
 C. Butterfield, who rendered splendid missionary 
 service in Los Angeles Presbytery for a number of 
 years, and who, upon the retirement of Rev. 
 Arthur Hicks, the former synodical superintendent, 
 was unanimously chosen by the synod to fill this 
 important post. Mr. Butterfield is constantly im- 
 pressing upon the Board the need of additional 
 workers. At least one Sunday-school missionary 
 for each presbytery is his earnest desire. Indeed it 
 is a necessity if the church intends to take advantage 
 of the great missionary opportunity to the seizing 
 of which he is endeavoring to lead us. 
 
THE PACIFIC SLOPE III 
 
 On the Pacific Coast we have a mission field equal Saving the 
 to that of any other on the globe. If these rapidly ci,!, 
 growing sections of our country are ignored by the 
 church, what of the future of the boys and girls 
 who are ripening into maturity without any im- 
 pulse toward religious things? This is a respon- 
 sibility which we must face regardless of creed, 
 but upon a broad Christian basis. It is a situation 
 which effects us as a nation. If we sow sparingly, 
 we shall reap sparingly. These citizens of to-mor- 
 row are forming habits and ideals that will shape 
 their lives for weal or woe. We must remember, 
 too, that they will have their part in shaping the 
 destinies of our national life. Mighty forces are 
 arrayed against Christianity in this region, and we 
 must be the more earnest on that account. It is 
 not a problem that can be solved by a Sunday- 
 school missionary here and there; let us rather 
 consider what can be accomplished by having a suffi- 
 cient force of Sunday-school missionaries, strategi- 
 cally located who will be on the ground to meet the 
 newcomers with the open Bible; men who will 
 penetrate these mountain fastnesses and establish 
 mission Sunday schools in every mining, lumber and 
 oil camp ; men impelled by the resistless force of 
 the love and compassion of Christ whose will it is 
 that not "one of these little ones should perish." 
 
THE NEGRO PROBLEM 
 
Those who have not considered the subject have little 
 idea of the needs and opportunities for Christian work among 
 the negroes of the South. 
 
 We are all ready to admit the peculiar claim this people 
 has upon our sympathy and help. In the case of every other 
 race that came as strangers to America, the action was vol- 
 untary and was prompted by a hope of bettering their condi- 
 tion ; the negro alone was forcibly brought to this country 
 and was held in slavery for more than two hundred years. 
 When he was emancipated some fifty years ago, he was thrown 
 upon his own resources before he was prepared to take care 
 of himself. For generations he had depended upon others, 
 and he was unfitted by temperament and training to stand 
 alone and shift for himself. 
 
 By slow degrees the negroes are adjusting themselves to 
 the new conditions and strange environment. In many places, 
 and in the case of many individuals, remarkable progress has 
 been made. This may lead us to hope that in time the entire 
 race will be lifted out of ignorance and poverty, with such 
 exceptions as are found in the case of every race and every 
 large community. But, for the present, very much remains 
 to be done, and constant help must be given to this needy 
 people. — Alexander Henry, 
 
 114 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 THE NEGRO PROBLEM 
 
 This is one of the great missionary problems that 
 is pressing for solution. It is a question that must 
 be faced without bias or race prejudice, and with 
 due allowance for the unfortunate conditions from 
 which the present situation has evolved. These 
 people are with us to stay, and they are becoming 
 increasingly a factor in commercial and secular 
 affairs. 
 
 We should remember that the negro is here by 
 compulsion and not by choice. It has truly been 
 said, "He was stolen from his native soil, brought 
 here in bonds and made a chattel." During the 
 years of his freedom the negro has made remark- 
 able progress. With the increasing facilities for 
 educating and training the boys and girls for citi- 
 zenship, the next generation will show an advance 
 that will amply repay those who have given liberally 
 of their means to provide these advantages. 
 
 Not only should we help them in intellectual 
 development, but we should be equally or more 
 aggressive in leading them out of their spiritual 
 darkness into tlie light of the gospel of Christ. If 
 we would make the negro a useful citizen we must 
 not neglect the emphasis upon the religious side of 
 his nature. We owe him a responsibility in these 
 things which we cannot evade. 
 
 I IS 
 
ii6 
 
 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 Negro 
 Statistics 
 
 Edacational 
 Opportuni- 
 ties 
 
 Nearly eighty per cent of the negro population 
 of the United States live in the country districts. 
 Mr. Murphy, in "The Present South," points out 
 that according to latest statistics there were seven 
 hundred and thirty-two thousand three hundred 
 and sixty-two farms operated by negroes in the 
 South, and adds : "We find that one hundred and 
 fifty thousand southern negroes now own their 
 own farms, and twenty-eight thousand more are re- 
 corded as part owners. The value of the property 
 in all the farms operated by negroes at the South 
 was four hundred and sixty-nine million five hun- 
 dred and six thousand five hundred and fifty-five 
 dollars." He quotes Booker Washington as saying, 
 "Here is the unique fact, that from a penniless popu- 
 lation just out of slavery, three hundred and seventy- 
 two thousand four hundred and fourteen owners of 
 homes have emerged, and of these two hundred 
 and fifty-five thousand one hundred and fifty-six 
 are known to own their homes absolutely free of 
 encumbrance." It is these whose homes are in the 
 rural districts that we are endeavoring especially to 
 reach through Sunday-school missions. 
 
 Illiteracy among the negroes is about seven times 
 as common as among the whites. This is due largely 
 to the meager educational advantages provided for 
 the southern negro children. An eminent writer, 
 commenting upon this condition of affairs, says : 
 
 One half of the negroes get no schooling whatever. 
 Careful analysis of the reports of state superintendents 
 showing the attendance by grades, indicates that the aver- 
 age child, whites and blacks together, who attends school 
 
THE NEGRO PROBLEM 117 
 
 at all stops with the third grade. In North Carolina the 
 average citizen gets only 2.6 years ; in South Carolina, 
 2.5 years ; in Alabama, 2.4 years of schooling, both private 
 and public. In the whole South the average citizen gets 
 only three years of schooling of all kinds in his entire 
 life ; and what schooling it is ! This is the way we are 
 educating these citizens of the Republic, the voters who 
 will have to determine the destinies not only of this peo- 
 ple, but of millions of others beyond the seas. But why 
 is it that the children get so little education? Have we 
 no schools in the country? Yes, but what kind of schools? 
 In these states, in schoolhouses costing an average of 
 $275 each, under teachers receiving an average salary of 
 $25 a month, we have been giving the children in actual 
 attendance five cents' worth of education a day for eighty- 
 seven days only in the year. 
 
 From these facts we can appreciate something 
 of the conditions under which the negro boys and 
 girls are growing into maturity. The president of 
 one of the Presbyterian schools in North CaroHna, 
 in an earnest plea for the Christian education of 
 the negro, writes : 
 
 The only sane thing to do under present conditions, is Better 
 to prepare this great mass of people for the higher and Citizenship 
 better type of citizenship — a citizenship builded upon 
 righteousness, truth and equity, a citizenship that is pure 
 and honest, sober and upright. The secret of such prepar- 
 ation is Christian education. This utterance is not 
 prompted by any feeling of prejudice, or failure to recog- 
 nize the value of public and state schools, and industrial 
 training in the uplift of the negro, but because it is our 
 deepest conviction that intellectual and industrial train- 
 ing alone, unaccompanied by Christian influence, do not 
 contribute all the elements essentially needed to produce 
 the highest type of citizenship. 
 
Il8 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 But how shall they receive the impulse toward 
 these higher things? How shall they be inspired 
 with the ambition for education, and who shall open 
 their blinded eyes to see the vision of hope and 
 promise which is thus presented to them? Here 
 again the Sunday-school missionary work of this 
 Board operates most effectively. Boys and girls 
 whose lives are being spent among degrading sur- 
 roundings get a glimpse, through the mission Sun- 
 day school of a world of purer, better things than 
 that to which they have been accustomed. Through 
 the visits of the Sunday-school missionary many of 
 them are filled with the desire to rise above their 
 lowly condition and to fit themselves for a useful 
 career. 
 
 According to the last census there are about seven 
 million negroes in the states south of the Potomac 
 and east of the Mississippi. In these states there 
 are nearly three million negro children of school age. 
 ReHgious It is estimated that only one in ten of these chil- 
 
 dren has the opportunity of religious instruction. 
 A recent report tells us that a single county in 
 Georgia, where there are at least twenty thousand 
 negroes, has but one Sunday school and no churches 
 for colored people. Manifestly there is but one way 
 to meet such a deplorable situation. Mission Sun- 
 day schools must be established and maintained 
 among them. This is the most economical form of 
 evangelization, and it has the advantage of adapta- 
 tion. Moreover, it does not require the services of 
 an ordained minister nor the use of a building, 
 especially designed for its purposes. In many a 
 
Rev. George T. Dillaru, J).1). 
 
 Sunday school organized and chapel erected by a North Carolina mis- 
 sionary. 
 
 Teacher-training class organized by Sunday-school missionary, William 
 H. Jackson, in a negro mission school in North Carolina. 
 
THE NEGRO PROBLEM II9 
 
 humble cabin home groups of negro children have 
 learned of Jesus and have committed their lives to 
 him. From such beginnings many have gone forth 
 as teachers of others of their own race, and so the 
 good seed, sown ofttimes in tears and discourage- 
 ment, is multiplied an hundredfold. 
 
 Twelve colored Sunday-school missionaries are 
 organizing more than one hundred Sunday schools 
 a year among the colored people, and are gathering 
 into them not less than four thousand teachers and 
 pupils. 
 
 The entire negro work in eleven states in the 
 South is being efficiently directed by Rev. George 
 T. Dillard, D.D., a recognized leader among the 
 workers of all denominations. With rare discrimi- 
 nation, he selects workers who are peculiarly adapted 
 to this form of missionary service and trains them 
 in their duties. He has organized the work in such 
 a way that permanent results have followed the mis- 
 sionary labors of his helpers in the various fields 
 under his supervision. His influence counts heavily 
 in the development of the church's plans for ad- 
 vancement among these spiritually benighted people. 
 
 Thus Sunday-school missions among the negroes Foundation 
 lays the foundations for the work of the Freed- 
 men's Board, in its school work. Likewise it pre- 
 pares the way for the coming of the settled ministry 
 which also is provided by that Board. Before a 
 Presbyterian church can be organized much pre- 
 liminary work must be done. It would be folly to 
 enter a negro community and attempt at once to 
 organize a church or to establish a day school. 
 
120 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 It is this foundation work, therefore, that has 
 been committed to the Sunday- School Board. The 
 stories of destitution that come from the Sunday- 
 school missionaries are appalling. Here is one : 
 
 I have just organized a school in one of our famous 
 turpentine districts. Out of more than thirty present only 
 two girls and one married woman could read. In the 
 entire settlement of more than twenty-five families, only 
 two men can read. Our organization was a success. We 
 met in an empty "shanty" with one seat, which was made 
 by taking a board out of the floor. This was soon filled, 
 and others, old and young, had to be seated on the floor. 
 The anxious faces of the children, beside the dissipated 
 faces and blank expressions of the parents presented a 
 most pathetic contrast. This is a bad community ; they 
 drink and gamble and fight all day Sunday. They don't 
 take to strangers at once, especially if they think they 
 come to help them. This sounds strange, but it is true. 
 I made three visits before I could get any attention what- 
 ever. On my fourth visit they flocked around me for 
 tracts, cards and papers, as if I were distributing bread and 
 meat for their bodies. God went before me, and the work 
 is in his hands. 
 
 Another of these workers writes : 
 
 Ignorance I went fifteen miles through the country to Chats- 
 
 and Desti- worth, Georgia, and other sections of Murray County. My 
 purpose was to look the field over and organize a Sunday 
 school if the way was clear. This section of Georgia is 
 considered unsafe for colored strangers, but we went in 
 God's name and came out unharmed. I found the people 
 in very poor circumstances and in great need of Sunday 
 school and church. Gathering the children together, I 
 asked about Bible characters. After explaining the word 
 "meek," I asked, "Who was the meekest man?" One an- 
 
 tution 
 
THE NEGRO PROBLEM 121 
 
 swer was "colored folks." Several answers of this kind 
 were given. When I told them "Moses," they were eager 
 to know where he lived. Some then thought that I re- 
 ferred to "Uncle Moses," an old man in their community. 
 
 This missionary work is bearing fruit, not only 
 in changed lives but in changed communities. From 
 the Sunday schools organized by our colored mis- 
 sionaries not less than two hundred churches have 
 sprung, three fourths of these being Presbyterian. 
 
 This is well worthy of note, in view of the fact 
 that the number of our missionaries in the South is 
 so small. If twelve Sunday-school missionaries, 
 working at so great a disadvantage, could accom- 
 plish so much, what would be the result if the 
 force was largely increased? What could the 
 church do better than to enlarge its missionary 
 efforts in behalf of these needy ones? 
 
 Where, in our land, is this kind of work more 
 needed? Where would the same investment of 
 money produce better results? 
 
OBEYING THE GREAT COMMISSION 
 
The possibilities of Sunday-school teaching have not been 
 reached, because the leadership of the Sunday-school forces 
 is too often conservative, timorous and prejudiced. This 
 situation, however, is rapidly changing, for the Sunday-school 
 leadership of the country is taking advanced ground as to 
 the place of the Sunday school in the solution of all the prob- 
 lems of the church. The new graded courses are built with 
 the one distinct purpose of training a generation of Christians 
 for faithful and efficient service. This will be a great help, 
 for the essentials for building the rural community are in the 
 Sunday school, which is interdenominational. It is an elastic 
 and an inexpensive medium of religious work, and its appeal 
 is to the young. — Warren H. Wilson. 
 
 124 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 OBEYING THE GREAT COMMISSION 
 
 A prominent secular journal is quoted as stating 
 that nearly seventy per cent of the population of 
 the prairie states never enter the door of a church, 
 and that at least one half of the children are with- 
 out Sunday-school instruction. 
 
 In the foregoing chapters this has been reduced 
 to specific terms as we have studied the work of 
 Sunday-school missions in operation on the field. 
 
 Let us recapitulate. Tliis is home missions in its Home 
 
 ,., -r-r.. .,.. - , Missions 
 
 highest sense. Yet it is quite distinct from home 
 missions as the term is understood by our Home 
 Mission Board. It is the business of that Board to 
 organize Presbyterian churches and to aid in the 
 support of settled pastors for them until they be- 
 come self-supporting. The work must of a neces- 
 sity be denominational in character. Sunday-school 
 missions includes all the work preliminary to the 
 organization of a church ; the visitation from house 
 to house, disarming opposition ; the establishing of 
 a Sunday school ; the selection and training of 
 workers for officers and teachers ; holding evan- 
 gelistic services, and gathering a nucleus of con- 
 verts for a church organization in cases where the 
 community warrants such an organization. 
 
 The tendency of the Sunday school to develop 
 into the church is largely due to the reflex influence 
 
 125 
 
126 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 which the school exerts upon the community in 
 which it has been planted. When a Sunday-school 
 missionary sets about organizing a school he searches 
 for officers and teachers. His call often arouses 
 persons, who, in former homes, have confessed 
 Christ, but who, in a new neighborhood, destitute 
 of churches, have relapsed by degrees into indif- 
 ference. The Sunday school gives to such persons 
 Christian work to do, and a common center of 
 effort. It promotes among them Christian fellow- 
 ship, and quickens their perception of Christian duty. 
 It brings them to a new realization of the value of 
 a church home, and of the ordinances of the Lord's 
 house. These things all tend strongly toward church 
 organization and the establishment of the stated min- 
 istration of the gospel. 
 On a Broad It should be remembered that while much of the 
 Catholic work of Sunday-school missions results in Presby- 
 
 Basis . , , . ,1 , 
 
 terian churches, it nevertheless operates upon the 
 broad evangelical basis of providing the oppor- 
 tunity of religious teaching to every boy and girl 
 who is without it ; to nurture and develop the mis- 
 sion Sunday schools thus organized to their highest 
 possible efficiency and influence, irrespective of de- 
 nominational outcome. It is a fact that cannot be 
 gainsaid, that the church that cares for the spiritual 
 welfare of the people in the day of small things is 
 the church to which they will cling in their days 
 of prosperity. The boys and girls who go out of 
 the little "Bible" school organized by a Presby- 
 terian Sunday-school missionary, on the prairie to 
 begin their career of business life in the city, will 
 
OBEYING THE GREAT COMMISSION 
 
 127 
 
 almost invariably seek out a Presbyterian Sunday 
 school. When the time is ripe for the organization 
 o£ a church in one of these little communities, the 
 fact that the Sunday-school missionary who has 
 been caring for their religious welfare is a Presby- 
 terian, weighs heavily in favor of a Presbyterian 
 organization, though the majority may have had 
 a predilection in favor of the Methodist, Baptist or 
 some other church. 
 
 The success of this work is largely due to the 
 fact that it enters a community with no other pur- 
 pose than that of the Great Commission. In this, 
 Sunday-school missions occupies a unique position 
 among the missionary forces of the twentieth cen- 
 tury church. It can go where others would be 
 denied. Its plea is for the study of the Word. It 
 is one of the broadest missionary agencies of mod- 
 em times. 
 
 One godly man or woman is enough to begin its Wmmng 
 work, and a half-dozen children furnish a sufficient 
 nucleus for a promising organization. The Sun- 
 day school arouses less antagonism in an irreligious 
 community than any other form of Christian work. 
 Indifferent parents seldom object to their children 
 being helped in a way that gives no trouble to them- 
 selves. It appeals to children, because the child is 
 naturally more reverent and more teachable than 
 the man, and more susceptible to the awakening 
 touch oi personal influence. A kind teacher finds 
 ready access to the heart of a child. The child 
 finds in the Sunday school new objects of interest 
 and thought, and is refreshed by contact with those 
 
128 ON THE FIRING LINE 
 
 whose concern for his welfare he knows to be 
 genuine. 
 
 Having estabUshed tliese principles, and their ef- 
 fectiveness having been demonstrated, is not the 
 time ripe for a forward movement on the part of 
 the church is behalf of the children of America? 
 
 The motive, after all, which must move the church, 
 is not proportionate giving nor systematic giving. It is 
 not incited by mere duty nor the needs of others. These 
 are all important and would be sufficient if there were 
 not a greater; but overshadowing and including all these 
 is the desire and direct command of Jesus, "As the Father 
 hath sent me, even so send I you." This command is 
 personal and complete. In one way or another we are 
 asked to invest self. The nature and extent of that in- 
 vestment is seen in the manner God sent Jesus into the 
 world. Note the "as" and "so" of the commandment. The 
 second equals the first.^ 
 
 The Call of We know the need ; it is at our very doors, and 
 Te^acher'" ^^^ cauuot cscapc it if wc would. The vision of 
 Jesus who calls us to this service is before us. We 
 see him as he sets a little child in the midst of his 
 disciples, and says, "It is not the will of your Father 
 who is in heaven, that one of these little ones 
 should perish." Again, we see him as he places his 
 hands upon the heads of the little ones, blessing 
 them and saying, "Suffer the little children to come 
 unto me; forbid them not." We hear him as he 
 stands with his disciple, by the seaside, saying, 
 "Feed my lambs," and his parting words, "Go 
 teach." Shall we not obey? The opportunity is 
 
 1 Ward Piatt. 
 
OBEYING THE GREAT COMMISSION 129 
 
 here. A thousand dollars invested in pioneer work 
 now will accomplish more than ten times that sum, 
 given a few years hence, when sO' many will have 
 passed on into lives from which they may never be 
 rescued. From the standpoint of economy is it 
 not far wiser to invest our dollars in giving Sun- 
 day-school training to America's boys and girls 
 than to spend our thousands for institutions to 
 reform broken manhood and womanhood? Horace 
 Mann once said, "One fonnatory is worth a thou- 
 sand reformatories." We are beginning to learn 
 the wisdom of spending money to help in making 
 certain conditions impossible, rather than to con- 
 tinue simply to alleviate the pain and suffering which 
 they produce. We must attack the root of our na- 
 tional sins and vices by the right training of our 
 boys and girls. 
 
 A Sunday-school missionary in the course of a Economy 
 year will gather from five hundred to a thousand 
 children into Sunday school, and set from fifty to 
 one hundred persons to work teaching them, at a 
 total outlay of a thousand dollars. There is no 
 more economical form of evangelization known to 
 the church. Instead of a force of one hundred and 
 twenty-five Sunday-school missionaries, why not a 
 thousand ? God speed the day when those to whom 
 he has committed the means shall place their treas- 
 ures at his service in this cause, thus hastening the 
 coming of the kingdom. 
 
APPENDIXES 
 APPENDIX A 
 
 QuESTIOiNS FOR StUDY ClASSES 
 
 It is entirely optional with the leader of the class to 
 use these questions or to substitute others. Some study 
 class leaders prefer to prepare their own questions. These 
 are submitted with the idea of being helpful, by way of 
 suggestion, or for such use as may be found desirable in 
 conformity with the method of teaching in vogue in each 
 class. 
 
 Questions on Chapter I 
 
 1. For how many years were Sunday-school missions in 
 operation before the Presbyterian denomination entered 
 upon the work? 
 
 2. Name some of the circumstances which led the Pres- 
 byterian Church to organize this work under its own 
 supervision. 
 
 3. State some of the advantages gained through denomi- 
 national Sunday-school work. 
 
 4. To what class of Christian workers did this new 
 work appeal, and why were they especially qualified for it? 
 
 5. Name two distinctive principles of Sunday-school mis- 
 sionary work. 
 
 6. What are some of the reasons that led the General 
 Assembly to commit this work to the care of the Board of 
 Publication and Sabbath-School Work? 
 
 7. What is the place of the Sunday-school missionary in 
 relation to the work of the Home Mission Board? 
 
 8. Describe the pioneer character of Sunday-school mis- 
 sions. 
 
 9. How is this work supervised on the field? 
 
 10. Is there any waste in Sunday-school missions? Why? 
 
 Questions on Chapter II 
 
 1. What is the extent of the field of Sunday-school mis- 
 sions ? 
 
 2. Toward whose religious welfare are these labors par- 
 ticularly directed, and why? 
 
 131 .. 
 
132 APPENDIX A 
 
 3. Give some reasons for missionary efforts in behalf of 
 children. 
 
 4. State three facts concerning religious conditions in 
 different parts of the country which show the need of 
 this work. 
 
 _ 5. Why does the Presbyterian Church owe a respon- 
 sibility for the religious training of the young? 
 
 6. Name two advantages which this form of evangeli- 
 zation possesses, especially in newly settled sections. 
 
 7. State the value of the little Sunday school in the 
 moral reconstruction of a community. 
 
 8. What are some of the ways in which the mission 
 Sunday school can be the center of the social life of the 
 country settlement? 
 
 9. What is educational Sunday-school work? 
 
 10. What are some of the duties of an educational 
 superintendent of Sunday-school work? 
 
 11. How is this work meeting a crying need in bringing 
 our Sunday schools up to a higher standard of work? 
 
 Questions on Chapter III 
 
 1. Name the northern prairie states. 
 
 2. Give three facts concerning the development of Sun- 
 day-school missions in that region. 
 
 3. State, by means of an illustration, how individual 
 lives and communities have been transformed through the 
 influence of the mission Sunday school. 
 
 4. Give two facts concerning the growth and develop- 
 ment of the Dakotas. 
 
 5. Describe the arrival of the homesteader. 
 
 6. How have the ministrations of the Sunday-school mis- 
 sionary been of value to the homesteader? 
 
 7. How is the mission Sunday school with no prospect 
 of development into a church a means of evangelization? 
 
 8. Wliat is the effect upon our church and national life 
 of the religious training of the boys and girls in the coun- 
 try district? How does it influence the city? 
 
 9. How does this work help in developing Christian 
 ■workers ? 
 
 10. Should the support of this work be left to the 
 Sunday schools exclusively? Give reasons. 
 
 Questions on Chapter IV 
 
 1. To what states does this chapter refer? 
 
 2. How has the work of Sunday-school missions helped 
 other benevolent causes? 
 
APPENDIX A 133 
 
 3. Tell something about the method pursued by the 
 Sunday-school missionary in beginning his work in a new 
 community. 
 
 4. What part of Kansas is in special need of missionary 
 work, and why? 
 
 5. Give a few facts concerning the religious conditions 
 in Missouri. 
 
 6. How has the Sunday-school missionary kept pace with 
 the development of the cities in this region? 
 
 7. Describe the character of many of the homes found 
 by missionaries in this part of the West. 
 
 8. Wliat particular phases of Sunday-school missions are 
 emphasized in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio synods? 
 
 9. Should a synod aim to achieve self-support in Sunday- 
 school missions, and why? 
 
 Questions on Chapter V 
 
 1. Give a few facts concerning the physical development 
 of this region. 
 
 2. What has influenced the commercial growth of these 
 states ? 
 
 3. How can the young people of a city church help m 
 Sunday-school missionary work? 
 
 4. Give an instance where a mission Sunday school has 
 been the means of supplying workers for the foreign field. 
 
 5. What can you say about the material resources of 
 Wyoming? 
 
 6. Why should the church send its _ Sunday-school mis- 
 sionaries in larger force into these regions? 
 
 7. Tell how the mission Sunday-school develops church 
 organizations in this region. Illustrate. 
 
 8. What proportion of Utah's population is Mormon? 
 
 9. How can Sunday-school missionary work check the 
 spread of Mormonism? 
 
 10. Why is the Sunday school the best means of gam- 
 ing an entrance into Mormon communities? 
 
 Questions on Chapter VI 
 
 1. Who are the mountaineers? 
 
 2. Describe the conditions of living in the back moun- 
 tain counties. . . 
 
 3. How is the Sunday school adapted to meet the spirit- 
 ual needs of these people? 
 
 4. Illustrate how the mission Sunday school has trans- 
 formed many mountain homes. 
 
134 APPENDIX A 
 
 5. Who was the pioneer missionary who opened this 
 field to the Presbyterian Church? Give some facts about 
 his work. 
 
 6. What states comprise the "New Southwest"? 
 
 7. Give some facts about the development of Oklahoma 
 and Texas. 
 
 8. Wliat are the religious conditions in these states? 
 
 9. What is the most effective method of winning this 
 section for the kingdom? 
 
 10. Describe the work of a Sunday-school missionary 
 in the mining camps of Arizona. 
 
 11. What special need for this work grew out of the 
 union with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church ? 
 
 Questions on Chapter VII 
 
 1. How has Sunday-school missionary work kept pace 
 with the development of the cities on the Pacific slope? 
 Name an instance of results. 
 
 2. What can you say about the development of Wash- 
 ington during a decade? 
 
 3. What would be the condition of new communities in 
 these regions without Sunday schools? Would they be 
 desirable places in which to live? 
 
 4. Wliy has not Oregon kept pace with the rapid growth 
 of her sister states? 
 
 5. Give an idea of the extent of this region and the 
 difficulties it presents in missionary work. 
 
 6. Tell how the Sunday-school missionary is called upon 
 to perform pastoral functions in these neglected places, 
 and some results. 
 
 7. How many children in California are estimated as 
 being outside of all Sunday schools? 
 
 8. What special reason is there for pushing this work 
 aggressively in the mining camps? 
 
 9. What is the outlook for the future of this region ? 
 
 10. Why is it a field in which foundation work is needed 
 now? 
 
 Questions on Chapter VIII 
 
 1. Why should the negro be the object of our special 
 interest? 
 
 2. Is it sufficient to develop the negro intellectually and 
 industrially? Why? 
 
 3. Give a few facts showing the progress of the negro 
 during fifty years. 
 
 4. What can you say about the educational facilities 
 provided for the negro? 
 
APPENDIX A 135 
 
 5. How can the Sunday-school minister to the negro's 
 needs? 
 
 6. What is the relation of the negro Sunday-school 
 missionary to the work of the Freedmen's Board? 
 
 7. Why could not the organized church be introduced 
 into negro communities without the aid of the Sunday 
 school ? 
 
 Questions on Chapter IX 
 
 1. How do we obey the "Great Commission" in Sun- 
 day-school missions? 
 
 2. What is the distinction between Sunday-school mis- 
 sions and the work of other agencies. 
 
 3. By what process does the church usually develop from 
 the mission Sunday school? 
 
 4. What can you say as to the catholicity of this work? 
 How has this operated in making the work fruitful ? 
 
 5. Why can the Sunday school be organized where the 
 church would be excluded? 
 
 6. How many persons will the average Sunday-school 
 missionary gather into Sunday schools in the course of a 
 year? 
 
 7. Why is prevention better than reformation? 
 
 8. What are the highest motives inspiring us to go 
 forward in this work? 
 
APPENDIX B 
 
 Reference Literature 
 
 Our Country Strong 
 
 Leavening the Nation Clark 
 
 The Frontier Piatt 
 
 The Church of the Open Country Wilson 
 
 Aliens or Americans ? Grose 
 
 Our People of Foreign Speech McLanahan 
 
 Free leaflets containing descriptions of the work of 
 Sunday-school missions in various fields, illustrations and 
 incidents from the experiences of Sunday-school mission- 
 aries, field letters from different workers, reports, etc., 
 and stereopticon lectures, with slides, are always available 
 at the offices of the Sabbath-School and Missionary De- 
 partment of the Board, 412 Witherspoon Building. 
 
 Special Days 
 
 It should be remembered that Children's Day, the second 
 Sunday in June, has been set aside by the General As- 
 sembly as the day upon which Sunday schools should take 
 an offering for Sunday-school missionary work. These 
 offerings in the past have provided the greater part of the 
 income necessary to support this work. 
 
 On Rally Day, usually observed on the last Sunday in 
 September, the General Assembly recommends that Sun- 
 day schools take an offering for the special work which 
 is being carried on by the Sunday-School Board among 
 immigrants in America. 
 
 Appropriate exercises are furnished free of charge for 
 use on Children's Day and Rally Day, with interesting 
 descriptive matter regarding the cause to which gifts 
 are applied and unique receptacles for gathering offer- 
 ings. 
 
 It should be a part of the yearly program of every Sun- 
 day school to observe these special days in the manner 
 designated by the General Assembly. 
 
 136 
 
APPENDIX B 137 
 
 What Money Will Do in Sunday-School 
 
 Missions 
 
 A Sunday-school missionary can be supported for $800 
 or $1,000 per year, according to the location of the field 
 to which he is assigned. 
 
 $500 a year will support a colporteur among our immi- 
 grant population. 
 
 $25.00 will establish a mission Sunday school in some 
 needy community. 
 
 $15.00 will provide a library for a mission Sunday 
 school. 
 
 $10.00 will provide a Bible for every pupil in one of 
 our mission schools. 
 
 $1.00 will bring a child into the Sunday school, or if 
 used in our work among foreigners, it will send one of our 
 weekly papers in foreign languages for a year to the home 
 of ah immigrant family. 
 
 Providing for the Future 
 
 There are many people who have felt that they would 
 like to have a larger share in the various missionary en- 
 terprises that are carried on by the Presbyterian Church, 
 but who cannot see their way clear to contribute, in view 
 of many other demands upon their means. 
 
 Others may be contributing a stated amount each year, 
 and would be glad to have this continued indefinitely. 
 
 To such, we would suggest the plan of bequeathing a 
 specific sum, the interest of which could be used in car- 
 rying on the work perpetually. The possibilities of this 
 plan are very broad. For example, a bequest of $15,000 
 will provide an income sufficient to support a missionary 
 permanently, -who would be going about spreading the 
 gospel in the newly settled parts of our land. The inter- 
 est on smaller amounts will give the testator a propor- 
 tionate share in the support of a missionary in the same 
 manner. 
 
 Therefore, we invite those who are interested, to con- 
 sider this plan of having a share, perpetually, in this far- 
 reaching work. 
 
 Bequests for this purpose should be made to "The 
 Trustees of the Presbyterian Board of Publication and 
 Sabbath-School Work." 
 
APPENDIX C 
 
 The Foreign Mission Work of the Sunday- 
 School Board 
 
 Since the missionary work of the Board of Publication 
 and Sabbath-School Work among foreigners in the United 
 States has come to be regarded as an important feature 
 of its activities, it deserves special mention in this survey 
 of the iield- of the Board's operations. 
 
 Many years ago the Board published a number of tracts 
 and booklets in French, German, Spanish and Portuguese 
 to meet the requirements of missionaries in countries 
 where those languages are spoken. These publications are 
 still in demand and are valuable in supplementing the work 
 of the missionaries of the Home and Foreign Mission 
 Boards of our church. For a number of years the Board 
 published a Sunday-school lesson leaf in the German lan- 
 guage, which later was taken over by a group of German 
 Presbyterians who established a publishing house of their 
 own in Dubuque, Iowa. Here various Sunday-school and 
 church periodicals are printed and circulated among the 
 German speaking congregations. The Board also aided, 
 for several years, in the publication of a Bohemian Sun- 
 day-school story paper which was eagerly read by the 
 Bohemians who had been gathered into mission schools 
 and churches in different parts of our own land. 
 
 The character of the immigration coming to our shores 
 during these years was such that this attempt to provide 
 for the people of foreign speech, feeble though it may 
 seem, met the requirement. But with the opening of the 
 new century a great change took place and the heart of the 
 church was stirred as never before as we were brought 
 face to face with a new missionary problem, stupendous 
 in its proportions, baffling in its strangeness, but most in- 
 viting in its promise of results for the kingdom. Within 
 a few years the old immigration from northern Europe 
 had begun to ebb, and in our unpreparedness we were con- 
 fronted by a mighty flood of newcomers from southern 
 Europe — a class about whose characteristics we knew lit- 
 tle, but whom we had learned to look upon as "unde- 
 sirable." Onward they came, at the rate of more than a 
 
 138 
 
APPENDIX C 
 
 139 
 
 million a year, transplanting their alien ideals and supersti- 
 tions to American soil and fostering, in their Little Italys 
 and Little Russias, veritable hotbeds of crime. When 
 William McKinley was shot down by one of this class 
 the entire nation cried out against the lax laws which 
 permitted such aliens to lind a home in this fair land of 
 ours. The church looked at the matter from a different 
 viewpoint. Was not the hand of God in this mighty sweep 
 of alien peoples westward? Was it not God's way of 
 bringing them out of the darkness of superstition which 
 for centuries had enveloped them? Was not God re- 
 viving the missionary interest and zeal of the church by 
 setting before them this great task? 
 
 The church accepted the challenge, seeing its oppor- 
 tunity to accomplish a mighty work of evangelization, and 
 in 1903 the General Assembly called upon the Board to 
 undertake its share of this work. 
 
 In equipping herself for this new work a great diffi- 
 culty presented itself in the lack of trained workers to 
 take the ministry of the Word to the immigrants in their 
 own tongue. Groups of foreigners might be gathered 
 into missions, but who could teach them? They came 
 from countries where Protestantism was unpopular. 
 Nearly all were nominally Catholics, though few were 
 faithful even to that religion. Something preliminary 
 must be done. The foreigners, amid new and strange sur- 
 roundings could only be brought successfully under gospel 
 influences by careful, tactful work on the part of one of 
 their own countrymen, visiting them at their work during 
 the noon hour, or in the evening in their humble shacks, 
 conversing with them about the truths of the Protestant 
 faith ; revealing to them the riches of the Word, reading 
 choice passages to them, answering their questions, dis- 
 pelling their doubts, and leading them unto Him who is 
 "the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the 
 world." Such work did not require ordained ministers, 
 and it was decided that the colportage plan would here be 
 found effectual. 
 
 The colporteur — who would be better called by the name 
 in use among the Germans, "Bible messenger" — takes his 
 title from his pack ; as the public sees him he is more of 
 a peddler than a preacher. 
 
 In his guise of peddler the colporteur comes into inti- 
 mate and informal touch with the people. He meets them 
 on their own doorsteps, and they have no social prejudices 
 against enjoying a chat with "this interesting vendor of 
 books. Speaking the tongue of those he visits, he finds a 
 double welcome on that account. When he opens his pack 
 10 
 
140 APPENDIX C 
 
 and begins to read, in the speech of the homeland, choice 
 passages from the Scriptures, is it any wonder that he 
 usually gets an interested hearing and often finds pur- 
 chasers? 
 
 The benefits that follow the distribution of the written 
 Word are manifest. It comes to foreigners, often home- 
 sick, in the familiar speech of the land of their birth. 
 Many who receive the printed page from the colporteur 
 have no other literature in their own tongue, and so give 
 it heartier welcome. 
 
 The inexpensiveness of colportage work appeals to the 
 person who desires to see the money he gives to missions 
 go as far as possible. It is possible to equip and main- 
 tain a colporteur at a less expense than is required for 
 any other form of Christian worker, excepting only the 
 native helpers on the foreign field — who are in reality 
 colporteurs. 
 
 During a single year twenty-two such workers, each 
 laboring for periods varying from three to twelve months, 
 visited thirty-six thousand families of foreigners, distrib- 
 uted three thousand seven hundred copies of the Scriptures 
 by sale and gift besides sixty-eight thousand pages of 
 evangelistic tracts and eight thousand, eight hundred re- 
 ligious books. Think of the influence of such work ! The 
 value of the printed page, carrying its silent, though not 
 less forceful, message of truth cannot be measured. So 
 successful has this work been eventuating in many cases 
 in flourishing Presbyterian churches, that it is laid upon 
 the heart of the church to-day as a missionary agency that 
 ought to be greatly enlarged. Every city in our land 
 ought to have its colporteurs visiting constantly among 
 the various foreign peoples. They should be found at the 
 immigrant landing stations, in the coal mining regions, 
 and in the agricultural districts in some of our states 
 where they have taken small farms. Thus can we lay 
 the foundations for permanent missionary work among 
 them. In this work we again see the Board operating 
 in its capacity as the pioneer, opening the way for the 
 settled ministry. 
 
 As a development of this method of evangelizing the 
 foreigner, the Board began in 1906 the publication of a 
 weekly religious paper in the Bohemian language. This 
 paper has been well received; its circulation has reached 
 three thousand copies weekly. The success of this en- 
 terprise, not from a financial viewpoint, but as a missionary 
 effort, opened the way for an enlargement of this phase of 
 the work, and a Hungarian (MagA'ar) weekly paper was 
 added; then a Ruthenian paper and later, one for Italians. 
 
APPENDIX C 141 
 
 The combined circulation of these papers is about ten 
 thousand, reaching according to the usual way of estimat- 
 ing about lift}' thousand foreigners each week. These 
 papers are religious, every issue presenting the gospel in 
 sermon, Sunday-school lesson, or a story, besides brief 
 items of news from the homeland. Copies of these papers 
 are worn almost to rags from passing through the hands 
 of so many. This is the only practicable — and at the same 
 time the most economical way of reaching the adult 
 foreigners scattered here and there who will never learn 
 our language. Moreover it strengthens the faith of those 
 who have professed conversion as well as helping those 
 who are yet inquirers to find the way of life. 
 
 Besides these weekly papers the Board publishes Bible 
 picture cards similar to those used in the primary grades 
 of our American Sunday schools, to the number of four- 
 teen thousand weekly. On the back of each picture the 
 Bible story is printed in a foreign tongue. These cards 
 are now being printed in six different languages, Polish, 
 Spanish, Italian, Bohemian, Hungarian and Ruthenian. 
 Often the card is the entering wedge for the colporteur 
 in places where he might otherwise be denied admittance. 
 It introduces his message, and secures him a ready listener. 
 
 This is a work the results of which may not be so easily 
 computed as those of other forms of missionary effort, and 
 here again, we sow in faith, leaving the harvest with Him 
 who never fails, whose word and promises are sure. In 
 scores of cases the message of our weekly papers has been 
 the means of leading souls to Christ. When one has 
 fovmd Christ he invariably tries to win the other mem- 
 bers of his family or his friends. In this many of the 
 foreigners put us to shame for the concealment of our 
 faith. 
 
 It has been declared that there is scarcely a community 
 in Europe the life of whose common people has not been 
 affected and in some cases revolutionized by American in- 
 fluences, infused by those who have returned after a so- 
 journ in America. In some cases the change has come 
 through correspondence with relatives that have come to 
 America and remained here. This gives us an idea of the 
 far-reaching influences of our efforts to evangelize the 
 foreigner. Every foreigner won for Christ becomes a 
 missionary among his own family ; or to his native village 
 in some part of Europe. 
 
 This work for foreigners does not stand alone. It is 
 related to our own church life and to the entire missionary 
 enterprise. In the first place, it is foreign missions. The 
 strangers whom we reach without going outside of our 
 
142 APPENDIX C 
 
 own neighborhood in turn reach the peoples across the 
 sea, to whom they are bound by closest ties. So intimate 
 is this relation between our country and the ends of the 
 earth that the cry has become common : "Save America 
 for the world's sake." Let a stranger in our midst be 
 won by the gospel, and we may be sure that the tidings, 
 and perhaps, also, the printed Word, will soon be speeding 
 across the ocean. 
 
 The preservation of America as, in the highest sense, 
 a Christian nation, depends upon the evangelization of 
 our foreign-born population. This is home missions, in 
 every application of the term. The profoundest motives of 
 patriotism, as well as of Christianity should constrain the 
 churches to a fulfillment of this urgent duty. In thus 
 serving Christ we serve the land of which he has made 
 us citizens and custodians. 
 
 If our church becomes thoroughly aroused to the im- 
 portance of this colportage campaign the result will be 
 seen all over the country in an awakened interest in the 
 foreigners in local neighborhoods. Individual churches 
 and Christians will be inspired to become their own col- 
 porteurs, distributing in the foreign settlements accessible 
 to them the literature which may be procured through this 
 Board. 
 
 "If you cannot cross the ocean 
 And the heathen lands explore. 
 You can find the heathen nearer; 
 You can help them at your door." 
 
 Then there is a reflex influence to be considered. We 
 cannot despise the man whom we are trying to lead to 
 Christ. The sentiment of Christian America, and espe- 
 cially of young people, toward these strangers, to whom 
 we owe hospitality, may be, in large measure, changed 
 from contempt and superciliousness to one of sympathy 
 and helpfulness. It would be no small result of this new 
 work if the eyes of the people could be opened to the 
 plain fact that every alien is a potential citizen, and that 
 he is here by our invitation and by sanction of the law. 
 As such, he is entitled, to respectful consideration, and to 
 a helping hand in his progress toward self-respecting, in- 
 telligent Christian citizenship. 
 
APPENDIX D 
 The Department of Young People's Work 
 
 The Department of Young People's Work was estab- 
 lished in September, 1907. Before that time the Presby- 
 terian Church had no headquarters for its young people's 
 societies. It had headquarters for other organizations, 
 such as the Board of Publication and Sabbath-School 
 Work for its Sunday schools, the Missionary Boards for 
 its missionary societies and the Brotherhood office for its 
 Brotherhoods ; but for its Christian Endeavor Societies 
 (Junior, Intermediate and Young People's), its young peo- 
 ple's organizations of other names, its boys' clubs and 
 girls' associations, the denomination made provision neither 
 for control and supervision nor for leadership and support. 
 
 In order to remedy this situation, the Young People's 
 Department was brought into existence. It was made an 
 integral part of the Board of Publication and Sabbath- 
 School Work, because that seemed the logical point at 
 which to attach it to the denominational machinery. 
 
 New Societies 
 
 Free leaflets are available to any worker, giving a full 
 description of the best known clubs and organizations 
 for use among all grades of youth. In addition to these, 
 expert advice is freely offered as to that type of society 
 most likely to prove of service in any given case. Where 
 desired, a complete system of organizations adapted to meet 
 a pastor's needs in dealing with all ages, junior, inter- 
 mediate and young people's, is outlined for inquirers. 
 
 Better Societies 
 
 The department has striven with even greater aggres- 
 siveness to increase the efficiency of those young peo- 
 ple's societies already organized. Here the most effort and 
 time has been spent in behalf of Christian Endeavor, inas- 
 much as societies of that name constitute the largest part 
 of the young people's organizations in the church. 
 
 Perhaps the most effective agency employed by the de- 
 partment in raising the plane of efficiency among the young 
 
 143 
 
144 
 
 APPENDIX D 
 
 people's societies is the summer conference or training 
 school for workers. 
 
 These gatherings are held at Pocono Pines, Pennsyl- 
 vania, for the eastern synods ; at Winona Lake, Indiana, 
 for synods of the middle section ; at Lebanon, Tennessee, 
 for the south central synods ; a fourth at Hollister, Mis- 
 souri, for the synods of Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and 
 Oklahoma ; and a fifth at Storm Lake, Iowa, for the synods 
 of Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota. Not 
 only are delegates who attend these conferences most care- 
 fully trained in all lines of young people's activities, study 
 classes, etc., but when they return home they receive 
 constant personal attention from headquarters in order that 
 they may not fail to utilize the training thus received. 
 
 Education 
 
 Again the department has attempted to aid the church 
 in giving its youth more adequate religious education. 
 This is unquestionably the most difficult, but also the most 
 important task with which the department has to do. Our 
 young people need more instruction along ,many lines and 
 some of the best agencies through which to work in order 
 to augment the education now afforded seem to be the 
 young people's societies. 
 
 In its first efforts the department worked alone. At the 
 present time it is cooperating with and is trying to promote 
 the plans of the Assembly's Committee on Religious Edu- 
 cation. 
 
 During the time until the Committee on Religious Edu- 
 cation shall be finally ready to give the results of its 
 work to the church, the department has worked out a 
 provisional course for use by pastors in suggesting text- 
 books, etc., for all grades of young people's societies. 
 The course includes : 
 
 1. For juniors— Simple Bible memory work. 
 
 2. For intermediates — Two study classes a year; one 
 on Bible and the other on missions. 
 
 3. For young people's societies — Two other study classes 
 a year. 
 
 4. For the home — A carefully chosen library of twelve 
 volumes. 
 
 5. A pastor's instruction class to be held for one hour 
 a week for a period of six weeks at some time during 
 the year. 
 
 By act of General Assembly the first Sunday in Febru- 
 ary of each year is named Young People's Day. It is 
 recommended that on that day the evening services of our 
 
APPENDIX D 145 
 
 congregations be devoted to a special meeting in behalf 
 of young people, and that a chance be given, at least in 
 the young people's societies, for a contribution toward 
 the support of the Department of Young People's Work. 
 All money spent by the department above the sum con- 
 tributed on Young People's Day is taken from the treasury 
 of the Sabbath-School and Missionary Department of the 
 Board. 
 
APPENDIX E 
 
 COMPARISON OF SCHOOL POPULATION WITH SUNDAY- 
 SCHOOL ENROLLMENT BY STATES 
 
 I. School population 2. Total 
 
 six to twenty Sunday-school 
 
 years of age. enrollment. 
 
 Alabama 7So,3S7 396,884 
 
 Arizona 56,897 11,780 
 
 Arkansas 551,672 248,200 
 
 California 555,554 234,304 
 
 Colorado 215,940 122,153 
 
 Connecticut 298,454 141,347 
 
 Delaware 57,932 55,625 
 
 District of Columbia 79,249 78,724 
 
 Florida 243,917 136,768 
 
 Georgia 925,865 507,786 
 
 Idaho 96,819 21,153 
 
 Illinois 1,615,914 957,132 
 
 Indiana 777,889 565,258 
 
 Iowa 675,222 464,901 
 
 Kansas 515,156 438,056 
 
 Kentucky 755,709 328,761 
 
 Lousiana 575,866 172,941 
 
 Maine i95,i97 107,338 
 
 Maryland 388,486 277,057 
 
 Massachusetts 881,024 362,908 
 
 Michigan 796,887 363,793 
 
 Minnesota 648,775 218,938 
 
 Mississippi 644,805 315,793 
 
 Missouri 993,998 612,812 
 
 Montana 93,77i 43,805 
 
 Nebraska 373,868 174,100 
 
 Nevada 16,132 4,273 
 
 New Hampshire 111,634 55,639 
 
 New Jersey 708,525 411,644 
 
 New Mexico 105,403 22,036 
 
 New York 2,454,428 1,021,338 
 
 North Carolina 785,583 539,237 
 
 North Dakota 183,336 60,470 
 
 Ohio 1,313,809 1,135,452 
 
 Oklahoma 566,323 199,465 
 
 Oregon 175,386 116,976 
 
 Pennsylvania 2,194,303 1,835,761 
 
 Rhode Island 148,102 57,399 
 
 South Carolina 564,260 361,630 
 
 South Dakota 183,979 68,966 
 
 Tennessee 738,478 392,846 
 
 Texas 1,363,713 844,000 
 
 Utah 121,016 9,809 
 
 Vermont 94, 701 66,139 
 
 Virginia 697,649 475,402 
 
 Washington 293,478 I53,i79 
 
 West Virginia 396,818 190,116 
 
 Wisconsin 732,544 243,297 
 
 Wyoming 35,776 14,932 
 
 Total 27,750,599 15,638,323 
 
 1. These figures are taken from the report of the United States 
 Census P.ureau, and are based upon the 1910 census. 
 
 2. These figures include adult members of the Sunday school 
 enrolled in PTome Departments, teacher-training classes, and organ- 
 ized adult Bible classes, as well as members on Cradle Roll. 
 
 146 
 
APPENDIX E 
 
 147 
 
 SUMMARY OF PERMANENT RESULTS OF SUNDAY- 
 SCHOOL MISSIONARY WORK, REPORTED BY 
 SUNDAY-SCHOOL MISSIONARIES AT 
 WORK, APRIL I, 1912 
 
 SYNODS 
 
 ° S 
 
 -C.2 
 
 CO i-t 
 
 13 
 
 c 
 
 u 
 
 'S. 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 B 
 
 3 
 
 H 
 
 13 
 
 ".a 
 
 3 
 a 
 'C-d 
 
 (U V 
 
 c 
 
 
 a 
 
 'S 
 
 bO 
 ;-• 
 
 
 13 
 
 IS 
 
 u 
 
 e 
 
 4) 
 
 
 35 
 
 49 
 
 129 
 
 62 
 
 32 
 124 
 105 
 53 
 58 
 10 
 20 
 
 54 
 70 
 62 
 1 1 
 
 226 
 36 
 83 
 
 181 
 61 
 34 
 
 142 
 195 
 472 
 224 
 151 
 380 
 492 
 140 
 219 
 
 50 
 151 
 303 
 441 
 239 
 
 55 
 970 
 191 
 446 
 692 
 305 
 131 
 
 1,202 
 
 1,797 
 6,260 
 2,186 
 1,206 
 3,723 
 4,183 
 1,481 
 1,752 
 500 
 655 
 2,247 
 2,033 
 2,887 
 550 
 8,931 
 1,224 
 4,075 
 4,938 
 1-833 
 1,020 
 
 1,344 
 1,992 
 
 6,732 
 2,410 
 
 1,357 
 4,103 
 4,675 
 1,621 
 1,971 
 550 
 806 
 2,550 
 2,474 
 3,126 
 600 
 9,901 
 1,415 
 4,521 
 5,630 
 2,138 
 1,151 
 
 1 
 
 17 
 
 
 A.tlantic (Colored) 
 
 : 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 54 
 
 Canadian (Colored) . . . 
 
 Catawba (Colored) 
 
 3 
 13 
 
 I 
 7 
 
 63 
 252 
 
 22 
 133 
 
 East Tennessee (Col.) 
 
 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 I 
 3 
 
 28 
 
 
 49 
 19 
 8S 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 171 
 
 
 
 I 
 I 
 4 
 2 
 
 42 
 
 36 
 
 71 
 
 142 
 
 
 
 
 
 New York 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 North Dakota 
 
 Ohio 
 
 134 
 
 14 
 
 1 12 
 
 93 
 
 61 
 119 
 
 57 
 
 8 
 
 158 
 
 80 
 124 
 
 619 
 118 
 603 
 477 
 301 
 637 
 283 
 19 
 1,288 
 380 
 628 
 
 5.071 
 
 905 
 
 5,552 
 
 3,502 
 
 1,722 
 
 6,370 
 
 2,232 
 
 153 
 
 12,343 
 
 3,147 
 
 4,820 
 
 5,690 
 1,023 
 6,155 
 3,979 
 2,023 
 7,007 
 2,515 
 172 
 13,631 
 3,527 
 5,448 
 
 4 
 
 71 
 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 4 
 
 I 
 1 
 7 
 
 39 
 123 
 
 106 
 
 75 
 
 6 
 
 
 South Dakota 
 
 Texas 
 
 Utah 
 
 19 
 209 
 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 
 1 
 
 25 
 
 
 Totals 
 
 2,455 
 
 11,742 
 
 100,500 
 
 112,242 
 
 78 
 
 1,867 
 
 
148 A.PPENDIX E 
 
 SUMMARY OF PERMANENT RESULTS— Continued 
 
 SYNODS 
 
 
 1--0 
 •2 D. 
 
 
 "Stn 
 
 
 0^ 
 
 
 SiS 
 
 0) 
 
 
 
 
 1) • 
 
 0^ 
 
 j: 
 
 
 000 
 
 1-00 
 
 3 
 J! 
 
 "3 bo 
 
 3 M 
 
 cn 
 
 a c 
 
 J3 
 
 4J r/l 
 
 rt-j3 
 
 
 •si 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5'^^ 
 
 
 
 - a> C 
 g 1- 
 
 utJ 
 
 ".Soo 
 
 Oi3 
 
 'n " M 
 
 4) <U 
 
 2 g 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 tL ^ 
 
 ?.^§ 
 
 
 ^c 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 S.St/i 
 
 t> 
 
 o-a « 
 
 ?^ 
 
 PM 
 
 :z; 
 
 H 
 
 Ph 
 
 Alabama 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 Atlantic (Colored) 
 
 California 
 
 Canadian (Colored) 
 
 Catawaba (Colored) 
 
 Colorado 
 
 East Tennessee (Colored) , 
 
 Idaho 
 
 Illinois , 
 
 Indiana 
 
 Iowa - 
 
 Kansas 
 
 Kentucky , 
 
 Michigan 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 Missouri , 
 
 Montana 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 New Mexico 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 New York 
 
 North Dakota 
 
 Ohio 
 
 Oklahoma 
 
 Oregon 
 
 South Dakota 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 Texas 
 
 Utah 
 
 Washington 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 Totals 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 74 
 66 
 
 10 
 58 
 70 
 28 
 
 14 
 1 1 
 36 
 57 
 20 
 19 
 55 
 197 
 
 58 
 
 62 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 118 
 3 
 61 
 58 
 77 
 29 
 9 
 23 
 
 106 
 26 
 78 
 
 172 
 61 
 
 601 
 
 4 
 84 
 76 
 
 10 
 84 
 82 
 30 
 14 
 17 
 47 
 60 
 39 
 21 
 227 
 258 
 
 119 
 
 87 
 
 115 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 123 
 
 3 
 
 74 
 
 68 
 
 90 
 
 39 
 
 15 
 
 24 
 
 132 
 
 72 
 
 80 
 
 2,116 
 
 $500.00 
 
 250.00 
 
 1,275.00 
 
 38,150.00 
 
 12,300.00 
 
 6,575-oo 
 3,200.00 
 800.00 
 12,600.00 
 3,700.00 
 2,100.00 
 
 6,500.00 
 
 3,500.00 
 
 5,700.00 
 
 1,400.00 
 
 14,700.00 
 
 61 $126,850.00 
 
APPENDIX F 
 Missionary Illustrations 
 
 These illustrations are taken from the experiences of 
 our Sunday-school missionaries. They will be found use- 
 ful in connection with missionary exercises in Sunday 
 school ; or in missionary instruction in the individual 
 classes. 
 
 Christmas an Unkno\vn Day 
 
 There are people even in the United States who are 
 ignorant of the meaning of Christmas. A Sunday-school 
 missionary in the mountains of southeastern Missouri was 
 traveling in one of the isolated parts of that region and 
 relates this experience : 
 
 "One night after supper with a family of six, the 'old 
 woman' (as she was called) said that she wanted me to 
 come into the other room and sit around the fireplace 
 with them, that 'dad' wanted to ask me some questions. 
 We all filed into the next room, immediately in front of 
 the fire, with the family forming the rest of the semicircle, 
 dad, on the right, leaning up against the mantel, and the 
 oldest boy on his opposite side (this young man of twenty 
 could neither read nor write, and had never seen a rail- 
 road). Dad opened up: T wish you would explain this 
 Christmas business to us. A year ago in December our 
 neighbors over here got a box from the East, and they 
 called it a Christmas box, and they invited us over and 
 gave us candy and lots of good things to eat, and some 
 cards that had "Christmas Greetings" on them. I guess 
 some of them are around here yet, ain't they, old woman? 
 We asked them to tell us what they meant by Christmas, 
 but they couldn't tell us very well, and the old woman 
 'low'd you'd know ; so go to it and explain the whole 
 business. I don't care nuthin about it, but these kids just 
 run me crazy about it.' " 
 
 "Good-by, God" 
 
 A family was found by one of our North Dakota mis- 
 sionaries living about thirty-five miles from any place 
 
 149 
 
I50 APPENDIX F 
 
 where religious services were held. The mother told him 
 this story. "When my husband returned to our Iowa 
 home after he had filed on his claim our little daughter 
 asked him, 'Is there any Sunday school up in North 
 Dakota where our claim is?' Papa said, 'No.' 'Is there 
 any -church up there?' Papa said, 'No.' 'Is God up 
 there?' Papa did not know what to say. The days 
 passed, and finally we began loading our goods on the car 
 preparatory to leaving for our claim. The last load was 
 on the wagon and we were ready to leave the house, when 
 we missed our little girl. I finally found her in the lit- 
 tle bedroom where she had always slept; she was in 
 one corner, on her knees with her face to the wall, pray- 
 ing. She was saying, 'O God, we are going to North 
 Dakota. There is no Sunday school there, there is no 
 church there and there is no God there. Good-by, God, 
 good-by.' This so touched my heart that I knelt by her 
 side and poured out my heart to God, asking him in some 
 way to bring the Sunday school to us in our new home." 
 Inside of a couple of months the Sunday-school mission- 
 ary found that home, and in answer to that little child's 
 prayer a Sunday school was organized. In about five 
 months more a Presbyterian church was organized. 
 
 Sunday Eggs for the Sunday School 
 
 A missionary in Iowa was surprised by a visit from 
 two little girls, with a gift of $5.00. Asked for an ex- 
 planation, the elder replied : "One year ago we asked papa 
 to give us the eggs that the hens laid on Sundays. He 
 agreed, so every Sunday evening we went out to the 
 henhouse and gathered the eggs, and on Monday we 
 sold them. At the end of the year we had $4.60 and 
 papa put forty cents to our earnings ajid that made 
 $5.00. So we want you to organize a Sunday school 
 for us." 
 
 That money was invested in a new school, and in less 
 than six months after the organization some fifteen mem- 
 bers of the school confessed Christ. 
 
 Rode to a Meeting on a Stone Boat 
 
 In a community fourteen miles from any town or re- 
 ligious services, a North Dakota missionary organized a 
 Sunday school in a granary. Concerning this school he 
 wrote : 
 
 "The first home I visited was a dugout, the home of an 
 Irish Presbyterian. When I told the lady my mission she 
 
APPENDIX F 151 
 
 said : 'We have been living here nearly four years and 
 have been wondering when the Sunday school would come 
 so that our children could go to it. Praise the Lord, it's 
 come.' She promised to be at the meeting to organize a 
 Sunday school that evening. When the hour came to 
 open the service the family was not there, so I said to a 
 man standing by, 'I wonder why they are not here?' 
 He said, 'Did they promise to come? Then they'll be 
 here. They have no buggy, only one horse, a yoke of 
 oxen and a wagon.' I waited a few minutes and presently 
 the man came to me and said, 'Here they come.' When 
 they drew near we saw that they were riding on a stone 
 boat, the mother was sitting on a soap box holding her 
 babe in her arms and the husband was standing up be- 
 hind her, and they drove up in front of the granary with 
 as much flourish as though they had had a carriage and 
 a fine team of horses. The husband was elected super- 
 intendent. The Sunday school has grown steadily ever 
 since its organization, and last summer a Presbyterian 
 church was organized in that community with thirty-five 
 charter members, the direct growth of that Sunday 
 school." 
 
 The Youngest Sunday-School Superintendent 
 
 A dozen years ago the town of C was hopelessly 
 
 irreligious. There was nothing in all the community life 
 that savored of religion. One of the settlers, a Christian 
 Scotch woman, was so pressed in spirit by the conditions 
 existing that she mounted her horse and made a tour 
 of the settlement, inviting the children to come to her 
 cabin and form a Sunday school. She encountered much 
 scoffing and ridicule, but the children came. Time passed 
 on, but the faithful disciple persevered despite many dis- 
 couragements, chief of which was the lack of a helper. 
 A little child of nine years volunteered her services. With 
 many misgivings, the woman placed the very little chil- 
 dren in her care. Levina studied her lessons diligently, 
 under the tutelage of the older woman, and for five years 
 was an efficient helper. 
 
 Then the superintendent died, and the girl Levina — 
 now fourteen years old — was left alone to carry _ on the 
 Sunday school. She never faltered but went straight on, 
 and her school of sixty members became so influential 
 that the tide of neighborhood sentiment turned in her 
 favor. A missionary's help was secured, evangelistic serv- 
 ices were held with more than twenty converts, and now 
 the people are ready to support a church. 
 
152 APPENDIX F 
 
 The Work of One Little Girl 
 
 "A little girl said to a Sunday-school missionary: 'When 
 we came here there was no Sunday school, so I went to 
 all our neighbors and got their little folks to come to our 
 home, and we organized a workers' band. We have 
 worked all summer and we have $4.00 for a Sunday 
 school. Won't you come and organize it for us?' The 
 next spring, by appointment, I went to them and found a 
 house full. I organized a good school there. This little 
 girl had a friend living eight or ten miles from her home, 
 and while visiting her friend told her about the new 
 Sunday school at home. This kindled the desire in other 
 hearts and I was asked to come to visit them, and I or- 
 ganized another flourishing school. In the fall Presby- 
 terian churches were organized at both places." 
 
 How an Entire County Was Transformed 
 
 A Sunday-school missionary in east Tennessee illus- 
 trates the improvement in the conditions in one county 
 after three years of missionary labors, by the following 
 comparison : 
 
 Before the Missionary Came After Three Years 
 
 No County Association. County Association. 
 
 No Institutes Conducted. Six Institutes per Year. 
 
 No Annual Convention. One to Two Conventions 
 
 Number of Schools in per Year. 
 
 County 20 Number of Schools in 
 
 Number of Pupils 800 County 20 
 
 Number of Schools with Number of Pupils. .. .1,900 
 
 Hymn books none Number of Schools 
 
 Number of Libraries. . . 2 with Hymn books... 18 
 
 Number of Libraries.. 9 
 
 Persecuted for Righteousness' Sake 
 
 From a Missionary in the Southern Mountains 
 
 "It is diflficult to do much with the older folks, but the 
 young people accept Christ readily, take part in public 
 prayer, and when not whipped and forced to stay away are 
 punctual in their attendance at all the services. We have 
 had them to come and take part in our meetings, when 
 they knew that they would be severely flogged. One 
 woman with her family of six children came out to Sun- 
 day school not long since, and we noticed that they were 
 weeping during the Sunday-school hour, and in the prayer 
 
APPENDIX F 153 
 
 service that followed, how that woman did pray, and 
 when asked as to her trouble she said, 'My children and 
 I were forbidden to come here to-day under penalty of 
 a severe flogging, but we left all to God, and are going to 
 take the whipping in preference to staying away from 
 meetings. The children all wanted me to do this.' " 
 
 Ministering to the Needy 
 
 A Sunday-school missionary tells this pathetic story 
 about a funeral service which he was called upon to con- 
 duct : 
 
 "The service was conducted outside. What a scene it 
 was. The homesteaders gathered to pay their last re- 
 spects, many of them in their everyday clothes, which — 
 in many cases — were their best. We tramped along 
 through the mud and brush for one and one half miles 
 where we had to cross the Big Fork River in a row- 
 boat. I wish you could see the embankment we had to 
 let that body down, and up again on the other side, after 
 we had crossed. Then we had to go ahead of the team 
 and cut out the road so that the team could get through 
 to the place of burial. There the old father and mother 
 were waiting for our arrival. She was the only woman 
 present. I had to cancel my appointments for that day, 
 but I am glad that I was privileged to go and speak some 
 words of comfort to that father and mother beside that 
 open grave in the lonely forest." 
 
 Enduring Hardship 
 
 One of our missionaries last winter was visiting a log- 
 ging camp in northern Wisconsin. Traveling all day, and 
 without an opportunity to satisfy his hunger, he reached 
 his destination at seven o'clock in the evening after a 
 long, rough ride over a frozen roadway. He waited for 
 two hours in the little log schoolhouse in zero weather 
 until the people gathered for the meeting. Then, to a 
 crowded house, eager for the gospel message, he preached 
 the Word. He went to the home of one of the settlers to 
 spend the night, and was given the best they had to offer 
 — a bunk on the floor in the lean-to of the log house, in 
 whose one room the father, mother and six children also 
 slept on the floor. The next day he held three services, 
 one in the Norwegian language and then tramped for 
 miles through the woods to his next appointment. This 
 missionary has sixty mission stations under his care in 
 which he is the only visiting minister. The day of mis- 
 
154 
 
 APPENDIX F 
 
 sionary heroes has not yet passed. Here in our own land 
 we may find examples of self-denial in the Master's serv- 
 ice that make us ashamed of our selfish seeking after 
 the things that minister to our ease and comfort. 
 
 "Naked, and Ye Qothed Me" 
 
 The Sunday-school missionary is frequently able to re- 
 lieve the needs of the poor on his field by distributing 
 clothing donated for the purpose. One says: 
 
 "I received a letter last week from way down in the 
 southwestern county of the state, near the Colorado line. 
 I have been working -with the pastor-evangelist to get all 
 the neighborhoods supplied where we as Presbyterians are 
 working. He asked a man to send me a list of the needy 
 of their neighborhood. The list contained forty people, 
 from babies up. It called — among other things— for forty 
 pairs of shoes. I had told the pastor-evangelist that I 
 would send a barrel down there. When I looked over the 
 list I thought I would send two. After I got things 
 sorted out for them I thought I would have to make it 
 three and I finally added a little box. The man who 
 wrote said that the people had a very hard winter, had 
 lost considerable stock and that their horses were so poor 
 that they couldn't drive them so far to get the barrel, but 
 that he would go to Syracuse and haul down whatever I 
 sent. That meant a drive of sixty or sixty-five miles to 
 the railroad and the same back with the barrels. I thought 
 that a community as needy as they were and a man who 
 -would drive a hundred and twenty-five miles to get the 
 stuff ought to have as good as I could send. I managed, 
 by buying some more stuff, to fit them out pretty well and 
 sent thirty-four pairs of shoes in the lot." 
 
 Among the Gold-Seekers 
 
 A Sunday-school missionary who has been very success- 
 ful in work among the miners writes : 
 
 "After a thirty mile ride through the rolling sagebrush 
 
 country, reached the new mining camp at J . About 
 
 one hundred and forty tents were already up. About 
 three hundred men were on the ground. and_ the country 
 for miles around had been staked off in mining claims. 
 The missionary secured a bed in the only hotel in town — 
 a tent twelve by sixteen feet, accommodating five guests. 
 
 "A saloon was kindly offered the missionary for the 
 first church service, but a larger place was found, a tent 
 used by the lumber company for storing hay and grain. 
 
APPENDIX F 
 
 155 
 
 The bales of hay were arranged about the walls of the 
 tent and made very comfortable seats. The sacks of 
 grain were piled to the peak of the tent, making a com- 
 fortable gallery in which twenty young men sat. A violin 
 teacher from Kansas Citj' volunteered to assist with the 
 music. Some of the young men felt the need of a church 
 bell, so — from the store — they secured a piece of drill 
 steel about ten feet long. A piece of wire was attached 
 to each end. Two men held the bar while a third ham- 
 mered on the middle of it with an ax. The noise sounded 
 like a dozen church bells. Soon from all directions they 
 began to come until the tent was crowded. More than 
 eighty persons were there. 
 
 "As the missionary, the violinist and the leader of the 
 singing entered the tent, they were greeted with a hearty 
 round of applause, the customary greeting on social oc- 
 casions in mining camps when the violinist appears. A 
 minute later the company were standing and reverently 
 singing 'Praise God from whom all blessings flow.' No 
 nonsense now ! Every head was reverently bowed during 
 the invocation. The Easter service was begun. For fifteen 
 minutes we sang such hymns as 'Joy to the world, the Lord 
 is come,' 'Abide with me, fast falls the eventide,' 'Sun of 
 mj' soul, thou Saviour dear.' An hour of reverent wor- 
 ship was seriously participated in by all. 
 
 "The next day a choice piece of land was given by the 
 town-site company, one block from the proposed business 
 center of town. The sagebrush was cut from the lot and 
 a sign put up indicating the probable site of a Presbyterian 
 church." 
 
 The Influence of the Mission Sunday School 
 
 One of the incidents that encourage Sunday-school mis- 
 sionaries, and remind them that God's Word shall not re- 
 turn to him void, is related by a Colorado missionary : 
 
 "Talking with the storekeeper I thought I discovered 
 something familiar about his voice, so inquired his name. 
 
 "'Walker, sir; my name is Walker,' he replied. 
 
 " 'Walker ! There used to be a man by your name who 
 
 kept a store in the coal camp, C ■, when I visited it 
 
 ten years ago, are you the man?' 
 
 " 'I'm the same man, I reckon. I lived in C and 
 
 kept the store there at that time.' 
 
 " 'Well, I have been away from Colorado for almost 
 seven years, and have not kept much in touch with af- 
 fairs in the state during that time. You had two boys 
 in whom I was much interested. I would like to ask you 
 II 
 
156 
 
 APPENDIX F 
 
 about them. When I organized the Sunday school there 
 they attended it. And whenever I revisited the place they 
 helped me by ringing the bell, lilling the lamps with the 
 oil you furnished without charge, and by having the school- 
 house swept and in readiness for the service. What be- 
 came of your bo3's ? Did they stay with the teachings of 
 the Sunday school and take Christ as their Saviour and 
 example, or did they, like so many of the coal camp 
 boys, form habits of drunkenness, gambling and other 
 vices?' 
 
 " 'They stayed with the Sunday school. Neither drinks 
 nor uses tobacco. I am proud of my boys. After com- 
 pleting the common school course they went on to high 
 school, then through college. One of my boys is here 
 visiting me now.' 
 
 "The son, hearing us talk of him, came to the door. 
 With his frank, open countenance, handsome features and 
 six feet of stature I could not help admiring him. As 
 he approached he smiled. Taking me by the hand he 
 said, 'Yes, I am one of the little boys who attended your 
 
 Sunday school in C . Come and see me when you are 
 
 in my town.' 
 
 " 'I will,' I said, and put his name and address in my 
 notebook. 
 
 " 'But,' said he, 'if you ask for that name they may not 
 be able to tell you about me.' (I had written the name I 
 knew him by as a boy.) 'They call me "professor" down 
 there. I am principal of the schools and have ten teach- 
 ers under me. Next year will be my third there, and each 
 year has seen an increase in salary.' 
 
 "'What about your brother?' 
 
 " 'He is a chemist for the U Company.' 
 
 " 'I am glad to learn you have both done so well. You 
 
 are not sorry you went to Sunday school in C , are 
 
 you?' 
 
 "'No, indeed. That was the start to a better life. But 
 for that school we might still be in the mining camp dig- 
 ging coal, drinking whisky, and frittering life away to 
 no purpose.' " 
 
 Fruit in China from a Minnesota Seed 
 
 This interesting incident is from the experience of a Sun- 
 day-school missionary in the northwest : 
 
 "I went to the village of K where there was a 
 
 little mission Sunday school. It was the only English- 
 speaking service in the neighborhood. I engaged the town 
 hall for evangelistic services, and the people attended the 
 
APPENDIX F 157 
 
 meetings largely. Yet they seemed very indifferent, and 
 would scarcely speak to the Sunday-school missionary. 
 After a while their critical spirit gave way to kindlier 
 feelings, though the work seemed discouraging, and I 
 felt as though little had been accomplished. However, a 
 little home mission church was organized as a result of 
 those services. 
 
 "About three years ago I was in Minneapolis and called 
 
 on Rev. Dr. E . He showed me the photograph of 
 
 a young woman dressed in Chinese costume and said, 
 'Do you remember this young woman?' I did not, and he 
 said, 'Don't you remember the time when you went to 
 
 the town of K and held meetings there? This young 
 
 woman came into the church at that time, and now she is 
 a missionary in China.' " 
 
 Training- Workers for the Kingdom 
 
 A West Virginia missionary gives an instance of how 
 the little country Sunday school trains workers for the 
 city Sunday schools : 
 
 "The other day I visited Shelving Rock. This place 
 was, a few years ago, destitute of Sunday-school privileges. 
 I organized a school. The only available person to ask 
 
 as superintendent and teacher was Clinton G , a young 
 
 fellow who was teaching the district school. He con- 
 ducted the Sunday school for two years in a most profit- 
 able and pleasing manner. Some time ago when in 
 
 Parkersburg I met Mr. G and he took me to the room 
 
 in the largest church in the city where he conducts the 
 
 largest organized class of the city. Mr. G 's large 
 
 opportunity of to-day had its beginning in Shelving 
 Rock." 
 
 Again he writes : 
 
 "Seven or eight years ago I went to Greenmont. Three 
 teachers were employed in the district school there. I 
 visited every family in the community. The following 
 
 Sunday we organized a school. Joseph S was elected 
 
 superintendent. Now let me say that every Sunday from 
 
 that day to this Mr. and Mrs. S have been faithful 
 
 to their duties as instructors and leaders of more than one 
 hundred on the roll of their school. When I visit in their 
 home and see the noble work they are doing, I thank God 
 for the privilege of setting others to work. 
 
 "When I think of the two hundred and eighty workers 
 and the seventeen hundred and fifty pupils in these ne- 
 glected localities on m}" field, when I think of them lo- 
 cated in little schoolhouses almost without equipment. 
 
158 
 
 APPENDIX F 
 
 when I look into the bright, eager faces of those who 
 are hungering and thirsting for the glad tidings, I say 
 there is no work that pays so rich dividends as the work 
 of the Sunday-school missionary. Dividends in workers 
 — men and women trained up for God and Christian 
 citizenship." 
 
 Communities Transformed 
 
 "We note some interesting examples of the marvelous, 
 transforming power of the gospel," writes a mission- 
 ary. "Some time ago I visited a new frontier village, in 
 a cattle country, where thousands of cattle roamed the 
 plains, and through which a railroad had just been built. 
 Being informed of the godless character of the place, and 
 the need of gospel work in the community, I dropped in 
 and found three saloons and two general stores, a black- 
 smith shop, a small drug store, and a few others doing 
 business in tents. There were several families, some liv- 
 ing in small houses, others in tents. The saloons were 
 well patronized day and night by the cowboys from the 
 surrounding cattle ranches. The town had been 'shot up' 
 on several occasions by drunken cowboys. A small build- 
 ing had just been erected for school and church purposes; 
 there were two or three Christian families in the com- 
 munity that were hoping for the time to come when they 
 could have Sunday school and occasional preaching serv- 
 ice. We held a few meetings and organized a Sunday 
 school. The interest and attendance developed with every 
 service, and at the earnest request of the people we con- 
 tinued the meetings with the organization of a church in 
 view." 
 
 From Sunday School to Church in One Month 
 
 Developments of Sunday-school mission work are most 
 encouraging in the Dakotas. A missionary writes : 
 
 "We entered the new town of Souris September 21. 
 We found seven buildings, all in course of construction. 
 The first meetings was held in the unfinished drug store. 
 After clearing away the building material from a space 
 about twelve by sixteen feet, we placed some boards on 
 nail-kegs for seats. We had an enthusiastic audience of 
 forty-one, mostly adults. Two weeks later our Presby- 
 terial Sunday-school missionary held services in another 
 uncompleted building — the hardware store — which was well 
 attended. Up to this time railroad communication had 
 not been established. There was no schoolhouse or other 
 suitable building in which to hold the Sunday-school and 
 
APPENDIX F 
 
 159 
 
 church services which the people so much desired. Steps 
 were at once taken toward erecting a chapel, and within 
 a week enough was raised to pay for all the material, all 
 labor being donated. 
 
 "On October 20, one month after the work was started, 
 a Presbyterian church of eighteen members was organ- 
 ized, and during the next month a flourishing Sunday 
 school was established, and the chapel made ready for 
 occupancy. During this short time the town had grown 
 from seven uncompleted buildings to a city of one hundred 
 and nine buildings, tifty of which were business houses. 
 The ground on which the town stands was nothing but 
 a prairie homestead two months before this." 
 
 No Time to Go to Church 
 
 "In visiting in a neighborhood where I was holding 
 meetings I called on a prosperous farmer. He had a 
 wife and five small children. They told me they never 
 went to church ; they had no time. Their little boy and 
 girl, seven and eight years old, came one night, and asked 
 to be allowed to come again. The mother said : 'You 
 can if you fill the wood box.' The little girl asked leave 
 to go home from school early, filled the box, and attended 
 the meeting. After a few nights the parents came, bring- 
 ing all the family, and when the invitation was given to 
 those who wanted to be Christians, father and mother 
 stood, each holding a babe in arms. Since that time they 
 have been active in the Master's work." 
 
 Out of a Mountain Sunday School 
 
 One of the most efficient Sunday-school missionaries 
 in Tennessee, John H. Wright, found Christ in one of our 
 schools. At the age of twenty-five he could read but lit- 
 tle and was notoriously wild and wicked. On a Sunday 
 night in October, 1896, at the close of a gospel service 
 in a little schoolhouse on Clear Creek, West Virginia, 
 he was sitting with a crowd of boys. When the Bible 
 teacher asked all who wanted Christ as their Saviour to 
 arise, John with a look of determination on his face, got up. 
 He said, 'T do not want to accept Christ, but it 'pears like 
 sumthin' just keeps a holdin' of me back." But on the 
 third Sunday afternoon, October 15, in spite of the jeers 
 of the boys, he stayed after Sunday school to seek the 
 Lord. He had waited for that "quawr feelin'," the as- 
 suring experience of the mountaineer, but finally came, 
 just as he was, took Christ at his word, and soon was 
 
l6o APPENDIX F 
 
 praising God for saving his soul. At once he was filled 
 with an overwhelming desire to know the Word of God 
 and teach it. He said, "I want to get an education so 
 that I can teach the true Word of God." He was given 
 a class of boys in the Sunday school and labored earnestly 
 for the salvation of each one. He learned to read chiefly 
 from the Bible, spelling out the words as he went along. 
 He worked at logging with an elder brother and two 
 other wild fellows who tried in every way to get him to 
 swear, to drink, or in some way to "break over," but the 
 Lord kept him. 
 
 In February he went to live with an uncle in Illinois, 
 but before going he visited every home in that part of 
 Clear Creek Valley, begging unsaved ones to accept 
 Christ. From Illinois he wrote: "My uncle and aunt is 
 awful kind to me. They didn't have nary Bible in their 
 house when I came here. Uncle is a sinner, but she be- 
 longs to the church. I am going to try awful hard to 
 get uncle give his self to the Lord. There has been just 
 one meeting here since I came, and I get so lonesome 
 when I can't 'tend meeting and Sunday school." But 
 John went to work, and soon he wrote, "Well, we've got 
 a prayer meeting started up here and a Sunday school, and 
 I am a teacher." 
 
 During this period he was at a meeting of the Winona 
 Assembly, working his way by waiting on the table and 
 pumping the organ. At the close of an address by that 
 eminent Bible expositor, Rev. J. G. Cunningham, D.D., 
 of Edinburgh, Scotland, John came from his post up to 
 the doctor and said, "I hope some day to stand on the 
 platform and teach the people the Word of God, just like 
 you," showing his unswerving ambition and his implicit 
 faith. Later, he entered Moody Bible Institute, where he 
 studied nearly two years. Then he became a Sunday- 
 school missionary. 
 
 God has blessed the work under Mr. Wright's care, and 
 he is testifying with increasing power to the wonderful 
 grace of God. 
 
 Saved Through the Sunday School 
 
 A Sunday-school missionary went to the town of B , 
 
 near the Prior Mountains in Montana, held a preaching 
 service and organized a Sunday school. As the result of 
 this school a young man, the son of a horse thief, was 
 converted. This young man who used to spend his time 
 helping his father rustle horses is now a trusted govern- 
 ment servant, and has been the means of bringing his 
 
APPENDIX F l6l 
 
 mother to Christ. Thousands of others have been helped 
 in a similar way. 
 
 The Gospel for the Poor 
 
 "At a little place called Prairie View in the dry land 
 portion of northern Colorado, I organized a school in a 
 deserted claim shanty. Seats were improvised and about 
 twenty-tive people gathered to whom 1 delivered a short 
 address and then perfected the organization. 
 
 "Over in South Park, one hundred and fifty miles from 
 Denver, I found a little town surrounded by a prosper- 
 ous ranch community with a population in all of about 
 one hundred, and no religious services of any sort within 
 twenty-five miles. These people were anxious for serv- 
 ices, so I organized a Sunday school. The storekeeper 
 who has six children, was on hand with all his family, 
 and said he wanted the school and was willing to help pay 
 a teacher. The only entertainment these people have is 
 the dance and card playing, but they are anxious that 
 their children have the benefit of the Sunday school and 
 other religious services. I visited three points in the Clear 
 Creek Canon and found three mining camps without 
 preaching and only one with even a Sunday school. Three 
 women were holding on to a struggling school at one point, 
 and are very anxious for preaching." 
 
 How the Sunday School Drove Out the Dance Hall 
 
 "For a long time I have tried to start a Sunday school 
 
 in K , but everything seemed to be against us. The 
 
 people were indifferent and refused to help in the work. 
 A large pavilion in the village holds dances every other 
 Saturday night, and beer and whisky are sold on the 
 side. As a result there are many fights and disturbances. 
 Bad books and Sabbath desecration together with pro- 
 fanity and lack of parental control of children made it 
 almost impossible to have or keep up a religious service 
 in this place. This town is between two railroads, nine 
 miles each way north and south, and is the only place for 
 forty miles on a straight line west where Sunday-school 
 and church work was completely sidetracked. I held 
 three meetings and organized the Sunday school, putting 
 a mother of three little boys in as superintendent. She 
 said, "We must have some place for our children to go 
 on Sunday.' With the help of her husband and some of 
 the younger ladies the work was started and they are 
 keeping it going." 
 
l62 APPENDIX F 
 
 How a Feud Was Ended 
 
 "At a recent communion service in J church, this 
 
 touching incident occurred. The session came forward. 
 One of the elders was a former leader of a family in the 
 feudal fights, but since his conversion he has been an 
 exemplary Christian for some years. Among those to be 
 
 received was W W , a former leader of his family 
 
 in the feudal fights, his wife and several children. Deep 
 emotion moved the congregation and many were the tear- 
 stained eyes, when the elder stepped forward and gave his 
 former antagonist in many battles, the right hand of fel- 
 lowship. The Prince of Peace conquered. A peace treaty 
 between these men and their families was sealed that day 
 as together they came to the Lord's table. Many hearts 
 in that community were filled with praise unspeakable." 
 
 A Hundred Miles for a Preacher 
 
 "In Wyoming I visited a town of four hundred people. 
 There was no religious work of any kind in the town. I 
 could not find an out-and-out Christian man or woman. 
 It was here that a cowboy was killed in a saloon brawl. 
 His friends sent for the nearest preacher, one hundred 
 miles away, but he could not come. Finally the nineteen- 
 year-old girl who was there teaching school was forced 
 to conduct the funeral in order to give the Christian 
 burial requested by his parents in the East. This she did 
 in the presence of a crowd of saloonkeepers, gamblers, 
 cowboys and scarlet women in the dance hall. In another 
 town the only Christian woman told me she had con- 
 ducted fourteen funerals in twelve months, and that only 
 two of those deceased had died a natural death. She 
 said, 'We have no use for God out here till we get sick 
 or some one dies and then we think of the God our mother 
 knew back East.' " 
 
 Everyone Helping in the Sunday School 
 
 "Some two months ago," writes a missionary, "I visited 
 a very needy community where the forces of evil flourished. 
 I had been there once, about a year ago, and out of a 
 school of forty children and others, besides about fifty 
 local residents, I had three women, a man and a little 
 baby for an audience, and they did want a Sunday school. 
 Two months ago when I went there — it was on a week 
 day — I went into the day school and saw the bright faces 
 of so many children, I decided they should not beat me 
 
APPENDIX F 163 
 
 this time, and I went and invited the people to come to 
 the schoolhouse at the closing hour of the school. A 
 few of the mothers came, and while I had every child 
 present for my subject, I managed to shame them into 
 doing something. I got a lady to say that she would 
 superintend the school, and the battle was won. I went 
 there later to see what they were doing, and found that 
 they have from forty to fifty every Sunday in the little 
 schoolhouse. Even the saloonkeeper comes." 
 
 Organizing Under Difficulties 
 
 "I wish I could give you an idea of my experience 
 
 this month with the schools at P and D , both in 
 
 the Northern Peninsula. The P district is a little 
 
 settlement lying several miles back from the railroad, and 
 the roads are almost impassable most of the summer 
 because of the swamps. I had to walk on logs and poles 
 and jump from one dry place to another, and while doing 
 so, had to fight the finest specimens of mosquitoes I have 
 ever seen. After passing a deserted lumber camp — the 
 only houses I had seen — I had to go through another 
 swamp before I found the settlement. And in going into 
 a little clearing, I spoke to the farmer and told him who 
 I was and that I wanted to hold a meeting. I wish I 
 could describe the welcome I got and the joy of that 
 father as I spoke of my work. I called on all the families, 
 and next morning in the little log schoolhouse, I preached 
 to twenty, and organized a Sunday school. Only two 
 persons present had ever been members of any church. 
 After service I had to refuse two urgent invitations for 
 dinner, because I had another appointment at two o'clock 
 in the afternoon and did not have time to eat; so after 
 promising to come and see them again I went off to my 
 other meeting, thanking God for the privilege of bringing 
 his message of love to these hvmgry people and satisfied 
 that after all 'it is worth while.' " 
 
 No More Sunday Work 
 
 "At L I found that the Sunday school had been 
 
 discontinued for some time, owing to the lack of a super- 
 intendent. However, on my last visit, I found a new fam- 
 ily, a man and his wife, who had recently arrived from 
 the East. They were both religious people, and totally 
 unaccustomed to the godless ways of the West. I found 
 the wife at home on Sunday morning; she would gladly 
 aid in Sunday-school work. 'But,' she said, 'my husband 
 
l64 APPENDIX F 
 
 is working to-day for the first time on the Sabbath ; but 
 he don't like it a bit. He is up the gulch there around 
 that point. I wish you would go and see him.' When I 
 introduced myself to him a few minutes later, he literally 
 wilted and sat down on a rock and looked at his feet. 
 Finally, he looked up and said, "Brother Ellis, I am 
 ashamed of myself; I hate this Sunday work.' I told him 
 I was glad to hear him say it, and hoped he would hate 
 it more and more. Then he looked at his feet and said 
 thoughtfully, 'What is a fellow going to do when he can't 
 get a job unless he works on Sunday? I'll give you fifty 
 dollars if you will tell me where I can get a job at 
 carpentering without being compelled to work on Sunday. 
 Well, no, I can't afford that much, either, but I would 
 like to get work somehow. I have been unhappy all the 
 morning, just miserable ; this is the first time I ever 
 worked on Sunday ; I think it will be the last, too.' 
 
 "He could not attend the afternoon services, but his 
 wife was present, and she, Mrs. B , was elected super- 
 intendent of the Sunday school. The next week, Mrs. 
 
 B wrote to me : . . . 'As for myself, I only worked 
 
 the Sunday you saw me ; however, I had to quit the work 
 I had, as they kept no one except those who can work on 
 Sundays. Yet I am proud to say that the loss is gained 
 in another way, for I have the proud honor of being 
 teacher in the senior class of the school.' 
 
 "Let us hope that the Sunday school will help him to 
 maintain the stand he was led to take by that morning 
 call of your Sunday-school missionary in the gulch and 
 among the trees." 
 
 In a Nebraska Log House 
 
 "On Sunday morning we went to the schoolhouse, after 
 having thoroughly canvassed the community during the 
 week. I wish I could tell you about that schoolhouse. 
 It was a little log cabin stuck up on the side of the hill. 
 One side was dug into the ground and the other side stuck 
 up on stilts. When I looked at it I thought of the fine 
 big schoolhouses in our towns and cities, and felt sorry 
 for the boys and girls that had to go to school in such 
 a place. But we couldn't change it then, and so the little 
 boy made a fire in the old stove and I found an old broom 
 and swept out the dirt and papers. Soon the people came 
 and we had an audience of four women, one man and 
 about a dozen children. 
 
 "They all wanted a Sunday school, but who would be 
 their leader? Not one person had ever heard a prayer 
 
APPENDIX F 165 
 
 in that neighborhood and it would not seem to be the 
 right thing to have a person for superintendent who could 
 not lead in prayer. We nominated every woman in the 
 house and then the only man, and all refused. What 
 were we to do? We must have a Sunday school, but we 
 could not have it without a superintendent, and we must 
 have a person who could pray and nobody would under- 
 take to do that. The situation was critical. I then ap- 
 pealed directly to the old gentleman. He blushed and 
 got up and went out. I continued my talk and he soon 
 came in again. I saw there was a struggle going on in 
 his mind. When I appealed to him again he arose, and, 
 greatly agitated, said : 'I have been a Christian, a pray- 
 ing man, a superintendent of the Sunday school, was a 
 happy Christian at times, and thought I had a good hope 
 of heaven. Since I came West, away off here in the 
 wilderness, I have given it all up. At first I tried to 
 maintain my profession, tried to observe Sunday and read 
 the Scriptures, but soon got cold and indifferent and soon 
 I neglected and forsook it all, and now I am known in 
 this community as a godless man, and it would not do 
 for me to be superintendent. It would be a disgrace to 
 the cause.' 
 
 "I appealed to him to reform, to come back to the Lord, 
 to forsake his godless ways and God would surely re- 
 ceive him and would again make him a happy and useful 
 Christian. He consented, and took the school, and he and 
 his daughter have kept it going every summer for several 
 years." 
 
INDEX 
 
 Adams, Presbytery of, 35. 
 Arizona, 94. 
 Arkansas, 92. 
 
 B 
 Bainton, Rev. H. W., 71. 
 Baxter, Rev. W. W., 86. 
 Bequests, 137. 
 Board of Publication and 
 
 Sabbath-School Work, 
 
 Reorganization of, 7. 
 Brown, Rev. Joseph, 39. 
 Butterfield, Rev. George C, 
 
 no. 
 
 C 
 California, 106. 
 Child, The Study of, 18. 
 Children, Winning the, 127. 
 Children's Day, 136. 
 Churches, Development of, 
 
 35- 
 Churches, Forerunner of, 
 
 9: 
 
 Citizenship, Better, 117. 
 
 Clapp, Rev. James B., 46. 
 
 Colorado, 67. 
 
 Currens, Rev. J. B., 61. 
 
 D 
 
 Dillard, Rev. George T. 
 (D.D.), 119. 
 
 E 
 Educational Superintend- 
 ents, Duties of, 26. 
 Educational Work, 25. 
 Ellis, Rev. Edwin M., 47. 
 
 Ferguson, Rev. S. R. 
 
 (D.D.), 52. 
 Forbes, Rev. W. O. (D.D.), 
 
 19, 102. 
 Foreign Missionaries, 70. 
 Foreigners, Colporteur 
 
 Work for, 136. 
 Foreigners, Publications for, 
 
 140. 
 Frontier, The, 5. 
 Frontier, The New, 21. 
 
 Grant, Edwin H., 47. 
 Georgia, 120. 
 
 H 
 Henry, Rev. Alexander 
 
 (D.D.). II. 
 Hicks, Rev. Arthur, no. 
 Home Missions, 125. 
 Homesteaders, The, 41. 
 Humble, Rev. Dr. C, 88. 
 
 Idaho, 74. 
 
 Illinois, 51. 
 
 Illustrations, Missionary, 
 
 149, 165. 
 Indiana, 62. 
 Iowa, 52. 
 Iron Mountain, Presbytery 
 
 of, 59- 
 Irrigation, 72, no. 
 
 Jewell, Rev. David A., 62. 
 167 
 
i68 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Kansas, 55. 
 
 K 
 
 Literature for Reference, 
 
 136. 
 Louisiana, 90. 
 Lumber Camps, 103. 
 
 M 
 McClintock, Rev. J. C. 
 
 (D.D.), 22. 
 Michigan, 62. 
 Milligan, Rev. J. V. (D.D.), 
 
 106. 
 Mining Camps, 95. 
 Minnesota, 32. 
 Missionary, An Itinerant, 
 
 39- 
 
 Missouri, 57. 
 Montana, 41. 
 Mormonism, 78, 79. 
 Mountaineers, Southern, 83. 
 
 N 
 
 Nebraska, 59. 
 
 Negro, Educational Oppor- 
 tunities of, 116. 
 
 Negro, Foundation Work 
 for, 119. 
 
 Negro, Statistics, 116. 
 
 Nevada, 109. 
 
 New Mexico, 94. 
 
 New Settlements, 76. 
 
 New Settlers, Needs of, 42. 
 
 North Dakota, 40. 
 
 Northwest, Development of, 
 
 5- 
 
 O 
 
 O'Brien, Captain A. R., 55. 
 Ohio, 62. 
 Oklahoma, 90. 
 Oregon, 104. 
 Organization, Field, 12. 
 
 Pecos Valley, go. 
 
 Pioneer, A Missionary, 61. 
 
 Pioneer Districts, loj. 
 
 Provine, Rev. A. W. (D.D.), 
 94- 
 
 R 
 
 Rally Day, 136. 
 
 Rankin, Rev. Hugh W., 76. 
 
 Results, A Specimen of, 69. 
 
 Results, Table of, 147, 148. 
 
 Rural Districts, Reconstruc- 
 tion of, 24. 
 
 Schureman, W. H. 68. 
 Scotton, Thomas, 35. 
 South Dakota, 41. 
 Spiritual Destitution, Ex- 
 tent of, 19. 
 Study Classes, Questions 
 
 for, 131, 135. 
 Sulzer, Robert F., 34. 
 Sunday-school Institutes, 28. 
 Sunday School, Statistics 
 
 of, 146, 148. 
 Sunday Schools, Organiz- 
 ing, 54- 
 Sunday-school Missions, 
 
 Administration of, 10. 
 Sunday-school Missions, 
 
 Catholicity of, 126. 
 Sunday-school Missions, 
 
 History of, 3. 
 Sunday-school Missions in 
 
 Cities, 58. 
 Sunday-school Missions, 
 
 No Waste in, 13. 
 Sunday-school Missions, 
 
 Principles of, 8. 
 Sunday-school Missions, 
 
 Value of, 23. 
 Sunday-school Missionaries, 
 
 Consecration of, 46. 
 Sunday-school Missionaries, 
 
 Cost of Supporting, 137. 
 Sunday-school Workers, 
 
 Development of, 87. 
 Supervision, D e n o m i n a- 
 
 tional, 4. 
 
INDEX 
 
 169 
 
 Teacher Training, Classes 
 
 for, 28. 
 Texas, 92. 
 Twin Falls, Idaho, TJ. 
 
 U 
 Utah, 78. 
 
 W 
 Washington, loi. 
 
 Westminster Standard of 
 
 Excellence, 27. 
 Wisconsin, 37. 
 Worden, Rev. James A, 
 
 (D.D.), 10. 
 Wyoming, 71. 
 
 Y 
 Young People's Work, De- 
 partment of, 143, 145. 
 
Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 01114 2223 
 
 Date Due