and 
 
 PRISONS 
 
 A LABOR*/ LOVE 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 OR 
 
 A LABOR OF LOVE 
 
 BY 
 
 , 
 
 K? WH 
 
 ELIZABETH K WHEATON 
 
 ^ 
 
 Prison Evangelist * 
 
 An account of nearly Twenty-two Years of Gospel Work, seeking 
 
 the lost, in Prisons, Reformatories, Stockades, Rescue 
 
 Homes, Saloons and Dives, and on the 
 
 Streets, Railway Trains, etc. 
 
 'He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come 
 again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." Psa. 126:6. 
 
 For I was an hungered and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave 
 
 me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye 
 
 clothed me ; I was sick, and ye visited me ; I 
 
 was IN PRISON, and ye came unto 
 
 me." Matthew 25: 35, 36. 
 
 CHAS. M. KELLEY 
 
 Tabor, Iowa. 
 

 
 COPYRIGHT, 1906, 
 
 BY 
 
 CIIAS. M. KELLEY. 
 
.* 
 
 Bancroft Ubrair 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 i 
 
 To the 
 
 RAILROAD OFFICIALS who have so generously and cheerfully provided 
 me transportation; their EMPLOYEES, whose kindness has so many 
 Ul times lightened the weariness of my journeys; the STATE and 
 
 PRISON OFFICIALS, who have heartily welcomed me and set be- 
 fore me open doors; the THOUSANDS OF PRISONERS AND 
 OTHERS who have shown by word and deed their apprecia- 
 tion of my efforts to help them to a better life; to the 
 ^ many who have in any way ministered to my necessi- 
 
 ties or offered an encouraging word by the way, 
 and to my SPIRITUAL CHILDREN, these pages are 
 DC cheerfully inscribed by 
 
 O THE AUTHOR. 
 
THE HARVEST TIME. 
 
 The seed I have scattered in springtime with weeping, 
 And watered with tears and with dews from on high, 
 
 Another may shout while the harvester's reaping, 
 Shall gather my grain in the sweet by and by. 
 
 CHORUS 
 
 Over and over, yes, deeper and deeper, 
 
 My heart is pierced through with life 's sorrowing cry, 
 But the tears of the sower and the songs of the reaper 
 
 Shall mingle together in joy by and by; 
 By and by, by and by, by and by, by and by, 
 
 Yes the tears of the sower and the songs of the reaper 
 Shall mingle together in joy by and by. 
 
 Another may reap what in springtime I've planted, 
 
 Another rejoice in the fruit of my pain, 
 Not knowing my tears when in summer I fainted, 
 
 While toiling, sad-hearted, in sunshine and rain. 
 
 The thorns will have choked and the summer sun blasted 
 
 The most of the seed which in springtime I 've sown, 
 But the Lord who has watched while my 'weary toil lasted 
 Will give me a harvest for what I have done. 
 
 W. A. SPENCER. 
 Words and music copyright, John J, Hood, Philadelphia, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 DEAR READER: Over twenty years have passed since 
 God called and commissioned me to go to those that were 
 bound. Within five years from the time I entered upon 
 the work, I had been enabled to preach the gospel in every 
 state and territory and had held meetings in nearly every 
 state-prison in the United States and in the prisons in Can- 
 ada and Mexico. My first trip to Europe was made in 
 1890. I have not only held meetings in prison, but have 
 endeavored to "preach the gospel to every creature" to 
 those in authority, governors, prison and railroad officials, 
 aad trainmen, as well as to those in churches, missions, pris- 
 ons, hospitals, alms-houses, dives, brothels, saloons and the 
 slums. In all places God has fulfilled His promise to be 
 with me and has given me evidence that my labor was not 
 in vain in Him. 
 
 When I was made to feel that the Lord required me to 
 write of the victories He had wrought and of the work 
 yet waiting to be done I was amazed and am still, though it 
 is more than ten years since God first told me to write for 
 Him. Early left an orphan, my childhood was spent in 
 the country where I had to walk two miles across the fields 
 and through deep snows in order to get to school, and my 
 life-work has been crippled by my lack of education. How 
 then can I write? Yet the command of the Lord has been 
 upon me and the cry of the needy has rung in my ears. 
 Words cannot describe the cruel wrongs, the awful injus- 
 tice, the scenes of desolation and degradation that have 
 come to my knowledge. Much has been done, much is 
 being done; and yet, O how much still needs to be done, 
 
X PREFACE 
 
 in behalf of those in prison ! Wrongs that are indescribable 
 still cry to God for vengeance in this our own land. Cru- 
 elties that are beyond the power of language to describe 
 still exist, and the cry of the oppressed comes up to the ear 
 of Him who has declared "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." 
 
 One reason I have for writing, is to show the great need 
 of Holy Ghost workers those whose hearts God has 
 touched to carry the gospel to those whose lives are dark- 
 ened, blighted and blasted, and tell them of a mighty deliv- 
 erance from the bondage of sin, and of freedom in Christ. 
 
 Reader, if you could see the many inside prison walls 
 going insane, you would not wonder that, by the grace of 
 God, I am determined to prosecute my work as I have 
 never done before, to save these poor prisoners from despair, 
 and to do with my might what my hands find to do. 
 
 I have kept no diary or journal and nearly all of ten 
 years' correspondence was destroyed at one time by fire. 
 Hence I have written largely from memory, and without 
 any attempt to give an orderly and connected account of 
 my work. I have endeavored to put before you, dear 
 reader, such glimpses of the work and the field as would 
 fairly illustrate that which has been done and that which 
 needs to be done. 
 
 I ask for my imperfect work your kind consideration, and 
 trust that you will overlook my many mistakes and pray 
 God's blessing to rest upon the effort; and if I can only 
 awaken in your hearts a deeper compassion for lost girls 
 and fallen men and the heart-broken friends who mourn 
 the loss of loved ones, I shall not have written in vain. 
 
 In the selection, arrangement and preparation of manu- 
 script, I have been assisted by several friends who have 
 been much interested in the work, whose labor and patience 
 
PREFACE Xi 
 
 r can only be rewarded by Him whom we serve. Among 
 these are Brother and Sister Shaw, of Chicago, who have so 
 kindly given the introduction to the work, having full 
 knowledge of its contents and ability to judge of its merits. 
 I will also mention Brother and Sister Kelley, of Tabor, 
 Iowa, who have rendered valuable assistance. 
 
 With many prayers and tears I send this work forth, 
 hoping it may find a place on your book-shelf and a corner 
 in your heart, and that you and I, dear reader, may meet 
 where there are no prison walls, iron bars, nor breaking 
 hearts. And may there be gathered there with us at Jesus' 
 feet many of those whom we are striving to comfort and 
 save, while together we crown our Savior Lord of all, and 
 through an endless eternity worship Him who gave His 
 life a ransom for the lost "because He loved them so." 
 
 "MOTHER WHEATON." 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 This world is, to a large extent, a great prison house. 
 Nearly all of its inhabitants are prisoners surro'unded by 
 walls of sin and darkness. Many are bound down by the 
 curse of rum, others by the besetting sins of lust, unholy 
 temper, envy, revenge, malice, hatred, jealousy, prejudice, 
 pride, covetousness, or selfishness resulting from a carnal 
 mind. Out of the vast multitudes that are led captive by 
 the devil at his will, a few that have violated human law 
 have been sentenced to various prisons and reformatories. 
 This book has much to say about the men and women 
 behind prison walls. It records the sad story of many 
 prisoners in a way that very few can read without being 
 moved to tears and that will awaken sympathy in the hard- 
 est hearts. It also tells of the work of God among pris- 
 oners both in this and other countries. It records some of 
 the brightest of Christian experiences on record, showing 
 how many prisoners that have been slaves to worse than 
 human law and have lived in greater darkness than in the 
 prison dungeon, have been made free by being translated 
 into the light that outshines the noonday sun, and how 
 they have been enabled to live noble, Christian lives behind 
 the bars. 
 
 We are well acquainted with the author, having known 
 her for several years and having had the privilege of enter- 
 taining her in our home more or less during that time. 
 This acquaintance has enabled us to know something of 
 the burden that rests upon her soul for prisoners. She has 
 doubtless spent more time in the work, visited more prisons 
 and traveled farther than any other living prison worker. 
 She has visited practically all of the prisons of the United 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION 
 
 States and Canada and most of them many times, and twice 
 she has crossed the sea. Her mission has been a mission 
 of loving service, with but little financial reward. But the 
 Master who laid this work upon her heart has given her 
 rich reward for all her toil and privation and suffering, 
 for many have been converted through her instrumentality. 
 Some have gone to their reward. Many others, both in 
 and out of prison, are living honest, useful lives. 
 
 Had this work been written only for the hasty reader 
 who has but a few hours at the most to give, much that it 
 contains might better have been omitted; but such as these 
 can easily select from its pages that which is most to their 
 liking, while those who are deeply interested in the work 
 of soul-saving, as well as the prisoner whose spare hours 
 drag heavily and slowly, will here find food for study and 
 encouragement that will repay for many days of careful 
 reading. 
 
 In many respects, such a work as is here represented has 
 never been done by any other person. For these hundreds 
 of pages give but a few glimpses, as it were, of the work 
 "Mother Wheaton" has done. We have assisted her in 
 gleaning from the many hundreds of letters still in her 
 possession (though much of her correspondence was de- 
 stroyed by fire) and in arranging and preparing matter for 
 publication. We have listened as with eyes filled with tears 
 she has told us of the needs of the work, and with every 
 day thus spent we have become more deeply interested in 
 the work to which her life has been given. In a memorial 
 service it was said of the late Bishop William Taylor : "He 
 was not an organizer nor an administrator ; not a statesman, 
 in the ordinary use of those terms. He was rather a great 
 religious pioneer. He blazed pathways through unknown 
 
INTRODUCTION XV 
 
 moral wilds, and left the work of organization mainly to 
 those who might follow after." Such, in her field of labor, 
 has largely been the work of Mother Wheaton. 
 
 No place has been far enough away, no stockade hard 
 enough to reach, no day warm enough or cold enough or 
 stormy enough, no prison official or stockade captain suffi- 
 ciently abusive, to discourage her when she felt that the 
 Master bade her go forward. 
 
 With a burning love for all the sinful and all the needy, 
 she has gone from north to south and from east to west, 
 seeking the lost as one seeks for hidden treasure. Through 
 nights of weariness and days of toil she has sought them 
 and loved them and wept over them, man or woman or 
 child, as a mother weeps over and loves her own. She has 
 borne their burdens and shared their sorrows ever bring- 
 ing to them the cheering word, the testimony or inspiring 
 song, the faithful warning, the earnest prayer, the plain 
 gospel message, the hearty hand-clasp, the loving "God 
 bless you." 
 
 We believe and pray that these pages may be greatly 
 used of God to reach thousands of hearts and stir up many 
 to carry forward the work so dear to her, when "Mother 
 Wheaton" has crossed over to meet those that are waiting 
 to welcome her on the other side. 
 
 Yours, in Jesus' love, 
 
 ETTA E. SHAW. 
 S. B. SHAW. 
 
 Chicago, 111., 1906. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEB I. 
 
 BIOGRAPHY AND CALL TO THE WORK. 
 
 Birth Left an Orphan Conversion Marriage Sorrow Sanc- 
 tification Call to Prison Work Family Keunion Sketch of My 
 Life by My Brother 23 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 LETTER TO MY PRISON CHILDREN. 
 
 My Limited Education Disappointments A Friend in Jesus. 
 38 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE PRISONER. 
 
 In the Shadow of the Wall (poem) Letters to Prison Officers 
 Worth While (poem) Prejudice A Look into the Cell Insane 
 Prisoners All Prisoners Not Criminal Prepared to Die 43 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 A BRIEF PEN PICTURE OF PRISON LIFE. 
 
 The Buildings Entrance Chapel and Dining-room Chapel 
 Service The Cell-house Workshops Hospital 59 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 LETTERS OF INTRODUCTION AND KIND WORDS FROM GOVERNORS, PRISON 
 OFFICIALS, ETC. 
 
 From Governors Prison Wardens Chaplains 67 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 SOME OF MY PRISON BOYS. 
 
 A Prisoner's Conversion as Shown by His Letters A Talented 
 Young Man Under Death Sentence Commuted Finally Pardoned 
 Letters Sentenced for Life His Letters Faithful Inside and 
 Outside of Prison Walls .. . 87 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 LETTERS FROM CO-WORKERS AND MY PRISON GIRLS. 
 Letters from Sister Co-workers From My Prison-bound Girls. 
 117 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 INCIDENTS IN MY PRISON WORK. 
 
 Letter from the Prisoners at Chester, 111. Extract of Chaplain's 
 Beport Suicide of a Prisoner "I Have no Friends" Letters 
 
XV111 CONTENTS 
 
 from Chaplain Starr A Way Opened in Answer to Prayer A Let- 
 ter from a Governor A Woman Converted and Healed A Change 
 Wrought A Chaplain in My Audience Impressed to Tarry En- 
 couragement by the Way Cruel Neglect Another Suicide Just 
 Out of Prison Dying in Prison Does It Pay? Saved and Preach- 
 ing the Gospel In Solitary Confinement Crepe on the Door In a 
 Police Station Burned in His Cell The Innocent in Bonds Con- 
 fessed Her Guilt Under Sentence of Death "The Beligion Mother 
 Had" 135 
 
 CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 CONVERSION OF DESPERATE PRISONERS PREVENTS A TERRIBLE MUTINY. 
 
 Welcomed in Prison An After-Service Plan of the Kutiny 
 Havoc of Sin Letters 161 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 REMARKABLE CONVERSION AND EXPERIENCE OF GEO. H. COLGROVE. 
 
 His Own Story Infidel Literature Burglary and Murder Life 
 Sentence Conversion Study of the Scriptures Bible Class Teacher 
 An Enemy Kindly Treated A Pardon Kef used Second Effort to 
 Secure a Pardon Letters Final Illness and Triumphant Death. 169 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 WORK IN STOCKADES AND PRISON CAMPS IN SOUTHERN STATES. 
 
 Eace Question Letters of Introduction and Recommendation 
 A Stockade Letter to a Governor Beply of Prison Manager Plea 
 for Women Convicts Bloodhounds Coal Mines A Touching Inci- 
 dent First Meeting in a Prison Camp Eide on Engine of a Coal 
 Train First Eailroad Pass Eide on a Mule 188 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 STOCKADES AND PRISON CAMPS CONTINUED. 
 
 Novel Conveyances Assisting a Colored Minister Through 
 Danger Alone Prostrate Among Prisoners A Meeting at Day 
 Dawn Helping to Bury a Prisoner Wreck of a Coal Train Sugar 
 Camps Eide in a Cart In a Gambling Saloon Condition of Con- 
 victs Unjustly Condemned Need of Reform 212 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 WORK IN FT. MADISON, IOWA, AND SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO. 
 
 My First Effort for Service in a Prison Kindness of Officers 
 and Men Letters from Officials Work in Santa Fe, N. Mex. Three 
 Christian Men Pardoned A Forty Years' Sentence Kind Words 
 from Governor and Superintendent 241 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 GONE HOME FROM THE SCAFFOLD. 
 
 Special Mission to Doomed Men Indifferent but Finally Con- 
 verted Letters Mother's Prayers Claimed to Be Innocent 
 
CONTENTS XIX 
 
 Hardened in Crime Ten Men under Death Sentence Conversion 
 of a Jewish Boy Mysteriously Guided In Long Expectation Sen- 
 tence Commuted A Man Deceived Interceded for a Boy Went to 
 the Scaffold Singing A Prominent Official Recent Cases 254 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WORK IN CHURCHES AND MISSIONS. 
 
 Provided with Food in Answer to Prayer A Great Revival 
 A Man Saved from Suicide Letters from Pastors and Others 
 Church of the Redeemer in Baltimore Successful Meetings Young 
 Man Called to the Ministry A Colored Woman Saved and Preach- 
 ing Incidents Saved by a Hymn 294 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 PREACHING THE GOSPEL ON RAILWAY TRAINS. 
 
 Accidental Death of My Nephew My First Trip by Rail Ex- 
 perience of a Railroad Man Transportation A Kind Conductor 
 Interesting Services Train Saved from Wreck A Train in Danger 
 Impressed to Leave the Train Helped to Care for a Wounded 
 Man Conductor's "God Bless You" A Woman's Faith Encour- 
 aged Riding in a Parlor Car Favor to the Railroad Company 313 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 STREET AND OPEN AIR. 
 
 Poem Permits to Hold Street Meetings From a Missionary 
 My First Street Meeting A Wonderful Conversion Became a 
 Preacher The Blind Encouraged Forbidden to Preach on the 
 Street Thought They Saw a Ghost Hurt by a Saloonkeeper 
 Warned to Leave the City In Jail 328 
 
 RESCUE WORK. 
 
 "A Mother's Plea" (poem) A Plea for our Sisters Drunken 
 Women and Men Assaulted in a Dive Attempts Suicide A Girl 
 Saved A Girl Rejected at a Rescue Home Neglected by the 
 Churches Visits to Hospitals Kind Tributes The Prodigal Daugh- 
 ter (poem) 349 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 WORK IN CANADA AND MEXICO. 
 
 Street Meetings in Hamilton In London, Ontario A Girl Res- 
 cued In Kingston Stoned in Quebec Victory in Toronto In Vic- 
 toria, B. C. Work in Mexico A Bull Fight Wept with Condemned 
 Men Attacked by a Fierce Dog Ministered to a Sufferer 365 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ACROSS THE SEA. 
 
 On the Ocean In a Foreign Land Preaching in Glasgow My 
 Life in Danger A Song Stops a Row Arrested for Singing 
 Tumult in a Dive Mob of Drunken Women Letter from America 
 In Paisley Return 'to America Second Visit to Europe Expe- 
 riences in London Safe Return to America Letter from Scot- 
 land.. 372 
 
'XX CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 TRAVEL AND TOIL. 
 
 Two Nights' Service One Weeks' Work A Profitable Trip- 
 Six Weeks' Service Eecent Work Another Trip 395 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 LETTERS FROM PRISONERS. 431 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 KIND WORDS FROM FRIENDS. 
 
 From H. L. Hastings Mrs. H. L. Hastings E. E. Byrum, 
 Author and Editor Mother of a Prisoner Prisoner's Daughter 
 An Editor Ex-Prisoner Miscellaneous 477 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 SKETCHES FROM PRESS REPORTS. 491 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 FURNISHED UNTO EVERY GOOD WORK. 
 
 "Who Will Man the Life Boat?" (poem) Adaptation Needed 
 The Masses Not Reached My Boy in India Preaching the Gospel 
 in the Pesthouse How the Lord Provides Miscellaneous Inci- 
 dents 530 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 SELECTIONS FROM MY SCRAPBOOK. 
 
 Author of Flow r er Mission Day Flower Day at the Prison 
 Lines by a Prisoner Take This Message to My Mother Not Lonely 
 Now Jesus Is Looking On How God Calls Missionaries Out of 
 Prison Cells Outside the Prison Walls If We Knew Little Graves 
 The Mother's Warning Harry's Remorse Twenty-Thirty-Four 
 His Mother's Song Perfect Peace Sweet Revenge No Telephone 
 in Heaven A True Hero Perfect Through Faith The Kid 
 Charged with Murder Mother's Face Only Sixteen The Dress 
 Question 547 
 
 SONGS. 
 
 1. "Life's Railway to Heaven." 
 
 2. "Meet Me There." 
 
 3.' "God Bless My Boy." 
 
 4. "The Great Judgment Morning." 
 
 5. ' ' My Name in Mother 's Prayer. ' ' 
 
 6. "Over There." 
 
 7. "This Way." 
 
 8. "She's More to Be Pitied." 
 
 9. "Some Mother's Child." 
 
 10. "Tell My Dear Old Mother." 
 
 11. "When the Death-bell Shall Toll." 
 
 12. "The End of the Way." 
 
CONTENTS XXI 
 
 APPENDIX. 596 
 
 The Personnel of Prison Management. By Warden C. E. Haddox. 
 Meditations of a Prisoner. 
 
 Discourse on ' ' The Agony in the Garden. ' ' By a Prisoner. 
 Directory of Prisons and Eeformatories. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 Ohio State Prison 27 
 
 Family Group 34 
 
 John Eyder 34 
 
 Giving the Boys Counsel 42 
 
 With Insane Prisoners 52 
 
 Prisoners Marching 58 
 
 Prison Chapel and Dining Room 60 
 
 Corridor in Cell House 62 
 
 New Federal Prison at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan 66 
 
 The Old Tombs, New Tombs, New York 80 
 
 Personal Work 86 
 
 Administration Building, Mitchelville, Iowa 115 
 
 Campus and Play-ground, Girls' Industrial School, Mitchel- 
 ville, la 116 
 
 A Chaplain 's Residence 118 
 
 Women 's Prison, Allegheny, Pa 121 
 
 Group of Girls in an Industrial School 132 
 
 Southern Illinois State Prison at Chester 134 
 
 Interior of Chapel, Dining Apartment, and Row of Cells, Ches- 
 ter, 111 160 
 
 Geo. H. Colgrove 169 
 
 Smelter and Work Shops, Chester, 111 186 
 
 Woman Convict at Work in the Field 195 
 
 Convicts Getting Out Coal 198 
 
 Prison at Santa Fe, N. Mex 240 
 
 Church of the Redeemer, Baltimore, Md 303 
 
 A Railroad Engine 312 
 
 Miss Josephine Cowgill 329 
 
 Mother Prindle 361 
 
 State Prison, Joliet, 111 394 
 
 Prison at Deer Lodge, Mont 397 
 
 Criminal Insane Hospital, Chester, 111 408 
 
 Prison at Huntsville, Tex 410 
 
 Group of Delegates at Prison Congress, 1904 414 
 
 Industrial Reform School, Hutchinson, Kan 416 
 
 Industrial School, Whittier, Cal 418 
 
 Prisons at Jackson, Mich., Deer Lodge, Mont., and Folsom, Cal. . 430 
 
 A Ward in Prison Hospital 445 
 
 Kitchen and Dining Room 455 
 
 Drug Department in Prison Hospital 475 
 
 Mother Wheaton 490 
 
 Ruth en a, India Famine Boy 535 
 
 State Prison, Anamosa, Iowa 546 
 
"Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer 
 Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice 
 Eise like a fountain for me night and day. 
 For what are men better than sheep or goats 
 That nourish a blind life within the brain, 
 If, knowing God, they lift not the hands of prayer 
 Both for themselves and those who call them friend! 
 For so the whole round earth is every way 
 Bound by gold chains about the feet of God." 
 
 Tennyson. 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 OR 
 
 A LABOR OF LOVE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Biography and Call to the Work. 
 
 I was born May 10, 1844, in Wayne County, Ohio. My 
 parents, John and Mary Van Nest Ryder, were honest, 
 hard working people, and were earnest Christians. One 
 year after my birth, my father died, leaving my mother 
 with five little children three boys and two girls. Mother 
 married again and had two children. The little girl was 
 buried the day before mother died. My half-brother, J. P. 
 Thompson, still lives in Ohio. Five years after my father's 
 death my mother followed him to the better land, and I, with 
 the rest, was left an orphan. Well do I remember the night 
 my mother died. She was so troubled about leaving her 
 children alone in the world, but continued long in earnest 
 prayer until she had the assurance that God would care 
 for them, and then she sang the old-time hymn, 
 
 "There is a fountain filled with blood, 
 Drawn from Immanuel 's veins, ' ' 
 
 and went shouting home to glory. What a lasting impres- 
 sion is made on a child's heart by the life or death of a 
 godly father or mother ! 
 
 By mother's death I was almost crazed with grief and 
 could not be comforted. At her grave I was separated from 
 
24 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 my brothers and sister, and went to live with a family to 
 whom mother had given me before her death. Some time 
 after this, the family moving away, I went to live with 
 my grandparents, under whose careful religious training I 
 remained until married. I received little education, as my 
 opportunities were very limited. 
 
 From my earliest recollection I was deeply convicted of 
 sin. This conviction followed me until at the age of twelve 
 years I gave my heart to God and received the witness that 
 I was His child. I united with the people called Metho- 
 dists and tried to walk in the light I had, until God called 
 me into His vineyard. 
 
 MARRIAGE. 
 
 At the age of eighteen I was married to Mr. J. A. Wheaton. 
 We lived happily together, but in two years I was called 
 to give up not only my dear husband, but also our little baby 
 boy. They were buried in one grave, and I was again 
 left, alone in the world. O my breaking heart ! I was in 
 despair! I did not know then God's wonderful comfort- 
 ing power as I now do/ I was scarcely more than a nom- 
 inal Christian, a fashionable proud woman, moving in high 
 society, left to face the battle of life alone. To try to 
 drown my sorrow I rushed deeper into society and fashion 
 only to be plunged into deeper despair. What I suffered 
 during those years is beyond the power of tongue or pen to 
 describe. My anguish of heart and mind were so great 
 that at times reason almost tottered on its throne. And had 
 it not been for the goodness and mercy of God in sending 
 me timely aid through true Christian friends, I should 
 never have been able to have triumphed over it all. 
 
 Soon after I was converted, I felt the call of God to His 
 service. I longed to be a missionary. My heart especially 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 25 
 
 went out to the colored people and the Indians, and to the 
 poor unfortunate ones of my own sex. Their sufferings 
 touched my heart, and it was this class with which I did 
 some of my first prison and missionary work in after years. 
 But in those days there was very little encouragement to a 
 woman to do such work. O how those who are called of 
 God now should appreciate their privileges ! 
 
 Though hindered and discouraged, this call did not leave 
 me. I lived in the church for years, always doing my part 
 in church work. I was proud and vain, but knew no better ; 
 yet I longed to be all the Lord's. 
 
 SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 Several years after my conversion I heard of holiness or 
 entire consecration to God, and the baptism of the Holy 
 Spirit for service. After this, for about ten years, I was 
 under conviction for a clean heart, seeking for a while and 
 then growing careless, receiving little help from the formal 
 professors around me. As I counted the cost, at times it 
 seemed too great. I knew it meant to give up fashionable 
 society, home, friends, reputation and all: and to take the 
 way of the lowly Nazarene. I heard at this time of a 
 holiness meeting about forty miles from home, which I 
 attended. Here I heard the pure gospel preached, and light 
 shone upon my soul. I saw that none but the pure in 
 heart could see God in peace. After wrestling In prayer 
 until about three o'clock in the morning, I seemed held by an 
 invisible power, pure and holy, and was so filled with awe 
 that I feared to speak or move. Soon I heard a wonderful 
 sound, soft, sweet and soothing, like the rustle of angels' 
 wings. Its holy influence pervaded my whole being; a 
 sound not of earth, but distinctly audible to both myself 
 and the sister who was in the same room! I listened en- 
 
26 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 raptured. I feared it was death, and my breath grew shorter 
 and shorter. I did not move nor open my eyes. Pres- 
 ently Jesus stood before me, and O the wonderful look of 
 l ove so f ar above the love of mortals, so humble, meek 
 and pleading ! In the tender voice of the Holy Spirit came 
 these words: "Can you give up all and follow me? Lay 
 your weary, aching head upon my breast. I will never leave 
 you nor forsake you. Lo, I am with you alway even unto 
 the end of the world." I was enabled by the Holy Spirit. 
 to say, "Yes, Lord Jesus." I knew it was Jesus. When I 
 said "Yes, Lord," the power of God fell upon me, soul and 
 body, and I was bathed in a sea of glory. When I had 
 recovered from my rapture, Jesus had vanished as silently 
 as He came; but the blessing and power remained. The 
 sister whispered and asked, "Did you hear that sound?" 
 And then she told me that this was for my benefit. This 
 occurred November n, 1883. That day the people looked 
 at me and wondered, seeing the great change God had 
 wrought in me by His power. The night following we had 
 an all-night meeting. Again God spoke to me by His Holy 
 Spirit, saying, "Go and honor my Son's name, and I will 
 go with you." I prayed, "O Lord, if this is Thy voice, 
 speak once more." The same words came again. I obeyed 
 and God did most wonderfully reveal Himself to me. I 
 knew I was called to His service and to work for lost souls. 
 
 MY CALL TO PRISON WORK. 
 
 The question is often asked me, "How did you become 
 interested in this work, and learn to understand the needs 
 of the prisoner?" It was through this call from God. 
 None of my relatives or friends were ever convicted of 
 crime. When I was a young woman I attended the state 
 fair at Columbus, Ohio, and with a delegation visited the 
 
28 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 state-prison at that place. While waiting for a guide to 
 show us through the prison a young man was brought in 
 by an officer. I saw him searched, and later as the heavy 
 iron doors closed behind him with a clang, my sympathies 
 were aroused. While being shown through the prison I saw 
 this young man with his hair close cut, dressed in prisoners' 
 garb, placed by the side of hardened criminals. There my 
 first interest was awakened to try to make the burdens 
 lighter for the prison-bound. As we were leaving the pris- 
 on I noticed some small articles which had been made by 
 the inmates in their spare moments. Among these I saw 
 and was especially impressed with a miniature statue of a 
 prisoner dressed in stripes, holding in one hand a ball and 
 chain, the other hand shading the eyes. Upon the pedestal 
 of the statue were these words, "What shall the harvest 
 be?" I shall never forget the impression then made upon 
 my mind. It is still fresh in my memory. 
 
 Years after this, shortly after my commission to preach 
 the gospel, as I was traveling one night to reach an ap- 
 pointment, stopping at a station in Iowa to change cars, 
 three prisoners in handcuffs, who were being taken to^the 
 state-prison, were brought in. My heart was moved with 
 deep compassion for them. Many were curiously inspect- 
 ing them, as if they thought they had no tender feelings. 
 Approaching these men, I gave them my hand, saying, "I 
 am sorry for you, but God can help you in this hour of 
 trial," and I tried to cheer them, and told them I would 
 sometime visit them in the prison if I could. I did not 
 then know I was so soon to enter upon my mission. But 
 the burden of those in prison kept coming heavier upon me. 
 I told my friends I must go and 
 
 PREACH THE GOSPEL TO PRISONERS 
 
 but they for a time thought me almost crazy. But as 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 29 
 
 one of old, I felt that "Woe is me if I preach not the 
 Gospel." So I gladly obeyed the divine call and went for- 
 ward. 
 
 But I was not led into this work by any morbi'd senti- 
 mentalism or enthusiasm. These would have worn off when 
 the novelty was gone. No, this work was given me of God, 
 who Himself laid the burden of the convict world upon my 
 heart. Day and night there came up before me the cry of 
 despair from inside prison walls the wail of woe from those 
 in dungeons whose hearts were breaking and whose minds 
 were shattered and whose souls were lost in despair, and 
 the call came direct from the mouth of the Lord, "'Go and 
 stand in the breach! Tell them of a Savior's love of a 
 way of escape through the blood of Jesus Christ, who is 
 mighty to save and strong to deliver them from the snares 
 of the enemy that has sought to destroy them soul and 
 body. Tell them there is deliverance for the captive. Tell 
 them there is consolation in the gospel of Christ for those 
 who are heart-broken and forsaken and forgotten by all 
 but an omnipotent God. Tell them that God lives and 
 rules and reigns in heaven and is able to save to the utter- 
 most and to comfort in their dying hours with the hope of 
 eternal life beyond this vale of tears." 
 
 But how could I go ? The Lord Himself showed me how 
 to go and where to go and that I was to leave results to 
 Him and He would give the increase that He would mul- 
 tiply the bread and fish for the hungry multitudes He 
 would feed the famished souls to whom He sent me, just as 
 when He walked this sin-cursed earth that He was the 
 same yesterday, today and forever. I saw that my life 
 must be entirely and forever surrendered to the Lord for 
 His service, and that my future was to be left entirely in 
 
30 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 the hands of the Master whose I am and whom I serve. 
 
 Thus the call came day after day and night after night 
 until I believe I should have gone insane had I not then 
 and there yielded my time and talent, all I had or ever 
 would have, to the service of Christ to go just when and 
 where He would have me go, do as He would have me do, 
 and trust Him for my support. I was shown that I would 
 never come to want. I was made to understand that these 
 poor unfortunates in prison were just as dear to God's heart 
 as I was and that souls would be required at my hands were 
 I to fail to comply with the commission to go and lift up 
 the fallen and comfort the dying and relieve those distressed 
 in body and mind. I was made to know that there was 
 power in prayer and that God could save the very lowest 
 criminal or the worst woman on earth and by the trans- 
 forming influence of the Holy Spirit and the cleansing 
 blood of Jesus, save, purify and sanctify and lift them up 
 even within the pearly gates of heaven; and that instead of 
 devils in human form, they could be made saints that could 
 take up the glad refrain unto Him that had redeemed them 
 and washed them in his own blood and made them kings 
 and priests unto God. 
 
 Yes, God called me. And His name shall be exalted 
 through all eternity for what He has done for me and 
 through me during all these years. His has been the hand 
 that fed, clothed and supported me. Never has God failed 
 me in this pligrim journey and He has supplied all my 
 needs. My heart goes out in gratitude and thanksgiving 
 while I write, for all He has done for me. O, the heights 
 and depths, lengths and breadths of His boundless love for 
 lost humanity! How wonderfully has He led me! How 
 His guiding hand, His protecting care have been over me! 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 3! 
 
 Amid discouragements, disappointments and misunder- 
 standings God has given me victory through the blood of 
 our precious, loving Savior ; and I know that He is able to 
 do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think. 
 
 When I saw the criminal at the bar of justice, I was 
 reminded that we must all soon appear at the judgment bar 
 of God. Then I saw that the Lord wanted me to tell of a 
 Mighty Deliverer from the sins of intemperance, unbelief, 
 skepticism, infidelity, covetousness, licentiousness and hypoc- 
 risy. My eyes were opened to see that thousands of poor 
 helpless souls were drifting to their eternal doom without 
 God and without hope, and that ofttimes in their hours of 
 most desperate need there was no one to help, no one to 
 point them to the blessed Savior and to really snatch them 
 as "brands from the burning." 
 
 Then I took courage and said, "Yes, Lord, I will go and 
 do my best to help save them from destruction and an eter- 
 nity in hell." Since then I have spent more than twenty 
 years of constant toil among the masses and have reason to 
 declare that God has given me success beyond what I could 
 have thought possible. 
 
 Multitudes have been saved, representing all ranks and 
 stations of life. Many are today singing the songs of the 
 redeemed with the glorified hosts in the other world, who 
 were counted by many to be beyond redemption, already 
 doomed and lost forever. 
 
 For. such I have taken courage and have pleaded before 
 the Lord His written Word, asking for their soul's salva- 
 tion ; and now they are forever with the Lord. O faithless 
 one, is there anything too hard for the Lord ? And has He 
 not told us "All things are possible to him that believeth" 
 and "Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out" 
 
32 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 and that "if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to 
 forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteous- 
 ness"? During these years that I have stepped out on His 
 promises I have proved that His word never fails. It is 
 faith in the living God which brings results in the salva- 
 tion of immortal souls. Never have I doubted God's power 
 to save the vilest person, and now I want to tell, for His 
 glory, just a little of what God has wrought as well as 
 show something of what needs to be done. Bless the Lord, 
 O my soul, for a faith prompted of the Spirit that will 
 not waver a confidence in God which takes no denial but 
 cries "It must be done." In answer to such a faith, crim- 
 inals of the deepest dye have been awakened and saved and 
 women of the worst possible character have been converted 
 and reformed and purified, and some have been set apart 
 for the service of God and have done a mighty work. Oth- 
 ers, as we have said, have gone to swell the grand, triumph- 
 ant strain around the throne of God, where angels and 
 archangels unite to make all heaven resound with the praises 
 of our King among those of whom it is said, "These are 
 they which came up through great tribulation and have 
 washed their, robes and made them white in the blood of 
 the Lamb." After I see the King in His beauty, clothed in 
 majesty and glory and power, I want to look in the faces 
 of those whom God has used me to help, who have come up 
 from inside prison walls and from haunts of sin- yea, from 
 the scaffold itself -those who have died in the triumphs of 
 a living faith, victorious over death, hell and the grave. 
 
 Since my call to the work of the Lord He has caused 
 many homes to be opened to me and has given me many 
 very dear friends. Among those of earlier years were 
 dear Brother and Sister H. L. Hastings, of Boston, who 
 
OR A LA DOR OF LOVE 33 
 
 kindly gave me a home and cared for me in sickness and 
 special time of need. And in later years are those at the 
 Missionary Training Home at Tabor, Iowa, with whom I 
 have made my headquarters since 1895. I would specially 
 mention Mrs. Hattie Worcester Kelley, who had a call from 
 God to assist me in prison work and traveled some with 
 me until her health failed; also Mrs. Georgia Worcester 
 and her husband, and her father, Elder Weavers, who is 
 president of the Home ; with their faithful helpers in charge 
 and assisting in the work, who have given me a hearty wel- 
 come among them. 
 
 It was here I became more directly interested in foreign 
 missionary, work. I have at different times taken with me 
 in my prison and slum mission work several of the mission- 
 aries now in foreign lands. Among these are Mr. and Mrs. 
 Wm. Worcester, now in Africa, whom I accompanied on 
 their way as far as London ; Grace Yarrett, recently sailed 
 for India, and a number of others. 
 
 FAMILY REUNION AFTER A SEPARATION OF 
 FIFTY-TWO YEARS. 
 
 The following from a paper published in Elkhart, Ind., 
 December, 1902, under the above heading, will explain 
 itself: 
 
 J. M. Ryder of Indianapolis, Ind. ; Emanuel Ryder of Bryan, O : 
 Elizabeth Ryder Wheaton, prison evangelist, and Lida Ryder Hoff- 
 man of this city met in a family reunion Dec. 8, after a separation 
 of fifty-two years, this being the first time in all these years that 
 the brothers and sisters, who were left orphans in early childhood, 
 have been together. * * * The brothers and sisters sat for a 
 group picture as a memento of the day, and left for their different 
 missions and homes, not likely to all meet again this side of the 
 great River. 
 
 I also give the reader a sketch written by my brother and 
 
J. M. RYDER, MRS. E. RYDER WHEATON, EMANUEL RYDER, 
 
 MRS. LIDA RYDER HOFFMAN." 
 
 JOHN RYDER, DECEASED. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 35 
 
 published in his home paper at Bryan, O., some years since. 
 
 Like Moses and the prophets of old; like Jesus and his disci- 
 ples ; like Martin Luther and John Wesley, and a host of other great 
 lights who have been chosen at different times to be teachers and 
 leaders of the children of earth, so in like manner and like purpose 
 was Elizabeth Ryder Wheaton chosen. 
 
 Her chief mission has been to the inmates of jails and penitentia- 
 ries, reformatories and the lowly outcasts in the houses of perdition, 
 among people who never find room in the pews. 
 
 Unconnected with church or other organization, but aided by an 
 angel band, a Christ love, great charity, force of character that 
 knew not fear where duty called, she has worked for the uplifting 
 of the fallen. % 
 
 For twenty years she has toiled and " struggled in her great life 
 work, giving her teachings, her songs and her prayers, shedding 
 tears of love and sympathy for the poor souls in the bondage of sin. 
 
 For twenty years she has traveled up and down her home land 
 and several foreign countries. 
 
 The world her country, to do good her religion, giving her light, 
 her life, wherever the most needed; never stopping, except from 
 sickness or exhaustion from overwork; often meeting friends on 
 the long and rugged road who gave her sympathy, shelter and food; 
 at other times the floor her couch and but little to eat but whether 
 good or bad conditions, always thankful. 
 
 In her chosen work, in the past twenty years, no person has done 
 more good or has had so much influence in causing people to lead 
 better lives, to quit sinning, to get out of hell and enjoy the happi- 
 ness that follows from leading conscientious, truer lives. 
 
 Her good intentions, her words of warning and sympathy, her 
 sweet soul songs of love, her prayers in angelic power, have moved 
 the people outside of the churches in the different avocations and 
 walks of life as they had never been moved before, the masses per- 
 ceiving by subtle agency that here was a person deserving love, 
 respect and honor. 
 
 She had great influence with the employees of the different rail- 
 way companies, the good-will of the superintendents of many of the 
 great railway lines of the country, frequently getting passes from 
 
36 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 New York City to San Francisco and return, a distance of seven 
 thousand miles, for herself and companion. 
 
 She has spoken in more reformatories, jails and penitentiaries, 
 and, I believe, done more good, unconnected with any organization, 
 than any other in the twenty years. 
 
 HER LIFE HISTORY. 
 
 It is too long a story to attempt to go into details to tell of 
 her trials, hardships and sickness; to tell of her individual suc- 
 cesses, as well as her successes when she has swayed great bodies 
 of people, moving the half of them to tears, causing them to have 
 higher thoughts, better motives, and to bless the hour she was 
 among them; or of how she entered the southern stockades alone, 
 even when warned by the Warden tha^i her life might be taken, and 
 in ten minutes had the inmates as tractable as little children, where 
 the officials would not enter, except in a body and thoroughly armed; 
 how she stood her ground when menaced by drunken western des- 
 peradoes; or. of the times she divided her raiment and her scant 
 purse with the destitute, and the many times she escaped great dan- 
 ger by being forewarned, etc. 
 
 Bereft of both parents at the age of five years, and cared for by 
 cold and indifferent strangers, she misses the mother's love, guidance, 
 sympathy and protection. 
 
 When she started out on her mission she left a good home with 
 all the substantiate and many of the luxuries of life, with but little 
 education, without money or friends, alone to travel unbeaten paths, 
 to do a work that no one had ever tried before; untrained in the 
 great work she was to follow, but impelled by a higher Spirit force 
 she could not resist. "Do this work. I will be with you to the end. 
 When great troubles come, I will be your shield and your helper. I 
 will warn you of great danger. I will protect your life. You will 
 gather many sheaves, and, when you are through with earth, have a 
 high place in the heavenly abode." 
 
 Whenever needed, the angel band assists her to say the right 
 words for the time and occasion, according to perceptions and con- 
 ceptions of the people addressed. 
 
 She is gifted with a voice that is always musical, clear and dis- 
 tinct, and of such compass that it can be heard a mile, or down to 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 37 
 
 the minor notes, but always with the pathos that touches the tender 
 chords of the soul. 
 
 Now she is old, broken in health and strength. Soon she must 
 lay her weary body down, a willing sacrifice for the lowest children 
 of earth. 
 
 And now with this brief outline of the work, the life and the 
 powerful soul magic of Elizabeth Ryder Wheaton, I close. 
 
 Respectfully, EMANUEL RYDER, 
 
 Brother of Mrs. E. R. Wheaton. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 A Letter to My Prison Children. 
 
 You, dear ones, are my especial care and have been for 
 over twenty long years; and your eternal good will con- 
 tinue in a sense to be first in my thoughts while life lasts. 
 
 My own childhood was lonely and desolate. As I have 
 already told you, my father died when I was one year old, 
 and mother died when I was only six. I was taken from 
 my mother's grave by an old man who had, with his wife, 
 asked mother for me before she died. My stepfather went 
 to law with my grandfather, who was guardian for myself 
 and sister, for my father's fortune, and the suit was carried 
 from one court to another until all was gone and we little 
 children were penniless. 
 
 Sister and I were reared by our grandparents, and were 
 given a very limited education. We were taught to work 
 as rigidly as if we were paupers. The experience was hard 
 but I can now see how good it was for me in after years to 
 know how to do all kinds of work and be able to do with 
 my might what my hands found to do. 
 
 All my life I have known much of SORROW AND DISAP- 
 POINTMENT. It has seemed that I have never been allowed 
 to keep long anything that I loved. When I was a child, 
 my pets would sicken and die, and the friends that I loved 
 best would either move away from me or die ; and my heart 
 was being continually crushed and broken by these trials. 
 
 I loved to learn and was passionately fond of music, but 
 I was not permitted to gratify my desires in either direc- 
 tion. Why all this was true, I know not, unless it was that 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 39 
 
 I might learn deeper lessons of sympathy and compassion 
 for others that are in trouble. 
 
 Perhaps, dear ones, because of these very experiences I 
 can feel more deeply and tenderly for you and I want to tell 
 you that amid all the sorrows of earth I have found one 
 Friend that has never forgotten or forsaken me and that 
 has promised never to leave me. And this same Jesus loves 
 you. If you but give Him your hearts He will never fail 
 you. Though all the world should forsake and despise you, 
 Jesus loves you just the same. 
 
 It is He that has put into my heart this love for you and 
 your souls' salvation that I cannot explain; this love that 
 grows deeper and stronger and that can only be made plain 
 in the judgment. He has taught me to feel for you when 
 you are forsaken and forgotten, when even friends turn 
 away because you are doomed to the prison cell, the stripes, 
 and even the scaffold. 
 
 Often you are misunderstood and misjudged, and some- 
 times you grow bitter towards every one, and sometimes 
 you censure your best friends. I plead with you to look 
 on the bright side. Think of all God has done for you and 
 how wonderful it is that He loves you with all your sins, 
 that He loves your precious, immortal souls. 
 
 You are my children. For Jesus' sake, and yours, I am 
 a homeless wanderer on earth. I have given up home and 
 friends and have gone into the darkest places of earth, and 
 have endured hardships and faced danger of every kind. I 
 have endured untold sorrow of mind and heart. I have wept 
 and prayed night and day, and for you I have sacrificed all. 
 
 But dear ones, notwithstanding all this, I am happy in the 
 love of Jesus. His love is everything to my heart. His 
 love and sympathy is enough for me, and I know that He is 
 
4O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 able to provide all that I need. He has kept me nearly 
 sixty years, and I am sure that He will not now forsake me. 
 
 Let this encourage you, dear prisoners, to know that 
 God loves and cares for you. When the way looks the 
 darkest, when all hope fails, when the last friend has for- 
 saken you, then look up to Jesus and believe His word. I 
 know your trials are hard to bear. I think of you as you 
 leave the jail for the penitentiary with the handcuffs on and 
 the sheriff and the deputy guarding you so closely, and the 
 world against you. I think of you as the prison doors close 
 behind you. I think of you in your loneliness as the days 
 and months and perhaps years go by, and again I say, yes, I 
 know your trials are hard to bear. But look up through 
 the dark clouds and remember that God lives and that He 
 loves you. In your little lonely prison cell He is with 
 you and is waiting to save you. Do not conceal your sins, 
 for God's Word says, "He that covereth his sin shall not 
 prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall 
 find mercy." 
 
 Let the past be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. If you 
 trust Him, He has promised to separate your sins as far 
 from you as the east is from the west. Do not rest until 
 His Spirit tells you this is done. Then, "forgetting the 
 things that are behind," press forward to those things 
 that are before. 
 
 Obey the rules. Show by your daily life that you intend 
 to do right, the very best you know. If those in authority 
 over you seem to be unkind or unjust, bear what comes as 
 brave soldiers. Even inside of prison walls you can win 
 glorious victories over self and sin. 
 
 There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. I 
 seek to show you the way to the kingdom of heaven, where 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 4! 
 
 there is no more temptation, no sin, no sorrow, no pain; 
 to the place where Jesus has gone to prepare a home for 
 those who love Him, follow Him and trust Him. 
 
 My heart yearns over you in your sad exile from wife, 
 children, mother, father, husband, brother, sister, friends. 
 Truly the way of the transgressor is hard. 
 
 But, my prison children, I beg of you do not go from 
 one prison to another. Flee from sin. I do not and dare 
 not smooth over your sins. Prove yourselves worthy of 
 the confidence of good people. Give God your hearts and 
 be true to Him and He will not forsake you. 
 
 Some of you are doomed to the scaffold! How long, O 
 Lord, how long must such things be in a Christian land? 
 O, that I had the power to abolish capital punishment! 
 But I will do all I can to help you prepare for death. Jesus 
 loves you. He was taken from prison and executed as a 
 criminal. He was innocent, yet He suffered death for a 
 guilty world. He was tempted in all points like as we are, 
 yet without sin. ''And being tempted, He is able to succor 
 them that are tempted." And though you pass through the 
 valley of the shadow of death, if you but trust Him, He will 
 go with you and you need fear no evil. 
 
GIVING THE BOYS COUNSEL. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 A Plea for the Prisoner. 
 
 IN THE SHADOW OF THE WALL. 
 BY OLLA F. BEARD. 
 
 (The writer of this poem was a personal acquaintance and friend. At 
 the time the poem was written her father was warden of the pentltentiary 
 at Fort Madison, Iowa, and she took great Interest in his work. E. R. W.) 
 
 Oh, those wond 'rous gloomy walls ! 
 What a chill their shadow calls 
 To creep and tingle through our veins! 
 Moving all our soul contains 
 
 Of pity for the woes within 
 Those who move within this pall, 
 
 Those who bear a load of sin, 
 In the shadow of that wall. 
 
 Yes, you think their lot is hard; 
 So do all you can t 'retard 
 Their sad downward course in time, 
 And save them from a greater crime. 
 
 But pause and come with me to view 
 Various pictures in the hall 
 
 Of the innocent and true, 
 In the shadow of this wall. 
 
 There's a mother, good and true, 
 With a face of palest hue; 
 Eyes are dimmed and faint to-day, 
 With their brightness washed away 
 
 By the tears she's nightly shed; 
 Yet she does not fail to call 
 
 Blessings on her dear boy's head, 
 In the shadow of the wall. 
 
 There's a father, too, bowed o'er 
 With age, and his head is hoar. 
 Ah! it surely broke his heart 
 
44 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 With his honored name to part. 
 
 Now instead of his boy's arm, 
 A cane-stalk keeps him from a fall, 
 
 As he walks about his farm, 
 In the shadow of the wall. 
 
 There's a wife, too, in the gloom, 
 Yet within her heart there's room 
 For the one whose name she bears; 
 She will share e'en now his cares. 
 
 Vows were said to God above, 
 And, tho' friends forget to call, 
 
 She will keep her vow of love, 
 In the shadow of the wall. 
 
 There are children, bright and gay, 
 Now at school and now at play; 
 Why do playmates push them off, 
 Only at their tears to scoff? 
 
 Can innocence, then, guilty be? 
 Why are they shunned, each one and all? 
 
 Ah! these children e'en we see, 
 In the shadow of the wall. 
 
 And O, for shame! to scorn some one 
 For the deed another's done; 
 For their road is hard at best; 
 They should never once have guessed, 
 
 From the things you do and say, 
 That you once those facts recall 
 
 How they're living day by day 
 In the shadow of the wall. 
 
 But a word we'd say for him 
 Who inhabits those walls dim: 
 Shun him not; help if you can 
 Let him try to be a man. 
 
 When he's paid now for his sin, 
 Let not scorn bring other falls, 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 45 
 
 Just because he once has been 
 In the shadow of the walls. 
 
 He has yet a heart, tho' scarred; 
 He has yet a soul, tho' marred; 
 And he has to live and try 
 Till his time shall come to die. 
 
 Sweet Charity, that suffereth long, 
 Let us now as guard install. 
 
 She will lead him from the wrong 
 From the shadow of the wall. 
 
 We would not pet the sin and crime; 
 Let reproof fall in its time. 
 But reproof should have an end, 
 When the sinner tries to mend! 
 
 Give him every chance you can 
 Lend a helping hand to all; 
 
 Lead the woman or the man 
 From the shadow of the wall. 
 
 A LETTER TO PRISON OFFICERS. 
 
 DEAR PRISON MANAGERS : You and I are trying to help 
 the prisoners to a better life. We want to elevate, to lift up 
 these men and women to a higher plane of existence. How 
 are you to proceed? What are you to do, is the question. 
 How are you to command the respect of those under you? 
 Just where to draw the line, and how to enforce discipline ? 
 What advantage will you give to the men who are striving 
 to obey rules, and do what is right? Something must be 
 done, and done soon. The criminal classes must be reached, 
 reformed, saved and sent out of prison better prepared to 
 face the world and the temptations which will be thrust upon 
 them at every turn. Great responsibility rests upon you. 
 Many of you are doing nobly and accomplishing great good. 
 
 There is hope for every prisoner. You can reach them 
 
46 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 by kindness. Brutality will never accomplish anything in 
 the way of prison reform. By such a course a man is often 
 turned out of prison a demon, a fiend in human form, or an 
 idiotic criminal. 
 
 But to make him a good man, a noble creature, as God 
 intended he should be, he must have kindness shown him. 
 Be firm and honorable in all your dealings with the convict, 
 for he has his rights, and they should be respected if we 
 are ever going to make the prison world better. 
 
 Let us ask God for help to know how to reach the man- 
 hood, the womanhood, the better nature in the creature God 
 has seen fit in His wise providence to make just a little lower 
 than the angels, in His own likeness and image. He in- 
 tended all should be free and equal, but the people license 
 the saloon, the gambling den and the brothel to degrade their 
 brothers and sisters. Some say these are necessary evils ! 
 I say never, never ! Let there be better conditions. 
 
 There is hope for the sinner if we only get the Holy 
 Spirit to teach us how to reach him. I never go into the 
 presence of convicts without earnest prayer to God to give 
 me wisdom, and the Holy Spirit to teach and guide me 
 what to say and sing, and how to reach their hearts. God 
 has given me what success I have had in helping the crimi- 
 nal classes, in giving hope to the discouraged and in reliev- 
 ing the minds of some who were partially deranged. Oh, 
 this wholesale slaughter of men's minds ! It is horrible. It 
 is heart-rending. And yet some go right on committing 
 the greatest crime against these men, by robbing them of 
 their reason which God intended them to enjoy as their 
 birthright. 
 
 Which is the greater crime, the whipping post and the 
 lash with all their attendant horrors and misery, or the iron 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 47 
 
 rule that crushes out all hope in the name of discipline? I 
 believe in law and order, and that men must be in subjection 
 to rules and regulations. I always urge upon them implicit 
 obedience and subjection to the rules of the prison. But 
 these should be reasonable and humane. 
 
 What you and I need is to know our man and then we 
 will know how to deal with him. Study human nature as 
 well as the law, and study the law of the all- wise God in 
 the Bible and see if you will not have a clear conscience as 
 well as a clear brain to manage and control those under your 
 direction. 
 
 1 know prisons that are regulated entirely by kindness, 
 and oh, the blessed, restful, quieting influence there is there, 
 and scarcely any insane. All are satisfied with the treatment 
 they receive and they are willing to die for their officers. 
 I know these things, for I am behind the scenes. 
 
 After long years of service as a prison missionary, in 
 nearly all the' state prisons in all the states and territories, 
 I find only an ever increasing desire to be a worker together 
 with Christ in reaching the masses of prisoners who are 
 incarcerated in our state, county and city prisons. My suc- 
 cess has largely been due to my sincere and intense desire 
 to lead them to a better life here and life eternal in heaven, 
 and to the victory gained over myself to never let anything 
 or anybody prevent my doing all I could for the prisoner, 
 as if he were my own child or brother. Again, my deter- 
 mination has been to give all a fair trial and a liberal amount 
 of confidence. Yes, we must place ourselves in their condi- 
 tion; let our boy or brother, our mother or sister be in 
 prison, let us think how we would exercise every means we 
 had in reaching or relieving them. 
 
 All prisoners are human, and yet, how few professors 
 
48 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 of religion show interest in them. They are doubted at 
 every turn. Daggers are driven to hearts which are long- 
 ing for a better life, a purer atmosphere, a new creation. 
 Poor souls ! God pity them. O the hearts that cry out for 
 better things! the souls that are yearning for the good and 
 true! O the thousands of prisoners who may be diamonds 
 in the rough, jewels for whom Christ died. Souls, immor- 
 tal souls are at stake. We must soon meet these things at 
 the judgment. O to be clear of the censure, the rebuke, 
 the reproof of God Almighty in the final day of accounts. 
 
 O brother, sister, have we had charity that suffereth long 
 and is kind? Have we tried by example and precept to 
 show the criminals that we were really their friends and 
 sincerely cared for their souls? How long has the good 
 Lord borne with us, and shall we not be in earnest to save 
 those who are not Christians, to encourage them to a better 
 life, to cheer up the dying convict, to show them there is a 
 God in Israel who hears and answers prayer, one who said, 
 "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth 
 them that fear Him" ? 
 
 WORTH WHILE. 
 
 It is easy enough to be pleasant 
 
 When life flows by like a song, 
 But the man \vorth while is the one who will smile 
 
 When everything goes dead wrong. 
 For the test of the heart is trouble, 
 
 And it always comes with the years, 
 And the smile that is worth the praise of the earth 
 
 Is the smile that shines through tears. 
 
 It is easy enough to be prudent 
 
 When nothing tempts you to stray; 
 When without or within no voice of sin 
 
 Is luring your soul away. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 49 
 
 But it is only a negative virtue 
 
 Until it is tried by fire, 
 And the life that is worth the honor of earth 
 
 Is the one that resisteth desire. 
 
 By the cynic, the sad, the fallen, 
 
 Who had no strength for the strife, 
 The world's highway is cumbered to-day; 
 
 They make up the item of life. 
 But the virtue that conquers passion, 
 
 And the sorrow that hides in a smile 
 It is these that are worth the homage of earth, 
 For we find them but once in a while. 
 
 ELLA WHEELER WILCOX. 
 
 PREJUDICE. 
 
 I find but little difference betwen humanity in prison walls 
 and the humanity outside. Prisoners are our brothers and 
 our sisters. We must soon meet them all at the judgment. 
 They are naturally supposed to be guilty of crime of some 
 kind. But they are not all criminals. Wicked men, will- 
 ing to shield themselves, oftentimes throw suspicion on oth- 
 ers, who are placed under arrest and convicted by circum- 
 stantial evidence or false testimony. Others, of course, are 
 of the worst types of humanity. Some of them seem un- 
 worthy of the name of man or woman, yet even these Christ 
 died to save, and God is able to deliver them and how shaJ 1 
 His name be better glorified pr His power be more manifest, 
 than in their transformation? 
 
 Very many are so prejudiced against all those who are 
 counted as criminals that they believe them to be utterly 
 incapable of any good and are quick to believe that they 
 see in them evidences of- the deepest depravity. 
 
 A sad yet amusing illustration of this fact comes to my 
 mind. Chaplain H., of the Reformatory for Boys at Kear- 
 
50 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 ney, Nebraska, is an honest-faced, true-hearted young man, 
 full of zeal in the service of God. At one time when I 
 stopped at Kearney he called for me at the train. As I 
 looked at him he said, with a smile, "Did you think it was 
 one of the boys whom the superintendent had sent for you ?" 
 I replied, "Yes ; I did at first ; you are so young, Mr. Chap- 
 lain ;" and then he related to me the following circumstances 
 which I give as nearly as I can in his own words : 
 
 "At one time Prof. Mallalieu and myself had been to Lincoln on 
 business, and were returning together. We were quietly resting, 
 and I was sitting with closed eyes, meditating, when a lady hap- 
 pened along and recognized the Superintendent, and said 'Have 
 you get a boy there, taking him to the Eeform School?' 
 
 "Considerably amused, he replied: 'Yes; this is a very bad 
 fellow; I have had a lot of trouble with him, and have just recap- 
 tured him, and now I am watching to see that he doesn't make his 
 escape. ' The we man leaned over and, scanning my face and f eat- 
 tures, said: 'He has an awful bad look on his face; you can see he 
 is a criminal and needs to be under strict discipline.' " 
 
 The dear young chaplain said, as he laughingly related 
 this instance, that he learned a lesson in human nature that 
 day. That woman, who imagined that she saw in the face 
 of that young looking, honest, devoted Christian young man 
 evidences of guilt and depravity, was only one among thou- 
 sands who are led by prejudice when they imagine that they 
 are exercising great discernment. 
 
 A LOOK INTO THE CELL. 
 
 Reader, could you and I walk together down the cell- 
 house corridor in almost any of our large prisons, at almost 
 any hour of the night and pause and listen to the sighs and 
 smothered sobs and often to the deep groans that might be 
 heard welling up from hearts that are broken and crushed 
 by sorrow and remorse; could we, dear reader, cast one 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 51 
 
 sidelong glance in passing the rounds of the cell-house with 
 the guard, who, with muffled tread wends his ceaseless 
 march throughout the night, your heart, as well as mine, 
 would be deeply moved. On those stone floors, guarded 
 by double locks and iron bars, as well as by the living sen- 
 tinel, you might see many a mother's boy kneeling in silent 
 prayer to his mother's God, and as he prays and communes 
 with his own thoughts, you might hear again the groans of 
 anguish as the poor unfortunate thinks of home and mother, 
 wife and children, or other loved ones. 
 
 Then look with me into that poor man's cell, void of com- 
 fort, with nothing that would remind you of home; a close 
 narrow cell, a poor hard cot, a straw pillow, if any, and kept 
 under strict watch day and night; left many times without 
 one ray of hope, without a gleam of sunshine or a kind 
 word. I wonder there are not scores of insane men in our 
 state prisons for every one that we find, and there are many, 
 very many, who are either partially or entirely insane. I am 
 convinced that oftentimes men are crazy when the officers 
 suppose they are only obstinate and rebellious and mean. 
 Often do I note insanity lurking in the eyes and often as 
 the prisoners file past me at the close of a service and I 
 clasp each one by the hand, as is my custom, among the 
 many who are so glad to have a kind word and a hand- 
 clasp at parting I notice those who are not sane by the 
 peculiarity of the clasp of the hand. Some have a clasp 
 like a mad-man, others a limp, lifeless hand-shake, with cold, 
 clammy hands. Oh, what wisdom is needed to know how 
 tc deal with these poor, helpless souls ! I find many of them 
 with hearts as tender and sensibilities as acute as any I 
 meet outside. 
 
 INSANE PRISONERS. 
 
 While I was having a service for the criminal insane at 
 
52 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Anamosa, Iowa, state prison, a young man was very anxious 
 to see me and tell me something. As I waited to talk with 
 him he said to me in such a pitiful way, "Go and tell my 
 dear mother I will try to help her. Won't somebody help 
 my poor mother?" This was the burden of his heart. Poor 
 
 WITH INSANE PRISONERS AT ANAMOSA, IOWA. 
 
 boy ! in his partial derangement his whole concern seemed to 
 be for her. He is only one among many ! 
 
 A TOUCHING INCIDENT. 
 
 At one time I was on the train going north from Indian- 
 apolis. My brother, J. M. Ryder, was with me. I was 
 singing a hymn, and walking to the end of the car as I sang 
 I saw two men bound together by handcuffs. One of them 
 I supposed to be an officer. He was a fine looking man, 
 well dressed. It was a few days before Christmas, but I 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 53 
 
 noticed some holly-berries pinned to his coat. I remarked, 
 "You have holly-berries before Christmas day !" With tears 
 rolling down his face he answered, "My little girl pinned 
 this on me. She said, 'Papa, you will not be here when 
 Christmas comes, and I will pin it on now before you go.' ' 
 
 I said, "You are an officer, are you not?" 
 
 "Oh, no!" he said, "I am a prisoner," and then he told 
 me his sad story. Money belonging to some one else, a 
 relative, if I remember rightly, had been left in his care. 
 Under pressure of need he used some of it, being confident 
 that he could replace it before it was needed ; but the short- 
 age was discovered, he was arrested, found guilty and sen- 
 tenced. With a broken heart he said, "I never will live to 
 serve out my sentence. This will surely kill me. I am not 
 a thief, but I was so sure I could replace the money before 
 it was needed." 
 
 Reader, think you this man was any more a criminal at 
 heart than thousands who move among men honored and 
 respected? Who can question that there are thousands 
 who, perhaps, do not transgress the letter of the law, yet 
 more deliberately and wilfully wrong their fellow men than 
 this poor man? And this case is only one of many; and 
 where shall we draw the line? Oh, let us have fervent 
 charity one for another. 
 
 I am not biased in my judgment. I know sentimentalism 
 is not salvation. That can come only through true repent- 
 ance and faith in God and must be evidenced by restitution 
 and good works; but if you could see, as I have seen, the 
 meetings in the prison guard-room between husband and 
 wife, mother and son, or between fatherland his wayward 
 boy, if you could see the tears and sobs~as they" meet and 
 part, and above all at the last parting before execution, I 
 
54 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 believe you would never feel like criticising or being harsh 
 in your judgment again. Could you have gone with me 
 during these twenty years, could you have had the confi- 
 dence of these prisoners as I have had it, you would realize 
 that they are, in very many cases, as truly open to convic- 
 tion and as easily reached as those outside of prison walls, 
 and are they not my children ? Do I not know their faults ? 
 Do they not confess to me their guilt? But back of all I 
 see Jesus hanging on the cross of Calvary, between two 
 thieves, dying, and in His death agony, while the blood is 
 oozing from the print of the thorns upon His brow, while the 
 eyes are growing glassy in death, with the cold death sweat 
 standing out upon His face, I hear Him say to the penitent 
 thief, "This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." And 
 again, as He remembers all those who have so cruelly 
 wronged Him, he cries, "Father, forgive them, for they 
 know not what they do." If the Son of God gave Himself 
 for us, if with His dying breath He prayed for His perse- 
 cutors, if He who knew no sin and understood all hearts 
 could .say, "They know not what they do," God help us to 
 be willing to forgive those who have transgressed the law 
 either of God or man. 
 
 These prisoners need a helping hand, need a friend with 
 wisdom, tact and judgment, one in whose heart there is the 
 one thought above all others of the need of their immortal 
 souls, their eternal destiny. 
 
 You and I, reader, must do our part in reforming a lost 
 world, in saving lost sinners. Then let us remember how 
 good God has been to us by keeping us out of prison, by 
 keeping us out of the evil surroundings and influences that 
 might have brought us there. Let us give the poor prison- 
 ers a fair show and fair play. Many of them long for bet- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 55 
 
 ter things, for one more chance to prove themselves worthy 
 of the confidence and sympathy of their fellow men. After 
 twenty years of toil among those who are bound, I do bless 
 God that He ever called me to carry to those in prison the 
 glad message of His love and seek by love and faith and 
 prayer to lift them up to better things. 
 
 PREPARED TO DIE. 
 
 Once while holding services in a prison, there came to 
 me a prisoner saying, ''Mother, I want to tell you I was 
 saved since I saw you." (Only a few days previous.) 
 
 Then he told me that he was under sentence of death and 
 that he was so troubled that he cried to God to forgive his 
 sins and pardon his crime, and that God had forgiven him 
 and that he was now prepared to die. He said that when 
 the Lord forgave him he was so happy that the officers put 
 an extra guard over him, thinking that he had suddenly 
 lost his mind. 
 
 I exhorted him to maintain his faith in God and never 
 doubt His saving power ; to walk softly before God ; to keep 
 humble and meek and pray much. Truly there is pardon 
 for every sinner who, in the depths of his soul, repents of 
 his sin. God's love and power are so great that He will 
 save to the uttermost all that come unto Him, not willing 
 that any should perish. 
 
 Reader, perhaps you have not the opportunity to know 
 these souls as I know them, and so to help you understand 
 them I give in other chapters many extracts in their own 
 words, taken here and there from the thousands of letters I 
 have received. I believe this will help you to understand 
 that hundreds, shut out from the companionship of their 
 fellow beings, are as easily moved by kindness, as capable 
 of gratitude, as easily won to repentance, as willing to give 
 
56 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 up sin, as thousands of those outside, who perhaps have 
 never been tempted as they were tempted and have never 
 fallen as they have fallen. In quoting from these letters 
 few changes have been made, except in spelling, capitaliza- 
 tion and punctuation. 
 
 Some young souls are making, for a stated time, 
 This, their maiden effort, on the sea of crime. 
 Oh, Christians, teach them early what to me is plain; 
 Crime ever Ms and ever will result in lasting pain. 
 Do not be too lenient, nor too soon forgive, 
 Lest all vice should flourish and no virtue live. 
 Society demands it, the guilty should atone 
 But take care you punish those, and those alone! 
 Keep them in your prison till by virtue shown 
 They will know what is and what is not their own. 
 But let all be careful lest by word or act 
 Those who should reform them from their good subtract. 
 Rule them wisely, gently by some humane plan, 
 All their faults to conquer as best becomes a Man. 
 When your work is finished and their habits changed, 
 Give them honest labor, by the State arranged; 
 Show them honest labor can a living gain, 
 While the social outcast harvests want and shame! 
 Treat them fairly, kindly; teach them all the true 
 Will be friendly with them while the right they do. 
 Both principle and policy declare this course is wise; 
 Then why longer act the fool and wisdom's voice despise? 
 Crime never can nor will decrease until in Wisdom's School 
 Men learn the noted lesson, * ' Right through Law should Rule. ' ' 
 
 H. P. McKnight. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 A Brief Pen Picture of Prison Life. 
 
 For the instruction of children and others who have never 
 visited one of our large penitentiaries I insert the following 
 sketch of such a visit written by Mrs. F. M. Lambert, author 
 of "Holy Maternity," which was written for this work : 
 
 The prisons and buildings connected with them are enclosed by a 
 high stone wall. Of course there is a gate, or gates, opening upon 
 driveways leading into the yard where the shops are located. The 
 gate is securely locked and guarded, the guard having a little 
 room built on the wall orer the gate. There is a main entrance to 
 the building through which criminals as well as visitors enter. The 
 officer closes and locks the large door behind you upon entering. On 
 Sabbath mornings many things are seen and heard there. The offi- 
 cers come in and take up the work of the day. The warden or 
 deputy takes a large bunch of keys and opens a side door that leads 
 jnto the cell room, and the guards follow him into the corridor. 
 Soon is heard the rattling of the keys, and the opening and closing 
 of heavy doors, followed by the tramp, tramp, of many feet. Passing 
 out at a side door with the officer, you may watch the men passing 
 down to their breakfast in the dining-room, -which is on the ground 
 floor of the chapel, perhaps one hundred feet from the prison build- 
 ing. 
 
 Each guard marches with his company of men, from twenty to 
 fifty in number. They march in single file, each man with his right 
 hand resting upon the right shoulder of the man in front of him. 
 
 The officers wear dark blue uniforms, while the convicts are 
 dressed in suits made of heavy woolen goods, generally striped, the 
 stripes being black and white, a little over an inch wide, even the 
 caps being striped, and of the same material as the suits. 
 
 You follow the officer across the yard, and notice the large green- 
 house with its beautiful plants, flowers and shrubs. But, looking 
 buck, you see the great high wall of the prison, and remember that 
 the little spot in the prison yard and the sky overhead is all the 
 
6o 
 
 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 glimpse of the world that these poor men get, and, no doubt, is all 
 that some of them ever will get, for some of them are shut in there 
 for life. 
 
 THE CHAPEL SERVICE. 
 
 Yoa follow the officer up the steps of stone into the entrance 
 hall, and watch the men pass out of the dining-room up the stairway 
 into the chapel; then you follow and are led to a seat near the 
 
 PRISON CHAPEL AND DINING ROOM. 
 
 pulpit, facing the assemblage. Your eyes wander quickly over that 
 strange lot of from two hundred to five hundred men, and, in some 
 prisons, over a thousand constitute the audience. When all are seated, 
 the guards seat themselves on high stools placed along the sides of 
 the room, facing the rear door, while the prisoners face the pulpit 
 at the farther end of the room. 
 
 Then the prison choir sings and the organ peals forth its beau- 
 tiful strains, the prisoners joining in the singing. You cannot keep 
 back the tears as you look into their faces and think that only for 
 sin they might be free. Verily, "the way of the transgressor is 
 hard." Prayer is offered, and the chaplain, and those who have 
 permission, talk from the written word of eternal life. Invariably 
 your eyes sweep over that strange audience, and here and there you 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 6 1 
 
 gee a man, or perhaps a young boy, in tears, and you know the tender 
 chord in their hearts has been touched. God grant it may be so! 
 Several testify to hope in Christ. 
 
 Services over, the prisoners are marched to their cells and locked 
 in. They must all attend the morning service, but are not compelled 
 to attend the Sunday school in the afternoon. Few prisons conduct 
 Sunday schools. In the afterijoon, in company with the chaplain and 
 some of the guards, you may visit the cell rooms, and are allowed to 
 distribute papers and tracts, and speak personally with each prisoner. 
 
 THE CELL ROOM is a long room with a stone floor and whitewashed 
 walls, the cells running through the middle of its entire length. The 
 cells are narrow, little rooms, perhaps four feet wide and six or seven 
 feet long. They vary somewhat in size. They have doors of strong 
 bars of iron, and no windows. All the air received must enter 
 through this grated door in front. The back of each cell joins with 
 the back of the row of cells on the other side, thus forming a double 
 row facing in opposite directions. 
 
 Rows of cells are built in tiers, one row above another, with a nar- 
 row platform running along in front, with an iron railing. 
 
 Each man's name, and the number of his cell, is placed over his 
 door. A wide corridor runs all around the main room, which admits 
 the circulation of air from the large grated windows. Sabbath is 
 rather a hard day for the men, for they had rather be at work than 
 locked in lonely cells, with only their own thoughts and troubled 
 consciences for company. 
 
 Many of the men who are there for long terms have their cells 
 fixed very nicely, and one can usually tell those whose hearts cling to 
 home or friends. But there are some who seem to care for nothing. 
 One boy had his cell ornamented with festoons of newspapers folded 
 and torn into patterns representing lace curtains. Another, a life 
 convict, had his cell festooned with colored tissue paper. This man 
 was a trusty, who had the care of the flowers and plants. In some 
 prisons the cells are not provided with Bibles, and some prisons have 
 no chaplains. 
 
 Some of the men are very expert at making beautiful things, such 
 as pin cushions, picture frames, hair-braided watch guards, pen- 
 holders, workboxes, toy chairs and many other things. One man I 
 
CORRIDOR IN CELL HOUSE. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 63 
 
 saw was making designs for embossed rocking-chair backs; another 
 had his tools for repairing watches. 
 
 THE WORKSHOPS. 
 
 On Monday morning we may visit the workshops and see the men 
 at work. Here we see all kinds of work; farm implements, such as 
 hoes, rakes, pitchforks and many other things, probably all made of 
 iron. These tools pass through many hands before they are complete. 
 Each process is done by a separate set of men. For instance, the 
 hoes are made by some and sharpened by others. It takes only a 
 few seconds to sharpen a tool. As soon as this is done it is passed 
 on to others who polish it, and the handle is inserted and painted. 
 
 Some rooms are so warm from the many furnaces, and the red-hot 
 _yons which are being beaten into shape, that a person can scarcely 
 .stay long enough to see the work done, and ..is glad to move 
 on to cooler departments. The men seem to look well, but you 
 cannot help wondering how they ever work and endure the terrible 
 heat. They are not allowed to talk to each other, and are contin- 
 ually under the guard 's eye. Here and there one looks up with a nod 
 and a smile. 
 
 Each man in the shops is given a certain amount of work to do, 
 and if he does any more than his allotted task, he is paid for it. 
 The amount is kept for him. But very few except long-timers and 
 experts can gain any time to do extra work. 
 
 After going through all the shops we pass on to 
 
 THE HOSPITAL, 
 
 which is in the rear of the chapel, and in the same building. Herje 
 are sights that touch hearts. Some are dying with consumption, and 
 seme with broken hearts. One poor boy's sunken cheeks and thin, 
 wasted hands especially touched me. Taking him by the hand, I 
 began to talk to him. He said: "No one cares for me." "Yes, 
 God cares for you and He loves you." "Why does He let me stay 
 hero and die if He loves me?" "Have you a mother?" "Yes, I 
 have a good Christian mother, but she doesn't know I am here." 
 "May I write and tell her you are sick? I am sure she wants to 
 know about you?" "Oh, no; I had rather die all alone than to 
 have mother know I am here. ' ' 
 
 So it js all through these places. For, though I have briefly 
 described one prison, they are all in a great measure alike, yet vary 
 
64 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 in different states to some extent. All are not so clean and neat as 
 this one spoken of, and though a prison might be lined with costly 
 gems, it is still a prison, and without Jesus in the heart it is only a 
 living tomb to those confined therein. Let none think that it is a 
 pleasant place to be. One man may want to be a Christian, or at 
 least a moral man and a man of cultured tastes, and such men find 
 it doubly hard when they must work side by side with the most 
 degraded criminals. One may leave the prison worse than when he 
 went in. 
 
 In these places children hide their ruined lives and breaking hearts 
 from their dearest earthly friends. No mother to smooth the dying 
 one 's pilow, though small it may be ! No sister or brother to wipe 
 away the bitter tears that will fall; no father to say good-bye. O 
 mothers, let the memory of your boy's innocent childhood fan all 
 your tenderness and love into a flame that would leap over the 
 highest breastwork Satan could erect and take your boy or girl back 
 to your heart. If you have been a true Christian and have done your 
 duty faithfully, trust still in God. What we need is faithful teach- 
 ing among the unsaved, to warn them against their danger, before 
 they get into such awful places. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Letters of Introduction and Kind Words from Gov- 
 ernors, Prison Officials, Etc. 
 
 From the great number of letters .which I have received, 
 of the character indicated by the title of this chapter, I give 
 a few which may be of interest to the reader. These will 
 suffice to show the general interest of those in positions of 
 honor and trust and their willingness to share a part in the 
 work I have tried to perform for humanity, by making it 
 possible for me to prosecute and carry it on. Many letters 
 of like topic have been lost or destroyed, and, space being 
 limited, I hope those who have done a like part may not 
 feel slighted. The true records are kept by the recording 
 angel, and every one shall receive a just reward. "Inas- 
 much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my 
 brethren, ye have done it unto me." 
 
 Such letters received in the Southern states will be found 
 in the chapters on work in Stockades and Prison Camps. 
 Also some relating to Street and Rescue work in the chap- 
 ters on these respective topics. I should like very much to 
 give some personal letters from railway officials, express- 
 ing their appreciation and interest in the work, but I have 
 refrained lest by such some might be caused some annoy- 
 ance. To them much gratitude and credit is due, from all 
 who have received encouragement or spiritual benefit 
 through my feeble efforts made in the name of Jesus. 
 
68' PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 FKOM GOVERNORS. 
 
 Executive Department, 
 
 Indianapolis, Ind., Dec. 4, 1891. 
 Hon. J. B. Patten, Warden, 
 
 Jeffersonville, Ind. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 This will be presented to you by Mrs. Elizabeth Ryder Wheaton, an 
 evangelist whose work is especially among prisoners. I hope it will 
 suit your pleasure and convenience to extend to her the privilege of 
 addressing the prisoners of your institution. 
 Yours truly, 
 
 I. J. CHASE, Governor. . . 
 
 Executive Department, 
 
 Indianapolis, Ind., Aug. 3, 1893. 
 Capt. Jas. B. Patten, 
 
 Warden Prison South, 
 
 Jeffersonville. Ind. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 This will be presented to you by Mrs. E. E. Wheaton, a prison 
 evangelist of long experience and considerable reputation. She 
 comes with the highest recommendations of her work from prisons 
 heretofore visited. She desires to conduct services in your chapel, 
 and I trust you will afford her every reasonable facility for so doing. 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 CLAUDE MATTHEWS. 
 
 Governor's Office. 
 
 Topeka, Aug. 5, 1893. 
 Hon. S. W. Chase, 
 
 Lansing, Kans. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 This will introduce to you Elizabeth Ryder Wheaton, a prison evan- 
 gelist, who comes to us very highly recommended. 
 
 She is desirous of holding service, or taking part, at least, in th 
 prison. 
 
 Any favors shown her will be appreciated by 
 
 FRED J. CLOSE, Private Sec '7. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 69 
 
 Dear Chase: 
 
 I have just come in, and take pleasure in endorsing the above let- 
 ter. I bespeak for this lady a full opportunity to address the pris- 
 oners, as I have no doubt but that the service will be productive of 
 good. Yours, 
 
 L. D. LEWELLING, Governor. 
 
 Executive Office. 
 State of Idaho. 
 
 Boise City, Dec. 19, 1895. 
 To Whom It May Concern : 
 
 This will introduce Enlizabeth Ryder Wheaton, a lady who is 
 devoted to prison work. Any favors shown her will be gratefully 
 appreciated. Respectfully, 
 
 W. J. McCONNELL, Governor. 
 
 Executive Chamber. 
 
 Lincoln, Nebraska, Oct. 10, 1896. 
 Warden Leidigh: 
 
 My Dear L.: 
 
 This will introduce to you Mrs. Elizabeth Ryder Wheaton, who 
 is interested in prison reform work and in visiting prisons for the 
 purpose of holding suitable services on the Sabbath day. Kindly 
 extend such courtesies as you can, and make the necessary announce- 
 ments so that she can conduct services in the chapel, and much oblige, 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 SILAS A. HOLCOMB, Governor. 
 
 Executive Chamber. 
 
 Carson City, Nevada, Dec. 13, 1902. 
 Mrs. Henderson: 
 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton, the bearer of this, desires to do some charita- 
 ble work at the prison and she desires to have services there to- 
 morrow, as Mr. Henderson is not there. She is coming down with 
 Mr. Harris and will explain her mission to you. 
 Yours truly, 
 
 R> SADLER, Governor. 
 
70 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 PKISON OFFICIALS. 
 
 Sheriff's Office. 
 Suffolk County. 
 
 Boston, Oct. 24, 1885. 
 Mr. Bradley: 
 
 Let the bearer visit the jail and see any person she desires to. 
 
 J. B. O 'BRIEN, Sheriff. 
 
 North Carolina State Penitentiary. 
 
 Raleigh, N. C., Nov. 14, 1885. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton. 
 
 My Dear Friend: Your postal just to hand, and in reply I am 
 glad to say my daughter is much better than when you were in 
 Ealeigh, but she is still very far from being well. The general 
 health of the prisoners is very good at this time. I shall be very 
 glad to have you at our prison as you pass on your way south. We 
 have all of the convicts in the prison every Sabbath, and I shall be 
 very much pleased for you to have service for us. We can arrange 
 for the service on any Sabbath morning or evening, as may be most 
 desirable or convenient to you. 
 
 I regret that I did not meet you when you were here last. May 
 the good Lord bless you very abundantly in your Christian work. 
 Your Friend, 
 
 W. J. HICKS, Architect and Warden. 
 
 Warden's Office, 
 Nebraska State Penitentiary. 
 
 Nobesville, Nebr., April 11, 1886. 
 R. J. McClaughry, 
 
 Warden Penitentiary, 
 
 Joliet, 111. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 This will introduce to your favorable notice Mrs. E. R. Wheaton, 
 Prison Evangelist. Mrs. Wheaton is highly recommended by some of 
 the most prominent persons, and any favors that you can show her 
 will be in a good cause. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 C. F. NODES, Warden. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 71 
 
 San Francisco, Aug. 18, 1888. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton. 
 
 Dear Madam: I have just received yours of the 17th inst., and 
 in reply will say that you have always been welcome to visit the 
 jail and enjoy every privilege granted to others of your sex. 
 
 Mr. G. 's mother has not been allowed to enter his cell for some 
 time past. The utmost freedom consistent with our rules of order 
 is given to all those employed in the good work in which you are 
 so earnestly engaged. Should you find it convenient to visit the insti- 
 tution again prior to leaving our State, we will be pleased to admit 
 you, and should you prevail on the sheriff to allow the special favor 
 you seek, we will gladly comply with the order. 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 JOHN ROGERS, Chief Jailer. 
 
 Dakota Penitentiary North. 
 
 Bismarck, Dak., Oct. 27, 1888. 
 Hon. D. S. Glidden, 
 
 Warden Penitentiary, 
 
 Sioux Falls, Dak. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 This will introduce to you Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton and Miss 
 
 Mary M , Prison Evangelists. 
 
 They paid us a visit several days ago. While they came with- 
 out introduction, I welcomed them and gave them opportunity to 
 examine the prison; also called officers and prisoners together in 
 the evening and held services. We were well repaid for our time and 
 trouble. They left a lasting and good impression. I think that 
 you will like their singing and prison talk. I bespeak for them a 
 cordial greeting. Fraternally yours, 
 
 DAN WILLIAMS, Warden. 
 
 Warden's Office, 
 Penitentiary at Anamosa. 
 
 Anamosa, Iowa, Dec. 2, 1888. 
 
 This is to certify that Elizabeth R. Wheaton this day held religious 
 services in the prison chapel at this prison, which were very interest- 
 ing and instructive, and were highly appreciated by both convicts 
 
72 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 and officials. I am convinced {hat much good will result from the 
 meeting. Mrs. Wheaton is very earnest in her remarks, and her sing- 
 ing is charming. I can heartily commend her to all prison officials 
 whom she may choose to visit. 
 Very truly, 
 
 MARQUIS BARR, Warden. 
 
 Ohio Penitentiary, Warden's Office. 
 
 Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 10, 1889. 
 To Prison Officers: 
 
 This will introduce Mrs. Wheaton, who has been at our prison 
 and worked among the boys. There is none who will command 
 more respect and no more earnest worker than Mrs. Wheaton. She 
 will do good Christian work wherever she goes. 
 Respectfully, 
 
 W. B. PENNINGTON, 
 Deputy Warden, Ohio Penitentiary. 
 
 Huntsville, Tex., Sept. 20, 1904. 
 Mother Wheaton, 
 
 Tabor Iowa. 
 
 My Dear Madam: Your favor of the 4th instant came duly to 
 hand, and we certainly appreciate your kind remembrance. 
 
 I made the men a talk last Sunday in the Chapel and told them 
 of your kindly words sent them by you through me, and I know 
 they all appreciated it. May God bless you in your good work, and 
 grant that your days may be long; that you may be able to turn 
 many poor, wayward men and women from their evil ways. 
 With my very kindest regards, I beg to remain, madam, 
 Yours most sincerely, 
 
 T. H. BROWN, Asst. Superintendent. 
 Diet. T. H. B. 
 
 Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Aug. 31, 1891. 
 To My Brethren Wardens : 
 
 Gentlemen: Having observed the work of Mrs. Elizabeth R. 
 Wheaton as a prison evangelist, I most cheerfully recommend her 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 73 
 
 to your kind consideration and co-operation. Her presence is a bene- 
 diction, uud her work is in no sense subversive of good discipline, 
 but, on the other hand, is most healthful and helpful. 
 Fraternally yours, 
 
 THEO. D. KANOUSE, 
 Warden of South Dakota Penitentiary. 
 
 Warden's Office. 
 The Anamosa Penitentiary. 
 
 Anamosa, Iowa, Oct. 8, 1894. 
 To all who entertain an interest in our common humanity: 
 
 We deem it only just and proper to express our endorsement of 
 the labors and influence of Mrs. Elizabeth Eider Wheaton among 
 the inmates of prisons. 
 
 Her visits to this prison have invariably been attended with good 
 results, and she leaves within these walls a fragrant and wholesome 
 influence. Most respectfully, 
 
 P. W. MADDEN, Warden. 
 J. M. CROCKER, Chaplain. 
 
 Southern Illinois Penitentiary. 
 
 Chester, 111., Menard P. O., Oct. 22, 1893. 
 Dr. V. S. Benson, Asylum for Criminal Insane, 
 My Dear Doctor: 
 
 This will introduce Mrs. E. K. Wheaton, a prison evangelist who 
 wishes to hold open air services at your place. I am deeply im- 
 pressed with her earnestness and eloquence, and feel that she has 
 done us good down here. Yours truly, 
 
 J. D. BAKER, Warden. 
 
 Superintendent 's Office. 
 Virginia Penitentiary. 
 
 Richmond Va., June 8, 1893. 
 To Whom It May Concern: 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton, evangelist, whose mission is among 
 prisoners, has visited and held meetings at this institution which 
 have made a decided impression upon the convicts, and I heartily 
 
74 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 recommend her to the favor of prison officials and other good 
 people. Very truly yours, 
 
 B. W. LYNN, Supt. 
 
 Colorado State Penitentiary. 
 
 Canon City, Colo., April 11, 1904. 
 To Whom It May Concern: 
 
 I wish to say that Mother Wheaton, who has from time to time 
 visited the Colorado State Penitentiary, has been the means, I 
 believe, of accomplishing much good with the inmates of this insti- 
 tution. Her earnest efforts and kind, motherly advice have instilled 
 in the hearts of the prisoners an apparent desire to be better men. 
 I certainly most earnestly commend her to the kindly care of those 
 whom she may meet. JOHN CLEGHORN, 
 
 Warden Colorado State Penitentiary. 
 
 South Dakota Penitentiary. 
 
 Sioux Falls, S. D., March 12, 1904. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton, 
 
 612 E St., Elkhart, Ind. 
 Dear Madam: 
 
 1 take this opportunity of thanking you for the visit made to 
 this institution some time ago. Your work among the prisoners has 
 had good effect in more ways than one. A number of the inmates 
 have told me that your encouraging and Christian talk to them has 
 helped them and tltat they are trying to live Christian lives and 
 that by the help of God they expect tils to be their last term in 
 prison. 
 
 Hoping that you may be able to visit this institution again, I am, 
 Yours truly, 
 
 O. S. SWENSON, Warden. 
 
 South Dakota Penitentiary. 
 
 Sioux Falls, S. D., June 5, 1905. 
 To Whom It May Concern: 
 
 This is to certify that Mother Wheaton, the bearer of this letter, 
 has visited the South Dakota Penitentiary in the capacity of a mis- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 75 
 
 sionary. I am glad of the opportunity to say that she is doing 
 much good to those unfortunate enough to be placed in an institution 
 of this kind and I heartily commend her work. 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 H. T. PARMLEY, Warden. 
 
 Nebraska State Penitentiary. 
 
 Lancaster, Neb., May 22, 1905. 
 
 Mother Wheaton 's visits to this institution always seem to cheer 
 up the inmates and make most of them look forward to better 
 things. They feel that she has a mother's heart for all. 
 
 A. D. BEEMER, Warden. 
 
 Office of the Commissioners of the 
 District of Columbia. 
 
 Washington, Aug. 19, 1893. 
 Mr. W. H. Stoutenburgh, 
 
 Intendant Washington Asylum. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 The commissioners direct me to ask that you will give the bearer, 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Rider Wheaton, a hearing, and such favorable action 
 as you properly may with respect to the object of her visit, which 
 is to arrange for the holding of religious exercises at the asylum. 
 
 Very truly, 
 
 W. TINDALL, Secretary. 
 
 PERSONAL LETTERS. 
 
 Kansas State Penitentiary. 
 
 Lansing, Kan., Oct. 17, 1894. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton. 
 Dear Sister: 
 
 1 am in receipt of your card and am glad to hear of your good 
 success. I enclose you a money order for eight dollars and seventy- 
 five cents, of which fifty cents comes from the deputy warden, and 
 the balance from prisoners. You will remember that I gave you one 
 dollar and twenty-five cents, making a total of ten dollars. 
 
 Excuse me for being so particular, but money drawn from the 
 
76 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 prisoners goes on record, so would like your receipt to show for it. 
 Wife and children are well. 
 
 Fraternally, 
 
 F. A. BRIGGS, Chaplain. 
 
 Kentucky Branch Penitentiary. 
 
 Eddyville, Ky., Nov. 13, 1897. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Eider Wheaton. 
 Dear Sister: 
 
 I suppose you remember your visit to our prison; the boys often 
 speak of you. We would be glad to have you visit us again when- 
 ever it would be convenient. I will soon have to submit my annual 
 report and I write you that I may get a statement from you that I 
 may embody in the report. I herewith enclose statement; if you will 
 sign and return to me I will be very thankful. I have forgotten 
 the lady's name who was with you. If you could get a like state- 
 ment from her for me I would be glad to embody it also. In my 
 report I will speak of your visit in a way that will introduce you 
 into other parts of the United States. 
 Hoping to hear from you soon, I am, 
 
 Yours most respectfully, 
 
 D. F. KERR, Chaplain. 
 
 Missouri State Penitentiary. 
 Office of Warden, 
 
 Jefferson City, Nov. 22, 1897. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 Your card duly received and we were all glad to hear from you, 
 D. especially. Enclosed you will find a letter from her which she is 
 
 very anxious for you to answer. Mrs. Pike and I both ordered 
 books from Mr. McKnight at Columbus and are perfectly delighted 
 with them. Mrs. Spahr has ordered one too. We are all about as 
 usual, some three or four sick. We have fifty-two women at pres- 
 ent. Hope you are well and prospering in the Lord's work. Will 
 be pleased to hear from you often. With much love, 
 I am sincerely yours, 
 
 BELLE MAGBE, 
 Matron State Petfitenftary. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 77 
 
 Pittsburg, Kan., April 18, 1898. 
 My Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 Your kind letter just received. God bless you for your kind, 
 sympathetic heart. I have often thought of and prayed for you. I 
 still feel that God will open the way for me to re-enter the prison 
 work. I am trusting Him. He is my all and in all. 
 
 1 hear occasionally from the boys at Fort Madison. God has used 
 you marvelously. May you be spared long to tell to those around 
 what a dear Saviour you have found. 
 
 Your son in the gospel, 
 
 C. S. LASLETT, 
 
 Former Chaplain Fort Madison, Iowa. 
 Eph. 3:18-21. 
 
 Anamosa Penitentiary. 
 
 Anamosa, Iowa, Oct. 5, 1899. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 At last we have your handkerchiefs finished, and can send to you. 
 The girls did not get those tiny slippers finished in time to have 
 them at the turnkey's office the evening before you went away, so 
 will enclose them now. They are very small, but we know you will 
 appreciate the motive rather than the result. 
 
 They are all doing nicely and I feel quite encouraged with the 
 present outlook. 
 
 I trust that you are better and that your general health may 
 remain good for years of usefulness yet in life. 
 
 With best wishes from myself and my father, the Deputy Warden, 
 I am sincerely yours, 
 
 MRS. ANGIE M. WATERMAN, Matron. 
 
 Kansas State Penitentiary. 
 
 Lansing, Kan., Oct. 5, 1899. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 Your card of yesterday reached me today, but too late to attend 
 your service at the Home, which I would have been pleased to do. 
 Accompanied by our daughter we went to Kansas City, Mo., Mon- 
 day evening for a short visit and returned home yesterday noon. 
 I examined eight new prisoners just before starting and upon my 
 
78 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 return found sixteen more. Then two more today. Twenty-six 
 in all this week! So I have been very busy. 
 
 Your handkerchief was found in Chapel and my sexton and 
 night watch want you to know that you have found ' * two honest 
 boys in the pen." I send it enclosed. 
 
 Are you going to remain here over another Sunday, and if so, 
 will you be out again or do you go to the Military Prison? 
 
 The little book to Baby Esther, the poem and a tract, came this 
 evening, for which please accept grateful thanks. May the blessed 
 Lord greatly bless you in your noble work. May He comfort, 
 strengthen and keep you. 
 
 Sincerely yours in Jesus, 
 
 R. A. HOFFMAN, Chaplain. 
 
 Iowa Soldiers' Home. 
 
 Marshalltown, Iowa, July 18, 1901. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth E. Wheaton. 
 
 Dear Sister. Your card came, after a little delay, duly to hand. 
 We regret very much your being sick and especially with that 
 dreaded disease, the smallpox. There has not been a case of it at 
 the Home and not any in town that I know of. 
 
 Our family is well. Matters at the Home in usual shape. Thirty- 
 four of the boys have died since January 1, and so we are being 
 mustered out, because of service no longer needed. It will be a 
 wonderful relief to us all to be invited to that "house not made 
 with hands, eternal in the heavens. ' ' 
 
 Your visit here was well received, much enjoyed and very profit- 
 able. Your coming again will be hailed with delight. 
 Very truly, your brother, 
 
 JESSE COLE, Chaplain. 
 
 Michigan State Prison. 
 
 Jackson, Mich., Sept. 9, 1903. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 The work still progresses nicely. Many of the men speak in the 
 highest terms of the services you held here and wish to hear you 
 again and those who pray often remember you in their prayers. 
 We are very thankful to you for your interest in the inmates of 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 79 
 
 Jackson Prison. God bless you in your mission of love. We send 
 the sincere wish and offer the earnest prayer that God may make 
 your book a strong influence in the upbuilding of Christian life and 
 character. Sincerely, 
 
 FRANK MCALPINE, Chaplain, 
 
 Rusk, Tex., April 7, 1904. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton. 
 
 Dear Sister: Your kind postal was read to "The Boys" last 
 Sunday and I was requested to answer it. They enjoyed your 
 words of love and sympathy very much. The ' f old timers ' ' remem- 
 ber you well, and the new men know you through the old ones. 
 
 John B. Reagan is Assistant Superintendent, J. H. Meeks, War- 
 den or, as he is called here, Underkeeper; J. H. Walker, Assistant 
 Financial Agent, and I am Chaplain. 
 
 We would like so much for you to visit us. If you make arrange- 
 ments to come let me know and I will meet you at the depot. 
 Yours in the work, 
 
 J. L. DAWSON. 
 
 Accompanying the following tribute from Bro. Munro, 
 chaplain of the Mission to the "Tombs" Prison in New 
 York Gity, we give cuts of the old "Tombs" where I have 
 held services a number of times, and of the "New Tombs" 
 which has not been occupied a great while. Also a short 
 extract taken irom the annual report of the chaplain. 
 
 Gospel Mission to the Tombs. 
 Rev. J. J. Munro, Chaplain. 
 
 New York City, June 24, 1904. 
 Dear Sister Wheaton, 
 
 Prison Evangelist, 
 
 Chicago, 111. 
 
 I am glad to hear that you are writing a book on prison labors. 
 You certainly have had much experience in that line. I trust your 
 book will have a wide circulation in which the marvels of God's free 
 grace to men and women behind the bars will be fully seen. 
 
 I take much pleasure in commending your prison labors for the 
 
THE OLD TOMBS 
 
 I Si iu I 
 
 THE NEW TOMBS 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 8l 
 
 Master. For when you came to the Tombs it gave me great joy to 
 hear you speak to the prisoners. And your earnest words for lost 
 souls will not be soon forgotten. Success to you and may God's 
 richest blessiag be with you. 
 
 In the Master's name, 
 
 JOHN J. MUNRO. 
 
 EXTKACT. 
 
 * ' Crime among boys and young men has increased greatly during 
 the last few years. I cannot account for this except on the ground 
 of a noticeable increase in the social high pressure. 
 
 "The temptations today are greater than ever and swamp the 
 young men by the hundreds before they reach their majority. I 
 meet these boys in prison white and colored and talk to them. I 
 find out their needs and try to help them. 
 
 ' * Nowhere in the wide world can the power of sin be more clearly 
 seen than in the Tombs Prison. It is a wreckage pool where hulks 
 and derelicts that have been abandoned in the ocean of life come 
 to a standstill. What an army of fallen humanity! They can go 
 no further. When they realize their condition they weep ; groan and 
 bitterly lament over their misspent lives. Can these men be trans- 
 formed by th,e power of the Gospel? These moral and physical 
 wrecks, with bleared eyes, sunken and emaciated cheeks and many 
 other marks of sin. What a besotted multitude! Yet the Gospel 
 of Jesus can reach them. 'He can save to the uttermost all that 
 come unto God through Him.' " 
 
 Nebraska State Penitentiary. 
 A. D. Beemer, Warden. 
 
 Lancaster, Neb., May 22, 1905. 
 To Whom It May Concern: 
 
 I have lately become acquainted with Mrs.' Elizabeth Wheaton, 
 familiarly known as "Mother Wheaton," the prison evangelist, and 
 I take pleasure in recommending her and endorsing her work among 
 those who are detained in prisons and jails. 
 
 Her manifest Christian spirit, sympathy with the unfortunate and 
 condemned ones, sincere humility, all entitle her to the esteem and 
 
82 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 confidence of all, and I believe her work productive of much good. 
 
 Signed, P. C. JOHNSON, 
 
 Chaplain of Nebraska Penitentiary, 
 
 Lancaster. Neb. 
 
 Huntsville, Tex., Aug. 8, 1904. 
 To Whom It May Concern: 
 
 This is to certify that Sister Elizabeth E. Wheaton, prison evan- 
 gelist, has visited our prison and held a profitable service. She 
 is Q consecrated woman and has her heart in the work. Would to 
 God that we had more such women. May the Lord raise them up 
 and help these poor unfortunate men who are confined within prison 
 walls. All the prisoners who know her love her and call her mother. 
 May the Lord in his mercy preserve her and give her many souls for 
 her labor. 
 
 W. T. MCDONALD, 
 Chaplain Penitentiary. 
 
 Charlestown, Mass., Oct. 30, 1885. 
 Dear Mrs. Wheaton: 
 
 I am sorry I had no opportunity to see you before you left. I 
 trust we may see you on your way to the south. Mrs. Chapman 
 informed me last evening of your whereabouts and the Warden 
 wished me to convey his regards to you and say that he should like 
 to see you here again, if convenient or consistent with your plans, 
 on Sunday next (Nov. 1). 
 
 Accompanying this please find some notes from different prison- 
 ers. The Warden would be glad to have you here some Saturday 
 P. M. in order that you should be in the yard, at liberty with all 
 the men, that you might speak with them at your freedom or 
 pleasure personally. I trust that the divine light is flooding your 
 spirit and I pray it may do so forever. 
 
 I hope that Christ is ever a satisfying portion to you and that 
 your comforts in Him are numberless and rich. 
 
 May God Almighty fill you with himself. 
 Kespectfully, 
 
 J. W. F. BARNES, 
 Chaplain Mass. State Prison. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 83 
 
 P. S. Also find herewith a paper drawn up by one prisoner and 
 signed by thirty-three others. J. W. F. B. 
 
 Charlestown, Mass., June 4, 1887. 
 Dear Sister Wheaton: 
 
 Things here seem to be getting on to the praise of Jehovah. I 
 had a good, long letter from Sister B. this morning. It is most 
 blessed to feel that Jesus abides in the ship and commands the 
 winds and sea as well. Praise his glorious name! 
 
 What a blessing it is to be on the altar in God 's service, ready 
 to go or stay; ready to labor or to rest; to bear burdens or be free. 
 I trust that the fullest rays of the Sun Divine may warm your 
 heart and make your life fruitful. 
 God be with you richly in all things. 
 
 With best of wishes, 
 
 J. W. F. BARNES, Chaplain. 
 
 Massachusetts State Prison. 
 
 _ Charlestown, Feb. 13, 1896. 
 Dear Mrs. Wheaton: 
 
 Your postal to the Warden concerning was put into my 
 
 hands. This is the first moment T have had to devote to an answer. 
 He is in the city working. He has made excellent friends. He 
 stands well in the church he has joined; is connected with a very 
 large Bible class of young men and frequently has to be its teacher. 
 He is active in the church, but closely confined to his work. 
 
 W.e are in fair condition, comparatively, in the prison. We have 
 tonight, 761 prisoners. I send you one of our reports with this. 
 
 A. is still keeping a Kescue Mission and doing well. 
 
 I presume you are still after the welfare of the prisoners. I 
 have been very ill since I saw you, but am able to be at my work 
 again. Our little prayer meeting on Saturday P. M. still goes on 
 doing good. The Lord is with us in the enlightening and building 
 up of souls. 
 
 Such work as you used to do has been left out of the prison life 
 and no one is allowed now to go into the chapel on Sundays. Once 
 each month 1 take in some people to help us sing in our praise ser- 
 
84 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 vice. The same people every time, however. Pray for us. 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 J. W. F. BARNES, Chaplain. 
 
 Massachusetts State Prison. 
 
 CharlestowD, June 14, 1899. 
 Dear Sister Wheaton: 
 
 Yours came on Monday last. I was glad to hear from you, and 
 to get the enclosures in your letter. They are good very good 
 for my work and my own life. I heartily reciprocate all your good 
 wishes for me and pray that you may be preserved from all evil. 
 
 We have had some blessed conversions here and one or two of our 
 men have gone to their reward in great peace and joy. 
 
 F. is doing well and much loved in his work for Christ. He is 
 at same address I sent you before. 
 
 Truly yours in the work, 
 
 J. W. F. BARNES, Chaplain. 
 
PERSONAL WORK. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 Some of My Prison Boys. 
 
 The writer of the following letters was one of the most 
 remarkably conscientious persons I ever knew. As a pris- 
 oner, he was very highly respected by the officers. His 
 chaplain has ever remained his sincere friend and coun- 
 selor. Years have passed since he left prison life and he 
 still remains an earnest Christian and an honorable member 
 of society. No one but his pastor, employer and former 
 friends know his past history. 
 
 He was converted in prison during services I held in 1884 
 or 1885. He presented me some years ago with a book of 
 poems of his own writing. Not being able to carry them 
 with me, I have lost trace of them. Otherwise would be 
 glad to furnish some of them to my readers. 
 
 To Mrs. Wheaton, My Dear Mother in the Lord: 
 
 I call you by this name because I am young and have lost my 
 mother in the flesh, and I am writing this letter because, as you 
 have given up all for Jesus' sake, you only can help me as I wish. 
 You can pray for me as a mother prays for a son. I am twenty- 
 four years old, have an eighteen years' sentence, have served four 
 years of it and expect to serve the whole of it for I have no influen- 
 tial friends to help me. 
 
 I had not been here a year until I realized what eighteen years 
 of prison life meant the deprivation of all earthly pleasures, and 
 the wasting away of youthful hopes and ambitions in vain regret. 
 Grief, misery and despair overwhelmed me every night, and every 
 night I wished that I were dead. A great struggle was going on in 
 my soul. A struggle for either life or death, and, thank God, life 
 had the victory. 
 
 1 am now a Christian. A night of revelation came to me in which 
 
88 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 God, as Judge, and Jesus, as Saviour, revealed to me the one, the 
 power and glory; the other, the love of God. 
 
 But my way is not like the peaceful flow of a river, but like a 
 stream of cascades. By leaps I draw nearer to God. In the mean- 
 time I do not keep the image of Jesus before me. Pray, dear 
 mother, this special prayer for me, that my faith may be constant; 
 that self shall no more come between it and Jesus; that surround- 
 ings shall not weaken it; that youth shall not neglect it. Jesus 
 has stamped my soul with his blood. It can never be effaced, but 
 my soul does not thrill as often as I wish with the joy of right- 
 doing. Belief in Jesus permeates my whole being. Why do I some- 
 times stray from his love? Repentance is doubly grievous then, 
 and repent I must. My conscience compels me. The prayers of a 
 saintly woman will be heard. You will pray for me for Jesus' 
 sake. Yours in the Lord, 
 
 SIGNED. 
 
 Thanksgiving Day, 1885. 
 Dear Mother in the Lord: 
 
 With what mingled emotions of joy, gratitude and love, I read 
 your faith inspiring letter. I did not expect it, for one Sunday in 
 the chapel the Chaplain read one from you addressed to us all in 
 general. He also told us something about your way what a lonely, 
 weary way. What a sorrow yours has been! Can we poor mortals 
 ever forget our sorrow? Does it not rise to the surface at times and 
 overwhelm us, so that nothing but the soothing presence of Jesus 
 can comfort us? "I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to 
 you. ' ' 
 
 A common saying here is: "I don't believe in a man coming to 
 prison to reform." Ah! little they know what reform is, for where 
 on earth does one need the Spirit that reforms more than in prison? 
 Our poets tell us that prisons are the types of hell. I bless God 
 for bringing mo to this prison. Out of its depths I cried and He 
 heard me, nor do I pray to be free from its thrall. Indeed I do 
 pray for His will to be done in me and beseech Him to keep me 
 here until He calls me to Himself, rather than I should go free 
 again and forget Him. That I never can. Though 1 fell to the 
 lowest depths, I could never forget Him. Dear Mother, we will 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 89 
 
 meet Him Jesus in Heaven. Oh! I do not want the pleasures of 
 this life! I do want to be, like you, His humble follower. How 
 I wish I could be near you always that your faith might ever 
 increase my own. I need, very much I need, the pure and tender 
 influence of a holy praying "mother." My own mother had a 
 loving heart, but neither she nor my father did I ever see praying. 
 My precious Saviour was never revealed to me from the lips of 
 either. What would have become of me had God deferred this 
 discipline? Would I not have gone on in sin until too late, even 
 had I been sent here for a short term of years? My only thought 
 would be for them to end, that I might pursue again the delusive 
 hopes of sin. 
 
 I fully realize my position here. I see the providence of God 
 that makes it a blessing. 
 
 I would tell you the way Jesus came to me, or rather how I came 
 to Him. When first I came here I did not think of what was in 
 store for me eighteen years of prison life. I was wild and thought- 
 less. The strangeness of the place helped to divert my mind, but 
 the solitude of my cell at night forced me to look into the future. 
 At length my fate dawned upon me. Oh! it was terrible! Dur- 
 ing the day I would try to forget the thoughts of the night by being 
 mere wild than ever, but the night brought the ordeal again and it 
 was driving me to despair. I longed to be dead, but one night the 
 thought came: "Suppose you were dead, what then? Would you 
 be at rest?" I say thought, but if ever the Holy Spirit spoke to 
 the soul of man, it spoke to mine that night. In an instant I saw 
 the enormity of my sins and the punishment in store for me. In 
 terror I cried: "O, what shall I do? Oh, I cannot die! I cannot 
 meet this doom!" Need I say that my cry was not in vain? No, 
 the spirit of Jesus taught me of Himself that night, and the Chap- 
 lain showed me some words in the gospel of John. I never read 
 the Bible before, but there were Christ's words, and those words I 
 now read often. The Psalms and St. John contain for me the Way 
 of Life. 
 
 I do not forget you in my feeble prayers morning and night, pnd 
 I hope you will be indeed my "Mother" for Jesus' sake. Amen. 
 
9O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 June 16, 1890. 
 My Dear Friend and Spiritual Mother: 
 
 I thank you very much for your kind letter, which I received 
 today. I pray that you may die in the harness, leaving your work 
 to just pass over the river into Heaven. 
 
 Have you heard that our dear Chaplain's helpmeet has recently 
 taken this journey 1 ? The Chaplain takes it just as one would expect 
 he would, calmly, with faith unabated, rather increased, for he said 
 to me the day after the funeral: "The peace of God in my heart 
 passeth understanding." This evidence of real trust in God's mercy, 
 and that He is and heaven is, has been the means of bringing me 
 nearer to God. 
 
 I am reading a book by "H. W. S." entitled "Frank: the 
 Record of a Happy Life." It is very inspiring. I have been con- 
 vinced for some time that the higher Christian life was a reality, 
 and had for a while experienced its blessings. But I lived upon 
 the experience, drawing my strength from it and not from God, 
 consequently I soon got back to where I was before. But the Holy 
 Spirit has of late been urging me to seek it again, so that I have 
 consecrated myself anew to the Lord, and He has blessed me won- 
 derfully, taking away the irritable feeling that certain trials were 
 sure to bring to me. I forget self and think only of doing good 
 to those who before I felt like shunning. It makes me feel very 
 humble in my happiness. Dear Mother, I am sure you have enjoyed 
 this blessed experience of living moment by moment to God, being 
 kept by Him from all sin and the power of temptation. 
 
 I have read that many Christians do not believe that the blood 
 of Christ cleanseth from all sin. This appears very strange to me. 
 1 don 7 t see how they can be so blind. When this blessed thought 
 was shown me I could not help believing it, it seemed so plain, and 
 was really needful for us to have in order to live up to the com- 
 mands of the gospel. 
 
 Tuesday P. M., 17th. 
 
 They are celebrating the battle of Bunker Hill today. We have 
 had our holiday and are now in our rooms for the rest of the day. 
 It is a perfect summer day, mild, with a refreshing breeze floating 
 through the windows. My bird hangs above me chirping, enjoying 
 himself, while the murmur of voices in the guard room, with now 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 9 1 
 
 and then the joyous shout of a baby, make me feel like shutting 
 my eyes and imagining myself far away from these stones and bars. 
 
 # * * * 
 
 I firmly believe that an educated Christian who is wholly con- 
 secrated shall be used by the Lord where an uneducated one would 
 not. You know it was to Paul, the highly educated, that was in- 
 trusted the greatest work of the Apostles, viz: To convert the 
 heathen world. In Athens, the center of intellectual life, he 
 preached, quoting to them from their own poets and converting cer- 
 tain philosophers of whom was Dionysius, one of the city 's judges. 
 Intellectual ability is a talent which the Lord requires us to use for 
 His kingdom. We need never fear for education, "While near the 
 school the church spire stands., ' ' as the Quaker poet, Whittier, 
 puts it. 
 
 Our prayer meeting is growing both in numbers and in interest. 
 We hold an election of officers today. I resigned the leadership 
 owing to my duties in the library being such that I could not 
 attend regularly. I, however, accepted the place of chairman of 
 the standing committee. The Warden has allowed the teachers of 
 the night school to organize a society for the purpose of general 
 culture. Last Friday the constitution and by-laws were submit- 
 ted for approval. Next Friday the election of officers will be held. 
 I have been embarrassed by several members asking me to accept 
 the position of president. I know that I am not qualified for the 
 position, but they think otherwise and are persistent. These, and 
 other tokens of regard and respect for me by my fellow prisoners, I 
 am very grateful for. 
 
 It makes me feel, too, that my Christian life here has not been 
 without results among them. They respect my scruples something 
 I hardly think people outside are in the habit of doing. You will 
 understand that I look upon all this as the Lord's doings, and feel 
 no self-praise over it. To Him be all the praise for giving me the 
 courage and strength to let my light shine before the men in this 
 prison. O ! it is good to be on the Lord 's side, to let Him order my 
 way. I pray that I may never have a will of my own in this respect. 
 I feel so perfectly willing to remain here and serve Him in my 
 feeble way, only praying that if a larger opportunity comes to me 
 F shall not be found wanting, only believing that with the oppor- 
 tunity will come added strength and power from on high. The 
 
92 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Holy Spirit has so witnessed to my spirit that God is and that He 
 is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, and that Jesus is 
 my Saviour, that the bare thought of being unfaithful brings intense 
 pain to my soul. No, I can never be happy away from my Saviour. 
 With His faith filling my being, His peace shall abide with me. 
 
 1 pray daily for my spiritual ' 'Mother," that the Lord shall 
 bless her in all heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that the Holy Spirit 
 shall rest upon you, giving you the word of truth to speak to the 
 lost souls in all the places you go to. 
 
 With much love, I remain 
 
 Your son and brother in the Lord, 
 
 Oct. 23, 1894. 
 My Dear Mother: 
 
 I have been waiting to hear from you so I could write and let 
 you know of the good news that has come to me. I am no longer in 
 prison. I have been let out on parole. This means that I am still 
 a prisoner, but am given larger liberty. I shall not be allowed to 
 leave this city nor engage in mission work, that is to give my whole 
 time to it. I have to report to the secretary of the Board of 
 Prison Commissioners every month. When I get a room I am going 
 to devote the most of my spare time to study. I go to a mission 
 at the North End, but have no regular church connections. I have 
 
 been living with Mr. since coming out, but will leave him 
 
 within a week. He has been a good friend to me. He has been 
 so ill all this year that he has been to the prison only a few times. 
 
 I am happy in my new life. The Lord is blessing me wonder- 
 fully. There is no other life worth living here below but following 
 in the way of the Lord. 
 
 With much love, I remain 
 
 Your son in the Lord, 
 
 A TALENTED YOUNG MAN. 
 
 Soon after entering upon prison work, I found in one of 
 our eastern prisons the writer of the following letters and 
 articles. He was at that time young, gifted, scholarly and 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 93 
 
 very prepossessing in appearance. His penmanship was 
 beautiful, perhaps the most so I have ever seen, but he had 
 fallen under evil influences and the very gift that should 
 have been used for a better purpose proved a curse and at 
 the time I first saw him he was under sentence for forgery. 
 He seemed to be clearly converted in a meeting I held in 
 the prison and proved faithful during the remainder of his 
 term. But after he went out into the world I lost trace of 
 him. He was only one among thousands who need sym- 
 pathy and help and encouragement. I trust that, if living, 
 he is still true to himself and to God. Some of his letters 
 follow, also the discourse on the Agony in the Garden in 
 the form of a letter found in the appendix is of his writing. 
 
 Oct. 29, 1885. 
 To Mrs. Wheaton. 
 
 Madame: Not being able to shake hands, and having thus been 
 deprived of the pleasure of verbally telling you what we had to 
 say, we now have recourse to our pen. Our hearts have heard, under- 
 stood and treasured your words of last Sunday. 
 
 Dear Lady, yours is a special task. In your field of labor are 
 gathered crowds unnumbered, inert, inanimate, forming, as it were, 
 a great desert, a Dead Sea uninhabited by any living thing. There 
 lies a small world to be reconquered; such are the men who are to 
 be reclaimed. How act upon them? How move their hearts? How 
 gain mastery over them? In these questions lies the secret of the 
 future. 
 
 Holiness in your heart and the omnipotent hand of Jesus in 
 yours cannot fail to bring about the reformation of a host of crim- 
 inals. He will save them. Oh! climb the heights, display the 
 brilliancy of those universal truths in whose presence every being 
 gifted with reason and accessible to reflection feels compelled to 
 bend the knee. Deeds, examples, striking evidence and incontest- 
 able proofs of abnegation, devotedness, charity and sacrifices are 
 required. These are the sermons that awaken souls from their 
 
94 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 torpor; these the weapons that triumph over the world, however 
 criminal, careless, frivolous and hardened it may be. 
 
 SIGNED. 
 
 December 1, 1885. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton, 
 
 Somewhere in America. 
 Let me begin this letter by saying something very true concerning 
 
 RUM. 
 
 Let thy devotees extol thee, 
 
 And thy wondrous virtues sum : 
 But the worst of names I'll call thee, 
 O, thou hydra monster, Rum ! 
 
 Pimple-maker, visage-bloater, 
 
 Health-corrupter, idler's mate ; 
 Mischief breeder, vice promoter, 
 
 Credit spoiler, devil's bait. 
 
 Almshouse builder, pauper maker, 
 
 Trust betrayer, sorrow's source ; 
 Pocket emptier, Sabbath breaker, 
 
 Conscience stifler, guilt's resource. 
 
 Nerve enfeebler, system shatterer, 
 
 Thirst increaser, vagrant thief ; 
 Cough producer, treacherous flatterer, 
 
 Mud bedauber, mock relief. 
 
 Business hinderer, spleen instiller, 
 
 Woe begetter, friendship's bane ; 
 Anger heater, Bridewell filler, 
 
 Debt involver, toper's chain. 
 
 Memory drowner, honor wrecker, 
 
 Judgment warper, blue-faced quack ; 
 Feud beginner, rags bedecker, 
 
 Strife enkindler, fortune's wreck. 
 
 Summer's cooler, winter's warmer, 
 
 Blood polluter, specious snare ; 
 Mob collector, man transformer, 
 
 Bond undoer, gambler's fare. 
 
 Speech bewrangler, headlong bringei; 
 
 Vitals burner, deadly fire ; 
 Riot mover, firebrand flinger, 
 
 Discord kindler, misery's sire. 
 
 Sinews robber, worth depriver, 
 
 Strength subduer, hideous foe ; 
 Reason thwarter, fraud contriver, 
 
 Money waster, nations' woe. 
 
 Vile seducer, joy dispeller, 
 
 Peace disturber, blackguard guest ; 
 Sloth implanter, liver sweller 
 
 Brain distracter, hateful pest. 
 
 Wit destroyer^ joy impairer. 
 
 Scandal dealer, foul-mouthed scourge ; 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 95 
 
 Senses blunter, youth ensnarer, 
 Crime inventor, ruin's verge. 
 
 Virtue blaster, base deceiver, 
 
 Spite displayer, sot's delight ; 
 Noise exciter, stomach heaver, 
 
 Falsehood spreader, scorpion's bite. 
 
 Quarrel plotter, rage discharger, 
 
 Giant conqueror, wasteful sway ; 
 Chin carbuncler, tongue enlarger, 
 
 Malice venter, death's broadway. 
 
 Household scatterer, high-hope dasher, 
 
 Death's forerunner, hell's dire brink ; 
 Ravenous murderer, windpipe slasher, 
 
 Drunkard's lodging, meat and drink ! 
 
 The rum vender's power is something enormous. We do not delude 
 ourselves into thinking that the fight for national prohibition will 
 bo easily won. In many respects the liquor dealers will prove an 
 enemy harder to vanquish than the slave dealers were. For slavery 
 was an institution with a local habitation. It was restricted to 
 certain well-defined limits. The whole world knew where it was 
 and what it was doing. But rum is everywhere. Its upholders are 
 woven into the warp and woof of society in every city and hamlet. 
 It has a thousand heads, and it can hide them in times of danger 
 with wonderful facility. Slavery was bold, brazen and defiant. 
 It could be nothing else. But the liquor dealers, with equal bravado 
 and strength, are enabled to resort to the cunning and subtlety of 
 the serpent, when bravado is imprudent. 
 
 Then the liquor dealer's influence over his victims does not end 
 with control of the bodies. His slaves are his allies. He owns them, 
 many of them, body and soul for such a cause. They will fight for 
 rum and vote for rum as persistently as the saloomst himself. These 
 facts may as well be appreciated. When it comes to defiant antag- 
 onism, when temperance men boldly array themselves in professed 
 opposition to the traffic in alcohol, the struggle will be severe. But 
 it is certain there will come no time in the future when it will be 
 less severe. The liquor power is a rapidly growing power. God 
 knows it is strong enough now, but it becomes stronger with each 
 passing day. 
 
 Are we willing that such a class of men not only hold such an 
 enormous power, but add to it indefinitely? In the census for 1880 
 the capital employed in the manufacture of liquor was over one 
 hundred and eighteen million of dollars, and the number of persons 
 
96 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 employed in the manufactories and in saloons aggregated over one 
 hundred thousand. No nation can afford to leave such power in 
 the hands of such men. It is suicidal. 
 
 Having said my say about ' ' Old Devil ' ' and his ' Clerks ' ' I guess 
 I '11 write a little letter to 
 My Dear Sister: 
 
 Your good, kind letter' was duly received. We sincerely thank 
 you. When meeting with savages who don't treat you respectfully 
 
 please ever remember that in M everybody who knows you 
 
 or about you loves you. Mrs. D. told me to write to Mrs. Wheaton 
 because "she is a lovely Christian." 
 
 ' ' O taste and see that the Lord is good. ' ' Psa. 34 : 8. 
 That is the right way to find out that He is good. We may think 
 He is good, we may have some idea that He is so but to know it, 
 ami to know how very good the Lord is, we must taste his good- 
 ness. He alone is good. He is goodness itself; and because He is 
 this, He wants us to taste, to enjoy Him. 
 
 Good men and women, and good children, will one day be like 
 the angels in heaven; and they begin to be such already in this 
 world. If it were not for them, if they were not here to be the 
 bearers of peace and happinss, the ministers of mercy and of love, 
 to wretchedness and woe, to the weary and the bowed down, how 
 wretched would this world be! A thousand blessings upon you, 
 beloved sisters, who, from the goodness of your great big heart, 
 endeavor to do gcfbd to others. It is through such holy and devoted 
 daughters of our thrice holy King and Father as Sister Elizabeth 
 that we taste and see how good the Lord is. 
 
 "You see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine 
 own hand." Galatians 6:11. "I thank my God, making mention 
 of thee always in my prayers." Philemon, 4. 
 
 "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believ- 
 ing that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy 
 Ghost." Eomans 15:13. 
 
 "Kemember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and 
 them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body." 
 Hebrews 13:3. 
 
 W salute thee, sister. 
 
 Your real brother in Jesus, 
 
 L. J. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 97 
 
 Charlestown, Mass., Oct. 18, 1886. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton. 
 
 Dear Sister John 17:20, 21: " Everyone members one of an- 
 other. ' ' "If one suffer all suffer. ' J I do not know that the rela- 
 tion and consequent influence of member upon member can be better 
 illustrated than by the connection of the body, mind and spirit, 
 and the power that any one of the three has over the other two. 
 
 The mind depends upon the body to carry out its desires, and 
 the mind is in constant subjection to the body in health and in 
 sickness. The body is controlled by the mind as the ship is directed 
 in her course by the man at the helm. The spirit looks out through 
 the eyes of the body and is entranced with the scene of beauty, or 
 is crushed with the sorrow with which it is seized, according as we 
 look upon a thing of beauty or the eye rests upon things withered 
 and dead. 
 
 The life and experience of every man attest the fact that thought 
 and emotion, and the body in which the organs of thought and 
 feeling are placed, are inter-related in such a way and to such an 
 extent that the mind and body control, to a "very great extent, the 
 activity of each other. The wise man, looking at the inner life and 
 the outer manifestation of it, from a little different point of view, 
 expresses it thus : ' ' As a mapi thinketh in his heart so is he. The 
 spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, but a wounded or broken 
 spirit who can bear?" Says a writer in the Laws of Health: '"If' 
 a man thinks he is an invalid he is one; if he thinks himself incom- 
 petent he is incompetent, and so through the whole list. " By 
 faith in Christ, as true and confiding as the trust of a child; by 
 boldness at the throne of grace; by firmness in resisting temptation, 
 and by resolution in the performance of every duty we are able 
 to maintain the connection we have formed with Christ, the head 
 of the body; to bear the fruit of the vine; to suffer with each 
 other ; to be honored with the members of the body, and to rejoice ; 
 with those who rejoice. 
 
 As the connection of the body, mind, moral nature- and spirit is 
 such as to give one part influence over the other parts and the 
 power to modify their health and action, so the relation which is 
 formed with the household of faith, when we come into CL.'ist, is to 
 
98 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 be honored by striving for the faith of the gospel and by an effort 
 to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 
 
 If one in Christ now, this oneness can be maintained among 
 the brotherhood in but one way, and that is by being one with 
 Christ and God in purpose, plan and effort for the salvation of men 
 and by striving together for the faith of the gospel. The unity of 
 God's people cannot be maintained by erecting standards of our 
 own by making our own opinions bonds of fellowship and tests of 
 soundness by prescribing this and forbidding that, The unity is 
 to be maintained by striving together for the faith of the gospel. 
 The same thing is true with reference to the multitudes who are 
 following Christ as they have learned him. The unity of all these 
 distracted bodies is not to be brought about by any effort to form 
 a union, but by an effort on the part of each one to grow up into 
 Christ, the living Head; by all agreeing to disagree in their opin- 
 ions ; and by all striving together for the faith of the gospel. This 
 lesson is to be taught the world by the disciples of Christ, and if 
 we do not teach the lesson aright, we may expect, and we ought to 
 receive the question: What do ye more than others? 
 
 When we are growing in favor with God and man; when we 
 are increasing in the knowledge of divine things; when our lives 
 are hid with Christ in God; when we are appropriating the spiritual 
 food which God has furnished; when we are proving to the world 
 that we have passed from death unto life; when we are loving each 
 other with pure hearts fervently; when we are continuing steadfast 
 in the apostles' doctrines and in the fellowship, in the breaking of 
 bread and in prayers, we are giving to the world and to professed 
 Christians everywhere a living demonstration that we are striving 
 together for the faith of the gospel. 
 
 "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that 
 bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good 
 tidings of good that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy 
 God reigneth!" 
 
 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be 
 in health, even as thy soul prospereth. Ill John 2. 
 Yours in His love, 
 
 L. J. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 99 
 
 UNDER DEATH SENTENCE. 
 
 In 1887, I found the writer of the following letters, with 
 nine other men, under sentence of death in the prison at 
 Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Before his cell door stood his wife 
 and four little children. They all seemed heart-broken and 
 I was deeply impressed with the sad, touching scene. After 
 talking with them and praying for them, I was led to believe 
 that the man was innocent of the crime for which he and 
 another young man had been condemned. The evidence 
 against them was purely circumstantial. The other man 
 was afterward given his liberty, but this one was held, as 
 many believed, for want of money to hire lawyers to prop- 
 erly plead his case. I still believe him to be an innocent 
 man. 
 
 I left the state a short time before the day set for the exe- 
 cution, but prayed the Lord to let his life be spared if he 
 was innocent. Some time after I learned that he, with sev- 
 eral others, had been given a life sentence in the Ohio peni- 
 tentiary. I went to the President and Attorney General in 
 Washington, D. C, several times, trying, if possible, to 
 secure his pardon. They were kind and courteous and after 
 looking up the evidence would have granted him a pardon 
 if the judge who had passed the sentence would request it, 
 but he refused to do so and finally died. Then all hope 
 seemed gone. The wife died of a broken heart. The chil- 
 dren all died and the dear old parents, broken-hearted, lin- 
 gered on, hoping against hope, until now they, too, may 
 have passed away. But the poor man lingered in prison, 
 with health, hope, friends, youth, all gone ; forgotten by the 
 world, waiting for death to end his misery. I say hope 
 gone ; I mean, hope for freedom here. His hope of heaven 
 proved an anchor to his sorrowing heart. He proved him- 
 
IOO PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 self a consistent Christian and a good, quiet, obedient pris- 
 oner. A letter from Chaplain Starr, Columbus, Ohio, tells 
 me that he had been finally pardoned and was released Janu- 
 ary 4, 1904. 
 
 I find in my possession two papers received from Wash- 
 ington regarding his case of which I give the reader ver- 
 batim copies : 
 
 Department of Justice. 
 Washington. 
 
 Case of Mi , Western District of Arkansas. 
 
 Offense Murder. 
 
 Sentence To be hanged. 
 
 Petition for pardon filed March 11, 1899. 
 
 Commuted to life imprisonment on June 7, 1899. 
 
 JAMES F. REED, ESQ., 
 U. S. Dist. Atty., Western Dist. of Ark., 
 
 Fort Smith, Ark. 
 
 Department of Justice. 
 
 Washington, D. C., March 8, 1895. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth E. Wheaton, 
 
 902 H. Street, N. E. 
 
 Sir : The papers in the above case have been referred, in ac- 
 cordance with Department practice, to the United States Attorney 
 for the Western District of Arkansas for his consideration, and 
 he has reported adversely thereon, being of the opinion that the 
 case is not one in which executive clemency should be exercised, 
 trial judge concurring. 
 
 In the absence of a counter showing, the report of the United 
 States Attorney will be considered as disposing of the case. 
 By direction of the Attorney General. 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 WILLIAM C. ENDICOTT, 
 Attorney in Charge of Pardons. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE IOI 
 
 Fort Smith, Ark., Feb. 20, 1889. 
 Dear Sister in Christ: 
 
 Yours at hand. It found a small portion of us praying to God 
 for aid. We keep up our prayer meeting. There is but three of 
 us who attend regular. It is myself and Mr. M. and T. We want 
 to do all we can to save our souls. I am one who is to be executed 
 on the 19th and I am ready to go if God says for me to go. I 
 am sure to meet you in Heaven where there is no unjust court. I 
 want you to pray for me in good faith, for the prayers of the 
 righteous are powerful and I want you to remember the day I 
 am to die and pray for my soul to go to God where I can see 
 everlasting enjoyment. 
 
 I am sad, sister. It hurts my heart to think I have been a 
 good, affectionate man on earth and now I must die for the wicked 
 world or man's evil. I forgive all and will die an innocent man. 
 "God receive my soul" is my prayer. 
 
 Brother and sister 'B. came and prayed for us last week. Write 
 me again and I will give you all the news. 
 
 Yours truly, M . 
 
 I had to stop writing to get to prayer meeting and I tell you, 
 we had a good time. It does me good to get to say a word for 
 Jesus, in jail or out. I am as happy as anyone could be in prison, 
 I am sure. I am blessed with a sure love of God who can save 
 or destroy. We don 't have preaching very often in here. There 
 are ten in here who are found guilty of murder. It is no wonder 
 people think they can 't get justice. I am sure it is on account of 
 so many bad people being in the territory and around it. 
 
 I am thankful I am even spared to see a few more days and 
 to let me have more time to try for justice. I am doing all I 
 can and so are my friends and relatives. I have a good father and 
 mother to pray for me day and night and am sure there is many 
 a prayer gone to Jesus in my behalf. 
 
 Hoping to hear from you soon, I say good-bye. I am, 
 
 Yours very truly, M . 
 
 Fort Smith, Arkansas, March 13, 1889. 
 Dear Sister in Christ: 
 
 Yours at hand. It found me well and still pleading to God to 
 
102 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 prepare my soul to meet my fate on the 19th of April. It is an 
 awful day for me to think of. I do hope and pray to God I won't 
 be put to death in such a cruel manner. I don't deserve such a 
 death, or any punishment at all for the accused crime. I don't fear 
 death, but I don't want to disgrace so many good people as it will 
 be a disgrace on all my relatives and me as clear of murder as 
 a child, and I don't believe God will allow me to be put to death 
 without a cause, but if God tells me to go on the scaffold I will 
 obey Him. 
 
 1 had a dear brother come to see me this week, and when he left 
 me it just looked like it was the last sight of the dear brother, 
 
 although he said, "I will come to see you again before ," then 
 
 he choked down and went away. He meant, " Before you are 
 executed." It would do my dear old parents an awful sight 
 of good to get a letter from you, stating what I said in regard to 
 a future home. I do wish you would write them. 
 
 We keep up our prayer meeting as regular as the time comes, 
 except we are hindered by a good cause. Seldom we miss our 
 meeting and prayers together. I am sorry to say there is only 
 three of us and I am all the doomed one of the three. I want 
 you when you are visiting prisons in Texas to inquire for a man 
 by the name of John H., as I have heard he was arrested in 
 Texas somewhere and was in jail. This is the same name as the 
 man we are accused of killing, and it may be the same man. I 
 wrote to Paris, Texas, but he was not there. If you find him let 
 me know at once. You can ask him if he ever knew Henry M. and 
 William W. He might deny us, so you can give me a description 
 and I can. tell if it is him. Ask him of what nationality he is. 
 
 God bless you all and send me relief at the last hour. Amen. 
 I am, Your true and affectionate brother in Christ, 
 
 M . 
 
 Fort Smith, Arkansas, April 11, 1889. 
 Mrs. Wheaton, 
 
 Dear Sister in Christ: 
 
 Your kind and welcome letter at hand. I hope you are being 
 blessed by our Almighty God. I am sure you are worthy of great 
 praise in well-doing. I am very sorry to inform you I am not 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 1 03 
 
 pardoned yet, but I thank God I have been respited till June 29. 
 It was thankful news for me and I am sure it is the power of our 
 God who wants justice done in everything here on earth. Oh, 
 what a great promise Jesus has promised us all if we will humble 
 ourselves and get low down at his feet! I am one that wants to 
 bow as low as I am required. I am a servant for Jesus as long 
 as I remain in this sinful world. 
 
 T am so glad my dear old pa wrote you. I don't get any 
 letters from him. I suppose he writes so pitiful to me the jailer 
 won't let me have his letters. I do not know any other cause. I 
 receive letters from my brotheus and sisters regular. I thank you 
 for the letter father sent you. My misfortune is an awful burden 
 on their poor, eld and feeble hearts, but I pray God to stay them 
 and help them to bear their sorrowsand I am sure He will do so. 
 
 Mr. W., my partner, is granted a free pardon and the President 
 did not have time to investigate the evidence in my behalf, so he 
 respited me for further investigation. Several of the senators are 
 taking an anxious part for me and it is thought I will get a par- 
 don. 1 trust in God I will be set free and can be able to help catch 
 sinners for Jesus; I am sure I am willing. 
 
 I am sorry to inform you Brother M. was convicted of a brutal 
 murder as the evidence shows. I hope he is not guilty, but we 
 must not say. 
 
 It is a sad place here. Brother George B. and Brother T. have 
 gone back in the world. There is nothing done for Brother George 
 yet and his time is short. 
 
 The President refused to do anything for M., that one-armed 
 colored man, so he must meet his Jesus on the 19th of this month. 
 There is three more, but the President has not ruled on their cases 
 yet. I don't know whether they will be hung or not. I hope not. 
 God help them all. 
 
 I want you to please write me. It does me good to read a letter 
 from you. Write soon. M . 
 
 Fort Smith, Ark., May 1, 1889. 
 Dear Sister in Christ: 
 
 Yours at hand. It found us all in good health, and for myself, I 
 am looking to Jesus, We still keep up our prayer meeting. It is 
 
IO4 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 a great comfort for me to get to tell Jesus how I feel and to hear 
 the other brothers pray and talk for Him. Of course I know it is 
 hard for me and some others to bear this punishment, yet I feel 
 the kindness of our kind Saviour in my poor, sad heart. I only 
 ask God to save my life and I am willing to spend the rest of my 
 days in his service. I can only trust God that all will come out 
 right. 
 
 I will tell you of the dear ones who were hung on the 19th. It 
 was J. M. and A. Both were colored men. M. had the Catholic 
 priest pray for him and he said he was going to heaven. He was 
 very moody and pale, but he seemed to know his doom. Poor 
 fellow! God pity us all, for we have souls to save. A. joined the 
 Methodist church and was baptized the same day he was hung. 
 He was the bravest soldier I e^ver heard of. He smiled and said, 
 "Good-bye, Henry." I had to shed tears to see and feel the 
 nerves quivering when he and I both knew that it was death caused 
 the quivering of his pulse. Poor boys! They are better off than 
 I am, if they had made their peace with God. 
 
 Brother M. was convicted and is sentenced to be hung July 17. 
 There is five to be hung on that day. One colored man and one 
 Indian woman and one Indian man and F. C. and Brother M. 
 Myself and George B. got a respite. His is till June 21 and mine 
 till June 29. W. got a free pardon and I am held on the same 
 evidence. It is because I was poor and did not send a man to 
 pload for me at Washington, but people think I will come out 
 all right yet. I leave it all to God, who can do me justice without 
 money. 
 
 For the sake of each poor unfortunate soul you may chance to 
 meet, I ask God to be near you and show and tell you a word to 
 say to the poor condemned ones a comforting word for their souls' 
 sake. Joy and peace be with you. You have my prayers, as weak 
 as they are. Jesus be with us alL Amen. 
 
 Write me soon. M . 
 
 Ft. Smith, Ark., May 20, 1889. 
 Dear Sister in Christ: 
 
 Yours at hand. It found us all well but Mr. T. He has been 
 complaining, but he is better now. We were blessed with Mr. and 
 Mrs. B. to sing and pray for us this morning and it was a great 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE I 05 
 
 comfort to us all. She was refused at first, but after she came 
 in and told us we sent her to Mr. C. and he told her to "sing and 
 pray for those men as much as she wanted to. " It is queer for 
 a living being to not want the distressed to find relief, but it seems 
 as though there was but little mercy shown us here, and, dear sister, 
 I am sure there are some good hearts in here and God surely will 
 not allow them to be put to death. Yet it has been done, and it can be 
 done again, and I am not trusting in a single word or act of man. 
 1 am reading my Bible and asking God to open my heart to all 
 faith and charity and reveal all the required secrets to my heart so 
 J can become one of his children in faith and be sanctified in Him. 
 I am so glad you wrote me. It does me good to hear from you. 
 Write soon, as I can only stay here till June 21. Good-bye. 
 
 M . 
 
 Columbus, Ohio, March 30, 1890. 
 Dear Sister in Christ: 
 
 Yours found me in some better health than I was when you last 
 saw me. I am so glad you will continue to write me. Like all 
 other persecuted souls, I sometimes think I have no friends. But 
 it cannot be so in my case. 
 
 I do not faint or shudder at the idea of dying in prison. It 
 is just as near heaven from this prison as it would be if I was 
 at home in the tender care of dear parents and brothers and sis- 
 ters. Yet I cannot say I am as happy here as there at home. I 
 am not. I feel sure my time is short in this world. I have a hard 
 time. I am in a sea of tears daily. Oh, it is so hard to be bound 
 and shut out from a free world, but this is all for some purpose, 
 unknown to me at present, but by the help of God, I my burden 
 will bear. 
 
 "I'll praise my Maker while I've breath, 
 And when my voice is lost in death, 
 Praise shall my nobler powers employ 
 In that Eternal World of joy." 
 "Lord, remember me for good, 
 
 Passing through this mortal veil ; 
 Show me the atoning blood 
 
 When my strength and spirit fail. 
 Give my sorrowing soul to see 
 Jesus crucified for me." 
 
 "May God be your helper and bless you," is my prayer con- 
 tinually. 
 
 I do not aim to impress on your mind that I am punished by 
 
106 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 the prison laws, for I am not. I haven't had a bit of trouble with 
 any one since I came into this institution. I have to work hard 
 and I do more than I ought to, but I am afraid I won't please 
 my superiors in power over me. I put in many a sleepless night 
 from weariness of my daily labors. But I could not stand any 
 punishment, so I had better over-do myself than to be over-done. 
 My sorrow is now as much as I can bear. I am in need of all 
 good praying people's prayers, so I ask you and your friends to 
 pray for me. 
 
 I am honored with all the attire of a first-grade-prison man. 
 I have the red stripes you told me to get and my mustache. The 
 boys you know are well. M . 
 
 Columbus, Ohio. 
 Dear Sister in Christ: 
 
 Blessed be our God! He has saved us thus far and has given us 
 an ark to carry us over Jordan, safe to Eternity. We, as fallen 
 men, sometimes err in thinking we are not under God's protection, 
 but I say we are. Jesus came, not to bring saints, but sinners to 
 repentance. It is not the righteous that are called, but sinners. 
 There is only one way and that is by Jesus Christ, and that is to 
 humble ourselves to all that is right. Life has yet many opportuni- 
 ties for serving God and his Church. Hitherto the Lord has 
 brought me and still in his loving hands I will cheerfully, hope- 
 fully rest and trust till the shadows of earth shall be changed for 
 the sunlight of eternity, when my heavenly rhome is reached, to 
 be blessed forever with the Lord. 
 
 Sister, Brother M. says "God bless you," and you have his 
 prayers. Bro. F. C. says he hopes to see you soon. Bro. B. is 
 all right as far as I know. They all say write to them. Bro. T. 
 has forgotten his pledge. May God soften his heart again to say 
 "Thy will be done." 
 
 T close by asking you to write soon. God bless you and all co- 
 workers. Good-bye, M. . 
 
 SENTENCED FOR LIFE. 
 
 Early in my prison work I found in one of our peniten- 
 tiaries a man sentenced for life who claimed to have acted 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE I 07 
 
 only with the motive of self-defense. That man is still con- 
 fined in prison, though he is one of the best of prisoners 
 and has given evidence of being a good, Qiristian man, 
 worthy of pardon. I wrote to the governor once in his 
 behalf, but too late to avail anything, as his term of office 
 was just expiring. While that poor man has been held 
 there, pardons have been granted to Chinamen, Spaniards 
 and other foreigners who were wicked and guilty, yet this 
 Christian man has been kept in confinement all these long 
 years, until there is only one other besides himself who is 
 now left of the prisoners who were there on my first visit. 
 The other has gone insane and I have feared that the one of 
 whom I write would lose his mind also. His article on the 
 need of prison reform entitled "Meditations of a Prisoner," 
 found in another chapter, will, I believe, commend itself 
 to every fair-minded reader. 
 
 I give a few selections from his letters. I feel sure he 
 should be a free man. O the indifference of those who have 
 the power to free such worthy cases and will not! May God 
 give power to the faint and grace to the afflicted and let us 
 pray God to show the governors of our land to whom to 
 give pardon and freedom and from whom to withhold. 
 
 State Prison, December 21, 1902. 
 Dear Mrs. Wheaton: 
 
 Your kind and welcome letter received and I was very glad to 
 hear from you and I do hope you will soon be strong again. The 
 world needs many Mother Wheatons, so it can ill afford to lose 
 you, but if the Lord calls you home we must all submit, for He 
 does all things for the best. 
 
 I was much surprised to see by your letter that you had written 
 to Governor S: in my behalf. From my heart I thank you, dear 
 Sister, and may God bless you for your kindly interest in me. But 
 Governor S. will leave the office tomorrow and the newly-elected 
 Governor will take his seat. It is too bad tnat you have gone to 
 
I08 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 all that trouble for nothing. But the fact that you did so will 
 always be most gratefully remembered by myself and Charles G. 
 He also wants me to send his kind regards and thanks for your 
 good will to him. 
 
 When you have your book ready please send me one. Could 
 you say about when it will be ready? I suppose you would like 
 to know how we spent Christmas. It was spent in the dining-room, 
 but we had a nice dinner and were kindly remembered by the 
 Warden and Chaplain and everything was very nice and pleasant. 
 
 I will close with kind regards and best wishes, and may God 
 bless you. 
 
 Sincerely yours in the Master 's service, E. 
 
 State Prison, Aug. 19, 1903. 
 Dear Mrs. Wheaton : 
 
 I have just received your welcome letter and was very glad 
 to hear from you, also to know that you were well. It is a wonder 
 you never get tired of traveling so much. When I think of how 
 you are constantly battling for the right in the interest of lost 
 sinners as we are it brings forth the thought in my mind does 
 it pay? If one only looks at the general result he can but say it 
 does not pay that one pure life should be worn out in the cause 
 when so few are made to see the error of their ways and turn to 
 the path of truth and right along the way of righteousness. 
 
 But again, if one life is truly brought into the light and a soul 
 saved, then we must admit it pays. And I know that your pil- 
 grimage of mercy brings forth good, for all who know you speak 
 kindly of you. Well, if a little spark of love is kindled in the heart 
 of the most hardened by the kindly deeds of another, who can 
 tell how great that spark may become? So let us not weary of 
 well doing but press on, hoping, for the best and accepting the 
 wcrst in true Christian resignation. 
 
 I gave your message of love to all the men here. All were glad 
 to hear from you. O, my dear friend, I am so often troubled in 
 heart by the attitude of some people. ' Certainly I have been very 
 sinful. I have fully realized all that was wrong in my life. It 
 has been my endeavor to cast it all out of my life and to build on 
 a foundation of righteousness and faith in its place. I have been 
 blessed in my effort by the help of many who I feel have a per- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 
 
 sonal interest in me. At the same time no man has been more 
 inhumanly treated by those who profess to be Christians than I 
 have been and am. 
 
 Yes, my friend, we are commanded to pray for such people. 
 This I have done for nine years, but the persecution still goes 
 on. May God forgive them. 
 
 Now, a few words about the prison. Everything is changed 
 here. We have all new officers and guards, also another Governor. 
 The Chinese cook you spoke to was pardoned last January. I 
 was denied. 
 
 I aui, with love, your sincere friend, E. 
 
 January 24, 1904. 
 Dear Sister: 
 
 Your welcome letter duly received and I was glad to hear from 
 you and to know that you were well. 
 
 Well, sister, I am again denied a pardon. Guess I must die 
 here. Well, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.'' Still 
 the lack of a Christian spirit is felt as rendered to me. You 
 remember the Chinaman who was cook for the Warden? Well, he 
 was pardoned, likewise several Indians and many others who were 
 without faith, but Christians oh, well, prison is a good place for 
 their! it seems. 
 
 With kind love and best wishes to you, I remain, 
 
 Yours in His service, E. 
 
 State Prison, Feb. 29, 1904. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton: 
 
 Yours received and I was glad to hear from you. I am getting 
 along very nicely, but the heart is often sad. Oh, I was so much 
 disappointed, s and while I was almost heart broken over it I have 
 also felt sorry for the friends that stood by me. Why, just think 
 of it there are five members on the Board of Pardon, and they 
 all voted against me! So you see it is not the Governor alone 
 who is against me, but every one of them. 
 
 My dear f rien", I don t think you would be able to do anything 
 for me. The Lord is strong certainly, but the ones who have my 
 freedom in their power leave the commands of the Lord out of 
 
HO PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 the question. Bead the 18th chapter of Matthew, from the 21st 
 verse to the last of the chapter, and you will see what I mean. 
 
 Now, dear sister, may God help, bless and comfort you in this 
 seemingly cold world of ours, is the prayer of your friend, 
 
 E. 
 
 FAITHFUL INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF PRISON WALLS. 
 
 Another case with which I was very much impressed in 
 the early days of my missionary work was that of a young 
 man of rare ability, gifted and sensible, who was spending 
 a term in one of our United States prisons. He was con- 
 verted and began working for God among the other prison- 
 ers. After faithfully serving his time, he left the prison 
 with good prospects. He was taken into an office and did 
 excedingly good service for the company, also for God and 
 souls, his past being known only to his pastor, employers 
 and prison officials. After several years he married a most 
 estimable lady who was doing missionary work. They 
 prospered well. He was promoted from one position to an- 
 other. For nineteen years he has lived a devoted Christian. 
 All who know him honor and respect him. His wife has re- 
 cently passed over to the kingdom of heaven. He is still 
 living a true and noble life and he is only one of many 
 who have served time inside of prison walls, who are living 
 for God outside and for Heaven at last. I quote a few ex- 
 tracts from letters received from him during the time of his 
 incarceration. 
 
 In Prison, January 12, 1885. 
 My Dear Friend: 
 
 Your kind note was received and I was very much pleased to 
 hear from you, but was pained that you should think for a mo- 
 ment that I was forgetting you. Since you left us we have had 
 several very earnest and interesting meetings the fruit of your 
 presence and labor among us. Praise God, He can find his way 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE III 
 
 inside prison walls as well as outside. He is no respecter of person. 
 Many men, not before confessing Christ or even anxious sinners, 
 have stood up manfully for prayers and may God give them grace 
 to accept and believe. It is very simple, my dear sister, is it not? 
 How I wish that all could see it! It only means total surrender 
 to Him, to give up the old longings and desires and trust Him 
 from day to day. Then comes the "perfect peace" which is 
 vouchsafed to them whose mind is stayed on God. Of course, you 
 will see us again. Our dear Chaplain and Warden are doing 
 everything possible for the spiritual welfare of all the men. The 
 Warden dignified our first meeting by giving us his personal re- 
 ligious experience at the commencement of the service, and he is 
 willing and anxious to encourage in every way possible the re- 
 ligious sentiment now prevailing. As for our Chaplain, I do not 
 believe there is his equal. I who am so closely associated with him 
 can truly testify to his untiring zeal in behalf of all of us. If 
 ever there was a living man, free from any selfish or worldly mo- 
 tives, I believe it is he. The moral tone has been increasing ever 
 since he came among us. I shall not feel at all slighted if you 
 save your strength and time by not writing to me. Just send me 
 some little message by F. or any others (for I see them all 
 daily), and I shall be just as well pleased. It is not because I 
 do not like to have you write me, but I had rather spare you, or 
 help you. 
 
 If you will let me know the address of that dear lady at Raleigh 
 whom you stayed with, I will gladly make her something and 
 would like very much to make something for any other of the dear 
 friends who are good to you on your pilgrimage of love and mercy. 
 Shall not forget to make something for your brother. May God 
 bless and keep you and make his face to shine upon you for many 
 years yet to come, and may we finally meet in heaven where there 
 shall be no more parting and sorrow. 
 
 Your loving brother in Christ, C. W. 
 
 August 8, 1886. 
 My Dear Friend: 
 
 Do you think we have forgotten youf Why, no indeed! We 
 think and speak of you almost daily, but you are moving so that 
 we hardly know where to locate you. A day or two ago L., who is 
 
112 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 my friend, got a postal card from you, and as he cannot write, by 
 permission just now and I have the privilege to do so, I drop these 
 few lines for him as well as for myself. 
 
 How glad we are to know the Lord has prospered your work. 
 How literally is the promise of Christ fulfilled, "Lo, I am with 
 you alway, even unto the end of the world. ' ' It seems so wonder- 
 ful that all people are opening their doors to Christian workers, 
 the doors which a few years ago were closed and to be opened 
 only through the power of God, who, as Daniel said, would ' ' set 
 up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed," but it shall break 
 in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and shall stand forever. 
 Our Sabbath School is not in session this month but will renew its 
 course the first of September. We like our new Warden very well. 
 Our dear Chaplain is still with us and is quite well and engaged 
 as ever in his life work. His place would be very hard to fill 
 here. 1 have been reading this morning the 34th Psalm l ' all my 
 fears," "all his troubles," "all his afflictions" a deliverance 
 from all. ' ' There is no want to them that fear Him. ' ' This 
 Psalm is full of comfort. Praise His name! We can find help 
 and comfort in any part of His holy Word. We all pray for 
 God 's blessing upon you and your work and for the conversion 
 and salvation of all whom you minister unto. It does not seem too 
 great a thing to ask of the Lord. Both L. and F. send their love 
 to you and L. will write you soon. Also Mr. A. and Mr. K. and 
 many more send love and best wishes. I shall always consider you 
 my friend, and if in the Providence of God we shall never meet 
 in this world I hope to meet you with recognition in our eternal 
 find glorious home above. 
 
 Truly your friend, C. 
 
 January 29, 1890. 
 My Dear Friend and Mother: 
 
 Your letter received yesterday made me very happy. It was so 
 good of you to write so soon and send such a nice long letter, too. 
 I trust I am getting to value a letter from you as I ought, as I 
 realize more and more how your time is so zealously occupied and 
 needed. I have ever valued your letters for the help they gave 
 me, but I value them now for their scarcity. In the future, when 
 perhaps you may be no more, I shall esteem them among my most 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 113 
 
 valued treasures. Yet I may be called first! We know not the 
 hour, whether in youth, or old age, or in our prime when the angel 
 of death shall come to summon us to eternity. " Watch therefore, 
 be ye also ready," are words that I try to keep ever in mind, or 
 rather to keep my mind so stayed on Christ that moment by moment 
 He shall keep me saved so that I shall never need to whip myself 
 into keeping watch for my Lord. I am glad you believe in and 
 ha"\e the blood cleansing freedom from all sin. It is an experience 
 that meets with much opposition from worldly Christians and from 
 some whose good works follow them. These latter really enjoy the 
 experience, but are prejudiced at the name given to it by others. 
 I know that it meets with much opposition. The " Christian Wit- 
 ness ' ' comes to the prison every week. It is an exponent of holi- 
 ness and very interesting, as well as spiritual. I have a magazine 
 which contains a story of an ex-convict which would do some good 
 to those who think there is no hope or reform for such an in- 
 dividual. I shall mail you the magazine, and if you can read it 
 do so and give it to others to read. 
 
 After a silence of several years my father has written me again. 
 You know he is living in C. and was formerly an instructor in 
 the State Prison at S. He is now old and broken in health, making 
 him incapable for steady work, so he is residing at a soldiers ' 
 home. He expresses great anxiety in regard to my future, think- 
 ing me friendless, etc. I have written him a long letter reviewing 
 the principal incidents of my prison life. How good God has 
 been to me and how my mind is at rest as regards the future be- 
 cause I have left it in His hands. To find favor with my God is 
 all I desire. Having that, whatever my condition I shall be like 
 St. Paul, content. That is my view of a successful future or 
 life. Wealth, power, ability, all things that men aspire to in this 
 life, do not make or lead to success in my mind. Nothing but the 
 favor of God brings it to man, and that favor comes through the 
 "washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost." 
 Oh, I am so glad that I know this even me! How can man doubt 
 the wondrous love of God when He is so patient to all who will 
 but look and see. Well, said someone, that they do not want to 
 look and see lest they should be healed and be saved. My poor old 
 father is a church-member, but I fear he knows nothing about 
 Holy Ghost religion, Jesus Christ 's religion, pure and undefiled. I 
 
114 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 want to do just right all of the time. I know my heart is right 
 because I hate sin and love righteousness. If the Lord has no 
 other work for me when I leave here, I would like to labor under 
 your guidance. When are you coming this way again? I would love 
 to greet you once more before I die. C. 
 
 From every nodding flower, from every whispering breeze 
 
 From mountain 's lofty height, from towering trees, 
 
 From softly twinkling star, from lightning's giddy flash, 
 
 From the softest twitter of a bird and thunder's awful crash, 
 
 From hills the ants may call their own, 
 
 From crested elders 'round their throne, 
 
 From babbling brook, from storm-lashed wave, 
 
 From nature smiling, nature grave, 
 
 From earth and air, from sky and sea, 
 
 There comes the self same voice to me, 
 
 Like softest note of cooing dove, 
 
 And sweetly whispers, "GOD is LOVE." 
 
 A Prisoner. 
 
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, MITCHELVILLE, IOWA. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 Letters from Co-workers, and Some of My Prison Girls. 
 
 In speaking of prisoners or of those within prison walls 
 many think only of men being found there. This is diu j 
 doubtless to the few women compared to the number or men 
 found in these places. In my efforts to do good to all, I 
 have been especially mindful of those of my own sex, and 
 have ever endeavored to encourage and lift up my sisters 
 who have fallen victims to sin and misfortune. I give in 
 this chapter a few letters from sisters who are directly in- 
 terested in the care and work for the prison bound; also 
 extracts from letters from a number of my prison girls. 
 The co-operation in my work and the kindness and hos- 
 pitality ever shown me by the sisters, matrons, wives of of- 
 ficers, etc., are especially appreciated, and all these dear ones 
 are often remembered at the throne of divine grace. These 
 too shall all share in the fruit of the toil and labor in the 
 final reckoning. Neither will my girls whom I have tried to 
 help, that have shown their appreciation and have tried to 
 serve the Lord, be forgotten. 
 
 Women who are the victims of sin arid are condemned by 
 society and the law,, have as much right to be restored and 
 encouraged when they amend their ways, as have men. The 
 following letters are, I believe, sufficiently explanatory in 
 themselves, and mav be read with interest. 
 
 Huntsville, Texas, Aug. 19, 1904. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 Mr. Baker, Superintendent of Prison, said he would like for you 
 to visit our prison once a year; they all were pleased with you. 
 Dear Mother, please pray for little George, that he may be truly 
 
Il8 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 converted to God and take an interest in his studies. It seems 
 that he has no desire for them. My greatest aspiration is to live 
 to see him saved and have an education. How my heart 
 goes out for him! I feel that I won't be with him long. I 
 sometimes think that I had rather see him put away before I go, 
 then I would know where he was. When you go to the Faith Home 
 pray for us that if it be God's will that I may be relieved of 
 afflictions and that my husband may be able to do a great and 
 
 CHAPLAIN S RESIDENCE, HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS. 
 
 lasting work for the poor unfortunate men. Dear mother, I write 
 you because I have confidence in you. May God bless you. 
 
 MRS. MARY MCDONALD. 
 (Wife of Chaplain at Huntsville, Tex., a great sufferer. E. K, W.) 
 
 My Dear Mrs. Wheaton: 
 
 Your letter to one of our boys was handed to me by him today. 
 I enjoyed reading it, and want to write you at once. I think 
 V. was very seriously impressed by your service here, although I 
 have not yet had an opportunity to talk with him as I have wanted 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE I IQ 
 
 to. He was sick yesterday and not in school. Tomorrow I , hope 
 to see him again. I am so glad that you had the opportunity of 
 seeing his parents. I know they will be greatly benefited spiritually 
 by your visit. I am sure our blessed Lord leads you, as you carry 
 peace and comfort wherever you go. Dear Mother, you comforted 
 me. I was impressed, as I have never been before, by the power 
 of prayer, and I know your prayers are heard and answered. 
 This text came to me over and over while you were here, ' ' The 
 effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." I 
 felt instinctively that your prayers could help me. Oh, my friends! 
 I appeal to you to pray for me. I may be here only until April, 
 but if God has work here which He wishes me to do, I know He 
 will order it that I shall stay longer. But I do want to be filled 
 with His Holy Spirit, that while I stay I may do everything that 
 is possible to warn and encourage these poor fallen brothers to 
 seek a Savior's love and forgiveness. I want a power which I feel 
 might be mine, but it has not yet come. I want to reach the boys 
 and tell them of Christ's love, but I have not the power of speech. 
 I cannot convince them that my Savior is their Savior too. So 
 often they say to me, "Well, I guess that kind of a life is the 
 best kind to lead after all, but I never will make a start in a 
 place of this kind. ' ' 
 
 The next day after you left one boy said to me that he had never 
 before heard a talk that had impressed him as he was impressed 
 Tuesday. I believe he is seriously awakened. I think three others 
 are, also, beside the one of whom I told you the day you left. 
 T think V. is one. 
 
 There is a boy here who says he heard you in Kansas City eight 
 or nine years ago. He was not at service, but saw and recognized 
 you. He thought you would know him if you saw him. 
 
 Yours in Christian love, 
 
 FANNIE A. HOYT, 
 (Teacher and wife of Officer.) 
 
 Buena Vista, Colo., Oct. 24, 1896. 
 
 Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 12, 1893. 
 Dear Mrs. Gore: 
 
 This will introduce to you Mrs. Wheaton and Mrs. , Prison 
 
I2O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Evangelists. You will be so glad to meet them and they to meet 
 you and talk about our dear boys "shut in." 
 
 God bless you. MRS. CHARLTON EDHOLM. 
 
 Mrs. A. B. Gore, Oakland, Cal. 
 
 Anamosa, la., Nov. 20, 1893. 
 Dear Mrs. Wheaton: 
 
 Anna H. has written you about the death of Emma S. She 
 had a hard cold, not so bad as some of the girls, however, when 
 she left here. We tried to persuade her to remain here over 
 Sunday, where it was warm, as it was very cold and stormy. She, 
 however, insisted upon going. We of course could not compel her to 
 stay, although we felt it was for the best. When she reached 
 Algona she was too sick to go into the country five miles where 
 she was going to stay. Tuesday morning she was taken out, and 
 Thursday afternoon died with La Grippe or Pneumonia. Several of 
 the women here have had La Grippe. All seem to be improving, as 
 I insist upon their taking excellent care of themselves. 
 
 Now, Mrs. W'Leaton, I hope you will write to Anna, also a letter 
 to all the girls that I can read to them. They will be glad to 
 think you have not forgotten them. Trusting that you are in 
 gocd health and that you see good results from your labors, I 
 remain your friend, JENNIE A. POWERS. 
 
 Jefferson City, Mo., Jan. 25, 1900. 
 Dear Sister: 
 
 Your card was received in due time. All glad to hear from you. 
 The quarantine is still on at the prison. No news there. No 
 visitors allowed. No baskets sent in, only money. Mr. Cook has 
 not missed a day at work since last winter. He was off twelve 
 days to visit bis dear mother. She will soon pass to the other 
 side. Your card was filled with sadness. Be cheerful and rejoice, 
 for soon you will go to glory to praise Him forevermore. I will 
 write some to Sister Kelley. Write me a long letter. Chaplain 
 P. has been on the sick list. Everything going on nicely. Never 
 had a better warden than now in the last eighteen years that I 
 have known this prison. Hoping to hear of your good health, I am 
 ever, CLARA COOK. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 
 
 121 
 
 Western Penitentiary, Allegheny, Pa., June 7, 1904. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton: 
 
 I am glad to learn that you are about to embody your experiences 
 as a missionary to the inmates of the prisons and penitentiaries of 
 the various states in which you have labored in the name of the 
 Master. It has been no easy work. It has demanded much faith, 
 hope and charity on your part. You have gone with untiring zeal to 
 those who are despised and forsaken on account of their criminal 
 acts. 
 
 Tn the spirit of our blessed Lord and in obedience to His com- 
 mand you have gone year after year to the habitations of disgrace 
 
 WOMEN S PRISON, ALLEGHENY CITY, PA. 
 
 and sorrow and carried the cheering and helpful promises and the 
 forgiving mercy of our dear Savior. 
 
 You will have a rich reward from our Heavenly Father. I am 
 sure your words of gospel truth, and your songs of praise have 
 often touched the hearts of the female prisoners under my care. 
 The most rebellious and hardened have felt and testified to the 
 gracious power of the gospel of love as you have uttered it here. 
 
122 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 My hope and my prayer is that the Almighty Shepherd may guide, 
 keep and sustain you in this noble work of your life. 
 
 SARAH J. ARNER. 
 Allegheny, Pa. 
 
 Allegheny City, Pa., Dec. 31, 1893. 
 Dear Mrs. Wheaton: 
 
 I will try and answer your kind and welcome letter which came 
 to hand a few days ago. \Ve were all very glad to hear from you. 
 Our dear sister, Mrs. Jones, is dead. The dear old lady who 
 was up to the workhouse with you when you were here. She was 
 a dear friend to all the girls here, but she has gone home. She 
 can come to us no more, but we can go to her. The last words 
 she said when she was here was good-bye, and that she would meet 
 us all in heaven. We have very nice meetings now and would like 
 to have you with us. We pray for you every day and we want 
 you to pray for us that we may see the right way and that we 
 may go out of here with light hearts and go about doing good. 
 
 We had a nice Christmas. Our Warden treated us with turkey, 
 and we were all so glad that he was so kind to us. 
 
 Well, we will begin a new year tomorrow, and I hope we will 
 lead a different life, a better life, for if we believe in Jesus He 
 will save us; yes, He will keep us through the dark valley. He 
 will go with us to the end, as He has promised, if we will put 
 our trust in Him. I have gained a great victory since you were 
 here. I have forgiven an enemy that I thought I never could 
 forgive. 
 
 Well, I will close by sending you my love, and as I have only 
 one sheet of paper my friend will send this on to you. I remain, 
 
 Your sincere friend, LUCY F. 
 
 Allegheny City, Pa., Feb. 16, 1896. 
 My Dear Mrs. Wheaton: 
 
 [ am so glad to hear from you once more. I had been thinking 
 of you so much of late and I aked God to let me hear from you 
 or send you to us, and so you see He answered my prayer. I cannot 
 express how glad we all were to receive your kind and loving 
 letter. It was read to all and I do wish you could have peeked in 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 123 
 
 to see how quiet all were to listen to it, and our two matrons, too, 
 for they do love you. 
 
 1 was very sorry to hear of your being so sick, but God has 
 raised you up for He has work for you to do yet. I pray for 
 you every night and morning that He may strengthen you and 
 keep you, for you are to us like the rain is and the sunshine to the 
 flowers, for we know that you do love us poor unfortunate ones. 
 
 "Will you please send us the hymns called "Tell of the Un- 
 clouded Day" and the one called "When the Pearly Gates Un- 
 fold"? Dear Mother, pray for us all, but pray for me especially, 
 for I am in great sorrow and trials. Pray that God may raise 
 me up friends and that He may keep me. 
 
 Good-bye, hoping to hear from you soon, I remain, yours in Christ, 
 
 LAURA M. 
 
 Allegheny City, Pa., Feb. 16, 1896. 
 My Dear Mother: 
 
 I wish I could tell you how much joy and happiness your letter 
 gave me. It came just at the time when I needed it most. I am 
 sick and feeble, suffering with spine and lung trouble, have not 
 been able to work for the last three weeks. Can go to my meals 
 and wait upon myself, and I have my Jesus with me. Oh, how 
 He comforts and helps make the rough places smooth, and in the 
 lonely hours of the night when the pain is almost beyond endurance, 
 I think of my Savior and what He suffered without sin, and of what 
 a weak coward I am to complain. 
 
 Mother, we are some of us so impatient when we have pain, and 
 1 am afraid I am one of those. Please pray for me that I may 
 bear mine with Christian fortitude. 
 
 1 hope it may please God to let me live to get out of this place 
 and have a home for myself and baby, and if my dear Mother 
 Wheaton would come and see me and rest herself for a few weeks, 
 would it not be nice? Mother, I am a widow with one child and 
 some means, but not much. Still I intend to use some of my money, 
 when I have control of it, to do good to others. I have suffered, 
 God has opened my eyes and showed me my sins and selfishness of 
 former years, and I thank Him for sparing me to see it in this 
 Jight. 
 
 Many of the girls that were here when you last visited us have 
 
124 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 gone out and a good many are going out this year. Pray for 
 them. I pray for you every night. God bless and keep you is the 
 prayer of your friend, 
 
 L. E. T. No. 9722. 
 
 Allegheny City, Pa., Feb. 16, 1896. 
 My Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 Your very welcome and unexpected letter received. It is im- 
 possible to tell you with what joy and heartfelt gladness we all 
 gathered together to hear it read. You do not know how often 
 your children speak together of you, of where you are and what 
 you are doing and what keeps you so long away from your Western 
 flock. It was so long since last we heard from you that we are 
 beginning to think our Heavenly Father had need of you and 
 had taken you home, but all praise to His name. He has spared 
 you to send us another loving, encouraging message, which we 
 promptly answer in love and sympathy, each one giving a word, 
 although only three different handwritings will be seen. Kemember 
 when reading the words that twenty-five of your lone children are 
 here represented in your letter. 
 
 You speak of wishing for your prison children when you were 
 sick. O, how gladly many of us would minister to your wants, 
 to be under the influence of your kind and loving advice, following 
 in your footsteps of love and life as it is in Christ Jesus our 
 Lord and Master. But though we are separated by so many miles, 
 thanks be to the Almighty we can feel the influence of your con- 
 tinued prayers, and many of us are greatly encouraged to keep 
 on striving, knowing that the crowning day will come by and by. 
 
 Each one says : ' ' Ask Mother Wheaton when she is coming. ' ' 
 Do not be too long in coming, for some of your dear ones are 
 leaving every month during the spring, and we are anxious to 
 receive your blessing before entering the cold, heartless world of 
 sin and sorrow. Yet some of us will take Jesus with us, and in 
 Ilis name begin life again. Pray for us all that our hearts may 
 be fully and entirely given over to God, with our hands in His 
 hand, be led to the mercy-seat. Yes, dear Mother, we shall, with 
 God 's help, ' ' strive to enter in at the straight gate. ' ' 
 
 These are the names of those who send you special love and re- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 125 
 
 quests for prayer: Emma M., Emma W., Pearl S. (who is very 
 sick), Laura M., Anna M., Ella A. 
 
 With love and best wishes from our matrons, we close, hoping 
 soon to see you. 
 
 Good-bye, God bless and keep you always and send you to us 
 again. All join in best wishes to you. 
 
 Allegheny City, Pa., Feb. 14, 1897. 
 My Dear Mrs. E. R. Wheaton: 
 
 Perhaps you will be surprised to get this letter, but I have 
 heard so much about you that I feel as though I was personally 
 acquainted with you, so I hope you are well, dear Mother, and 
 that you are doing work for the Master and that He will give you 
 a great many souls for your hire. 
 
 O, I do want to see you. Indeed I would like to hear you sing 
 and pray. The girls all want to see and hear you. Pray for them. 
 One woman in here said that you were the only person that ever 
 did pray a prayer that touched her heart and brought tears to her 
 eyes. The old girls talk about you so much to the new ones that 
 they all love you, although they have not seen you. They tell over 
 and over of your love and sympathy and that you know how to 
 reach poor unfortunate souls. You know that they need kind 
 words and a loving smile to cheer up their broken hearts. 
 
 Dear Mother, you know that a smile goes where a dollar cannot 
 go, for it goes to the heart and makes it so very happy. 
 
 Good-bye, hoping to hear from you soon, I remain, 
 
 Yours truly, LINA S. 
 
 Allegheny City, Feb. 14, 1897. 
 My Dear Mrs. Wheaton Dear Mother: 
 
 I will say dear, for you are dear to me. O, you do not know 
 how I have been longing to see you and once more hear you sing 
 some of your beautiful hymns. 0! just to hear you pray once more 
 in this world. There are only eighteen women of us now, and when 
 you. were here last time there were thirty-three. 
 
 O, dear Mother, do make me a special subject of prayer that 
 God may keep me and guide me in the right way. I have been 
 trying to lead a Christian life for six years now. When all earthly 
 
126 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 friends have forsaken me Jesus comes and speaks to me, and He 
 alone comforts me, and I thank God for a full and free salvation. 
 
 bless His holy name! Hallelujah in the highest to God! 
 
 Our matron, Miss S. J. Arner, sends you her best regards. I 
 am very sorry to tell you that Miss Osborn was called home by the 
 death of her sister; pray for her and for me, Laura M., No. 9351, 
 that God may spare my life that I. may work for the Master when 
 
 1 am a free woman. The two Morgan sisters send you their love. 
 All of the girls send love to you. Come on a week day and per- 
 haps you can get the widow 's mite. 
 
 Good-bye, I remain, yours in Christ, LAURA M. 
 
 Allegheny City, Pa., March 21, 1897. 
 Dear Friend: 
 
 1 received your very kind and welcome letter and was very glad 
 to hear from you, and dear Mother Wheaton, your letter did me 
 good as I sit and hear it read to me. I shall try to keep it, and get 
 it read often to me, as it does comfort my broken heart. I am a 
 poor orphan girl. My mother died when I was about twelve years 
 old, and I have wandered on in sin and I have fallen by the wayside. 
 Will you pray for me that I may come to live just as you do, my 
 true, strong friend. I do wish I could see you today, to hear you 
 pray and sing. All of the girls wish to see you and hope that 
 you will come on some clay through the week so that we can write 
 out a money order for you. Perhaps it may be only a couple of 
 dollars or three, but it will be like the widow's mite. 
 
 1 remain, yours truly, LINA S. 
 
 Allegheny, Pa., March 21, 1897. 
 Mrs. E. B. Wheaton. 
 
 Dear Mother: We received your very kind and welcome letter. 
 O, we are so glad that you sent us a letter and some tracts. Mrs. 
 S. J. Arner, our matron, read the letter in the dining-room to all 
 of us and we did enjoy it so much. Indeed I feel that I had a 
 visit from a dear friend. I hope you are well and I pray for you 
 that God may strengthen you in your labors. You have done a 
 great work, but God has more for you to do yet before you shall 
 pnss through the pearly gates of Heaven, for you have cheered 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 127 
 
 so many broken hearts. God sent you to cheer those in prisons. 
 I was just thinking today, O, how happy you will be in the end 
 when Jesus shall say unto you: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, 
 inherit the Kingdom prepared for you." And O, dear Mother, He 
 will say to you: "I was in prison and ye visited me." I am still 
 looking unto Jesus. He has been my only friend for these years in 
 prison. He keeps me day by day and makes me feel happy in 
 prison. He causes me to hear "songs in the night." Pray for me 
 that God may keep me and my children. 
 
 I dreamed that I was sent to preach the gospel to some poor 
 soul and I have dreamed it three times over the same. First time 
 I said, ' ' No, I cannot do it, ' ' and the Lord laid me on a bed of sick- 
 ness, and then I said, "Lord, I will go." I had no rest by night 
 or by day until I consented to go. 
 
 All of the girls join me in love to you. We hope that these few 
 linen may find you well and happy, for you are always so happy 
 and bright. One of the old girls said that your face has such a 
 happy smile on it and a light shines over you while you talk to 
 them. Write soon. LAURA M. 
 
 This is an extract from a letter by an orphan girl, a type 
 of many other poor girls whose fates are equally as sad : 
 
 Spokane Falls, , 1889. 
 
 O if I was only free, the greatest pleasure of my life would 
 be to go with you and work for God. Your kindness has won my 
 heart. I hare never had any one to be kind to me; I have known 
 nothing but sorrow all my life. My past is almost a blank. Dear, 
 kind sister, look on me with pity a friendless, motherless girl. 
 I am alone in the world. I was drawn into this place through 
 cruel treatment. I have no money, and I am helpless. If God 
 does not have mercy on me, I do not know what will become of me. 
 If I had only a good, kind friend like you to guide me through 
 life, I would have been a far better woman than I am. If God 
 will save me I shall live in the future a life of honor and work 
 for God. 
 
 Pray for me. Tell me in what way I am going to help myself. 
 O sister, I am so troubled; sometimes I think I will end my 
 miserable existence. But I know if I should take my own life that 
 
128 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 it \vould be a terrible sin; but how can I help thinking such things 
 in a place like this? No friends, no home, and no money; sick 
 at heart, sick in body, sick in mind. 
 
 Lancaster, Neb., Jan. 27, 1895. 
 Mrs. E. E. Wheaton, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Our Dear Friend: We received your kind letter of the 7th 
 inst. We were glad to hear from you and to know that you were 
 enjoying good health. Dear Mother, if we may address you thus, 
 we were very glad to hear our friend, Mrs. Beemer, spoken of so 
 well, for she is a friend never to be forgotten. And Mr. Beemer 
 is just a splendid warden, kind to everybody; and we ask you to 
 pray that they may be retained here for another time. Dear 
 Mother, indeed we will know how to appreciate our freedom in 
 the future. Of course you do not know our names, but I will 
 give them in the following words that each sends to you. Hattie 
 and Edna send their regards to you. Nannie says to pray for her. 
 Annie sends her best regards to you and wishes you well. Hattie 
 B. sends love and best wishes. Annie H. is the one who was sick 
 when you were here and sends love to you, and knows that God 
 answered your prayers that she might be restored to health. Effie 
 joins in sending love, and my prayer is that God may bless you 
 and help you in all your good work. So we close for this time, 
 asking you to pray for us poor unfortunate girls. 
 
 We remain, your loving children, 
 
 H., E., A., N., H., A. and EFFIE. 
 
 Canon City, March 27, 1899. 
 Dear Friend and Mother: 
 
 I know you are my friend and everybody's friend. I heard 
 your kind letter and cannot help writing to you. I cannot write 
 very good, so please excuse mistakes. Your letter found all the 
 girls well. I have often thought of you and . wished that I could 
 be a Christian like you; but I am a poor sinner and have been 
 all my life. I never heard one word out of the Bible in my life 
 till I got in jail. I never had any Christian parents, and there- 
 fore I am a deep sinner, but I want to do better. My conscience 
 tells me that I must try to be a better woman. I have been a 
 very bad girl, but I think my Savior will forgive me, if I repent 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE I2Q 
 
 in time. Sometimes I nearly go crazy just thinking what a life 
 T have led. if I would die now what would become of me I I 
 want you to pray for me, mother, for I do believe you can help 
 me by praying for me. 
 
 I have not long in here now. My time expires on the 25th day of 
 December, 1899; pray that I will be a better girl. I want to go 
 home to my brother if I can when I leave here. I am tired of this 
 life. My soul is tired. O, I am so wicked! I have tried to pray 
 the best I knew and 1 got scared. Something seemed to bother me, 
 and I was afraid to go to sleep. Mother, why do I get scared? 
 Is it because I have sinned so much? But I will try again and 
 again. I am willing to do right and live an honest life, and I 
 will or die in the attempt. I have had a lot of trouble in my life 
 and it drove me to all my downfalls, but I can see that I am sending 
 my soul to everlasting torment, so I want to turn now and seek 
 for the Lord. Tell me how I can, mother r 
 
 Mother, this is the best I can do; may God bless you in all your 
 undertakings. The matron was glad to hear from you and also the 
 girls. Pray for me. ANNA 4309. 
 
 Waupun, Wis., March 6, 1899. 
 Dear Sister Wheaton: 
 
 Thank God I received your kind and Christian letter last week. 
 We are getting along nicely with our meetings and I know and 
 feel that God is with us every day and especially the eleven that 
 have given their hearts to God and let His dear hand guide their 
 every footstep. 
 
 Our dear Matron gave me your letter. I am as contented as can 
 be. I believe it God's will that I should be here, and His will be 
 done. I love our dear Heavenly Father with all my heart and 
 soul and I love all my sisters and brothers and I love my enemies 
 and I pray for them and ask God to bless them. 
 
 I have ten months more and I hope you can come here again 
 before I go. Our Matron is with us in our meetings every Satur- 
 day. I read my Bible and pray three times a day, and I have 
 more strength to perform my daily work, and I know our dear 
 Savior will not forsake me or leave me alone because I know Jesus 
 loves me now, and I know He will answer my prayers. 
 
 I told you before it is my second term, but when I sit in my 
 
I3O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 little room reading my Bible I thank God for it, for I know it 
 was God's will that I should be here a second time, for there is 
 work for me to do here as well as when I am free, and He put 
 me here to show me He wanted me for one of His own dear humble 
 children and I know and feel it now. 
 
 "Happy day, happy day, 
 When Jesus washed my sins away ; 
 He taught me how to watch and pray, 
 And live rejoicing every day." 
 
 And I want you to pray for us all that we may have more of God's 
 grace given to us day by day and help us to be humble and meek 
 and willing to be led by His loving hand and pray for us that God 
 will keep us from all temptation and sin and may we ever prove 
 faithful. "Have mercy upon me, O God, according unto the multi- 
 tude of Thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions." Every 
 word here is just as I feel in my heart. 
 
 "I may not do much with all my care, 
 
 But I surely may bless a few ; 
 The loving Jesus will give to me 
 
 Some work of love to do. 
 
 "I may wipe the tears from some weeping eyes, 
 
 I may make the smile come again, 
 To a face that is weary and worn with care, 
 
 To a heart that is full of pain." 
 
 MRS. J. G. 
 
 Anamosa, Iowa, Aug. 11, 1901. 
 Elizabeth E. Wheaton, 
 
 Tabor, Iowa. 
 Dear Mother: 
 
 "We received your kind and loving letter yesterday. Was more 
 than glad to hear from you, but sorry that you have been so sick; 
 but I praise God for His healing divine. We did not have the 
 smallpox in the prison. There were cases of them in town, but the 
 warden quarantined the prison and vaccinated every prisoner. Dear 
 mother, I am trying to get a parole. My petition is now before 
 the Governor with a thousand signers, besides several letters from 
 friends. I have had three good homes offered to me if the Governor 
 will only parole me. I desire so much to be where I can live a 
 better life and take care of my little boy and help my parents, who 
 are in very poor health. I do pray so much for a better place 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 13! 
 
 and better companions, where I can do something for my own and 
 others. Dear Mother, will you pray for me? I always remember 
 what I promised you when you bid me good-bye; that was, to pray 
 for you every day. I am so glad we have a Savior who will hear 
 our prayers though we are behind prison walls and our prayers are 
 weak. 
 
 With love and prayers, 
 
 FROM D. F. TO MOTHER WHEATON. 
 
 Anamosa, Iowa, Oct. 6, 1903. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 I thought I would write you a few lines. We are all well at pres- 
 ent. We cannot express how thankful w-e were for your visit to us. 
 We only wish you could have staid longer. Mrs. Waterman has 
 prayer and song service every morning. It is something wonderful. 
 We all wish so much to hear your voice. Mrs. Waterman spoke to 
 us about writing to you and I was only too glad to write and ask 
 you to pray for us all. I believe and know it will do good. I am 
 trying very hard to pray and be a good Christian. I will ask you 
 to pray for me. Respectfully yours, 
 
 G. Me. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 Incidents in My Prison Work. 
 
 LETTER FROM THE PRISONERS AT CHESTER, ILL. 
 
 Southern Illinois Penitentiary, 
 
 Menard, 111., Nov. 27, 1902. 
 Dear Mother: 
 
 We are writing you from within these dark grim walls. Although 
 we are condemned as the outcasts of society and separated from 
 friends and loved ones and continually laboring under great mental 
 strain and worry, still there is no pain or sorrow great enough to 
 destroy our happiness in our thoughts of you. Your love and 
 thoughtfulness for us and our spiritual welfare is a priceless jewel 
 that all the wealth of the world cannot buy nor sorrow rob us of. 
 No, never. Although the world has condemned and despised us, 
 but we know that there is one if only one that loves even the 
 outcasts. 
 
 Several of your boys have gone from here since you were among 
 us. Some have crossed to the beyond; others to blessed freedom. 
 Still a greater number are left here with fondest recollections of all 
 you have done for us, which is one of the greatest among our causes 
 for thanksgiving. It is hardly necessary to say, Remember us. We 
 all remain your sons until death. 
 
 YOUR BOYS OF CHESTER, ILLINOIS. 
 An extract from a report of the Chaplain of the Southern 
 
 Illinois Penitentiary will be of interest: 
 
 Chester, 111. 
 
 To the Honorable Board of Commissioners, 
 
 Chester, 111. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I take pleasure in making a report of my first year's work as 
 Chaplain. 
 
 The regular chapel services have been held every Sunday at 9:40 
 a. m. The chapel has been well filled at all regular services and 
 crowded on special occasions. The attendance at religious services 
 is voluntary, but most prisoners consider it a privilege to attend. 
 
136 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 The words of encouragement I have received from prisoners in 
 conversation and by letter make me feel that good is being accom- 
 plished. More than one hundred men hare given me their names as 
 Christians or seekers of religion. 
 
 I attend all calls made by the prisoners during the week and visit 
 one cell house each Sunday evening. 
 
 My visits are so planned that I see each prisoner in his cell at 
 least twice a month and give him a chance to make his requests 
 known. 
 
 The men have been urged to study the Bible and have been fur- 
 nished tracts and other helps in Bible study. I have been aston- 
 ished in making my rounds to find so many men reading the Bible. 
 One hundred and fifty new Bibles have been purchased during the 
 year. Six hundred Sunday-school quarterlies have been furnished the 
 prisoners each quarter during the year and they have been urged 
 to keep in touch with the outside world by studying these lessons. 
 The Sunday-school lesson is read every Sunday as a scripture lesson 
 and comments are made upon it. 
 
 The sick in the hospital and the shut-in prisoners in the cell 
 houses are visited daily and are supplied with books and papers. 
 Some of them read a book each day. 
 
 The Murphy Temperance Pledge has been furnished and more than 
 five hundred prisoners have signed the pledge. If the saloons could 
 be closed out poor-houses, jails and prisons would soon be almost 
 empty. Eespectfully submitted, 
 
 W. N. KUTLEDGE, Chaplain. 
 
 SUICIDE OF A PRISONER. 
 
 While on my way to the State Prison at Chester, Illinois, 
 in the year 1888 (if I remember rightly) I was especially 
 impressed by the sad appearance of a fellow-passenger, a 
 mother, accompanied by three children. I was sure that 
 she was in deep trouble. I said to my helper, "Mary, that 
 woman is going to the Penitentiary." She said, "How do 
 you know?" I answered, "I feel sure of it and I will con- 
 vince you that I am right." 
 
 Having entered into conversation with the woman, I as- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 137 
 
 sisted her as I found opportunity in caring for her children. 
 When I asked her where she was going, she said, "I am go- 
 ing to Chester." I said, "I, too, am going to Chester and 
 will gladly assist you in getting off with the children." 
 
 At the station we parted, but the next morning, which 
 was the Sabbath, as I passed through the guard-room of the 
 State Prison I saw this woman talking to her husband, who 
 was a prisoner. She sat beside him and he was holding one 
 of the children and she had another in her arms. The third 
 was playing near by. All were too young to know of the 
 sorrow that had come to their home, or the shame that had 
 fallen upon them. They were with papa and mamma and 
 felt safe and happy. Alas! how little they knew how soon 
 they were to be left fatherless ! 
 
 I passed on and was busy during the entire day for I 
 had the liberty of the prison and the privilege of working 
 among the prisoners. So busy was I that for the time be- 
 ing I had lost sight of that poor wife and mother, but only 
 the next morning the Chaplain called for me and said, "Sis- 
 ter Wheaton, I have oh, such a sad task before me this 
 morning ! I wish you would do it for me." I said, "Chap- 
 lain, I will try. I am willing to do anything that I can to 
 help you." And then he said, "Do you remember the man 
 and woman you saw yesterday in the guard-room talking?" 
 I said, "Yes; I remember them well; I met the woman on 
 the train on my way here." He replied, "Well, that man 
 was so heart-broken at the thought of parting with his wife 
 and children that he asked her to promise him that if he 
 should die in the prison she would have him brought home 
 for burial. She promised him she would do so and last 
 night that poor man committed suicide in his cell and now 
 someone must go and tell that woman of her husband's 
 
138 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 death." I said, "Chaplain, that is a hard thing to do, but I 
 will try." He said, "I wish you would, being a woman 
 you can comfort her better than I could." Well, I went 
 along the hall until I came to the door of the room she oc- 
 cupied, for, she too, as well as myself, was a guest of the 
 kind warden's wife. I opened the door softly and looked 
 in. In memory I can see her yet as she sat with one child 
 in her lap while the other two little ones were playing 
 around her knee. She was softly singing some old country 
 tune. As I looked my heart failed me. I turned away in 
 sorrow and returned to the Chaplain and said, "Chaplain, I 
 cannot do it. I cannot break that poor woman's heart. I 
 just can't tell her," and he said, "Then I will have to do it. 
 Someone must tell her," and so he broke the message as 
 best he could. Never will I forget the anguish of that poor 
 woman's heart as she wept out her grief and suffering! I 
 tried to comfort her as best I could. I took the same train 
 with her as she started for home with her husband's body 
 in the baggage coach ahead. As best I could I ministered 
 to her and those poor helpless children as long as our jour- 
 ney carried us over the same road and when I changed 
 cars I tried to utter some words of comfort, but oh, friends, 
 what could I say, what could I do? Only the sympathy of 
 the loving Savior could reach her case and I left her, never 
 to meet her again on this side, but oh, may we not hope that 
 in some way God found a way to have mercy upon that 
 poor, misjudged man and that those loved ones may meet 
 again where no mistakes will be made by judge or jury? 
 For many believed that poor man to be innocent of the 
 crime with which he was charged. If I remember rightly a 
 barn had been burned and he had been accused of setting 
 it on fire and had been convicted through purely circumstan- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 139 
 
 tial evidence. Brokenhearted over his disgrace and the 
 thought of again being separated from wife and children, 
 the poor man made a rope of the bed-clothing in his cell 
 and used it to take his own life. 
 
 "l HAVE NO FRIENDS/' 
 
 On the 4th of July, 1903, I was in the Ohio Penitentiary 
 at Columbus. Officers and chaplain were kind, as usual. 
 After holding services in the hospital, I held service with 
 the men under death sentence; then went to the prison- 
 yard where all the others were having a holiday. There the 
 Chaplain assisted Sister Taylor and myself to hold services 
 in the open air. Many seemed glad to get the message of 
 love in song and prayer and preaching and many came to 
 shake hands with us, while singing the closing hymn. 
 
 One poor old man, a foreigner, handed me a little pack- 
 age about as large as a walnut. The paper was soiled from 
 contact with his hand that warm day. The poor man in 
 tears said, "Good-bye," and I forgot all about the little 
 package till on the train that night going east, where I 
 found it in my pocket and found inside a silk handkerchief 
 and a 25 cent silver piece. On the paper was written his 
 name and number and these words, "I have no friends." 
 I wept over that smell- token of love as I do not often weep 
 over a gift. I have that little handkerchief safe. It seems 
 sacred to me. How I felt repaid for my hard day's toil. 
 
 That night while I was holding services on the train the 
 conductor said, "Mother, I don't see how you stand so much 
 hardship;" I said, "Conductor, I had even forgotten that I 
 had had neither dinner or supper today." 
 
 I think I know something of what Jesus meant when He 
 said to His disciples after ministering to a needy soul, "I 
 have meat to eat that ye know not of." 
 
I4O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Chaplain Starr in one of the following letters refers to the 
 open air service on July 4th ; also to some of the men under 
 death sentence with whom I had labored. The Indian 
 woman to whose death and burial he refers is the same 
 one who is mentioned in the letters of W. H. M. in an- 
 other place. 
 
 Columbus, Ohio, July 11, 1903. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth E. Wheaton. 
 
 My Dear Sister: Your letter received this morning was a very 
 pleasant surprise. We have now an additional man in the Annex. 
 There are three men sentenced to electrocution in September and 
 October. What change may come we do not know. I gave them your 
 letter; they will read it over by themselves, and the tracts also. 
 They still say that your visit with them on the Fourth of July did 
 them much good. I have also delivered your letter to D., and with 
 it a letter from myself, giving him encouragement and offering 
 to render him any friendly assistance. The old Indian woman, 
 Elsie J., whom I think you have several times seen in the female 
 prison, died on the 9th, and we gave her a Christian burial yester- 
 day. She was converted and baptized some time ago. I am glad 
 that you are preserved and sustained in your great work as prison 
 evangelist. If D., and N., and W. write to you I will forward the 
 letters to your address. With kind wishes and regards, I am, 
 Your brother, 
 
 D. J. STARR, Chaplain, O. P. 
 
 Your talk in the yard on the Fourth of July did good. 
 
 Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 26, 1903. 
 
 Dear Sister: Your recent postal came duly to hand. I received 
 your letter in July from the South and wrote you a reply, but have 
 kept it until the present time, not knowing where to mail it so it 
 weald reach you. I will now send it in this letter, so that you will 
 see that I have not forgotten you and answered your letter at the 
 time. You inquire concerning the men in the Annex; we have now 
 six men in the Annex. One of them has been granted a new trial 
 aod seme others are expecting to get new trials. They do not take 
 any great interest in religion, but yet they read the Bible some and 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 14! 
 
 talk about it. 1 will tell them of your interest in them and assure 
 them that they are not forgotten in your prayers. 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 D. J. STARE, Chaplain, O. P. 
 
 Ohio Penitentiary, Feb. 22, 1904. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth E. Wheaton. 
 
 Dear Sister: I have just received your letter from Washington, 
 D. C., inquiring about the men in our prison death cell. 
 
 There are ten there now and two have been taken out for new 
 trials. If these are sent back we shall have twelve. The largest 
 number, until this list, ever in the Annex was nine. 
 
 Murders, as well as other crimes of violence to person and prop- 
 erty, are on the increase and society is trying to protect its life 
 without much security, so far. 
 
 Perhaps three of the men are Scripturally penitent, three others 
 interested and four indifferent to religion so far as we can see. 
 The men have Bibles, religious song books and papers, library books 
 and religious letters from relatives. They are not allowed to corre- 
 spond without especially good reasons for permits to do so. I hold 
 a little meeting and Bible study with those who care for it almost 
 daily at 2 p. m., at which time you might help us with your pray- 
 ers. 
 
 Sentiment is not salvation. The trouble, both in the prison and 
 out of it, is, men will not seek after God. Yes, I am busy and 
 ought to be busy about my Master's business, and so are you. 
 
 With best wishes, I am, 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 D. J. STARR, Chaplain. 
 
 WAY OPENED IN ANSWER TO PRAYER. 
 
 I had for many years prayed for an opportunity to 
 preach in one of the largest state prisons. Again and again 
 I had been refused by both the warden and chaplain. But 
 at last through a new governor of the state I was permitted 
 to enter this prison for religious services. 
 
 Calling at the office of the governor and asking permis- 
 
142 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 sion to go to the prison and assist in the services, he said, 
 "Certainly, we shall be glad to have you. There will be no 
 difficulty, as we have new officers. You can preach in the 
 prison. 1 ' Before I had left the Governor's private office the 
 warden of the prison being present spoke and said, "Cer- 
 tainly, they would be very glad to have you take part with 
 them." I asked if I should not see the chaplain, but the 
 warden said he would be all right, and be pleased. But I 
 insisted that it was only courtesy to see the chaplain. And 
 asking the governor to please write a note to him, he did so 
 and remarked that the state carriage was waiting at the 
 door and I should be driven to the chaplain's house. 
 
 Arriving at his home I was met by his little daughter who 
 carried my card to her father and he soon came into the 
 room asking what I wanted. "I should like, if you please, 
 to take part with you in the services at the prison chapel 
 tomorrow (Sunday) as I have been some years in prison 
 work," I replied. "No indeed," he answered, "I cannot al- 
 low a woman to speak in my meetings. I will never per- 
 mit any woman to take my pulpit." I made no reply, but 
 that the state carriage was waiting for me and I must go, 
 but said to him, "Here is a letter from the governor. Will 
 you kindly look at it before I leave?" He took the message 
 and noting its contents he changed color and seemed con- 
 fused ; saying, "I never did allow a woman to speak in my 
 meetings. But seeing the governor's request and your 
 years of experience, I will allow you to come in the morn- 
 ing and conduct the women's meetings." The governor's let- 
 ter read as follows : 
 
 Executive Department, Oct. 24, 1891. 
 Dr. O. W. G., 
 
 Chaplain of Penitentiary. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 The bearer, Mrs. E. R. Wheaton, is a prison evangelist of national 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 143 
 
 reputation and experience, who brings letters of strong recommenda- 
 tion from wardens of the prisons she has visited, and I commend 
 her to your kind consideration. She has expressed a willingness, if 
 not a desire, to participate in your services tomorrow afternoon in 
 the chapel and I trust you will afford her every facility for so do- 
 ing. Respectfully, 
 
 DAVID R. FRANCES. 
 
 A WOMAN CONVERTED AND HEALED. 
 
 I went praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 
 While I was speaking I was impressed to step down the 
 aisle and lay my hand upon the head of a vicious looking 
 colored woman. I afterward learned that she was a life 
 time prisoner and a very dangerous woman. Instantly the 
 power of God fell upon her and she was wonderfully con- 
 verted then and there, and to the best of my knowledge is 
 still true to God. The other women seeing this, their leader 
 in sin (for so she was) so changed, were subdued and con- 
 victed of their sins. The meeting closed with victory for 
 God. The chaplain was convinced and said, "You have 
 won the worst woman in the prison. You have the hearts 
 of all the prisoners now, for her influence is great. You 
 come and preach to the men this afternoon. I am con- 
 vinced." Years have come and gone. Governors, wardens 
 and chaplains have been changed ; but God does not change, 
 and the doors of that prison are still open to me, and God 
 always blesses every service. 
 
 Some years later upon visiting this prison again we found 
 this poor colored woman much afflicted and walking on 
 crutches. The sister with me and I prayed for her, and 
 she was instantly healed, throwing her crutches aside at 
 once. The matron then gave her the key to go down and 
 unlock the outside door for us, having so much confidence 
 in her. She received a pardon from the governor later. 
 
144 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Another woman in the same prison was also prayed for 
 and was instantly healed by the Lord, of a large tumor, 
 and ran and praised God for what He had done for her. 
 
 A CHANGE WROUGHT. 
 
 For some years another prison was closed to me. Why, I 
 never knew. I prayed that the doors of that prison might 
 be opened to me. When the Lord sent me back there I 
 found such a change as I had never before witnessed in the 
 same length of time. There was a good Christian chaplain, 
 one of the best of wardens, and good deputies. Every pris- 
 oner was in an improved state of mind and morals, and all 
 in harmony and glad to obey the rules of the prison. I was 
 treated with courtesy and kindness, and was given all the 
 time in the services, and was entertained. When I left I 
 was conveyed to the 'depot with ladies as escorts, and a 
 "trusty" as driver. Such are the wonderful workings of 
 God through faith and prayer. The meetings in this state 
 prison were owned and blessed of the Lord. The Holy 
 Spirit led and all seemed to enjoy and appreciate them. The 
 chaplain said, ''How much good was accomplished!" All 
 were united in harmony and God was glorified. 
 
 A CHAPLAIN IN MY AUDIENCE. 
 
 At another time, arriving at a certain city where there 
 was a state's prison, I met in the depot a young lady wear- 
 ing a Salvation Army bonnet. She was crying at not be- 
 ing met by friends as she had expected, and I asked her to 
 go with me. She gladly did so and J[ proceeded to the 
 prison to ask permission to hold services for the prisoners 
 on the next day which would be the Sabbath. Obtaining 
 the consent of the chaplain I waited till the time for the 
 service on Sabbath morning and returned. The guard re- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 145 
 
 fusing to admit me, I sent for the chaplain. When he 
 came he also refused me, saying he could not permit me to 
 hold the service, as he thought I belonged to the Salvation 
 Army. A friend suggested that I should go to the Governor 
 at his residence, saying that he was a kind man. I did 
 so, and was very kindly received. Having listened to my 
 request he said, "Yes, you may have your meeting in the 
 prison," he having heard of my work before. He wrote 
 a card for me to carry with me, and I took it and returned 
 to the prison. The preacher and the Sisters of 'Charity had 
 all gone to the women's department. The men were out in 
 the large yard. ! called, "Boys, come on, we are going to 
 have a meeting." How they hurried pell mell to the chapel ! 
 And such a meeting! The power of God fell. Just then 
 the chaplain entered, much surprised of course, and I said, 
 "Chaplain, I am permitted through the kindness of the Gov- 
 ernor to hold this service. Will you please be seated?" 
 Had a most glorious meeting, closing with results alto- 
 gether satisfactory to the chaplain. 
 
 IMPRESSED TO TARRY. 
 
 While holding a meeting in a certain city, I was impressed 
 day after day to tarry. I did not know why. I wanted to. 
 go, but still the Lord impressed me to wait. One evening 
 a cry was heard, "A man is shot." Immediately the Spirit 
 impressed me, "That is what I detained you here for." I 
 rushed out into the night, and inquired where the man had 
 been carried. They told me to the hotel. I went imme- 
 diately, got admittance to his room and found him in a dy- 
 ing condition, with no one that knew God to pray for him. 
 And there by the bedside of the dying man, some mother's 
 boy, dying without God and without hope in the world, I 
 tried to point him to the Lamb of God that taketh away 
 
146 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 the sin of the world, hoping that the Lord would give him 
 a chance at the eleventh hour to seek salvation, and I believe 
 God heard my prayer for this soul. 
 
 ENCOURAGEMENT BY THE WAY. 
 
 In the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago one night, after 
 addressing the audience and singing the Gospel to the peo- 
 ple, I gave an invitation to all who desired to lead a new 
 life and serve the Lord to come forward and publicly con- 
 fess Christ and repent of their sins. Instantly a fine looking 
 young man rose in the rear of the hall, hurried to the front 
 and grasped my hand, saying that he saw me three weeks 
 before in the Deer Lodge, Montana, State Prison. He said 
 that three days before, he was released and had come to 
 Chicago, and passing along the street he heard me singing 
 a favorite hymn at the open air meeting before services in 
 the hall, and was attracted in. With hand raised, he 
 promised to be a Christian and live for God and meet me in 
 Heaven. He said he had my Bible that I gave to the matron 
 of the prison, who, when he was leaving, gave it to him. 
 "Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after 
 many days." Many others gave themselves to the Lord that 
 night but this was one of my prison boys, and I was his 
 mother, in that sense, as my life has been consecrated to God 
 for that special line of work. 
 
 The day following, on my way east, I was compelled to 
 stay over night at a way station where we were to change 
 cars. As I left the train I heard, as usual, the call of cab- 
 men but passed on into the waiting room. Several followed 
 me, but one took me by the hand and addressing me fa- 
 miliarly said, "Get into my cab, mother, it is all right; I'll 
 take you where you wish to go." Mother Prindle, who was 
 with me said, "Do you know Mother Wheaton?" He re- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 147 
 
 plied, "I have read about her/' but the look in his kind eyes 
 told me it was one of my boys from prison. He was now 
 settled in life, a good man, with a wife and two children. 
 He escorted us to the jail where I desired to hold services, 
 then to the home of a minister, and from there to our lodg- 
 ing house. 
 
 I bless God, and will through all eternity, that the dear 
 Lord ever called me to work in the prisons as well as in 
 other lines of Christian work. There are many all over this 
 land now serving God, leading good, honest lives, a blessing 
 to their country and an honor to God's cause, who were 
 found in prisons and slums, discouraged and having given 
 up all hope of ever being anything but miserable and 
 wretched. They are now serving the blessed Christ who 
 came to seek and to save that which was lost, and destroy 
 the works of the devil, not willing that any should perish, 
 but rather that all should be saved. O reader, many are 
 the lives we might rescue from the ranks of the enemy if 
 we were more in earnest and lived in close touch with God, 
 and more under the power and inspiration of the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 Once in a meeting I was attending, the minister in charge 
 took another young preacher by the hand, and said: "I 
 want you to preach for us." The one addressed came to 
 the front of the platform and said : "Yes, I will ; but first 
 I want to say I was once in an insane prison, an awful 
 place. No one will ever know all we had to suffer there. 
 I was insane through drink no one could help me. I was 
 sin-hardened and hard-hearted, but this Mother (pointing 
 to myself) came to our criminal prison and sang and 
 prayed and talked to us, and was kind to us, and my heart 
 was melted, and I wept something I could not, would not 
 
148 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 do until then. Her kindness won me, and I was saved, 
 truly sanctified, and I have been preaching the Gospel for 
 four years." 
 
 A CASE OF CRUEL NEGLECT. 
 
 At the best, life in prison is hard. How much worse when 
 cruelty and neglect are added to the necessary restrictions 
 that are placed upon those in confinement. I knew of one 
 young colored man in prison in the south who was compelled 
 to endure the winter weather without proper clothing or 
 covering. His one blanket was so short that his feet were 
 so badly frozen they had to be amputated. Think you that 
 such things as these do not cry to God for vengeance? 
 
 ANOTHER SUICIDE. 
 
 Well do I remember a promising young man, who, when 
 I was preaching in a prison in a southern state, began 
 trembling and ran back into his cell and called for an officer 
 to bring me to him. I found that he was quite weak from 
 a bullet wound he had received in a drunken row in a sa- 
 loon, he having killed a man in the fight. He was a young 
 man with bright prospects before him, but bad company 
 and a love for strong drink had wrought his ruin. He told 
 me of his uncle who was a minister, a prominent evangelist. 
 I was much surprised that a nephew of so popular a min- 
 ister should be in state's prison for such an awful crime, 
 crushed with shame and remorse. Could it be possible ? 
 His mother was a rich lady. 
 
 This young man either because of his wealth and posi- 
 tion, or because of his good conduct in prison, or both, was 
 given privileges and often sent outside the prison grounds. 
 Often I plead with him to come to Christ. But one day the 
 old demon of drink had overcome him and having secretly 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 149 
 
 obtained some liquor, while at a game of cards he shot 
 himself. Let us throw the mantle of charity over that 
 blighted life, and leave him in the hands of a just God. 
 Who will be willing to answer at the bar of God for that 
 soul? "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, that 
 puttest thy bottle to him and makest him drunken also." 
 Hab. 2:15. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the 
 Lord." 
 
 JUST OUT OF PRISON. 
 
 "O the wrongs that we may lighten, 
 O the skies that we may brighten, 
 O the hearts that we may lighten 
 Helping just a little ! ' ' 
 
 While traveling on the train one day, the brakeman said 
 to me : "There is an ex-convict in the smoking-car." "All 
 right, I will go in and see him," I said. I went and took 
 him by the hand as he sat alone in the rear seat of the 
 car, sad and dejected, with no money, no friends, no home. 
 His mother had died while he was incarcerated in prison; 
 home broken up, nowhere to go. How glad I was to take 
 this poor soul upon my heart, and intercede for him in silent 
 prayer ; and then have him come into the other coach and 
 share my lunch. At parting he promised me he would live 
 a temperate life, and serve God the best he knew. I believe 
 the dear Lord had me travel on that train to meet that poor 
 unfortunate and help and strengthen his faith in Chris- 
 tianity, by showing him attention outside as well as inside 
 the prison walls. How often a soul is saved from a down- 
 fall by a word in season ; a kind hand-clasp, a "God bless 
 you ; cheer up, look up, better days are coming," etc. When 
 hope is well-nigh gone, and friends have forsaken, and all 
 
I5O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 has failed; yet we can always tell such that "God never 
 fails." 
 
 DYING IN PRISON. 
 
 One day as I was alone in a gloomy prison a poor boy 
 called to me and said, "Write to my mother, but don't tell 
 her where you found me. Please don't tell her, for it would 
 kill her. She never could live and know her boy was in 
 prison." On the dirty floor, lying on a pile of still dirtier 
 straw I found this poor prison boy dying. I fell on my 
 knees and poured out my heart to God in his behalf. 
 
 ' ' That head had been pillowed on tenderest breast, 
 
 That form had been wept o'er, those lips had been pressed, 
 That soul had been prayed for in tones sweet and mild; 
 For her sake deal gently with some mother's child." 
 
 Do not tell me that it does not pay to labor and pray with 
 these dear lost ones. For if I can be the means of rescuing 
 but one soul from eternal punishment, thank God, it pays 
 me. 
 
 WILL IT PAY? 
 
 Some gentlemen were once looking at a large building 
 erected for newsboys, that they might be brought under 
 religious and refining influences. One of the spectators 
 asked a large contributor to the benevolent institution this 
 question : "Now you are erecting this building at a cost of 
 many thousands of dollars, and I admire your motives, but 
 suppose that after all this great expense only one boy was 
 saved here would you still think it paid for time, labor 
 and money expended?" The man answered quickly and 
 earnestly, "Yes, sir; if it was my boy." The most precious 
 thing in the sight of God is a soul. For the redemption of 
 every soul on earth was paid the precious blood of the 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 151 
 
 Lamb of God. Count it not then a light thing in His sight 
 for one to be saved or lost. For "There is joy in the pres- 
 ence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth 
 more than over ninety and nine just persons who need no 
 repentance." Hundreds have been saved under my obser- 
 vation and instrumentality both inside and outside of prison 
 walls, and my motto has been, "Throw out the lifeline 
 across the dark wave/' 
 
 SAVED AND PREACHING THE GOSPEL. 
 
 Upon a warm July day, starting to walk out from Bis- 
 marck, N. D., to what I took to be the state's prison, but 
 which proved to be a large water reservoir, being overcome 
 by the heat I fell, and crawling to a shade I lay down with 
 my Bible under my head. After a time I saw some distance 
 away some persons driving in an open hack and signaled to 
 them till they saw me and came to me. They drove me to 
 the home of the warden of the prison where I was kindly 
 received by the warden's wife and made comfortable. Late 
 that night I held service in the prison corridors. This was 
 in 1885, and in 1901 I was leading a meeting in a mission in 
 Portland, Oregon, and asked all who had something special 
 for which to praise the Lord to speak. A brother arose and 
 said: 
 
 "I want to thank the Lord tonight for the privilege of hearing 
 "Mother" Wheaton preach outside of prison walls. I have heard 
 her in many a prison. Years ago, one night at 9 o'clock, when all 
 the prisoners had been locked in their cells, the officers unlocked 
 the doors to let this sister sing some hymns and hold services in 
 the corridors. One hymn that especially touched my heart was 
 'Throw out the life line.' I was an opium fiend, a morphine fiend, 
 a whisky fiend, and an all around bad man, and was ready to 
 despair. But God touched my heart and saved me and called me 
 to the ministry. At this time I was with my other sins a deserter 
 from the United States army. When my time expired I went and 
 
152 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 gave myself up and was sentenced to five years more in prison. 
 
 But God had mercy on me and in seven months I was pardoned 
 
 out. Since that time I have lived an honest life, and for eight 
 years have preached the gospel." 
 
 This man was married to a Christian woman and has 
 done much to rescue men from the pit from which he had 
 been taken, and is still preaching. 
 
 IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT. 
 
 One Sunday I sang perhaps thirty hymns and preached 
 seven times to prisoners in solitary confinement, where I 
 dare not see them or clasp their hands as I do in other 
 prisons. There are hundreds there, and as I sang in all 
 the prison wards or corridors many different hymns, the 
 dear souls cheered and responded with their clear voices as 
 best they could to show their sincere appreciation of my ef- 
 forts to brighten their lonely prison life. Each was "some 
 mother's boy." Reader, is there not a sympathetic chord 
 in your heart for these poor unfortunates? 
 
 CRAPE ON THE DOOR. 
 
 I once felt impressed to go to a certain prison and hold 
 services. Arriving at the place early in the morning, I 
 thought I would -go to the prison first before I would tele- 
 phone for a cousin who often helped me in the singing. 
 When I arrived at the prison, the chaplain said, "Mother 
 Wheaton, the Lord sent you to help me. To-day I have a 
 funeral service of a prisoner, something we have never had 
 at this prison." I did not telephone then for my cousin, as 
 the services were arranged. I worked all day in the prison, 
 holding services with both men and women prisoners, visit- 
 ed the hospital, and went to the city jail at 5 p. m. and held 
 services, and then went to my relative's home and was great- 
 ly shocked to find crape hanging on the door. I found my 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 153 
 
 cousin cold in death. Relatives asked me, "Who told you?" 
 I said, "God impressed me to come at this time." And I 
 went with them to the grave of my dear cousin, and kneel- 
 ing beside the open grave, I promised to faithfully do God's 
 holy will, and meet the departed one in Heaven. 
 
 IN A POLICE STATION. 
 
 In 1903, while I was in San Francisco, I was impressed 
 to go to the police station about nine o'clock one night. I 
 found, on arriving, an ambulance bringing in prisoners, 
 among them a woman who was arrested for drunkenness. 
 I talked and prayed with her. Hearing a noise like one in 
 distress, I walked on through the corridors and I found a 
 young soldier who was badly wounded in one eye and the 
 head. He was standing alone in his cell in great, pain. The 
 bandage had been torn off, and the blood was running down 
 his face, though his wounds had evidently been dressed by 
 a physician before coming there. He was crying from the 
 pain, and was under the influence of drink. I wiped the 
 blood off his face, and put the bandage on his eye again. 
 Then I knelt in prayer with him. I left the city on an 
 early train, and never saw him again, but I believe God 
 heard and answered my prayer for his salvation. 
 
 BURNED IN HIS CELL. 
 
 I went into one of our western cities to hold services at 
 the jail. On the way from the depot I stopped at a store, 
 where a young clerk told me of a horrible crime that had 
 been committed in the jail. That the prisoners had been 
 trying to make their escape, and one young prisoner had 
 revealed the plot to the jailer, and thus saved his life. The 
 prison wall had been "worked" in a cunning manner, and 
 the prisoners were about to escape, when this poor boy in- 
 
154 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 formed the jailer of what was being done. The other three 
 prisoners were, so enraged that they threw coal oil over 
 the boy, set fire to his clothing, and he was burned alive in 
 the cell. I was grieved at hearing this, and felt that I could 
 tee them punished severely. They were in an underground 
 prison for safe-keeping until the wall could be repaired. 
 The officers were afraid to let me go in, but I told them I 
 was not afraid, and went down the stairs ahead of the of- 
 ficers. I saw only one dim candle burning, and called for a 
 light. A lamp was brought, and I went boldly into the 
 presence of those criminals. I sat down and thought of 
 the awfulness of it all. So, as I wept, I sang "Some Mother's 
 Boy/' and they cried like their hearts were breaking. I 
 went over to them, where they were sitting together on an 
 old bunk, and we cried together. They were humble and 
 convicted, and it was love that did it all God's love which 
 showed them that though their sins were as scarlet, they 
 shall be white as snow, though red like crimson they shall 
 be as wool. God heard prayer for them and I trust they 
 were forgiven. 
 
 THE INNOCENT IN BONDS. 
 
 In a certain state prison the officer called my attention to 
 a man and said, "That man is innocent of the crime he was 
 sentenced for." "Then why do you keep him here?" I 
 asked. "Because he serves for his friend, willingly allowing 
 the guilt to be placed upon himself rather than see this 
 friend who was really guilty suffer." On leaving the prison 
 I came upon this man with an officer on the train, and had 
 the pleasure of talking to the man and hearing his story. I 
 referred him to Psalms 15 :i, 2, 4. "Lord, who shall abide in 
 thy tabernacle ? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill ? He that 
 walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness, and speaketh 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 155 
 
 the truth in his heart. He that sweareth to his own hurt, 
 and changeth not." He was being taken to another court 
 for trial. 
 
 CONFESSED HER GUILT. 
 
 A woman in a prison was convicted of sin under my 
 preaching, and sent for me to come to her cell, where she 
 gave me such an account of her crimes that I was shocked, 
 and yet was powerless to liberate an innocent man that she 
 
 said was in state's prison for a crime she committed. 
 
 She asked me to go and tell him for her that she was the 
 guilty one, and try to have him freed, but wanted the matter 
 kept secret. Now that she was under conviction of her 
 sins, she could not rest. I went to the state prison she 
 named, found the man, and told him her story. His agony 
 was pitiful to behold. He said, "O how I loved my wife 
 and baby. I am an innocent man. How can I live my sent- 
 ence out in this way? Nothing to live for." Such bitter- 
 ness as he held toward that wicked woman, for her crime 
 and duplicity ! I left him in an agony of grief. And yet 
 there are so many who are serving as unjustly for others' 
 crimes! This woman had killed the wife thinking she her- 
 self would then get the husband. 
 
 UNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH. 
 
 Going into the presence of two condemned men on our na- 
 tional holiday, the chaplain remarked, "I wish you could 
 reach these men's hearts. You have often helped others in 
 this prison who were under death sentence."' I prayed in 
 silence for wisdom, and as I walked into their presence, I 
 said, "I have come to sing to you and have a little visit with 
 you, but if you prefer to be alone, I will go away." They 
 said they would be glad to have me stay. I sang several 
 
156 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 songs, and before I had spoken of religion, I was made glad 
 to see tears in their eyes, and then we knelt in prayer, and I 
 prayed God to pardon their sins and make them pure in His 
 sight. 
 
 I do not believe in capital punishment. Lord hasten the 
 day when the crime of putting men to death legally shall 
 be done away with. It does not stop crime. I thank God 
 that one noble warden gave up his honorable position and 
 salary, rather than take the lives of any more men. I wish 
 God would raise up men all over our land who in like man- 
 ner would be brave enough to refuse to sacrifice human 
 lives because the law licenses them to do so. When I see 
 wicked men so anxious to see poor, helpless men executed, 
 I think of that authoritative utterance, "Vengeance is mine, 
 I will repay, saith the Lord." Jesus said, "He that hateth 
 his brother is a murderer." There is a day of reckoning 
 coming. 
 
 THE RELIGION MOTHER HAD. 
 
 Many times prisoners have said to me when speaking to 
 them, "That's the kind of religion mother had. You re- 
 mind me of my own dear old mother;" and many, even 
 statesmen, and the attendants in the capitol, and in the 
 President's mansion, have said to me with uncovered heads, 
 and tears in their eyes, "That is the kind of religion mother 
 had. I wish I was as good as she was." I find the crying 
 need to-day in all stations of life, from the palace to the 
 dungeon, is real, genuine, heartfelt, common-sense salva- 
 tion, not to be cranks and fanatics, not to be one-sided 
 or half-way professors of religion; but to have the Holy 
 Ghost in our hearts and lives, and a burning desire to help 
 every one into the Kingdom of Heaven, Being "all things 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 157 
 
 to all men" that we might win some wandering souls to 
 Christ. 
 
 the joy of knowing that you are doing just what God 
 wants you to do winning souls for His Kingdom, from all 
 walks of life; often in houses of ill-fame souls are truly 
 saved and reformed. Often in saloons men and women are 
 impressed by the straightforward message of love brought 
 them. You say, "No use to try." O thou of little faith, 
 wherefore did'st thou doubt? I have much encouragement 
 among the criminal classes, for they are despised and re- 
 jected by earthly friends. 
 
 1 might give many more instances, but this is probably 
 sufficient. Let no one think for a moment that these poor 
 unfortunates have no tender feeling, no remorse because 
 of sin. They see their shame and feel the separation from 
 home and loved ones. There must be places to confine 
 criminals and protect the lives and property of other peo- 
 ple, but we must remember that behind all the guilt there 
 are precious souls that live through all eternity. 
 
 Sin is treacherous, the human heart deceitful above all 
 things and desperately wicked; perhaps under unfavorable 
 conditions the heart of the most moral man or woman may 
 generate the evil of the human nature and cause it to show 
 its corruption in crime. All that saves some people now 
 from the felon's cell, or gambler's hell, is that they hold the 
 propensity of their corrupt hearts in with bit and bridle. 
 And thousands tread the earth in freedom, who, if justice 
 could find them out and fasten their guilt upon them, would 
 be in the prison stripes and iron cells. So be not so ready 
 to cry "Crucify him!" "Stone her!" until you can look 
 into your own heart and see that it is pure and clean. 
 
158 
 
 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 
 
 Thank God! that I have lived to see the time 
 When the great truth begins at last to find 
 An utterance from the deep heart of mankind, 
 
 Earnest and clear, that ALL REVENGE is CRIME! 
 That man is holier than a creed that all 
 
 Restraint upon him must consult his good, 
 Hope's sunshine linger on his prison wall, 
 
 And Love look in upon his solitude. 
 
 The beautiful lesson which our Saviour taught 
 Througft long, dark centuries its way hath wrought 
 Into the common mind and popular thought; 
 
 And words, to which by Galilee's lake shore, 
 
 The humble fishers listened with hushed oar, 
 Have found an echo in the general heart, 
 And of the public faith become a living part. 
 
 No more the ghastly sacrifices smoke 
 Through the green arches of the Druid's oak; 
 
 And ye of milder faith, with your high claim 
 
 Of prophet-utterance in the Holiest name, 
 Will ye become the Druids of our time! 
 
 Set up your scaffold-altars in our land, 
 And, consecrators of Law's darkest crime, 
 
 Urge to its loathsome work the hangman's hand? 
 Beware lest human nature, roused at last, 
 From its peeled shoulder your encumbrance cast, 
 
 And, sick to loathing of your cry for blood, 
 Rank ye with those who led their victims round 
 The Celt 's red altar and the Indian 's mound, 
 
 Abhorred of Earth and Heaven a pagan brotherhood! 
 JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. 
 
INTERIOR OF CHAPEL-DINING APARTMENT AND ROW OF CELLS, 
 CHESTER, ILL. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Conversion of Desperate Prisoners Prevents a Terrible 
 
 Mutiny. 
 
 During the fall of 1888, I was deeply impressed that I 
 should visit the state prison at Waupun, Wis. Following 
 the guidance of the Spirit, I reached the place, after a 
 long journey, on the evening of November third. A dear 
 Christian girl was with me. It was a lovely moonlight 
 night and as we came to the prison, the yard was plainly 
 visible through the heavy iron grating. My companion 
 called my attention to its beauty but my heart was heavy 
 and I could only reply, "Sister, pray ! O do pray ! There 
 is something awfully wrong here some danger pending 
 something terrible!" 
 
 The officers of the prison welcomed me heartily and the 
 chaplain said : "I am glad you have come and shall be 
 pleased to have you take the service tomorrow morning. 
 (It was Saturday.) His wife entertained us during our 
 stay and after taking us to their own rooms he said : 
 "There's a man here who is a terror to both the officers 
 and prisoners. All are afraid of him. Neither kindness 
 or punishment seems to affect him. I wish you could do 
 something to help him." My reply was: -"I cannot do 
 anything, but God can." And earnestly did I look to 
 God for help. 
 
 The next morning a heavy burden still rested upon my 
 heart and I prayed God to go before me to that prison 
 chapel and lead the meeting Himself and give me the 
 right message. Nor did I plead in vain, for many souls 
 were that day deeply convicted of sin and some were 
 blessedly saved as was clearly manifested a little later. 
 
l62 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 After the sermon my friend and myself sang a hymn and 
 this was greatly used by the Spirit in connection with the 
 sermon in reaching the very depths of hearts. It was the 
 custom to hold an after meeting for thirty minutes, but 
 those who wished to remain were expected to secure cards 
 or tickets, granting permission, on the previous day. That 
 Sunday the chaplain said : "All who wish to remain to this 
 service can do so without a card, as these ladies are here." 
 
 A hardened looking criminal (whom I afterward learned 
 to be the one to whom the chaplain had referred the night 
 before) arose to retire with a few others. I went to him at 
 once and took him by the hand and urged him to stay, but 
 he said: "No, they don't want me here. This meeting is 
 for good people and I am too bad to stay." But I pleaded: 
 "No, you stay we want you to stay. I want you to stay." 
 And then he said : "'Well, I'll stay for your sake," and sat 
 down. The meeting progressed under the power of the 
 Lord and many arose to say that they had been very wicked 
 but were sorry; and if God could and would forgive them 
 they would lead a different life and be good men. Some told 
 how their dear old mothers were good and had prayed for 
 them and that they wanted us to pray for them and they 
 would serve the Lord. 
 
 I noticed that many of the men as they arose glanced fur- 
 tively at the man to whom I have referred and that he sat 
 looking at each one as he spoke and evidently had great in- 
 fluence over the other prisoners. At last he arose and said, 
 "Men, don't be afraid of me. If there is any good in this 
 religion you are talking about, go ahead and get it. I'll 
 stand by you and nobody shall say before me, There's your 
 praying man' or 'There's your hypocrite.' I can't be good 
 I'm too far gone but I'll stand by the men who are going 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 163 
 
 to do right." All were evidently deeply impressed by his 
 words. As he sat down I went to him and taking him by 
 the hand, I said, "God loves you and He wants to save you 
 and to help you to live for a better world than this." Again 
 he insisted, "I'm too far gone ! It's too late for me to try 
 to do right! There's no hope for me," but still I pleaded 
 with him to return unto the Lord that there was still mercy 
 and pardon for even him and that he would yield to the 
 Holy Spirit's pleading and become a Christian. He was 
 evidently very deeply convicted of sin and soon arose and 
 with deep feeling he said, "Men, you know what I have 
 been watch me from today and see what I will be;" and 
 as he sat down the prisoners cheered. 
 
 Fearful as to what the outcome might be and somewhat 
 doubting his sincerity, the chaplain quickly closed the ser- 
 vice and ordered the men to their cells. They obediently left 
 the chapel, but truly God had wondrously wrought that day 
 in the hearts of many of the most noted and hardened crim- 
 inals. In the afternoon we went, in company with the chap- 
 lain, from cell to cell singing, talking, and praying with the 
 men. The chaplain took me to the cell of the man who had 
 given so much trouble a man who had taken several lives, 
 and there he gave his heart to God and was converted. 
 
 PLAN OF THE MUTINY. 
 
 After all the prisoners had been locked in the cells and 
 the officers had gone to their homes or rooms, only a few 
 guards remaining on duty, he sent for the warden to come 
 to his cell and requested to be taken out into the prison 
 yard. At first the warden refused to do so because of his 
 being known to be such a dangerous character. Still he in- 
 sisted, saying that he had something to show him. The war- 
 den, who had been an army officer and was a very brave 
 
164 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 man, was only partially convinced but finally consented say- 
 ing: "I'm not afraid of you one wrong move and you're 
 a dead man. I have had enough trouble with you. I will 
 take you into the yard, but beware !" 
 
 Well armed, he marched the man into the yard. There 
 the prisoner led him to the extreme end, and taking away 
 some dry leaves and boards he said to the warden, "Look 
 in." The warden did so and, O, what a sight met his eyes ! 
 There, in a hole, were knives, guns, and other weapons! 
 
 Staggering back he exclaimed, "My , where did you 
 
 get those things?" "It don't matter where I got them," 
 replied the prisoner, "but take me back to my cell and then 
 take away these weapons. I intended to liberate the prison 
 tomorrow morning and would have done so if that woman 
 had not come and preached here today. I am a changed 
 man now/' 
 
 How he got those weapons was a mystery, but he had 
 been long years planning an escape, and had chosen some of 
 the most daring of his fallow prisoners (both those inside 
 and others who had gone out) to aid him ! Whether he 
 could have succeeded or not, doubtless many lives either of 
 officers or prisoners or of both would have been lost had 
 the attempt been made. But God wrought so mightily that 
 instead of lives being lost precious souls were saved. Sev- 
 eral were converted that day who are still living noble Chris- 
 tian lives. Others may be, I leave that with God. I do 
 not know whether the leader is still living or not, but have 
 heard that he was dead. At any rate he served his long 
 sentence and claimed to be still a Christian when he left 
 the prison. 
 
 HAVOC OF SIN. 
 Among the many who were converted during that Sunday 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 165 
 
 morning service in 1888, was a very amiable, intelligent, re- 
 fined-appearing young man, still in his teens, who was serv- 
 ing under life sentence. He was a real "mother's boy," 
 so young and so small that after his conversion I used to 
 call him my little son. He belonged to one of the best fami- 
 lies of the state. His father was a physician and a class- 
 mate and friend of the governor. For the sake of his brok- 
 en-hearted parents, as well as his own, and being satisfied 
 that he was really innocent of the crime of which he had 
 been convicted, I began to pray earnestly for his release. 
 But the case dragged on and though he was pardoned some 
 years later, it was not until after his father died broken- 
 hearted and the mother's health had failed under her weight 
 of sorrow and an aunt had gone insane. 
 
 During his imprisonment I at one time visited his poor 
 mother in her home. Oh ! what havoc sin had wroughtt! 
 What sorrow ! For though I believe him entirely innocent 
 of the crime for which he was condemned, his conviction 
 was the result of his being led astray by evil influences and 
 associates. 
 
 Oh, that I could warn young men of the dangers of bad 
 company, and that I could warn parents of the dangers, of 
 discouraging their children in waiting upon and serving 
 God. 
 
 When this boy was quite young, he wanted to become a 
 Christian and engage in work for souls, but his parents 
 thought it would be a disgrace, as they were aristocratic, 
 but alas! what snares had the enemy set for him, from 
 which he might have entirely escaped, if they had encour- 
 aged him to be true to God. 
 
 I received many letters from him while he was in prison 
 and quote from two of them. We have not heard from him 
 
l66 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 for years but trust that if alive he is still living for God 
 and Heaven. 
 
 Waupun, Wis., July 7, 1895. 
 Dear Mother, ' ' In His Name ' ' : 
 
 Since my last letter to you several things of interest have trans- 
 pired. My attorney went to see the governor and then came to 
 see me. We went over some evidence, and at last I convinced them 
 that I alone can untangle the skein of false evidence. 
 
 T located a Mrs. N. and she gave an affidavit which would have 
 cleared me at my trial. She said she felt that she had been the 
 cause of all my suffering, but that she went to LaCrosse at the 
 time of my trial and was met at the train by a detective, who told 
 her if she wanted to keep out of serious trouble to take the first 
 train out of the city, and she did so. I expect to soon have another 
 witness to corroborate her statement. ^ Then if I can locate the 
 sister of the deceased and get her evidence I will have a sure case 
 against those who perjured themselves to send me here. 
 
 Yes, I have placed all my life in God's hands and have begun 
 my work here; but, being a convict, I am much hindered. There- 
 fore, in order to do a more abundant and faithful service, I desire 
 my freedom. If I get it, I will try and enter the Moody Institute 
 nnd take a course of training for the work. Mrs. K. is anxious to 
 have me do so. 
 
 Our chaplain will preside over our Christian Endeavor Society. 
 I recently sent out my report to be read at the Boston convention 
 in session the 10th inst., and I ventured, in the light of all events, 
 to place the following motto over our penitentiary: "Wisconsin 
 Prison for Christ " for the coming year, and by the time of the 
 next convention, I hope to be out to represent the Christian En- 
 deavor boys. 
 
 Brother H. told me of a song you sing. "Some Mother's Child" 
 is the song. Will says it is simply sublime and I ought to have it. 
 Such songs turn the mind back to home and to the memory of fond 
 parents and loved ones. Such pieces are always very sacred to me. 
 
 God bless you and spare you for many years to come, that you 
 may continue to be a Mother to the prisoners cf earth. Write me 
 when yon con. 
 
 I am your loving little son, "In His Name," ALBERT. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 167 
 
 Waupun, Wis., Nov. 27, 1895. 
 My Dear Mother: 
 
 Your excellent letter duly at hand. Both Brother Colgrove and 
 I were surprised, for we had concluded that God in His infinite 
 love and wisdom had carried you home. 
 
 I am at work here in the official building, in the office of our dear 
 chaplain. Brother Colgrove is in the hospital across the hall from 
 our office. I have talked with the chaplain about your coming, and 
 he says to tell you to come and stay two weeks. He would like to 
 have you spend two Sundays, and in the meantime we will no doubt, 
 under the present warden, be able to secure the evenings during the 
 week for a series of revival meetings. 
 
 Lovingly your son in the work, 
 
 ALBERT. 
 
l68 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Guilt comes not, thundering on the wings of time, 
 
 With vice-distorted feature and the leer of crime, 
 
 But like enchanting vision from a pagan dream, 
 
 Or softly echoed cadence of a whispering stream, 
 
 She steals upon us gently, with ever-changing art, 
 
 And usurps an empire the waiting human heart! 
 
 Her outward form is beauty, her voice with Passion tense, 
 
 She only craves the privilege to gratify each sense; 
 
 All apparent pleasures 'round her path are spread, 
 
 But, alas! you seize the flower to find its fragrance fled; 
 
 But still pursuing, row with bated breath, 
 
 You clasp her to your bosom and embrace a death! 
 
 Then, conscience stricken, you the wreck survey, 
 
 And with shuddering horror humbly kneel to pray; 
 
 While the pitying angels on their pinions bear 
 
 The ever sacred burden of repentant prayer, 
 
 And almighty love descending reasserts control, 
 
 And mercy in the guise of grace has won a human soul. 
 
 A Prisoner. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Remarkable Conversion and Experience of George H. 
 
 Colgrove. 
 
 Among the others who 
 were saved that fourth 
 day of November, 1888, 
 at Waupim, Wis., was 
 the very remarkable case 
 of Geo. H. Colgrove. 
 Years afterwards the 
 chaplain said of him, "I 
 regard him as an ideal 
 one of whom you would 
 expect this report : 'If 
 ever there was a good 
 Christian man on earth 
 he is one.' " At one time 
 he had three Bible class- 
 es in prison each week 
 one in English and two 
 in German -and was 
 the means of the accom- 
 plishment of much good 
 in the conversion of 
 prisoners. 
 
 GEO. H. COLGROVE. 
 
 HIS OWN STORY. 
 
 The story of his life and conversion is given, as nearly 
 as possible, in his own words, but as found in two different 
 statements some particulars being given in one that were 
 not in the other in order to make the account as complete 
 as I can. 
 
 It is very difficult for one in prison, especially, to write of them- 
 selves without giving to strangers the impression of either vanity 
 ana conceit on the one hand or of craft and deception on the other. 
 Therefore, it is with considerable hesitation that I write. Yet my 
 gret indebtedness to "Mother" Wheaton, who was chosen of God 
 , the agent through whom His wondrous work should be made mani- 
 
I7O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 fest to the world in my salvation, as also of many others, has at last 
 led me to make the following statement: 
 
 Just on the verge of manhood, at the age of nineteen, I obtained 
 some infidel literature of the mild stamp, yet scholarly and per- 
 suasive withal, containing no harsh criticism of Christian people and 
 principles. This aroused my interest and admiration and led to my 
 obtaining more of a like nature, until under their combined influence 
 my youthful mind was entirely surrendered to such doubts and dis- 
 belief as they advocated. 
 
 This was the pivotal point in my early life from which I started 
 down the deceitful road that leads from peace, happiness and honor 
 into the depths of sorrow, infamy and despair. Having thus im- 
 bibed the subtle poison of infidelity, I soon became blinded and in- 
 different to the rights of my fellowmen and to the enormity of vio- 
 lating divine law. 
 
 BURGLARY AND MURDER. 
 
 From this low plane of morality it was easy to enter the pasth 
 of crime ; and this I did, following the precarious calling of burglary 
 for five years. This dark way ended in the midnight gloom of a mur- 
 derer. Detection, arrest and conviction followed in rapid succession, 
 soon bringing down upon me the crushing weight of a "life sen- 
 tence." So that on a cold wintry night the officers of the law 
 delivered me within the portals of a living tomb. 
 
 Four dark, hopeless, weary years succeeded. Yet the Lord in His 
 great mercy had not forgotten me; and when all the world deserted 
 me, then He in His loving kindness took me up and His favor was 
 manifested through the instrumentality of "Mother" Wheaton. 
 
 During the early years of my incarceration no words could portray 
 my intense and bitter hatred of Christianity and anything pertain- 
 ing thereto. Feeling that I had sold my soul to the prince of dark- 
 ness, it enraged me to be reminded of a better life, or a possible 
 Heaven. 
 
 Burning with the fires of hatred and revenge toward those whom 
 T knew had unjustly deceived and wronged me, my only desire was 
 to escape from here even long enough to rush upon my enemies and 
 hurl their souls into eternity, and then follow them immediately if 
 need be. I continually planned and schemed for the accomplishment 
 of this purpose, and had a plan of escape well defined and was mak- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 171 
 
 ing arrangements to put it into execution, when one bright and beau- 
 tiful Sunday morning it was announced that a lady preacher was 
 going to hold services in the chapel that day. 
 
 Though I did not often attend church, yet on this occasion I swore 
 some big round oaths that I would go up and hear the lady talk. 
 
 That was the morning of November 4, 1888. The beautiful sun 
 that shines alike on mansion and cottage, palace and prison, shone as 
 though a special degree of radiance had been granted to light a be- 
 nighted soul on its way out of darkness into light. But I entered 
 the chapel with cold indifference, drawn only by curiosity at least 
 so far as I knew ; but results proved that God was leading. I awaited 
 developments; and they fame. Our prison chaplain introduced 
 ' ' Mother ' ' Wheaton, whom I had never seen before, and announced 
 the services as ' ' entirely in her hands. ' ' She gave us a short, earnest, 
 impressive address; then she and the sister who came with her sang 
 1 ' Meet me there. ' ' 
 
 During the singing I heard an accompanying strain, low and in- 
 expressibly sweet, the like of which I had never heard nor imagined. 
 The two sounds harmonized, yet were distinct, but oh, how lovely! 
 Words fail to convey the most distant idea of their soothing and at- 
 tractive power. 
 
 The thought flashed through my mind, ' * That is delicious music 
 to fall upon ears that have listened to the sound of murderous guns. ' ' 
 Suddenly and with all the vividness of continuous lightning dis- 
 pelling dense darkness, revealing all surrounding objects distinctly, 
 the awful depth and blackness of my iniquitous career blazed up be- 
 fore my mental view, like a clear and definite painting of each act 
 in my wicked life portrayed on canvas by a master hand and set 
 in clearest rays of the noonday sun. And at the same time there 
 was given an assurance of forgiveness, if accepted then. 
 
 Surprise, consternation and intense fear came with this revelation 
 of myself to myself, as my depraved spiritual condition was, for the 
 first time, fully realized. Also as distinctly and positively it was 
 granted me to know that my last opportunity for divine favor was 
 before me. Accept and be saved or reject and be eternally lost! 
 Such was the alternative. 
 
 Although every nerve thrilled in rebellion against Christianity 
 nnd a thousand obstacles seemed to intervene, rendering a change in 
 my course of life impossible, yet I dared not refuse that stern, ter- 
 
172 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 rific ultimatum, "Your last opportunity," and before its mighty 
 mandate my proud, headstrong, sin-burdened soul surrendered unto 
 Jesus of Nazareth. 
 
 I wished to fly from the room, but could not. I felt frightened 
 at the power which was mastering me, and thought in a confused 
 way of the ridicule which would be heaped upon me, of my intended 
 escape, and of revenge upon my foes. Ah! what? Revenge? No, 
 no revenge now. No, no. That was all gone. The evil desire had 
 thus suddenly been removed without my knowledge, and in its stead 
 there reigned in my heart and in the depths of my soul a feeling of 
 forgiveness and peace, both between them and myself and between 
 myself and my God. 
 
 I said, "Surely the Lord has visited me this day; for I came in 
 here a devil in human form, and now my dark sins are forgiven 
 and I am free. Glory to God ! ' ' 
 
 The chaplain and warden were nearly thunderstruck to learn that 
 the low, miserable, worthless wretch, the hopeless vagabond, Colgrove, 
 had been brought to the foot of the cross; still they must have en- 
 tertained but little hope of my remaining in the straight and nar- 
 row path that leadeth unto life. How could they? They had not 
 heard that strange music which had floated in on my soul. They 
 could not feel the awakening which was permeating and ringing 
 through the corridors of my heart, nor could they perceive the realiz- 
 ing sense of divine favor which was so clear to my own conscious- 
 ness. 
 
 That very week it was impressed on my mind that I must at once 
 commence the study of the Holy Scriptures for. work in the cause 
 of God and devote the remainder of my life to leading my fellow- 
 men, and especially prisoners, into the light of Calvary. I said, 
 "What will it all amount to I a friendless prisoner, doomed for 
 life I " An answering whisper came, ' ' Friendless, with Jesus for 
 your friend? Study the Word." So in blindness, with fear and 
 trembling, doubts and misgivings, I took from my shelf in the prison 
 cell the neglected, despised and dust-covered Bible and commenced 
 studying the Word to the best of my ability, with none but God to 
 direct or assist me except a hasty explanation now and then from 
 the chaplain as he passed on his hurried rounds through the cell 
 rooms. 
 
 I immediately destroyed the implements of destruction and escape 
 

 OR A LABOR OF LOVE 173 
 
 which I had made during two years previous to my conversion. In- 
 stead of dirks and saws, my hands now grasped the Bible and the 
 cross; and thanks be unto Jesus of Nazareth, they still retain their 
 hold, and I believe with ever increasing strength. 
 
 The way thus far has been rendered more pleasant by the hand 
 of the Lord than I then thought possible amid such dark surround- 
 ings. With an ever realizing sense of my unworthiness I have been 
 kindly led in the way of life and am eleven years nearer my eternal 
 Home; while in my soul there is the (i peace of God which passeth 
 all understanding" which is an additional evidence of the faithful 
 care and guidance of Jehovah. During the last decade the motto of 
 my life has been, as through future years it shall ever be (Isaiah 
 26:4): " Trust ye in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah 
 is everlasting strength. ' ' 
 
 I know not whether earthly freedom will ever be mine, but I do 
 know that, if it is His holy and righteous will, it will be given me; 
 and I know that it matters little, for earthly joys must soon fade 
 awsy, and down at the close of the earthly journey Jesus is waiting 
 for me. And with my weak and faltering hand laid in His storng 
 and mighty one I shall walk through the dark waters of the Jordan 
 of death, and with Him kindly leading His rescued child we shall 
 enter with joy and eternal thanksgiving the beautiful "city whose 
 maker and builder is God." 
 
 The following extracts from letters written me at differ- 
 ent times after his conversion will, I believe, interest the 
 reader : 
 
 Waupun, Wis., Sept. 5, 1891. 
 Mrs. E. Wheaton: 
 
 Dear Christian Friend: No news received since you were here 
 has afforded me so much pleasure as the announcement of your re- 
 turn. 
 
 Tt was through your earnest work that I was converted. When 
 you came here before there was, I presume, no more sinful, hopeless, 
 hardened, miserable wretch inside these walls than myself. When I 
 entered the prison chapel that Sabbath morning, November 4, 1888, 
 I for one came to observe, sneer and laugh. But while you were 
 singing that glorious anthem, "Meet Me There," power from above 
 opened my spiritual vision to see the horrible condition of my soul, 
 and so enabled me to realize my great need of divine favor. I thank 
 
174 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 God and will bless His holy name forever that in His infinite wisdom 
 and kindness He brought me inside these walls and sent you, His 
 chosen instrument, to lead my wandering sin-darkened soul into the 
 path that leadeth unto life eternal. 
 
 Amid the trials, cares and vexations of the passing days I often 
 look up to the blue vault of heaven 's dome and rejoice at the thought 
 that the flying moments and hastening hours are bringing me nearer, 
 ever nearer to the blessed hour when I shall meet Jesus face to face 
 and clasp His rescuing hand, never from Him to part. Ah, never 
 to part! Thanks unto God most high. 
 
 May the Lord ever bless you, my dear spiritual Mother. Good- 
 bye. G. H. C. 
 
 Waupun, Wis., Oct. 29, 1891. 
 My Dear Spiritual Mother: 
 
 Your kind letter most gladly received. I am surprised that our 
 boys do not write more frequently to you. They often inquire as to 
 your whereabouts and health and ever have a good w r ord for you and 
 your work. Even many who do not care for their soul's salvation 
 speak favorably of Mrs. Wheaton. 
 
 God knows how much your letters cheer me and brighten the 
 prison gloom. After twenty years of infidelity, with all its direful 
 train of evils, leading on from bad to worse, the prison gate threw 
 its protective barrier between society and one who had become almost 
 a devil in human form, thus showing that a just God had taken ac- 
 count of my iniquitous course and had said, ' ' Thus far and no far- 
 ther. '' Then followed four years of hopeless misery, borne with the 
 sullen stolidity of despair, while in thought, intent and purpose I 
 sank lower and lower into the horrible cesspool of criminality, and 
 farther and farther away from God. Then, in His infinite mercy, 
 He sent you with the message of salvation, which He crowned with 
 His invincible power of conviction and .a realization of my lost and 
 hopeless condition. 
 
 My prayers shall ever be with you, dear sister, and if I might send 
 a message by you to all the prisoners from the pine-shadowed shores 
 of Maine to the far Alaskan mountains it would be this: "Ye cap- 
 tives, look aloft to the star of Bethlehem, and whatever betide, do 
 not fail to grasp the hand stretched out to you from Calvary. ' ' 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 175 
 
 Hoping to hear from you soon and praying God to ever bless you 1 
 remain, Yours for God and humanity, 
 
 G. H. COLGROVE. 
 
 Waupun, Wis., Sept. 4, 1892. 
 My Dear Mother: 
 
 How many, many times I have thanked our kind Father above and 
 praised His Holy Name for sending you to our prison gate on that 
 November night in 1888. Three years and ten months ago today the 
 radiant light of Calvary, fresh from the throne of the Infinite, came, 
 through your ministrations, down into the dark recesses of my sin- 
 burdened heart and crime-laden soul, while mingled with the music 
 of the sweet hymn you and your companion were singing the heaven- 
 ly strains of an angelic accompaniment so entrancingly and irresisti- 
 bly soothing and lovely that my hardened heart melted like frost 
 before the noonday sun. 
 
 Can you believe that I stayed to that after-meeting when every 
 nerve in my body thrilled to get up and run out of the chapel I Yes, 
 I desired to flee; yet an irresistible power restrained me. I know 
 now it was Satan urging me to flee away from there; for he, of 
 course, readily understood that he was in danger of losing an active 
 member from his minions of evil. But thanks be unto Jehovah, who 
 ruleth over all, Satan failed. God and His servant held the field 
 and a soul was redeemed from death. Glory to God forever and ever. 
 Amen. 
 
 The years from that time have been so pleasant and bright, though 
 spent where sorrow, misery and gloom were on every hand, as I jour- 
 ney on to our beautiful home everlasting, which Jesus has gone to 
 prepare. 
 
 "Filled with delight, my raptured soul 
 
 Would here no longer stay, 
 Though Jordan's waves around me roll 
 
 Fearless I launch away." 
 
 "When peace like a river attends on my way 
 
 Where sorrows like sea billows roll, 
 Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say 
 
 It is well, It Is well, with my soul." 
 
 "When we've been there ten thousand years, 
 
 Bright shinins as the sun, 
 We've no less days to sing his praise 
 
 Than when we. first begun." 
 
 Yes, since your first visit here my bark of life has been "stand- 
 
176 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 ing away ' ' on her new course over the sea of life, and she is now 
 nearly four years nearer the heavenly harbor, where destructive gales 
 of temptation will never sweep the white sails of purity from the 
 1 1 masts of purpose, ' ' nor break the ' ' yard arms ' ' of effort, nor 
 rolling breakers of iniquity dash her upon the rocky shore of eternal 
 .ruin. 
 
 Mother, pleaae give my kindest wishes to all who are helping you 
 in the great work which Jesus established while on earth and which 
 He left for us to continue until the resounding trump and advancing 
 angel hosts proclaim His return to our earth to claim His own and 
 crown the redeemed. When the sullen and long silent graves shall 
 release their victims and the long absent fleet of the lower ocean 
 shall again whiten the seas with their snowy sails and bring their 
 passengers and crews to join the vast congregation assembled before 
 the judgment seat of Christ. Ever yours, 
 
 G. H. C. 
 
 Waupun, Wis., Jan. 14, 1895. 
 Dear Mother: 
 
 Your kind and most welcome letter very gladly receired. It is 
 ever one of my chief pleasures to hear from you. 
 
 There was a man here by the name of William L., who led a very 
 godless life, being extremely profane. During the past summer he 
 was transferred to the prison hospital. On September 4 I was 
 placed in charge of the sick ward as assistant steward, and I found 
 this man L. in here when I took charge of this department. He 
 had been a bitter enemy of mine for several years, as he was utterly 
 opposed to Christianity, and he tried to utterly disregard me. I 
 continued to treat him kindly, which was, of course, a Christian duty 
 which we owe to our Heavenly Father, and in a short time he grew 
 into the habit of calling on me for favors, and as he sank lower I 
 spent the night with him. One evening he spoke of you and said: 
 "Oh! I wish I could hear 'Mother' Wheaton sing one of her sweet 
 hymns. ' ' 
 
 During three days and nights he continued to speak of you. The 
 last day on which he mentioned you was in the morning about 8 
 o 'clock. While sitting in his chair beside the bed he said very earn- 
 estly and emphatically: "I would give a dollar to hear 'Mother' 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 1/7 
 
 Wheaton sing one of her sweet hymns just now right here and 
 now. ' ' 
 
 About midnight that night he sat in his bed looking upward for 
 some time in silence and then dropped his head in a most dejected 
 manner and in mournful tone exclaimed, ' ' No, no, no. ' ' The intense 
 sadness of his manner made my heart ache for him. After that hour 
 he appeared to have given up all hope. The death chill came on 
 while he was in the rocking chair, and he asked me to assist him into 
 bed and send for the prison physician. He expressed himself well 
 satisfied with the treatment he had had while sick, and then, seeing* it 
 was too hard work for him to talk, he relapsed into silence, while I 
 offered a silent prayer for the departing soul. 
 
 I write this explanation because of the intense desire he had 
 to see you and hear you sing once more. 
 
 The Christian Endeavor still exists by the power and blessing of 
 Gcd, and my Bible class is continuing and some good has been ac- 
 complished through its instrumentality. 
 
 Rev. B. has left us. Our new spiritual guide and counselor is 
 Eev. Simerville, an earnest Christian, whose influence bids fair to 
 lead many hitherto careless ones to turn their footsteps in the 
 straight and narrow path that leads to life. The beacon light to 
 Calvary cheers us on every day to our eternal home. Meet me there. 
 Good-bye, Mother. God bless you now and ever. 
 
 G. H. COLGROVE. 
 
 Waupun, Wis., Nov. 28, 1895. 
 Dearest Mother: 
 
 Your kind and welcome letter gladly received. Brother Albert 
 wrote you yesterday and I sincerely hope the invitation extended 
 to you by the chaplain and contained in Albert 's letter, will be 
 promptly acted upon and that we shall soon behold your face among 
 us once more and again hear the songs of Zion fall from your lips. 
 
 Albert is librarian and the chaplain's assistant, , while this child 
 is assistant steward at the hospital; thus we shall be able to meet 
 you frequently if you will spend a couple of weeks with us, and a 
 forty-day month can be used to good advantage in Waupun and 
 visiting among the bad boys like us, and your many good friends in 
 this locality. 
 
 The Lord has given us a Christian man for warden and I can 
 
178 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 tell you, dear Mother, we find that the warden, the chaplain and 
 the Lord God Almighty make a strong combination. If ''Mother 
 Wheaton" will come and join them the quartette will be complete 
 and this prison can receive such a baptism of grace that his satanic 
 majesty will hate the very name of Waupun. 
 
 God's blessing ever be yours and hoping to meet you once more 
 this side the golden gate, 
 
 I am your spiritual son, 
 
 G. H. COLGROVE. 
 
 The following short extract is from a letter to a brother 
 who had become interested in Brother Colgrove and had 
 written him: 
 
 Waupun, Wis., April 30, 1897. 
 Mr. H , Dear Christian Brother. 
 
 Your kind letter received, and I most sincerely hope it may be 
 preliminary to a long continued and beneficial correspondence. It 
 will ever be a pleasure to hear from you, so please write when 
 convenient, and I will do as well as my adverse surroundings will 
 permit. 
 
 I am pleased to learn of the continued successful work of dear 
 ' ' Mother Wheaton, ' ' and it is a source of great encouragement to 
 me ,to meet and converse with Sister Kelley. We shall undoubtedly 
 have her for a spiritual leader when our toil-worn "Mother" has 
 been summoned to her rest and reward by the great Master. 
 
 Please write soon and often to Your friend, 
 
 G. H. COLGROVE. 
 
 Waupun, Wis., Oct. 25, 1897. 
 Dear Mother: 
 
 Your kind and most welcome letter gladly received and the 
 unexpected photo was a very delightful surprise. A thousand thanks. 
 I have many, many times wished I had a picture of the one whom 
 God selected as my helper to lead me from the dark valley of despair 
 in which I was then dwelling up into the radiant light of Calvary. 
 
 November 4th next will complete nine years of the homeward 
 journey since Jesus set my face Zionward, so we are nine years 
 nearer the heavenly shore and from the watch tower of the golden 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 
 
 city the beacon light beams bright and fair, welcoming us into 
 the port of peace. Our duties are pressing, time is flying, the 
 whistle and signal bells are sounding, and I must close for this time. 
 
 Kindly and sincerely yours, 
 
 G. H. COLGROVE. 
 
 In 1897, as indicated in the two following letters especial 
 effort was made to secure Brother Colgrove's pardon, which 
 I believe would have been successful but for lack of wis- 
 dom on the part of some of his friends. As it was Brother 
 C. was doomed to spend the remainder of his life in bondage. 
 
 Waupun, Wis., Oct. 10, 1897. 
 Dear Mother: 
 
 When you were here you offered to call on the Governor of Wis- 
 consin in my behalf. I thank you a thousand times for that kind- 
 ness. 
 
 Since you were here I have been promoted to the position of 
 prison librarian. That places me in the Chaplain's office, and it is 
 the position occupied by the Washburn banker when you were here. 
 
 I have received a letter from Mrs. Worcester in Natal, South 
 Africa, lately. It was just thirty-five days in coming through. It 
 was intensely interesting. One of our boys died last night and two 
 life members have died since you were here. One was a Christian. 
 
 Dear Mother, the enclosed card shows date, locality and offense. 
 I have been here over twelve years, and have a clear prison record. 
 My Christian work you are well versed in, as you were God's chosen 
 instrument for my conversion. Nine years of Christian life on NOT. 
 4th next. 
 
 If possible please inform me when you will be in Madison, and 
 may our Heavenly Father bless you, and crown your effort with suc- 
 cess. My papers are all in the executive chambers at Madison. I 
 have recommendations from many parties, and from my trial judge, 
 Hon. A. Scott Sloan. My jury did not support my application, but 
 the judge did. He is now dead, but he gave me a splendid letter, 
 and it should be just as effective. I shall have to ask you to wait 
 for your reward, until freedom conies to me, and then you will not 
 
l8o PRISONS "AND PRAYER 
 
 be forgotten. I hope Sister Kelley can accompany you on your 
 Madison trip. 
 
 I received a letter from your friend Miss Josephine Cowgill, Jeru- 
 salem, with several cards of Palestine flowers; those that grew in 
 Mount Olivet I have framed and they are hanging in our office.' 
 I am on duty from 5 a. m. to 9 p. m. 
 
 Sincerely and kindly yours, 
 
 G. H. COLGROVE. 
 
 Waupun, Wis., Nov. 7, 1897. 
 Dear Mother: 
 
 Inclosed please find copy of letter just received from Executive 
 Clerk. It will be useful perhaps as a reference when you reach 
 Madison. The entire recommendation from my judge is there as is 
 stated herein. My judge is now deceased. A letter received today 
 from ex-Chaplain T. J. Brown, now of Lancaster, Wisconsin, informs 
 me that he will gladly meet you at Madison, and assist you in any way 
 possible. One of our officers is also making arrangements with a 
 Madison party to join you at that time. So we seem well favored 
 and I regard it as indicative of divine favor, for all the present 
 participants are Christians and we may therefore hope for especial 
 favor from our heavenly Father. 
 
 The Lord be with you in all your ways. As ever, 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 G. H. COLGROVE. 
 
 The enclosed letter read as follows: 
 
 Executive Chamber, Madison, Wis., Nov. 4, 1897. 
 Mr. G. H. Colgrove, State Prison, Waupun. 
 
 My Dear Sir: I have looked up the matter about which you wrote 
 me on Oct. 21st, and find there is a letter from Judge Sloan among 
 your papers. This letter says, among other things: "If it be true 
 that Mr. Colgrove has behaved himself well during his imprisonment 
 and has thoroughly reformed, I think he ought to be pardoned. ' ' 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 WM. J. ANDERSON, Private Secretary. 
 Waupun, Wis., May 1, 1901. 
 Dear Mother and Sister: 
 
 Your kind letters of 24th ult, duly at hand, and as you wrote in 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE l8l 
 
 unison, J nope this companion letter will be acceptable. I am pleased 
 to learn that your book work is progressing and will soon be launched 
 upon the restless sea of activity, and accomplishing good work 
 under the divine blessing, leading souls into the light that never 
 shall fade while Eternity rolls its unending years. Sorry that so 
 much sickness and suffering has fallen to the lot of each of you, 
 but rejoice that it is passed and can not assail you again in this 
 world, and in the world to come " There shall be no more pain; 
 for the former things are passed away. ' ' There, the cheeks which 
 we here beheld pale with suffering and tear-stained by sorrow, will 
 be mantling with the rich glow of everlasting health and radiant in 
 the matchless loveliness of deathless bloom. A refreshing rain has 
 broken a long drouth here, and the world looks lovely and sparkling 
 in the golden sunlight this beautiful May morning. As we behold 
 the face of the earth beautified by the hand of God, it is a source 
 of regret that all this harmony of nature, this smiling peace and 
 bloom, is marred and clouded by the dark stain which iniquity has 
 brought into this fair world; and the sad, stern fact confronts us, 
 that "The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of 
 cruelty. ' ' But it is true. Peace in its entirety, and purity in divine 
 perfection, are fled from this world, and we cannot possess them in 
 full until we have passed beyond Jordan's cold wave and through 
 the dark portals which intervene between this sin-darkened land 
 and the glory crowned hills of Immanuel 's Land. But it is a soul- 
 cheering fact that we are daily and hourly nearing that blest clime 
 where sin and sorrow can no more cast the cloud of estrangement 
 between us and the Divine Master who arose triumphant over sin 
 and death and in His eternal majesty and power has gone to prepare 
 for our home .coming. 
 
 Though our barque of life may be tossed by violent seas of strife, 
 and meet with disaster in various forms, so long as we know that 
 Jesus is awaiting us in the Harbor of Peace we are not dismayed by 
 the howling blast nor raging billows of earthly storm, but relying on 
 His unfailing promise we keep in mind the coming greeting of the 
 great Master and remember 
 
 "By cool Slloam's shady rill 
 
 How fair the Illy grows ; 
 How sweet the breath beneath the hill 
 
 Of Sharon's dewy rose." 
 
l82 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Yes, Mother, I too am glad and thankful that the Lord sent you 
 to Waupun and into our chapel on that glorious autumn morning, 
 Nov. 4, 1888. Surely the good work then accomplished has not been 
 extinguished, although Satan has exerted himself to cast dark clouds 
 of misunderstanding, strife and contention over it all. But the light 
 of Calvary shines amid the gloom, the heavenly sheen of the cross of 
 Christ sheds a halo of undying and imperishable glory over all, that 
 like the pillar of fire that led the hosts of Israel through the wilder- 
 ness, will lead and sustain each weary heart, until we arrive on Jor- 
 dan 's banks, and raise the song of everlasting triumph, as we view 
 our eternal home. 
 
 With kind regards to each, and best wishes for your happiness and 
 welfare, I remain, 
 
 Sincerely and kindly yours, 
 
 G. H. COLGROVE. 
 
 The following letter from a dear sister who is deeply in- 
 terested in prison work is inserted here because of its ref- 
 erence to Brother Colgrove: 
 
 Minneapolis, Minn., Dec. 19, 1900. 
 My Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 I cannot tell you how very glad I was to hear from you; and 
 to know that you have been blest all along the way, is indeed good 
 news. Some one asked the question, "What is the best thing that 
 can be said of a friend?" Many answers were given, one good one 
 being "He rests me," but the best answer was "He inspires me." 
 This can be truly said of you. No one more than yourself inspires me 
 to live a true Christian life. I do want to be ready at all times to 
 serve Christ. 
 
 "Just ready to do His bidding, 
 
 If only I do His will. 
 
 Then I will be ready to meet him 
 
 When shadows flee away 
 
 Ready to serve Him perfectly 
 
 When dawns eternal day." 
 
 Last week we had another meeting at the Soldiers ' Home. You 
 cannot imagine how we missed you. So many of the sick men 
 inquired for you. One said if you would only come back he would 
 shout for joy. Of course it made me very happy to know that they 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 183 
 
 had received such a blessing from your talk. This same man said he 
 had prayed for you every night. 
 
 The young man that called for you to come out to see him in the 
 jail was sent to St. Cloud for two and a half years. The poor 
 colored man was sent to State 's Prison at Stillwater for five years. 
 
 The strangest thing has happened since the last time Mrs. 
 
 was at Waupun. Mr. Colgrove 's wife, whom he had not heard from 
 for twelve years, has been to see him. His young lady daughter, 
 whom he thought dead, is living. Is not that precious news? I 
 am sure Mr. Colgrove must be the happiest man inside of these walls 
 just now. Had a good letter from S. yesterday. 
 
 I have Christmas cards for all of the women and some for the men 
 in the prison. Must say good bye. 
 
 Your sincere friend and sister in Christ, 
 
 GERTRUDE M. 
 
 From an editorial written by Brother Colgrove while ed- 
 itor of the Christian Endeavor Department of the prison 
 paper published at Waupun, we clip the fol-towing : 
 
 Perhaps our uninformed friends may infer that we advocate the 
 abolition of all punishment in penal institutions. Not at all, brother; 
 nothing so absurd. But we do claim and will maintain to our dying 
 hour that punishment should be judicious, and only when the culprit 
 will not heed any humane treatment nor be influenced by admonition. 
 
 When punishment and imposition are used at the mere caprice 
 of some low down scoundrel, instead of discretionary treatment, 
 at the behest cf a man of sense, reason and upright principle, the 
 effect has ever been, and will ever be, to develop the worst traits in- 
 herent in the nature of the individual whom the laws have already 
 prono'unced unsafe, and when released, the consequences of that 
 development, are going to fall on some innocent and unoffending 
 member of the law-abiding class. When we consider the vast amount 
 of mischief which one criminal can accomplish in an incredibly short 
 space of time, have we riot cause to be thankful that all over our 
 land are self-sacrificing souls, brave men and women, who are deter- 
 mined in the face of all opposition, ridicule and every evil, to use 
 every possible means within their power, to elevate and reform all 
 of the criminal class, who may by any means be led from the old 
 
184 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 path of sorrow and misery to themselves and danger to the peace and 
 well-being of their brother men? 
 
 Men and women who will place in the hand of the prisoner the 
 Bible, in exchange for the revolver, dagger and bottle? The citizen 
 in his quiet home, who is unacquainted with the prison systems of 
 the various forms which are being used in different states, depends 
 entirely upon the laws of the land to secure him in the peaceful pos- 
 session of his accumulated earnings. But experience proves that 
 human law alone and unassisted by higher power is not sufficient to 
 guard the home from intrusion and desecration by those who have 
 no regard for right principles. The man who has criminal tendencies, 
 and is not striving to restrain them in conformity to divine law, will 
 laugh the human power to scorn, and trample the law of man under 
 his feet whenever there seems an opportunity of financial gain there- 
 by. The man who has been led to observe and rightly regard the 
 divine law will have no occasion for inducement for infringing on the 
 laws of the land. Therefore these reformers, both clergy and laity, 
 are striking at the very root of crime, when they lift the fallen 
 out of the slough of vice and iniquity, and turn his face toward the 
 higher life and the city ft whose maker and builder is God." 
 
 During the fall of 1903 I received several letters telling 
 me that Brother George Colgrove could live but a short 
 time. In December, 1903, I visited again the prison at 
 Waupun. I found Brother Colgrove in the Prison Hospital, 
 very weak in body, but peaceful and resting in the Saviour's 
 love. Once more he related to the young sister who was 
 with "me the wonderful story of his con-version; and how 
 for over fifteen years he had been kept by the power of 
 God, saved and filled with love for God and souls. We 
 knelt and prayed with him and sang his favorite hymns and 
 as I bade him farewell he said, "Sister, if we never meet 
 on earth again I will meet you in Heaven." 
 
 That was our final parting. Brief notes from the chaplain 
 and warden informed me that Brother Colgrove died Feb- 
 ruary 19, 1904, and that funeral services (an unusual thing) 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 185 
 
 were held in the prison chapel February 21. The warden's 
 letter contains this testimony. "He died a Christian." 
 
 Bless God for his sustaining grace that is sufficient even 
 amid the trials of a prison life and enabled this one of his 
 children to prove true to God for so many years, inside of 
 prison walls! 
 
 O how wonderful is the power of God to seek and to 
 save that which was lost ! 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 Work in Stockades and Prison Camps in Southern 
 States. 
 
 During the first years of my missionary work I was led 
 to stay much of the time in the South. I was learning les- 
 sons in patience, faith and humility before God. The cross 
 was very heavy. In many places I was not allowed to stay 
 with white people if I preached to the negroes. THE RACE 
 QUESTION ran high and the color line was very closely 
 drawn. In those days I could not understand why this 
 should be. I was taught in the word of God that all na- 
 tions were made of one blood and that God was the Father 
 of us all. I was ignorant and the views of the southern peo- 
 ple were new to me. In many cases, perhaps, I offended 
 them when I might have avoided it. I knew no better and 
 they often thought me obstinate. But I was only obeying 
 God the very best I knew in trying to keep immortal souls 
 out of hell, and I knew that I must obey God though all 
 the people should misunderstand and misjudge me. I 
 found nearly all of the prisoners of the South confined in 
 Stockades and Prison Camps. In many cases the prisons 
 themselves were almost empty. 
 
 The following are from among the many letters of intro- 
 duction and recommendation, received while laboring in the 
 southern states: 
 
 Montgomery, Ala., Dec. 30, 1884. 
 Col. J. T. Milner, Superintendent. 
 
 Dear Sir: This will be handed you by Mrs. Wheaton, who is a 
 prison missionary. She has been having religious exercises at the 
 
l88 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 various prisons in the state, and I respectfully request that you 
 will permit her to do so at New Castle. Yours truly, 
 
 R. H. DAWSON, 
 President Board of Inspectors of Prisons. 
 
 Raleigh, N. C., June 10, 1893. " 
 
 Gulf, N. C., C. F. & Y. V. Railroad, Halifax farm (near Weldon) ; 
 
 Captain Bradshaw (near Weldon) ; Captain McMurray (near 
 
 Weldon, on canal) ; Captain Mclver (near Tillery) ; Captain 
 
 Hamlet (near Tillery) ; Captain Lashley (near Castle Hayne). 
 
 The superintendent desires that every courtesy be shown Mrs. 
 
 Wheaton and Mrs. , and that they be given opportunities to talk 
 
 to the prisoners. 
 
 JNO. M. FLEMING, Warden. 
 
 Rusk, Texas, Jan. 9, 1888. 
 Mr. George Egbart, Coling Camp. 
 
 Dear Sir: This will introduce to you Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton, 
 prison missionary, who is making a tour through southern prisons. 
 She passed the day with me yesterday in the prison. I was pleased 
 with her manner and with her talk to the men. She wants the 
 privilege of talking with your men today at the dinner hour. I 
 think you will be pleased with her. Please give her the necessary 
 attention and may God bless you, bless her effort, and bless the 
 men. J. C. WOOLAM, Chaplain. 
 
 EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT OF ALABAMA. 
 Convict Bureau. 
 
 Pratt Mines, Ala., Nov. 30, 1889. 
 
 Mr. Thomas C. Dawson, Warden of State Prison, Wetumptka, Ala. 
 Dear Tom: This letter .will introduce to you Mrs. Elizabeth R. 
 
 Wheaton and Mrs. , two ladies who are devoting their lives to 
 
 the benefit of convicts all over the United States. 
 
 These good ladies have done much good, and they should be 
 treated with every consideration. Give them rooms and access to 
 your convicts at both prisons. I hope a visit from them will result 
 in much good. Your Father, 
 
 R. H. DAWSON, 
 President Board of Inspectors. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 189 
 
 Huntsville Penitentiary, Huntsville, Texas, Jan. 13, 1892. 
 Capt. Abercrombie, Wynne Farm. 
 
 Dear Sir: This will introduce to you Mrs. Wheaton, who wishes 
 to talk to your men in a body. Any courtesies shown her will be 
 appreciated by me. Yours truly, 
 
 J. G. SMITHER, Asst. Supt. 
 
 STATE OF NOKTH CAROLINA. 
 
 Executive Department, Raleigh, June 9, 1893. 
 Hon. A. Deazer, Supt. State 's Prison. 
 
 Dear Sir: This introduces Mrs. Elizabeth Rider Wheaton, prison 
 evangelist. I have assured her that you will grant any request 
 she may make not in conflict with prison rules. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 ELIAS CARR, Governor. 
 
 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 Executive Department, Raleigh, June 15, 1893. 
 His Excellency, B. R. Tillman, Governor of South Carolina, 
 
 Columbia, S. C. 
 Dear Sir: I have the honor and it gives me pleasure to state that 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton and Mrs. , prison evangelists, have 
 
 held religious services at the penitentiary farm and at the peniten- 
 tiary and have given satisfaction to the authorities in both places, 
 and it is thought that their services were productive of great good. 
 With highest esteem, I am, Very truly yours, 
 
 ELIAS CARR, Governor. 
 
 STATE OF ALABAMA. 
 
 Executive Department, Montgomery, April 3, 1896. 
 To all Wardens of Prisons withki the State: 
 
 Elizabeth Rider Wheaton, the bearer hereof, is a prison evangelist, 
 and well recommended as a good lady. She is desirous of holding 
 services in the prisons. Any courtesy shown her will be proper and 
 commendable. WILLIAM C. OAKES, Governor. 
 
 STATE OF GEORGIA. 
 Penitentiary Department, Atlanta, Georgia, June 30, 1893. 
 
IQO PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 To the Captains in Charge of Convict Camps in Georgia: 
 
 1 desire that each of you extend to these ladies, Mrs. Wheaton 
 
 and Mrs. any courtesies possible during their stay with you, 
 
 that they may be given opportunities to talk to the men and women 
 in your charge. I will particularly appreciate any kindness shown 
 them. The governor requests that they be shown courtesies. 
 
 GEORGE H. JONES, Principal Keeper. 
 
 Penitentiary, Columbia, S. C., August 11, 1893. 
 Mother Wheaton. 
 
 Dear Madam: It affords me much pleasure to say that we were 
 glad to have you come down to the prison and visit other camps 
 connected therewith, and we believe that you have done lasting good 
 among the prisoners. Yours truly, 
 
 W. A. NEAL, Superintendent. 
 
 Accompanying the above was a list of the convict camps 
 connected with the prison with the following order: 
 
 The sergeant in charge of the above camps will please admit Mrs. 
 E. R. Wheaton and Mrs. and allow them to hold religious ser- 
 vice at the camp with the convicts. W. A. NEAL. 
 
 STATE OF FLORIDA. 
 
 Executive Department, Tallahassee, April 21, 1894. 
 Messrs. West Bros., West Farm, Fla. 
 
 Gentlemen: This will be presented by Mrs. Elizabeth Rider 
 Wheaton, prison evangelist, who is visiting the convict camps of the 
 state. Any courtesies and kindness extended to her will be duly 
 appreciated and reciprocated by, Yours very respectfully, 
 
 D. LANG, Private Secretary. 
 
 STATE OF GEORGIA. 
 
 Penitentiary Department, Atlanta, Ga., March 21, 1896. 
 To the Captains in Charge of Convict Camps in Georgia: 
 
 I desire that each of you extend to Mrs. Wheaton and Mrs. 
 
 any courtesies possible during their stay with you, that they may 
 have an opportunity to talk with the prisoners. Any kindness shown 
 them will be appreciated by this office. 
 
 JAKE C. MOORE, Assistant Keeper Penitentiary. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE IQI 
 
 Executive Department, Governor's Office, Jackson, Miss. 
 Mr. J. J. Evans, Jr., Penitentiary. 
 
 Dear Sir: Mrs. Elizabeth Wheaton, who is interested in reform 
 work, desires to talk to the convicts. Any courtesy shown her will 
 be highly appreciated. Very truly yours, 
 
 J. J. COMAN, Governor's Sec. 
 
 A STOCKADE. 
 
 Many inquire of me what a stockade or prison camp is. I 
 will here explain. A man, or party of men, lease or hire 
 from the state the labor of a certain number of prisoners for 
 a certain length of time. They are "doing time," as the 
 prisoners say, for the state. Both men and women are thus 
 leased out. Their labor is used in clearing up land, working 
 in cotton and sugar cane fields, in mines, in turpentine 
 camps, in building railroads, on brick-yards, in phosphate 
 works or in any place where a company can work together. 
 Their food consists mostly of swine's flesh and corn bread 
 made. with meal, water and salt. 
 
 The stockades are large rough wooden buildings, erected 
 by the lessee, in which the prisoners are confined at night. 
 The men are generally chained by one ankle to a heavy 
 chain which reaches through the center of the building from 
 one end to the other, being securely fastened to strong posts. 
 They usually sleep on the floor in the same clothing worn 
 through the day which is generally very scant and poor; 
 but sometimes they may have a bunk and a rough dirty 
 blanket. The stockade is guarded by men with loaded 
 guns, and besides this every camp is abundantly supplied 
 with great, strong bloodhounds. And woe to the unfor- 
 tunate criminal that must be tracked and caught by them ! 
 
 Each prison camp has its mode of punishment for those 
 who break the rules or fail to do as much as is allotted to 
 
IQ2 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 them. The keepers of past years were often very cruel in 
 their treatment, and seemed to enjoy the punishment which 
 they inflicted upon those under their control. These poor 
 souls had no way of redress. If they should speak of the 
 cruelty, they would be treated far worse ; the penalty for 
 such a complaint being a severe whipping. Oh, God, how 
 long shall the cry of the prisoner be heard? Lord Jesus, 
 come quickly ! 
 
 Each camp has its officers, guards, etc., among whom is 
 the whipping boss. And God pity the man or woman who 
 falls into his cruel hands. There is a board of prison in- 
 spectors, the president of which travels from place to place 
 looking after the interests of all. The conditions of the 
 stockades are much improved since I first went among them 
 years ago. I have gone tp the governors of different states 
 and pleaded for the betterment of conditions in the prisons. 
 Especially have I asked that the women might have better 
 treatment and not be whipped so brutally for slight offenses 
 or violation of the rules which the lessee is allowed to make. 
 Upon one occasion I wrote the governor of a certain state 
 
 as follows: 
 
 Washington, D. C., May 10, 18. 
 
 To His Excellency the Governer of . 
 
 Dear Brother : I write in behalf of the prisoners in your state prison 
 at B. M. I find them greatly in need of food and clothing. The 
 sick prisoners are suffering with hunger. I held services there one 
 week ago today, and went into the kitchen myself to see what there 
 was for sixteen sick men and those who are supposed to wait on them, 
 and I found only one half gallon of milk a day for all, one chicken, 
 very poor bread, no vegetables, no fruits, and no seasoning but 
 salt. Who is to blame for this? I find you feed those prisoners 
 (miners and farmers) on seven cents a day. 
 
 It is an outrage, a sin, a curse on this nation, the suffering you 
 men, you governors or officers, at least allow to exist in prison walls. 
 You permit those men in B. M. prison to be whipped for not furnish- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 193 
 
 ing daily from three to five small car loads of coal each, and feed 
 them on food not sufficient to give them strength to perform that 
 amount of labor. God help you, my friend! As you are the first 
 officer of the state you should see that this inhuman treatment ia 
 stopped. 
 
 Forty men were whipped in one day on two occasions, and on an 
 average there are from six to eight every day. These men are not 
 murmuring, I gave them no chance to tell me of this. But the offi- 
 cers and their wives told me. I saw with my own eyes. The water 
 in those mountains is very impure and many of the men have died 
 from mere neglect. Many more will die soon unless something is 
 done for their relief. Governor, for God 's sake, please look after 
 the temporal interests of your prisoners. I would have come to you 
 face to face and talked these things over if possible. Eecently I 
 have been to see governors of several of the different states. They 
 are not aware of the treatment of convicts in their own states, but 
 I have seen it all these years of my pilgrimage. The awful suffering 
 I Bee is just breaking my heart. Poor lost men and women! Who 
 is responsible for the sin and crime and suffering? Largely the 
 saloon. Men and women are born in sin and conceived in inquity; 
 shut in for years and years for some little crime, and subjected to 
 the hardest labor, serving out sentence in prison under whip and lash. 
 It is inhuman and unjust. What will God Almighty require of you 
 and me in the day of judgment? For surely we must meet it and 
 answer for our stewardship here on earth. May God help me to 
 deal faithfully and do my duty by all classes to those in authority as 
 well as those in bondage. Now, understand me, I have no personal 
 grievances to bring to you. It is simply mismanagement and the 
 desire to run these prisons on as cheap a scale as possible, to save 
 money for the State and hold position; and something must be 
 done soon. 
 
 I told the men to be obedient and faithfully discharge their duty as 
 prisoners. In all my work in every state and territory, Europe, 
 Mexico and Canada, I have never had any trouble; and can go again 
 to all these prisons where I have held services. What object have 
 I? None, but the good of the souls and bodies of those in bonds. 
 They are my children, given me by the Lord!, and I feel as much com- 
 passion for them as you would for your child. All the officers and 
 
194 
 
 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 people were kind to me and treated me with the utmost respect. All 
 I desire is that you obey God and cause this starving and brutal 
 treatment to cease. Please say nothing of this letter but investigate 
 for yourself and see if these things are not so. Two meals a day 
 (and very little then) for a sick man is not enough. 
 
 Yours for humanity, 
 MRS. E. B. WHEATON, Prison Evangelist. 
 
 The following is an extract from the letter I received in 
 reply to the above, from the general manager of the prison 
 
 mines referred to: 
 
 92 jg t 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth E. Wheaton. 
 
 Dear Madam: Your letter of recent date addressed to Gov. 
 
 was referred to me. I regret exceedingly that you did not call at my 
 office on the occasion of your visit. While there is a great deal of 
 truth in your letter there is much that indicates that you were inno- 
 cently misled by statements of convicts. I know that you must 
 be a good woman, that your heart is in your work, and from your 
 wide experience, amply capable of advising and instructing one 
 like me. In undertaking the task of uniting to bring our prison 
 systems in this state to a humane basis, we have done more than 
 you can understand. Had you been familiar with the conditions during 
 the past thirty years under the lease system you would realize that 
 much has been accomplished even in the short time we have been 
 at work. I realize that more is yet to be done. But "Rome was not 
 built in a day. ' ' The public has got to be educated as well as 
 individuals in immediate charge. I hope therefore you will IM patient, 
 and will be only too glad to see and confer with you should you 
 again visit us here. In the meantime I beseech your earnest sympa- 
 thy and prayers for proper guidance in our work, for I assure you 
 that it is one that requires such moral support as only such as you 
 can fully understand and appreciate. With great respect, I am, 
 
 Yours, etc., . 
 
 PLEA FOR WOMEN CONVICTS. 
 
 In some instances women are made to do the farm work, 
 work in brick vards, and to do other kinds of hard work. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE IQ5 
 
 At one place in the south the women cultivated a thousand 
 acres of cotton, doing other farming and caring for the 
 stockade, horses, mules, cows and hogs and having only 
 men to guard them. They were not allowed a woman 
 matron to care for them when they were sick or dying. I 
 found them in rags and tatters and looking almost like wild 
 beasts. I went to the governor of that state and pleaded 
 with him for my own sex. I begged him to protect the 
 poor women from such cruel treatment and brutal punish- 
 ment. I asked him to have them taken in from the farm, 
 where they were clearing up the land and compelled to 
 
 WOMAN CONVICT AT WORK. 
 
 carry logs, to the state prison at the Capitol which was near- 
 ly empty, and given proper work and humane treatment. 
 Once upon my knees before a governor I begged him to 
 take the women from the stockades to the prison walls at 
 the capital, and place them under the care of a good matron 
 and give them such work as women should do. Also that 
 they be properly clothed and fed and taught morals and 
 religion. I said, "For the sake of young men which you 
 now employ to control and guard these women, won't you 
 do this?" (I had found several young babes, born in this 
 
196 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 place.) He promised that he would see that this was done. 
 But a year later I found these women still in the fields 
 laboring and suffering as before. I again went to the gov- 
 ernor. He was now so changed I hardly knew him. I said 
 to him, "Well, governor, I see the affairs of state wear 
 heavily upon you. You look ten years older than you did 
 a year ago when I was here. Why did you not fulfill your 
 promise to me about transferring those women from the 
 stockades to the prison here at the capital ? I promised that 
 I would not make public the condition in which I found 
 them if you would look after them. You promised to have 
 them treated better, but it is just the same now." He was 
 surprised at my knowledge of affairs and my firmness and 
 tried to excuse himself, and said that he had brought some 
 of them away to the prison. 
 
 Upon one occasion in later years, in a place I had visited 
 for some years, I found that an old colored woman had been 
 tied to a log and severely whipped on the bare flesh. The 
 other women could not bear to see her so cruelly treated, 
 and silently cried unto God to take the cruel captain who 
 had ordered her so punished out of the way. He did so; 
 for when I arrived there in a few days he was struck with 
 death and soon died. God did not allow him to compel the 
 whipping of any more women. 
 
 I think that upon only one occasion was I ever treated 
 other than kindly and with respect by any governor In 
 this case I insisted that the women prisoners, especially, 
 should be more humanely treated. The governor refused 
 to take any action regarding the cruelties practiced but 
 said, "Go to the Principal Keeper." I replied, "I have just 
 come from the Principal Keeper and he sent me to you, 
 Governor. These captains are not permitted to strike one 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 1 97 
 
 blow without a license from you. It is by your permission 
 that they whip and punish them." He was evidently an- 
 noyed to think that I so well understood the condition of 
 the prisons and their management. It was now election 
 time and he was running for office for another term, and he 
 dismissed me without further ado. Many like him are say- 
 ing: "Am I my brother's keeper?" Yes, you and I dear 
 reader, and those in authority will surely have to answer in 
 the great day of reckoning, if we neglect to alleviate the 
 sufferings of our fellowmen, when it is in our power to do 
 so. There are many kind men in office who really desire 
 better conditions of affairs, but are only servants of those 
 who are higher in authority. Truly the penalty for crime 
 must be paid, but give all a chance to reform and do right 
 before God and man. Can we not let poor fallen human 
 beings see that we do care for them? And that there is 
 hope in Christ for them if they will repent and confess 
 their sin to Him? Did He not come "to seek and to save 
 that which was lost?" 
 
 BLOOD HOUNDS. 
 
 I never will forget my feelings when first the howls of 
 the bloodhounds sounded in my ears. I was in a stockade 
 and there was a noise such as I never heard before. I was 
 on my knees praying and the wife of the captain came in 
 saying, "There has been an escape and the guards and 
 dogs are after the convict." I just lifted my heart to the 
 Lord in prayer for the poor unfortunate, hunted man. I 
 never stopped to think whether white or black ; old or 
 young ; innocent or guilty ; my one cry was for the life and 
 safety of my boy. 
 
 Mothers you know how you would feel were it your boy. 
 Well, I got initiated in that part of prison management 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 that day. I have one thought above all others and that is 
 to do God's will and obey Him and help all in anyway I can 
 into a good life here and a home in Heaven at last; poor 
 heart-sick, home-sick and sin-sick souls. The very thought 
 of the convict being helpless should appeal to our sympathy 
 and God, the Judge of all the universe, is going to call us 
 to give an account for our stewardship. Men and women 
 must be governed but not by brute force. We may over- 
 power them, but do we conquer them ? Have we won them 
 to a better life and to good citizenship ? 
 
 COAL MINES. 
 
 The prison stockades vary in number. Sometimes there 
 may be thirty or forty in one state, sometimes probably not 
 half that many. It de- 
 pends upon the number 
 of prisoners in the peni- 
 tentiary and into how 
 many sections they are 
 divided. When I was at 
 Coal City, Ga., a number 
 of years ago, it was one 
 of the most weird and 
 desolate - looking places 
 in which I had ever 
 found a stockade located. 
 There were three stock- 
 ades on the summit of 
 the mountain, and one at 
 its base. At the last CONVICTS oETtwa OUT COAL. 
 place the men were min- 
 ing coal. When I first went there they used a 
 small car that would hold eight passengers. Then 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVK 1 99 
 
 this was abandoned and we were obliged to ride on the 
 engine, as they carried only coal cars for shipping the coal 
 that was mined by the prisoners. I was often in great dan- 
 ger of my clothes taking fire as the fire blazed out of the 
 engine when the men were shoveling in the coal. The rail- 
 road zig-zagged up the mountain, and once, a sister and 
 myself were obliged to ride on the coal-box, as the engine 
 was packed with men and one woman before we had ar- 
 rived from the other train. I had to kneel down and hold 
 onto the side of the coal box with both hands, and as the 
 engine twisted and turned, I was in danger of falling, and 
 it was hundreds of feet down to the foot of the precipices 
 in places where our train crept along. All the way up the 
 mountain I prayed God to protect us. The train was run 
 by prisoners, yet I always felt safe with them. 
 
 A TOUCHING INCIDENT. 
 
 "Lady, is you a preacher? Coz, if you is, I want you 
 to come over to my house 'long wid me and make a prayer, 
 coz my mother is dead, and my father is in prison over the 
 stockade wall, and they are goin' to bury my mother, and 
 there ain't nobody to make a prayer, 'cept a colored woman 
 who was kind to my mother and loved her coz she was 
 good. We children ain't got nobody to care for us." 
 
 It was just as I was leaving the railroad station near the 
 Pratt Mine prison stockade in Alabama that I was ac- 
 costed as above. The speaker was a small white boy with 
 hands and face so black with coal dust that one could 
 hardly tell that he was white. The sadness of that child's 
 voice touched my heart, and I said, "Yes, surely I will be 
 glad to go with you, my child." 
 
 Through the mountain forest the little boy had come in 
 search of some one to make a prayer over the dead mother 
 
2OO PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 who, while she was living, had taught her children about 
 Jesus. I found the cabin by his guiding me along the 
 mountain path through the underbrush. Such a sight as 
 met my eyes ! A body covered with a ragged sheet, lying 
 on a board held up by a couple of rickety stools. Nothing 
 was in the hut to make it look like home. Two old crones 
 sat by the stump fire in 'the large fireplace, making free use 
 of snuff and tobacco. It was a dirty little one-roomed cab- 
 in. The funeral was to be at once, but the man who was 
 making the rough box which was to serve as a coffin was 
 so slow that we finally waited for the funeral till the next 
 day. 
 
 I went to the prison camp and found the husband and 
 father of the little boy, and obtained permission of the offi- 
 cials for him to attend the funeral of his wife, providing 
 that I should be responsible for his return. Well, God un- 
 derstood it all and helped me there in that wild country; 
 for that was when the prison stockades were not what 
 they are today. Conditions are much changed since I first 
 went with a gospel message to those lonely prisoners and 
 sin-bound souls. 
 
 MY FIRST MEETING IN A PRISON CAMP. 
 
 That night I held my first service in a prison camp. The 
 jcaptain was loth to allow me the privilege, but the Lord 
 touched his heart and he said that I might try. I had come 
 a long distance on the train and had taken little to eat for 
 several days for those were days of much fasting and 
 prayer. The call of God was upon me. I must preach the 
 Gospel to these men. So now I had but one thing to do, 
 to wait alone upon the Lord. I knelt before God in the 
 little old wooden hut used as an office, and cried to the 
 Lord, "O Lord, help me! O Lord, help me! Show me 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 2OI 
 
 how to hold a meeting here!" Just after dark a guard 
 came and said, "We are ready for the meeting to begin. 
 Come on." Imagine how I felt when there alone before 
 hundreds of men in rags and tatters, with hands and faces 
 so black and grimy with coal dust (this being in a prison 
 mining camp) that I could scarcely tell the white men 
 from the colored ! The building was low and dirty, the 
 men were seated on rude benches, the guards standing with 
 their guns in hand and many great strong bloodhounds by 
 their sides. The room was dimly lighted by three smoky 
 old lanterns hanging on the walls. I had conducted prayer, 
 meetings in the church, led in temperance meetings, and 
 labored with church people in the* cities, and had been a 
 Sabbath school teacher for years; but I had never before 
 faced a congregation such as I now saw before me. I 
 knelt in silent prayer before stepping upon the rough old 
 box upon which I was to stand while I spoke. I arose and 
 sang an old-time hymn, and again knelt and offered prayer. 
 I told God all about why I was there. I sang another 
 hymn, but could go no farther. All eyes were fixed upon 
 me, and I asked, "Is there one Christian here?" If so please 
 raise your hand." I stood trembling and thought, "Must I 
 stand all alone here with no one to pray for me, or encour- 
 age me in my labor for the Master?" At last one old col- 
 ored man timidly raised his hand, followed by another, and 
 then another. How I thank God even now for this after 
 all these years of toil as a prison worker. Then, I was 
 soon lost in the theme of Jesus and His love. I seemed to 
 see those rough prison miners as dear children once more 
 in the old home at mother's knee at night-fall listening to 
 her "Now I lay me down to sleep." As I closed, seeing 
 that the Lord had spoken to many hearts by His Holy 
 
2O2 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Spirit, I asked who would kneel with me in prayer and be- 
 gin a new life. I think every prisoner bowed there before 
 God with the heavy prisoners' chains clanking as only such 
 can do. The sound is inexpressibly sad to me even now 
 after so many years of labor in prisons and the rattling of 
 the great keys in the hand of the guard and the sound of 
 the heavy iron doors as they open and close, receiving 
 "some mother's boy," are still as affecting to me as in those 
 early days of my prison work. 
 
 Many of these men on that night in humility and meek- 
 ness sought and confessed Christ as their Savior. I know 
 not how many who knelt with me there, I shall meet in 
 heaven ; but I know that* God has said His Word shall not 
 return unto Him void. "He that goeth forth and weepeth, 
 bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with re- 
 joicing, bringing his sheaves with him." 
 
 At the close of the service an officer informed me that 
 his wife had prepared to entertain me. I gladly accepted 
 of the kind offer and went to their humble home, greatly 
 enjoying their hospitality, for I was much exhausted and 
 very weary with the long journey, the anxiety and the 
 labor of the day. These remained my faithful friends 
 while I knew them. I thank God for those who open their 
 homes to the children of the Lord. 
 
 The next morning the lady said, "I will let my little girl 
 go with you to the funeral and to show you the way through 
 the mountains to visit the sick." So I went again to the 
 miserable home of the poor little ones who were left worse 
 than orphans. How my heart was filled with sorrow, see- 
 ing the lonely helpless children, two boys and a beautiful 
 little girl, with mother dead, and father in prison ! I won- 
 dered what their future might be. A few mountaineers*" 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 
 
 203 
 
 wives had assembled, but there were not enough men pres- 
 ent to lift the box that contained the corpse into the old 
 coal wagon. After the short, sad services, with my assist- 
 ance as a pall bearer the crude coffin was lifted into the 
 wagon, and I helped to steady it as we traveled over the 
 rough mountain road to the cemetery. I had double duty 
 caring for this and making sure that the husband and father 
 did not attempt to escape ; for you know liberty is sweet. 
 The Lord of hosts must have kept him true to his promise, 
 and I must say that I can always trust the poor prisoners 
 not to betray the confidence I place in them. At the 
 grave I sang the old hymn, "I would not live always" and 
 we laid the faithful wife and mother away to rest until the 
 trumpet shall call the dead to rise. 
 
 What was the cause of the sad plight of this family? 
 Sin. The saloon ! There had been a saloon fight, and some 
 one was killed. Some one did the deed. Oh, God ! What 
 a reckoning there will be in the end for those who vote to 
 license the saloon, as well as they who dispense the rum, 
 God will open the books and all shall be judged out of the 
 things that are written therein. "Vengeance is mine, I 
 will repay, saith the Lord of hosts." This faithful wife and 
 mother had spent all her living in an attempt to secure the 
 liberty of. her husband. But failing in this, she had come 
 with her children to live in that dreary place, hoping to be 
 able to lead him to a better life, finally dying in want, and 
 of a broken heart. After the funeral I pleaded with the little 
 girl to go with me. But she true to her trust, true to her 
 dead mother's loyalty, said, "Never will I leave my poor 
 father with no one to care for him. Mother never would, 
 I never will. I will go to see him and tell him of Jesus." 
 
 Wearied with toil and the journeying from place to 
 
2O4 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 place to visit the sick to whom the little girl from the camp 
 had guided me, I returned in the evening with her to her 
 home and then to the camp. Thinking to lie down and take 
 some rest, and kneeling to pray, I was impressed that I 
 must visit the other stockade some two or three miles away. 
 I knew it was the voice of God and said, "Yes." The lady 
 strongly pleading that I must not go, that it was dangerous, 
 said I could not go alone, that I would lose my way, etc. 
 The husband also said one's life was in danger, that several 
 men were found dead in those mountains and no one knew 
 who killed them, etc., and pleaded with me not to go. But 
 I said, "If God sends me, He will see that I am not harmed. 
 He will not forsake me." Soon I started on my way, and 
 presently met the two little boys whose mother had just 
 been buried. I asked if one of them would not show me 
 the way to the other camp, and the older one kindly did so. 
 With my little guide we hurried down that rough moun- 
 tain side, we being compelled to carry stones to build a 
 bridge across a stream of water, and finally came within 
 sight of the camp. Upon insisting that God had sent me, 
 and that I had held services in the other camp, the captain 
 (overseer) invited me into his home. I had not expected 
 such kindness, but thanking the Lord I accepted it as from 
 Him. They kindly brought us food, but I would not eat. 
 and gave it all to the little boy who was so hungry, and 
 praying for him he started homeward. Here also we had 
 a wonderful meeting. Men with broken hearts wept with 
 longing for a mother's sympathy and a Savior's love. Some 
 came to Christ and were saved, and I believe that I shall 
 meet some of them in the great home gathering bye and 
 bye in heaven. 
 
 Early the following morning, I was told that the engine 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 205 
 
 which was to take me on my way was ready to start with its 
 train of coal cars for the station some ten miles distant ; 
 but that I would have time to visit the hospital department 
 where many were lying sick. I hurried through the prison 
 yard, filled with hogs and bloodhounds, to the hospital, 
 where I sang a song and prayed. I was turning to go 
 when a guard came running and said, "The whole train is 
 waiting for you, hurry up." As I was hurrying out a door 
 opened and a woman called, "Do come and see my son, he 
 is dying. Do come and pray for him." I ran in saying, 
 "The train may go; I dare not refuse the request." I 
 grasped the dying boy's hand firmly and said, "Take holU 
 on God as I take hold of your hand. He will not forsake 
 you. He will save you ; look and live." I offered a short 
 prayer and ran down to the engine, which still waited. 
 There was something seeming so dismal in its sound in 
 those lonely regions. 1 had to ride on the engine, as 
 there was nothing but coal flats on this train. I was helped 
 on and we were off. The sun was just rising over the 
 mountain and the heavy fog was beginning to rise, and oh, 
 such a blessing I received as we sped along the winding 
 way! I shall never forget the gloomy sight I left behind 
 me there. The poor prison-bound men marching out to 
 the mines with their lanterns on their caps and with their 
 picks and shovels. They never seemed so dear to me, and 
 I began to see more clearly than ever that God had a spe- 
 cial work for me to do. I saw the value of a soul bought 
 with the precious blood of Christ. I saw, too, the need of 
 fully consecrated Christian workers. As we wound around 
 the. mountain side I knew I had been obedient to my God, 
 and His Spirit bore witness with my spirit that He accept- 
 ed my weak efforts. 
 
2O6 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 DIFFICULTIES OVERCOME. 
 
 I was not always kindly received as mentioned in some 
 instances. We are not carried to heaven upon flowery 
 beds of ease. I have many times been refused the privilege 
 even of singing a hymn in a prison. My singing has often 
 been blessed as a means of touching hearts, and through it 
 souls have been converted and are still true to God. I went 
 to visit another prison mining camp or stockade, in a very 
 lonely region where few people lived. I arrived upon a 
 dark, gloomy night; there was no depot and not a house 
 near. There I was alone, yet not alone, for God was with 
 me. A young mulatto man who proved to be an ex-con- 
 vict, had come to the train with a lantern, and I asked him 
 to kindly show me the way to the home of the captain of 
 the camp. I found the officer had gone in search of a pris- 
 oner who had made his escape, and his wife refused to 
 take any one in in her husband's absence. She said I 
 should go to another officer some distance away. Ascend- 
 ing the steps to the large house my heart sank within me, 
 for I felt that I should be turned away again in the night. 
 The officer himself came to the door to answer my call. 
 Telling him my mission, I asked to stay with them till 
 morning. His wife would not consent to entertain me, and 
 I answered, "Where shall I go? I am alone, and a Chris- 
 tian woman sent of God to help people in prison to a better 
 life." He replied, "There's a boarding house a mile away 
 down the mountain," and the door was shut. I asked my 
 guide, "Is there not one Christian here in these mountains?" 
 He said, "Only one, a poor old colored man, that's been in 
 prison, and he lives up the mountain with his daughter, a 
 young woman." Crying as I went along holding to the 
 brush with one hand, we finally reached the hut at the top 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 2O/ 
 
 of the mountain. I told the young woman my story and 
 asked if I might stay with her for the night. She an- 
 swered, "No, my father is away and I cannot take in a 
 stranger without his consent." "Then I must stay out on 
 the mountain alone all night." She seemed sorry for me, 
 and said I should wait till her father came. I had not to 
 wait long till he came, and kindly consented for me to 
 stay. I was weary and hungry from my long journey. I 
 saw the old colored man open the basket he had brought 
 home with him. It contained some cold food given him 
 where he was employed. He asked me to share his lunch, 
 but I refused, as I believed he needed all he had. 
 
 How thankful I was for shelter in that poor hut that 
 night, though sleeping by my side was that poor unfortu- 
 nate colored girl with a babe in her arms that cried all the 
 night. There were cracks in the hut through which you 
 could see the stars. What a change the Lord had wrought 
 in the once proud woman that I had been ! I remembered 
 that Jesus said, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air 
 have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his 
 head." And "The disciple is not above his master." I 
 spent the night in prayer and God heard my cries for the 
 poor convicts who were cruelly starved and beaten by the 
 drunken guards and captain who seemed to bitterly hate 
 all who were so helplessly bound under them. This is a 
 strong statement but I will meet it at the Judgment. 
 
 In the morning one woman who had turned me from her 
 door sent to find out what had become of me. She said 
 she would give the young woman who had sheltered me a 
 present for not leaving me out on the mountain alone. I 
 had prayed earnestly that God would convict her for her 
 lack of hospitality. Upon going to the officer to learn 
 
2O8 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 when I could have a meeting with the prisoners, he un- 
 kindly turned me away saying that I should never have a 
 meeting there, and that I might as well go. 
 
 Well, I did go ; traveling eighty miles back to the capital, 
 Montgomery, Alabama, to see the Governor. I knew the 
 Lord had sent me, and how could I meet Him at the Judg- 
 ment and tell Him I had failed? I knew, too, that Satan 
 had hindered. I asked for the Governor but was told that the 
 President of the Board of Prison Inspectors was the prop- 
 er person for me to see about the matter. He was sent for 
 and soon came. He was a very kind old gentleman and 
 sat down and asked me what I wished. When I had re- 
 lated the facts he said, "Who dare refuse you holding meet- 
 ings in that prison camp? You go back there and hold 
 your meeting. I'll write him a letter and let him hear 
 from me." I said, "But he will say he did not receive your 
 letter." He then said he would write a letter for me to 
 present to him. But, how should I get back to the camp? 
 After selling my trunk and such articles of clothing as I 
 could spare, I yet did not have enough money to pay railway 
 fare. 
 
 MY FIRST FREE PASS. 
 
 Trusting the Lord to in some way provide means for 
 me to get back to the camp, I went to the janitress of the 
 depot, an intelligent mulatto, and told her of my need, as 
 she had previously assisted me in securing half-fare rates 
 on the railroad, she having known the officials since their 
 childhood. She insisted that I should go to the office of 
 the general manager of the L. & N. R. R. and ask for a 
 half-fare rate to the prison camp at New Castle, Ala. Oh, 
 how I dreaded to go to that office ! But tremblingly and 
 prayerfully I went, and presenting to him the letter which 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 2CK) 
 
 I was to carry with me to the camp, I told him my desires. 
 Upon reading this letter he handed me what I supposed 
 was a half-fare permit. I humbly thanked him and re- 
 turned to my lodging. After making preparation to start 
 early in the morning on my journey, before retiring for the 
 night I knelt by my bedside to thank God for the permit. 
 Thinking I would see just how it read before I prayed, I 
 took it up and began reading, "Pass Mrs. Elisabeth R. 
 Whcaton From Montgomery to Birmingham, Ala., Prison, 
 Missionary." Wh?t ! Did my eyes deceive me, or was it a 
 mistake. No. It was a free pass, and the following note 
 was enclosed to the Superintendent at the other end of the 
 route regarding a return pass if I should ask for it: 
 
 Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co., 
 
 Montgomery, Ala., Jan. 15, 1885. 
 L. Hage, Esq., Supt., Birmingham, Ala. 
 
 Dear Sir: This lady, Mrs. Elizabeth Wheaton, bears credentials 
 showing her to be a prison missionary. Any courtesy you may 
 extend to her, in the way of pass, will be properly applied. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 M. S. BELKNAP, Supt. 
 
 Oh, how I did thank God for this manifestation of His 
 goodness to me doing above that which I could ask or 
 think ! Mr. Belknap, that kind R. R. officer, has been dead 
 many years, and perhaps is forgotten by some who knew 
 him better than I, but I shall never forget his unexpected 
 kindness to me. Since then, through the goodness of .God 
 and the favor and confidence of the railroad officials, I have 
 received transportation throughout the country, to carry the 
 Gospel of Jesus to men and women of every class. 
 
 Upon my return to the prison camp I asked for the offi- 
 cer and told him I had come to hold meeting for the pris- 
 oners. I suppose he had received word from the Govern- 
 
2IO PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 or's office, as he so readily consented, asking at what hour 
 I would like to have the service. I thought best to wait till 
 the following day (Sunday) for the services, that I might 
 have sufficient time for my work. The Lord came in 
 mighty power that Sabbath day as I sang the old time 
 hymns, and asked God to forgive and help those precious 
 souls. The Spirit gave me utterance and carried the truth 
 to the hearts of the hearers. Sobs and groans were heard 
 from men in tears who sought forgiveness and gave God 
 their hearts. At the close I took each one by the hand and 
 exhorted them to be faithful to God. I afterwards visited 
 the sick and talked and prayed with them, exhorting them 
 to -seek a home in heaven where sin can never come, and 
 where God wipes away all tears. How true the words, 
 
 "Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter, 
 
 Feelings lie buried that grace can restore; 
 Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness, 
 Chords* that were broken will vibrate once more." 
 
 One Sunday morning I was going to a prison camp to 
 hold meeting. There was no way to get there excepting to 
 walk through the deep mud. There were a couple of boys 
 going towards the stockade leading an old mule. I said, 
 "O,. boys, CAN'T i RIDE THAT MULE/" ' "Certainly," they 
 said. It was with difficulty that I mounted the novel con- 
 veyance, and that I remained on the mule's back. For 
 some reason, I was filled with apprehension. I had an im- 
 pression that there was danger. I asked the boys if they 
 would not lead the animal, but they kept a good distance 
 from it, saying that they wanted to keep out of the mud. 
 
 When we reached the camp and the officers came out and 
 helped me to dismount, they looked at me in great aston- 
 ishment, and one of them said, "What a narrow escape you 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 211 
 
 have made ! I only wonder that you got here alive. It is 
 a wonder that old mule didn't kill you. I wonder that the 
 boys let you take it!" I learned that the animal was so 
 utterly uncontrollable and vicious that they could only use 
 him on a dump cart to carry the prisoners' dinner or some- 
 thing of the sort and then he would sometimes kick the 
 cart all to pieces. 
 
 I raised my heart in thanksgiving to God, knowing that 
 He who stopped the lion's mouth and held the flames of 
 the fiery furnace had in some way kept this ugly creature 
 from doing me any harm and saved my life. 
 
CHAPTER xn. 
 Work in Stockades and Prison Camps Continued. 
 
 I once had a novel experience in a prison lumber camp. 
 I was being entertained at the home of the superintendent 
 of the camp and was to hold service with the prisoners at 
 twilight. The superintendent came to the parlor and asked 
 if I was ready for the service. We had not far to go, but 
 I was unable to walk the distance; so a carriage, drawn 
 by some of the prisoners, had been brought to the gate for 
 me. I answered that I was ready, but as I was waiting he 
 again asked if I was ready and why I was waiting. I re- 
 plied that I was waiting for the horses. He answered, 
 "You come on, the horses will be all right." I had learned 
 to obey the officers, so followed on down through the beau- 
 tiful yard of flowers and reluctantly stepped into the car- 
 riage. Instantly four prisoners took hold of the carriage 
 and we were off. The men seemed glad to assist me and 
 I was so thankful to them. God bless them! I do not 
 think a queen with all her body-guard could have felt more 
 secure or have been more appreciated, than I, there sur- 
 rounded by my dear prison boys. After the service I was 
 conveyed in the same manner back to the home of the 
 superintendent. 
 
 At another time, desiring to visit a certain prison camp, 
 I found there was no way to reach it but to ride on a flat 
 car with the men going from their work. I was glad to go 
 with them and have a chance to speak a word of kindness 
 and sing some hymns that might cheer them on the way. 
 
 In the pineries of Florida the stockade prisoners are 
 engaged in taking the sap from the pine trees. The camps 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 213 
 
 are located some miles apart, and in going from one to an- 
 other the forests are so dense that we were compelled to 
 go in a two-wheled donkey-cart. We encountered great 
 dangers, there being many poisonous reptiles and alligators 
 in the lakes and rivers which we had to pass. 
 
 ASSISTING A COLORED MINISTER. 
 
 I arrived one Sunday morning at a stockade where hun- 
 dreds of men and some women were kept. I went to the 
 keeper, or captain, as he was called, and asked for the privi- 
 lege of holding a gospel service with the prisoners under 
 his charge. He not only refused me, but was abusive, curs- 
 ing me and ordering me away. Of course I was much 
 grieved, as I felt the Lord had sent me there to preach the 
 gospel. I was greatly surprised that an official should use 
 such language to a lady, and without provocation. Weep- 
 ing, I asked if I might sing for the women prisoners. 
 Again, with oaths, he refused me. But Brother Frank 
 Joseph, a colored preacher who knew me, was there to 
 hold religious services by permission of the governor, and 
 he came and invited me to assist him. Of course the cap- 
 tain could say nothing against it and I went with him. Bui: 
 when he asked me to conduct the service I could not at the 
 first sing, preach or pray for weeping, but I told him I 
 would pray God to give them a kinder officer for I knew 
 the one they had was a cruel man. God used even my 
 weakness and my tears to touch their hearts and we had a 
 blessed meeting. 
 
 After service I had a chance to talk to the women pris- 
 oners. We wept together and oh how thankful they were 
 that there was one woman who would try to help them and 
 make their burdens lighter. They told me how terribly 
 they were treated and said they would be beaten if the cap- 
 
214 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 tain knew of their telling me of it. How glad I was to 
 carry the message of Jesus' love to them in their distress. 
 Before I left they said they wished they had something to 
 give me, and some gave small tokens of their regards. It 
 was all they had to give and when they urged me I accepted 
 them as from the Lord, feeling that He would in some 
 way reward them and bless their offering as He did the 
 widow's mite. 
 
 THROUGH DANGER ALONE. 
 
 Desiring to reach another stockade some miles distant I 
 asked the captain if he could not supply me with convey- 
 ance and a guide, but he refused. I determined, however, 
 to find the other prison and started on foot alone. The 
 prison women told me that it was very dangerous because 
 of fierce dogs and cross cattle in the mountains ; but feel- 
 ing that God wanted me to go I knew no such thing as fail. 
 After walking some distance I sank down with exhaustion 
 under a big tree and wept out my heart to God for guid- 
 ance, protection and success. I arose feeling strengthened 
 and comforted and soon came to a farm house and asked a 
 young man who stood in the garden if he could direct me 
 to the prison camp. "Yes, come in, lady, you look so tired 
 and faint and my mother will give you something to eat 
 and we will show you the way," was the kind reply I re- 
 ceived. I stopped and rested a while but would neither eat 
 nor drink as I had given myself to fasting and prayer that 
 my way might be opened for services in the camp to which 
 I was going. After a long walk we found the stockade and 
 knowing the young man who was with me, the officers gave 
 their consent for me to hold a service. After I had been 
 singing and talking to the prisoners a while suddenly my 
 strength failed me. I had only time to say, "Will you 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 215 
 
 sing?" Then I saw and heard nothing more. I HAD FALL- 
 EN PROSTRATE among those chained prisoners. When I 
 came to myself I heard singing from inside the walls, such 
 singing as could only come from truly broken-hearted, re- 
 pentant souls. I had been carried outside and the poor 
 prison women were caring for me. A good old colored 
 sister was holding me close to her and pleading with God 
 to restore me. I heard her say, "She's a woman like we 
 is and she's given her life for us." They were doing all 
 they knew and were crying around me. I said, "Please 
 carry me back into the prison." When they had done so I 
 asked, "How many of you prisoners will kneel with me in 
 prayer and give your hearts to God, take Him as your 
 Savior and start today for heaven? God loves you, Jesus 
 died for you! And if you will come to Him and confess 
 your sins He will save you." Every one knelt before God, 
 and many with prayers and broken sobs cried out their 
 hearts to Him who is not willing that any should perish, 
 but that all should have eternal life. I expect to meet many 
 of them in heaven ; for He is able to save to the uttermost 
 all that will come unto God by Him and able also to keep 
 them from falling. 
 
 The following day, traveling from this prison to another 
 stockade, sitting near me in the car was an aged gentleman 
 who on seeing my Bible asked me where I was going. 
 When I had told him, he asked me the nature of my work 
 and how the prisoners were treated in these places; also 
 how I was received by the officials of the prisons gener- 
 ally. Thinking to only entertain a kind old country gen- 
 tleman, I told him many things which I probably should 
 not have been so free to mention had I known who he was. 
 He asked me many questions about the stockades. I told, 
 
2l6 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 him that I had never been so cruelly treated as at a camp on 
 the previous day. "Where," he inquired, "Who did such 
 a thing?" In answer to his inquiry I told him who it was. 
 Little did I know that this was God's way of revealing sin. 
 
 A MEETING AT DAY DAWN. 
 
 Reaching the small station at the foot of the mountain, 
 we had to take a box car only large enough for six persons. 
 The old gentleman was one of the passengers also. Going 
 to the house of the captain at the top of the mountain 
 (such a lonely place), he thought it impossible to have a 
 meeting with the men, as he said they were so wicked and 
 unruly, etc., but finally said I might do so at day-break the 
 next morning. He was very careful, saying, "These men 
 are so wicked and cruel that never could a woman stand 
 before them." I wept and prayed most of the night and 
 cried, "Oh God, can you let me fail now?" In those early 
 years of my labor I traveled much alone but later I usually 
 had a sister accompany me, or sometimes a sister and her 
 husband. 
 
 Out in the prison yard at break of day I found hundreds 
 of men all ready to go down into the coal mines. I won- 
 dered how to gain their attention and make them all hear 
 my voice. I asked to have the men drawn closer together, 
 as they stood in the prison yard. This being done, I sang 
 a hymn. Oh how I do praise God for the gift of song ! I 
 forgot my weird surroundings and the rough appearance 
 of the men and their dangerous looks. I saw them as little 
 boys in the old home far away and then as human souls, 
 hurrying into the presence of God and I felt that I stood 
 between them and the Judgment. Conceive, if you can, 
 how this company must have looked to me, bound in com- 
 panies of perhaps fifty in a "gang," to a long strong chain 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 217 
 
 to which was fastened a number of shorter chains; these 
 short chains being fastened to the men's ankles. 
 
 God enabled me to deliver His message and eternity 
 alone will reveal the results of the seed scattered there that 
 morning. After shaking hands with the men I was intro- 
 duced to the old gentleman whom I hacl met on the train 
 the day before. To my surprise he proved to be the Presi- 
 dent of the Board of Prison Inspectors of the state. I saw 
 him no more after that time, but a year later I visited the 
 prison of which I had told him. I saw at the depot a young 
 colored man nicely dressed, but I knew by his clothes that 
 he was one of the prison boys. He had come to get the 
 morning paper for the warden. I walked with him to the 
 prison, and on the way asked him how they all were at the 
 camp. "All so nicely, thank you," he replied. "Who is 
 your captain now?" I asked. "Has there been any change 
 since I was here last year?" "O yes, ma'am, soon after 
 you was here ma'am, just as soon as Massa (meaning the 
 President of the Board) could find a good man to take de 
 place ob de ole captun what treated de men so bad and 
 'bused you so, he sent him away." "Oh, is that so?" I said. 
 "Yes, an' we's got a good time now to what we had befo' 
 God sent you heah ma'am. He certainly did send you heah 
 ma'am dat time." So I had only suffered these indignities 
 that these abused ones might have better officers and treat- 
 ment. The new captain received me very kindly and giv- 
 ing me a seat said my breakfast would be ready as soon as 
 the prison women could prepare it for me. Well, surely 
 the Lord had been at work. Such a change all around! 
 We had a grand meeting and much good was accom- 
 plished, the captain furnished a buggy to take me to the 
 next camp and bring me back to the depot. 
 
2l8 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 HELPING TO BURY A PRISONER. 
 
 After visiting the hospital department of a stockade 
 where I had never been before, I saw the guards nailing 
 up a long, apparently heavy, box. I said to them, "What 
 have you in that box?" One replied, "A man a dead 
 man." Soon after I heard an officer say to a guard, ''Send 
 five prisoners to go with me to bury that box." I arose 
 from where I had been praying, and hurried out and asked 
 permission to accompany the men with the box, but was 
 refused the officer saying they had no guard to spare to 
 assist me up the mountain side. "Oh, just please let me 
 go," I said. "I do not need any one to help me to climb 
 the mountain. Please, won't you let me go?" He then 
 consented, and I did not wait for either bonnet or help; 
 but with my shawl over my head I hurried out after the 
 men bearing the corpse. On we went up the mountain 
 side, until we came to a very steep place, and the poor weak 
 prisoners began to tremble under the heavy burden, along 
 in front of the guard who had his gun in hand. I knew 
 if one should fall, the guard might suppose he was trying 
 to escape from him, and fire at him and kill him. 
 
 I took up a stick in my left hand to steady myself and 
 placing my right arm under the end of the box added my 
 strength to that of the tired men. When we reached the 
 summit of the mountain we found the grave already dug, 
 but it was much too short for the box." I was almost ex- 
 hausted and came near falling. The grave being too short, 
 they were going to leave the corpse until morning and then 
 return and bury it. But I said, "Boys, you dig the grave 
 longer and I will sing for you while you work." I sang 
 an old time hymn, and they lowered the box, by pounding 
 and jumping upon it and then hurriedly shoveled in the 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 2IQ 
 
 dirt. Then I said, "Let us pray." And there in that dreary 
 place I prayed for the poor men who had performed this 
 sad rite and for the guard. I forgot my surroundings. I 
 thought only of "SOME MOTHER'S BOY/' who perhaps died 
 with a broken heart without a mother's care, now lying in 
 an unknown grave far away from home. Perhaps she had 
 prayed for him and God had sent me to pray over the lonely 
 grave. There we left him where all his mistakes should 
 be forgotten. He may have sought and found pardon in 
 God. Who can tell? The stars were now shining and the 
 stillness filled me with awe. The men hurried down the 
 mountain side to the prison, leaving me behind in the dim 
 starlight. I found my way to the stockade, but found the 
 door locked and with great difficulty I made them hear me 
 and was admitted. At about nine o'clock the prisoners 
 were brought together to have a meeting. The guard ridi- 
 culed. The prisoners wondered at seeing a woman preach- 
 ing. How I trembled! Oh, for some one to share my 
 burden ! I asked, "Is there one Christian here among you 
 prisoners?" as I shook hands with them and some of them 
 pointing out an old colored woman, said, "She's a Chris- 
 tian." I clasped her hand, hardened by work, and said. 
 "Will you pray for me, sister?" "Yes," she said, "Yes, I 
 will, honey." 
 
 God was there to touch and tender those hearts. They 
 were unusued to meetings of this character, and perhaps 
 had never heard of a woman preaching. I well knew that 
 unless God undertook for me the meeting would be a fail- 
 ure. There seemed to be no way to reach these hard 
 hearts. The men and women stared at me. Suddenly I 
 thought of the great danger I was in, and the risk I had 
 to run in getting back to the village that night. I saw the 
 
22O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 head of a young prison boy droop over on a man's shoul- 
 der, too sleepy to listen longer. Then I heard and saw no 
 more, but fell unconscious to the floor. The weariness 
 from the day's labor proved too much for my strength. 
 But God used my weakness to reach these hearts and when 
 I regained consciousness, men and women with tears, sobs 
 and prayers, were crying to God for mercy and forgive- 
 ness pleading for help to be better men and women. I 
 hope I shall meet many of them in heaven "when the roll 
 is called up yonder" for they truly seemed to bring forth 
 fruit meet for repentance. 
 
 The following day was spent ainong the sick and dying 
 in the village. I had asked the privilege in the morning to 
 go with the train men to the prison pest house where the 
 sick prisoners were, but was refused by the train crew, some 
 of them ridiculing me and my work. I had only kindly 
 asked them the privilege, and then exhorted them to come 
 to Christ. I then told them I feared the next message 
 would be judgment from God. God bless the railroad men 
 if some of them do make mistakes! My heart goes out for 
 them as they are always in much danger. I make it a rule 
 of my life to always pray for every train on which I travel 
 with its crew and passengers. And hitherto God has been 
 my help. Bless His holy name ! 
 
 WRECK OF A COAL TRAIN. 
 
 When I had returned to the boarding house in the even- 
 ing I lay down to rest. Many striking things occurred in 
 this place: As I lay resting, dishes were rattling and chil- 
 dren were crying in adjoining rooms, my room door lead- 
 ing into the open hall was standing open, and in came a 
 drove of little pigs. I looked up to see what it was, and 
 one had walked up to the fireplace where was burning a 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 221 
 
 low fire, and stood warming its nose. But they soon grew 
 tired of indoor life and all quickly scampered out as they 
 had come in. They had seemed as much at home there as 
 myself. Amid this confusion I fell asleep. How long I 
 slept I do not know. I was awakened by heart-rending 
 cries from men and women. I sprang up and throwing a 
 shawl over my head, I ran out in the rain to see what I 
 could do to help, for I knew some one was in great agony. 
 What I saw I shall never forget. The coal train and its 
 crew that had gone out in the morning had come in. THE 
 ENGINE WAS DITCHED in a terrible manner and men were 
 crushed in the wreck. Women were screaming as they ran 
 to see if their loved ones were among the victims. I met 
 the same men I had warned in the morning carrying on a 
 board the fireman badly cut and bruised. I said, "Men, I 
 gave you the warning this morning. You rejected my 
 counsel and I thought judgment would come, but I little 
 thought it would come so soon." They carried the wound- 
 ed man to an old baggage car. People were so excited 
 they did not know what to do. Here I was to learn a les- 
 son in surgery. I found an old pail and brought some 
 water. Some bystanders gave me their handkerchiefs and 
 I proceeded to wash the blood from the poor wounded head 
 and limb, which was much crushed, and helped the doctor 
 to bind up the wounds. Soon there came a call for help 
 from the scene of the disaster. A messenger came run- 
 ning, saying, "Come quick ! there is a man dying whom we 
 found under the engine." It was very dark, but I hurried 
 along through the mud and rain after the doctor to the 
 scene of suffering. They had carried him into the nearest 
 hut, and he was lying upon the floor unconscious. Kneel- 
 ing beside him I raised his head upon my hand. Conscious- 
 
222 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 ness returned. I cried, "Jesus can save you even now; He 
 loves you. He will forgive you now, only believe on Him." 
 He replied, "I do believe He does save me just now." 
 Glory to God ! He is a present help in time of need ; a 
 friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Dear reader, 
 it is better to be saved before the crash comes. The man 
 was suffering terribly. The women, thinking they must do 
 something, had poured turpentine into the wounds think- 
 ing it was camphor. We washed the wounds and I as- 
 sisted the physician in setting the broken limbs. God won- 
 derfully helped me there to practice what I preached, and 
 I found what it means to love my neighbor as myself. 
 These railroad men were my neighbors, and they were 
 suffering and in a dying condition. One of the poor men 
 cried piteously for his mother. I traveled on the train on 
 which one of the wounded men was taken to the city 
 where his mother lived and helped to care for him on the 
 way. We were delayed at that camp for two days. I will 
 never forget those days of service and suffering. 
 
 THE SUGAR CAMPS. 
 
 At one time, I went into the Sugar Refining Stockades 
 in Texas. Leaving the train, we had to walk a long dis- 
 tance to the first camp. The superintendent was angry at 
 us for coming, and ordered us to go to the next camp. He 
 said there were women at the other stockade and that he 
 would not let us have any meeting, any way, with his men. 
 We asked him if he would please send a boy to carry our 
 luggage, and he refused, so we started on alone, to walk a 
 long way. When we arrived at the second camp we found 
 only one guard and a couple of prisoners working, and no 
 women within miles. When the guard saw the situation, 
 he seemed sorry for us, and we were allowed to rest and 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 223 
 
 wait until the return of the prisoners, who were at work 
 at a distance on railroad repairs. In the meantime he sent 
 a man to another stockade some miles away, and the cap- 
 tain's wife there agreed to entertain us, for which we were 
 thankful. We had a meeting after the men came to camp, 
 and the guards came to us and said that the women at the 
 camp mentioned before had sent word that t\ ey would not 
 keep us over night. What could we do? Finally I said, 
 "Can you take us to the depot ?" They answered that they 
 had no conveyance but AN OLD MULE AND A CART. I said, 
 "That is all right." So they got the mule and cart and helped 
 us in, and handed us our luggage. Then they sent a col- 
 ored boy to go before the mule with a lantern, and another 
 followed after. In this way we went on until we reached 
 the little country depot, which was all dark. One of the 
 prisoners, who went with us, lighted the lantern inside, 
 and we called to the ticket agent, who had retired, asking 
 him to please check our luggage to San Antonio. This 
 he refused to do, so I said, "We are Christian women and 
 will give you almost any price, if your wife will allow us 
 to stay with her until morning." He was angry, still refus- 
 ing to get up to check our luggage. He said he was not 
 paid for night work. We could not have gotten on the 
 car had it not been for a gentleman, going on the same 
 train, who had his servant help us. We went to San An- 
 tonio before we could get a place to rest and it was then 
 morning, but God blessed us in holding services in the prison 
 there that day. I never reported the agent who was so 
 rude to us, as I was sorry for him, for I was told he was 
 a cripple, and I thought he needed his work to provide for 
 his family. 
 
 IN A GAMBLING SALOON. 
 
 From Knoxville, Tenn., I went one night to the coal 
 
224 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 mine region. I asked the landlord at the hotel for some 
 one to show me a way to the stockade some distance, and 
 he sent his chore boy with me. We had a long walk, and 
 returned after meeting at night. It was late and as we 
 came down the mountain side I saw a light at a little dis- 
 tance, and I said,' "Where is that light?'' He said, "That 
 is the wickedest place; they kill people there." Without 
 waiting to consider the danger I might be in, I said, "Wait 
 here for me," and I hastened up the valley and into the 
 place, which I found to be a gambling saloon. Then, with- 
 out waiting, I poured out to them the Gospel message 
 which burned in my heart, I fell on my knees and prayed" 
 to God to save them from the destruction to which they 
 were going. Then I rushed out into the darkness again, 
 and found the boy waiting with the lantern and we went 
 on our way. . I was thoroughly alarmed next day when I 
 realized the risk I had taken in going into such a place, but 
 God has wrought mightily for me all these years and pre- 
 served me from harm. As I write I feel near home and 
 heaven. Jesus is there. Soon I shall be with Him. 
 
 CONDITION OF CONVICTS. 
 
 I wish that some who whine so much in church about 
 taking up the cross could see the inside of those stockades 
 as I saw them see the suffering that existed, the sorrow- 
 ful, heart-broken prisoners with no ray of hope, no one to 
 care about them ; everything poor, scarcely enough to keep 
 them alive ; the poorest of places to sleep ; men fastened to 
 a large post in the middle of the stockade by a heavy chain, 
 compelled to wear their clothing till it would decay on 
 them, often so ragged that they could not hide their naked- 
 ness, and guarded by bloodhounds and armed men. It was 
 not proper under other circumstances for a woman to see 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 225 
 
 men in such conditions, but they had souls to be saved or 
 lost, and the Lord had commissioned me to go to these men 
 and tell them that Jesus loved them and wanted to save and 
 deliver them from the power of the devil who got them into 
 such places. 
 
 UNJUSTLY CONDEMNED. 
 
 Judges often sentence men and women to years of hard 
 labor in prison for the slightest offenses. An old colored 
 man employed in a store took a box of cigars, but regret- 
 ting the act, returned them confessing his wrong, and 
 asked forgiveness. He was arrested and sentenced to 
 twenty-five years in the stockade; one year for each cigar. 
 Another colored man was found on the street at night 
 carrying five ears of corn. He was sentenced to prison for 
 five years. He with others was working where the earth 
 caved in and killed him. Who will answer in the day of 
 Judgment for that man's life and death? Yes, and his soul? 
 Were I to here relate some things I know to be true, awful 
 in the extreme, they would not be believed. Let us have 
 the laws of God enforced. Let those who may be anxious 
 to punish wrong and have men condemned upon circum- 
 stantial evidence, look into their own hearts and lives and 
 see if they have been free from condemnation. I do not 
 want to condemn judges nor jurymen, for they are not all 
 to blame. A man or woman should never be condemned 
 until known to be guilty. People are often prejudiced, and 
 without proper investigation many are condemned to pun- 
 ishment for crimes of which they are innocent. The cries 
 of such are come up before the Lord and He will hear and 
 answer prayer. At one time there were forty stockades in 
 
226 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 one state and about four thousand prisoners in one state. 
 Let us help those that are down. 
 
 In many stockades I found men and women living to- 
 gether promiscuously and children being born in the camp. 
 The poor creatures were subjected to all kinds of abuse 
 and suffering, the women in great need of better quarters, 
 better food, and care. Ofttimes they were afraid for their 
 very lives. Many were killed outright; in one place where 
 they were far out in the coal mines many were brutally 
 whipped and ill-treated. I went to the Lord in prayer, and 
 then to the state authorities and the Governor went out 
 with men and opened the graves of many, who tiad died in 
 camps. One of the officers was imprisoned for ten years ; 
 another made his escape; others were dealt with more or 
 less severely. I had been out there myself, getting on the 
 engine to ride out to the stockade, and requested to see the 
 prisoners after their day's work was done, and as they came 
 up from the mines they were so ragged that I was com- 
 pelled to turn my back as they passed. I got permission to 
 hold a Gospel meeting. After it was over, I requested the 
 captain to let one of his men take us to the next house, a 
 distance of a mile or more from the camp. When we 
 knocked asking permission to stay for the night, and telling 
 who we were, the woman of the house said, "You had bet- 
 ter go and preach to those prison guards, who are killing 
 off the poor prisoners." She said she could not stand it to 
 hear such awful cries as reached her ears even at that dis- 
 tance from the stockade. She told the guard just what she 
 thought of the brutality shown the prisoners and convicts. 
 He said he was not to blame. He seemed to be a kind 
 young man. 
 
 In one place I found one old colored man who was con- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 227 
 
 demned to death. He was filthy and dirty and had nothing 
 to lie on but a heap of straw ; he was hungry and his cell 
 was dark and damp. My heart ached to see him so shame- 
 fully abused. Even condemned men have rights and they 
 should be respected; it is enough for them to know that 
 they are to die a horrible death, without having all kinds 
 of abuse heaped upon them; yet I have seen this in many 
 prisons. How is it that friends are so often denied the 
 privilege of seeing those that are under death sentence or 
 those who are sick and dying? Let the truth be told and 
 let there be some one to investigate these things. I believe 
 that those who are most against prisoners, are those who 
 are not familiar with the conditions. Let good discipline 
 be maintained, but let prisoners never be brutally treated, 
 simply because they are powerless to help themselves. I 
 find many things going on that are not right, but I have 
 never made complaint to the governors of the states, unless 
 compelled to do so, because of cases of extreme cruelty. 
 
 NEED OF REFORM. 
 
 There is great need of reformation in the management 
 of prisons, and especially in the prison lease system and 
 management of women prisoners in the south. Oh, the 
 shocking sights that have greeted me on almost every 
 hand! There is nothing more heart-rending to me than 
 the terrible, brutal treatment of helpless humanity. These 
 prisoners are entirely at the mercy of officers who are often- 
 times void of feeling, coarse and vulgar in the extreme. 
 To get positions and make money is the aim of many of 
 today. The poor unfortunates shut up in prisons and 
 asylums are in many cases most shamefully mistreated. 
 They are supposed to be there for the purpose of reforma- 
 tion or treatment, but were it not for the grace of God in 
 
228 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 my soul, I never could endure the torture and anguish re- 
 sulting from the sufferings I find among these poor help- 
 less men and women. I am not supposed to know the con- 
 ditions in these places, but twenty years of experience going 
 inside these walls have opened my eyes and I get behind 
 the scenes. There is a time of settling up of accounts and 
 there will be a final reckoning day at the judgment bar of 
 God, for what was done in this life, and how many will be 
 weighed in the balance and found wanting ! 
 
 The following paper by Clarissa Olds Keeler was writ- 
 ten to Brother S. B. Shaw and read at the meeting of the 
 National Convocation for Prayer at St. Louis, Mo., May, 
 1903, and will serve to convey some idea of conditions as 
 they have existed in some parts of our land; though we 
 are glad to say that they are somewhat improved, in many 
 places at least. 
 
 "LET THE SIGHING OF THE PEISONEE COME BEFORE 
 
 THEE." 
 
 * ' Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the 
 prayer that is made in this place." 2 Chron. 7:15. 
 
 When attending the Christian Workers' Convention in New York 
 in 1887 a man from Tennessee also attending the convention, said to 
 me, "1 wonder the Christian people do not take up the work of 
 alleviating the sufferings of prisoners in the Southern States." 
 For years he had been an eye witness to treatment which he described 
 as "most atrocious,''' and the condition of the convicts, especially 
 those hired to contractors to work in coal mines, as one of "starva- 
 tion, fear and disgusting filth." Since these words were spoken to 
 me I have spared no pains to inform myself about this new and 
 most revolting form of slavery, and I can find no words more 
 applicable than these : l ( This is a people robbed and spoiled ; they 
 are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses; 
 they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil and none saith, 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 22Q 
 
 Eestore. Who among you will give ear to this? Who will hearken 
 and hear for the time to come?" (Isaiah 42:22, 23.) 
 
 Each one of the twelve convict leasing states has had its own 
 bloody record which has been written down in God's book. Influential 
 politicians, United States Senators from both north and south, mem- 
 bers of state legislatures, private citizens, heartless corporations, have 
 all shared in the money coined out of the bodies and blood of con- 
 victs in our southern states. 
 
 But it is not my purpose now to go over the past. Wherever 
 the convict lease system has been introduced "Its presence has," as 
 a Georgian once said, "been marked by a trail of blood." The 
 accounts of this ghastly institution are too revolting to present. 
 
 But I want to call the attention of the Christian people to the 
 present condition of convicts, most of whom are colored, and many 
 of whom are guilty of but trifling offences and some of them none 
 at all. 
 
 A man in Buncome County, North Carolina, wrote to the Ashe- 
 ville Gazette, under date of March 15, 1903: "Where are we at and 
 where is the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals that 
 they or the Christian world have never heard the cries from the poor 
 unfortunate prisoners in the buck and the ringing of the cruel 
 blood stained lash? I have seen white men beaten until their persons 
 were blue and blood oozing from the lash from the captain's hands 
 in the Buncome chain-gang. And negroes there is no use talking." 
 These prisoners, the writer says, have been guilty of some misde- 
 meanor and being poor and unable to pay a fine are "sent to the 
 road prison and there* the lash is administered on the naked back 
 contrary to the spirit of the constitution in abolishing imprisonment 
 for debt and the lash at the whipping-post." 
 
 Now I would suggest that a society be formed for the prevention 
 of cruelty to prisoners. While the good people are praying for the 
 outpouring of the Holy Spirit on other lands may they not forget 
 that we need a baptism of fire right here in our own land. 
 
 Our Saviour's last act of mercy and forgiving love was shown 
 toward a prisoner and shall we imitate His example, or shall we not? 
 His last command was: "Go ye into all the world and preach the 
 gospel to every creature." How many inmates of our prisons have 
 the gospel presented to them? When we all meet at the judgment, as 
 
230 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 meet we must, how many will be there from the mining pits and 
 prison pens who can say truthfully, ' ' No man cared for my soul 1 ' ' 
 Neither do we care for the bodies of these unfortunates; and as 
 proof of this I will give you a few extracts from papers of recent 
 date. 
 
 When the National Conference of Charities and Corrections was 
 holding its session in Atlanta the first of the present month, some 
 of the delegates were invited to visit the city prison stockade where 
 misdemeanor convicts are housed at night. This was done "just for 
 the amusement of the delegates." Hear what Mr. Timothy Nichol- 
 son of Indiana, a delegate, said about his visit to this "school of 
 crime." He says: "I found in one room one hundred and sixty 
 prisoners, white men and women, black men and women and even 
 children, both black and white, male and female, all mix<ed together 
 indiscriminately. I was surprised and shocked to find such a condi- 
 tion of affairs in a civilized country. It is simply a shame and 
 disgrace to civilization. ' ' The delegates declared the place * ' inhu- 
 man and degrading." Yet this does not fully represent the awful 
 pen picture that might be given of this class of prisoners in the 
 county chain gangs all over the state. 
 
 The following extracts are taken from an account given by an 
 Atlanta correspondent of the Washington Post written under date of 
 May 5, 1903. ' ' Eevelations made to the Ware County grand jury 
 in regard to the horrors of the Georgia convict camps reached 
 
 Governor Terrell today. Hon. E M , one of the leading 
 
 members of the Georgia House of Eepresentatives, is involved in the 
 findings of the grand jury. 
 
 "According to the report M and his brother operate an exten- 
 sive camp in Lowndes County. Witnesses before the grand jury 
 
 testified that in the M camp the brutalities are such that it is 
 
 revolting to describe them. For the slightest offence, it is alleged, 
 prisoners are stripped and chained and unmercifully lashed by the 
 
 whipping bosses. It is also alleged that the M brothers go 
 
 into counties adjoining Lowndes, pay the fines of misdemeanor 
 convicts, carry such convicts to their Ware County (convict) camp 
 and there keep them in serviture long after the term for which 
 the criminals were sentenced have expired. 
 
 "The grand jury claims that at least twenty citizens of Ware 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 23! 
 
 County are held as slaves in M 's camp although their terms 
 
 expired over a year ago. There men are kept in stockade about which 
 armed guards march in order to prevent an escape, and men thus 
 illegally detained who escaped have been chased by bloodhounds and 
 recaptured." 
 
 Official reports show that this class of convicts are guilty of but 
 trifling offences and some are vagrants. (For further particulars 
 see Atlanta Journal May 5 and 11, 1903.) 
 
 The penitentiary convicts of Georgia are worked in coal mines and 
 are subject to the same treatment. An experienced penologist said 
 recently concerning convicts worked in the mines: "In the rooms of 
 the mines are perpetrated practices too horrible to mention. They 
 become the nesting places of a bestiality that in many c^ses lead the 
 liberated convict into that crime to punish which the mob, the rope 
 and the stake are ever ready." (See Atlanta Constitution, May 14, 
 1903.) 
 
 Under the heading ' ' Convict Camp Horrors, ' ' the editor of the 
 Memphis, Tennessee, Commercial Appeal says in his paper, dated 
 April 11, 1903, concerning the facts recently brought out by the 
 legislative investigating committee : ' ' The stories coming from Brushy 
 Mountain mines, with side lights from the state's convict system, 
 generally, furnish painful reading to the people of Tennessee. When 
 human beings who through fault or fortune's untowardness are con- 
 demned to helpless and unresisting servitude and who are subjected 
 to torments "and tortures, floggings and flaggellations which are merci- 
 ful only where they terminated in speedy death, humanity is out- 
 raged and a sort of savagery in the public cries out for speedy 
 vengeance." Continuing the editor says: 
 
 ' ' Convicts have been whipped to death. Convicts have been whipped 
 into physical helplessness. Convicts have been whipped sufficiently to 
 keep them in bed for months and injure them permanently. Tortur- 
 ing them in the prison or in the mine recesses is a sin against high 
 heaven. ' ' These are some of the facts brought to light by the 
 prison investigating committee. 
 
 The average number of prisoners worked in the Brushy Mountain 
 mines is about seven hundred and fifty. These convicts, which form 
 but a part of the number of the state 's convicts, and who were so 
 inhumanly treated, earned last year for the state, clear of all ex- 
 
232 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 penses, the sum of one hundred and ninety-five thousaand, seven 
 hundred dollars. (See Nashville American, March 30, 1903.) 
 
 Recent developments also show that many innocent men are kid- 
 napped and worked and treated as convicts; especially is this done 
 in Alabama. Women and children share the same fate. During 
 the recent investigation into the enforced slavery of negroes in 
 Alabama by the United States Secret Service, among the abuses 
 which were unearthed was the whipping to death of a negro woman. 
 ' ' This woman accused of being rebellious was laid across a log and 
 given one hundred lashes. Still showing a rebellious spirit her hands 
 were tied, and the rope was thrown over the limb of a tree and 
 pulled up so as to make it barely possible for her feet to reach the 
 ground. The woman, it is said, died two days later." (See Wash- 
 ington Time*-, May 29, 1903.) 
 
 The system of peonage slavery has been practiced for years in 
 Alabama and Georgia. One of the most successful plans practiced is 
 to bring a negro before a magistrate on a flimsy charge. As the 
 matter has been arranged beforehand, the negro is convicted, and 
 having no money to pay his fine, a white man offers to advance him 
 money provided the negro will make a labor contract with him for 
 the money and trouble he has taken to keep the negro out of jail. 
 He is taken away and begins what is usually a long term of creul 
 servitude, frequently whipped unmercifully, and every moment 
 watched by armed guards ready to shoot him down at any attempt 
 to escape. 
 
 Among the evils which have grown out of the prison contract sys- 
 tem, the number of which is legion, is that of turning out men and 
 women, boys and girls, thoroughly educated in these schools of crime. 
 They are thrown upon the world homeless and friendless to poison 
 and destroy those with whom they come in contact. Many soon find 
 their way back into prison, and some end their lives upon the gal- 
 lows. 
 
 We sometimes on a Sabbath morning hear the President of the 
 United States prayed for, but what minister ever prays for the po:>r 
 parish behind prison bars? 
 
 When the book is opened and we hear the words: "I was sick 
 and in prison, and ye visited me not," what are we going to answer? 
 1415 A. St., S. E., Washington, D. C. CLARISSA OLDS KEELER. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 233 
 
 For about four years at times Mrs. M. A. Perry, of 
 Washington, D C, traveled with me. In answer to my re- 
 quest for a brief report oi the work during that time I re- 
 ceived a lengthy letter, from which I extract the following: 
 Dear Sister Wheaton : 
 
 I praise God for the privilege of adding a few words for 
 your book May the blessing of God rest upon it. To the 
 readers I will say: I first met Mrs. Wheaton in Boston, in 
 February, 1893, in the home of H. L. Hastings, the well- 
 known publisher, where she was a guest. She had then 
 spent ten years in prison and other evangelistic work. I had 
 visited a jail and stationhouses, but never a penitentiary. 
 We first went to the Boston and Maine Railway office. 
 Sister Wheaton said: "You pray while I go and ask for 
 a pass to go to the Thomaston, Maine, prison." In about 
 ten minutes she returned with the desired transportation. 
 By the kindness of the railroad officials from ocean to ocean 
 they have helped to forward the work of God. Many 
 earnest prayers are offered by Mrs. Wheaton for these men. 
 We never boarded a train without asking our Heavenly 
 Father to bless the train men from the engineer to the 
 flagman Many times we have spoken to conductors who 
 have said, "No one ever talks to railroad men about their 
 souls." 
 
 At Thomaston we had to wait until Sunday morning to 
 enter the prison. If ever the Lord Jesus Christ revealed 
 Himself in a prison chapel He was in the midst that Sab- 
 bath day. While "Mother Wheaton" preached, I prayed 
 for her and the presence of the Holy Spirit was so mani- 
 fest that every man expressed a desire to serve God. The 
 result of that day's work for the Master will not be known 
 until we meet when Jesus will reward his servants. 
 
 We next went to the jail in Bangor, Maine, and God 
 
234 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 blessed the work there in the salvation of souls. Then we 
 went to the prison in Wethersfield, Connecticut, and from 
 there to the Vermont State Prison at Windsor. But I can- 
 not tell about them all ! But wherever we went I saw that 
 the prisoners, both men and women, greeted "Mother 
 Wheaton" with a heartfelt welcome. 
 
 We went to the prisons of New York state to Auburn, 
 Sing Sing, the Troy jail and on to Buffalo. We visited 
 the penitentiaries in Philadelphia and Baltimore, and the 
 workhouses of Maryland and the District of Columbia. We 
 met in these places many precious souls whom the Lord 
 gave his life to redeem and many of them were Christians. 
 The blood of Jesus is all powerful to reach any man or 
 woman who will repent and forsake sin and believe in Him. 
 We have great reason to praise God for the power of the 
 Holy Spirit to reach the hardest hearts. But O, there are 
 behind the bars and "in the shadow of the walls" loving 
 and tender hearts. O, that professors of religion would 
 wake up to the fact that when Jesus, the King of Glory, 
 shall come He will say, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto 
 the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me." 
 
 May God by his presence and power reveal to the man- 
 agers of penal institutions in every land and nation that 
 Jesus Christ is the friend of sinners in every condition. I 
 believe the dear Lord Himself has put such love for 
 prisoners in the heart of our sister Wheaton that she is 
 willing to take a mother's place -no matter when she sees 
 them. In riding along on the trains sometimes we came 
 to prisoners (leased out to hard labor) in the most un- 
 expected places. We were soon off the train to look after 
 these men who were marched from the camp or stockade. 
 
 I must speak of some of the experiences we had in the 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 235 
 
 prisons, stockades and prison farms of the southern states. 
 We were, in most cases, courteously received and enter- 
 tained by the wardens and their families. God bless the 
 men who have done what they could ! But O, how I have 
 been shocked at things we saw in these places, many of 
 which I cannot write. I wish I could give some idea of 
 how glad the poor manacled prisoners were to see their 
 white-haired "mother" come again. I believe the seed sown 
 shall not be lost. 
 
 The women on the farms are required to roll logs, clear 
 land and do all kinds of drudgery. 
 
 We went to the camps, the phosphate mines, saw-mills, 
 coal mines, and the turpentine camps. Sometimes we rode 
 for miles in wagons. I think Mother Wheaton never felt 
 that any place was too dangerous or too out of the way for 
 her to go in order to say a word of comfort and to encour- 
 age hearts. We sometimes rode on the engine up the moun- 
 tains to camps where hundreds of prisoners were working. 
 We saw men with iron rings around their necks and a 
 chain and ball attached, some with chains around their 
 waists and running down to their ankles with a ring at- 
 tached. 
 
 I want to speak especially of a visit to one of the state 
 farms where all the prisoners, with two exceptions, were 
 colored women. 
 
 When we arrived at the station there was no vehicle in 
 sight but a. buggy and mule which a little boy was driving. 
 She asked him to take us to the women's prison, which he 
 kindly did. When we got there between seventy and eighty 
 women were at dinner, sitting on the ground under the 
 trees with their little tin pails which held boiled bacon and 
 cowpeas, with a piece of corn bread in their hands. They 
 
236 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 had worked from sunrise. How they welcomed "Mother 
 Wheaton" ! Many of them were in tears as she began to 
 sing. She asked how many of them had seen her before. 
 Many hands went up and they told where and when they 
 had seen her in the past. How they shook her hand and 
 said, "O, 'deed I is glad to see you once more, honey." 
 But soon they had to go back to the field till dark. After 
 all had their supper we went to the stockade where they 
 were to sleep, to hold a service. Such singing I never 
 heard. Then "Mother Wheaton" preached, prayed and 
 sang. If ever God answered prayer He surely did for those 
 poor women and in place of that stockade there is now a 
 new prison house with things reasonably comfortable. 
 
 We went to other farms, stockades and prisons. I do 
 thank God for the privilege of going into these places where 
 "Mother Wheaton" was the first white woman to visit or 
 to pray and sing. Regardless of danger in approaching 
 these out-of-the-way places, her love for God and for those 
 who were despised and downtrodden, carried her through 
 untold hardships. We were at times in danger of blood- 
 hounds, alligators and venomous reptiles. 
 
 I am sure that through her intercession with governors 
 and wardens and superintendents "Mother Wheaton's" work 
 has proved a blessing to thousands of prisoners. I have seen 
 the results of her work in many of the states. Her preach- 
 ing and singing have been used of God, but above all I knew 
 that the hours of prevailing prayer have been a still greater 
 power for good. In answer to prayer God has opened doors 
 and done many wonderful things whereof we are glad. 
 
 Again we went to the South to visit prisons and stock- 
 ades where we had been in former years. Great changes 
 had been made. There was much improvement in their 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 237 
 
 condition. I Lope the time may soon come when only the 
 law of love and kindness shall prevail. 
 
 We held street meetings in many places. One night after 
 holding one of these open-air services we boarded a train. 
 A man and wife came on the train. She told us that her 
 husband had attended the street meeting and ' was under 
 such conviction for sin that he could not rest. There on 
 the train, while we knelt in the aisle of the car, he was con- 
 verted to God and went on his way rejoicing, while we went 
 to visit a penitentiary where hundreds of men and women 
 needed the same work of grace wrought in their hearts. 
 
 Often we saw answers to prayer in the healing of prison- 
 ers who were sick. God's Word is true. He says He is 
 no respecter of persons, and He is able to do more than we 
 can ask or think. May God bless every soul for whom we 
 have prayed. 
 
 Sister Wheaton and myself have spent many long hours 
 at a time together pleading for the men and women behind 
 the bars. It means much to be divinely called to this 
 work. 
 
 Oh ! how many with broken hearts lie in the lonely cells 
 every night ! May God help everyone who reads these 
 pages to remember that there is one MOTHER of all the 
 prisoners who weeps and prays in sympathy with them. 
 I wish every mother and wife, or sister, who has a precious 
 one "in the shadow of the walls," would pray for "Mother 
 Wheaton/' that she may be helped of God in preaching the 
 Word, and that God's blessing may rest upon her for her 
 kind loving words and the hand-clasp that reaches so many 
 hearts. Pray that health and strength may be given her as 
 she comes in and goes out among these erring ones. 
 
 I know she has been through deep waters and great sor- 
 
238 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 rows. Her life has been one of self -sacrifice in behalf of 
 the unfortunate. May God bless and help her and give 
 ker the crown of righteousness that is laid up for the 
 faithful. 
 
 One night after worship at the home of the warden with 
 whom we 'were stopping, Sister Wheaton was singing a 
 hymn, when suddenly the warden asked, ''Sister Wheaton, 
 will you come over into the prison-yard and finish that 
 hymn?" She replied she would gladly do so if he thought 
 it would do good. So we hastened to the prison-yard, some 
 little distance away, and quietly entered the enclosure, and 
 she began singing. Her clear, strong voice awakened the 
 sleeping prisoners. The incident was so unusual that some 
 of them (as we were told afterward), negroes especially, 
 awaking suddenly, thought that the Judgment Day had 
 come, and tumbling out of bed, fell upon their knees and 
 began praying for God to have mercy upon them and save 
 their souls ; so God evidently used the song to bring con- 
 viction to hearts. After the singing we returned as quietly 
 as we had come, trusting the results with God. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Work in Fort Madison, Iowa, and Santa Fe, New 
 Mexico 
 
 Soon after starling out in my work, when changing cars 
 in an Iowa town I saw a crowd of people who were cu- 
 riously gazing upon three young men who were hand- 
 cuffed, and bound together being taken to the state's prison 
 at Fort Madison. 1 went up to them, shook hands, 
 and said, "I am sorry for you. Don't be discour- 
 aged. Cheer up. Give God your hearts. Obey the rules. 
 Do the best yon can and God will do the rest." They 
 seemed cheered and relieved seeing I neither feared nor 
 shunned them. I inquired their names and told them I 
 would try to see them in prison, but did not know how soon. 
 
 A few weeks later I went to Fort Madison and obtained 
 permission of the Chaplain, W. C. Gunn, to hold a meeting 
 the following Sunday. This was my first effort to hold di- 
 vine service in a prison. Then I inquired for the three 
 young men I had seen when on their way there, but could 
 find no record of them. I assured the Chaplain they were 
 there and observing the prisoners closely I saw one of them 
 at work. As our eyes met, I saw a look of distress on his 
 face. He recognized me and was afraid I would tell who 
 he was. He had given a ficticious name as had also the 
 others. 
 
 But before Sunday came I began to think : "What if I 
 should make a mistake and could think of nothing to say 
 when I come before all those hundreds of prisoners?" And 
 then there were the officers in their suits of blue with brass 
 
242 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 buttons! It all seemed too much for me, and, like Jonah, 
 I took ship and ran away. 
 
 That night I started by steamer for Mobile, Alabama 
 but God knew I did not mean to disobey and He let me 
 work among the stockades in the south until I got boldness 
 to enter other prisons. After a year or more I returned 
 to Fort Madison and was granted the privilege offered me 
 before and from that time to this I have always been made 
 welcome there and have had many blessed seasons within 
 these walls. There is no place where I have been more 
 kindly received by both officers and prisoners than at Fort 
 Madison. Chaplain Gunn and wife were always true and 
 loyal friends. 'Tis now several years since he crossed over 
 to the better shore. I shall ever remember with deep grati- 
 tude the kindness of himself and family. Chaplain Jessup 
 and wife, and Warden Jones and wife, as well as other 
 officials, have been especially kind and courteous. To the 
 prisoners at Fort Madison, also, I must give the credit of 
 contributing freely from their small savings to my necessi- 
 ties. While I would gladly mention all who have especially 
 befriended me I feel that this tribute is due to the officers 
 and men of Fort Madison. That it is deserved may be 
 easily seen by the following communications and selections 
 from letters which I find among my papers: 
 
 Warden's Office, Iowa Penitentiary, 
 Fort Madison, Iowa, August 3, 1889. 
 
 The bearer, Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton, a devoted Christian woman, 
 has for years been visiting the prisons and jails of this country 
 seeking to do good to their inmates. I think she should be kindly 
 received and encouraged by prison authorities. I do not think any 
 one has ever spoken to the convicts in this prison with better effect 
 and I am sure that no one who has ever addressed them will be longer 
 or more kindly remembered by them than Mrs. Wheaton. I heartily 
 
OP. A LABOR OF LOVE 243 
 
 commend her and her good work to those engaged in prison manage- 
 ment and to good people everywhere as most deserving of their aid 
 and encouragement. It affords me all the more pleasure to give 
 Mrs. Wheaton this testimonial because it was unsolicited and because 
 of the unobtrusive way in which she goes about doing good. 
 
 G. W. GROSLEY, Warden. 
 
 Ft. Madison, Iowa, Oct. 5, 1893. 
 Rev. J. M. Croker, Chaplain State Prison, Anamosa, la. 
 
 My Dear Brother : This will introduce to you our dear sister, Mrs. 
 Wheaton, the prison missionary, who would like to address the 
 prisoners. Any favors shown her will be duly appreciated. 
 
 Yours truly, W. C. GUNN, Chaplain. 
 
 Fort Madison, Iowa, June 4, 1897. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton, Tabor, Iowa. 
 
 My Dear Mother: I will first ask your pardon for not answering 
 your letter sooner. But I am always so busy the last days of the 
 month, also the first days, as I have all the time of the contract 
 men to make up to send to the contractors, also have my monthly 
 report to the governor, and as we give the boys a holiday Monday 
 1 ImnK you w'U readily see I have had my hands full. 
 
 I sometimes think it is more than I can stand. I want to do rigbt 
 b/ the men but it is so hard at times to tell just what is right. 1 
 sincerely thank you for your kind interest in me. And may our great 
 and good God always be with you is the wish of your true friend. 
 
 J. R. JONES, Deputy Warden. 
 
 Fort Madison, Iowa, Sept. 6, 1899. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton : Enclosed please find draft for , the poor boys ' 
 
 free-will offering in appreciation of your kindness in visiting them. 
 You are thought more of by them than any one else living even 
 their relatives. Please sign the enclosed receipt, acd send it back 
 to me, that I may have something to show what became of the 
 money. Thanking you for your visit. Yours truly, 
 
 W. C. GUNN, Chaplain. 
 
244 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Fort Madison, Iowa, Feb. 13, 1901. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton, Tabor, la. 
 
 My Dear Sister: Enclosed find draft for from prisoners 
 
 entirely a free will offering, given without other solicitation than what 
 you heard me say when you were here. Please excuse delay in 
 forwarding, partly due to uncertainty as to your whereabouts. Per- 
 haps you will write me a short message for the men, who will be 
 glad to hear from you. With best Wishes and prayers for your wel- 
 fare and success in your work, I am, Very sincerely yours, 
 
 A. H. JESSUP, Chaplain. 
 
 My acquaintance with Mrs. Wheaton began four years ago, at 
 the first Sunday service I held as chaplain of this prison. Stand- 
 ing by my office window before the men had come into the chapel, 
 I saw a motherly-appearing lady enter the prison, escorted by 
 the assistant deputy. A few moments later we met on the chapel 
 platform, and I was introduced to ' ' Mother Wheaton, ' ' the woman 
 who for many years had, in prisons and jails, all over the country, 
 sought to quicken in the prisoners' bosom a new life, and lead 
 to the Savior those who all their lives have been rejecting Him. 
 It was my first service with the men, as I have said, and I felt 
 constrained to preach as I had come prepared to do, although on 
 subsequent visits I have gladly granted all the time to Mother 
 Wheaton. After I had preached, Mrs. Wheaton talked, and sang, 
 and prayed, and many of the men were visibly affected, some to 
 tears, by her earnest pleading. Later she went to my office and 
 met a boy who was soon going out, and prayed and talked with 
 him in a manner that must have made him determine to strive for 
 a better manhood. Our prison has received several visits from 
 Mother Wheaton since then, and always, I believe, with lasting 
 good to the men, over many of whom she has exerted an influence 
 for good. Earnest, apt and ready in speech, always seeming to 
 live close to God, and to hold instant communion with Him, and 
 consecrated soul and body, time and means, to her work these 
 perhaps account for her useful service. That she has a ready 
 sense of humor, too, is perhaps one reason the "boys" listen to 
 her so well. I recall one incident. She had come down from 
 Burlington, where she was obliged to secure a pass on the rail- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 245 
 
 road. The proper officer not being at hand, she went from one to 
 another, until at last one was found with authority to issue a pass, 
 but who did not know her or her mission. "On what ground 
 do you want a pass?" said the railroad man. "I am working for 
 God, and He owns the railroads," was the unexpected reply. 
 "But, madam, where are you going?" gasped the official. Quick 
 as a flash came the answer, "To heaven!" But by this time the 
 railroad man had recovered from his surprise, and seemed equal 
 to the emergency, and proved himself to be a gentleman as well, 
 for he said quietly: "If that is your destination, madam, I am 
 unable to accommodate you, for I regret to say the place is not on 
 our line; but if you want a pass to any place on our road you can 
 have it." In relating the incident in the prison chapel Mother 
 Wheaton added that she secured her pass to Fort Mjadison, and 
 that when she reached here she thought she was next to heaven, 
 for here she had first attempted her work for souls, in State's 
 Prisons, and here she believed many precious trophies for the 
 Master had been given her. 
 
 I noticed on her last visit that while she seemed in usual health, 
 her hair was whiter, betokening the gathering years. I could 
 wish that now she who for so many years has not known the 
 blessing of home, might find a place in which to spend in rest and 
 communion with God, and helpful but gentle ministrations, the 
 balance of her life, until He whom she has followed in her efforts 
 to do good, may say: "Come up higher, thou blessed of my 
 Father. Inasmuch as ye did it unto the least of these my brethren 
 ye did it unto me." 
 
 A. H. JESSUP, 
 Chaplain Iowa State Penitentiary. 
 
 Fort Madison, Iowa, April 18, 1904. 
 
 WORK IN SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO. 
 
 Several interesting experiences have occurred in connec- 
 tion with my visits to the prison at Santa Fe, New Mexico. 
 At one time I found there a good old Christian man, "a 
 trusty," who had charge of the Superintendent's horses, 
 driving the family to town, etc., and had much liberty given 
 
246 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 him. One day he sat in front of me, driving to town, and 
 I said to him, "I am going to pray to God to remove the 
 'stripes' from you." He said, "Pray for my release r 
 know God hears prayer/' I did so, as did also my good 
 co-workers, returned missionaries home from Africa 
 on a visit. In three or four days the warden gave him 
 citizens' clothes; and soon after the governor gave him his 
 pardon. 
 
 We were led to pray for a pardon for brother T. of the 
 same prison, and in three months he was a free man. At 
 the time I had a sister with me from Japan. On my return 
 from the Pacific coast we again held services in the prison 
 at Santa Fe, and during the meeting I said, "What do you 
 want me to sing, boys?" One said, "Sing, 'Some Mother's 
 Boy.' " I did so, and in the morning, before I left the 
 prison, the officer said to me, "Here is two dollars a man 
 sent in from the prison for you." Upon inquiring the 
 name of the prisoner I found it was J. L. As they told 
 me he was a good man, a Christian, and a good prisoner, 
 I took his case also to the Lord in prayer. Within three 
 weeks he was given a pardon by the governor. The three 
 men mentioned were all Christians. 
 
 In none of these cases did I go to the governor, but just 
 left all in God's hands, and prayed if God was pleased to 
 set these men free, that He would impress the governor to 
 give them their release. These cases occurred at different 
 times. I am sure that the hope of pardon has in many cases 
 saved the lives of prisoners, and also saved them from in- 
 sanity. 
 
 I give below a letter received from Brother T., also 
 quote from a sketch of his life, as published by McAuley 
 Water Street Mission, N. Y., and sent me by himself; also 
 
Ofc A LABOR OF LOVE 247 
 
 letters from the Secretary of the Christian Endeavor Soci- 
 ety of the Santa Fe Prison, and very kind letters from Gov- 
 ernor Thornton, Superintendent H. O. Bursom, and Broth- 
 er S. H. Hadley, of Water Street Mission. 
 
 May 26, 1903. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 I suppose you will be surprised to hear irom me. The last time 
 I saw you was in the Santa Fe Territorial Prison. You had a 
 meeting in the cell house. I was the trusty who went with you 
 to the depot. If you remember, you prayed for the removal of 
 the number from the back of No. 917 and that he would be freed; 
 you also told me you would pray that I would get out of prison. 
 Your prayers have been answered. I was pardoned last Christmas, 
 and am here working among the criminal classes as a missionary. 
 You remember of my having been converted before your visit to 
 the prison. It is a great blessing to me to spend the balance of 
 my life thus, who had been sent to prison for forty years, under 
 conviction and sentence for a crime of which I was perfectly 
 innocent, although I was a great sinner in other respects. 
 Yours in the grand work, 
 
 E. U. T. 
 
 SENTENCED TO FORTY YEARS IN PRISON. 
 
 On the night of July 6, 18 , I was playing the banjo in a noto- 
 rious gambling house in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It had been 
 my business for years and I liked the surroundings; they suited me 
 exactly; in fact, I have traveled from my home in the East, from 
 city to city, through all the slumdum of the western cities play- 
 ing my banjo; I thoroughly enjoyed it and the company which it 
 brought me. * * * I was arrested on suspicion and locked in 
 jail. I had no money, no friends and no character, and I began 
 to realize for the first time what my life was bringing me. I 
 was finally brought to trial and convicted on circumstantial evi- 
 dence, and sentenced to forty years in prison for a crime that I 
 knew nothing more about than the judge who sat upon the bench. 
 
 Dear reader, can you enter into this story with me; can you 
 form an idea of my despair as I received practically a life sen- 
 
248 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 tence for something which I did not do? My heart was hard and 
 bitter against myself and everybody else as I was taken to the 
 Territorial penitentiary at Santa Fe, New Mexico. I was in the 
 prime of life, only 28 years old, but, oh, what steps I had already 
 taken in the downward path that leadeth unto death. Every evil 
 habit had fastened itself upon me, and after I had taken my place 
 in the prison I almost went wild with terror and despair when I 
 realized what was before me. I was soon set to work with pick 
 and shovel digging out trenches on the grounds, and I tried to do 
 the work the best I could and be a good prisoner. I presume I 
 was, for a little time afterward I was placed in the library, and 
 had charge of the greenhouse as well. 
 
 One Sunday afternoon in the chapel the speaker took for his 
 text, St. John, 3, 14th and 15th verses: "As Moses lifted up the 
 serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted 
 
 p;" 
 
 "That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have 
 everlasting life. ' ' 
 
 The speaker dwelt at length on this actual occurrence and also 
 how God commanded Moses to erect a pole with the brass serpent, 
 and although there were there people dying by the thousands, those 
 that looked on that brazen serpent were healed. He brought the ap- 
 plication home to us prisoners how the serpent of sin had stung us 
 so deeply and our only remedy was to look to Jesus Christ, who 
 was lifted up on the cross, and my hard heart began to melt and a 
 desire came to me to be healed of this terrible serpent's bite. 
 The speaker instructed us when we got back to our cells to read 
 this whole chapter, and when I got back to my cell I took up the 
 book and read, and I prayed to God to open my heart so that I 
 could understand what He wanted of me, and as I read the blessed 
 Holy Spirit came to my poor soul and showed me what a sinful 
 man I was, and I then and there became a child of God. Great 
 peace came to my soul, which at first I could scarcely understand, 
 but although still a prisoner and wearing the stripes, I was a 
 free man in Christ Jesus, and I rejoiced in my new found life. 
 After this, prison life was not so dreary as it was before. 
 
 Among the many different workers who came to the prison was 
 Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Wood, of Santa Fe; he is Mail Agent on the 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 249 
 
 road. He is a blessed man, and one who loves the prisoners. An- 
 other person I would like to mention is the person known as 
 "Mother Wheaton. " I think I should speak of a little circum- 
 stance that happened to one prisoner who went by the number 
 917, and who wore this number in great big cloth figures on his 
 back; he drove " Mother Wheaton" to town, as he was a 
 "trusty," and she said that she was going to pray that the Lord 
 would take that number off his back, and in a few days after that 
 the Warden came in with a new suit of clothes for him without 
 the stripes or number citizen's clothes. She once said to me: 
 "1 am going to pray to the Lord to get you out of here," remind- 
 ing me of the praj^er she made for No. 917. "Mother Wheaton" 
 prayed for my release. On Christmas day, 1902, three months 
 after the above conversation took place, I was in the chapel of the 
 prison in the entertainment that was going on. Governor Otero 
 sat in the balcony. 
 
 The custom is that someone shall receive a pardon on Christmas 
 day, and no cne has any intimation who it is excepting the 
 Governor. I had not the slightest idea that I would be the lucky 
 man, and after the Assistant Superintendent asked that I play a 
 certain composition of my own, he requested me to step out and he 
 read the pardon; to my surprise my name was in the pardon, and, 
 oh, the joy that came to me when I began to realize that I was a 
 free man, but, dear reader, this pardon, great as it was, did not 
 compare with the joy that came in my soul as I realized that I 
 had received the pardon from my Eedeemer, and that all my sins 
 were forgiven and all my past crimes blotted out. 
 
 While in the prison I read an account in a paper of the experi- 
 ence of S. H. Hadley, who was then in New York connected with 
 the Jerry McAuley Mission, and I was desirous of going to New 
 Fork to meet this man. I did so, and before I had been ten 
 minutes in his office he told me what already was filling my soul, 
 that I should be a worker for Christ and try to save those who 
 had fallen, and the down-trodden. I stepped out on the Lord's 
 promises with but very little knowledge, except the knowledge of 
 sins forgiven, and a big hope in my soul of eternal life, and a love 
 that I cannot express, without one dollar in my pocket, but with 
 the simple faith in Jesus. I am working every night and day at 
 
25O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 every door that is open, and every one that I can open, where I 
 can 'tell the wonderful story of Jesus' love to sinners. Dear 
 reader, pray for me that God may wonderfully use me. 
 
 "The dying thief rejoiced to see 
 
 The Fountain in his day, 
 And there I do, though vile as he, 
 
 Wash all my sins away." 
 
 New York, 18, 1904. 
 
 Dear Mother: 
 
 It gives me much pleasure when I think of your going from 
 prison to prison telling the poor boys and girls behind the bars 
 of Jesus. It always gave me great joy when I heard that our dear 
 
 mother was going to speak to her boys at Prison; because 
 
 I knew you were our friend. I wish to again thank you for the 
 day that you prayed that God would open the prison doors for 
 me. God answered your prayer, and after serving about seven 
 years of a forty years' sentence the prison doors were opened for 
 me, and God sent me to New York to labor for souls. He sent 
 me to Mr. S. H. Hadley, the present superintendent of the old 
 McAuley Mission, and he has been indeed a father to me. 
 
 I am so thankful that God sent me to such a good man one 
 who loves the lost sinner; and one who is willing to do anything 
 in his power to help the helpless. May God's richest blessings be 
 your portion is the prayer of your son in the Gospel. 
 
 E. U. T. 
 
 McAuley Water btreet Mission, 
 New York, Sept. 11, 1903. 
 
 "Mother Wheaton," as the boys behind the prison-bars, yes, 
 and those who have by her prayers gone out from behind the 
 prison-bars, affectionately call her, is one of the unique, mission- 
 ary characters in this country, ihe travels all over this land with 
 but one object in view and that is to tell sinners of the powerful, 
 deathless love of Jesus and how no one can be too bad for Him 
 to save. She brings sunshine to many sorrowing hearts and hope 
 to thousands who never knew what hope was until they met her. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 251 
 
 An ex-convict, who is one of my helpers now, was prayed out of 
 practically a life sentence by Mother Wheaton. 
 
 I have seen her curled up in some seat in a day coach at three 
 o'clock in the morning on a Southern railroad because she had not 
 money enough to take a " sleeper" and had to travel all night or 
 lose an appointment to speak at some stockade or prison. 
 
 God bless her book and speed it on. S. H. HADLEY. 
 
 Santa Fe, N. M., May 26, 1903. 
 Elizabeth Wheaton, Prison Evangelist, 
 Los Angeles, Cal. 
 
 Dear Friend in Christ : Yours of 23d received, and am happy to say 
 that Mr. Trout (No. 99) has been pardone'd, and is now engaged 
 in bringing souls to Christ down on Water street in the McAuley 
 Mission, New York City, using his musical talents to further the 
 cause in which he is now devoting the rest of his life. I am sure 
 he would be more than pleased to hear from you. All the boys are 
 as well as could be expected, and a visit from you would be much 
 appreciated. 
 
 The C. E. S. has increased by seventy, making a total of one hun- 
 dred and five. God bless you in all your efforts in the cause of 
 Christ is the wish of all. Respectfully, 
 
 P. M., sec. Prison C. E. S. 
 
 Santa Fe, N. M., July 28, 1903. 
 
 Dear Mother: . . . Your letter to Mr. J. W. L. came to hand in 
 due time. I wrote you at Tabor, Iowa, in regard to the God-given 
 gift, sweet liberty, which came to him on the twelfth of July. 
 God has answered your prayer sooner than he had expected. He left 
 the prison gates with full trust and confidence in the mercies of the 
 
 omnipotent power of God. He is now in W with his brother. May 
 
 God 's benign countenance look down upon you and increase the mani- 
 fold blessing and grace that He has so richly endowed you with. I 
 will distribute the tracts and learn the song. All your boys send their 
 respects and wish to be remembered in your prayers. 
 
 Yours in Christ Jesus, 
 
 P. M., Sec. C. E. 8. 
 
252 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 New Mexico Penitentiary, Santa Fe, N. M., Sept. 19, 1903. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 I was pleased to hear from you, and was exceedingly happy to know 
 that you are going to put your experiences and noble work of the past 
 amongst the unfortunates in prison into book form. Certainly, dear 
 mother, no one knows the heartaches and sorrows of this class better 
 than yourself. God has blest you in preparing you for this work 
 and sending you from prison to prison to gather in the wavering 
 souls from eternal destruction. 
 
 God grant you many years more of service in the field where souls 
 are perishing and when your earthly career shall have closed, the 
 shining crown of eternal bliss in the presence of the King of Heaven 
 and Earth, will forever be your beacon light to make you think of the 
 ones below. Many, yea many unfortunates not yet born w r ill read from 
 these same prison cells of the work of ' ' Mother Wheaton ' J in the 
 prisons of our country. My every breath and prayerful utterance is 
 1 ' God be with you till we meet again. ' ' 
 
 As ever, one of your boys in Christ Jesus, 
 
 PHILIP M., Sec. C. E. S. 
 
 TEEK1TOEY OF NEW MEXICO. 
 Office of the Executive, Santa Fe, N. M., Oct., 1895. 
 Judge E. V. Long, Las Vegas. 
 
 Dear Sir: This will introduce to you Mrs. Wheaton, traveling in 
 the interests of the prisons and asylums. She may want to hold a 
 service at the asylum. If so please see that the opportunity is af- 
 forded her. Yours respectfully, 
 
 W. T. THORNTON, Governor. 
 
 New Mexico Penitentiary, Sante Fe, N. M., Sept. 19, 1903. 
 Mrs. E. K. Wheaton has been paying our institution visits on vari- 
 ous occasions for some years past, and during these visits has done 
 very much valuable work towards furthering the discipline of the 
 institution. Her words of comfort and wholesome advice together 
 with her teachings of Christianity has cheered many a poor, unfor- 
 tunate soul up to believing and hoping for a better future ; to realize 
 that justice demands that some punishment be meted out to wrong 
 doers and violators of the laws of the land; that such punishment 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVET 253 
 
 is not eternal : that they can receive consolation and comfort their 
 conscience even inside of the prison walls by resolving to be better 
 men, by a closer observance of the moral laws as dictated by their 
 conscience, a faithful compliance of their duties as men or women, 
 and a strict obedience to their overseers acting under the law and, 
 above all, an abiding faith in the Almighty God. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton has taught them to understand that they must not 
 only resolve but must demonstrate by their actions in every day 
 life a sincerity of purpose. 
 
 The management feels very grateful indeed for the splendid work 
 so generously devoted in the interest of humanity, which I consider 
 also a most valuable assistance to the prison management in main- 
 taining discipline and turning out discharged prisoners as better men 
 and women, better equipped morally, physically and spiritually 
 to meet and solve the problem of living an honest and upright life, 
 earn and care for those who may be dependent upon them. 
 
 H. 0. BURSOM, Superintendent, 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 Gone Home from the Scaffold. 
 
 "Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to 
 the greatness of thy power, preserve thou those that are appointed to 
 die." Psalms 79:11. 
 
 ' ' Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer. ' ' 
 
 One of the most touching things, and to me the most im- 
 portant of all this God-appointed work, has been my spe- 
 cial mission to those who are doomed to execution. 
 
 If there ever is a time in our lives when we need a 
 friend, it is when we are sick, in trouble, or about to die. 
 The last words of our loved ones are very dear to us all. 
 Nearly every home has at some time had a call from the 
 death angel. And looking through the bureau drawer, you 
 might see the little garments, shoes and playthings that 
 used to be our darlings' before they went away. Turn the 
 leaves of the old Family Bible and you will see hidden be- 
 tween its pages a lock of hair, perhaps father's or moth- 
 er's. We look up to Heaven through our blinding tears, 
 and cry out between our sobs : "Oh, God, help me to say 
 Thy will be done.'" 
 
 In looking over my packages of old letters from the de- 
 parted ones who have paid the penalty of a violated law, 
 dying either in the electric chair or on the scaffold, I find 
 them coming to pieces, some so badly worn I can scarcely 
 read them. And I know the hands that penned them are 
 now returning back to dust. 
 
 In order to show how God saves when they are truly 
 penitent, even men of this class, who are counted the worst 
 of criminals, I will give an account of a few Instances 
 
Oft A LABOR OF LOVE 255 
 
 which have come under my own observation, and extracts 
 from some of the letters I have received written before 
 execution. And let us remember that our Savior declared 
 that every sin shall be forgiven to men, except the sin 
 against the Holy Ghost. 
 
 INDIFFERENT BUT FINALLY CONVERTED. 
 
 The first one who was converted under my ministry, be- 
 fore going to the scaffold, was executed in August, 1885, 
 in the state of Kentucky. On going to jail I found this 
 young man there with the sentence of death upon him. The 
 burden of his lost condition came upon my soul in great 
 power. I felt I should die unless he was saved, and cried 
 mightily to God for his conviction and conversion. I held 
 several meetings there and was entertained a part of the 
 time by the sheriff's wife, who was a Christian lady. She, 
 too, was very anxious for this young man's salvation. As 
 I took the train to leave the place, his mother accompanied 
 me to the depot crying and pleading, "Oh, pray for my 
 poor boy. It will surely kill me." The bitter wail of that 
 mother's heart seems to Still ring in my ears. Letters from 
 the sheriff's wife came often, telling me of the boy's still 
 seeming indifferent. But she said that he often inquired 
 about me and wanted to see me. 
 
 I prayed for this soul almost incessantly for forty-five 
 days, b^mg scarcely able to sleep at night; and he was 
 finally converted. After his conversion I received from 
 him tho following letters : 
 
 , KY., August 5, 1885. 
 My Dear Friend: 
 
 I received your card this morning and was very glad to hear from 
 you indeed. Mrs. Wheaton, I feel my Savior in my heart. I know 
 that He will save my soul. I am praying to my God every hour in 
 
256 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 the day. I am praying for God to place something in my heart to 
 tell the people when I go to the scaffold. I want to tell them what 
 my Savior has placed in my heart the man that suffered and died 
 that I should have everlasting life. I wish you could be with me 
 once more on earth to sing and pray with me, but if not, I will meet 
 you on that other shore. My friend Charley is praying and singing 
 with me every day and night and says he will meet us in the king- 
 dom. They are all well here but Mrs. N. (the sheriff's wife). She 
 has been sick, but is better now. I would like to be with yow once 
 more before I die, and if not, look out for me when you reach that 
 happy land. Good-by, good-by. Eemember me in your prayers. I 
 have yet nine days to live. From your friend, 
 
 H F . 
 
 , XY., August 12, 1885. 
 
 My Dear Friend: 
 
 1 received your card tonight at my cell door. I seem to see you 
 now at the door of my cell, praying for me. The sheriff came in 
 this morning and put shackles on me. But I thank God that after 
 two days more I will be at rest. I have been praying to my Father 
 to teach me something to tell the world at my last hour. I would 
 like to tell everybody what my dear Savior has done for me. He has 
 given me what 1 asked Him for and He will go with me to the scaf- 
 fold. . I will see you again, "In the fair and happy land, just across 
 on the evergreen shore. ' ' I am ready to go home to rest. I have 
 suffered enough in this world, so I will bid the world good-by. I 
 will have to bid you good-by for the present. I will see you again. 
 I will watch for you. Excuse me for not answering you sooner. I 
 am in my cell and it is very dark for me to write, but I do my best. 
 I fast and pray most all the time. Good-by once more for a while. 
 From your true friend, H. F. 
 
 Below is an extract from a letter written by the sheriff's 
 wife to me shortly after the execution took place : 
 Dear Sister: 
 
 I fulfill the promise I made to poor Henry the day he was exe- 
 cuted, to write you a letter and tell you all about him after he wa* 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 257 
 
 gone to that bright glory land. It would have done you good to 
 have seen him the last three days he lived. He was as happy as he 
 could be. He had a smile on his countenance all the time and never 
 broke down, no difference who of his friends came to see him. He 
 talked to his mother and brothers so nice and gave them such good 
 advice. He told his mother to not grieve after him, but to rejoice, 
 for he would be so much better off after he was gone, for he knew 
 that he would be at rest. And if they would live and do right they 
 could come to him. The people that were here that day (and there 
 were between four and five thousand) were surprised to see the 
 beautiful countenance he left the prison with. He helped to sing that 
 beautiful hymn, 
 
 "And must I be to judgment brought, 
 
 And answer in that day 
 For every vain and idle thought 
 
 And every word I say? 
 
 with the chorus, 
 
 "We are- passing away," 
 
 and he was heard distinctly by all. He clapped his hands while he was 
 singing; then he stepped on to the trap and was soon gone. He had 
 a prayer on his lips when the black cap was drawn over his face, 
 and said, "Good by" to all his friends, and repeated, "Good-by. " 
 He told me to tell you he expected to meet you in heaven. His 
 mother and brothers send their kindest regards to you. May God 
 bless you. Your sister in Christ, 
 
 S. N. 
 
 MOTHER'S PRAYERS. 
 
 The case of C was one of most intense interest to the 
 public as well as his immediate friends. For long months 
 I wept and prayed for this young man. He was hoping for 
 a new trial. He was always glad to see me and to have me 
 sing for him. He was refined, educated, a member of "one 
 of the F. F. V.'s," as they say, yet doomed to die on the 
 
258 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 scaffold. How my heart longed to see him saved for Je- 
 sus, too, was longing for his salvation. 
 
 I was called to- other fields of labor before the fatal day 
 and was not sure of his acceptance with God, but can but 
 hope that his poor mother's prayers and mine were heard 
 in heaven and that that poor, misguided youth whose every 
 wish had before been gratified was forgiven. We can but 
 cast the mantle of charity over the case and leave it with 
 Him who wills not that any should perish but that all should 
 turn to Him and live. He wrote me the following: 
 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton, Prison Missionary: 
 
 I appreciate very highly your kindness and sympathy and more 
 so your prayers. I trust we may all meet in a better land. Return 
 my thanks to Mrs. Gen T . Respectfully, T. J. C. 
 
 Aug. 24, 1885. 
 
 CLAIMED TO BE INNOCENT. 
 
 The following letter is from one who was executed in 
 1887. He declared to the very last that he was innocent of 
 the crime for which he was convicted. He always main- 
 tained to me that the person he was supposed to have mur- 
 dered committed suicide under circumstances which threw 
 suspicion upon him. For myself, I do not believe in capi- 
 tal punishment and certainly if it is ever justifiable it is not 
 in any case that leaves a possibility of doubt regarding the 
 guilt of the accused. 
 
 In spite of great hindrances, being in the place, I was 
 led to visit the jail. After having sung for some of the 
 other prisoners an officer came to me asking if I would go 
 down below to visit a condemned man who had heard me 
 sing and requested that I would come to him. Of course I 
 went though the opening to his cell was so small that I 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 259 
 
 had to stoop very low to get in. If I remember rightly he 
 claimed to be converted that day. I was obliged to leave 
 the city soon after, but heard from him several times before 
 his execution. 
 
 Petersburg, Va., April, 1887. 
 
 My Dear Friend : I received your postal and will answer it at 
 once. I was very glad to hear from you, especially as you remind" 
 me so much of my dear old mother not exactly now, but as she 
 was about fifteen years ago. * * * 
 
 Mrs. R. sang the same hymn for me that I heard you sing to 
 those in the room above me. She said she would, if she had the 
 chance before she left the city, write it for me and bring it to me, 
 but as she has not been here yet I fear she has left, so I will be very 
 glad if you will be so kind as to write it for me. It is beautiful. 
 
 I was very sorry you left so soon. I would have been so glad for 
 you to have been in town longer so you could have called at least 
 once more! But if I never see you on this earth it is comforting 
 to know we may meet in heaven. But, O God! had I received jus- 
 tice, today I would be as free as the birds of the field. There is a 
 blessed hope in knowing while we are persecuted by men, it is only 
 the body they can persecute on this earth, the soul is out of their 
 reach. And before the flesh is cold in death my soul will be soaring 
 above in the realms of bliss to be forever blessed! O forever! For- 
 evermore! It is one of the most consoling of all consolations for 
 me to know that it is only the condemnation of man and the so- 
 called law of the land by which I was convicted not by no, not 
 by the great Judge of all hearts and not by justice at all. Only 
 condemned by man not by my God and justice. But it is all in 
 God 's hands and He will repay, for ' ' Vengeance is mine, ' ' saith the 
 Lord. Vengeance is not mine nor do I wish to revenge any one. 
 * * * * ' Revenge is sweet, ' ' is an old adage, but not to me to get 
 revenge and by so doing lose my own soul, for what is the whole 
 world to gain and lose your own soul I I am charged with that 
 of which I am not guilty, but my protestation is in no way believed. 
 
2O*O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Neither was the only pure one who ever trod the soil of this earth. 
 He was caught and charged, accused, condemned yes, more than 
 that, was crucified. Was he guilty? No emphatically no. But his 
 innocence could not save him. Nor did mine do me any good in 
 my trial at all. But, thank God, it will do me good in the world 
 to come, where I will receive justice and I will not be in danger of 
 prejudice as lies and prejudice are the cause of my being in this 
 lonely cell today. * * * 
 
 All the boys in the room over me request me to be remembered 
 in my letter to you kindly. Many thanks to you for those tracts you 
 sent me. I hope to be remembered in your daily appeals to our 
 Maker, in whose care I prayerfully submit myself and you to his 
 keeping in the future. God grant it and may we meet in heaven. 
 Hoping this will in no way offend you and that it may be an- 
 swered soon to one in solitude yet not alone condemned yet not 
 guilty. Your brother in Christ, W. R. P. 
 
 HARDENED IN CRIME. 
 
 The case of the writer of the following communications 
 (which were written on postal cards) was one of note. He 
 was supposed to be so hardened in crime and so void of 
 feeling that there was no hope for him that nothing could 
 reach or save him. But I believed that God loved him just 
 as the Word teaches us, and I laid hold 'on the promises 
 of the Bible for his soul's salvation. I am sure that God 
 never turns a penitent soul away empty who comes to Him 
 in faith, feeling that He is a rewarder of those who dili- 
 gently seek Him. "O ye of little faith, wherefore didst 
 thou doubt?" 
 
 After the light of God broke in upon this poor man's 
 soul he saw that he was a wretched sinner, but that there 
 was pardon and peace for all who truly repent of their sins 
 and who confess and forsake them. To such God has 
 given the promise of eternal life and that the blood of 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 26 1 
 
 Jesus Christ his Son shall cleanse their hearts from all 
 sin. This man was convinced of his need of a Savior and 
 deeply convicted of sin and we believe was made ready to 
 meet God. He seemed very deeply thankful to me for my 
 untiring efforts in his behalf and surprised at my faith and 
 confidence in God for him, and through these He was 
 brought by the power of the Spirit unto repentance toward 
 God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 June 18, 1887. 
 My Dear, Kind Friend: 
 
 I received your welcome postal and it makes me happy to read 
 it. I am now ready to go to my fate. I pray every night and 
 day for God to forgive me. I put my whole trust in Him. Pray 
 for me that God will wash my sins away and receive me in heaven. 
 As I expect God to forgive me 1 forgive and love everybody. 
 Think of me when I am gone. I wish you could pray with me be- 
 fore I go on my long journey, for I love to hear you pray. Good- 
 bye. From your penitent brother in Christ. A. T. 
 
 Jail, June 23, 1887. 
 Dear Sister in Christ: 
 
 My time on this earth is now very short (but seven days) and 
 I am now ready to go to my Father, whom I trust and pray will 
 forgive me my crime and receive me in his heavenly home. I 
 pray every hour in the day and, my dear sister, do the same for 
 me that my sins may be washed away in His blood. Pray that He 
 may give me everlasting life. O, if I could but live my life over 
 again, how I would pray and put all my trust in Him. Dear sister, 
 this may be the last time you may hear from me on this earth, 
 but I hope we may meet in heaven. Good-bye, God bless you and 
 your noble work. 
 
 Yours waiting to go to his Savior, 
 
 A. T. 
 
 May God forgive me. 
 
262 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 L., Ky., June 25, 1887. 
 Dear Sister in Christ: 
 
 If you only knew how much a poor sinner like me needs the 
 prayers ot such Christians and lovers of God and His Word as you 
 are, you would pray both night and day that He will receive me 
 in his heavenly home, where there is no sin or sorrow, but where 
 all is love and peace. I have now but five short days until all 
 that is of the world will be consigned to the tomb and I do so 
 pray night and day that Jesus will cleanse me of my sins. I 
 think this will be the last time you will hear from me on this 
 earth and when I go to eternity I do so praising God, forgiving my 
 enemies, firm in faith and the belief that my sins are washed 
 
 away in the blood of Jesus. Good-bye. May we meet in heaven. 
 
 A. T. 
 
 In 1888 I visited a county jail so crowded with prisoners 
 that I wondered how they could live in that poorly venti- 
 lated, filthy prison. They had little to eat and evidently no 
 one to care for them. There were Indians, Mexicans, 
 white and colored all together. There I found TEN MEN 
 UNDER DEATH SENTENCE; and I was convinced that several 
 were innocent of the charges laid against them being con- 
 demned by circumstantial evidence. Those ten condemned 
 men were made the subject of constant, earnest prayer. 
 O, if judges and jurymen could only know what eternal 
 destinies hang upon their decisions, surely they would be 
 less ready to condemn on less than positive evidence. Sev- 
 eral of the ten were executed among them the writer of 
 the following letter: 
 
 , April 2, 1888. 
 
 My Dear Sister: 
 
 We received your postal. I was so glad to receive it from those 
 who love my soul; I have not forgotten one word you left with 
 me. Jesus Christ is the subject of my day talk and night dreams. 
 1 remember you when I get down on my knees to pray. I pray 
 for the Lord's will to be done with me as it is done in heaven. 
 
OR A LAKOR OF LOVK 263 
 
 I have forsaken the world for Jesus ' sake. His love is shed abroad 
 in my heart. Myself and Brothers W. and A. (whose sentences 
 have been changed) are still serving God also Brother S. I could 
 not tell you how it is with the other boys, but I talk to thorn 
 every day. Brothers W., A., and S. join with me in sending the':r 
 love to you. God bless you. I am your brother in Christ. 
 
 April 26, A. D. 1888. 
 Sister Elizabeth K. Wheaton. My Dear Sister in Jesus Christ: 
 
 My days have been numbered here on earth by man, but there 
 is no end to the number of days that my God has promised me in 
 heaven no more a prisoner here on earth, but to live with our 
 Lord forevermore. Let not your heart be troubled about me, for 
 all is well! Yes, indeed, all is well. The love of Christ will bear 
 me home. Jesus Christ is in me and I am in Him. In God I 
 trust, in Him I die. I could not tell you how the case is with 
 the other boys, but I do know for myself I am ready at any time. 
 My dear sister, I have sent the lovely handkerchief you gave me 
 home to my old mother. I told mother who gave it to me and for 
 her to place it in my Bible and put it in her trunk and then I 
 said: "Here is a picture of mine and a lock of hair for my poor, 
 old mother and sisters and . brothers. " I leave a mother, four sis- 
 ters and two brothers. If you wish sometime to write to my 
 
 mother her address is . Farewell until we meet 
 
 again. I am your brother in Jesus Christ, 
 
 CONVERSION OF A JEWISH BOY. 
 
 In the same year, I found in one of the prisons of Cali- 
 fornia, a young Jew under sentence of death. While under 
 the influence of drink, he shot the girl he truly loved. He 
 never realized it till he became sober and found himself in 
 prison. Naturally he was surprised and greatly shocked. 
 Wondering why he was there, and being told of his crime, 
 he was overwhelmed with grief, and remorse of conscience. 
 
264 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Poor boy ! His was a sad ending. He was so grief-strick- 
 en ! And yet the courts were against him, and the world 
 at large, for the sin was pronounced murder in the first 
 degree and he must die a boy in his teens. 
 
 As I looked through the grating at the poor doomed boy, 
 an old gentleman spoke to me and said something very 
 unkind about him. The boy said, "That man is a hypocrite. 
 But I like those hymns you sang. Wont you sing for me?" 
 So I sang for him, and he requested me not to talk to him 
 then. So I said, "Can I come and see you again?" Oh, 
 yes, come again, do." This poor boy was one of the lost 
 ones, and Jesus touched his heart while I sang, "Meet me 
 there." This was from that time on his favorite hymn, 
 and I sang it for him just before he went to the scaffold. 
 
 I went back and forth from San Francisco to other 
 places for six weeks, but his case lay very heavy upon my 
 heart. I knew that on the I4th of September he was to go, 
 and that worse still, he was in danger of eternal death. I 
 pleaded and wept for him day and night, that he might be 
 brought to see his lost condition and his need of Christ 
 and yield to God. How I bless God that He hears and 
 answers prayer! "If any man see his brother sin a sin 
 which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him 
 life for them that sin not unto death." i John 5:16. 
 
 Before his conversion I received from him the following 
 letters, beautifully and correctly written: 
 
 San Francisco, Aug. 9, 1888. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Wheaton: 
 
 As to religion I do not profess any creed. I do not mean by 
 the above that I hate them. on the contrary, I love religion and 
 hate hypocrisy. I am not an atheist and must admit that I be- 
 lieve in a true, just and most merciful God. I appreciate your 
 visits very much and hope you will call to see me as often as 
 
OR A LABOR O LOVE 265 
 
 opportunity and convenience will allow, so 1 now close this brief 
 epistle by sending kindest regards and best wishes. I am 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 ' < Condemned Cell. ' ' 
 
 P. S. Kind thanks for singing. 
 
 San Francisco, Sept. 7, 1888. 
 Mrs. Wheaton: 
 
 I am pleased that you called to see me and hope you will 
 repeat your visits. It grieves me to see you shed tears, and al- 
 though I say nothing, remember that ''still water runs deep." I 
 have faith and believe in prayer, so I believe that the cause of a 
 condemned boy will te heard in heaven and will come to pass. I 
 am not allowed to shake hands, much less give my mother a com- 
 forting kiss. I now end by thanking you very kindly for your 
 kindness and consideration to me. 
 
 I am, respectfully, 
 
 I went, the day before the execution, to see him. No 
 one was allowed to go inside the doomed boy's cell, so I 
 was compelled to submit to the law. The sheriff said posi- 
 tively, "No, you cannot go inside." But the chief jailer 
 said, "I promised that this lady should go inside the boy's 
 cell before the execution, and I must keep my word. I 
 will go in with her." He opened the door and we went in. 
 He was a grand man. Myself and the sister who was with 
 me prayed for the prisoner's salvation. We sang and read 
 and prayed, and at last the presence of the Holy Spirit 
 seemed to fill the gloomy little cell, and to touch the poor 
 boy kneeling there with the shackles on his limbs. (They 
 frequently put shackles on some days before the execution, 
 and place them in the "doomed cell") We kept on pray- 
 
266 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 ing and singing and at last the light came into his heart, 
 and God owned him as His child. 
 
 On the morning of the execution, I went early to the 
 prison ; and as I hurried along there met me a young Catho- 
 lic priest, who was our mutual friend, and very kind. He 
 said, "Come quickly, the boy ivants you. He has called for 
 you all night, and they could not find you, so they came for 
 me. I have been waiting for you." This priest had labored 
 with me to convince the poor boy that Jesus was the Christ 
 and that He alone could save him. I hurried on into the 
 prison for my last greeting on earth with the poor con- 
 demned boy. There was no loud demonstration he was 
 going to die, and knew it ; but he felt that he was ready. 
 He said to me: "I can hardly wait the hour to go home. 
 I am willing and ready to die. O sing for me my favorite' 
 songs. I wish you could go with me to the scaffold, but 
 that is against the law for women to go to the execution 
 in this state." Mothers could not endure such things, but 
 I feel, when permitted, as if I must stay till all is over. 
 
 I took a white silk handkerchief and gently folded it 
 around the boy's neck, and said, "I think the rope won't 
 hurt so bad, and the pain won't be so severe with this 
 around your neck." I shall never forget the grateful look 
 on his face, as he smilingly thanked me. He was a very 
 refined young man, and only for whiskey he might be liv- 
 ing yet. As I bade him good-bye he said, ''Please sing for 
 me once more before I go." I sang and passed out among 
 the crowds of people. I seemed to be lifted above the 
 things of earth I was so thankful for his salvation. Read- 
 er, do you know what it is to travail for a soul and then 
 count the hours and moments till you see them go over the 
 river of death, and by-and-by with the eye of faith see 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 267 
 
 them enter the pearly gates into the presence of Him who 
 was crucified for them? 
 
 After the execution I received the following kind letter 
 from the young priest to whom I have referred : 
 
 San Francisco, Oct. 13, 1888. 
 Dear Madam: 
 
 It was with great pleasure I read your kind and welcome note. 
 I thank you very much for your pleasant remembrance and hope 
 that God will bless your efforts and sacrifices on behalf of the 
 poor prisoners. 
 
 In regard to A., I can say that he was resigned to the last and 
 died well prepared, in my opinion. I was with him almost con- 
 stantly during the last twelve hours. I think his family placed 
 the silk handkerchief in the coffin with him. 
 
 Please give my regards to your kind companion and say some- 
 times a little prayer for me. I hope to see you soon in San Fran- 
 cisco and have the pleasure of renewing my acquaintance. I 
 have the honor of remaining, 
 
 Yours truly in Jesus Christ, 
 
 Eev. N F . 
 
 MYSTERIOUSLY GUIDED. 
 
 In April, 1891, I was in Kansas City, Mo. After waiting 
 upon the Lord for some days asking Him where He would 
 have me go next I was impressed to go to the depot and 
 that there it would be shown me what I must do. I did so, 
 but even then was left for several hours in uncertainty as 
 to what train to take, as I had passes on four different 
 lines. I spent the time in earnest prayer. At last, toward 
 evening, I was led to take the Rock Island train for Chi- 
 cago and impressed that the Lord would show me when 
 and where to stop. I had two sisters and a little boy with 
 'me and they could not understand my indecision. 
 
 As our train hurried on during the night, I kept asking 
 the Lord where I should stop, and He made it very plain 
 
268 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 ; 
 
 to me that I was to stop at Ottawa, 111. I knew no one 
 there, and there was no state-prison there, but the Lord 
 showed me to go to the county jail and when I did so 
 found there were several men there soon to be executed. 
 I was told that no one was permitted to see them; but we 
 went praying and the Lord touched the hearts of the offi- 
 cers and we were permitted to hold a service. We were 
 much helped of the Holy Spirit and I believe some of these 
 condemned men were saved at least they seemed to give 
 evidence of it. One of them afterwards wrote me two let- 
 ters. These I give to my readers. It is well to remember, 
 however, that not many such prisoners are accustomed to 
 expressing their thoughts in writing and hence their letters 
 fail to express the depth of feeling clearly shown in their 
 words and manner when I am with them. Again all their 
 letters are to be read before they leave the prison, so they 
 do not open their hearts as freely when writing as when 
 speaking with me alone. 
 
 La Salle County Jail, 
 Ottawa, 111., April 28, 1891. 
 Elizabeth B. Wheaton. 
 
 Dear Sister: We are doing very well. As for Mr. C. and myself, 
 we will do the best we can to reach that Beautiful home in the 
 New Jerusalem, for the Lord saith: "He that believeth and abideth 
 in Me shall have everlasting life. ' ' As you must have seen, our be- 
 lief is a little different from yours in some respects, but, neverthe- 
 less, we are all working for that one place and that is heaven. He 
 that leaveth his sins behind him shall be saved. The example of 
 those who died for Christ, for the faith and for virtue's sake are 
 also continually placed before us that we may learn to endure suf- 
 ferings and even death rather than be unfaithful to God and stain 
 our conscience with sin. The Christian's motto is, "Death before 
 dishonor." Hoping that you will continue to pray for us that we 
 may be cleansed from sin and be saved, we send you our sincere 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 269 
 
 and hearty wishes for your welfare. God bless you and keep you 
 ever for your sincere effort in our behalf. Hoping that we may 
 meet in that beautiful place where the penitent shall find rest, I 
 remain yours in respect, CHARLIE . 
 
 La Salle County Jail, 
 Ottawa, 111., May 6, 1891. 
 Dear Sister: 
 
 I was glad to receive your letter and to hear that you are still 
 praying for us. Mr. F. has gone out, so there are just two of us 
 me and Mr. C., who, I think, will get a new trial. He sends his 
 kind regards and is doing well. 
 
 As for me, I am very close to the grave as I have only four 
 more days to live, but hope that it will be all for the best. I am 
 preparing myself for death as much as possible for so short a time. 
 My thoughts are not of the outside world, but of a higher world, 
 where there is no sin or trouble or care, but everylasting life and 
 happiness. I also hope that we may meet in that haven of rest. 
 I will do as you say, put my trust in God and believe in Him. 
 Life is very short at best, but we all have our cares and troubles 
 and must bear with them the best we can, as we are helpless 
 without the grace of God. Thanking you sincerely for your kind 
 efforts in our behalf, I remain your brother in all sincerity. Fare- 
 well. Yours in respect, 
 
 CHARLIE . 
 
 IN LONG EXPECTATION. 
 
 .1 first saw E. B in the jail in Wichita, Kansas. There 
 were many prisoners there at that time and especially in 
 the Oklahoma ward. It was soon after the opening up of 
 Oklahoma territory and the rush for claims. There was 
 great excitement and many lost their lives. Some were 
 thrown from their horses and killed. Others died from 
 exhaustion, running as for life to get the property they so 
 much coveted. There were many things done that were 
 wrong. Some are still lingering inside prison walls for 
 "defending their rights" as they thought. I do not remem- 
 
,. PRAYER 
 
 ber just what E.'s trouble was, but he was sentenced to 
 death and the day and the hour were set. I went often to 
 the prison and sang and prayed for the prisoners. They 
 were my friends. I knew and loved them as a mother 
 would, and especially this young boy the youngest of 
 them all. 
 
 I went away to Europe and on my return I again visited 
 the jail in Wichita to hold a service. While singing the 
 first hymn the jailer came into the apartment where I was 
 and said, "The Oklahoma boys have heard you singing and 
 want you to come at once to their ward. They did not 
 know you had returned from Scotland and are so anxious 
 to see you." And such a welcome as those dear boys and 
 men gave me I had received no where else since my return. 
 Some were under death sentences. O how my heart aches 
 even now as I think of the tears they shed and of their 
 warm handclasp. Then I could only fall on my knees and 
 sob out my sorrow for them and my heartfelt thanks to 
 God for the warm welcome and as I wept and prayed I 
 believe good was accomplished and souls saved. Some are 
 dead and gone. Others are in the asylum for the criminal 
 insane. A few were pardoned out. Eddie's case lingered. 
 While hoping for a commutation of sentence he wrote the 
 following letter: 
 
 Wichita, May 3, 1891. 
 Dear Friend: 
 
 I received your kind letter. Was glad to hear you were well and 
 still at your post, working for others. I am still in iny little cell 
 awaiting what comes and have not heard much yet regarding com- 
 mitment, but hope it may come in time. I am feeling as though I 
 have a heavy load on my shoulders for a boy, but I hope and pray 
 for the best to come. I want to see the light, if there is any for 
 me. I sometimes think that I am forgotten; and then again I know 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 27! 
 
 better, for there is One who never forgets us. I have read those 
 nice tracts you sent me and they are all true. The boys are all well 
 and send their best respects to you and hope to meet you again; and 
 you know I do, for I feel the need of your kindness and appreciate 
 it highly. 1 know what a kind mother is. I have a good Christian 
 mother and father. Oh, if I were only free again, so I could enjoy 
 life with my dear mother! No one knows how lonely I am. You 
 
 are only one hundred miles from my home in , Illinois. If 
 
 you go there you could find them by enquiring for them. They would 
 be glad to see you, as I have told them about your being here. I 
 hope some day that you can come and see me on the outside. What 
 a happy boy I would be! If not, I hope we may meet in that 
 brighter home. I have been reading my Bible and find, relief. What 
 a book it is, and the good that can be gotten from it! T wish you 
 success through life and that you may save many a poor *ost sinner. 
 No one knows the good they can do until they try. 
 
 May God bless you, is my prayer. EDDIE . 
 
 SENTENCE COMMUTED. 
 
 Many of those acquainted with the case were anxious 
 for his release but met with little encouragement. I con- 
 tinued to pray earnestly that at least his life might be 
 spared. When the day appointed for his execution came 
 I was in a distant state some miles from a telegraph office, 
 but I sent a little boy to the office with a message telling 
 him that the Lord might even yet deliver him and if not 
 would sustain him in his dying moments. The same day^a 
 wire came for him from the governor changing his sen- 
 tence to imprisonment for life. He was transferred to a 
 northern prison, but only lived a few years. So far as I 
 could learn he lived and died a Christian, and I hope to see 
 him again by and by in heaven. 
 
 A MAN DECEIVED. 
 
 At one time I held a service with the prisoners in the 
 county jail in Sedalia, Missouri. Among them was a 
 
27? PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 poor old man awaiting execution. He seemed unmoved, 
 stolid, indifferent. I talked and prayed with him and asked 
 him about his soul's salvation. He said it was all right 
 with his soul and that he was saved. I knew the Lord 
 showed me that he was a deceived man and that the devil 
 had deluded him into thinking he was all right. I was 
 faithful to my convictions, to my God and to his soul. I 
 said to him : "You are not prepared to face the scaffold 
 and death." He seemed indignant that I should doubt his 
 word, but I left him with the warning, "Prepare to meet 
 thy God." 
 
 I went to the wife of the sheriff, who was an excellent 
 woman, and found she too was very anxious about his soul. 
 I told her of my burden for him and asked for a room 
 where I could wait on God in prayer and she kindly fur- 
 nished it. In an hour the old man sent word to the sheriff 
 to send for me to come and pray for him as he was not fit 
 to die. In company with others I went to him and the 
 poor deceived old man repented of his sins and confessed 
 them to God and to us and was blessedly saved and died 
 in the full assurance of faith. His last words were of his 
 hope in Christ and of his acceptance with God. I fully be- 
 lieve that the blood of Jesus who died on the cross for 
 sinners and was the friend of sinners always did cleanse 
 his soul. The sheriff's wife told me of his last words and 
 that all was well. We give a clipping from a Sedalia paper 
 concerning the case. 
 
 VISITORS EXCLUDED. 
 
 WILLIAMSON WiLL RECEIVE NO MORE VISITS PREPARATION FOR THE 
 
 EXECUTION. 
 
 Sheriff Ellis R. Smith has commenced to make his arrangements 
 for the execution of Thomas A. Williamson, and everything will be 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 273 
 
 in readiness before Saturday morning. The rope with which John 
 Oscar Turlington and Bill Price were hanged will be used, the sheriff 
 having received a telegram yesterday from Sheriff Mat S. Ayers, of 
 Saline county, stating that it had been forwarded to him by express. 
 On the day of execution the police force will assist the county 
 authorities in preserving order in the. vicinity of the jail building. 
 
 No more visitors will be permitted to see and talk with William- 
 son, except his spiritual advisers. This is in compliance with the 
 condemned man's wishes, v/hich are contained in the following note 
 which he sent to Sheriff Smith yesterday: 
 
 "Sheriff Smith: I would like a cell by myself the rest of my 
 time. You can put me any place. I will give you no trouble. My 
 mind is on God. I would like to be upstairs; it is lighter up there. 
 I will go where you put me. T. A. W. ' ' 
 
 I received from him the following letters written after 
 his conversion. One of them reached me after his execution : 
 
 Sedalia, Mo. 
 Sister Elizabeth R. Wheaton: 
 
 I am well this morning. I thank God for it. I hope this will find 
 you well. I prayed to God to watch over me through the night, 
 and He did. I feel happy. I will meet you across the river. We 
 will have a good time. May God keep you. I am going to heaven. 
 I will meet you in that bright land. I am glad to hear from you. 
 
 THOS. A. 
 
 Sedalia, Mo., October 29, 1891. 
 My True Mother: 
 
 I got your letter right now. I read it and got on my knees and 
 prayed to God to have mercy on me. My sister, I have my mind on 
 Jesus all the time. I feel happy this morning. Mother, I will meet 
 you on the other shore. Mother S. (the sheriff's wife) is so kind to 
 me! My mind is on God so I can hardly write. I will pray for you. 
 
 THOS. A. 
 
 INTERCEDED FOR THE LIFE OF A BOY. 
 
 I went to a city in 1898, where there were four under 
 
274 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 sentence of death, and when I went into the jail found 
 many waiting trial. Some were going to state's prison. 
 Others were to die on the scaffold. 1 was especially im- 
 pressed with the case of one boy who was under death sen- 
 tence. I held a service with the prisoners and talked per- 
 sonally to those condemned to die. One man was wonder- 
 fully saved and I believe went to heaven from the scaffold. 
 I then went away to other states. But I was so troubled 
 I made inquiries and found that the young boy to whom I 
 referred zvas not charged with being a murderer, and was 
 not deserving of death. I plead to God if there was noth- 
 ing the law could find in him worthy of death, that his sen- 
 tence might be commuted, and the poor boy might live. 
 Upon my return I went to the capital to see the Governor, 
 and asked him to grant the boy a life sentence in prison. 
 My request was granted, it was soon all settled and the 
 boy's life was spared. Yet the Deputy Sheriff was very 
 angry at the Governor for granting the commutation ! 
 
 WENT TO THE SCAFFOLD SINGING. 
 
 In May, 1899, another poor prisoner ended his life on 
 the scaffold. The Friday before, two died on the same gal- 
 lows. I visited them the day before the execution, talked 
 and sang hymns (their favorites), and then we three 
 kneeled together in prayer in the little "condemned cell." 
 Kneeling between my boys, clasping each by the hand, we 
 gave ourselves to the blessed Savior, who said just before 
 he expired on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they 
 know not what they do." I shall never forget that last 
 prayer meeting with those unfortunate men who had been 
 led astray by evil surroundings and associations, forming 
 habits which finally sent them to early graves, by fearful 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 2/5 
 
 deaths. Yet, as we knelt there together, just we three and 
 the blessed Holy Spirit witnessing, we promised to meet 
 in Heaven. Jesus met us there and forgave them their 
 sins, and joy rilled our souls with love for Him who gave 
 Himself a ransom for us, not willing that any should perish, 
 but rather that all should have eternal life. How my heart 
 rejoiced to hear them say they were prepared to go, and 
 the parting was very sweet. A solemn hush filled the little 
 cell sweet peace which only comes when souls have been 
 redeemed, fell upon my heart, and I was glad Jesus Him- 
 self did His own work for His own name's honor and 
 glory. They sang hymns and prayed all night before the 
 execution. They refused to eat, preferring to sing and 
 pray till the last, and went to the scaffold singing and 
 praising God, and were still singing when the drop fell, 
 and they were gone from earth. 
 
 My heart cried out for the living that May morning, as 
 another one went to the scaffold, "O God, save his soul ! O 
 God, forgive him all his sins. The same scaffold, the same 
 sin, and the same Jesus to blot out all his transgressions." 
 I believe God, where he says, Isa. i :i8, "Though your sins 
 be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow : though they 
 be red like crimson they shall be as wool." If it were not 
 for the promises of God in His blessed Word, I should give 
 up in despair, sometimes, over those cases who have been 
 so deceived by the devil. Yet God is able to snatch them as 
 brands from the burning. Jude 22-23 says, ''And of some 
 have compassion, making a difference : and others save with 
 fear, pulling them out of the fire ; hating even the garment 
 spotted by the flesh." Jesus said, "Whosoever will may 
 come," I believe His promises are "Yea and amen to all 
 that believe." When I see what saloons and other evils are 
 
2/6 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 doing to wreck lives and ruin souls, I wonder how God 
 on His throne can ever forgive such premeditated, inten- 
 tional sins. The keepers of these places sell themselves to 
 Satan to be used by him to defeat God's plan of saving 
 those who will come unto Him. O that all who claim to be 
 Christians would unite to overthrow the means that Satan 
 uses to le'ad down to eternal death so- many precious souls ! 
 The case to which I shall now refer was one in many 
 respects especially touching. The condemned man had oc- 
 cupied a prominent official position. The dear, noble 
 wife never turned away from her husband. Hers were 
 the kind heart and hands that ministered to his needs and 
 cheered the long, gloomy hours of his imprisonment. She 
 stood by him in his trial and during those days of agony 
 and suspense. Then came the verdict "Guilty," and the 
 sentence of death! Yet, though her own heart was break- 
 ing as she thought of herself and her beautiful, helpless 
 children, she still sought to cheer and comfort as best she 
 could that poor condemned man whose heart was torn with 
 anguish when he realized that because of his sin that faith- 
 ful loving wife and those innocent children must be left dis- 
 graced and destitute. What is to become of the little ones 
 who are powerless to help themselves and of the poor de- 
 spised, rejected, forsaken mother, trying to earn with her 
 own hands by toiling night and day enough to feed and 
 clothe those helpless babes? O my God, will you not help 
 me to provide a home for such as these? For the sake of 
 these heart-broken mothers whose lives are doomed to be 
 (only as helped by the grace of God) one great unending 
 sorrow for the sake of the poor children so cruelly robbed 
 of their birthright a father's good name and protection, 
 these who are worse than orphans, yet for whom nobody 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 277 
 
 seems to care, help me to do what I can what thou dost 
 require at my hands. This man was brought up in a Chris- 
 tian home and but for the power of evil associations with 
 which he was brought in contact and the curse of the legal- 
 ized saloon, would today in all probability have been a re- 
 spected and honorable member of society. 
 
 I first found him one Fourth of July. While others were 
 spending the holiday I went toiling through the heat to the 
 prison and there I found my reward. My soul was borne 
 upward by the Holy Spirit as I sang many songs of praise 
 and tenderly led this poor man to the foot of the cross where 
 he was saved. His wife was there a part of the time. I 
 seem to see the parting even now of those dear ones ! Well, 
 God knows it all. Had I never known a wife's and a 
 mother's love I could not have sympathized with them as 
 I did. I thought W'hat if my boy had lived and come to 
 such an end and I wept with that faithful wife as she took 
 leave. O, sisters, there is a power in even a look of love 
 coming from a true heart. 
 
 I give two letters received from the condemned man and 
 one written me by his wife. I omit the name of place and 
 exact date and even the initials, as so few years have passed 
 and I do not wish to do anything that might bring pain to 
 the hearts of surviving friends. The family was of the most 
 cultured and respected. 
 
 July, 1899. 
 Dear Sister Wheaton: 
 
 It was with the greatest pleasure that I read your card this morn- 
 ing. I was wondering where you were; but I knew that if your 
 health permitted you, you were somewhere doing good to some poor 
 unfortunate. 
 
 Yes, I am putting my entire trust in Jesus. He saves me from 
 my sins and when the cares and woes of this life come to disturb 
 
278 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 my peace, I look unto the Savior and soon all is peace again. What 
 would I do in a place like this and under such circumstances did 
 not his gentle voice speak unto me and say, ' ' Fear not, I will not 
 leave nor forsake you. " My wife was down to see me last Mon- 
 day, and is coming today (Thursday). She wrote me that your 
 songs and prayer were still ringing in her ears so you see that your 
 good work is not only felt by prisoners. I hope that you may be 
 able to go on with the good work that so much delights you and 
 that you may yet win many wandering souls and bring them into 
 the fold of God and that when your work on earth is ended you may 
 rest from your labors in the most beautiful palace in the city of 
 heaven. You may think that strange that I said "palace," but I 
 believe that heaven is a real and tangible city the home of God, 
 from where He sends the Holy Ghost to dwell in the hearts of all 
 those who are willing to receive Him. 
 
 I will now say good-by, and if I never again meet you on this 
 earth, I hope to meet you in heaven. 
 
 I am yours most sincerely in the hope of heaven. 
 
 August, 1899. 
 
 My Dear Mother, for such you seem to me, I will never while I am 
 on this earth cease to think of you. I have remembered your voice 
 
 since I first heard you sing and pray while in the cells of poor W 
 
 and S , the condemned men. I wished then that I could have 
 
 seen you, and I told the boys that you were certainly born of God; 
 and from that day I have desired to have your influence and prayers. 
 I am still trusting in the love, mercy and power of the Savior to 
 save my soul in the eternal world and to keep me from sin while I 
 am in this. I have no other hope, nc other desire than to serve my 
 Master. I would want to attain to a state of perfection here, if 
 such were possible, but you know that the cares of this life come in 
 to rob us of the pleasure that we would enjoy in the anticipation of 
 heaven. But some day the dark clouds that overshadow us and 
 prevent us for a while from seeing the Savior's smiling face will be 
 
 rolled away. I am glad to tell you that the sentence of K , 
 
 whose cell was next to mine, has been commuted to life imprisonment. 
 He and the wan P send their regards to you. P 's sentence 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 279 
 
 is respited until the 17th of November, and in the meantime he hopes 
 for a new trial. 
 
 I will close, wishing you the choicest blessings of heaven, and 
 I am yours very sincerely, trusting in the hope of eternal life, 
 
 Your brother in Christ. 
 
 The following from the Star of , , ex- 
 plains itself. The men are referred to in the above letter : 
 
 BOTH TWICE CONVICTED OF THE CRIME OF MURDER. 
 
 Everything is in readiness at the District jail for the double exe- 
 cution which is to take place tomorrow, when S and W will 
 
 pay the penalty of their crimes. So far as outward appearances 
 are concerned, the condemned men are in a better frame of mind 
 than are most of the other prisoners in the big brown-stone prison. 
 Their spiritual advisers are with them most of the time, and when 
 they are absent the men pass the hours reading religious books and 
 praying. 
 
 S and W have both been well-behaved prisoners and have 
 
 given the jail officials no trouble whatever. The former has been 
 particularly friendly with the guards and others, and today he 
 thanked several of them for past kindnesses. He also desired to 
 express his gratitude to his many friends for what they had done for 
 
 him, and said he desired to do so through the Star. S has had 
 
 many visitors during the entire time of his confinement in jail, but 
 more especially during recent weeks. Most of them have been female 
 relatives. They have been endeavoring to collect funds enough to 
 defray the expenses of a decent burial. In the event of their being 
 successful the body will be turned over to them after the execution 
 by the undertaker employed by the government to prepare the 
 bodies for burial. 
 
 Monday afternoon, just before the prison doors were locked for the 
 day, the bell rang and the guard at the door admitted a woman who 
 handed in her card on which was printed: 
 
 "Elizabeth Rider Wheaton, 
 
 "Prison Evangelist. 
 . "No Home but Heaven." 
 
28O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 She had with her a number of tracts which she distributed to some 
 of the prisoners. Her religious work is all done in prisons, and she 
 makes a specialty of laboring with condemned men. She stated to 
 the guards that she had traveled about 2,000 miles to see those in 
 jail here before their execution. The warden admitted her to the 
 
 cells. She had W and S join her in prayer and song in the 
 
 latter 's cell, and the men seemed greatly to appreciate her hour's 
 visit. She next saw E S , who is to die on the scaffold next 
 
 week. He, too, appeared to enjoy her call. 
 Star. 
 
 August, 1899. 
 Mrs. Wheaton. 
 
 My Dear Sister : I must write a few lines to' you, in my husband 's 
 letter, as you have shown yourself so kind to him, poor fellow. I 
 can see you now and hear you, in my fancy, singing those beautiful 
 pieces. Oh, how sad I felt on that Fourth of July as I sat and lis- 
 tened, especially to the one called ' ' Some Mother 's Child, " as ] 
 looked upon my dear husband and thought of his mother and how 
 tenderly he had been reared by Christian parents, and was always a 
 good and thoughtful son and husband until by reason of evil asso- 
 ciations he fell into sin and kept going further and further from 
 God until at last he was led to do the most dreadful of deeds. How 
 I pity him! 
 
 O how happy I once was! Had a pretty home and everything to 
 brighten it. But alas, they have vanished and now I feel alone, 
 without anything. Did I say ''alone?" No, not so, for the God 
 that I have served and who has been with me these twenty years, is 
 still with me; and I feel to say, "Though he slay me, yet will I 
 trust him." I feel that he will open up a way for his children. 
 Now, my dear sister, I would love to see you again in this life and 
 talk with you, but if I never meet you here I trust I shall meet you 
 above, where your voice will be heard with the angels of God. Please 
 remember me to your lady helper. Would be glad to hear from you 
 at any time. Good-bye. Yours in love and the hope of heaven, 
 
 Two years later, while in the same city, a friend invited 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 28 1 
 
 me to go to an open-air service and after I had sung and 
 spoken to those who were gathered a dear lady clasped my 
 hand and said : "I am so glad to see you, mother don't you 
 know me?" As I failed to recognize her she turned her 
 careworn but lovely face so that the electric light shone 
 full upon her and said, "Don't you remember me now?" 
 When I still answered "No, I do not," the tears gathered 
 in the dear eyes as she said, "My husband never forgot your 
 singing and your prayers before he went away," and then it 
 dawned upon me that she was the wife of the man the peo- 
 ple hung to gratify the saloon men's greed. She said: "I 
 do wish I could ask you home with me, but I have only a 
 little hall room for myself and children. I am keeping 
 boarders to make a living for myself and them." O how I 
 wished for a home to which I could welcome them, but I, 
 too, am a pilgrim and a stranger, and all I could do was to 
 kiss the dear sister and commend her to the widow's God 
 and her dear ones to the Father of the fatherless. 
 
 The letters following are from two brothers with whom 
 I labored, and who showed much appreciation of my -efforts 
 with them and professed to be saved. I received a number 
 of encouraging letters from them and from others in the 
 same place before they were taken away. We can not 
 always tell as to the sincerity of these poor men, or of their 
 responsibility, some of them doubtless are so nearly unbal- 
 anced in mind, under such a strain, but we know the God 
 of heaven before whom we must all stand will judge right- 
 eously. 
 
 October 18, 1903. 
 My Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 While my dear unfortunate brother, Mr. K., has given me space 
 in his letter, I just wish to congratulate you for the wonderful good 
 you did while here with us, as we have not forgotten your topic, 
 
282 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 ' ' Salvation, ' ' and often speak of you and hope you will come again 
 at your earliest convenience. Thank God there is some of us have 
 the Spirit of God with us. Bless His holy name! And I for one 
 can praise Him for the wonderful good He has done me, and through 
 His wonderful love I have been granted a stay of execution, which 
 was to take place the 21st of this month; for God in heaven knows I 
 am innocent of this crime, as is also my brother. I am sorry to say 
 I do not know much about the Bible, but intend to learn more 
 about His wonderful love to man, and will serve Him to the end. 
 Trusting that you will look upon us as your children, I will close, 
 hoping to hear from you again, Your unfortunate boy, 
 
 B. W. 
 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 Eeceived your letter and was glad to hear from you. It brought 
 great joy to our bleeding hearts. We think of you and wish you 
 could talk and sing for us every day. Your kind, loving words bring 
 me near to God. When I leave this world I will go to my heavenly 
 Father, where there is everlasting life, and if we never meet on 
 earth, I will meet you in heaven. I shall never forget you and the 
 prayer you made for me. We felt bad when you could not come back 
 and tell us about our loving God. Pray for me that I may walk 
 daily with God. I remain as ever, Your dear boy, 
 
 A. W. 
 
 Columbus, Ohio. 
 
 THREE YOUNG MEN. 
 
 Some cases of special interest to me because of such re- 
 cent occurrence, are the three young men mentioned else- 
 where and from whom I received the following letters. I 
 will first give a note very kindly written me by the son of 
 the warden, in answer to an inquiry about the cases while 
 they were awaiting some decision of the supreme court : '. 
 
 Colorado State Penitentiary. 
 
 Canon City, Colo., December 7, 1904. 
 Mother E. R. Wheaton, Tabor, Towa. 
 
 Dear Mother: I have not answered your postal on account of my 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 283 
 
 absence from the city, but I hope you will overlook the delay. The 
 fate of the four prisoners under sentence of death is still undecided, 
 as their case is in the hands of the Supreme Court. There is some 
 doubt as to the legality of the law and it is a hard matter to tell 
 what the outcome will be. No, my folks did not attend the Prison 
 Congress this year on account of my sister 's health. The boys at 
 the prison often speak of you and some have started to forget the 
 past and try to do better in the future on account of the good words 
 you spoke to them. I hope you will come to see us before my father 
 goes out of office, but if this is impossible, I pray that we may 
 
 meet at some future time. I remain, ' Yours respectfully, 
 
 WILLARD CLEGHORN. 
 
 Canon City, Colo., May 3, 1904. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 I have received your kind letter and postal and I am very glad 
 to know that you have not forgotten me. I have not forgotten you 
 either, nor never will. For it was no other than you who put me on 
 the right road to heaven, and I know that if I do all you told me that 
 I will meet you there. I am praying both day and night, and I 
 pray from my heart, and mean every word that I say, and I know 
 that my sorrow is more than I can bear without God 's help. I know 
 that God has forgiven me all of my sins, and will save me too. I 
 do not care who laughs at me for praying and asking God for help. 
 There is nothing that can ever make me quit praying and believing 
 in God, for He has done me good already. 
 
 With love and best wishes, and hoping to hear from you soon, 
 
 Yours sincerely, F . A. 
 
 Canon City, Colo., May 3, 1904. 
 Dear Mrs. Wheaton. 
 
 It is with pleasure that I answer your most kind and welcome let- 
 ter that brother A. and I received some time ago. We also received 
 a postal card this morning. I have neglected my promise of writing, 
 but hereafter will write more promptly. I have not been feeling well, 
 but am better now. I nope you will forgive me this time. 
 
 It does my heart good to know that you are praying for us. 1 
 feel very grateful to you. Us boys pray and read the Holy Bible 
 
284 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 every day. I am trusting to our Heavenly Father, for He makes 
 right the wrong. We are being treated most kindly by the warden 
 and the officers of the prison. 
 
 I will close, as Brother A. wishes to say a few words. 
 
 Hoping to hear from you again, I ever remain 
 
 Your son in Christ, C. 
 
 Canon City, Colo., May 17, 1904. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton. 
 
 My Dear Mother: I received your kind letter and was very much 
 pleased to hear from you, as all of us were. * * * 
 
 When I saw and read your letter and those little tracts, they cer- 
 tainly did take effect on me. As I read them and saw the terrible 
 mistake I had made, it caused the tears to fall. I am trusting in 
 God, but I can't come right out and tell you that I am really saved, 
 for I don't believe in deceiving you. But I do believe that God has 
 laid a hand on me, and I hope He will take a stronger hold on me. 
 I know you will think more of me for telling you the candid facts. 
 I have seen lots of people who would tell that they were really saved, 
 when they knew they were not. But "God help my poor soul," is 
 my regular prayer. I realize that I need His help in my present 
 circumstances. I still ask you to pray for me that God will help me 
 to look to Him. I try my best to do what is right, and never go to 
 sleep a night without praying to Him to save my soul and spare me 
 so that I may be of some benefit to His cause, and I do fully believe 
 that He will answer my prayer, for when I pray I am sure I do it 
 with all my heart and soul. 
 
 I am quite well at present, and hope that these few lines will find 
 you the same. May God bless you and protect you, is my daily 
 prayer. I hope to hear from you again soon. 
 
 From one of yours, and I hope, the Lord's sons. 
 
 Yours respectfully, N. A. 
 
 Canon City, Colo., May 27, 1904. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 I take pleasure in answering your most kind and welcome letter 
 received a few days ago. I am quite well at present. I am taking 
 things as easy as I can and waiting most patiently to know how 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 285 
 
 I will fare. I haven't forgot to pray and read the Bible, nor will 
 I as long as I live. I am trusting in the Lord, for He makes all 
 things right. I will close, hoping to hear from you again. 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 C. P. 
 
 Canon City, Colo., May 27, 1904. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 I take pleasure in answering your letter. You don't know 
 how glad I was to hear from you. This leaves me well and in 
 good faith and I am trusting in the Lord, for I know He will 
 help me if I will only be good and do His will. I pray and read 
 my Bible every night and day. Oh, if I ever do get my freedom 
 I will make a man of myself and do God's will and make my 
 poor wife and mother and father happy. I will never take a drop 
 of whiskey or anything again. So good-bye. We have heard 
 nothing of our case yet. The time seems so long. 
 
 From yours sincerely, 
 
 F. A. 
 
 The following are extracts from touching letters from 
 the aged mother and young wife of this young man : 
 
 Kansas City, Mo., July 4, 1904. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 We received your card and were indeed glad to hear from you. 
 Oh, I am praying to God all the time to spare my baby's life. 
 How can I ever live if they take his life! Why do they want it? 
 He did not kill any one, although the deed he did almost breaks 
 my heart. F. never drank until he got with those people on 
 Market Street. They got him to smoking hop and drinking 
 whiskey. My dear and only child, will God and man have mercy 
 on him? Oh, I thank you for going to see my poor baby boy! 
 God bless him and save his life. 
 
 I hope you can see the Governor and see if he will do something 
 for a mother to save her only child. I can hardly stand it. It 
 has done F. so much good for you to see him. He always speaks 
 of you when he writes home. Oh, I do hope the Governor will 
 give you some hopes, for if I could get any hopes of F. being 
 
286 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 pared it would do me so much good! I pray day and night for my 
 boy. He is on my mind all the time. Hoping to hear from you 
 soon, I am Sincerely yours, MRS. A. 
 
 Kansas City, Mo., July 4, 1904. 
 Mrs. E. E. Wheaton: 
 
 Kind Friend: I was truly glad to hear from you and that you 
 are going to see my dear husband soon. 1 hope it will not be 
 long till I see him, for it seems like years since I have seen poor 
 F. I hope my loved one will ome out better yet, for I can never 
 stand it. I hope and pray tkat F. will have a show for his life. 
 How short our young lives were together. F. was always kind to 
 me and it almost took my life when I was robbed of my darling 
 husband. I was an orphan girl. My dear mother died when I was 
 five years old. I had a hard time all my life till I was eighteen, 
 when I was married to F., last September. I was so happy with 
 him. He was a good boy and never drank till be met with the 
 Market Street gang and they got him to drinking and snicking 
 that hop. 
 
 This is the Fourth of July and F. 's gray-haired mother and I 
 are here grieving over the loved one in prison. If a wife ever 
 loved a husband truly I love mine. I remain your friend, 
 
 MRS. F. A. 
 
 Canon City, Colo., Sept. 22, 1904. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 I was giad to hear from you, which I always am, for your let- 
 ters are full of kind words and it is a pleasure to read them in 
 my lonely cell and know there is one true friend who prays for 
 me. Kind words are few for me now when I am in need and 
 going through the most terrible and trying time of a lifetime. 
 But I am living in hopes and trusting God for my future, come 
 what may. I surely thank you for seeing the Governor in our 
 behalf. 
 
 My mother and wife are well. Their letter to you must have 
 been missent, for they wrote. This leaves me well. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 F. A. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 287 
 
 Canon City, Colo., March 26, 1905. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton: 
 
 Dear Mother: I was very glad to hear from you as I did not 
 know what had become of, you. Well, the law has been found 
 
 good and the death watch is over us. Poor was hung the 
 
 6th. Our time begins the 21st of May. Yes, I am trusting God 
 and I know He has heard my prayers, and whatever comes will 
 be for the best. P - is getting better again they tell me. 
 
 A is the same as ever. I wrote to my mother today and told 
 
 her I heard from you. 
 
 Yours sincerely 
 
 F. A. 
 
 Canon City, Colo., April 12, 1905. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton, Los Angeles, Cal.: 
 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: I was glad to hear from you. Your 
 letters do me so much good, they always give me new hope. Of 
 course you understand what I am going through, and at times 
 hope seems hopeless for the time seems so long to me in this 
 dreary cell, and to think if I had left that horrible liquor alone 
 and stayed away from bad company where I could have been .to- 
 night free and happy, at home with my wife and my poor old 
 mother and father. But as it is I am sad and lonely and my 
 loved ones are far away, heart-broken. But I believe my prayers 
 will be answered yet, for I know God has heard them. But, 
 the Lord's will be done. I know He will do what is best for me. 
 
 Well, dear mother, the boys are well and send their best regards. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 F. A. 
 
 Canon City, Colo., June 15, 1905. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 I received your kind and welcome letter and was glad to hear 
 from you again. I will never have the pleasure of reading an- 
 other letter from you in this world, for I have been put back 
 in a horrible death cell again and the Board of Pardons and Gov- 
 ernor have refused to save me from the terrible death I am 
 doomed for, but I expect to meet you in heaven, dear mother, 
 
288 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 for I know God has forgiven me all of my sins. I want to thank 
 you again for all you have done for me, for I know you have 
 spent many a sleepless night on account of. me. I felt a great 
 deal better after seeing and praying with you the last time you 
 were here than I had since I've been in this trouble. I am glad 
 things are most at an end for I am very weary of these lonesome 
 death cells. Of course I don't want to die nor am 1 glad of it, 
 for I have lots to live for yet as you know, but the Lord 's will be 
 done. I know it will be for the best. Well, 1 will close for this 
 time. I am to be hung in the next twenty-four hours, so good-bye, 
 dear friend. Think of me sometime in the future. 
 
 From your son in Christ, 
 
 F. A. 
 
 Mother Wheaton: 
 
 Dear Mother: We just received your loving letter last night 
 and was glad to hear from you. Oh, dear mother, my darling 
 boy is gone; never can I see his loving face in this cruel world. 
 Oh, it is terrible; it seems too hard for me to stand. Just think, 
 my only darling child. But I know he is in heaven. He died on 
 the 16th. We w r ent to see him and he was so glad to see us. He 
 kissed his papa and all of us and said he wanted us not to grieve 
 any more than we could help. . . . His last words were 
 "Good-bye, mamma," with a smile and wave of his hand just 
 like I was coming back again. He said he would like to be 
 buried close to home. Poor, darling boy; he loved to be close to 
 home and mamma in life, but it is hard to think that he had to 
 spend his last days away from us, all on account of whiskey. 
 
 Your friends as ever, 
 
 MRS. A. AND L. 
 (The above was from the aged mother and the young wife.) 
 
 Think you, dear reader, that these experiences are passed 
 by lightly when I must enter into the sorrows of these 
 mothers and loved ones who must give up their dear ones 
 in this way? Only the grace and love of God can sustain 
 me and these dear bereaved ones in these trials. This was 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 289 
 
 one of my saddest experiences, as I was personally ac- 
 quainted with the parents and the dear young wife of one 
 of these young men, having been entertained at their home 
 some days at a time during their sorrow. This is only an- 
 other example of what strong drink is doing in our land. 
 God pity those who in the least favor this traffic. 
 
 I give below short extracts taken from The Daily News 
 of Denver concerning these cases : 
 
 "Not yet has the final word for F. A., C. P. and N. A., under 
 sentence of death, been said. 
 
 "It is likely that it will not be said for at least a week or ten 
 days. The Board of Pardons adjourned late yesterday afternoon 
 without deciding the fate of the three boys. . . . 
 
 "But, though the tragic element was lacking, there was present 
 throughout the meeting an undercurrent of deep human woe. 
 The mother of A. was there, clad in black, with a hopeless expres- 
 sion on her face pitiful to see. Beside her at all times was the 
 wife of A., young, pretty in an indefinite sort of way, her blue 
 eyes holding ever before them the wreck of her shattered girlish 
 romance. Both women wept freely at times. 
 
 "With the two women were a dozen of their women friends, 
 whose coming had been actuated by a mixture of curiosity and 
 sympathy. 
 
 FRIEND OF ALL PRISONERS. 
 
 * ' Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton, friend of prisoners the world over, 
 was there too. She sat next Mrs. A., the elder, and wept copiously 
 in sympathy. "Mother" Wheaton visited the boys at Canon 
 City, and she told the board the impression of her visit, how, 
 she was sure, they had repented of their deed and had their sins 
 forgiven. 
 
 "She also pleaded for their lives on the ground of opposition 
 to capital punishment. She has been in state prison rescue work 
 for twenty-one years, and her silver hair, refined face and gentle 
 manner have brought comfort to criminals everywhere. ' ' News, 
 May 6. 
 
 SESSION OF THE BOARD. 
 
 The Board of Pardons met in special session at 10 o 'clock yester- 
 
2QO PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 day morning for the purpose of passing finally upon the applications 
 of the three boys for commutation of sentence from death to im- 
 prisonment for life. 
 
 Interest in the proceedings of the morning centered around four 
 women, two mothers, a sister and a wife of the condemned boys. 
 They were Mrs. J. A., bowed with the weight of her seventy 
 years, who had come all the way from Buffalo, N. Y., to be pres- 
 ent at the meeting; her daughter, Miss A., of Denver; Mrs. J. A. 
 and Mrs. F. A., mother and wife, respectively, of F. A. All four 
 were present throughout the hearing and made personal pleas to 
 the Board. 
 
 After the hearing was concluded they went together into the 
 outer office of the executive chamber and sat huddled up in one 
 corner of the big room, their eyes fixed on the door which led to 
 the inner office where four men were deciding whether the boys 
 they loved should live or die. 
 
 HEARD THE BAD NEWS. 
 
 When the news of the Board's action was conveyed by Secre- 
 tary C. E. Hagar to the four women waiting in the outer office, 
 their grief was pitiful in the extreme. Mrs. A. very nearly col- 
 lapsed. She clung to the arm of her daughter and moaned in heart- 
 breaking accents. The daughter, too, was almost overcome, but 
 controlled herself for her mother's sake. 
 
 The mother and wife of F. A., while it was evident they were 
 suffering keenly, maintained an outward composure except for the 
 tears which welled from their eyes. They hurriedly left the oapitol 
 building together. The young wife will go to the penitentiary 
 Friday to say a last good-bye to her husband. 
 
 PLEA OF ATTORNEY. 
 
 W. E., attorney for A., made a wonderfully eloquent plea for his 
 client's life. It was logical, pathetic and at times scathing in its 
 denunciation of the methods used by the police to extort confes- 
 sions from the boys. He said these methods, in their horrible bru- 
 tality, were without parallel anywhere. 
 
 "The only evidence upon which N. A. was convicted," he said, 
 "was the alleged confession wrung out of him by police brutality. 
 This confession was made after the prisoner had been ' sweated' 
 and intimidated. One ear had been almost torn off, he had been 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 291 
 
 * 
 
 cuffed, kicked and trampled upon, and then, under the influence of 
 threats, he made his alleged confession. ' ' 
 
 NEWS THAT SON IS TO HANG BROKEN TO AGED WOMAN BY HER DAUGH- 
 TER AND CAUSES COLLAPSE. 
 
 Sitting and staring with a blank look into space, at intervals 
 relieving the tension of her misery by low moans, and then again 
 ejaculating pitifully, "Oh, my boy! My poor, poor boy! Can I 
 live and know that you died upon the gallows?" Mrs. J. A. is 
 now hovering on the borderland of life at the home of her daughter 
 in Denver. 
 
 It was not until noon yesterday that Mrs. A. was told that the 
 pardons board had refused to grant her son, N. A., a commutation 
 of sentence from death to life imprisonment. (Jp to that mo- 
 ment when the terrible knowledge became hers she had a mother's 
 hope that the pardons board must save her boy. From the mo- 
 ment she heard from her daughter's lips that the son and brother 
 must die, Mrs. A. has been verging upon a semi-comatose condi- 
 tion, and under the constant care of a physician. 
 
 She was illy prepared to hear the news yesterday, for she had 
 spent the night previous without closing her eyes in sleep. It 
 was not until 5 o'clock that slumber came to her mercifully, and 
 even then she merely slept in a fitful doze until 8 o'clock. 
 
 SUPPRESSED EMOTION. 
 
 The serious phase of Mrs. A. '-a condition, her physician regards, 
 is that with her it is all suppressed emotion. She does not cry 
 out or rave, but endures her intense suffering in quiet. It is but 
 seldom that tears come to her relief, and the only vent her emo- 
 tion has is in her low moans for her "poor boy." 
 
 After the news was broken to her, Mrs. A. spent most of the day 
 in bed. Late last night she was still in the same condition, and 
 the gravest anxiety is felt by her relatives. 
 
 Mrs. A. is 70 years old. She lives in Buffalo, N. Y., and made 
 the long trip of 1,500 miles to personally plead with the State 
 Board of Pardons for the life of her son. 
 
 TO TEST GALLOWS. 
 
 Warden C. will today test the automatic scaffold upon which 
 N. A. and F. A. will be executed next week. He will see that 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 
 
 everything about the device is in perfect order and will make a 
 final test just prior to taking the first of the two to his death. 
 The execution house, where the men will be confined until the final 
 summons, is 28x30 feet. It contains three condemned cells and 
 across the hall from these are two large rooms. In the center of 
 one is a large iron plate and on this the condemned is asked to 
 stand after the noose and cap have been adjusted. The weight of 
 the man causes the plate to drop about an inch. This closes the 
 circuit of a current connecting with a bucket of water which 
 stands on a shelf in a closet in an adjoining room. By a magnet 
 arrangement a plug in the bottom of the bucket is pulled and the 
 water begins to flow out. As soon as the vessel is empty an auto- 
 matic connection releases a catch holding a bag of sand on the 
 end of the noose. 
 
 The sand, being heavier than the man, falls, causing the body 
 at the other extremity of the rope to be jerked off the floor to the 
 height of three feet. The sandbag is in the room containing the 
 closet where the bucket is and the rope from the noose reaches 
 that room over a pulley and through a hole in the wall. 
 
 The condemned man does not see any of the details of the exe- 
 cution when he enters the death cell. The iron plate in the floor 
 and the noose around his neck are the only parts he can see. He 
 does not hear the dropping of the water nor the working of any 
 of the mechanism. 
 
 The instant the man is jerke.'i off his feet and suspended at the 
 end of the rope his neck is broken. The time intervening between 
 the pulling of the plug in the bucket and the falling of the sand is 
 usually about a minute. The suspense to the prisoner, however, is 
 not regarded as any more cruel than that experienced by a man 
 in the electrical chair or on the scaffold while he awaits the fatai 
 current or the springing of the trap. 
 
 The hanging apparatus was invented by a convict fifteen yeare 
 ago. 'News, May 20. 
 
 As shown by foregoing letters these cases were continued 
 till June 16. Such is the suspense, sorrow of heart and 
 gnef through which many are constantly passing in this 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 2Q3 
 
 world, all on account of sin. What are we trying to do to 
 lend a hand of relief? 
 
 Such, dear reader, are a few of the many, many cases of 
 this class with which I have had to do in these more than 
 twenty years of ministry to those that are bound. Some 
 were hardened criminals, others innocent of the crime for 
 which they were condemned and others no more guilty than 
 thousands that the world honors. For all, Christ died ; and 
 many others beside these I have mentioned have given 
 evidence of saving faith in the blood that is able to cleanse 
 the deepest stain that sin has made. 
 
 One case is just as near and dear to my mother heart as 
 another and yet how different in many respects are these 
 condemned men different in their natural inclinations and 
 unlike because of their different circumstances in life. 
 Among them are found the refined, the educated, the gifted, 
 the beautiful as well as the low, the ignorant, the degraded. 
 All must share the same fate. All are shown in the worst 
 possible light to a gaping, sensation-loving, curious world. 
 Let us, dear reader, take these cases home to our hearts as if 
 they were our very own and so learn to have that charity 
 that suffereth long and is kind. Even Moses and David took 
 life, yet they were forgiven, and Moses who in haste slew 
 the Egyptian, became the prophet so wonderfully used of 
 God because of his meekness of spirit; and David in his 
 thankfulness declared, "This poor man cried and the Lord 
 heard him and delivered him out of all his troubles." 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 Work in Churches and Missions. 
 
 As stated in preface I have always as opportunity offered 
 been ready to preach the gospel to all men. In this chapter 
 I speak very briefly of some of the work done in churches 
 and missions and give some letters from pastors and friends 
 referring to this part of my labors. 
 
 STRANGELY LED. 
 
 I once had a young sister with me whom I had taken 
 from Toronto, Canada. I had told her mother I would re- 
 turn her safely and had given her money to pay her fare 
 home. As we returned through a field to the city from the 
 poor farm where I had held a service, I said to the sister, 
 "I am so hungry." She replied, "O wait till we get to 
 heaven, then we shall have of the twelve manner of fruit, 
 and drink of the water of life," and I was cheered and blest 
 as I went along the way. The Lord showed me to trust 
 Him. When I reached my lodging-house I was so weak 
 and tired that I sat down to rest a few moments before 
 ascending the stairs to my room. The landlady sat by her 
 well-filled table after the boarders were all gone. She asked 
 the servant for a plate, and I watched her while she cut off 
 a nice piece of turkey and a piece of roast beef and then put 
 some bread on the plate and handed it to me. I was, O, so 
 glad, but feared she was going to ask pay for it, and I had 
 only a dime. I asked, "How much is this?" and she re- 
 plied, "Nothing." I was so overcome with gratitude to God 
 for His goodness that I hastened to my room and thanked 
 God for answering prayer, in giving me food I needed to 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVI. 295 
 
 give me strength for the meeting that afternoon on the 
 street, and in the evening at the colored people's church. At 
 the close of the meeting in the evening the preacher said : 
 "The sister has given us a good sermon, and the gospel must 
 be carried, so come up and give us a good collection." The 
 people responded heartily and gave a very liberal collection, 
 but after the meeting the preacher handed, me 25 cents, 
 keeping the rest. I felt very badly as I had prayed for 
 money which I needed so much. 1 must go to another city, 
 and no money for traveling expenses. I had been obliged 
 to have some work done by .the dentist which must be paid, 
 and no money, but I kept believing, yet no open heart or 
 door. I wondered why I was led to go to another place 
 with no means provided. When I had gotten the amount 
 needed I left, heart-sick, lonely and weary to go on alone 
 in the work, and the sister to go home to Canada. A few 
 days later I was walking along the streets of Lynchburg, 
 
 Va. I met a man who said, "I am Rev. B from 
 
 Chicago. I have met you several times in your work, Sister 
 Wheaton, won't you come with me to church?" I said, 
 "Where?" and he said, 'To the First Baptist church. ' 
 
 When we entered the beautiful new church building the 
 evangelist introduced me to the young pastor, who hurried 
 by indifferently. He then presented me to some fine looking 
 ladies who also passed by on the other side. When the evan- 
 gelist had closed his sermon he said, "Now, friends, this is 
 the lady I told you about who has done more good than we 
 preachers. I know her, but she don't know me. Receive 
 her as a sister. She is worthy." When the service closed, 
 one after another came to speak to me and gave me their 
 hand and invited me to their homes. A gentleman and 
 wife came up and said, "We claim you as our guest." The 
 
20,6 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 husband said, 'The carriage is at the door. I will walk and 
 you may ride with my wife." I was at a loss to know just 
 which invitation to accept, when the evangelist came up 
 and said, "These are the people for you to go with." I did 
 so and the Lord went with me. I was invited to preach that 
 night and the Lord was there in mighty convicting power. 
 At the close of the meeting the evangelist said, "Sister, how 
 did it happen that I met you just as I did this morning?" 
 I said, "Brother B., things don't happen with me. The 
 Lord sent me to this place." 
 
 The next day a young lady called at the house and in- 
 quired for me. I went to the door and she handed me a 
 small parcel saying, "Your friends from the First Baptist 
 church sent you this." Thanking her I went inside and 
 found it was fifteen dollars. 
 
 I was the guest of one of the F. F. V.'s, so was welcomed 
 everywhere. Other churches and other preachers invited me 
 to their pulpits. In a few days Mrs. Col. O. asked me if I 
 would conduct a meeting for women only at the M. E. 
 church if she would arrange for it. I was impressed that 
 the thought was of God and agreed to do so. The meeting 
 was appointed for Wednesday at 4 p. m. On the way to 
 the church I was so burdened with the responsibility of the 
 meeting that I told the sister (the kind friend who enter- 
 tained me) that I could not talk, I must pray the rest of the 
 way to church. To my surprise the place became crowded. 
 I had expected perhaps a dozen women and no men ; and 
 here the place was full of elegantly dressed ladies, and the 
 pastor of the church, Brother H., and a policeman were also 
 present. I tried to proceed with the service, but seemed 
 unable to do so. After prayer and singing, "How firm a 
 foundation," I arose and said : "Is any one led of the Spirit 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 
 
 to give me a text. I have no message. A sister arose and 
 timidly said, "The I4th chapter of John." Well, the flood 
 gates of Heaven were opened to my soul. God spoke and 
 waves of salvation rolled over the church, and women, God 
 bless them ! arose and said, "I thought I was a Christian until 
 t&day, but I find I have never begun to serve the Lord yet. 
 I promise, by God's help, to begin anew today for Heaven." 
 The dear Lord touched proud hearts and melted them to- 
 gether until the place was filled with the glory of God. The 
 pastor and people asked me to hold another meeting the fol- 
 lowing day for both men and women. I said I would do so 
 in the fear of the Lord, and the Lord wonderfully blessed 
 the services. Souls were brought in touch with God and 
 saved. I said to them, "Friends, begin a revival at once. 
 Cod is ready to work with you if you follow Him. My 
 services are ended in this church. The prisoners, my special 
 care, need me, and the poor and the colored people." I re- 
 mained three weeks in that' city, wonderfully blessed of God. 
 When I left there were over fifty dollars in my hand, of free 
 will ofTerings. I see why the Lord sent me to the city to 
 arouse the sleeping church members and preachers, both 
 white and colored, from their cold, lifeless spiritual condi- 
 tion. 
 
 Soon after leaving Lynchburg I received the following 
 letter from the sister who planned the meeting, which greatly 
 encouraged me : 
 
 Lynchburg, May 2, 1887. 
 My Dear Sister: 
 
 1 received your letter several days since. I am truly rejoiced to 
 know that you receive that peace and comfort which a child of 
 God knows to be her portion. 
 
 My thoughts have followed you since your departure from our 
 city and prayers from many hearts have ascended to the throne 
 
298 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 for your safety and success in the great work God has called you 
 to do. 
 
 I have not known of a revival such as is now in progress at Dr. 
 Hannon's church. Men and women are flocking to the meetings, 
 old and young, to know what they must do to be saved. My son 
 was happily converted last Friday night. He had long been cold 
 and indifferent, but now all is joy and he works and speaks %r 
 God with willingness. He is in solemn earnest now in working, 
 praying and speaking in the great congregation. Surely goodness 
 and mercy have followed me all the days of my life and I will 
 dwell at the feet of my Master forever. 
 
 Though God has sent tears to my eyes and grief to my heart, 
 thanks to His dear name He has kept me from falling. I think 
 you left a good influence among the fallen women here. I have 
 been sent for to go to some since you left. I have sent this day 
 a request to the official board of my church to give me the use 
 of one room in the church where I can always meet them for the 
 purpose of hearing of their desires to lead a new life. In this way 
 my pastor can meet them and help me in this work. I await the 
 result. Your friend with sincere love and prayers, 
 
 MRS. LUCY K. O. 
 
 
 
 I went on my way, and some time after was in San 
 Francisco, California. Hearing one day, as I left the jail, 
 of a holiness convention, I was impressed to attend. When 
 I arrived a testimony meeting was in progress. I arose 
 and began to sing, ''Yes, I will stand up fc>r Jesus," and 
 the minister in charge came down the aisle to me and said : 
 "Is this Sister Wheaton who held meetings in my church 
 in L- , Va. ?" I said, "My name is Elizabeth Whea- 
 ton, and I held meetings in that city. Are you Dr. H. ?" 
 and he said, "Yes." He returned to the platform and told 
 the people of my work in his church and that about four 
 hundred had been saved, and told the people to receive me 
 as a child of God. So homes were opened. The work of 
 God moved on. As I was a stranger in a strange city, I 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 299 
 
 blessed God for the leadings of the Holy Spirit in all my 
 pilgrim way. I have not seen Dr. H. since that time. He 
 gave me a pressing invitation to his church in San Fran- 
 cisco but work on other lines prevented my acceptance. 
 
 LETTERS FROM OTHER FRIENDS. 
 
 Wetumpka, Ala., Jan. 12, 1885. 
 My Dear Sister: 
 
 Jt would be impossible for me to express in words the Chris- 
 tian sympathy and love I have for you one that has left all; 
 yes, all denying yourself and taking up the cross of Jesus, carry- 
 ing the glad tidings of salvation to the despised, to the outcast, 
 to the poor in spirit and to the oppressed. I pray daily that the 
 good Lord may bless you. 
 
 Dear sister, those in the world whose minds are carnal, cannot 
 understand your work, for your life is hidden in God, and cannot 
 be discerned in any other way but by the Spirit. Our crosses will 
 soon be over. Jesus will not let us suffer for Him long. He is 
 coming for us soon. Then ' ' Be not weary in well-doing, for in 
 due season we shall reap, if we faint not." We are not the 
 only friends you have in Wetumpka. Long will you live in our 
 memory. I pray that the Lord may ever guide and lead you as 
 He knows and sees best. I am your brother in Christ, 
 
 A. J. ROGERS, Pastor. 
 
 Fort Wayne, Ind., Sept. 2, 1897. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 We were so glad to hear from you. Our meeting closed on 
 Sunday evening, August 22, with twenty-eight persons asking the 
 prayers of the church. We are beginning special services three 
 evenings in the week. 
 
 We are planning to begin another revival meeting about the 
 middle of October. Would be glad to have you with us. We are 
 praying that the dear Lord may so order it if it is His will. The 
 Lord is leading and we are expecting great things. 
 
 Remember us kindly to Mrs. H. I hope you will write again, so 
 that we may be posted as to your movements. We are praying 
 
30O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 for you. Do not forget us. Mrs. Cooper and Merrill wish 
 to be remembered to you. "The Lord bless and keep thee and 
 cause His face to shine upon thee. ' ' Good-bye for a little while. 
 
 Fraternally, 
 M. C. COOPER, Pastor St. Paul's Church. 
 
 Fort Wayne, Ind., Sept. 29, 1897. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton. 
 
 Dear Sister in Christ: Your letter received and I must say 
 I hold it very sacred and dear. 
 
 I think of you often, and not only I, but a large number of 
 others. We cannot tell the good you did while here, but God 
 above knows and He will reward you. Many have been more 
 willing to do their Christian duty. They seem to realize more fully 
 what it means to be a Christian. O there is so much in it! 
 
 Dear sister, the Lord being willing, we are going to hold another 
 revival campaign, commencing Sunday, October 17. I am so anx- 
 ious I can hardly wait. I enjoy myself so much when I can be 
 doing work for my dear Lord and Master, who did so much for 
 me. I wish the Lord would see fit to send you this way during 
 our revival, and my prayers shall be to that end. It is God's 
 work and you are one of His workers. You have the constant 
 prayer of St. Paul's church, and we are sure that we have yours. 
 May God's choicest blessings rest upon and abide with you. 
 "The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee 
 peace." LOUISE Roux. 
 
 (From the Gazette, Fort Wayne, Ind.) 
 
 MRS. WHEATON, FAMOUS PRISON EVANGELIST, "LED BY THE LORD 
 HERE" HER FAITH IN THIS ABSOLUTE OPENS INTERVIEW 
 
 WITH PRAYER LARGE AUDIENCES HEAR HER. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Rider Wheaton is in town and last night and 
 yesterday afternoon addressed a large audience at the revival 
 services which Rev. Mr. Cooper, of St. Paul's M. E. church is con- 
 ducting in a tent situated near his church, on Walton avenue. She 
 reached this city Saturday evening over the Pennsylvania. Hav- 
 ing missed a train at Warsaw en route to visit a sister who lives 
 at Elkhart, she was directed, she said by the Lord, after prayer, 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 301 
 
 to come to Fort Wayne to spend the Sabbath. On the way over 
 her singing and praying on the train attracted attention to her and 
 a member of the Wayne Street Methodist Church, on learning 
 who she was, invited her and her sister, Mrs. Hoffman, to spend 
 the night at his home. She had heard, she said, of the meetings 
 that Mr. Cooper is conducting, and she said, with a manner of 
 absolute confidence, that she had been directed to attend these 
 meetings. Eev. Mr. Cooper said yesterday that the meeting was 
 in progress as she and her companion entered and that he was 
 impressed to speak to her. On learning her name he knew her 
 instantly by fame as the widely traveled and much beloved prison 
 evangelist. She was given a welcome and was at once asked to 
 participate in the services. At the night meeting there were a 
 thousand people, it is said, who listened enrapt to her prayers 
 and moving appeals to the sinner to accept the salvation in which 
 she so thoroughly believes. 
 
 The prisoners at the jail were her first concern Sunday morn- 
 ing. She told Mr. Cooper that after arising she turned to her 
 Bible for guidance and her eyes fell upon certain Scripture which 
 contained the word prison three times. She took this as evidence 
 that she should first visit the jail and thither she went. It is 
 quickly apprehended by those who come in contact with her that 
 she pauses not when directed, as she believes, to do a service in the 
 cause of the Master, but goes at once. She has no questionings of 
 faith. 
 
 A Gazette reporter found her last night at the home of Mr. 
 Bower, No. 136 Walton avenue. Her physical appearance marks 
 her as no ordinary person. Her face beams with a kindly smile, 
 being plump and fresh with the vigor of apparent health, though 
 gray hair indicates her past the prime of life. She dresses mod- 
 estly in black and carries with her a satchel in which she keeps 
 ;i Testament, her pass holder and some tracts. Her handshake is 
 a model of firmness and heartiness, conveying the impress of in- 
 tense earnestness. Before permitting the interviewer to proceed 
 further than the salutations, Mrs. Wheaton kneeled and prayed 
 for the Lord's blessing upon the interview. This unconventional 
 prelude was novel in the experience of the reporter, but coming 
 from such a woman seemed perfectly in place. There is reverence 
 
302 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 and piety proclaimed by her presence and no thought of incon- 
 gruity obtruded. The prayer took the range of ready invocation 
 and communion with the Lord, and as is probably the evangelist 's 
 wont, the prisoner and the fallen woman were not forgotten in her 
 petition to the throne of grace. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton was not inclined to talk about herself. ' ' What 
 has been done by me," she said, "was done of the Lord His be 
 the glory. I was called to this work thirteen years ago, and I 
 walk by His guidance. I have never asked and could nat accept a 
 salary. I have never had a collection taken for me. It is a won- 
 derful thing how He has led me. Here are some of the railroad 
 passes that have been given me. ' J 
 
 And here she unrolled a leathern holder full of passes from all 
 the leading roads. Some were "Account of Missionary Work" 
 and some ' ' Account of Christian Work. " It is evident that she 
 has traveled this country over, and her ministrations have also ex- 
 tended to the old world. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton again attended the services last night, and 
 moved all by her stirring words. Many could not repress the tears. 
 Her address was not anchored to a formal text, but was a strong 
 appeal, nevertheless, to the sinner to repent. The audience was 
 slow to pass out after the meeting, being anxious to meet the 
 speaker. 
 
 The following from Bro. Snyder and his estimable wife 
 who are my very dear friends and whose home is always 
 open to me when I am in Baltimore, are very much prized. 
 They explain themselves. Their work for God and souls 
 is very exceptional : 
 
 During the winter of 1894, Mother Wheaton was conducting a 
 service at the state prison, when one of our men expressed his desire 
 that she should attend our services. This was my first introduction 
 to this noble child of God, and since then she seldom comes East 
 without visiting our church ; we all love her, but she rarely stays 
 over a day at one time, as her work calls her away. 
 
 In 1898, we induced her to remain with us a week. At this meet- 
 ing hundreds of people attended and many souls were saved. One 
 
OK A LAI5OR OK LOY1C 
 
 303 
 
 of the wealthiest ladies of the church received her pentecost and is 
 now one of our best workers. During the day Mother Wheaton would 
 visit the outcast of the city. I recall a case of an old colored woman 
 that we found in a miserable hovel, dying without Christ; how, after 
 preparing the room and then praying to Father for the body, she 
 seemed to be brought back to life by the prayers of God's saint 
 that she might be led to Christ, and after she gave her life to Him 
 we administered the Lord's supper. Mother Wheaton has always 
 been a blessing, whenever she has come to my church; good people 
 are made better, bad people made good. 
 
 CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER, BALTIMORE, M. D. 
 
 The church was dedicated to God by "Mother Wheaton'' before 
 it was finished; while the building w r as i,n course of erection she paid 
 us a short visit; with the moon shining through the open windows, 
 mortar, bricks, etc., around us, she was prompted to take the church 
 to God in prayer. I will never forget the scene. Thousands have 
 been saved and many sanctified. The work is still spreading. 
 
304 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Baltimore, Md., January 19, 1901. 
 
 Dear Mother: Your kind letter to your children received today. 
 Began special meetings Wednesday night, the 16th. The three 
 nights have been blessed and owned of Father. Those in and out of 
 tne church saved. Thirty-three at the altar. 
 
 You were mentioned last night in the meeting. I told them they 
 could look for you to come in at any time, as I believe Father is 
 going to send you. Never in my ministry did I feel more in har- 
 mony with the divine Spirit. As I am writing I am thinking of our 
 citizenship in heaven. What a time we will have! 
 
 How I longed for you to shout with me Wednesday night over the 
 conversion of a man 60 years of age, who never knew Christ. I 
 could not sleep, but praised the Father all that night. He had his 
 wife and daughter with him in church last night. 
 
 Mrs. Snyder joins me in much love to you and Sister Taylor. As 
 ever, Your son in the Gospel, 
 
 J. K. SNYDER. 
 
 Baltimore, Md., October 20, 1902. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 Your kind letter came today. Mrs. Snyder and Eddie often speak 
 of you ; and once a day, at least, we pray for you. 
 
 Yesterday several of the boys in the Sunday School formed a 
 committee, and without a word being spoken about you, came to 
 me and asked of you and wanted to know when they would have 
 you with us. 
 
 Last week had fifteen born again; four last night. So you see 
 Father is still blessing your children. 
 
 God bless you and keep you, is the prayer of your son, 
 
 J. K. SNYDER. 
 
 1737 North Broadway. Baltimore Md., June 23, 1903. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 Your long expected letter received. Our dear heavenly Father con- 
 tinues to bless us at home and at the church, souls saved and believers 
 sanctified. Glory! The Blood covers our sins. 
 
 Eddie was glad to know you had not forgotten him. He is a great 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 305 
 
 help in the church; your prayers are not in vain. We remain 
 
 Your children, 
 
 J. K. SNYDER AND WIFE. 
 
 (From the Whosoever Will Rescue Uission.) 
 
 New Orleans, La., May 24, 1897. 
 Dear .Mother Wheaton: 
 
 We are getting along nicely at the Mission. The Lord is blessing 
 our work and many souls are being saved. We have started a branch 
 mission further downtown. We call it No. 2. ' ' 
 
 We will never forget you, dear mother; your visit did us so much 
 good. The boys at the Mission often talk of you and Sister Kelley. 
 We would like to have you visit us again soon, the Lord willing. 
 Mother and all send kindest regards. Wife sends love to you both. 
 Pray for us. I remain Your brother in Jesus, 
 
 J. H. HAAG. 
 
 (From the Mission Worker, New Orleans.) 
 
 PRISON EVANGELIST. 
 
 "Mother Wheaton," the noted prison evangelist, arrived in the 
 city on the evening of February 21, aird spent several nights during 
 her stay. This sister in Israel has visited nearly all if not quite 
 every state prison in the United States and some in foreign countries, 
 preaching to their inmates the glad tidings of great joy. She is a 
 forcible speaker and very deeply in earnest. Her visit to this city 
 was a pleasant one and resulted in mu^h good to many. 
 
 During htr stay here Mother Wheaton has been kept very busy 
 about her Master's business. She has visited about all the prisons 
 and eleemosynary institutions in the city, singing, praying and ex- 
 horting the inmates to a better life. She has been at the Mission 
 every night, and we have had some wonderful meetings. Sister J. H. 
 H.iag has been her almost constant companion and the two have done 
 splendid work. On her way from the Mission this Mother in Israel 
 has several times stopped in at saloons, and talked to all present 
 about their soul's welfare. She is intrepid absolutely without fear 
 and well she may be for she leans upon the Everlasting Arm. 
 
 We do not know how long she will stay with us, but probably for 
 
306 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 some days, as she now has several invitations on hand. She will go 
 when and where the Lord leads her. Our prayer is that she may be 
 made the instrument of winning many souls to Christ that her crown 
 in glory may be studded with precious jewels. She says of herself 
 that she ' ' has no home but heaven. ' ' 
 
 (From Pacific Garden Mission.) 
 
 Chicago, October 6, 1903. 
 My Dear Sister Wheaton, God 's Chosen One : 
 
 How I praise my heavenly Father for your life and that I ever 
 knew you, and for your unselfish mercy to the poor and neglected 
 classes. May you long be spared to ' ' gather them in from the fields 
 of sin" is the prayer of Your sister in Christ, 
 
 SARAH D. CLARK, 
 Pacific Garden Mission. 
 
 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS. 
 
 During the early years of my mission work I arrived one 
 day alone in a Southern city. Went to the postoffice and 
 was reading my mail when a good old man stepped up and 
 inquired who I was and where I stopped. I told him I had 
 just arrived. He said, "Come home with me. My" wife 
 has a room and a home for good women like you." I was 
 praying for an open door. Did not know where I was go- 
 ing to stay over night, but was sure God had sent me to 
 that place. I found them kind, hospitable people. He was 
 on old-fashioned Methodist preacher already superannuated, 
 and he has long since gone to his reward. He sent for the 
 pastor of their church and arranged for me to hold a meet- 
 ing. I went at the request of the pastor to visit an old lady 
 who was sick ; thought best to have an open air meeting on 
 the street and invite people to the church that night. Dur- 
 ing the service on the street I noticed a very well dressed, 
 fine looking young man. When I closed he came to me and 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 307 
 
 taking my hand asked me to call at his store a few doors 
 away. I did so and he gave me a fountain pen and seemed 
 unusually interested in what I had said. 
 
 The meeting that night was led by the Holy Spirit ; souls 
 were saved, Christians quickened into new spiritual life and 
 power, and sinners awakened. Other services were held in 
 several of the churches. God was honored and the Holy 
 Spirit held right-of-way. Often I would have services in 
 the white people's church till 9 p. m., then hurry to the 
 colored people's church and preach and sing and pray till 
 ii o'clock. Then at 5 in the morning would meet again, 
 at the Methodist church, such crowds of worshipers de- 
 vout, humble seekers' after God. I left the ctiy.just as the 
 meetings were at their height. In the next world when we 
 all assemble together I expect to see many who were con- 
 verted at that series of meetings. 
 
 CALLED TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 The young man who seemed so interested in that first 
 street service came to all the meetings. He was clearly 
 converted and was called to the ministry. For some time he 
 was a successful soul winner, manifesting a pure spirit and 
 a godly life ; but he afterwards became discouraged and 
 went into business to support his family. In a letter from 
 him in later years I received the following words: 
 
 "At the time I got your postal I was in serious meditation on spir- 
 itual affairs and was fully considering re-entering the Gospel min- 
 istry. I know I was called of the Lord through His Holy Spirit to 
 preach His everlasting gospel. Praise His holy name! He gave 
 me the seal of His approval in the witness of His Spirit and the 
 fruit of my labor in the salvation of souls. I know this of a truth 
 from experience. You cannot imagine how I long, Oh, so intensely, 
 to be again filled with His Spirit and to enter upon His work in 
 the salvation of souls. Lovingly yours, I. H. N." 
 
3O8 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 A COLORED WOMAN SAVED AND PREACHING. 
 
 In the year 1886 I was holding meetings in Houston, 
 Texas. Was in a colored people's church one day, and was 
 much perplexed as to how to reach the people's hearts I 
 wept before the Lord in prayer. I did not know it then, but 
 God was working, using my zeal and grief to help save a 
 soul. Finally a woman who came to scoff and ridicule was 
 converted. She received a call to preach after vowing that 
 women were never" called to preach. Well, the years rolled 
 by and one night in Oklahoma City I saw the Salvation 
 Army gathering in a tent. I went in and was invited to 
 read the Word and lead the meeting. I did so, and as the 
 services were about to close a colore'd woman arose and 
 said she wished to state that she was saved, and told how 
 she was also called to preach by the Spirit of the Lord 
 through what I said in that meeting in Houston, Texas, so 
 long before. She labored for years as an evangelist and so 
 far as I know is still preaching. In her evangelistic work 
 she has labored successfully in many of the states. 
 
 At one time she wrote of her conversion as follows : 
 
 "When I was seeking life in the Lord, I did not want to eat for 
 two weeks, and had no appetite, but I prayed on and the change 
 came and I felt brand new. i loved everybody white and colored. 
 I seemed to have on a white garment, and that death had fallen 
 beneath my feet and had no mere dominion over me. It seemed 
 that I had seen the Lord and He told me to go in peace and sin no 
 more, and I was one more happy soul. I wanted to tell everybody 
 what the Lord had done for my soul." 
 
 STRIKING EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Once while holding meetings in Wichita, Kansas, I was 
 greatly troubled. I knew not why. I could neither preach 
 nor sing. I did not know what was wrong. Suddenly a 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 30Q 
 
 large man rose and rushed from the room taking his wife 
 and children with him. He told me afterward that he came 
 with the avowed purpose of killing another man who was 
 there. And they both came there with the intention of kill- 
 ing each other. 
 
 At the same mission a man came running in and said 
 that a young railroad man across the street in the jail was 
 dying, having taken poison I went to the jail where the 
 young man was lying on the floor and kneeling beside him, 
 took his hand and for two hours pleaded with God to spare 
 his life and save his soul And the Lord answered prayer. 
 The doctors were amazed and perplexed, as they could not 
 understand how the man could live, as all their efforts had 
 seemed to be fruitless. It was simply one of God's miracles. 
 
 SAVED BY A HYMN. 
 
 Passing along the street one night in Louisville, Ky., I saw 
 standing in a doorway a group of well-dressed young ladies, 
 also a lady much older. I spoke to them and asked for a 
 drink of water and some favor to further the conversation. 
 When once in doors I saw a piano, and said, "Which one of 
 you ladies will play a piece on the piano? I love music so 
 much." A little boy four years old came in. They asked 
 him to tell me what he intended to be when he grew up. 
 He said, "A preacher. I am going to see my mamma in 
 Heaven.'' He was their sister's boy. He sang for me while 
 one of his aunts played the piano. In his sweet, lisping 
 voice he sang, "I never will cease to love Him." I was im- 
 pressed to ask him to come to the mission where I was 
 going to preach that night, and sing that piece, and have 
 the aunt play the organ. Both consented to go with me and 
 when I asked him the little boy came on the platform and 
 
3IO PRISONS AN'I> J'RAYER 
 
 sang beautifully. His father had heard of my desire to have 
 the child sing, and had straggled into the mission under the 
 influence of strong drink. He was so convicted and heart- 
 broken he wept, and that four-year-old boy walked from 
 the platform down the aisle to that lonely, heart-sick father, 
 who then and there gave himself up to God, and was saved 
 before he left the hall, through the singing of a hymn ! 
 
 God will forgive each penitent whate'er his sin may be, 
 Whose heart is overflowing with love for bond and free. 
 Oh, listen! brother, listen 'tis Jehovah's plan 
 And a time is fixed to right the wrongs of Man.. 
 
 Prison Poetry. 
 
o 
 
 w 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 Preaching the Gospel on Railway Trains. 
 
 The young man on the front of the engine in the forego- 
 ing illustration was my sister's son. I give here an extract 
 from the account of his death June 7, 1890, as published at 
 the time in the daily of Huntington, Ind., where it occurred : 
 
 KILLED BY CARS. 
 
 A. C Hoffman, a switchman in the Chicago & Atlantic yards, was 
 run over and killed this morning. 
 
 He was employed at night and about 5 o 'clock this morning went 
 to the coal dock to run down two cars that had been unloaded there. 
 The track is very much inclined leading from the dock and it 
 requires that brakes be set very tight. When the cars started down 
 the track Hoffman ran from the rear end to the front of the head 
 car to set the brake, but in doing so stubbed his toe and fell from 
 the car to the middle of the track beneath. The car was running 
 rapidly and no sooner did he strike the track than a brake beam of 
 the car struck his right leg near the hip, fracturing the bones and 
 bruising it otherwise. That threw him over and the flange of a 
 wheel struck the lower part of his back, tearing the flesh all off clear 
 to his backbone, exposing it to sight. 
 
 Hoffman was picked up and taken to the Arlington house, where 
 he boarded, and Dr. L. Severance, the railroad surgeon summoned. 
 He did all in his power to make the injured man easy and alleviate 
 his pain, but it was out of the reach of medical skill to save his life 
 and at about 10 o'clock he died in awful agony. 
 
 Hoffman's mother and brother live in Lincoln, Neb., where the 
 latter is a physician. He also has a sister in Elkhart county, this 
 state, all of whom have been telegraphed the sad news. 
 
 He was a good switchman and more than ordinarily intelligent. 
 
 Tt is a most distressing accident. The young man was here among 
 strangers and died surrounded by the friends of so short an acquaint- 
 ance but who did everything within human power to save him or 
 
314 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 make his end one of peace. His injuries \yere fatal though and 
 nothing short of death would relieve him. 
 
 "ALL ABOARD !" So shout the railroad men, year in 
 and year out, daily, hourly, their cry is to get on board the 
 train. I often think if we preachers and mission workers 
 were as faithful in our work to get people on board the old 
 ship Zion, how many to-day would be en route for Heaven 
 who are on the broad-gauge rapid transit to the bottomless 
 pit of destruction. Will we not arise and shine for God 
 as we have never done before? 
 
 Over fifty years ago when I was a small child, I stood at 
 a flag-station waiting for the train. T was to go alone ON 
 MY FIRST TRIP by this wonderful mode of travel. It was 
 just the grandest thing to know I was really to ride on a 
 railroad train only four miles, yet I often think of it after 
 these twenty years of constant travel. Have I ever had such 
 a remarkable experience, going alone, too, and as there was 
 no station or ticket office, I was obligecl to pay my fare on 
 the train. I had a silver 25-cent piece, and I sat down in the 
 first empty seat I came to and waited to see what next! 
 Along came a tall man in uniform and asked where I was 
 going. I told him and handed him my money. I remember 
 yet how kindly that conductor looked at me, hesitated a little 
 and then handed me back my quarter, and let me ride those 
 four miles free. I have never forgotten that act of kind- 
 ness on the railroad, and during my pilgrimage I have been 
 shown much kindness by the railroad officials. 
 
 My work among railroad men has been greatly owned and 
 blessed of the Lord. Many of them saying, "You are the 
 only preacher that ever speaks to us about our soul's salva- 
 tion." They often say I remind them of their mothers who 
 were good Christians. 
 
 The following by a railroad man will be of interest and 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 315 
 
 profit to all, and will doubtless have more weight with his 
 class than anything I could say here : 
 
 TO RAILROAD MEN. 
 
 BY ONE OF THEM. 
 
 Dear Boys: One time in my life these words came to me: "Where 
 will you spend eternity?" Then and there I turned my back on sin 
 and "set my face like a flint" toward God and heaven, and cried to 
 God for Jesus' sake to forgive me; and near the hour of midnight 
 while kneeling at my bedside I received the witness of the Spirit that 
 I was saved. Then and there I was "born again" into newness of 
 life. I was changed from a man of sin to a child of God, and since 
 then such wonderful joy and peace fills my soul every minute of the 
 time that I want to tell all of you about it. 
 
 Brother, isn't there in your breast at times an awful aching void? 
 Aren't there times when after trying every pleasure and amusement 
 the world affords, you just quietly sit down all alone before God, and 
 realize that it is all in vain? These things don 't satisfy ; and there down 
 deep in your heart is a longing that is never satisfied, a hungering for 
 something that will give you complete joy and peace, and soul rest. 
 Brother, there is only one thing that will give you this complete rest, 
 and satisfy every longing of your heart, and that is salvation from 
 sin. Jesus died on the cross that you might be free from sin and 
 live through all the ages of eternity with Him in heaven. "If we 
 forsake our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and 
 cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ' ' If we do the forsaking He 
 will do the forgiving, and then through His atoning blood we become 
 new creatures, and after we have received the clear witness that we 
 are adopted into the family of God and can truly call Him Father, 
 if we feel angry at times or have some desire for the world and the 
 things of it, we can come to Him again and completely abandon 
 ourselves to Him, our will, our life, our desires, our time, our talents 
 to be used for His glory, then He will baptize us with the Holy 
 Ghost and power so that it becomes a pleasure to do right and all 
 evil becomes distasteful to us. By the power of the Holy Ghost He 
 cleanses our hearts, and the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost takes 
 up His abode in us, sanctifying us, causing us to live pure, holy 
 lives. We railroad men whose lives are in danger at all times 
 
316 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 should be prepared to meet God, for one minute we are here and 
 the next we may be standing at the judgment bar of God to answer 
 for deeds done here on earth. Dear reader, are ^ O u prepared to 
 do that? If not, make this the time that you will settle this forever 
 by giving your heart to God, then if this little flame of life is snuffed 
 out you will be borne on angel 's wings onward and upward through 
 the gates of pearl, over the golden paved streets of the New Jeru- 
 salem up to the great white throne where you will see Jesus in all His 
 glory and majesty and hear Him say to you, "Well done, enter thou 
 into the joy of the Lord. ' ' 
 
 Let me tell you, brother, when the Lord saved me and gave me 
 such sweet joy and peace I told Him that I would never use beer or 
 tobacco in any form, for I knew it was displeasing to Him, for He 
 says, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy 
 Ghost which is in you?" (1 Cor. 6:19). "If any man defile the 
 temple of God, him shall God destroy" (1 Cor. 3:17). "Cleanse 
 ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit" (2 Cor. 7:1). 
 
 And, brother, perhaps you are a slave to tobacco. Many times 
 you have felt that it was a dirty, useless, expensive habit, and you 
 get thoroughly disgusted with it, and perhaps you quit it for a short 
 time, and then how surprised and disgusted you feel because you 
 find what an awful hold it has got on you. It is worse than a spell 
 of sickness to try and quit it, and you soon take it up again, realiz- 
 ing as you do so that you are harboring something that is stronger 
 than you are, appetite; and although you are a strong, robust man 
 you have to admit that it is your master. And when you go home to 
 meet your mother, wife, sister, you notice them shrink away from the 
 breath made foul by the poisonous tobacco. And the times that it 
 almost destroys the taste for anything else, and you use all the more 
 of it till the disagreeable "heartburn" warns you that the deadly 
 poisonous nicotine is eating away at the lining of your stomach, and 
 you are more disgusted than ever, but you can 't quit without tor- 
 turing yourself. 
 
 Oh, how I loved my beer, plug of tobacco and pipe before I was 
 saved, but I quit them all drinking, chewing, smoking, swearing and 
 all immoral habits, and I would have died before I would have in- 
 dulged in any one of them in the least ; but the desire was still there ; 
 at times I wanted them. And seven days after I was saved 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 317 
 
 i was convicted for sanctification or a clean heart. There were some 
 Holy Ghost Christian people who void me there was a place 1 could get 
 in the higher or complete Christian life where God through JeoUo' 
 blood shed without the gate (Heb. 13:12) would cleanse my heait 
 from everything that was displeasing to Him, and would so fill it 
 with love and the power of the Hoiy ohost that I would be com- 
 pletely delivered jrotn all desires that tieie wrong, from anger, malice, 
 pride, love of the world, lust, jealousy, etc., and take away the appe- 
 tite for beer and tobacco. 1 found God's Word taught it, and be- 
 lieved He was ' ' strong to deliver, ' ' and that it was God 's will, even 
 my sanctification (1 Thes. 4:3). 
 
 And 1 cried to God to give me ' ' a clean heart, and a right spirit, ' ' 
 and he answered my prayer. It was done instantly. I arose from 
 my knees with a sweet sense of complete deliverance, and such joy 
 and perfect peace filled my whole being that I couldn 't praise Jesus 
 enough for it. From that moment I have not had the least desire 
 for those things any more than if I never had tasted them, and the 
 very smell of beer or tobacco makes me sick. This is a wonderful, 
 grand deliverance. Now I am as free as the very air saved, sancti- 
 fied, and sweetly kept by the power of God. 
 
 Brother, this is for you if you are willing to give up the foolishness 
 of the world for Christ. The joy that we have in one hour in the 
 service of the Lord is far greater than all the pleasure the world 
 can give in a lifetime. This power of the Holy Ghost within us, this 
 abiding Comforter fills us with glad sunshine all the time, and there 
 is constantly a power like "a wall of fire round about us" warding 
 off all evil. 
 
 Oh, it 's glorious and grows better and brighter each day. 
 
 ' ' Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine ! 
 Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! 
 Heir of salvation, purchased of God, 
 Born of His pirit, washed in His blood. ' ' 
 
 Your fellow brakesman, in Jesus' name, 
 Cincinnati, Ohio. M. L. ODELL. 
 
 TRANSPORTATION. 
 
 People sometimes ask me how I am able to get transpor- 
 
3l8 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 tation on the railroads. Well, in a few words, it is because 
 I pray to the Lord to have the way open to whatever place 
 He wants me to go, and the railroad men know me and of 
 my work for suffering humanity, and are glad to help me 
 in it. 
 
 A KIND CONDUCTOR. 
 
 On July 17, 1903, I was on my way from Washington, 
 D. C, on an important journey, and the conductor told me 
 the train I was on did not stop at Sherwood, and I wanted 
 to know where I should stop to get another train that would 
 stop there. He told me at Defiance, and when we reached 
 there I got off the train. Just then the conductor looked 
 out and called for a porter to "put that lady back on the 
 train." I was bewildered at this. He again called "put 
 that lady back on the train." I said, "Isn't this Defiance?'" 
 "Yes, but I shall put you off at Sherwood." Who told that 
 conductor to telegraph to headquarters to get a permit to 
 stop the train for me? God did it! That conductor will 
 never know how much his act strengthened my faith in God. 
 Dear reader, do you ever think of the hardships and dan- 
 gers through which these railroad men must pass? We put 
 ourselves in their care without praying for them. I seldom 
 enter a train without praying God to protect the railroad 
 men and passengers, and give them His blessing. He does 
 hear and answer prayer. How often the dear Lord has 
 heard my cries for the safety of the trains-! 
 
 Some of my 
 
 MOST INTERESTING GOSPEL SERVICES 
 
 have been held on railway trains. As I was once leaving 
 Chicago over the C. & R. I. R. R. at night, a request was 
 made that I should sing for the passengers. I was convers- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 319 
 
 ing with Mrs. Colonel Clark of the Pacific Garden Mission, 
 Chicago. As she was to soon leave the tram I said I would 
 sing when she had gone. I sang some hymns, and then a 
 gentleman requested that I should ask all in the car who 
 were Christians to raise their hands. I did so and quite a 
 number responded to this, and he then asked all who had 
 raised their hands to give a word of testimony. He was 
 the first one to speak and said, "I am a Christian. The last 
 thing before I left my home for Chicago was to gather my 
 wife and four little children around me and commit them 
 to God's care and ask for my safe return. I have for years 
 been a stock dealer and frequently come to Chicago. There 
 is a young man m our neighborhood who is also a dealer 
 in stock, but being unacquainted with the ways of the city, 
 he did not like to go alone and as I was a Christian came 
 with me. When there is an opportunity like this given, if I 
 did not honor God and show my colors this young man 
 could have no confidence in me. I speak for his special 
 benefit." He closed with an exhortation to the unsaved td 
 prepare to meet God and requested me to sing again. Then 
 one after another arose and spoke. It -reminded one of AN 
 
 OLD-FASHIONED METHODIST CLASS MEETING. Prayer, tCS- 
 
 timonies and singing continued till after midnight. The 
 young stock dealer and others were saved. Toward morn- 
 ing I fell into a sound sleep. I do not know how long I 
 slept, but when I awoke the sun was high and our car was 
 standing alone on the track. A lady passenger spoke to me 
 saying, ''How could you sleep during that wreck ?" "What ! 
 has anything happened?" I said. "Yes, a wreck," she re- 
 plied. The engine and other cars were gone and they were 
 clearing up the wreck. I heard from that meeting years 
 afterwards. 
 
 One night a meeting was held in the open air for the 
 
320 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 special benefit of railroad men. I asked all who wanted to 
 be saved to raise their hands ; then said, ''Will you not give 
 your hearts to God now?" One year from that time while 
 in a meeting a man arose and said that he was in the crowd 
 that night, and raised his hand, and then at once looked to 
 God and was saved then and there. 
 
 TRAIN SAVED FROM WRECK IN ANSWER TO PRAYER. 
 
 The Lord has often made known to me when the train 
 was in danger. I could see the plots laid by wicked men to 
 wreck the train, and when I have prayed, He, in answer to 
 prayer, has delivered us from harm and death. He says: 
 "The very hairs of your head are all numbered," and "I 
 will never leave thee nor forsake thee." 
 
 At one time I had been in old Mexico and changing cars 
 at El Paso, Texas, I found a heavy trainload of passengers 
 on the way east. I was impressed all night of impending 
 peril. I could not sleep, and walked the floor of the car in 
 silent prayer. I went to the young sister with me and 
 said, "The train is in great danger, and something will hap- 
 pen unless the Lord delivers us. The text comes to me so 
 forcibly, 'What, could ye not watch with me one hour?' 
 Watch and pray !" That night six train-robbers had deter- 
 mined to wreck and rob the train. They had stolen six 
 horses and gone to a lonely place uninhabited for miles 
 about. They bound and gagged the section foreman and his 
 men-, then took the switch-key and threw the switch to wreck 
 the train. When they saw the train passing on they tried to 
 hail it with their lanterns, but by some mysterious power of 
 God their lights were put out, so that the engineer did not 
 see them. Then they tried to board the train but were un- 
 able to succeed. It w T as a most remarkable occurrence. They 
 either did not open the switch properly and the train set it 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 321 
 
 back to its place, or the hand of God closed the switch. The 
 newspapers published quite an account of this incident, 
 from which source the above concerning the robbers was 
 obtained, as they were caught and made confession. 
 
 A TRAIN IN DANGER. 
 
 In July, 1889, 1 was on my way from St. Joseph, Missouri, 
 to St. Louis, having with me a man and his wife. About I 
 o'clock in the morning I awoke with awful fear upon me 
 of some impending danger. I told my friends that we must 
 pray for God to save the train, and that no power but God's 
 could avert the coming disaster, whatever it might be. Still 
 the horror as of death was upon me, and later in the night 
 the train suddenly stopped. The train men ran out with 
 their lanterns and found that the engine had become un- 
 coupled from the cars and just in front of the engine was a 
 pile of iron. The iron rails of the track were set so that a 
 wreck would have been the result if God had not interposed. 
 God thwarted the well-laid plans that had been made to 
 wreck and rob the train. This was in a lonely place where 
 no help was near, and the robbers would have the best of 
 chances to rob the train. On our return west a similar ter- 
 ror came upon me and I said, "Pray for this train, or some- 
 thing will happen to it before we reach St. Joe." I was 
 terrified all day. Just as the train stopped at the depot our 
 car was wrecked. The front wheels of the car were turned 
 around crosswise of the track, tearing up the planks, rails 
 and earth. Such a queer looking wreck, and apparently no 
 reason for it! Yet we had been brought in safety to our 
 journey's end and no one was injured. 
 
 IMPRESSED TO LEAVE THE TRAIN. 
 
 At another time after preaching at Canon City prison in 
 
322 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Colorado, we had our baggage checked to Leadville in the 
 same state. We held meetings on the train and some were 
 moved to tears. When the engine whistled for Salida a 
 dreadful feeling of fear and terror overtook me. Something 
 seemed to say to me, "Get off the train." I felt it was a 
 command from the Lord. I told the friends who were with 
 me what the words of the Lord were, and said that we must 
 leave the train. We hurriedly left the train without wait- 
 ing for another warning. I looked after the train as it moved 
 away and said, "I wonder why I had to leave that train. 
 Perhaps not till the judgment will I know." We went on the 
 street and held an open air meeting, and some one invited 
 us to hold a service that night in a church. We did so, and 
 God poured out his Spirit on the people. After the meet- 
 ing we went out and visited the saloons, and spoke to many 
 about their souls. At about 1 1 o'clock at night we returned 
 to the depot and I asked the agent what time the next train 
 would leave for Leadville. He said, "I don't know. The 
 train you got off from was terribly wrecked twelve miles up 
 the road. The east-bound train crashed into it, and I have 
 sent out two wrecking trains already." I told him of my 
 presentiment of danger, and how God had impressed me 
 to leave that train. He asked me to come into the office and 
 explain my impressions and talk to him. We did so, and 
 about 3 o'clock in the morning the wrecked train backed 
 down to the depot where we were waiting and we again got 
 aboard. I told the passengers as they looked at me as I 
 came into the car, "The Lord warned me of the danger and 
 impressed me to get off the train." I have taken the Lord 
 as my guide all these years and He has never forsaken me. 
 
 A TELEGRAM RECEIVED. 
 
 Waiting for a train where I changed cars I was invited 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 323 
 
 to sit in the ticket office, as the waiting room was uncom- 
 fortable. I was writing at the agent's desk when he handed 
 me a telegram, saying, "I think this is intended for you, 
 Mother." It was an announcement of the death of one of my 
 brothers, and was being sent to another town, having to be 
 transferred here, and the agent seeing my name handed it to 
 me. I could see the hand of God in this. 
 
 HELPED TO CARE FOR WOUNDED MAN. 
 
 Once on my way from Burlington to Ft. Madison, la., 
 I told the conductor I was impressed to go on that special 
 train. When we were about a mile out of the city, the en- 
 gine accidentally struck a man and hurt him badly. The man 
 was put into the baggage car and as there were no seats, I 
 stood behind him and held his head, and after we had gone 
 twelve miles, warm water was secured and I washed the 
 blood from his head and cared for him until we arrived at 
 the station, when they took him to the jail, there being no 
 other place for him, and there I helped the doctor dress 
 his wounds. Then I knew why I was impressed to go on 
 that train. 
 
 CONDUCTOR'S GOD BLESS YOU. 
 
 Once the conductor on a train said to me so kindly, as he 
 assisted me from the train, "God bless you; let your good 
 work go on. I gave the tracts you gave me to the train- 
 men they needed them. ' How this cheered me, for I 
 had tried to preach to them on the train, and I feared the 
 scoffs or reproof of the railroad officials. How I do long 
 to help and encourage the railroad men they are so loyal 
 and faithful, and have so much to contend with in their 
 work. "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with 
 good." 
 
 A WOMAN'S FAITH ENCOURAGED. 
 
 On the way from Philadelphia to New York I was one 
 
324 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 day led to pass quietly through the car giving out tracts. 
 After seating myself, a lady came and asked if she might 
 speak with me about 'the work I was doing. She said, "If 
 I only knew God could and would heal a person whose mind 
 was shattered, I would give all that I possess. I am troubled 
 about my daughter's grieving over the death of her hus- 
 band." I told her God never fails to perform his miracles 
 when we fully believe and accept God's way of healing the 
 body and soul. She seemed much blessed and encouraged 
 and kindly invited me to her home. "As ye go, preach." 
 How glad she was to find some one who would tell her 
 about salvation. She was a wealthy lady, as I afterward 
 learned. We became fast friends and she learned of heal- 
 ing in answer to "the prayer of faith." 
 
 RIDING IN PARLOR CAR. 
 
 Leaving the Indian School in Indian Territory on one 
 of the coldest mornings I ever experienced, myself and sis- 
 ters were driven by two young Indian boys to a flag station. 
 We were wrapped in warm blankets and hurried to the 
 railroad. We were in danger of freezing, as the train was 
 long delayed on account of the blizzard and snow drifts, and 
 we sought the only place of shelter a freight car in which 
 the section foreman and his wife lived, where we shivered 
 with the cold until the train came in sight. 
 
 We were compelled to stop in the parlor car (a luxury 
 that I never indulge in) as platforms of the other cars were 
 too icy to pass from one car to another while the train was 
 in motion. We were much blessed, and I began singing, 
 and praising the Lord. When the train came to a station, 
 we arose to go into the other car, but a gentleman passenger 
 called to the conductor and said: "How much is the fare 
 for these ladies to remain in this car?" He and his com- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 325 
 
 panion paid the amount required and we were permitted to 
 ride in the parlor car to Topeka, Kansas. 
 
 My soul was so blessed that I felt I must go into the other 
 cars and hold services. We were invited to go to the diner 
 with friends. When we arrived at the station where dinner 
 was served, one after another of the passengers handed me 
 some money. When we came in from dinner I knelt downl 
 in the car, and was praying in silence, thanking God for 
 what He had given us, when I felt someone crush some 
 paper in my hands. I looked to see what it was and found 
 it was a ten dollar bill, given by the two gentlemen who had 
 paid our fare in the parlor car. Of course I was greatly sur- 
 prised, and as Sister Taylor was kneeling by my side, I 
 said, ''Sister, this must be in answer to your prayer. Did 
 you pray for money?" She said "Yes, I prayed for hours 
 last night." I said, "Why you should have been praying 
 for souls." She answered, "I knew you needed money, and 
 no one was giving it to you." Thus God hears and an- 
 swers prayers and provides for the needs of his little ones. 
 
 I give below a letter received from one of the gentlemen 
 who gave us the ten dollars who was a prominent business 
 man in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania : 
 
 Pittsburg, Pa., March 25, 1899. 
 Mrs. K. R. Wheaton, Tabor, Iowa. 
 
 My Dear Madam : Your card of the 18th duly received and I was 
 glad to hear from you and to have your good wishes, but was 
 especially grateful for your prayers, for I believe in prayer. Do 
 you realize how much a busy man needs the prayers of God's people? 
 
 Brother M., my companion whom you me"t last fall in Indian Ter- 
 ritory, is well and I know will be glad to hear from you. I will see 
 him next week, D. V. 
 
 If you pass through our city on your trip East, and I know of it, 
 would gladly call upon you. 
 
 With best wishes for your welfare, and Mrs. Taylor 's, too, I am, 
 Very truly your friend, T. M. N. 
 
326 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 The following brief extract is from a report of a service 
 on the train as we were in company with a number of dele- 
 gates on their way to the Convocation of Prayer at Balti- 
 more, in January, 1903 : 
 
 We left Indianapolis at 3:05 p. m., Monday. After we started 
 Mother Wheaton, who was with us, started up a song, then went to 
 the front of the car, and standing in the aisle she began preaching 
 to the people. She moved down the aisle still preaching, taking about 
 ten minutes to come through the car. This she did several times, 
 then went through the dining and palace cars. As she told of her 
 prison work, how God could save criminals, we could see tears come 
 into the eyes of the passengers. A U. S. marshal sitting near us 
 became much affected, and made inquiry of Brother S. B. Shaw 
 who the woman was, and said he knew what she said was true, and 
 said he desired to be saved. A wealthy Mexican on the train, whose 
 wife had recently died while he was on a trip to Europe, was also 
 brought under conviction, and would have Sister Wheaton take din- 
 ner in the dining car; also had Sisters Wheaton and Shaw take a 
 berth in the sleeper at his expense. I must not forget to tell you 
 that Brother Shaw gave us an excellent talk standing in the aisle of 
 the car. 
 
 FAVOR THE R. R. CO. 
 
 I sometimes have an opportunity to do a kindness for the 
 R. R. Co., in return for the many. favors they do for me. 
 At one time I reached the railroad station at Fort Worth, 
 Texas, before my train arrived. While we were waiting for 
 a Santa Fe train, an old lady who was evidently not in her 
 right mind and who had been sent by friends to go alone to 
 other friends who lived at a distance, of her own accord 
 tried to climb over one train to get to another and was 
 injured. The injury was caused by her own mental condi- 
 tion and through no fault of the railroad men. 
 Before she left us, I wrote a little message of love and put 
 it into her hand bag with my name and address on it. In a 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 327 
 
 few days I received the following letter from her attorneys. 
 
 Fort Worth, Tex., November 21, 1898. 
 Mrs. E. E. Wheaton, Tabor, Iowa. 
 
 Dear Madam: We conclude from a kind and sympathetic letter 
 you wrote to Mrs. Harper, the old lady who fell from the platform at 
 the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Eailway depot at Fort Worth, Tex., 
 on Friday night, the llth day of November, that you likely saw the 
 old lady fall. And perhaps you can tell us how she came to fall and 
 who else saw her when she fell. Mrs. Harper has employed us to sue 
 the railroad company for said injuries. She claims that she walked 
 off of the platform where there were no railings and fell between 
 two freight cars left standing on the track, left so far apart that 
 she could see the railroad car she wanted to board between said open- 
 ing so left. Will you please write us all you know about the matter, 
 and who else saw it, if any one, and where such person or persons 
 live if you know. By doing so you will greatly oblige, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 WYNNE, MC-CART & BOWLIN. 
 
 In reply I assured them that it would be utterly unjust to 
 bring suit against the railroad company giving them the 
 facts as far and as fully as I knew them. I learned later 
 that this ended the contemplated suit. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 Street and Open Air Work. 
 
 THE MASTER'S QUESTIONS. 
 
 Have ye looked for my sheep in the desert, 
 
 For those who have missed their way? 
 Have ye been in the wild waste places, 
 
 Where the lost and wandering stray? 
 Have ye trodden the lonely highway, 
 
 The foul and the darksome street? 
 It may be ye'd see in the gloaming 
 
 The print of My wounded feet. 
 
 Have ye wept with the broken-hearted 
 
 In their agony of woe? 
 Ye might hear Me whispering beside you 
 
 ' ' J Tis the pathway I often go ! ' ' 
 My brethren, My friends, My disciples, 
 
 Can ye dare to follow me? 
 Then, wherever the Master dwelleth, 
 
 There shall the servant be!" 
 
 Many are the shocking sights and sad experiences I have 
 witnessed in street and slum work. I have endured hard- 
 ships and privations, suffered arrests and ridicule, and faced 
 many dangers. But withal, the glorious victories have been 
 many and precious souls have been saved : 
 
 I might give copies of many permits to hold open air 
 services received in the earlier years of my labors, but per- 
 haps these would not be of interest or profit, so I give 
 only a few. 
 
 PERMIT TO PREACH ON BOSTON COMMON. 
 CITY OF BOSTON, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Under Chapter 42, Section 11, of the Revised Ordinances, permis- 
 sion is hereby granted to Mrs. Elizabeth Wheaton, to conduct preach- 
 ing service on the Common on Sunday, October 27, 1889, subject to 
 the directions of the Superintendent of the Common, who will assign 
 a location. THOMAS NAST, Mayor. 
 
 October 22, 1889. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 329 
 
 STATE Or LOUISIANA, MAYORALTY OF NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 City Hall, llth day of December, 1886. 
 
 Permission granted to Elizabeth Wheaton and Agnes Hill to preach 
 the gospel at such localities within the city of New Orleans as they 
 may select; provided that in so doing they are careful not to inter- 
 fere with the private rights of individuals or those of corporations 
 granted them under municipal ordinances or the statutes of this 
 state. By order of the Mayor. 
 
 E. L. BOWER, Chief Clerk. 
 
 MAYOR'S OFFICE. 
 
 Jacksonville, Fla., December 29, 1886. 
 
 Permission is hereby granted E. Wheaton and associates to preach 
 the gospel within the city limits at such places as they may select; 
 provided the streets and sidewalks are not obstructed and the rights 
 of private property are not disturbed and there is no violation of City 
 ordinances or statutes of the State. P. McQuAm, Mayor. 
 
 Galveston, Tex., Jan. 20, 1888. 
 To Whom It May Concern: 
 
 Permission is hereby granted to the bearer to hold religious 
 services on the streets anywhere within the corporate limits of the 
 city of Galvestoa, and the police authorities will lend such pro- 
 tection as is necessary to enforce order at such meetings. 
 
 R. L. FULTON, Mayor of Galveston. 
 
 Office of Chief of Police, 
 Denver, Colo., June 23, 1888. 
 To any Police Officer: 
 
 This woman has permission from the Mayor to hold services on 
 the street. M. HENNY, Chief of Police. 
 
 Sacramento, Cal., Aug. 24, 1888. 
 
 Permission is hereby granted E. Wheaton and associates to 
 preach the gospel within the city limits at such places as they 
 may select, provided the streets and sidewalks are not obstructed 
 and rights of private property are not disturbed, and if not in 
 conflict or violation of the city ordinances. 
 
 EUGENE J. GREGORY, Mayor. 
 
330 
 
 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 FROM MISS JOSEPHINE COWGILL. 
 Some Years a Missionary in Jerusalem. 
 
 The following is contributed by a dear sister who has 
 spent some years as a missionary in Jerusalem, Palestine, 
 and may be known to many of our readers : 
 
 MISS JOSEPHINE COWGILL. 
 
 Many years ago, while engaged in missionary work in the city 
 of Nfcw Orleans, La., I was one evening attracted by a large gath- 
 ering of people. In the midst was a woman kneeling on the ground 
 engaged in most earnest prayer. Many in the company were of 
 the worst class . of people, yet they were quietly listening and 
 looking on with amazement. We were not accustomed to any one 
 praying on the streets in that manner. This was the first time 
 I had the privilege of meeting dear Sister E. R. Wheaton. I can 
 never forget the impressions made upon myself and others by her 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 331 
 
 prayers, exhortations and songs that evening. Standing near me 
 in that company was a woman who had charge of one of the 
 worst houses of prostitution in the city. Trembling and weeping 
 she said to me "I never heard anything like that before. That 
 woman makes me feel that I am an awful sinner, and yet she 
 loves me." That poor woman went to her house, sent for a Bible 
 and read it and spent the night in bitter repenting for her sins. 
 She was gloriously converted and then called her household to- 
 gether and told them her experience and how the Lord had par- 
 doned her sins and made her happy in His love. She then ex- 
 horted them to commence a new life; but if they would not, then 
 they must leave her house. 
 
 While in New Orleans, Sister Wheaton and those in company 
 with her were busily and successfully engaged in mission work 
 among prisoners and others of the worst class. Some years after- 
 ward she again visited that city and the Lord greatly blessed 
 her work. One night, on a store-box in front of a saloon, she 
 preached to a large crowd. The saloonkeeper became very uneasy 
 and called a policeman to 'Hake her away." He came, but found 
 it quite hard work to get her down and to another place. The 
 people wanted to hear her. She sang a song, the chorus of which 
 was, in part: 
 
 "If to Jesus you are true, 
 There's a glory waits for you, 
 
 In the beautiful, the glad forever." 
 
 Then with clasped hands she stood quietly gazing upward, with 
 tears rolling down her cheeks. Then with much feeling she said: 
 "I am homesick for heaven." I can never forget how those 
 words impressed me and others at that time. 
 
 Some years after I again met Sister Wheaton in Los Angeles, 
 California, where her work was like it had been in New Orleans. 
 At one time, when she had kindly offered me the privilege of 
 going with her to some other points, I made inquiry about how I 
 should take my trunk. She replied: " Sister Josephine, pilgrims 
 for God do not need a trunk. One valise is enough." Many times 
 I have thought of that reply and the good it did me. I have 
 never known of a more earnest and self-sacrificing Christian worker 
 than Sister Wheaton. The results of her labors as she has gone 
 forth " weeping and bearing precious seeds," cannot be fully 
 
332 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 known until with rejoicing she comes ''bringing sheaves with 
 her." In loving remembrance of her, I am, 
 
 Yours in His blessed service. 
 
 JOSEPHINE COWGILL. 
 Haifo, Palestine. 
 
 MY FIRST STREET MEETING. 
 
 My first street meeting was in Washington, D. C., near 
 the old postoffice. I -had spent the day in the jail, alms- 
 house and hospitals. I was then a stranger in the city. 
 Some one asked me to go to a hall where there was a little 
 mission. We did so, and found they had gone to the open 
 air meeting. When we .arrived the meeting was in prog- 
 ress, one after another stepping out to testify or sing. No 
 opportunity was offered me to take any part in the meet- 
 ing, as no woman was allowed to testify. I looked to God 
 in silent prayer to open some way for me to speak to the 
 people. At the close of their service I spoke, saying, "The 
 Lord has sent me ^yith a message for you dear people, and 
 now the friends have closed their meeting and we will not 
 detain them, as they doubtless have other engagements." 
 I began to sing and God rilled my soul with glory. The 
 needs of those poor hungry souls rose before me, as I sang 
 and prayed, and the message of love came welling up in my 
 soul. I spoke to them of righteousness, the coming Judg- 
 ment and eternity. I had held meetings in many of the 
 principal cities of America, some in Europe and other 
 countries. But that night God anointed me for street 
 preaching and for work in slums, dives and saloons. 
 
 Closing the meeting, I thought of being alone on the 
 street at night with scarcely any money and not knowing 
 my way back to my lodging place. I said, "Oh, Lord, you 
 know all about it." Walking along I came to the mission 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 333 
 
 and stepping in I took a seat near the door. While I sat 
 praying, a brother rose and told the circumstances of the 
 street meeting I had held, and that one of the worst men in 
 the city had been converted through its instrumentality. 
 The man had told the brother that God had saved him and 
 he was going home to write eight letters to his people, some 
 of them in this and some in the old country, to tell them 
 what great things God had done for him. God knew I 
 was there and sent the message to encourage me. After 
 the service in the hall had closed a young lady who proved 
 to be the daughter of the landlady where I had been staying, 
 came to me and walked to her home with me. I could not 
 have found my way alone, not having their number, but 
 God cared for me. 
 
 Some extracts are given from reports of the work which 
 were published at different points during the first few years 
 of my labors: 
 
 CONTESTED TO CHRIST. 
 
 THE CASE OF THE UNFORTUNATE WOMAN CARD FROM MR. M. 
 
 Editor Hawk-Eye: Last evening at about seven o'clock Mrs. 
 Wheaton, the prison evangelist, and another lady of the evan- 
 gelists and myself held a meeting on the levee. Mrs. Wheaton, who 
 spoke on the future consequence of sin with unusual earnestness, 
 had the effect of breaking down Mrs. A. into tears. Mrs. Wheaton 
 went up to her and spoke to her. In a few moments the unfortu- 
 nate woman broke into ecstasies of joy and commenced to leap 
 around in a circle. For ten minutes she kept up praising God and 
 leaping, when suddenly she leaped through the great crowd around, 
 some now being horrified, who, like many poor, unfortunate peo- 
 ple, never saw a sudden conversion. She ran up Jefferson street, 
 where she was arrested and locked up. 
 
 Had the woman been rich or popular she would have been kindly 
 treated, but being one of the unfortunate women of our city she 
 was locked up in an unclean, old filthy cell, with a bunk for a bed. 
 The police were informed that the woman was converted and a 
 
334 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 lady offered to take her home last night. But they kept her in 
 that terrible cell with inmates in adjoining cells using obscene lan- 
 guage. It is a sin and disgrace for the city fathers to continue to 
 have women locked up with men in the same line of cells with 
 such a horrifying stench and wooden bunks. The city police are 
 guilty of an outrageous act in confining the woman in such a 
 cell, when they ought to have given her better quarters, as they 
 had the opportunity. This morning she was brought out before 
 the police court; the woman still testified that she had salvation 
 before that court and crowd of people. But good came out of it 
 all as she witnessed a grand confession to the police court and 
 people who never heard the gospel. She was, by the consent of 
 Captain S., taken to Mrs. H. 's and is doing well and is converted. 
 Last evening's Gazette stated that the woman went crazy by at- 
 tending the street meetings and would be examined before the 
 board of commissioners of insanity, which is every word of it un- 
 true. The woman is sane and was not before any board. 
 
 A. H. MERTZ, in Burlington Hawk-Eye, Jan. 19, 1887. 
 
 A WONDERFUL CONVERSION. 
 
 In San Francisco a drunken girl came to my meeting on 
 the street so desperate and dangerous that even the police 
 at times seemed afraid of her. She seemed to be a veritable 
 Magdalene. I was impressed with the words, "Down in 
 the human heart, crushed by the tempter, feelings lie buried 
 that grace can restore." How could it be done? I dealt 
 faithfully with her and went away, returning to the city* 
 ten months later. She came again to my meetings, once 
 very drunk as she usually was. I talked to her about her 
 need of salvation and she was finally convicted. She waited 
 at the close of the meeting to speak with me, but at first 
 would not yield to God. Finally ^he sobered up and was 
 wonderfully converted. I took her to my room and cared 
 for her, and as she was a desperate character, and liable to 
 do injury both to life and property, the Rescue Home at 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 335 
 
 San Francisco refused to take her, so I took all the risks 
 myself and took her to Helena, Montana, and left her at 
 the Rescue Home at that place. 
 
 The following is an account of work in Seattle soon after 
 this as reported by a paper of that city: 
 
 THE PKISON EVANGELIST. 
 
 MRS. ELIZABETH R. WHEATON CARRYING FORWARD HER MISSION IN 
 
 SEATTLE. 
 
 About three o'clock yesterday afternoon two women, one quite 
 elderly and the other about 25 years of age, whose dress and de- 
 meanor bespoke them to be missionaries, walked into the sheriff's 
 office and asked Jailer Leckie if they might hold a short religious 
 service in the county jail. The urbane jailor replied that he 
 thought "a little prayin' wouldn't do them coves any harm," but 
 they were eating and couldn't be interrupted for ten or fifteen 
 minutes. 
 
 "Then we'll wait," said Mrs. Wheaton, laying her black shawl 
 aside and taking a seat, in which she was followed by her sister 
 evangelist. 
 
 "Perhaps you would like to know who we are," said the elder 
 of the two women to a reporter who happened to be present. "Here 
 is my card," and she handed over a small piece of pasteboard on 
 which was printed with a rubber stamp, "Elizabeth K. Wheaton, 
 Prison Evangelist. Jesus is Coming Soon; Prepare to Meet Thy 
 God." 
 
 "That will tell who I am," continued the evangelist. . . . 
 ' ' Criminals and fallen women are the ones I try to reach. I would 
 rather try to save a murderer or fallen woman than your smooth, 
 respectable hypocrites, every time. Mary and I have just come 
 through from san Francisco. " * * * 
 
 At this moment Jailer Leckie announced that the prisoners were 
 through eating, and the two women went below to pray with them. 
 The younger woman held back, saying that she was afraid some 
 of her old associates might be there, but she was urged on by her 
 protector and a few minutes later the words of "Nearer My God 
 to Thee," from two female voices, came floating through the 
 prison bars. The prisoners gave them respectful hearing, and one 
 
336 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 or two seemed to be affected by the earnest words of counsel that 
 fell from the lips of the evangelist. Later in the evening they held 
 street services for the benefit of the workingmen near the Armory 
 and relief tents. 
 
 BECAME A PREACHER. 
 
 One of the worst women I ever knew was converted in 
 the spring of 1885 on the streets of Kansas City, Mo., where 
 I was holding meetings. She came to the meeting to abuse 
 and ridicule me. She heard my voice, she said, two blocks 
 away, and became convicted. She came to where I was 
 standing on a box preaching. I asked if there was any one 
 there who would seek God and live a Christian life. I said 
 if there was one such, let them come and kneel with me by 
 the box and I. would pray for them. She knelt there and 
 cried mightily to God for mercy. But she went away un- 
 saved and prayed and wept day and night. She could 
 neither eat nor sleep. She saw herself a lost sinner. Her 
 father had been a minister of the Gospel, but had died when 
 she was very young. She had drifted to this wicked city 
 in search of work, and you may know the rest. For it is 
 but the story of many a poor orphan girl in her struggle for 
 bread. She fell as thousands fall with none to pity or care. 
 She was driven from one sin to another, until at last dis- 
 graced and filled with shame, she had tried twelve times to 
 take her own life. Thus I found her a miserable woman. 
 She came again to the meeting, this time alone, and was 
 gloriously saved, and is still saved so far as I know. She 
 became a successful preacher of righteousness, for she 
 knew how to reach such as she had been. She became a. 
 terror to evil doers, brave in danger, and hopeful before dis- 
 couraging obstacles. She has since told me she has saved 
 many young girls' lives and characters by taking them in 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 337 
 
 and giving them food and shelter when every other door 
 except brothels and saloons was closed against them. Bless 
 God for the homes open to shelter and protect the unforttn 
 nate girls. 
 
 THE BLIND ENCOURAGED. 
 
 One day while traveling in Montana, I went into a smok- 
 ing car to hold a little Gospel meeting, singing and distribut- 
 ing tracts, when I found a blind lady there who seemed to 
 be alone and neglected. I spoke to her kindly about her 
 soul and invited her to go with me into the other car. I 
 said, "I am always glad to do anything I can to help a blind 
 person. My grandmother was blind several years before her 
 death.-" She accepted it all gratefully and seemed very sorry 
 to part from me when we changed cars. I exhorted her to 
 a life of Christian service and. to meet me in Heaven. 
 
 I never expected to meet her again, but some two years 
 later I was holding an open air meeting in California and 
 a lady said, "Would you allow me to testify?" and I said, 
 "Certainly, if you are a Christian. Would be glad to have 
 you." When she began to speak she said : "This lady don't 
 know me, but I know her. We met once. Although I have 
 never seen her, as I am deprived of sight, yet I know her. 
 I met with her on the train one day," and she related the 
 foregoing facts, stating that my kindness had won her heart 
 and she had never forgotten my advice, and was now living 
 a Christian life. 
 
 FORBIDDEN TO PREACH ON THE STREET. 
 
 One night when I attempted to hold a street meeting in 
 
 F , California where I had been holding services for a 
 
 few nights the marshal said he had forbidden me to preach 
 and sing on the streets. A gentleman looked up the law 
 books and returned saying that it was not contrary to the 
 
338 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 laws of that city at that time to hold a gospel meeting on 
 the street and that I could proceed, but the marshal came 
 and forbade me, very unkindly and impolitely. At this 
 crisis a gentleman came up and said that a saloon keeper 
 down the street requested me to come and hold a meeting 
 in front of his place. I said: "A gentleman has requested 
 that we come and hold a meeting in front of his business 
 place. We will go there, please," but the marshal in a very 
 ungentlemanly way said I was not to hold a meeting on the 
 street any place in that city. 
 
 I said we would go to a hall which had been opened for 
 gospel services. It was several blocks away and only a 
 few of the immense crowd would walk that distance. When 
 I reached the place I sat down behind the door and cried 
 and thought, what shall I do? I was sure the Lord wanted 
 me to hold a meeting on the street. The blind lady men- 
 tioned in the previous incident was in the congregation and 
 began to sing, "He is able to deliver thee," and I soon had 
 the victory. The same sister had attempted to sing on the 
 street, as this was her only means of supporting her ola 
 mother and sickly husband, and the marshal came along 
 and without any warning pushed her off the street. A 
 couple of strange gentlemen came and kindly led her to a 
 place of safety. I heard soon after this that this man be- 
 came suddenly insane and it took two men to hold him and 
 take him to the jail and from there to the insane asylum. 
 
 THOUGHT THEY SAW A GHOST. 
 
 Once, in a city, another lady and myself were walking 
 along a very lonesome street late at night. When passing a 
 large dark building she remarked that it was a very dan- 
 gerous gambling den. My heart burned within me. I was 
 seized with an impulse to go in that place of iniquity and 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 339 
 
 warn those men of their souls' danger. No sooner thought 
 than done ! I was soon in the room which proved to be va- 
 cant, but I could see light through the cracks of a closed 
 door leading into the next room. I passed quietly across 
 the room and opened the door and stood confronting a num- 
 ber of rough looking men who were seated at a long gam- 
 bling table. Without a word I crossed the room with noise- 
 less footsteps and dropping my Bible on the table and fall- 
 ing on my knees before them began to cry to God in their 
 behalf. The men seemed to take an unexpected view of the 
 situation, and rising simultaneously to their feet, they 
 rushed wildly from the room upsetting their chairs in their 
 haste, and I was left alone. The next day the report went 
 out that a ghost had been seen there the night before, and 
 some of the men vowed they would never touch a pack of 
 cards again as long as they lived that money could not 
 hire them to do it. Truly "The wicked flee whwa no man 
 pursueth." 
 
 HURT BY A SALOONKEEPER. 
 
 While I was at Springfield, 111., I was led one Sabbath to 
 go to the park to hold a ^gospel meeting, taking two sisters 
 with me. We had a good meeting, and returning to the 
 city I asked the street car conductor if there was another 
 park where I could hold services. He directed me to a 
 place in another suburb. We went there, and in a grove I 
 saw some tables and men and women sitting at them, 
 drinking. I began to sing a hymn, thinking we were in a 
 public park, when a man rushed out of a house toward me, 
 saying, "You shan't sing here." I said, "Please let me fin- 
 ish this verse." He replied, "No, I won't allow any one to 
 sing here." I knelt in prayer. He did not say I should not 
 
340 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 pray. The sisters were looking at him, and said he hurried 
 toward me in great anger. The sisters prayed to God to 
 spare me. The man jerked me and pushed me over, when 
 some of the men at the tables called out to him, "Let go of 
 that woman. You don't know who she is. We know her." 
 The men in the meantime running to us, laid hold on the 
 saloonkeeper and took him away. I was very much hurt. 
 I could not walk alone. The park proved to be a beer 
 garden. We went to the nearest house and asked permis- 
 sion to rest till I should gain strength to return to the city. 
 The people where we stopped were very indignant, and 
 said the man had no license to sell liquor on Sunday, and 
 was violating the city ordinance. There were no arrests. 
 The whisky men must have their own way in this land of 
 American liberty. They can ruin lives, break up homes, 
 blight the prospects of the best people on earth and fill the 
 prisons, almshouses, criminal insane asylums, brothels, 
 graves of paupers, and doom souls by the multitude, and 
 who cares ? Who votes to put down the saloons ? Who tries 
 to save mothers' girls as well as mothers' boys, husbands 
 and wives? Even the parents are overtaken by the demon 
 of strong drink and sink into the most depraved conditions 
 in order to satisfy their craving for alcohol. O, the awful- 
 ness of it all! Sisters, brothers, are you and I clear? Are 
 we doing our best to stop this horrible traffic in whisky and 
 girls, for one of these places can scarcely exist without the 
 other. How many girls and boys are sacrificed yearly to 
 fill the saloonkeepers' coffers and fill up hell? Think of 
 these things. 
 
 WARNED TO LEAVE THE CITY. 
 
 Upon entering a town in Mississippi I inquired of a 
 woman if she could direct me to a hotel, and she told me her 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 341 
 
 sister and her husband kept one and I would be made com- 
 fortable with them. 
 
 We went to the hotel and left our luggage and went at 
 once to hold an open air meeting. The singing attracted a 
 considerable crowd, and at the close of the service many 
 came to shake hands with me and thank me for the meeting, 
 among whom were a number of colored people, who thanked 
 the Lord in their characteristic way and asked me to preach 
 again which I agreed to do that night. 
 
 As we turned our steps toward our hotel, we noticed a 
 colored man walking a short distance ahead of us who, 
 when we were out of hearing of the crowd, turned and said 
 to us : "You women don't intend to hold another meeting on 
 the street to-night?" and I said, "Certainly, I shall obey 
 God." He said, "You have shaken hands with the colored 
 people and the white people are angry, and they will mob 
 you. I came along here for the purpose of warning you. 
 If they saw me talking with you my life would be in dan- 
 ger." I told him I was not afraid, thanked him and told 
 him I would do as the Lord led. 
 
 On reaching our hotel the landlord asked if I intended to 
 hold another meeting on the street that night, and I told him 
 I did. He said that the townspeople had forbidden me to 
 hold another service and that I would have to leave his ho- 
 tel at once, because I had shaken hands with the colored 
 people. We told him we had made the appointment and 
 we should keep pur word. He went to his wife and told 
 her to go and tell those women to leave the house and take 
 the train, as we had associated with the colored people and 
 the white people would not allow us to remain in town. She 
 replied that we had paid our money and our money was as 
 
342 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 good as anybody's, and that we were respectable, honest 
 women and she was going to treat us as such. 
 
 When we went down the street we heard a noise as of a 
 mob, and we went praying the Lord to show us what to do, 
 and He showed us our life was in danger and to step one 
 side into the colored people's church where God's presence 
 was revealed in mighty power and souls were convicted and 
 converted. 
 
 In the morning two colored women called upon me, say- 
 ing they had come to warn me and assist me to the train. 
 One of them said that two nights before she had a terrible 
 dream about a woman coming to preach on the streets and 
 was so impressed that she sent her husband four miles to see 
 if there was anything in it. This was the man that warned 
 us that night. When he went home and told her what he 
 had seen and heard, she dreamed again and the Lord told 
 her to come and help us out of town, as the people would 
 take my life. They carried our luggage and showed us to 
 the train and got us safely on board, and with a "God bless 
 you, Honey, we's prayin' for you," they were gone, and we 
 went on our way with thankful hearts for our Lord's pro- 
 tecting care. 
 
 IN JAIL. 
 
 I have several times been arrested for holding services in 
 the open air, but have been taken to prison but twice once 
 in Glasgow, Scotland, as related elsewhere, and once in 
 Belleville, Illinois. 
 
 In 1889, Sister Anna Kinne wrote me from Belleville that 
 they were holding meetings at that place, but had seen but 
 little stir, that it seemed to be a hard field, and that she be- 
 lieved the Lord wanted me to come and help them in the 
 meetings. I was, at the time, in Mississippi, but after pray- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 343 
 
 ing over the matter I felt that I should go to Belleville in 
 answer to her request. 
 
 The first Sabbath after reaching there I tried to hold ser- 
 vices in the open air, but was stopped by policemen. I tried 
 again with the same results. Then I went to the mayor, but 
 was refused permission to hold any such meetings. When 
 I asked him if he would take the responsibility on the day 
 of judgment, he said, "Yes." I then went to the jail and 
 held services, and the sheriff kindly inquired about my work 
 and showed considerable interest, and took down some 
 notes. I then asked hini for permission to hold meetings 
 on the court house steps. This was readily granted, and I 
 took Sister Kinne with me. The marshal of the town had 
 bitterly opposed my work, and while we were singing he 
 very rudely and unceremoniously came and took me by the 
 arm and dragged me down from the steps. 
 
 I told him that the sheriff had given me permission to 
 hold services, but he was very angry and refused to let me 
 go on. 
 
 I said to those who had gathered, "We will have no open 
 air meeting, but come to Buchanan Hall to-night, and we 
 will have a meeting there." 
 
 I think it was the following night that I was impressed 
 just before the opening of our services, to sing a hymn, 
 standing in the mission door. I spoke to Sister Kinne of 
 this and she said, "God bless you, Sister Wheaton, I will 
 pray for you/' 
 
 I went quietly down to the door and was standing there 
 singing an old-time hymn, when out of the darkness there 
 came two policemen. Without saying a word they took 
 hold of me and dragged me along the street. I had no bon- 
 net on, and my shawl was dragging along in the mud. I 
 
344 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 said, "Please let me get my shawl, and will you please let 
 me ask one of the ladies at the mission to go with me ?" But 
 they refused and seemed glad to think that I was being dis : 
 graced. As I met two or three Christian people, one of 
 them spoke kindly to me and I replied that I was suffering 
 for Jesus' sake. "You seem to be well acquainted with the 
 men," one of the policemen said. "No," I said, "only with a 
 few Christians." 
 
 When we arrived at police headquarters they gave in the 
 report that I was on the street holding a meeting and was 
 having a row, etc., which was, of course, utterly false. 
 
 I was, of course, surprised at the treatment I was receiv- 
 ing. I opened my Bible, which I still held, and began read- 
 ing in silence. The officer said, "Are you making all of 
 this ado and trouble?" I replied, "I was standing in our 
 mission door singing." He said, "Will you give bail for 
 your good behavior?" I said, "I have no money for bail." 
 Then he asked me if I had no friends. I told him I was a 
 stranger in the city. "Then," he said, "I will have to send 
 you to jail, or what will you do?" I said I did not know. 
 He then told another policeman to take me to the jail across 
 the square, and only a few blocks away. This policeman 
 said to some boys who were standing outside, "You boys 
 stay here, we do not want a mob." But the marshal said, 
 "Go along boys. She wants notoriety give it to her." 
 And so I went to the jail with a mob crying after me. 
 
 Arriving at the jail the kind jailor was shocked to see me 
 in the officer's charge, and said, "You are not a prisoner ?" 
 I said, "Yes, I was singing in our mission door, but they 
 arrested me." His wife came in and kindly said, "Come 
 into the parlor, and I will make ready for you the spare 
 bedroom." I was, of course, surprised and deeply touched. 
 

 OR A LABOR OF LOVE 345 
 
 "No, indeed," I said, "I am a prisoner. Take me into the 
 cell with the other women." Her little daughter came in 
 and knelt down by my side and kissed my hand, saying how 
 very sorry she was for me. It was on a Christmas eve, and 
 the child was going to the Christmas tree. 
 
 Soon the sheriff came in in a hurry and said, "You are a 
 free woman !" He, finding I had been arrested, had notified 
 friends who had given bail and secured my release. Not 
 understanding the sheriff, I said, "No, I am here in dis- 
 grace, and I want you to put me in the woman's cell." But 
 he insisted that I was free. Then I said, "They have put 
 me here in disgrace, and I want some one to come and take 
 me to our mission, as it is dark." They then" sent for some- 
 one to come for me, and such a shout as went up when I 
 again entered the mission hall. One good old Christian 
 friend said, "I told you that if she was a woman of God, and 
 I knew she was, she would return to the hall before the 
 meeting was over." 
 
 It seems that a reporter who was at the police station at 
 the time of my arrest and heard the abuse of the officers 
 had hurried to the sheriff's office, and he, as I have said, had 
 secured my release. 
 
 We give here a verbatim copy of the paper signed by 
 friends, the original of which I still have in my possession. 
 Somehow the case was dismissed, and I was never brought 
 to trial: 
 
 VERBATIM COPY OF A RECOGNIZANCE. 
 
 (12th, 24th, 1899.) 
 State of Illinois, St. Clair County, ss. 
 
 This day personaly appeared before the undersigned, William 
 Bornmann, one of the Justices of the Peace in and for said County, 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton, James West and Wm. Meyer, and jointly and 
 severally acknowledged themselves to owe and be indebted unto the 
 
34^ PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 People of the State of Illinois, in the sum of Twenty-five Dollars, 
 to be levied on their goods and chattels, lands and tenements, if de- 
 fault be made in the premises and conditions below, to-wit: 
 
 Whereas, The above bounden, Elizabeth E. Wheaton, was, on 
 the 24th day of December, A. D. 1889, arrested for violation of the 
 city ordinance, was adjudged and required by said Justice of the 
 Peace to give bonds, as required by the statute in such cases, made 
 and provided, for her appearance to answer to said charge. Now 
 the conditions of this recognizance is such that if the above 
 bounden, Elizabeth E. Wheaton, shall personally appear and be 
 before me, in Belleville, on the 27th day of December, A. D. 1889, 
 at 9 a. m., and from day to day, and from term to term, and from 
 day to day of each term hereafter, until discharged by order of 
 said Court, then and there to answer to the said People of the State 
 of Illinois on said charge of violation of the city ordinance and 
 then and there answer and abide the order and judgment of said 
 Court, and thence not depart the same without lawful permission, 
 then and in that case this recognizance is to become voidj other- 
 wise to be and remain in full force and virtue. 
 
 As witness our hands and seals, this 24th day o'f December, A. D. 
 
 1889. 
 Taken, entered into, acknowledged and approved before me, this 
 
 24th day of December, 1899. 
 
 WM. BORNMANN, J. P. 
 
 Wilhelm Meyer, [L. S.] 
 Jas. A. West, [L. S.] 
 
 This occurrence caused a great deal of excitement at the 
 time. Some time after I met one of the editors of one of 
 the principal papers of the town, and he stated that a serious 
 calamity had overtaken all those who were active in the op- 
 posing and persecuting me, and mentioned some who had 
 died and others upon whom God's judgments seemed to 
 have fallen. 
 
 The following was taken from a paper published at Belle- 
 ville: 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth E. Wheaton, a well known prison evangelist who 
 has labored in nearly all of the principal prisons of the United 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 347 
 
 States, was arrested Tuesday evening by Policemen S. and S., 
 while she was engaged in conducting a song service, standing in the 
 door at the entrance to Buchanan Hall, where a series of meetings 
 are being held by two other evangelists, Mr. and Mrs. S. D. Kinne. 
 The officers, on arriving on the scene, ordered Mrs. Wheaton to 
 stop singing, but as she paid no attention to their command, she 
 was at once arrested and hurried off to the police station, where 
 she was questioned by the captain of police and the city marshal, 
 and a little later she was removed to the county jail, but through 
 the courtesy of the jailor she was not locked up in a cell. A com- 
 plaint of disturbing the peace was made against her before Jus- 
 tice B., and a hearing was fixed for tomorrow before him, and a 
 bond for her appearance was duly executed; but while these formal 
 proceedings were being attended to Sheriff R., having heard of Mrs. 
 "Wheaton 's incarceration in the county jail, repaired to the institu- 
 tution, immediately ordered her release, as there was no authority 
 for holding her there, and when the officer from Justice B.'s court 
 arrived with the bail bond for Mrs. Wheaton 's signature, he was 
 chagrined to find that the lady had been released by order of the 
 sheriff. No further attempt was made to arrest her, and it is 
 probable that the matter will be dropped. Mrs. Wheaton is an 
 elderly lady and is deeply devoted to Christian work, especially 
 among the unfortunates confined in jails and prisons, and she has 
 a large number of testimonials as to her character and work from 
 prison officials, railway managers and others in all parts of the 
 country. Many prominent citizens expressed themselves yester- 
 day as deeply regretting the action of the officers in arresting Mrs. 
 Wheaton. The same lady, by written permission of Sheriff R., 
 attempted to hold religious services from the court house steps 
 on Sunday evening last, but she was forced to desist by the city 
 marshal. Mrs. Wheaton applied to Mayor B. recently for per- 
 mission to hold open-air religious meetings on the streets, but was 
 denied the privilege on the ground that considerable disorder had 
 been occasioned some months ago by the holding of such meetings 
 by members of the Salvation Army, who held forth in Belleville 
 for a time. The action of the mayor in refusing to allow the 
 evangelist to hold open-air meetings, and the arrest of Mrs. 
 Wheaton while engaged in conducting a song service in the door of 
 
348 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Buchanan Hall, where the revival services are held, is causing a 
 great deal of severe criticism, owing to the toleration of the parad- 
 ing of the principal streets by brass bands on Sundays, as well as 
 other days, to draw audiences for minstrel shows, etc., the gather- 
 ing of crowds on the public square by street fakirs, patent medi- 
 cine peddlers, quack doctors and others, who deal out rough jokes, 
 etc., in tones loud enough to be heard blocks away. 
 Belleville, Dec. 26, 1838. 
 
CHAPTER XVlii. 
 Rescue Work. 
 
 A Mother's Plea for Her Fallen Daughter. 
 
 So tenderly reared in the pure country air, 
 
 So innocent, gracious and true, 
 A sweet loving daughter, so gentle and fair. 
 
 Of the great wicked world naught she knew, 
 She roamed on the hillside and plucked the sweet flowers, 
 
 Nor far from my sight did she stray, 
 
 Till a shy cunning charmer invaded her bowers, 
 And stole my loved treasure away. 
 
 With words fair and lovely he won her young heart, 
 Then wooed her far from the home nest, 
 Then hastily pressed to the city's great mart, 
 
 My darling he tore from my breast; 
 So simple, confiding, ne'er dreaming of harm. 
 
 She laid her young life at his feet, 
 And the foul, venomed viper pierced her heart with a thorn, 
 
 And left her to die in the street. 
 
 All wounded and bleeding and covered with shame, 
 
 And knowing not wither to go, 
 Tn the haunts of the vilest she cringed her away, 
 
 To hide her disgrace and her woe; 
 Could I know she had gone from this cold, cruel world, 
 
 My grief would be easy to bear, 
 But to satiate vile passions her life-blood is sold, 
 
 And my broken heart pleads in my prayer. 
 
 Oh, bring back my darling, a poor bruised thing, 
 
 The victim of Satan's deceit, 
 tell her I love her, though cursed by the fiend 
 
 That crushed her to hell 'neath his feet. 
 pity my daughter, my poor fallen one, 
 
 Ye who have daughters so fair, 
 And shield not the monster who spoiled my loved one 
 
 And drove my poor heart to despair. 
 
 Chicago, 111. MARY WEEMS CHAPMAN. 
 
 For some years I have been quite intimately associated 
 with friends who have, perhaps, the largest Rescue Home in 
 the world. I am told that they have taken in more girls 
 than any other Home of the kind. Over 1,250 girls have 
 
35O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 there been confined and never have they lost one of these 
 young mothers by death. But, oh, it is a sad sight to see 
 them, day after day carrying their load of sorrow in their 
 hearts. Often when I am there, as I manifest toward them 
 my love and sympathy, they tell me their story of woe sad 
 as was the cry of Eve when banished from the presence 
 of God. She yielded to Satan's devices because she be- 
 lieved the voice of Satan rather than the voice of God. 
 She became an outcast and so our sisters are still being 
 deceived by the devil in human form and become outcasts 
 from all that is good. Some of them have been won by a 
 mess of pottage, a mere bauble or a gewgaw. Others have 
 the promise of love that which every human heart craves. 
 These believe, trust, yield and are ruined and some of them 
 are so young ! so ignorant ! Then there are some who have 
 been basely betrayed or brutally forced and then left to 
 bear alone their shame and disgrace for, alas ! the "traffic 
 in girls" is not an imaginary thing, but an awful reality. 
 
 O that the good people of our fair land would awaken and 
 see that justice is done in behalf of the helpless and inno- 
 cent ! Prevention is better than cure. Let us guard the 
 children and put down every influence that would tend to 
 demoralize either our boys or girls ! But in the meantime, 
 let us do all within our power to lift up the fallen and win 
 back those who have gone astray and share the burden and 
 sorrow of those who suffer through no fault of their own. 
 
 Those who have been daring in sin often make the most 
 gifted, consecrated and valiant workers for God and souls 
 when truly and fully saved. I bless the Lord for the privi- 
 lege of seeking and finding some of these "diamonds in the 
 rough." I have known many Christian workers who had 
 once been criminals or fallen, but who had been rescued by 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 351 
 
 some one who had a knowledge of human nature and a 
 heart filled with the love of God who told them of the love 
 of Christ and His wonderful power to save. O when we 
 all meet in the great Hereafter what a time of rejoicing there 
 will be among the rescuers and the rescued. 
 
 DRUNKEN WOMEN AND MEN. 
 
 I find hundreds of men and women, many young women, 
 in drunkenness and crime, and the most open daring sins. 
 In one of the largest drinking dens in the world I asked 
 the proprietor if I might sing a hymn, and he gave his con- 
 sent. I was obliged to go down stairs and through many 
 rooms and hallways and then up a dark stairway to the 
 platform where the orchestra was playing. When they 
 ceased I sang a hymn which touched their hearts and they 
 cheered the singing. I offered a prayer and they all seemed 
 to appreciate it. There were hundreds of men only, drink- 
 ing, miners and others. Then I went where there were both 
 men and women drinking, and sang and prayed with them. 
 At near midnight, while I was engaged in prayer, one of 
 the poor, unfortunate girls clasped my hand and put a piece 
 of silver in it, and stood holding my hand till I rose. She 
 cried and spoke of her desire to be good. She was re- 
 minded of her old home and her mother. The proprietor 
 then told me I must leave, as he found he would lose her 
 from his den. He said he was once a Christian himself, 
 and on coming west, saw the money to be made in that 
 kind of business, and fell, and went deep in sin, leading 
 others down with himself. 
 
 ASSAULTED IN A DIVE. 
 
 While in San Pedro, California, I went, one night, into a 
 saloon to invite the men to a gospel meeting at the mission 
 
352 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 on the same block, and the keeper sprang up from his 
 gambling table, where he was engaged with several others 
 in a game of some kind, and rushing towards me, violently 
 grabbed me by the arms, and then with both hands clutch- 
 ing me, ruslied me to the door, using vile and insulting epi- 
 thets to me as he went. At the door a lady said, "This is 
 a public house ; you dare not throw people out who have 
 done you no harm." He finally released his Satanic grasp 
 upon me. I had only spoken a few kindly words to two 
 young men standing at the bar in the act of raising their 
 glasses to their lips. 1 had just said, "Don't drink it, boys, 
 please don't," when the assault was made. As the saloonist 
 rushed at me, I said, "Don't touch me, please ; I will go out." 
 But he seemed fiendishly happy in injuring and insulting a 
 helpless old woman, who only wished to do them all good, 
 and see them saved in Heaven at last. The only excuse he 
 ever made was that he thought I was Carrie Nation. Com- 
 menting on this occurrence, a Los Angeles paper contained 
 the following item : 
 
 San Pedro, March 29. "Mother" Wheaton, a well known prison 
 evangelist, was roughly assaulted by John Wilkins, a Front street 
 saloonkeeper, shortly after seven o'clock last evening. Mrs. 
 Wheaton was preaching to a large gathering in front of Wilkins' 
 joint, and hearing loud cursing within, the aged reformer entered, 
 intending to invite the blasphemers to Peniel Mission, where ser- 
 vices are held every evening. She had scarcely passed inside the 
 doors of the dive, when Wilkins rushed forward, seized her and 
 thrust her backward. At the same time he applied vile epithets 
 to her, shouting angrily: "Get out of here, woman, and be quick 
 about it!" 
 
 So badly was Mrs. Wheaton injured that she was unable to 
 return to the mission without assistance. She is confined to her 
 bed and is suffering severe pains from the shock. 
 
 Wilkins explained today that he mistook Mrs. Wheaton for 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 353 
 
 Carrie Nation, whom the former resembles. No arrests have been 
 made. 
 
 In a city where I had been preaching the Gospel, a mes- 
 senger came stating that a young girl had cut her throat. 
 It was an extremely hot day and I had to walk a long dis- 
 tance across the city. Arriving at the house they told 
 me that no one was allowed to go in. But I went right in 
 and everybody stood back. Kneeling down by the poor 
 girl I took her hand already growing cold in death. Poor 
 child ! Like thousands of others, she had been disappointed 
 in life. The one who had plighted his troth had broken her 
 heart, and rather than bear her sHame she preferred death. 
 Then and there I had the privilege of pointing this beauti- 
 ful girl to Christ who said, "Neither do I condemn thee. 
 Go and sin no more," and He who never turns anyone 
 away heard and answered prayer. 
 
 One day I held a meeting in the Crittenden Home for 
 Fallen Girls, in Washington. They all seemed so glad 
 to hear me. (There were thirty girls.) They were deeply 
 moved. After the meeting closed I took each by the hand 
 and exhorted them to live pure and holy lives. And with 
 tears in their eyes they promsied to try and serve the Lord. 
 One dear little girl in a short dress (fourteen years old), 
 clung to me crying, and said Jesus had saved her just then, 
 in the meeting, and she would be a good girl and live for 
 Heaven. I clasped her to my heart and thought what Jesus 
 said about him who offends ''one of these little ones. 
 Some heartless wretch had ruined the girl and left her to 
 die alone. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the 
 Lord." 
 
 A GIRL SAVED. 
 
 Trying to'rescue a girl in a low dive in New York city 
 
354 
 
 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 in 1890, as I entered the den the keeper, a large, strong 
 man, sprang up and struck me a blow. The girl caught 
 his arm and cried out, "Don't strike her, she is a lady." 
 But he thrust me out, and I said to her, "Fly for your life 
 out at the back door." I ran around the saloon and caught 
 her away from an angry mob and with the help of the sis- 
 ters with me, almost carried her six blocks to the Critten- 
 den Home, and there she was reformed and converted. 
 
 A GIRL REJECTED AT RESCUE HOME. 
 
 In Ft. Worth, Texas, I once found in the jail a poor girl 
 who was a very desperate character. She had been at the 
 Rescue Home several times, and she was so very wicked 
 that they refused to have her there again. They said it was 
 of no use trying to reclaim her. I well remember the night 
 that the Lord sent me to the jail to -hold a meeting. The 
 service was held after dark, as the prisoners were com- 
 pelled to work during the day. I was intensely grieved 
 and very much burdened over the case of this poor girl. So 
 intelligent, yet so sinful ! In my grief, I fell upon the floor 
 weeping over her lost condition. 
 
 A sister who was with me, and on her way then to In- 
 dia, prayed for me as well as for the poor prisoners, and 
 the lost girl. The meeting closed, and the next day we left 
 the city, the sister going west, while I started north. 
 
 After we left Ft. Worth, my heart was still sad and 
 greatly pained for the poor lost girl I had seen in the jail 
 and I wrote to the superintendent of the Rescue Home and 
 pleaded with her to try her just once more not only for 
 my sake, but for the sake of Jesus. She did so, and the 
 result was that the girl was saved and began a life of vir- 
 tue and usefulness. 
 
 A year or so later, I was again at Ft. Worth, and was 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 355 
 
 holding services in the Girls' Rescue Home. As they as- 
 sembled for the meeting I shook hands with each of them. 
 I said of one of the girls to the matron, "This girl looks 
 like a good Christian who is she?" The girl herself replied, 
 "Don't you know me, mother?" I said, "No." Then she 
 answered, "I am the girl you rescued from the prison ;" 
 and the matron said that she was the best girl in the home. 
 I went back after another year, and she was the matron's 
 assistant. Still later the superintendent told me that she 
 was a deaconess in New York, and was doing a great 
 work. This same lady told me how she had shortly before 
 come across my letter in which I begged her mother-in-law, 
 who was the former superintendent, to help the girl and 
 give her just one more chance ! Oh, how wonderfully God 
 had answered my prayers and the yearning of my heart 
 that night when the burden of her soul rested so heavily 
 upon me ! 
 
 ROBBED BY HER OWN BROTHER. 
 
 A lovely girl was once drugged by her deceiver and left 
 to bear her shame alone. She was led to a rescue home 
 where she was cared for. Sometime after the birth of her 
 child, which she dearly loved, her father died, and left her 
 $1,000. She was induced by her brother to come to the 
 city where he was living, and give him the money, which he 
 and his wife used reckfessly. They then moved, leaving the 
 poor girl sitting on the steps without money enough even to 
 buy milk for her babe. The poor girl was almost distracted 
 with grief. I found her a temporary home with Christian 
 people and a little later secured transportation for her to a 
 rescue home in another city where she could be kindly pro- 
 vided for. 
 
 In that hour of despair, when I found her, she was al- 
 
356 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 most ready to yield to the enemy of her soul, through temp- 
 tation of the same wretch who had first effected her ruin. 
 She could go hungry herself, she said, but she could not 
 see her babe suffer for want of food. 
 
 Sisters, let us try by all possible means to befriend our 
 own sex and help all who are thrown in our way, heaven- 
 ward. 
 
 NEGLECTED BY THE CHURCHES. 
 
 I once went to a city where there are many churches 
 and professors of religion, and yet there in the Home for 
 Fallen Girls, where I held services I found the inmates neg- 
 lected. I then went to the poorhouse where over a hun- 
 dred poor and crippled destitute people were so glad to hear 
 me sing hymns while they partook of their dinner. They 
 seemed to wonder who and what I was, yet, how glad they 
 were when they understood it was for tne love of their souls 
 Jesus had sent me to tell them of His great love. Thank 
 God for the privilege of going to these places. God always 
 finds a way when there seems to be no way. 
 . So I must say in concluding that of all those who have 
 my sympathy and my help, my prayers and my tears, pris- 
 oners, and all, the poor, abandoned, forsaken girl, who has 
 no one to share her sorrow and her shame claims and re- 
 ceives my deepest sympathy and assistance. There is no 
 one on whom Jesus had more compassion and yet the croak- 
 ers are often the ones to send her to worse shame by their 
 neglect and cruelty. Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn 
 thee, go and sin no more." 
 
 "She is more to be pitied than censured, 
 
 She is more to be loved than despised, 
 
 She is only a poor girl who has ventured 
 
 On life's rugged path ill-advised. 
 Don 't scorn her with words fierce and bitter, 
 Don 't laugh at her shame and downfall ; 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 357 
 
 Just pause for a moment, consider 
 That a man was the cause of it all." 
 
 VISIT TO A HOSPITAL. 
 
 One Sunday, years ago, I visited a hospital in a certain 
 city and found it in a most terrible condition. There were 
 many sick, both men and women, and how glad they were 
 to see me! The public were not permitted inside the 
 grounds, but the superintendent being absent I was admit- 
 ted. The patients were suffering with hunger, and were in 
 a most filthy condition. 
 
 I found both colored men and women in the same room 
 and all covered with body lice. One old colored woman 
 was almost eaten alive with vermin, and starving. They 
 would not give her even a drink of water. I gave her 
 water and she drank a quart and begged for more. I 
 asked her if she would like to have me bring her something 
 to eat. She said, "Oh, yes, Honey." I said, '"What can 
 you eat?" She said, "A crust of bread Fs so hungry, been 
 hungry so long." 
 
 My heart was sick at the sights and sounds of suffering 
 and anguish. I told the Lord about it. All night I cried 
 and prayed. I got up early, got a large, fat chicken, made 
 soup, got provisions and a couple to help me carry the 
 things, and went to that miserable place. I got access to 
 the building with my food and all got a share. I never 
 will forget the looks on the faces of those starving suffer- 
 ers, and the tears coursing down their wan, pale cheeks, 
 as I and dear Mary, my helper, fed them. One poor old 
 white brother said he was ashamed to have us near him. 
 
 I took along clothing for the poor old colored woman, 
 and had to take the scissors and cut the garment off from 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 her, and put it in the stove. I found the mattress decaying 
 under her. 
 
 I told the superintendent's wife I would be a witness 
 against her in the day of judgment for treating the patients 
 so cruelly. She said she did not have help. I said the 
 state, county or city would send help, that that was no ex- 
 cuse for their starving and cruelly treating those sick help- 
 less invalids. The old woman and the men told me they 
 were compelled to live there in that one room altogether. 
 It was terrible ! 
 
 One man said he had killed vermin until he was so tired 
 and weak he could do no more. They said that seldom 
 ever any one left that death hole alive. The bodies were 
 sold for dissection. 
 
 I went early the next morning to- the judge's office to 
 relate my experience and ask him if something could not 
 be done to relieve the suffering of the patients that I found 
 there in such a filthy condition and in such need of cafe 
 and food and water. I told him I did not see the superin- 
 tendent, Mr. V. Just at that moment a dudish young fel- 
 low in the room arose and said, "So you did not see V. 
 when you went there yesterday ; you see him now, don't 
 you?" He was very angry and said I got inside by his 
 absence, and that he would do so and so. The judge said 
 angrily, "Woman, you talk too much." I said, "I have not 
 begun to talk yet." The two men hissed and told me to 
 leave the office. I had taken the precaution to take with 
 me the sister who was traveling with me at that time, also 
 the young man who had helped us to carry the clothes and 
 provisions to the hospital the day before. They could h*ve 
 corroborated my testimony but the judge was evidently hi 
 
OR A LABOR OF I.OYK 359 
 
 
 
 league with the superintendent of the hospital and would 
 not listen. 
 
 I went to a church in the place to a Woman's Missionary 
 meeting and got permission to speak to the ladies in public 
 about the awful conditions I found in their so-called hos- 
 pital. They were surprised and greatly incensed, and told 
 their husbands, and so there was awakened an interest that 
 resulted in further investigation. Facts were found as I 
 had stated, only, if anything, worse. 
 
 The outcome of these things being brought to light was 
 that the old shanties which served as a so-called hospital 
 were replaced by good buildings and kind caretakers took 
 the place of the cruel superintendent who died some 
 months later after a long illness. 
 
 ANOTHER VISIT TO A HOSPITAL. 
 
 The following is a description of a visit to another hos- 
 pital, as published in a paper at Chattanooga, Tenn. This 
 was also early in my work. 
 
 A BAT CAVE. 
 
 A SANITARIUM FOB CATS AND HOTEL FOR DOGS CALLED BY COURTESY 
 THE CITY HOSPITAL OF CHATTANOOGA. 
 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton, the eloquent female evangelist, who has been 
 in the city for the past week carrying on a series of prayer meetings 
 in the jails and houses of ill fame, came into the Commercial office 
 yesterday afternoon and gave a full and detailed report of the neg- 
 lected condition of the city hospital. She says: 
 
 "As I approached the building I could not convince myself that I 
 was, really in sight of a hospital, for it reminded me more of a stable 
 than anything else I could conceive of. I approached the gate and 
 met a colored female mute who raised her hand in a deprecating man- 
 ner as if to warn me of some unseen danger that I was about to 
 come in contact with. I motioned the negro girl to lead the way 
 and followed her into a dreary looking house that I had been told 
 was really the only hospital of which Chattanooga could boast. Just 
 
360 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 as I opened the door six big hounds sprang from the different beds 
 within the building and would have torn me to pieces had not I 
 hastily slammed the door and shut them in. I applied to a poor 
 cripple man who had the appearance of a half-fed mendicant where 
 to find the keeper and I was informed that he was asleep, but if I 
 would wait he (the cripple) would go and wake him up, and in a few 
 moments he returned accompanied by a healthy looking man who 
 seemed to care little whether I went in or remained out of doors in 
 the rain. 
 
 ' l As I followed the keeper into the room six well fed hounds and 
 one emaciated looking man occupied the beds that were in the rooms. 
 
 "I have wandered from one end of the land to the other, I have 
 visited prison cells, opium joints, houses of ijl-fame, almshouses, re- 
 formatories and every dreary den from New York to San Francisco, 
 from Florida to Montreal, but with all the sights with which I have 
 been confronted I have never seen a more cheerless abode and one so 
 utterly void of comfort and cleanliness as the one occupied by the 
 poor, hungry invalid that shared the beds of the well fed dogs. 
 
 ' ' The sick man said he was suffering for the want of food and 
 had been shamefully neglected since he was placed in charge of the 
 manager of this cheerless institution. Two inmates have died within 
 the past week and two are left to suffer. 
 
 "The other inmate was a colored man who evidently has little 
 more of life's suffering to endure in this world. 
 
 "In this room six cats occupied seats of prominence, two purring 
 on one bed and three others romping from place to place over the 
 apartment, while the sixth wus helping himself to the sick man 's 
 dinner. 
 
 "The buildings are without warmth in the winter and have no 
 means of ventilation for summer. The confined air is contaminated 
 with the odor that rises from unemptied and neglected vessels that 
 are allowed to stand neglected from day to day. The keeper seems 
 to be utterly indifferent with regard to the ease or comfort of the 
 sick and it is very evident that while the city pays for food to sup- 
 port the sick and suffering, the countless and useless dogs and cats 
 eat a large portion of the food which should be used exclusively for 
 the unfortunate inmates." 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton has done much commendable work not only in Chat- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 36 1 
 
 tanooga but from one end of the land to the other. She has conse- 
 crated her time, wealth and character to the uplifting of fallen 
 people, and by her devotion to Christianity and her liberality has won 
 thousands of friends throughout the country. Chattanooga Paper. 
 
 WORDS OF CHEER FROM OTHER RESCUE WORKERS. 
 
 The first of the following letters I carried with me on 
 my second visit to Europe, mentioned elsewhere: 
 
 FLORENCE CRITTENTON HOME, 
 21 and 23 Bleecker Street, New York. 
 
 J. F, Shirey, 67 Farrington Road, East Coast, England. 
 
 MOTHER PRINDLE. 
 
 Dear Brother: This will introduce to you Mrs. Elizabeth Wheaton, 
 a prison evangelist. She is alone and unprotected in London. Please 
 make the way for her as best you can where she can speak for God 
 to the poor prisoners. She lives by faith and trusts Him for all. 
 
 God bless you. MOTHER PRINDLE. 
 
362 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 New York, October 16, 1903. 
 
 My first acquaintance with Mrs. Elizabeth Wheaton was made in 
 the Florence Crittenton Midnight Mission, New York City, in 1890. 
 She impressed me then and has ever since as one whom God has 
 called and endowed with special gifts for a grand and noble work. 
 Her one strong hold is faith in God. When under the power of the 
 Spirit she verily treads upon serpents and scorpions and all the pow- 
 ers of darkness seem to flee before her. As a singing evangelist 
 for prison work, I do not know her equal. Her preaching is in the 
 demonstration of the Spirit and with power. She gives the Lord 's 
 message with holy boldness, fraught with tender love to the sinner, 
 and blessed are the results. 
 
 The midnight call given on train, when it was my privilege to be 
 with her, was an hour never to be forgotten. Many will rise up and 
 call her blessed in that great day who but for her favored and won- 
 derful ministry would have gone into outer darkness. God bless her 
 and her book. MOTHER PRINDLE. 
 
 The following taken from "Beulah Home Record," Chi- 
 cago, 111., March I, 1902, is explanatory in itself. Also the 
 letter that follows: 
 
 We have had with us for a time, as our honored guest, Mother 
 Wheaton, the Railroad Prison Evangelist. Like Jesus, the friend of 
 poor sinners, she goes up and down the land in state prisons and 
 homes where mothers ' girls are sheltered, down into the coal mines, 
 into the great lumber camps, and on crowded railroad trains, while 
 speeding along, she preaches the everlasting gospel of our Lord and 
 Savior, and gives out tracts. Thus she goes as God 's flaming minis- 
 ter, sowing beside all waters, singing and praying poor sin-sick, 
 tempest-tossed souls into the kingdom of God. Do you ask v.liat is 
 the secret of her success? It may be found in the Psalms, 126:6 
 * ' She goeth forth weeping, ' ' she has a burning love for souls. So 
 you and I, dear reader, if we are to succeed in winning souls, our 
 hearts must be full of love for them. We give Mother Wheaton a 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 363 
 
 warm welcome to this great and wicked city of Chicago and a hearty 
 welcome always to Beulah Home. 
 
 Berachah Home for Erring Girls, 
 2739 Lawton Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 "We feel in Berachah Home that we shall not forget Mother Whea- 
 toii. She came into the "Home" and our lives just as God was 
 leading us out in rescue work, and as she stood among us in our 
 first ' ' open meeting, ' ' we felt, ' l Here is a strong, brave soldier of the 
 cross. ' ' We found hope and encouragement as she spoke to us of 
 His service, and the Spirit witnessed "This is of God," as she sang 
 one of her songs as only Mother Wheaton can sing them. We did not 
 see her again until Jtt the Baltimore Convocation of Prayer, January, 
 1904, when God again used her to bring Mrs. Chapman and me to 
 God's full thought for us there. She with others laid hands on us 5 , 
 with prayer, setting us apart for the ' ' work whereunto we were 
 called." May God bless her ministry *o~ others, as He has to us in 
 
 Berachah Home. 
 
 MRS. J. P. DUNCAN, Mgr. 
 MRS. B. G. CHAPMAN, Treas. 
 
 THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER. 
 
 "To the home of his father returning, 
 
 The prodigal, weary and worn, 
 Is greeted with joy and thanksgiving, 
 
 As when on his first natal morn; 
 A ' robe ' and a ' ring ' are his portion, 
 
 The servants as suppliants bow; 
 He is clad in fine linen and purple, 
 
 In return for the penitent vow. 
 
 < ' But ah ! for the Prodigal Daughter, 
 
 Who has wandered away from her home; 
 Her feet must still press the dark valley 
 
 And through the wilderness roam; 
 Alone on the bleak, barren mountains 
 
 The mountains so dreary and cold 
 No hand is outstretched in fond pity 
 
 To welcome her back to the fold. 
 
 "But thanks to the Shepherd, whose mercy 
 Still follows His sheep, tho' they stray; 
 
 The weakest, and e'en the forsaken 
 He bears in His bosom away; 
 
 And in the bright mansions of glory 
 
364 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Which the blood of His sacrifice won, 
 There is room for the Prodigal Daughter, 
 As well as the Prodigal Son ! ; ' 
 
 We've a Home for Prodigal Daughters, 
 
 Our Saviour says gather them in; 
 Will you help rescue these dear ones 
 
 W T ho have fallen in paths of sin? 
 Your girl may be one of the " fallen," 
 
 And you long to see her return ; 
 Oh, there 's room for the Prodigal Daughter, 
 
 As well as the Prodigal Son. 
 
 Horace. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 Work in Canada and Mexico. 
 
 In my several visits to the prisons of Canada I have 
 generally found the officers very courteous. There are 
 sometimes there, as here, changes of administration, making 
 the work of reaching the prisoners more difficult. In the 
 large prison at Toronto the officers were especially kind 
 and gave me the privilege of preaching the gospel to the 
 prisoners as often as I could attend chapel services. Much 
 interest was manifested and I trust good was accomplished. 
 
 MY SECOND EXPERIENCE IN STREET PREACHING 
 
 was in Hamilton, Canada. There for weeks, night after 
 night, rain or shin:3, I sang and preached the gospel in the 
 open air. I was especially helped of the Lord and met with 
 blessed success. 
 
 In 1886, I took with me from Toronto, a dear young sis- 
 ter, who was called of God to join me in my work. She 
 went with me to Florida and many other states. She after- 
 ward married an evangelist but died a few years later, be- 
 ing true to God, so far as I know, to the last. 
 
 SERVICE WITH Y. M. C. A. 
 
 During a visit to London, Canada, after visiting the 
 prisons I went to the hospital to visit the sick. While sing- 
 ing, a message came over the telephone saying that the Sec- 
 retary of the Y. M. C. A. requested me to lead their meeting 
 en Sunday afternoon. Would I come? I said, "Better wait 
 till I return to the city. I can't tell." The secretary had to 
 know at once, so he could announce it through the papers. 
 So I promised to go, as they had no speaker. I felt dis- 
 
366 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 couraged, as I could think of no message suitable for that 
 large, mixed audience, and prayed for guidance. Sunday 
 afternoon still with no message in mind I started to the 
 hall. As I walked along the street, praying, I said, "Lord, 
 give me at least a text to read." Just then I saw on the 
 ground a scrap of paper, the torn leaf of a Bible. I picked 
 it up, looked at it, and there my message, text and all, 
 opened up to my mental vision. I went into the pulpit de- 
 pending entirely on God, and the light broke in on my soul, 
 and the power of God fell on the people. I told them how T 
 was depending alone on the Lord for the words as He gave 
 them to me. It was a victorious meeting. I leave results 
 with the Lord. 
 
 A GIRL RESCUED. 
 
 In one of the Canadian cities I found in the jail a beauti- 
 ful girl who was very dissipated and unruly. The officers 
 could not control her no one had any good influence over 
 her. The Lord laid the burden of her soul on my heart. I 
 treated her with love and respect, and tried in every way 
 to win her for God. Finally, she realized that I loved her 
 soul, though no one else cared for her. Then she sought 
 the Lord. She was a Roman Catholic. I told her I would 
 go to the House of the Good Shepherd and speak to the 
 Mother Superior, and see if they would not take her in, as 
 she had no home. She wept with joy at this, and told me 
 of a plan some wicked men had made to be at the jail when 
 she was discharged at 6 o'clock Saturday evening and take 
 her to haunts of sin. I hurried out to the Sisters early in 
 the morning and found them at mass, and waited, deter- 
 mined to save the poor girl from further downfall, and 
 drunkenness. The Sisters, seeing my anxiety and sincerity, 
 agreed to help me. Then I went to the officers of the jail 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVK 367 
 
 and got them to release the girl at noon. She was taken to 
 another city and thus saved. When the hour came for her 
 release from the jail in the evening, sure enough several 
 men made their appearance and watched and waited for her 
 to come out. At last they began calling her name. Then 
 the officers went out and told them the girl had been par- 
 doned, and had left at noon for another city, with protectors. 
 Another brand had been plucked from the burning for the 
 Master's Kingdom. 
 
 SHUT OUT OTHERS ADMITTED. 
 
 At one time amidst great inconveniences I reached 
 Kingston Prison. I saw some of the officers Saturday 
 night and they were kind and willingly consented that I 
 should have opportunity to hold or assist in services the 
 next day. The next morning I went to the prison through 
 a drenching rain without an umbrella, arrived early and 
 waited for the chaplain. When he came, I told him my de- 
 sire and what the other officers had said. But he refused to 
 even let me go inside to listen to the service. When T asked 
 his reason he said they would not allow women in the pris- 
 on. Yet while I had been waiting I had seen several Catho- 
 lic sisters enter. I have had similar experiences in our own 
 land. 
 
 STONED. 
 
 One day as I was passing along the street in the quaint 
 walled city of Quebec, some boys threw stones at me, while 
 an old man urged them on, saying, "If it's Salvation Army 
 ye are, ye should be killed." The Lord have mercy upon 
 them and upon all who oppose His work or His workers. 
 For ourselves we must not count these things strange. "Lt 
 
368 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master, and the 
 servant as his Lord/' 
 
 AN INFIDEL DEFEATED. 
 
 While in Toronto, Canada, I often went to the parks 
 on Sabbath days and held services the mayor of the city, 
 who was a devoted Christian, often himself helping in these 
 open-air services. One stand in the park was usually occu- 
 pied by the infidel element. They would hold the place all 
 day so that others could not have the privilege of doing 
 work for God so as the place was public property upon 
 which they had no rightful claim I went early and so se- 
 cured the place before them. When their leader arrived the 
 people were listening to the gospel in song and testimony 
 from worthy witnesses. He was very angry said it was 
 his place to speak and he must have it, and ordered me to 
 stop and leave the stand, but I kept on with the service as 
 God directed and he went away a few steps and called for 
 the people -to follow him, and he would address them. No 
 one seemed inclined to go and a bystander told him his fol- 
 lowers were few and he had better desist from trying to 
 disturb a religious service. So we had the victory and God 
 was honored that day in the work which He sent his ser- 
 vants to do. 
 
 Among my papers I have found the following letters of 
 introduction given me while in Canada by Hon. John 
 Robson, Provincial Secretary : 
 
 Provincial Secretary's Department, 
 Victoria, B. C., Oct. 5. 
 Dear Brother: 
 
 The bearers of this are prison evangelists of a very high and 
 deserving character, whom J asked to call upon you. If you could 
 get up a meeting at Y, M. C. A. rooms for them, it might do good. 
 
 In haste y.ours, 
 
 JOHN KOBSON. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 369 
 
 Provincial Secretary's Department, 
 Victoria, B. C., Oct. 5, 1888. 
 Dear Mr. McBride: 
 
 The ladies whom this will introduce to you are prison evange- 
 lists who are desirous of doing some work in the penitentiary, and 
 I take the liberty of bespeaking for them a kind reception at your 
 hands. They enjoy a high reputation and are well deserving of 
 
 your kind attention. Very sincerely yours, 
 
 JOHN KOBSON. 
 A. H. McBride, Esq., Warden Penitentiary. 
 
 Victoria, B. C. 
 
 Mr. Robson bespeaks for Mrs. Wheaton and lady companion 
 courteous attention at the hands of the warden of the Victoria gaol. 
 
 WORK IN MEXICO. 
 
 Not many years after engaging in special prison work I 
 went into Mexico and have since gone there quite fre- 
 quently. As a rule the people are ignorant and superstitious 
 and consequently hard to reach with the gospel. But 
 though I was compelled to speak through an interpreter it 
 is surprising how soon they know if one is sincere and 
 earnest. In the prisons they are ver% poorly cared for, 
 often having to wait years for trial and sometimes dying 
 of neglect. I am told that natives of our own land if thrown 
 into prison there fare worse than others. 
 
 A BULL FIGHT. 
 
 Once while in Mexico I found there was to be a bull 
 fight not far from the prison where I was to hold service. 
 My heart was sad because of the intense anxiety of the 
 Mexicans to see the exhibition. They came long distances 
 and there were many very old people who seemed impatient 
 for the hour to arrive when Mexicans, bulls and horses 
 should be thrown helplessly together that they might view 
 the combat. This* cruel sport so long a favorite pastime 
 
37O I -K I SONS AND I'KAYKK 
 
 both in Spain and Mexico was at one time abolished but 
 was afterward re-established out of policy in order to 
 please the Mexicans. For me to describe this kind of fiend- 
 ish pastime would not glorify God, nor help the public, but 
 would have a tendency to brutality, being neither elevating 
 nor refining. But should we not, dear reader, try to do all 
 in our power to lead people to a higher plane of morals and 
 send missionaries to help people to know Jesus who satisfies 
 every longing of the human soul, and gives peace and rest 
 here, and a home in T leaven through eternity? 
 
 SIX UNDER DEATH SENTENCE. 
 
 At another time 1 visited a prison in Mexico where there 
 were six men under death sentence. They could not under- 
 stand me, but I knelt by those great, strong men and wept 
 and prayed to God who could carry the message of love 
 through my tears to their hard hearts and they were so af- 
 fected that we all wept together. I am sure they were re- 
 membered that day by the God who sent me to show them 
 His love for the lost and who gave me a love for the poor 
 criminals that nothing can destroy. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 During my last trip into Mexico, 1902, I found the pris- 
 oners in one place in a most deplorable condition. They 
 were almost starving and neglected in every way. I had 
 considerable trouble in getting into the prison on that day, 
 as I could find no one to interpret for me. So we went from 
 one office to another trying to find some one to admit us 
 to the prison. As I entered one public office a fierce dog 
 rame rushing at me from an adjoining room. I lied out 
 of the door in dismay with the dog and an old Mexican 
 woman at my heels. I tried to make her understand what 
 

 OR A I. AMOK 01 1 < >\ I .^7' 
 
 we wanted and then imrried away. Finally we found a 
 fellow decorated beyond description \\nli tinsel and other 
 adornings who furnished me an interpreter and admitted 
 us to the prison. It was very difficult to make the poor 
 prisoners understand Imw deeply 1 felt for them, but I could 
 put my arms around the poor women who were there and 
 I could take their little babes in my arms and thus show 
 my sympathy, then telling the story of Jesus who said, 
 "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." 
 
 MINISTKKICD TO A SU I-KKUKK. 
 
 1 found one poor wounded man who had just been 
 brought into the prison sitting on the ground with bloody 
 clothing and matted hair. He was weeping and tried so 
 hard to explain something to me. The interpreter was evi- 
 dently slow to tell me what the poor sufferer wanted. I was 
 heart-sick to know what to do, as we had only a short time 
 to stay and I could not bear .to leave him without in some 
 way ministering to him. But I thought of the fruit remain- 
 ing in my handbag. I thrust an orange into his bony hands. 
 He grabbed it and with both hands thrust it to his mouth 
 eating peel and all. Poor man he was evidently starving. 
 Reader 1 wish I could make clear to you the pitiful sight ! 
 The sequel showed me why that was providentially left in 
 my handbag. How thankful I was to minister to that 
 poor fellow's need in even a small degree, flow I longed 
 to help them all. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 Across the Sea. 
 
 I had greatly desired to preach the gospel in other lands 
 and held myself ever ready to go at a moment's warning, 
 anywhere the Lord should lead, and had been given letters 
 of introduction to prominent people in Great Britain. In 
 the year 1890 my mind was much exercised about the re- 
 gions beyond and without time for preparation, with but 
 an hour's notice, the call came to go forward. I was in 
 Philadelphia walking along the street praying "O Lord, 
 where next what wilt Thou have me to do?" Looking 
 up I saw the large posters of steamship lines and the thought 
 came to me, "Go and inquire the price of a ticket to Eu- 
 rope." I obeyed the impulse and went in and talked with 
 the steamship agent of rates and the time of departure of 
 the first steamer. Then I left the office praying, O God, 
 show me Thy will make Thy way very plain to me. Then 
 I went back to the office, feeling that I must get alone with 
 the Lord. I asked the agent if I might go into a rear office 
 which was unoccupied, to pray. He very courteously re- 
 plied, "Certainly, madam." There I knelt before the Lord 
 and inquired if He wanted me to go at once that very night 
 on the first steamer, to Scotland. The answer came clear- 
 ly: "Go, my child, nothing doubting." I arose, went into 
 the front office and explained to the agent the nature of my 
 mission work ; and how for years I had obeyed the leadings 
 of the Holy Spirit and that I had a sister traveling with me 
 who was waiting at the depot for my return, to know where 
 we would go next. Told him I would buy two steerage 
 tickets for Glasgow, Scotland, if he would refund the money 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 373 
 
 for the one in case the sister was unwilling to go with me. 
 To this he consented, so I purchased the tickets and hur- 
 ried to the railway station where I had left my friend. I 
 knew we had only a few moments to catch the train for 
 New York in order to reach the steamer Devonia for Glas- 
 gow. Hurriedly I said to her, "Do you want to go to Eu- 
 rope?" "Oh, yes," she replied. "When?" I asked. "Oh, 
 some time," was the answer. Then I said, I have two tick- 
 ets. It is now or never. If you wish to go I will take you, 
 if not, I will go alone and you can return the ticket and 
 get the money for yourself." She said, "I will go." So 
 we rushed to the gate, caught the train on the move, and 
 reached New York in time to get aboard the Devonia. 
 
 ON THE OCEAN. 
 
 Leaving America's shores far behind us, we found our- 
 selves doomed to a stormy voyage, but with plenty of mis- 
 sionary work to do. There was, in the steerage, much pro- 
 fanity, continual drunkenness of both men and women, and 
 card playing at all times only when the passengers were 
 sleeping or too sea-sick. While in mid-ocean we encoun- 
 tered a severe storm which greatly delayed us. There were 
 only six Christians on board the steamer. I believe it was 
 in answer to prayer that the ship was saved from wreck. 
 After thirteen days on the ocean, we saw the shores of 
 "Bonnie Scotland," and as we neared port there was great 
 rejoicing among the passengers almost all of whom were 
 going home. But how different it was with me ! I felt 
 much as Paul did when he said to the elders of the church 
 at Ephesus, "And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit 
 unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me 
 there: save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, 
 saying that bonds and afflictions abide me." Like him I 
 
374 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 felt that suffering and persecution and perhaps imprison- 
 ment and death was before me in that strange land, but 
 Paul was enabled to say, "But none of these things move 
 me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I 
 might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I 
 have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of 
 the grace of God ;" and with something of the same spirit 
 I was enabled to say, as I wept before Him, Lord, I will 
 be true only give me Thy grace sufficient for me." 
 
 IN A FOREIGN LAND. 
 
 I was a stranger in a strange land with only a few shill- 
 ings and without any great degree of strength of body and, 
 strange to say, for one reason and another I never saw one 
 of those to whom I carried letters of introduction. How 
 the Lord was teaching me not to lean on the arm of flesh! 
 In answer to a letter of inquiry written to one to whom one 
 letter was addressed, I received the following very kind 
 reply from her husband: 
 
 11 Walker St., 
 Edinburgh, Oct. 18, 1890. 
 Dear Friend: 
 
 Your letter of the 16th, with one from Miss Sisson, has just 
 reached ire, forwarded from Crieff. Since Miss Sisson 's letter was 
 written my dear wife has fallen asleep in Jesus and having left 
 Crieff I am in lodgings for the present in Edinburgh with my 
 sister and five children. 
 
 I have been praying over the subject of your letter, but I do 
 not have any light on the matter nor am I likely, so far as I can 
 see, to be in Glasgow for some time. Yet if the Lord sent you to 
 Scotland He will certainly show you what He has for you to do. 
 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thine own 
 understanding: in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall 
 direct thy paths." 
 
 I enclose a one-pound note towards expenses. 
 
 Yours in Christ, G. W. OLDHAM. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 375 
 
 At the landing in Glasgow, I inquired of the policeman 
 on duty and secured a room with his family. Then I went 
 in search of a meeting. Found the car-fare a penny a mile 
 and other customs quite different from ours. The first 
 meeting I found corresponded to our Y. M. C. A. meetings. 
 But our special mission was to the lost. 
 
 That evening I received permission from the policeman 
 to hold open-air meetings. Going along the street a wo- 
 man who was drunk spied me and rushed after me beating 
 me on the back. As I made no resistance other drunken 
 women joined their companion in sin and I would have 
 had a hard time of it had not the police protected me. 
 These drunken women thought that I belonged to the Sal- 
 vation Army, as the bonnet I then wore was quite similar 
 to the one dear Mother Booth had worn and I was often 
 told that I looked like her. I was in Scotland when she 
 passed to her reward in the land where there are no slums, 
 no sinners to rescue, to weep over and save. Had I been 
 near enough how gladly would I have joined the great 
 throng that gathered to show honor to her memory ! Near- 
 ly every night while in Glasgow found us on the streets 
 preaching, singing, and praying, with those who never 
 went to church many of them not even to the Salvation 
 Army or missions. In many respects we found worse con- 
 ditions than in our home-land. The public houses were al- 
 ways filled at night with men and often their whole fami- 
 lies drinking all kinds of intoxicants women with infants 
 in their arms as well as others drinking with men at the 
 bar. And the most beautiful girls to be found were se- 
 cured by the keepers of these houses to stand behind the 
 bar and sell the drinks. 
 
 The prisons, my special burden, I found very difficult of 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 access for missionary work. I found that women were not 
 expected, there, to do that kind of work. Yet I fasted and 
 prayed and wept before the Lord, pleading that the prison 
 doors might be opened to me and at last I was successful 
 in gaining admission to some of them. After some delay 
 I was admitted to Duke Street jail, in Glasgow, and there 
 held several services. It is a large prison, filled with the 
 baser sort and those whom the public houses had been li- 
 censed to make drunkards to cause to reel and stagger 
 and abuse and kill when unconscious of what they were 
 doing. The Lord's presence was revealed in our services 
 there and souls got help from God, and I hope to meet 
 many of them in heaven. We visited the poor in their 
 homes, different penal institutions all of the missions and 
 Salvation Army Corps and many of the churches. While 
 time lasts we will find much to do to help those around us. 
 
 MY LIFE IN DANGER. 
 
 Oftentimes my life was in danger when visiting the sa- 
 loons, which are there called public houses the keepers 
 being called publicans. Often the keepers of brothels and 
 other places of sin drew revolvers on me threatening me 
 with death if I did not leave, as they did not want to lose 
 their customers and their money which they were sure 
 to do if souls were converted there, but the Lord always 
 delivered me when death stared me in the face. One day 
 I went into a public house where a woman kept a dive. 
 She at once got very angry, demanded my business, and or- 
 dered me to leave her place. She clutched me with a fiend- 
 ish grip, and pushed me out of the door, but purposely 
 fastened one of my arms in the door as she slammed it 
 shut. I prayed God to release me and with the help of the 
 sister who was with me we got the door open enough to 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 377 
 
 release my arm. I am sorry to have reason to say that, as 
 a rule. I find the women who are in charge of brothels and 
 saloons harder to deal with than the men. A woman of 
 judgment and tact when fully saved can, in many cases/do 
 more good than men from the fact that she can go where 
 very few men could go without being looked upon with 
 suspicion. What need, then, that we should be emptied of 
 self and filled with the Holy Spirit, all given up to the Lord 
 in order that we can work successfully for God and souls. 
 One Saturday night, while in Glasgow, I preached in a 
 church. Great crowds had turned out in the city spending 
 their week's wages. There was much drinking of both 
 men and women. At the church was given a "Penny Tea," 
 consisting of a cup of tea and a biscuit, thus drawing the 
 crowds and afterwards having some one preach to them. 
 
 A SONG STOPS A ROW. 
 
 When the services had closed, we were returning to our 
 lodging and were attracted by a great crowd of people en- 
 gaged in a row and a fight. I soon saw there was danger 
 of bloodshed and stepping out in the street I began to sing 
 an old time hymn. This drew the attention of many and 
 they came running to hear. Then I talked to them of Jesus 
 and His love, and we went on our way and held another 
 service on another street. Then, coming to the quarters of 
 a company of firemen, I asked if I might hold a service 
 with them some time. One of them replied, "Yes, why not 
 now?" It was then 10 o'clock and raining. I stepped into 
 the street and began singing. Across the way there was a 
 dance hall with dancing going on upon the three floors of 
 the hall. As I sang, the windows of the hall were lowered 
 with a crash, perhaps to keep out the rain perhaps to keep 
 out the sound of my voice. 
 
3/8 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 As we proceeded with the service a policeman soon ap- 
 peared and ordered me to stop. I told him I was not violat- 
 ing any ordinance of the city and only holding the service 
 at the request of these firemen. He was angry and threat- 
 ened to arrest us. He soon returned with two other offi- 
 cers, and while the sister who was with me was speaking, 
 he took her by the arm and led her down the muddy street. 
 I began singing, "He is able to deliver thee." The other 
 two policemen took me by the arms and forced me through 
 the deep mud in the street quite a long distance to the jail. 
 Before being placed in the cell I was asked the cause of our 
 arrest. I replied, "For holding open-air service on the 
 street, and there is no law in Scotland to forbid us from 
 doing so." We were placed in a room under guard to 
 await the decision. We could hear the shrieks of men antf 
 women delirious from drink. 
 
 I was asked who we were, and replied, "We have come 
 from America to preach the gospel." After cross-ques- 
 tioning and severely reprimanding me they asked if I would 
 hold my peace if they would let me go. I answered, "I do 
 not wish to disregard your request, but I must obey God, 
 for that is why I am here. And according to your law it is 
 no crime to hold open-air services ; and it is a custom with 
 the churches." "Then we will put you into the cell." An- 
 other said, "No, we cannot do that for this offense." Then 
 he said I should be gone. I said, "Will you not send an 
 officer to show us the way to our lodging, as you have ar- 
 rested us without a cause and it is late at night?" But 
 they refused to send a guide. I asked if they would give 
 me the name of the policeman who arrested us, and told 
 them the matter was not yet ended ; that they did not know 
 with whom they were dealing. At first they refused to 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 379 
 
 give me the names asked for; but I said I should stay till 
 they did so, and I prevailed. When we had started to try 
 to find our way to our lodging place, we met a lady who 
 kindly directed us to the street and number. 
 
 On Monday a sister who had been preaching among the 
 policemen for some years, called to see me having heard 
 of my arrest and treatment. She was much surprised and 
 said she could have those policemen all discharged for their 
 conduct toward me. I said, "No, do not do that; I only 
 want to see them and talk to them about their souls' salva- 
 tion." "Then," she replied, "I will have them come and 
 ask your forgiveness." As she started away, I handed her 
 some recommendations and railroad passes I had had in 
 America and letters of introduction to parties in that land. 
 Glancing over them she exclaimed, "Is it possible? A lady 
 with such a recommend! These letters are addressed to 
 some of the best people in Great Britain. Will you trust 
 me with these till I return?" "Certainly," I replied. She 
 returned in due time, saying the policemen would come 
 and make an apology. I was very glad, for I felt then that 
 I could tell them it was the love of Christ for the lost ones 
 of earth that constrained me to speak on the streets. Many 
 ladies called during the day to give me their sympathy and 
 show their interest. The policeman who caused the arrest 
 came and asked me to forgive him. He bowed with us in 
 prayer, and sobs shook his heavy frame while his tears fell 
 like rain. He said, "It is like mother used to talk, and it is 
 the same kind of religion she had in olden times." I believe 
 that man found Christ his Savior that day. He told us of 
 his wife sick at home and two "wee bairns," and as he 
 could get no girl at home, he had overworked ; and on that 
 
380 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Saturday night had taken too much liquor in order to keep 
 him. awake. 
 
 He invited me to call upon his family. This I did the 
 following day, and found it as he had said. The two other 
 men that had a part in arresting us came the following day. 
 One of them seemed very penitent when I talked to them, 
 and both humbly begged my pardon for their conduct to- 
 ward me. 
 
 While in Glasgow I was invited by General Evans, of the 
 Gospel Army, to conduct special services for ten nights at 
 their hall commonly known as the Globe Theater. We 
 copy the following from an editorial of the General's pub- 
 lished in his paper while we were there: 
 
 "Hearing of these evangelists we decided to invite them to 
 Globe Theater, and truly we can say God has visited his people. 
 They do not believe in forms and ceremonies like us formal Scotch 
 Christians, but speak as they are moved by the Holy Ghost. They 
 live by faith and do not ask for money or collections; however, 
 they seem to get on very well, and I never yet heard them grum- 
 bling about having too little. They take whatever is given them 
 as from the Lord, and give Him their sincere thanks accordingly. 
 They have spent over a week speaking and singing every night in 
 our meetings, and not a few have been impressed by the earnest 
 words of our sisters. Some of the professors have had their short- 
 comings pretty well threshed out, the writer coming in for his 
 share. Our meetings have been well attended and I believe a really 
 good work has been begun in our midst. The elder lady carries 
 about with her a book full of newspaper clippings and numerous 
 testimonials about her work in America. Her special field is in 
 the prisons and among the unfortunates. She takes no stock in 
 sensational worship, but there is always a great sensation wherever 
 she puts in an appearance. ... In closing I may say that our 
 heaven-bound sisters have had some severe trials since leaving 
 their native shores. Eternity alone will reveal the amount they 
 have endured for the Master's sake. Before they had been many 
 hours in Glasgow they wjre marched off to jail for preaching at a 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 381 
 
 street corner, and gathering a crowd. I trust this epistle will open 
 up our cold, hard hearts and that we may receive our sisters a* is 
 our duty as a Christian community. 
 
 TUMULT IN A DIVE. 
 
 "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold the 
 devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tried; 
 * Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life. ' ' 
 Rev. 2:10. 
 
 One Sunday night, as I was on my way going from the 
 meeting, being in company with General Evans and his 
 wife and the sister who traveled with me, I saw a public 
 house open and went in and began to speak to the men and 
 women. I had only talked a few minutes when the proprie- 
 tor came in and asked, "Are you a customer here?" I re- 
 plied, "No, I am only speaking to these people about their 
 souls." He said, "Now you leave, or I'll make you." He 
 ran into a back room, and coming out he passed me quickly, 
 running to the door and blowing a long blast on a police 
 whistle. This aroused the people and brought to the scene 
 several policemen and hundreds of people of all classes in 
 general fright. A man rushed in and catching me by the 
 arm cried, "Come out of this place, quick, or you'll be 
 killed. You are in danger. You don't know where you 
 are ! This is the Callow Gate ; the worst place in Glasgow." 
 I said to him, "Let me alone, I am obeying God." But as 
 the policemen closed in around me there was a cry raised, 
 "It is Jack the Ripper in disguise." The excitement in 
 those days was intense all over Europe. Jack the Ripper 
 was a fiend in human form that was killing women contin- 
 ually in the most horrifying manner and in cold blood. 
 You might see on a bulletin board in the city that a mur- 
 der would be committed on such a day and hour and these 
 threats would be carried out. Yet he defied the detectives 
 
382 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 and police. Large rewards were offered for his capture. I 
 saw that my life was in danger unless I could convince 
 them of their mistake, of which I now saw the cause. I 
 was dressed differently from them. I had on a long black 
 cloak and had thrown my black shawl over my head con- 
 cealing my bonnet, and carried a bag on my arm which 
 contained my recommendations, railway passes, etc. I 
 said: "You are mistaken, gentlemen, I am not Jack the 
 Ripper" (removing my shawl), "I am a missionary from 
 America ; and preaching at the Globe Theater every night. 
 Come and hear me there. There is no cause for this tu- 
 mult." The General and his wife having come in, we 
 passed out, the mob following us several blocks with shouts 
 and screams giving me some blows as we went. But God 
 delivered us from their cruel hands. 
 
 A MOB OF DRUNKEN WOMEN. 
 
 Another night when returning from the Globe Theater 
 in company with General and Mrs. Evans we heard a great 
 noise up the street and soon discovered that it was made 
 by a mob of some kind. On their coming nearer, we found 
 it was an immense crowd of drunken fallen girls. The 
 General said : "Hide yourselves quick ! There is no tell- 
 ing what they might do." The policemen had slunk away 
 not caring to try to make any arrests, as there were so 
 many of them and they were so violent. Poor souls ! They 
 were some mothers* girls who perhaps had learned to love 
 the taste of strong drink before they saw the light and were 
 bound by both inherited and acquired appetite. I was told 
 that on an average there were four drunken women in 
 Glasgow for every drunken man. Such a statement seems 
 . beyond belief, but during our stay we saw much to indicate 
 that it v: trre. W 1 . r.t c-rv.ld the harvest be? 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 383 
 
 While in Scotland 1 received a very precious letter of en- 
 couragement and sympathy from Col. Geo. R. Clarke and 
 wife of Pacific Garden Mission, Chicago. I give it here 
 and the reader can easily realize how comforting it proved 
 
 to me. 
 
 Chicago, October 29, 1890. 
 My Dear Sister Wheaton: 
 
 We received yours written from Glasgow last night. I am . sorry 
 they treat you so badly there. But that is the way nice appearing 
 people treated our blessed Lord when on earth, and the way they 
 would treat Him now should He come to earth in the flesh. But it is 
 blessed to us, said Jesus, when men persecute us. We have a right 
 then to rejoice as He told us. 
 
 The Lord will stand by you as He did by Paul. He ''will never 
 leave you nor forsake you." So you can boldly say: "The Lord 
 is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." 
 
 The Lord's work is prospering at our Mission and we are much 
 encouraged in it. We have large meetings and many precious souls 
 for Christ every night. 
 
 We have started a noonday prayer-meeting for both sexes. The 
 Lord is greatly blessing the meetings. We have souls converted there 
 right along at every meeting. 
 
 We will pray for you and may the dear Lord greatly bless you in 
 your work and labor of love which you do in His name. 
 
 We have only a little time left now to wait for Him. The signs 
 are thickening and He will soon rush into view and then we shall 
 hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou 
 in to the joy of thy Lord." Praise His dear name. Glory to God! 
 Hallelujah!!! What a meeting that will be! It will be our time 
 to laugh then, but our persecutors will weep and wail. May God 
 be merciful to them now and give them repentance before that awful 
 day. 
 
 Don't be in a hurry to die and go to heaven. You are more needed 
 by the Lord down here just now than in heaven. There are no sinners 
 there to whom to preach His gospel and He tells us to "Go and 
 preach ' ' not "go to heaven. ' ' He will take us all home in His own 
 
384 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 good time. Let us patiently wait for Him and "occupy until He 
 comes." With much Christian love we are yours in Christ. 
 
 COL. AND MRS. GEO. E. CLARKE. 
 
 IN PAISLEY. 
 
 I was summoned by telegram to go on to Paisley, Scot- 
 land, to hold services for the Gospel Army in that place. 
 We went immediately. Found the city well informed of 
 our coming by large striking posters which read: Hear 
 the American Prison Evangelists Be sure to hear these 
 ladies who have preached on the ruins of the Johnstown 
 horror ! Who have visited all the prisons of note in Amer- 
 ica led murderers to the scaffold," etc. I was not accus- 
 tomed to such sensational advertising and tore down the 
 posters I came across and chided with the General for 
 advertising us in such a way. He kindly explained that it 
 was customary in their work in order to arrest the atten- 
 tion of the people and arouse interest in our meetings. Per- 
 haps he was right but it was something of a trial to me to 
 be brought before the people in that way. 
 
 We found much to do in Paisley, not only in the night 
 services but on the streets, in the homes of refuge and in 
 homes. Found twelve hundred girls employed in the Coats 
 Thread Works and eight hundred girls in Clark's Thread 
 Works. Found great poverty among the laboring classes, 
 as there was much dissipation among both men and women. 
 
 Just before leaving Paisley I was called to go and hold 
 services in the Refuge for Fallen Women. During the 
 services there did not seem to be much feeling concerning 
 their soul's salvation. It seemed I could not reach them. 
 At last, near the close of the meeting, I said : "Girls, I am 
 going away to my own land. I will never see you on earth 
 again. Will you not try and live so you will meet me in 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 385 
 
 heaven? If so, raise your hands.'' Not one hand was 
 raised. Then I said, "Girls, won't you pray?" No sign 
 yet. "Girls, shall I pray for you when far away? If so, 
 raise your hands?" Not a hand went up. I was almost 
 discouraged. Could I leave that great crowd of lost wo- 
 men to go on in their awful career without at least one 
 manifesting a desire for a better life? How could I meet 
 them at the Judgment? At last I said: "Girls, I leave to- 
 morrow for America. I am all alone. Only this young 
 woman with me. How many of you will pray for us as we 
 cross the ocean again to go to our own land? If any one 
 will pray for us, won't you raise your hand?" Every hand 
 went up, and God's Holy Spirit crept unawares into their 
 hearts so long unused to prayer, and the spell of evil was 
 broken, and God reached them. O the melting, tender 
 spirit which filled the room ! And that company, I believe, 
 gave God their hearts. In learning to pray for us, their 
 sisters, they found God, and I trust to meet many, if not 
 all, of those dear souls in heaven. Jesus said, "Neither do 
 I condemn thee ; go and sin no more." And then the con- 
 fessions, the tears, the promises ! Bless God, His word will 
 not return void. 
 
 Shortly after my arrival in America I received the fol- 
 lowing letter, which explains itself, from the matron of 
 this Home: 
 
 Female Refuge, Paisley, Scotland, March 23, 1891. 
 Mrs. Wheaton. 
 
 Dear Friend: Glad I was to know that you had in God's good 
 Providence arrived safe at home among your dear ones, and rejoice 
 also with you that the work is prospering in your hand. 
 
 I have been called upon to part here with dear ones since 1 saw 
 you, but they are gone before me only a little while. My assistants 
 8,re all with me yet, and with myself had much pleasure in you' 
 
386 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 card. We often talk of you and your young friend that accompanied 
 you. 1 do hope she is still with you. We have now a household of 
 thirty inmates, many giving proof of a new life being theirs for 
 time and eternity. With our united kind regards, I am 
 
 Yours truly in the Lord 's work, ANNIE J. BLUE. 
 
 I have already mentioned the fact that I found it difficult 
 to gain admittance to the prisons of Scotland. I waited in 
 Edinburgh for days, on expense, seeking opportunity to 
 hold at least one service in the large prison there. While 
 waiting I held services in the jail and missions and open 
 air. Our meetings in the open air were largely attended, 
 not only by the working classes, but also by others who 
 would stop and listen, being attracted, at first, by the sing- 
 ing which usually drew large crowds. We were much 
 blessed in these services and especially in the slums where 
 large numbers of neglected children gathered around us, 
 ragged and dirty, but with hearts glad to learn to sing with 
 us. 
 
 RETURN TO AMERICA. 
 
 Various circumstances combined that seemed to require 
 my return to America and after nearly two months of con- 
 stant toil in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Paisley, we hurried 
 to Liverpool and November 15 took shipping for New 
 York on the steamship Wisconsin. On this return voyage 
 we encountered another fearful storm in which many ships 
 went down. 
 
 The storm raged about four days. Men and women were 
 in great fear ; some weeping, some screaming, some praying, 
 and some cursing. Among all that multitude there .were 
 only four Christians ; only four souls ready to face eternity ! 
 
 But our God is a very present help in time of trouble. 
 There in that terrible hour, I was conscious of His pres* 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 387 
 
 ence and I knew that He was able to deliver us. When 
 the storm had abated, with a heart full of gratitude and 
 thanksgiving, I tried to sing, but could only utter softly 
 the words of one old-time hymn : 
 
 "How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord." 
 
 So wonderfully did God deliver us that in spite of that 
 fearful storm we reached Xew York harbor after being 
 only twelve days at sea. 
 
 On board these steamers a religious service is held 
 every Lord's day. but it is usually led by the captain who 
 is often an ungodly man. Many seemed to ease their 
 guilty consciences by observing this form of religion. 
 But my heart was often left more hungry and sad by a 
 service which seemed to me mere form if not a farce and 
 mockery. 
 
 During this return trip I supposed I was about out of 
 money, and was somewhat tempted to doubt the prom- 
 ises, and I prayed much for guidance. When almost 
 ready to land I took from my purse my small stock to 
 have the steward get it changed for U. S. money, and to 
 my glad surprise I found in another part of the purse a 
 pound note. I could not tell how it came to be there. 
 So I felt reproved for my lack of faith. 
 
 Among my old papers I find a touching letter written 
 by a dear young sister to whom I became much attached 
 while in Scotland. Had it not been that her family were 
 largely dependent upon her she would have gone with 
 me in my work. I give the following extract: 
 
 Glasgow, Nov. 17. 1390. 
 
 My Dear Sister in Jesus: 
 
 I received your card Saturday night: and was very much surprised 
 to learn that you had gone so suddenly. But not our will but God 's 
 will be done. Dear sister. 1 hope you and Nellie will have a safe 
 
388 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 passage across the ocean and may the dear Savior be very present to 
 both of you. You have His blessed promise, "Fear them not; for I 
 am with thee. " 
 
 Mrs. P and the husband were asking very kindly after you. 
 
 Mr. L could scarcely credit that you had gone home so sud- 
 denly. Several others also in the hall wish you a special blessing 
 in your effort to win souls for the Master, who will reward you in 
 His own time. 
 
 Dear sister, you do not know and you will never know until you are 
 within the Pearly Gates, how many precious souls have been brought 
 to the knowledge of the truth through you. 
 
 May the dear Lord make us truly Holy Ghost workers and may 
 we have a desire to point sinners to Jesus the all-sufficient one 
 the author and finisher of our salvation. Glory to God ! May we be 
 more and more like Jesus, humble, meek and mild, loving one another 
 as the Lord has also loved us. May we be clean, empty vessels for 
 the Master's use. Dear Jesns, do strip us of everything that would 
 hinder the blessing and would keep our joy from being full. Write 
 soon ; and if we do not meet again on earth, with God 's help we will 
 meet in heaven, Praise God! Your loving sister in Jesus, 
 
 RACHEL SMITH. 
 
 SECOND VISIT TO EUROPE. 
 
 In the year 1896 the Lord made plain to me that it was 
 His will that I should again go to Europe. While in Wash- 
 ington, D. C., I was led to return to Iowa, and there found 
 that a band of missionaries who were ready to start for 
 Africa had been praying that I might come and go with 
 them as far as New York. When they saw me alight at 
 their door, they shouted and praised the Lord. When I 
 asked them the reason they said because God had an- 
 swered prayer that they had prayed God to send me to 
 see them off for Africa. 
 
 While we were holding a few meetings in Philadelphia 
 I felt directed to go on with them as far as London, so pur- 
 chased my ticket with theirs, taking steerage passage 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 389 
 
 across the ocean for the third time. Immediately after get- 
 ting my ticket there came upon me a wonderful outpouring 
 of the Spirit and an assurance that was unmistakable that 
 I was in divine order. When I told those young mission- 
 aries I was going with them as far as London they told me 
 they had been praying that I might be led to do that very 
 thing. After a safe voyage we reached Southampton in 
 seven days. 
 
 One Sabbath afternoon in London when we were hold- 
 ing an open-air meeting on the street, God opened the flood- 
 gates of Heaven, and I with others sang and preached un- 
 der the power of the Holy Spirit. A Christian came and 
 said, "Sister Wheaton, there is a pre**her here who wants 
 to speak to you." I refused to go, as there were drunkards 
 and toughs on their knees under conviction of sin. I 
 thought he was a preacher who wanted to criticise my meth- 
 ods. They called me again, and I went to see what was 
 wanted. I found a fine-looking, well-dressed man much 
 past middle age under awful conviction of sin. He was a 
 backslider, and had stopped in passing, being attracted by 
 a hymn I was singing one his mother used to sing. Yet 
 he was unwilling to yield himself to God. Some of those 
 in the company had talked with him and begged him to 
 kneel. At last his stubborn will was broken, and he knelt 
 there on that London street and confessed his sins to God. 
 When he arose from his knees he said he had been on his 
 way with a dagger then in his coat sleeve, to commit suicide, 
 but was attracted by that song his mother used to sing, and 
 could go no further. Thus by the power of the Holy Ghost 
 that Presiding Elder was saved on the streets through faith- 
 ful, honest trust in God, where the preacher and the drunk- 
 ard knelt side by side in the dust. I hope to meet them in 
 
39<D PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Heaven, and trust that all found peace with God. The 
 word says, ''Go out in the streets and lanes of the city, and 
 in the hedges and highways." "J esus came to seek and to 
 save that which was lost," not the righteous but sinners. 
 He came to save. How often people are waiting for Chris- 
 tians, who profess to have salvation, to speak to them, and 
 how glad they are to receive the message if delivered in love. 
 
 I was located for a time at Woolwich, near the London 
 Arsenal. There were stationed thousands of soldiers and 
 they were often found in the public houses under the in- 
 fluence of drink. I would plead with them to quit sinning, 
 turn to God, and seek salvation. Often tears were shed, and 
 resolves made to serve the Lord. There are many incidents 
 of souls being saved on the streets, in the slums and public 
 houses, but space forbids my going into details, but suffice 
 it to say that I have been given many proofs of God's love 
 and mercy from among the thousands who have heard the 
 gospel in those far-off lands, as well as in our home land. 
 Then let us encourage our missionaries everywhere to press 
 on until the Master says, "It is enough, come up higher." 
 
 I was much pained, while in England, to see so many 
 young women there, as in Scotland, selling beer and other 
 strong drink to customers in the public houses; beautiful 
 girls selling their souls to the tempter to be lost forever un- 
 less in some way rescued before it is too late. 
 
 During this second visit to Europe I was often stopped 
 on the street and asked to sing to the people, which I fre- 
 quently did, regardless of remarks or criticisms, and the 
 Lord blessed my singing to the good of many souls. While 
 in London, night after night I would sing and preach the 
 gospel to people who longed for salvation, but knew not 
 
OR A LAI5OR OF LOVE 391 
 
 how to get saved. How often we neglect an opportunity to 
 do good. Years after some of our missionaries returning 
 from Africa, passing through London, heard the people call- 
 ing to them, ''Where is that old lady who sang for us?" So 
 we labor not in vain. In due season we shall reap if we faint 
 not. 
 
 After spending several weeks in England (most of the 
 time in London) I saw that precious band of young mis- 
 sionaries take the steamer for Africa. The next day I em-, 
 barked for home at Southampton. Soon after starting' we 
 sighted the vessel on which they sailed and I could distin- 
 guish some of them waving their handkerchiefs in farewell. 
 One of them died in Africa ten months later. By and by 
 we shall meet again in the Kingdom of heaven, each one, I 
 trust, bringing with us sheaves to lay at Jesus' feet. 
 
 During the return voyage the sea was stormy at times, 
 yet the voyage was made safely, and on Sabbath morning, 
 the day after my arrival in New York, I went to the Tombs 
 prison to hold services. I was very tired, and after the 
 services I was so faint I prayed for the Lord to, open the 
 way for me to have some refreshments, as I was to preach 
 in the afternoon at a Rescue Mission. There were many 
 elegantly dressed lady visitors at that meeting, but they all 
 passed out and left me alone, when a young, humble-looking 
 man came to me and said, "We are very poor, and are able 
 to afford but one meal a day, and not a full meal at that, but 
 it would be such a blessing to my wife and myself if you 
 would come and share it with us.' ? My heart was touched 
 that this stranger should offer to share the little they had, 
 when others never thought of my needs. I did not go with 
 him. although I thanked him ; it was so far to his home, but 
 God will reward him. For Jesus said, "I was a stranger 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 and ye took me in, hungry and ye fed me ; I was in prison 
 and ye came unto me, sick and ye visited me." 
 
 Behold a homeless wanderer, poor and thinly clad, 
 
 To biting cold a victim, with hunger almost mad, 
 
 Entering yonder mansion, dares to boldly steal" 
 
 What none should e 'er deny a dog the pittance of a meal ! 
 
 See the greedy sleuth-hounds of the outraged law 
 
 Wage against this robber an unrelenting war; 
 
 While Christian judge and jury, with ready wit, declare 
 
 His crime an awful outrage, that merits prison fare! 
 
 But he who rears his costly domes 
 
 O'er wreck and ruin of human homes, 
 
 Plants in the breast a raging thirst 
 
 And leaves his victims doubly cursed, 
 
 Can roll in luxury, loll in pride 
 
 And, with the law, his gain divide! 
 
 Tho ' every dime he pays the state 
 
 A thousand cost in wakened hate! 
 
 Geo. W. H. Harrison. 
 
 Learn that in many a loathsome cell 
 A prisoned genius or a saint may dwell, 
 Whose power, developed by an act of love, 
 May lead a million to the Courts above. 
 Shall it be yours to touch that vibrant chord 
 And share the honor of the great reward? 
 What heaven endorses that alone can stand; 
 All else is stubble, built on shifting sand. 
 
 G. W. H. H. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 Travel and Toil. 
 
 TWO NIGHTS' SERVICE. 
 
 At one time when suffering from nervous prostration I 
 was lovingly cared for for some weeks in the home of dear 
 brother H. L. Hastings, of Boston. One night while there 
 I said to him : "I must go to the city tonight." He replied: 
 "Sister Wheaton, have you prayed about it?" I said, "Yes." 
 He answered, "Go and pray again." I did so and returned 
 to his office, saying, "I must go to the city tonight." They 
 were having watchnight service in the city. Again he re- 
 plied: "The night is very cold and you are sick. Go and 
 pray and find out the mind of God." Again I went to my 
 room to inquire diligently of the Lord and was sure that 
 the call of the Spirit was that I should go. Again I re- 
 turned to his office and told him I must go to the city that 
 night. Once more he replied: "Sister Wheaton, go and 
 pray." As I wept before the Lord He showed me the city 
 given up to idolatry and sin and again I went to Brother 
 Hastings' office and said: "I must go to the city." He 
 dropped his pen and hurriedly said: "Wife and I will go 
 with you." It was one of the coldest nights Boston had 
 known for years, but from one saloon to another the Lord 
 led us and from one watchnight meeting to another until 
 near midnight we entered a Mission hall. A fine-looking, 
 well-dressed young man from the platform hurried down 
 and said to me : "Mother, I am so glad to see you. Come 
 on the platform and speak to the people." I looked at the 
 man and he said: "Don't you know me, mother?" When 
 I said "No," he answered: "Don't you know your boy?" 
 
3Q6 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 I looked at him so beautiful in the service of God and 
 then he said : "I was in prison and you came and prayed 
 and sang for me. I was in the hospital, and got saved 
 there, and God is still blessing your boy." Reader, did it 
 pay? Yes, that night my heart rejoiced in my Savior for 
 all He had done for me and for my "children" in prison 
 walls. For seventeen years now this man has been a bless- 
 ing in helping to save others. 
 
 Another watchnight I spent in St. Louis, Missouri. Feel- 
 ing weary, I was about to retire for the night, when the 
 Lord showed me to go on the street and do service for Him. 
 So, doubting not, I pressed out for a cold night's work in 
 the slums. . The sister who entertained me went with me. 
 to the places of sin and also to six different vatch-meetings, 
 at which we witnessed for the Master, leaving the results 
 with the Lord, who said: "And the books were opened, 
 and another book was opened, which is the book of life; 
 and the dead were judged out of trios** things which were 
 written in the books, according to their works." 
 
 ONE WEEK'S WORK. 
 
 A few years since, on arriving in Omaha after returning 
 from the East, I telephoned the jailer at the county jail: 
 "Can I have a meeting?" "Yes," came the reply. There 
 were a good many prisoners and we had a good service. 
 Sister Kelley, of Tabor, Iowa,, was with me. Our singing 
 seemed much appreciated. Went from there to the city jail. 
 Held services there, and in the evening in a Rescue Mis- 
 sion. 
 
 At midnight we boarded the train for Deer Lodge, Mon- 
 tana. En route our train stopped for a couplt of hours at 
 Ogden, Utah, and while there we visited the Florence Crit- 
 tenton Rescue Home where we were warmly welcomed by 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 397 
 
 both the matron and the girls and had a blessed service. God 
 bless them all ! 
 
 We arrived at the State prison at Deer Lodge on Satur- 
 day and had the privilege of preaching to the many prison- 
 ers the following day. God blessed me in speaking, both to 
 the men and women. We sang many old-time hymns and 
 some new ones. Took each prisoner by the hand as they 
 passed out, visited the sick prisoners and went to two 
 
 PRISON AT DEER LODGE, MONT. 
 
 churches that night, and visited the women prisoners on 
 Monday morning, and had real victory in prayer for them. 
 Then bidding goodbye to all we left for the prison at Boise 
 City, Idaho, where we arrived Tuesday. Telephoned the 
 warden asking permission to hold service at the prison. 
 The privilege was granted and a team was sent for us. We 
 found a large number of prisoners and the officials kind, 
 and had a good service of an hour. Visited the poor, con- 
 demned men in their cells, prayed and wept with them, and 
 Commended them to the great loving God who said: 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 'Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as 
 snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as 
 wool." After seeing the sick we left the prison; but my 
 heart was greatly drawn out for those men under death 
 sentence. I felt that one of them (a foreigner) was inno- 
 cent. I was almost overcome with sorrow. They were my 
 "children" and I never would see them again in this world, 
 and yet I was powerless to help them ! 
 
 From Boise City we went to Salt Lake City. When we 
 arrived at the penitentiary there and mentioned our desire 
 to hold a service the warden's kind wife said: "The war- 
 den is in the city and they are under contract and must get 
 their work done immediately but you lie down and rest 
 you are worn out" (and I was). So I slept until I heard 
 her tender voice, saying, "Mrs. Wheaton, lunch is ready 
 and the warden says he will give you forty minutes after 
 dinner in the chapel with the men." I was so glad and said : 
 "This is all through your kindness and God will reward 
 you." I found the men seated, waiting for me, in the chap- 
 el and thankfully I improved that opportunity, knowing that 
 eternity would reveal the results of that service. I was per- 
 mitted to see the two men under death sentence and sing 
 and pray with them, and tell them of a Savior "mighty to 
 save and strong to deliver ;" then with sad heart I left them 
 never to meet them again till the trumpet should sound. 
 Precious in God's sight were those poor, forsaken, crimi- 
 nals ! And, reader, as I write these lines down in the slums 
 of Chicago, I see opposite me the saloon open day and night 
 luring men and women inside, fitting them also for the 
 prison and perhaps for the scaffold! 
 
 Leaving the prison at Salt Lake, we hurried to the coun- 
 ty jail, held services in two departments, and had a good 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 399 
 
 time with the prisoners ; then left for the city jail. Did 
 what work we could there in the Lord's name and hurried 
 to the depot, only stopping on the way to get a little lunch 
 for the long journey before us. Weary and faint we 
 reached the train just as it was leaving. Too weak to go 
 further I got in the first car, which proved to be a dining 
 car. I said: "The boys will allow me to sit here awhile, 
 and I heard a voice saying: "Come in, mother, sit down. 
 You are welcome in my car and you must have something 
 to eat. You look tired and hungry" and wasn't I? And 
 when I told him of my friend in another car he had me 
 bring her also and gave us both a good 'supper, and was I 
 not thankful to God for that kind welcome from the dining 
 car conductor, who knew me? Surely God will reward 
 him. I hope to meet and know him in that land where we 
 shall never get weary and hungry. 
 
 We arrived at Rawlins, Wyoming, at nine the next morn- 
 ing. We hurried to the prison. It was Decoration Day 
 and most of the guards were off for a holiday the men 
 being locked in their cells. The warden kindly said to us: 
 "I wish I could let you talk to the men, but my officers are 
 gone and there is no one to guard them, and I a^i com- 
 pelled to remain at the office to see after business." I was 
 sure God had sent us, and said: "Will you permit us to see 
 the men in their cells?" After much deliberation he said: 
 "I'll tell you what I will do, I'll turn the men loose in the din- 
 ing room if you think you can control them, and let you have 
 an hour to talk to them." I said, "Surely I can manage 
 those men why, they are my children, sir," and so down 
 the men came from their cells and O such a meeting ! I 
 was at home and my "boys" were on their, honor and I 
 talked to them as a mother and we sang together hymns 
 
4OO PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 that they knew, and bless God He was guarding the men, 
 and I had nothing to do with the matter only to obey Him 
 and tell them the old, old story of the redeeming love of & 
 Savior who died to save us from our sins and give to us 
 eternal life. As I grasped each one by the hand at parting, 
 I found the men quiet and peaceable, humbly begging me 
 to come again. Then I saw the heavy iron doors close be- 
 tween us and knew I would probably never see them to- 
 gether again as we were there, but looked forward to the 
 great day in which, if he would, each man could have a part 
 in crowning Jesus Lord of lords and King of kings. 
 
 After having dinner with the few officers present in their 
 own dining room we hurried to the jail. There we were 
 permitted to preach the gospel to the prisoners and they 
 received us gladly. As I left the jailer expressed his ap- 
 preciation of the visit, saying it was so good of us to 'come 
 to help the prisoners especially the girls. 
 
 Arriving at Lincoln, Nebraska, we attended the evening 
 service of the National Campmeeting then in progress there 
 and the next morning went to the prison. The warden 
 kindly granted us the privilege of a gospel service with the 
 prisoners. After holding this service and visiting the sick 
 in the hospital we returned to the camp ground. Reached 
 there during a testimony service just in time to be in- 
 vited by the leader to sing a certain hymn. Instantly I was 
 on my feet and soon on the platform sayimj, "Yes, I will 
 sing, but first I must sing, 
 
 "The toils of the road will seem nothing 
 When we get to the end of the way." 
 
 And shouts of praise went up to God all over that ground, 
 for He especially anointed me to sing that hymn. I felt 
 every word of it, for though weary and tired from the 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 40 1 
 
 journey, I knew God had been with me and had given vic- 
 tory all along the way. 
 
 In this brief sketch I have failed to mention some services 
 held in missions and also special services on all the trains 
 on which we traveled perhaps bringing to some their last 
 warning. 
 
 One night during this week's journey a crowd of drunken 
 men boarded the train. They were so abusive to me that 
 I went outside the car door. When I went in the next car 
 I found the same kind dining car conductor I have before 
 mentioned. At his inquiry as to what was the matter I just 
 knelt and prayed and then told him how the drunken men 
 had acted. He said: "Come with me. This won't do. I 
 will see that you and your sister have a sleeper." He 
 went with me into the other car, and when the men saw the 
 man in uniform with me they tried to be very polite. They 
 were under the influence of drink and in a sense not re- 
 sponsible for their actions. Who is responsible? The sa- 
 loon, the brewery, the devil who uses these things to make 
 men and women oftentimes more like fiends than creatures 
 made in the image and likeness of God, and all who fail to 
 use their influence against the liquor traffic are respon- 
 sible. 
 
 From Lincoln we went to Omaha where we parted feel- 
 ing that the days had been spent for God and souls the 
 dear sister to return to her work in the missionary train- 
 ing home at Tabor, Iowa, I to hurry on to Chicago, taking 
 with me one of the sisters I met for the first time in the 
 slum mission work in Omaha a week previous. 
 
 So we turned over that week's work to the Lord of the 
 harve'st, who will see that the seed scattered along life's 
 pathway shall bring forth fruit unto eternal life. 
 
4 2 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 A PROFITABLE TRIP. 
 
 Walking along the street in Chicago on my way to the 
 Cook County Jail to see the "car-barn bandits" and one or 
 two others under death sentence, I was impressed that I 
 must go to some State Prison for Easter, only two days 
 off. I stopped and prayed, inquiring of the Lord where he 
 would have me go. 
 
 I had been east and just 'arrived in the city, weary and 
 worn, but I knew the voice of God was saying, "Go!" 
 but where and by what route I knew not. I stood still un- 
 til the Lord made it plain to go westward to what place 
 I need not know, but to go to the railroad office and get 
 transportation. When I entered the office the kind official 
 said, "What can I do for you, Mother?" At first I an- 
 swered, "I hardly know what to ask for, as it is not yet 
 plain to me just where to go ; but a little later I said to him, 
 "I must go to Canon City, Colorado." "All right," he 
 said, and gave me transportation. It was then too late, un- 
 der ordinary circumstances, to visit the jail, but I felt that 
 I must see those condemned boys before their execution, 
 and I prayed that God would open my way and incline the 
 heart of the jailer, Mr. Whitman, to grant me the desired 
 opportunity. To my surprise I found Mr. Whitman on 
 the street car. I told him that I must leave the city at 
 once for western prisons and asked if he would kindly give 
 me permission to see the condemned men who were in his 
 charge, before I left, as I could not return before the day 
 set for execution. He was very kind and answered, "Yes, 
 I will send an officer with you to see the boys." 
 
 That hour will never be forgotten. Instead of tough, 
 rough looking men I found "mother's boys" in the prime of 
 their young manhood. Kindly, tenderly I talked to them, 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 403 
 
 thinking to myself, what if it were my boy, now safe in 
 Heaven ? O sisters, it seemed to me my heart would break 
 as I placed my hands on their heads, so soon to be cold in 
 death and commended them to the God who sent His only 
 begotten Son, who, when on the cross, said, "Father, for- 
 give them, for they know not what they do !" I left the 
 prison, praying that my message might not be in vain. 
 
 Upon leaving Chicago over the Santa Fe railroad on my 
 way west, I prayed earnestly for direction as to what prison 
 I should visit on Easter Sunday and was impressed to 
 stop at Joliet. The warden, Mr. Murphy x and his estimable 
 wife were kind and hospitable, as they always are, and the 
 chaplain was willing that I should have a part in the ser- 
 vices on the Sabbath. God was present in power in all the 
 services. Many of the prisoners partook of the communion 
 with their teachers and chaplain. 
 
 The Lord alone can reward the warden's wife for her 
 special kindness to me at this time, for I was taken sick 
 from overwork and detained over Monday. I then left 
 at midnight for Topeka, Kansas, where the Lord sent me 
 to the railroad shops to hold services at the noon hour 
 while the men were resting after lunch. Our meeting with 
 them was signally owned and blessed of God. At its close 
 I shook hands with each of those hundreds of men and 
 then went to the jail where the Lord again graciously met 
 with us. 
 
 Reaching Pueblo on our way to Canon City we telephoned 
 the jailer also the matron of the Rescue Home and ob- 
 tained permission to hold services at each on our return. 
 
 At Canon City the warden and his wife gave us a most 
 kind and courteous welcome and he granted the privilege 
 of holding services for the prisoners in the chapel, also at 
 
44 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 the hospital and cell houses. I visited their night school. 
 It was very interesting to see so many teaching other pris- 
 oners. The most important part of my work at Canon City, 
 however, was seeing three young men who were under 
 death sentence. While I prayed day after day for them, 
 they came to see their true condition before God and, I 
 believe, gave evidence of true repentance. I hope to meet 
 them all in Heaven. 
 
 But oh, what a sad sight to see those young men in the 
 prime of life, sentenced to die ; and all on account of strong 
 drink. 
 
 How pitifully they talked of home and mother and inno- 
 cent childhood days ! Their hearts were melted and broken. 
 Poor boys! far away from home and friends, with few to 
 care and many to cry out, "They deserve to die" never 
 seeing the cause, the rum traffic. Why not stop that which 
 sends our young men by the thousands to a drunkard's or 
 a criminal's grave? When I bade these young men fare- 
 well they were cheerful and confident that the Lord had 
 forgiven them. 
 
 Arriving at Pueblo on the return trip, we went to the 
 Rescue Home where we received a kind welcome; also 
 held services in the prison there. I forgot to mention ser- 
 vices held in jail and almshouse while in Canon City. 
 
 At Denver we found friends who received us kindly. We 
 held services in their mission church. Also held service 
 in the large jail in which I conducted the first meeting ever 
 held after it was built. 
 
 Leaving Denver we went to Lincoln, Neb., to hold ser- 
 vices in the State Prison on the Sabbath. Found there my 
 friends, Warden Beemer and wife, who have always been 
 so kind to me. Our meetings were crowned with success 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 4Cj 
 
 and victory. Also did personal work, which is important. 
 
 While I was there, two new prisoners were brought in. 
 
 Left Monday for Omaha and went at once to the County 
 Jail and held meetings in the three different wards. God 
 blessed His own word to the good of souls ! There, as else- 
 where, I met some who knew me. From Omaha I went 
 to Chicago, where I spent some time in missions, etc. 
 
 six WEEKS' SERVICE. 
 
 About July i, 1904, I spent some time in St. Louis, vis- 
 iting the slums, dives and saloons, faithfully warning the 
 multitudes I found in sin. Left there for Jefferson City, 
 where I held services in the State Prison. We give here 
 the following extract written by the sister who accompanied 
 me on this trip : 
 
 MY TRIP TO JEFFERSON CITY. 
 
 I was glad to have the opportunity of visiting the prison in Jef- 
 ferson City with Mother Wheaton, who is one of our oldest and most 
 successful prison workers. 
 
 We were off early Saturday morning, July 2, and arrived there at 
 12 : 30 o 'clock. We had dinner, then went to the prison. The guard 
 first took us to see the women. They were all seated at machines, 
 sewing very rapidly, and I was told I was not allowed to speak to 
 them. My heart ached and I could not keep back the tears as I 
 Icoked on the precious girls I had labored with in the jail at St. 
 Louis, some seven or eight of them. At 6 o 'clock we had a short 
 meeting with a hundred and fifty shop girls. Many of them were 
 moved to tears, and we believe good was accomplished. Sunday 
 morning we had a good meeting in the jail, then at 2:30 went back 
 to the prison and gave the gospel to twenty-two hundred convicts. It 
 was a blessed time. I never saw such attention, and while Mother 
 Wheaton spoke and we sang "He Pardoned a Rebel Like Me," I 
 saw some of them wiping the tears from their eyes. These men are 
 rot all hard-hearted. As I looked at them and heard almost all of 
 them join in with us and sing "We'll Never Say Good-Bye in 
 Heaven," somehow I lost sight of the stripes and prison walls and 
 
406 - PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 bars, and thought how precious they are in God's sight, and I be- 
 lieve many will be gathered to praise Him, who was pierced for us 
 aJl. After the meeting a young man asked permission to speak to us; 
 Lis face shone with the glory of God as he told how he had been 
 there five years, and had been saved two years and a half and called 
 to preach the gospel. He proved his earnestness when Mother 
 Wheaton asked if he would let her try to get him pardoned, and he 
 answered: "No, I am guilty, and I not only feel it my duty to 
 serve my time, but will make restitution as soon as I am out. Then 
 1 shall give myself to the Lord's work." 
 
 Returning to St. Louis I next went to Denver, Colo., to 
 see Governor Peabody in behalf of the three young men 
 who were awaiting execution. The governor was very 
 kind and willing to do what was right. In Denver I had 
 services in the jail, also spoke at two meetings and preached 
 at night at a mission church. Next visited the State Re- 
 formatory for Young Men at Buena Vista, Colo. Most of 
 the officers and all the boys attended the services. Leaving 
 here in the evening arrived at Salt Lake City next day 
 about noon. I hurried to the State Prison and was sur- 
 prised to find a new warden, as the former warden had 
 died. It being a working day had only a short service with 
 the prisoners, but it was blessed of the Lord. Then visited 
 the county and city jails, holding three services. Leaving 
 here, traveling all night, arrived the next evening at Canon 
 City, Colo. Hurrying to the State Prison we were kindly 
 received and permitted to hold services in the cell houses 
 till 9 o'clock. The warden informed me that one of the 
 boys under death sentence had gone insane just the day 
 before and could not be seen. One of the other boys under 
 sentence of death said the last thing that this one had done 
 was to write me a letter, of which I here insert an extract : 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 4O/ 
 
 CANON CITY, COLO., July 12, 1904. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 It is with pleasure that I answer your welcome letter, which was 
 appreciated. We are waiting patiently to know the verdict. If it is 
 God's will that I must be taken out of this world, I will go, but it is 
 very hard, as I have done nothing worthy of death, but they look at 
 it different, I suppose. Whatever got me into such a scrape I cannot 
 tell. I have always worked hard for my living. 
 
 Dear Mother, I have done as you requested. I commenced to 
 read the New Testament on the 28th of June and completed it on the 
 10th of July. I never forget to read the Holy Bible and to pray. 
 
 You wished to know if we boys had any work to do. It is be- 
 yond the warden's power to let us work under the circumstances, 
 though he. is very kind to us ; also the other officials. We are allowed 
 all the reading matter we can use and have exercise each day. 
 
 Dear Mother Wheaton, I hope that we will meet again on earth. 
 If not, I pray we may in heaven. And may our Heavenly Father 
 protect you in the work of His cause. I ever remain your son in. 
 Jesus. C . P . 
 
 Leaving Canon City we hurry on, visiting next the State 
 Prison at Lincoln, Neb. There we found another poor 
 man under death sentence, who gladly listened while I 
 taught him the way of life. Oh, the joy that filled my soul 
 as I told him of the Savior who would pardon all his 
 sins. After seeing the other prisoners who are always glad 
 to see true frietrX we hastened on to Omaha, Neb. Here 
 I held four services in jails and Rescue Homes. When 
 leaving Omaha as I was singing on the train I found some 
 ladies crying ; one of them, grasping my hand, said, "When 
 you sang 'My Name in Mother's Prayer/ I thought how 
 often my mother, who is in the baggage coach, has prayed 
 for me, and I will never hear her pray again." I soon 
 changed cars and bade farewell to the sorrowing friends, 
 hoping to meet them with that mother where there is no 
 death nor tears. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 4CK) 
 
 Resting for a short time at Tabor, Iowa, I then went to 
 St. Louis and on to Chester, Hi., to hold services in the 
 State Prison. We were here four days and held services 
 in the State Prison, jail, and Criminal Insane Hospital, 
 where there are more than one hundred inmates. 
 
 Once while holding services here one young man was 
 saved and his mind restored. He has now been preaching 
 the Gospel for several years. "Is there anything too hard 
 for the Lord?" 
 
 We next visited Gatesville, Texas, where MS located the 
 Reform School for Boys. Obtained permission to see the 
 boys and it fortunately being a holiday I was allowed to 
 hold services in both the white and colored wards. The 
 way the boys seemed to enjoy the meetings and to hear 
 them sing was encouraging. Leaving for Huntsville, Tex., 
 we went to different towns, holding services in jails and 
 on the streets till Saturday, when we arrived at Rusk, 
 Texas, and were met by the chaplain, Mr. Dawson, who 
 treated us kindly and gave me the privilege of holding meet- 
 ings on the Sabbath. Had a very impressive service in the 
 afternoon in the prison yard where we gathered round a 
 coffin to pay the last tribute of love to a departed prisoner, 
 after which we held a meeting in the prison hospital. 
 
 We next visited the State Prison at Huntsville, Texas, 
 where we were kindly given the entire time in chapel ser- 
 vice, and also the privilege of holding services in the dif- 
 ferent wards of the hospital. Here all seemed encouraged 
 and were much effected, the tears flowing freely upon many 
 of the pale faces. 
 
 I received upon this visit the following kind tribute from 
 the Assistant Superintendent and Prison Physician: 
 
 I was present at the services conducted by Mother Wheaton at 
 
4io 
 
 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 the Huntsville Penitentiary, on August 7, 1904, and noticed with 
 nmch satisfaction that her remarks and singing were very much 
 appreciated by the men, and many of them seemed very much 
 affected, and I think that the service will be conducive to much good 
 hereafter. T. H. BROWN, 
 
 Assistant Superintendent, in charge Huntsville Penitentiary. 
 
 PRISON AT HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS. 
 
 Mother Wheaton visited the Huntsville Prison Hospital this 
 morning and I think her words of cheer and advice given to the sick 
 TV ill be the means of doing great good. W. E. FOWLER, 
 
 Prison Physician. 
 
 At the Woman's Prison, also located at Huntsville, we 
 found over one hundred women prisoners all working on 
 the farm except the few white women. We held meetings 
 with these women in the afternoon and evening for three 
 

 OR A LABOR OF LOVE 417 
 
 days, which were blessed of the Lord. While I wept with 
 them I thought of the Scripture, "Weep with those that 
 weep." Jesus loved me and saved me and has put a real 
 love in my heart for those souls. 
 
 The kind chaplain took us with his invalid wife on Sab- 
 bath afternoon to visit the consumptives' prison a few 
 miles from Huntsville. Here the prisoners sick with con- 
 sumption are located on a farm. Had a blessed meeting 
 with them. The weather being so warm my health would 
 not permit me to visit the several stockades in this state, 
 where are mines, sugar refineries or farms. 
 
 Returning to St. Louis, Mo., worn and weary, we were 
 kindly entertained at the Berachah Home for Girls. Again 
 we visited the slums, missions, and dives. The sin during 
 these fairs and expositions is awful in the extreme. I have 
 no time or desire to go to see the sights, but am after souls. 
 
 Next we went to Leavenworth, Kan. ; was kindly given 
 the hour for service Sabbath morning, at the State Prison 
 at Lansing, also a service with the women prisoners. Also 
 visited the Soldiers' Home, and by the kindness of the su- 
 perintendent was permitted to speak to the aged soldiers. 
 
 We then found a welcome in the home of Sister Two- 
 good, who accompanied us to the Old Ladies' Rest, where 
 I held services in their lovely new home. In the evening 
 till after 10 o'clock we were speaking to crowds on the 
 streets who seldom attend church. 
 
 Returning then to Tabor, Iowa, weary with this six weeks' 
 constant service, I was for some weeks unable to travel. 
 One night when as I thought, near death, I cried mightily 
 to God and he heard my cry, touched my body and healed 
 me. After a few weeks' rest, yet scarcely able to travel, 
 I started again on my mission seeking the lost. 
 
412 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 RECENT WORK. 
 
 During these weeks of waiting the responsibility of fin- 
 ishing this book then in preparation, and getting it to its 
 readers bore heavily upon me. Knowing that I could not 
 attend to this and continue my work, I was in answer to 
 prayer assured that I should be relieved of the burden of 
 managing the publication, sale, and distribution of the book. 
 After much prayer about the matter I was relieved of this 
 burden in a very satisfactory manner, Bro. C. M. Kelley 
 taking the management of the same for the Lord. 
 
 While yet weak in body, receiving indication from the 
 Lord that I should be about His work, I went on my way, 
 taking with me a young sister from the Training Home, 
 who expects to devote her life's service as a missionary in 
 Japan, the Holy Spirit assuring her also that she should 
 accompany me on this trip. I leave it for her to write the 
 account of the following few weeks' work. 
 
 I was blessed with an opportunity to travel a few weeks 
 with "Mother Wheaton" in her work in prisons, etc. Leav- 
 ing the Home at Tabor, la., September 28, 1904, we first 
 visited the jail at Council Bluffs, where Mother Wheaton 
 held a Gospel service. A number of the prisoners asked for 
 prayer. We next went to Chicago, where on the Lord's 
 day we visited the county jail, where were about 540 men 
 and a few women. After their chapel service we were 
 given access to the corridors where we could talk to all. 
 We also took part in several services at the Beulah Rescue 
 Homes, some missions, etc. 
 
 On October 15, we were at Ft. Madison, Iowa, and vis- 
 ited the several wards in the State Prison and sang and 
 prayed with the sick. On Sabbath Mother Wheaton con- 
 ducted services in the chapel, also at the county jail and 
 the Santa Fe Railroad Hospital. 
 
OP A LABOR OF LOVE 
 
 413 
 
 We next attended the National Prisoa Congress in ses- 
 sion at Quincy, 111. We here had opportunities to witness 
 for God. Monday evening, by invitation, Mother Wheaton 
 spoke at the Soldiers' Home, where God poured out His 
 Spirit and melted the hearts of some who were steeped in 
 sin. The following morning we visited the hospital and 
 prayed and sang with the sick who seemed very glad to hear 
 the good old-time hymns. We then went to the jail where 
 one woman accused of murder was especially touched and 
 broken up, seeing there was someone who loved and cared 
 for her. It is the love of Jesus that brings sinners to re- 
 pentance. The day following, October 18, we held service 
 at the Chaddick Boys' School which is under Deaconess' 
 management. Here Mother Wheaton spoke to ninety young 
 boys. 
 
 Provision was made for those in attendance at the 
 Prison Congress to take an excursion down the river, but 
 instead of going with this company we went to the House 
 of Correction, where the superintendent seemed glad to 
 have Mother Wheaton speak to the prisoners, both men and 
 women, even calling in the men from their work. 
 
 October 19 we returned to Chicago. The next morning 
 we took the train for Marquette, Mich., on the shore of 
 Lake Superior, where is located a State Prison. Upon our 
 arrival there we went to the chaplain, who kindly gave per- 
 mission to conduct the next Sabbath morning services. We 
 then visited the poor house, where we sang and prayed 
 with those who were lonely and sad, and knew nothing about 
 Jesus. On Saturday it was stormy, but Mother Wheaton 
 held a service at the county jail, which God blessed. 
 The Lord's day, October 23, was a day long to be remem- 
 bered by many of the prisoners, who that day received a 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 415 
 
 ray of hope. The Spirit of God so anointed Mother Whea- 
 ton to speak that the prisoners seemed to be held spell- 
 bound, with hearts open to receive every word and song. 
 In the afternoon we were given the privilege of talking 
 and singing in the corridors and speaking to the prisoners 
 in their cells. It was told us that these were the worst 
 men in the state, twenty-four of whom were serving life 
 sentences. But God touched their hearts, many being moved 
 to tears. We left some of them with new hopes, calling upon 
 God for help and asking us to pray for them. Mother 
 Wheaton said they were all her own dear boys. 
 
 Journeying eastward we held services in Indianapolis, 
 Ind., also in the State Prison at Columbus, Ohio, and in 
 the Woman's Prison at Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Sabbath 
 morning, November 5, Mother Wheaton spoke in the cor- 
 ridors of the State Prison in Philadelphia, and in the after- 
 noon at the House of Correction. Here the Lord wonder- 
 fully spoke to the hearts of many young girls. Many men 
 were moved upon by the Spirit. The officers looked on 
 with amazement to see how attentive they all seemed to be. 
 
 At Trenton, -N. J., at the county jail God moved upon 
 hearts and many asked for prayer. 
 
 At the State Prison at Trenton, N. J., we received a warm 
 welcome and Mother Wheaton was given opportunity to 
 preach on the following Lord's day in the chapel. We vis- 
 ited the woman's department and held a service with them, 
 all stopping their work and giving attention. God melted 
 the hearts of those women who have gone away from Him. 
 Jesus' blood is able to cleanse from every stain. 
 
 After a few busy days of service in New York city we re- 
 turned to Trenton, for the service in the prison on the Sab- 
 bath. We then returned westward by way of Baltimore and 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Washington, D. C. We next held a service in the prison at 
 Canton, Ohio, and then went to Mansfield to the State Re- 
 formatory, where were nearly a thousand young men. Here 
 God wonderfully answered prayer. The superintendent and 
 chaplain were very kind, supplying us with such things as 
 we had need of. We arrived in Chicago November 20. 
 Leaving there we went by way of Marion and Anamosa, 
 Iowa, where we held services. We arrived at Tabor on 
 Thanksgiving day, November 24, which was truly a thanks- 
 giving day with us, for the wonderful way in which God 
 had answered prayer and brought us safely through so 
 many dangers and given us such glorious victories in His 
 blessed service. ROSA MINTLE. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL REFORM SCHOOL, HUTCHINSON, KAN. 
 
 Leaving Tabor December 15, taking with me Sister Tay- 
 lor, who for several years has accompanied me at intervals 
 in my work, silently praying for me while I preach, sing or 
 pray, I started for San Francisco, California, via Santa Fe, 
 New Mexico. We stopped at Hutchison, Kansas, where 
 is located the State Industrial Reform School for Young 
 Men. We met the wife of the superintendent of that insti- 
 tution, who kindly took us to the school. I had held ser- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 417 
 
 vice here with prisoners who were working on the build- 
 ings when they were being erected. 
 
 The officers arranged for a service in the chapel though 
 it was a week day and just before Christmas. The meet- 
 ing was owned and blessed of the Lord. Also at Santa Fe 
 we were kindly entertained by the wife of the superintend- 
 ent of the prison, and the officers gave us a service in the 
 chapel and the prisoners, both men and women, privilege to 
 attend. About half the prisoners being Mexicans I had to 
 speak to them by the aid of an interpreter. This service was 
 also signally owned of the Lord. We also held special ser- 
 vice with the women. 
 
 We then left for the coast and had several services en 
 route with the passengers and railroad men ; also with a 
 hundred soldiers who were going to their winter quarters. 
 I had warned the soldiers about drinking. It seemed so 
 sad to see them drinking and gambling. Poor boys, there 
 seems to be no way of restraining them from strong drink 
 so long as they can get it. Some trouble arose between 
 them and other parties and one of the soldiers was badly cut 
 in the throat. In a town in California I held services in a 
 number of saloons and dance halls. It was Christmas day 
 and I never saw more drinking among the people and I 
 never want to witness such again. Why will people indulge 
 in strong drink, when God has said no drunka r d shall in- 
 herit the kingdom of heaven ? 
 
 We arrived in San Francisco and found many open doors 
 to preach the Gospel. I visited the State Prison at San 
 Quentin. The chaplain was very kind, giving me privileges 
 of the chapel services and a special service with the women. 
 This prison was first opened to me in 1898 in direct answer 
 to prayer. I also held services in the city prisons. 
 
4i8 
 
 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 We also visited the Federal Prison on Alcatraz Island, 
 where we held three services with the manifest blessing of 
 God upon our souls. The kindness of the officers and the 
 appreciation shown by the prisoners there will not be for- 
 gotten. I am sure God will reward those who are kind to 
 His children, and who assist His workers in any way. 
 
 During the first four months of 1905 we found much to 
 do for the Lord in Los Angeles, San Pedro and other 
 places in California, one of these of special importance was 
 the Reformatory at Whittier. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, WHITTIER, CAL. 
 
 Early in May, having received a letter from one of the 
 boys in Colorado under sentence of death, I hastened to 
 that state to see the new governor in their behalf. I was 
 kindly received and heard by the governor, but as the 
 Board of Pardons was to soon meet he declined to make 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 4IQ 
 
 any promises. Tarrying several days for the board to meet, 
 I met with them and made a plea for the lives of the boys 
 who had, under the influence of drink, accidentally, as they 
 claimed, taken life. 
 
 They received a reprieve for four weeks, but the two 
 who were adjudged sane were executed June 16. I give 
 elsewhere an extract from a letter received from the 
 mother of one of these boys shortly afterward. Also an 
 extract from a paper concerning the mother of the other. 
 
 After returning to Iowa and remaining but a few days, 
 accompanied by a young sister from the Home, I returned to 
 Colorado, visiting, en route, the jail at Council Bluffs, 
 Iowa, and the State Prison at Lincoln, Nebraska, where 
 we held service on the Lord's day. We then proceeded to 
 Canon City to visit the condemned boys, and held services 
 in the corridors of the prison till late at night. We next 
 went to Buena Vista, where we held service in the State 
 Reform School for Boys, and in the jail. On our return 
 east we stopped at a camp meeting at Newton, Kansas, 
 where the Lord blessed in the jail and in the work on the 
 street. Going next to Chicago we held service in the 
 county jail with about four hundred men. We next visited 
 the prison at Joliet, Illinois, but only had service in the 
 prison hospital and proceeded to Sioux Falls, South Da- 
 kota, for services on the Lord's day ; then returned to Ta- 
 bor, stopping in Omaha and holding a service in the county 
 jail. 
 
 Taking with me the young sister whom I have elsewhere 
 mentioned as having first known as an orphan girl, now 
 starting for India, I spent a day at Plattsmouth, Nebraska, 
 where we talked and sang in a tent meeting, on the street, 
 and in the jail. The time set for the missionary band to sail 
 
42O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 being near, we hurried westward, stopping at but a few 
 places till we reached Sacramento, where we had work to 
 do for souls in the prison and other places. We next vis- 
 ited the prison at Salem, Oregon, and also made a short 
 stay at Portland. Upon reaching Tacoma we learned that 
 the time of sailing had been put off a week, so we improved 
 the time seeking out the lost in mission work, etc. 
 
 The company of nine missionaries, including one child, 
 boarded the steamship "Minnesota," and by the kindness 
 of the general superintendent of the company we were per- 
 mitted to spend a night before sailing on board the vessel 
 with them, which was a time very much enjoyed in the 
 Lord. The parting was not one of sadness, but of sweet 
 peace and calmness. As we looked into the faces of the 
 dear ones as they were being borne away we rejoiced that 
 God has a few whom He can trust to carry the precious 
 Gospel to the heathen. As the vessel bearing its precious 
 burden sailed from our view, the little company of anxious 
 watchers kneeled down and committed the dear ones to 
 Him who has said that His children are as dear to Him 
 as the apple of His eye. We were afterward delighted to 
 hear that they had a most delightful voyage, reaching Yo- 
 kohama, Japan, in eighteen days, just in time to escape a 
 very disastrous storm on the sea. 
 
 As a sister had accompanied some of the missionaries to 
 the coast and was to return with me, assisting me in the 
 work, we turned our attention to the needs of the lost ones 
 about us. I will let this sister here give a brief sketch of 
 our return trip, on which we trust much good was done 
 for souls: 
 
 RETURN FROM PACIFIC COAST. 
 
 Mother Wheaton's companion to the coast, Sister Yar- 
 
OR A LAHOR OF LOVK 421 
 
 rett, having sailed for India, it was my privilege to accom- 
 pany her from Seattle to Iowa. From the wharf, when we 
 had committed the company of dear missionaries to the 
 Lord, we went to the rooms of the Y. W. C. A. and held 
 religious service while the young ladies had lunch. About 
 two hundred young women lunch in these rooms daily. At 
 night Mother Wheaton spoke at the Life Boat Mission 
 with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and many hearts 
 seemed touched. 
 
 Early the next morning we left Seattle on board the 
 S. S. Whatcom, en route to Victoria, British Columbia. 
 This was a most enjoyable trip to me. At Victoria we had 
 a very profitable service in the W. C. T. U. Rescue Home, 
 and -the Lord especially blessed the visit and service. Later 
 we spent five days very profitably in Portland laboring in 
 the Exposition Camp Meeting, visiting the jails, saloons 
 and slums, preaching and singing the Gospel. 
 
 We next went to Boise, Idaho, where we held services in 
 the Soldiers' Home and in the State Prison. Service with 
 the women prisoners and prayer with the men under death 
 sentence were special features of our visit to this place. 
 We next spent a day in Rawlins, Wyoming, visiting the 
 state and county prisons, holding short but profitable ser- 
 vices in each. In the county jail here a raving maniac was 
 quieted by Mother Wheaton's singing. 
 
 Another night and day's travel across the plains and 
 beautiful country and we were in, Omaha, Nebraska. Here 
 we spent several days, being entertained in the Tinley Res- 
 cue Home. This indeed is a refuge for the fallen. Our 
 time here was well occupied in the jails, missions and 
 churches. Then we hurried on to Tabor. I to resume du- 
 ties in the school room, and Mother Wheaton, after a few 
 
42.2 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 days' rest, to continue her pilgrimage seeking the wander- 
 ing and the lost ones of earth till she shall be called from 
 
 toil to her reward which shall surely be one worth gaining. 
 
 EMMA H. HERR. 
 
 ANOTHER TRIP. 
 
 After attending Prison Congress at Lincoln, Neb., Oct. 
 21 to 26, I left for western prisons and other institutions. 
 Held services at Old Soldiers' Home, Grand Island, Ne- 
 braska, the 27th, then went to Rawlings, Wyoming; held 
 services on Sunday at the prison chapel with all the pris- 
 oners,' then at the county jail. Had great liberty in both 
 prisons. Left at night for Salt Lake City, Utah. Found 
 open doors. Held services at state prison jail on Monday 
 afternoon; also in the county jail, two services. Left that 
 night for Ogden ; held services in the county jail and at 
 Crittendon Rescue Home. Left for Deer Lodge, Montana, 
 where I was kindly received by the warden, Frank Conley, 
 who has ever proved one of the best of friends to me in 
 my work in prison always arranging for services Sunday 
 or week day and entertaining myself and any one I brought 
 with me, and never letting me go away without something 
 to help defray expenses along the way. Sunday afternoon 
 at Butte City held two services at the county jail ; took train 
 at night for Walla Walla, Washington and arrived there at 
 3 130 a. m., and went to Chaplain Lacornu's home. After 
 resting, prayer and breakfast, we went to the state prison, 
 where I held services with the twelve women prisoners ; 
 then in the dining room, held services with the men 
 about eight hundred prisoners. The Lord was present in 
 both services to own and bless and many were helped to a 
 better life and higher aims. Left there for county jail 
 where we had profitable service with men and women. 
 
 Left that night for Portland, Oregon. Was kindly en- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 423 
 
 tertained by one who has been preaching the gospel for 
 nearly twenty years, who was convicted in prison while I 
 was preaching in the prison in Bismark, N. D., one night 
 after nine o'clock. He was converted and has done great 
 good in the work, both in prison and outside ever since. 
 Much of his success is due to his faithful Christian wife, 
 who has ever been his true friend and helpmeet. 
 
 Called on Mrs. Smith, a prison missionary, who for years 
 has done mission work in Salem and Walla Walla prisons. 
 Then left for Salem, Oregon, where I held services with 
 the prisoners in the jail on the Sabbath day, also with the 
 women prisoners on Saturday afternoon. Was kindly re- 
 ceived by the Superintendent of the prison and his family, 
 also by the Bible school in charge of Brother and Sister 
 Ryan, where I held services on Sunday night in the chapel 
 with students and citizens. Left Monday morning for the 
 South. Stopped in Sacramento, and went to the Rescue 
 Home and held services for the girls while I waited for 
 the train to Carson City, Nevada. Changed cars at Reno 
 and waiting for neither rest or food hurried on to Carson 
 City to see the Governor and the Attorney General about 
 prison work. Found four men under sentence of death. I 
 pleaded with the Governor for a commutation of sentence. 
 Governor Sparks asked me if I could meet with the Board 
 of Pardons and himself at 2 p. m., and gave me a letter to 
 the warden to allow me to see the condemned men and hold 
 services with them also with all of the prisoners. The 
 Governor also arranged for me to go to the prison with one 
 of the officers. Found the poor men heart broken over 
 their condition, and really sorry for their sin. They had 
 all been drinking, and among the four of them they had 
 killed a young man, and all were doomed to die. 
 
42-. PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 When I entered their prison with the death-watch I was 
 overcome with sorrow for the poor unfortunates who so 
 soon would be in eternity, and as I came in the door one 
 of the prisoners said, "O, it is Mother Wheaton." As I 
 clasped his hand he said, "Mother, I knew you twenty 
 years ago." I said, "Where?" and he said, "In San Fran- 
 cisco." Reader, you may try to sympathize or criticize at 
 such a time, with them and me, but you never will know 
 what the suffering is until you have passed through this 
 ordeal of just standing alone with the good Lord and the 
 condemned, so soon to die that horrible death. You can- 
 not picture it, for death is awful to those not prepared to 
 die filled with remorse of conscience and sorrow for the 
 deed done while under the influence of whiskey and pos- 
 sessed with the devil, which the strong drink causes and 
 then to have no hope in this world or the world to come, 
 and alone with their conscience, the death-watch, myself 
 and our God 
 
 I knelt in prayer. First to ask wisdom of the blessed 
 Christ who never turned anyone away, and then, taking 
 each one by the hand through the iron bars, I was lost to 
 this world and its opinions and criticisms. I entered into 
 their heart-sorrow, and at once took hold on God for the 
 salvation of their immortal souls. Quietly, but with strong 
 faith -in God and the atoning blood of Jesus our Saviour, 
 I believed for their salvation. Human sympathy will not 
 avail. It is the suffering and death of Christ which avails 
 in the face of death. And I believe, if Jacob prevailed 
 in prayer as a prince, it is our privilege to believe God 
 hears and answers prayer and saves to the uttermost the 
 vilest sinner who truly repents of his sins, and claims His 
 promises. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be 
 
Ok A LABOR OF LOVE 425 
 
 as white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they 
 shall be as wool." Isa. i :i8. 
 
 We wept and prayed together, and while I sang the good 
 old hymns our mothers knew and loved and sung for us in 
 childhood, we took hold on God by faith for their souls' 
 salvation, and I believe God heard and answered our pray- 
 ers, that fifteenth day of November, 1905, in that prison, 
 and that those men that day were forgiven their sins. I 
 know God's Word is sure, and I depend daily on the Bible 
 and its holy teachings, and accept His promise, and re- 
 ceive the answer from God that His pardon is sure. 
 
 I told the men I had no hope for their lives to be spared 
 that the Governor had not given me any encouragement 
 for them, but had invited me to meet with him and the 
 Board of Pardons at 2 p. m., and see what they would do 
 in the case. I pleaded with them to let go all hope of a life 
 sentence, and prepare to die, for there was only one more 
 day for them to live that I had nothing to give them of 
 hope, only in the precious blood of Jesus that their days 
 were numbered. 
 
 O, the human heart is susceptible to suffering, and my 
 suffering was intense for them. I was weak and weary, 
 having traveled two days and two nights without rest. 
 Yet I could not rest when there was so much at stake for 
 them. I abandoned myself to the Holy Ghost to guide me 
 in the service, and then as I took each hand, so soon to be 
 cold in death, I knew only God could save them. I shall 
 not forget the parting with those poor, unfortunate men, 
 all in the prime of life and strength of manhood. I will 
 meet them again soon in the presence of God. 
 
 I was so weak in body that the officer kindly assisted me 
 to the main prison, where I was to hold services with all of 
 
426 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 the prisoners. It was high noon, and the warden and of- 
 ficers urged me to take refreshments. I said, "No, I am 
 soon going to the judgment, and I want to go with a clear 
 conscience. How could I eat, when all these prisoners 
 need the gospel so much?" And they kindly gave me the 
 privilege of an hour's service. Then, after a hurried lunch, 
 which was both breakfast and dinner, the state carriage 
 was ready to take me to the Capitol to meet the Governor 
 and Board of Pardons. But there was no hope, the Board 
 refused to commute the sentence, and all four were exe- 
 cuted November 17, for the death of one young man. Soon 
 I must stand together at the judgment bar of God, with 
 those whose lives were taken, one by the four under the 
 influence of whiskey, which makes men and women crazy 
 and worse than brutes; licensed by the laws of our land 
 the others by the men who, in their right minds, as execu- 
 tors of the law, put to death the helpless victims who had 
 truly repented of their sins and promised to obey God and 
 the rules, and live good law-abiding citizens. 
 
 I want it understood that I believe in law and its enforce- 
 ment. I sympathize with both the murdered and the mur- 
 derers. I believe in obeying God and His laws and en- 
 forcing discipline, and I assist the officers of the state to 
 maintain law and order, but I say, give deliverance from 
 the abominable saloon and all the evil that follows in its 
 wake. Give us judges, jurymen and officers, who, in every 
 sense try to banish and abolish the liquor traffic and the 
 dens of sin, and there will be no need of our state officers 
 having to take life which none can give. 
 
 Leaving the Capitol after the decision was made by the 
 Board of Pardons and Governor, I went to the hotel to 
 tell the two sisters of one of the condemned men that all 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 427 
 
 hope of their brother's life was gone, and that they must 
 prepare to face the awful sorrow of losing their brother. 
 That scene was O, so pitiful ! The brother and these two 
 sisters were orphans. He was a good boy and supported 
 the two sisters after the parents had died, but he had fallen 
 into bad company who had led him astray. The sisters 
 were heart broken. It seemed as if they could not give up 
 that dear brother who had done so much for them. I 
 helped them on the train, and went with them as far as 
 Reno, Nevada, and we parted to meet again after all the 
 sorrow and mistakes of our lives are forgotten and for- 
 given. 
 
 After leaving them I held services for the Salvation 
 Army friends and on the street. Then left that night, 
 though very weary, for the east. After taking the train, 
 I could see in my mind those poor condemned men, wait- 
 ing the few last hours until the law should have its way. 
 Eternity alone will reveal all hearts and lives. 
 
 Arrived at Ogden, I went to the Crittendon Home, then 
 on to the State Industrial School for Boys and Young Men, 
 and had a service in all the cottages. Was with them two 
 evenings. They all seemed cheered by the old good songs 
 and the services. Saying "Good-bye" to all in their dining 
 room at their daylight breakfast hour, I left them for the 
 east. 
 
 I stopped at Columbus, Nebraska, a day, and at Omaha, 
 where many railroad friends and others met and greeted 
 me kindly. Then hurried on to Joliet, Illinoif, State Prison, 
 where dear Mrs. Murphy, wife of the warden, gave me a 
 warm welcome to her lovely home in the state prison. Went 
 with the chaplain to visit the hospital and spoke with the 
 men at the Sabbath School hour, and then to the women's 
 
428 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 prison, where I was given the privilege of addressing all 
 the female prisoners. Many were much affected, and shed 
 tears as I spoke or sang to them "My Name in Mother's 
 Prayer," "Is There Anyone Can Help Us" and "Old Time 
 Religion." Shook hands with most of the women, prayed 
 and sang for a sick girl in the prison hospital, and left for 
 the jail. Spoke there, then on to Chicago. After some 
 days in the city, busy for the Lord, I made a trip to Wash- 
 ington, D. C, and returned before the close of the year, 
 and proceeded to the Pacific coast early in the new year. 
 
 O, how I praise the Lord for His grace and love, and 
 the strength and endurance He gives me to keep going to 
 carry His messages of love and good cheer to the lost ones 
 in low and in high pursuits of life. 
 
 Dear Reader: We must here close the account of our 
 travel and toil in the Master's vineyard, and we feel that it 
 will all soon be over, and the victory be won. When I shall 
 have finished my course I want to be able to say, like Paul 
 of old, that "I have fought a good fight." I want, too, to 
 know that the crown is laid up for me as one of those who 
 have been faithful and that love the appearing of my Sa- 
 vior. 
 
 Though but sixty-one years of age, the excessive toil, 
 the wearisome journeys, the heart-rending scenes and ex- 
 periences for more than one-third of my life, have told upon 
 my once strong body until I am now a physical wreck. 
 Only in the strength of Jehovah and leaning upon His ever- 
 lasting arm arrul able to pursue the calling He has given 
 me. "But the toils of the road will seem nothing when we 
 get to the end of the way." You and I shall meet again, 
 on that great Judgment morning, and must give an account 
 to God "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus 
 Christ in sincerity." 
 

' . , f o, .": 
 
 - ;: ' " / v - ; - . 
 
 PRISONS AT JACKSON, MICH., DEER LODGE, MONT V AND 
 FOLSOM, CAL. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 Letters from Prisoners. 
 
 The extracts from letters found in this chapter are gath- 
 ered from my correspondence with those within prison walls 
 who have been encouraged by the way and have received 
 help ; many of them having borne testimony to a clear con- 
 version and a life of service for the Lord, even within prison 
 walls. These will serve to show their appreciation of any 
 effort made in their behalf. They have been a source of 
 great encouragement to me in my work. 
 
 I should like to give more of similar character, and all 
 more in detail, would space permit, but let these suffice 
 as examples of the thousands of letters I have received 
 during these twenty years from my "children." The 
 names and that which might identify the individuals, I have 
 omitted ; for many of them are now good citizens and some 
 are engaged in the work of the Lord. I have omitted many 
 references to the instrumentality which God has seen fit to 
 use in carrying His message of love to these souls, giving 
 only what others thought were needed to show the writers' 
 appreciation and gratitude. I have ever dealt with these, 
 when present and by correspondence, as souls whom I must 
 meet at the Judgment. The honor and praise for what good 
 may have been accomplished belongs to Him whom I serve, 
 and who has given me the commission, "Go and preach the 
 Gospel." 
 
 Inman, Tenn. 
 Dear Sister in the Lord : 
 
 We write you a few lines praying that God will allow 
 you to call again and preach for us, for we believe that the 
 
432 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Spirit of God is with you. We need thy aid here. So, our 
 dear sister in the Lord, we do wish to hear you once more, 
 so will come much good in the name of the living God ! 
 
 THE PRISONERS. 
 
 Boise City Penitentiary, July 29, 1890. 
 Elizabeth Wheaton, Portland, Oregon. 
 
 Dear Madam : I am instructed to thank you in behalf 
 of all of us for your kind visit. We fully appreciate your 
 labor, your courage, and integrity ; your singleness of heart 
 and purpose, your purity of motives ; but above all do we 
 appreciate your sincerity. Your indefatigable efforts, even 
 in your old age, to reach the criminal, to lead him upward 
 and onward to his true destiny under so many disad- 
 vantages, without money and without price, without the 
 support of state or church, and, I may add, without the 
 support of public sentiment which appears to be against you 
 and us all this, I say, inspires us with faith and confidence 
 in you. And when I am paying you this tribute, I am at 
 the same time aware that I am paying it to Him who came 
 on earth to seek and save us, for without Him you would 
 not love us as you do. 
 
 Come again, say we all. 
 
 PRISONERS. 
 
 Lancaster, Nebr., Oct. 25, 1903. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton, 
 
 Dear Mother: We, the undersigned, as a token of our 
 appreciation of your efforts in our behalf, respectfully re- 
 quest that you accept our assurance of appreciation of to- 
 day's services, and especially the song service held in our 
 cell-house, and best wishes for your future success. 
 
 Signed by 199 prisoners, each giving his number. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 433 
 
 Bushy Mountain State Prison, 
 Petros, Tenn., May 4, 1896. 
 
 Dear Mother Wheaton : We, the undersigned, unfortu- 
 nate children, assemble together to try to show you how 
 grateful we are for the devout interest you are. taking in 
 the welfare of our souls. We hope and trust that the Lord 
 will continue to be with you all along your journey, trust- 
 ing that if we don't meet again on earth, that we may meet 
 in Heaven. 
 
 Pray for us. 
 
 We enclose the following sums for each of us : 
 
 W. J 25 cents 
 
 W. S io- cents 
 
 C. R. R. . .10 cents 
 
 Walla Walla, July 11, 1889. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton, 
 
 Dear Friend: Your postal received. You have the ap- 
 preciation and kind thoughts of many here for your kind 
 remembrance of us all in our secluded prison home. Aside 
 from your own particular means and the many other ways 
 adopted by religious people to draw the attention of the in- 
 different to the subject of their spiritual welfare, the evident 
 disinterested motive which characterizes your extended la- 
 bors, is of itself sufficient, to highly recommend your kind 
 endeavors to all fair-minded people, and to give you a 
 hearty welcome, from prisoners especially, wherever you 
 may find them. 
 
 We would all, therefore, send you a kind word of en- 
 couragement and Godspeed in your good work and labor of 
 love, believing that your gospel message is fully adapted 
 to meet the spiritual wants of the whole human family 
 under whatever condition found. 
 
 PRISONERS OF WALLA WALLA PENITENTIARY, Per F. S. 
 
434 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Richmond, Va., August 23, 1885. 
 
 Dear Madam: I take much pleasure to introduce myself 
 to you, and stating to you how I first found rest for my 
 sinful soul. I am a stranger to you by name, but not by the 
 love of Jesus Christ, and I was highly delighted to hear 
 you speak to us. It lifted up my downhearted feeling and 
 caused me to look around myself, and I do truly hope that 
 those words that you have spoken may be as seed sowed in 
 good ground, and take root and the future may tell. And 
 for myself, when I first came to this place I was a vile 
 sinner and thanks be to the good Lord that I have my soul 
 awakened in Christ Jesus, and if it had not been for this 
 place I think that I would have been a sinner until now, 
 but now all my trust is in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him 
 alone. Although I have many crosses and trials and tempta- 
 tions, my trust is in the Lord, and I truly pray and trust the 
 Lord that after awhile we shall all meet in heaven where 
 there will be no more parting. 
 
 I trust you will be successful in this work of the Lord. 
 I desire your prayers. 
 
 I am your humble servant, H. T. 
 
 Massachusetts State Prison, October 25, 1885. 
 
 Dear Madam : It is w r ith much pleasure that I listened 
 to your address to-day. Please accept my thanks for the 
 interest which you take in the poor unfortunate prisoners. 
 There are many skeptic ones among us because we see so 
 much hypocrisy. May God bless you, and let me inform 
 you that your motherly-like appearance sank deep into the 
 hearts of many. 
 
 Our chaplain tries to do all the good he can, but no one 
 knows what a prisoner's life is but a prisoner. 
 
 My poor mother used to pray like you. I will not forget 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 435 
 
 your earnest advice. I wish there were more like you, for 
 then there would be a true reform in prisons. These places 
 ruin young men. O it is not understood by those men who 
 govern us even. Some of the officers are not fit to be over 
 young men. Every officer should be a religious man, but 
 we have few in accordance with the text: "Love your 
 neighbor as yourself." Many of them take God's name in 
 vain. 
 
 I shall try to think much upon what you said, with God's 
 help. Please pray for an unfortunate one. May God bless 
 you. J. J. 
 
 New York, Nov. 26, 1885. 
 
 My Dear Friend : Your postal reached me this morning 
 and I can assure you it gave me pleasure to hear from you 
 and see you had not forgotten Ludlow Street Jail. To- 
 day is Thanksgiving Day, and to us poor unfortunates I can 
 assure you it is a gloomy one, but we must give thanks to 
 our Heavenly Father that we are not in a worse place than 
 this. I for one do pray to Him and thank Him for His 
 kindness and pray to Him to give us strength of mind to 
 resist all temptations. 
 
 I cannot remember who you enquire about. I am the 
 small man who introduced you to my wife and sister the 
 first time you called. 
 
 We were treated today by cur kind warden to a good 
 Thanksgiving dinner and I pray before another Thanksgiv- 
 ing Day that I may have the pleasure of seeing you under 
 more favorable circumstances. May God be with you in 
 your good work is the prayer of, 
 
 Sincerely yours, I. L., 
 
 Ludlow Street Jail, New York City. 
 
43^ PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Cell No. 35 Tombs, 
 New York City, Sunday, Nov. I, 1885. 
 
 Dear Sister Wheaton : Forgive me for calling you so as 
 I cannot rightly call you otherwise. Your prayer "today 
 came from your very soul. I felt it deeply. It has entered 
 into mine. I feel a new man. You were a Godsend to 
 me. Your words have given new life, they have inspired 
 me to live in the future a leal Christian. I feel so light of 
 heart since you were here, that I cannot find words ade- 
 quate to properly express myself. I pray your good work 
 may be crowned with success. I feel now that I am again 
 a child of God. I shall pray and try to live as Jesus de- 
 sires. I pray to Him that Ke will give me all encourage- 
 ment to lead a Christian life and do His will only. O ! how 
 I have learned to love Jesus through your inspiring words 
 of comfort and goodness. 
 
 I shall daily pray for your health and prosperity in Jesus. 
 Do likewise for me, and may we meet in Heaven. To this 
 end I shall ever pray and so sign myself, 
 
 A brother in Jesus, J. M. S. 
 
 New York, November 10, 1885. 
 
 Dear Sister Wheaton: Many thanks for your kind visit 
 today and for the memorandum book and envelopes you 
 brought me. 
 
 I herewith reiterate every word and the combined mean- 
 ing contained in my letter to you of last Sabbath. You 
 were a Godsend to me from heaven. Formerly it was a 
 hard task for me to stop to think as I do now. Now I can 
 pray so easy, and it seems to do me so much good. Such a 
 blessing I have never experienced heretofore. With pleasure 
 I give this evidence of the goodness of our beloved and only 
 Jesus. Him I shall worship daily, aye, at all times and in 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 437 
 
 all places. I think of nothing more grand and noble than 
 to believe in our Redeemer who offers His salvation for 
 our souls. He is my God and no other will I have but Him. 
 I love Him truly. In my prayers I have vowed to devote 
 the rest of my life for His good cause. I sincerely hope 
 that many, through you, may come out of darkness into 
 light. God grant you good health to do His good work here. 
 I will pray for you and ask you to do likewise for me, and 
 others. 
 
 I pray to God daily that He may give - me renewed 
 strength to keep on in the good path which I have chosen, 
 and may His spirit and love be alike with you and me, is 
 the wish of Your brother in Christ Jesus. 
 
 J. M. S., Cell 35, Tombs, New York-City. 
 
 Charleston, January 4, 1886. 
 
 My Dear and Much Esteemed Friend : As I sit here in 
 the prison tonight I ponder upon the kind and good advice 
 you gave me, and my heart of hearts goes out to you in 
 gratitude. 
 
 My past life has been a blank, in fact, an utter failure. 
 But since I saw you I have come to God in all simplicity 
 and have asked Him to give me a new spirit and pardon 
 my past sins; and since I have offered up this petition my 
 heart seems lighter. How often have I cried out in my 
 despair, O I am weary of the conflicts and strife of this life ! 
 weary with the constant struggle for a higher and better 
 life! And when I see the lives of yourself and others so 
 Christlike, and hear you say mid darkest shadows: "Not 
 my will, but thine be done," then I think of the rebellion in 
 my heart and so oft find when I feel the path I am treading 
 leaves the sunshine all behind 
 
438 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 As the way looks dark before me and the end I cannot see, 
 Oft 1 long to drop the burdens and from sorrow be set free, 
 
 But I know such thoughts are sinful; God knows best the way 
 That will lead from earth's dark shadows to the brighter realms 
 of day. 
 
 Words cannot express the comfort I have received since 
 I saw you. I have prayed to God to help me every night 
 and morning since and as I sit and ponder upon the past 
 and think of the wasted hours that have drifted by, it puts 
 me in mind of a song I learned when I was a child. I will 
 only write you a couple of verses to let you see how true 
 
 they are. 
 
 "Oh, the wasted hours of life that have drifted by; 
 Oh, the good we might have done, lost without a sigh; 
 Love that we might have sowed by a single word, 
 Thoughts conceived but never penned, perished all unheard. 
 Take the proverb to thy heart, take and hold it fast 
 The mill will never grind with the water that is past. 
 
 ' ' Oh, love thy God and fellow men, thyself consider last, 
 
 For come it will when thou must count dark errors of the past, 
 
 And when the fight of life is o'er, and life recedes from view, 
 
 And heaven in all its glory shines midst the pure and good and true, 
 
 Then you will see more clearly the proverb deep and vast 
 
 The mill will never grind with water that is past. ' ' j 
 
 May God bless you for what you have done for me. You 
 have saved me from that downward road to ruin. May 
 God bless you and permit you to return to us once more. 
 
 W., Charleston State Prison. 
 
 Nobesville, Neb., April 17, 1886. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton, 
 
 Kind Lady: I will, according to promise, drop you a 
 few lines. I am some better now than when you were here 
 to see me. How glad I am that I met you last Sunday! 
 I have felt better ever since, and I do believe that the good 
 Father will answer your prayers. Don't fail to pray for 
 me, that, if it is God's will, He will heal me, for God has 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 
 
 439 
 
 got the same power that He had when He raised Christ 
 from the tomb. And pray that He will give me the guid- 
 ance of His loving Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth 
 and at the last take me to Heaven. 
 
 There has not a day passed since you were here that I 
 have not thought of you and prayed for you. You did 
 more good here than you know. 
 
 My candle is going out. 
 
 Direct to JOHN W. C., Nobesville, Nebraska. 
 
 Charlestown, Mass., Jan. 10, 1886. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton, 
 
 To My Dear Sister in Christ: "Whosoever believeth in 
 Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." I believe 
 and trust in God. My faith and my belief grow stronger 
 every day of my life. I pray to God to keep me from evil, 
 and to make me worthy of His kingdom, that I may meet 
 you there, for I am a better man for knowing you. God 
 bless you, my dear sister! My heart is full of love for my 
 God, and for my fellowman. I cannot find words to ex- 
 press my feelings or to tell you how happy I am, and how 
 precious Christ is to my soul. It passes my understanding. 
 But I am satisfied, for I know that Christ has come into my 
 heart to dwell. There are no doubts, no fears, everything 
 is well with me. I thank God for it, and I want to see 
 every one around me enjoying this great gift which comes 
 from God. O how it would have rejoiced your soul to have 
 been with us the last evening of the old year. We had 
 a prayer meeting. I am told that there were one hundred 
 and forty men in the chapel. Our warden was the first to 
 testify. Many acknowledged Christ to be precious to their 
 souls. There are many here that are feeling uncomfortable. 
 They will be at the feet of Jesus yet, crying for mercy. 
 
44O PRISONS AND PRAYER 1 
 
 Pray for them. Pray for us all. Only think of it, one 
 hundred and forty prisoners on their knees and their warden 
 kneeling with them! O it was a blessed sight! I never 
 heard Chaplain Barnes pray as he did that night. His 
 whole soul went out to God. How he did plead with God 
 for the salvation of our souls. God bless the chaplain. God 
 bless everyone on the face of the earth, and may every 
 one see as I see, and enjoy what I am enjoying. In His 
 paths there is peace, and that in keeping of His command- 
 ments there is great reward. 
 
 There is a young man here by the name of Charles B. 
 He has formed good resolutions with beginning of the new 
 year. I tell him that he cannot keep them without he gets 
 divine help. I am praying for him. Please make mention 
 of him in your prayers, and with the help of God we will 
 have him at the feet of Jesus crying for mercy. We had 
 a prayer meeting last week and I am informed that we are 
 to have them often. How good it is of the warden ! God 
 bless him. He is always looking for some way to benefit 
 us. I praise the Lord for it. 
 
 I leave the prison this year. I hope that I may meet you 
 
 again on earth. If not permitted, I will live a life that shall 
 
 make me worthy of the kingdom and meet you there. I 
 
 thank you for the letter read this day to us by the chaplain. 
 
 Your brother in Christ Jesus, J. L. W. 
 
 Jeffersonville, Ind., May 22, 1887. 
 Mrs. E, R. Wheaton, 
 
 My Dear Kind Lady: In answer to your request I ad- 
 dress this note to you trusting that this may be the com- 
 mencement of life in a different sphere to that which I have 
 heretofore moved in, so do not think that I am flattering 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 441 
 
 if I tell you the truth. I have traveled from the Atlantic 
 to the Pacific, from the British Possessions to the Gulf of 
 Mexico. I have moved in all classes of society and have 
 been a close observer. I have made myself acquainted with 
 all kinds of religious sects from the Jewish synagogues to 
 Mormonism, Protestantism in all its various forms, Catho- 
 licism, as well as Spiritualism, and I found so much hypoc- 
 risy and inconsistency existing that I felt inclined to believe 
 Christianity a fraud, but I could see plainly that there were 
 in every church some few that I could feel were true Chris- 
 tians. I could feel a secret convincing power almost irre- 
 sistible when in their society, but it always seemed strange 
 to me why more true converts were not made in propor- 
 tion to the great work done. 
 
 It seems to me that the handling of God's cause should 
 only be entrusted to those that are godly then the fruit 
 will bear witness to the quality and health of the tree. God 
 will prosper His own, but it is not natural that the Lord 
 can or will prosper one who is half God's and half Satan's. 
 That is why I have remained in the world. I am earnest 
 in everything I do. It is my nature, I cannot help it. There- 
 fore, if I ever become a Christian, bold and true and faith- 
 ful, too, I'll be. 
 
 I must refer to that now which I spoke of in the first of 
 this note. All the convicts in this prison have been moved 
 by your godly advice and teaching as this prison has never 
 been moved before, either by man or woman. You won the 
 hearts of the hardest criminals and a noticeable change for 
 the better has taken place. We all pray God to bless and 
 protect you wherever His wisdom may lead you, and even 
 though this prayer comes from convicts, perhaps God will 
 hear us. Some of us have been convicted bv man, while 
 
442 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 God, being just, and our own consciences declare us inno- 
 cent. Those of us who are innocent and can suffer with 
 patience, what a virtue we possess. Such strength comes 
 only of God. 
 
 I must close for want of room. Please answer if you 
 have time. We hope to see you soon again. 
 Your humble servant, 
 
 H. McL., Box 340. 
 
 Tracy City, Tenn., Dec. 3, 1887. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Wheaton, 
 
 Dear Friend : Your visit to this place was a great bless- 
 ing. A great many of the men often speak of you and say 
 that by the help of God they are going to live better the 
 rest of their days. 
 
 I will thank you for every paper or good book you may 
 send to us. The way that we do about papers and books 
 is to place them among our fellow prisoners. 
 
 You have our prayers and best wishes and we hope you 
 will come to our prison again, as your work will be remem- 
 bered here for years to come. May God bless you all the 
 way along. 
 
 There have been deaths here since you were here. Neither 
 of those parties belonged to the church. Lots of the men 
 spoke of the great warning you gave before you left, what 
 you said about the last warning some of them would ever 
 get, and sure enough it was true. 
 
 Yours in Christ, W. A. M. 
 
 Carson City, Nev., Sept. 23, 1888. 
 
 Dear Kind Friend : Through the kindness of the War- 
 den, we received your letter, with the song and accompany- 
 ing texts, and I take the liberty of answering it and thanking 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 443 
 
 you for your kindness in thus remembering us. I was 
 seriously impressed by your kind words of sympathy and 
 exhortation when you came to the prison and I should have 
 liked to have spoken to you, but feared to trespass too much 
 on your time. I am here under a life sentence for the 
 crime of murder, committed during a fit of delirium result- 
 ing from drink. I have been here three years. Hitherto 
 my life has been anything but a happy one. I was driven 
 from home at the age of ten years, after the death of my 
 mother. Since then I have associated with gamblers and 
 men of that stamp, and the result of my ill-directed course 
 is my present unhappy condition. What I have suffered, 
 no one but myself will ever know. I would gladly end my 
 life, if my death could blot out the crimes for which I suffer. 
 I have one friend, who has taken an interest in me, and who 
 has written me several kind letters and I thank God for 
 letting me have one kind and faithful friend. She is weak 
 in body, but strong in mind, and a faithful servant of God. 
 She has advised me to give myself to God, and since you 
 were here I have resolved to try to do so. Peace of mind 
 is what I want, but fear I shall never attain it. I hope to 
 hear from you again. Most of my fellow prisoners have 
 read your letter and all entertain the greatest respect for 
 you. Some to whom your kind words and motherly advice 
 have brought tender memories, desire to be remembered to 
 you. 
 
 You are passing through ....,., where I have lived and 
 where I spent the happiest of my boyhood days, but they 
 are gone. I hope you may meet some of my old companions 
 and that they may be benefited by your kind words. 
 Your humble, grateful servant, 
 
 M. 
 
444 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Still water, Nov. 2, 1888. 
 
 Dear Sister Wheaton: I was pleased beyond expression 
 to receive your letter. It came like a benediction. ' I shall 
 never forget you. The few words spoken have left an 
 impress upon the tablets of memory that time can not efface. 
 You can tell the boys wherever you see them in prison or 
 out that Jesus is near -ever near. Tell them that I know 
 that no locks ever were made that can lock the Saviour out. 
 He came to me when I was, oh, so lonely, so broken-hearted 
 and despairing! You know just how it was I was saved. 
 
 I am innocent in the presence of God, and still I am 
 here; but never alone. Jesus is ever with me. Oh, how 
 I wish every one in the wide, wide world could know our 
 Saviour! How true is the fourteenth chapter of John, and 
 especially the eighteenth verse : "I will not leave you com- 
 fortless. I will come unto you." Never in all my persecu- 
 tion and imprisonment has my Lord failed in that promise. 
 I am very hopeful. My innocence is recognized and I hope 
 soon to be at liberty. Had any one told me twelve months 
 ago that this was all for my good I should have laughed 
 them to scorn; but, thank God, I know it now. This life 
 is but a few days at most compared to the home beyond, 
 and I can and do say, "God's will be done." He can do no 
 wrong, and right must prevail. God bless and prosper you 
 until you go home. Yours in His name, H. R. 
 
 Stillwater, Nov. 14, 1888. 
 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: I received your letter and it 
 came just right to comfort me, for I am in the hospital. 
 In prison not alone. In the hospital not alone. Jesus 
 is always with me. How I love Jesus who died for me ! 
 My heart always turns to Him, and when I heard I had to 
 come to the hospital I just prayed to Jesus and left it all 
 

 
 ! 
 
 ilk. 
 k 
 
446 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 to Him, and I am cheerful and happy and hopeful even 
 here. He is the Great Physician. 
 
 I can do anything for Jesus' sake but I am in such a queer 
 position ! Poor mother has been nearly killed and heart- 
 broken about this, and she claims my presence for a time at 
 least if I get out. Poor mother is nearly worn out but full 
 of faith and hope. May God bless you and be with you 
 forever. Your son and brother in Christ, 
 
 H. R. 
 
 Little Rock, Ark., June 10, 1888. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton. 
 
 Dear Sister: I will take the liberty and let you and 
 Sister M. know who I am. My name is C. S. I guess you 
 remember the coal mines and that evening when I was sing- 
 ing with Sister M. in her book. O I wish I had them songs ! 
 
 I am so happy in Christ. I am going home to my mother 
 above. I hope it will be very soon. That song 
 
 "A Euler once came to Jesus by night 
 
 To ask Him the way of salvation and light,*' 
 
 made me a different man. 
 
 O the happy thoughts of a home which Christ our Re- 
 deemer has prepared for us and calls us to come to Him. 
 "Come unto me all that are weary and heavy laden and I 
 will give you rest." O, such a Saviour ! Pray for me and 
 I hope we may meet above. I hope to hear from you soon. 
 From your servant, C. S. 
 
 Little Rock, January 13, 1889. 
 Mr. J. M. Ryder, 
 
 Indianapolis, Ind. 
 
 I received your most welcome letter and thank you for 
 the information you have given me, but I haven't heard 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 447 
 
 yet from your sister. The last letter I got she said that 
 she was going to California. At that time she was at Salem, 
 Oregon. Have you heard from her yet? There are some 
 boys and men here would like to hear from her, for she 
 came where some of us could not see the sun in a week, 
 and about 150 feet under the surface of the earth. That 
 was at a coal mine. 
 
 We all hope and pray to God, our dear Redeemer, for her 
 to come back to us again. 
 
 Please answer this for I am a convict and glad to hear 
 from such friends. In hope to hear soon, I remain, 
 
 Yours sincerely, C. S. 
 
 Germantown, Ark., Nov. 29, 1889. 
 
 My Dear Sister: I am at Germantown at the present 
 time working on Mr. W. H. Ward's farm or plantation, 
 and the Warden of the camp and the guards are followers 
 of Christ. There are several of the boys with me which 
 were at Coal Hill at the time you were there. 
 
 O sister, God worked that all right, His name be praised. 
 One of the Coal Hill wardens got five years in the peni- 
 tentiary. That is God's work. 
 
 God be with you and bless you is my daily prayer, that 
 you will keep strong and well to preach to the poor prison- 
 ers and pray for them that they will "flee from the wrath 
 to come." O sister it is terrible to think and study over 
 how the Book of Life tells us about that everlasting torment, 
 and how sweet it is to think that there is a life eternal. 
 
 Sister, there are three ways, "a broad road," "a narrow 
 way" and "a highway," that are thus brought to our atten- 
 tion in the Scriptures. 
 
 The broad road to destruction, the narrow way to life, 
 the highway to holiness. 
 
448 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 "And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall 
 be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass 
 over it ; but it shall be for those, the wayfaring man, though 
 fools shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any 
 ravenous beast shall go up thereon; it shall not be found 
 there, but the redeemed shall walk there." Isa. 35 : 8, 9. 
 Sister, am I right or wrong? 
 
 The first great judgment (trial and sentence) was at the 
 beginning, in Eden, when the whole human race, as repre- 
 sented in its head, Adam, stood on trial before God. The 
 result of that trial was the verdict -guilty, disobedient, un- 
 worthy of life; and the penalty inflicted was Death. "Dy- 
 ing, thou shalt die," and so "In Adam all die." But, dear 
 sister, the sweet and dear thought in "Christ we all shall 
 live" is a great comfort to our poor souls. Ours is a rugged, 
 steep and narrow way, and were it not that strength is fur- 
 nished for each successive step of the journey, we never 
 could reach the goal, but our Captain's word is encourag- 
 ing: "Be of good courage, I have overcome"; "My grace 
 is sufficient for thee, and my strength is made perfect in 
 weakness." The difficulties of this way are to act as a 
 separating principle to sanctify and refine "a peculiar peo- 
 ple," to be "Heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ." 
 In view of these things, "let us come boldly to the throne 
 of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help 
 in time of need," "while we fight the good fight of faith 
 and lay hold of the crown of life." Immortality, the divine 
 nature. 
 
 Sister, I hope that we may meet together here in this 
 world once more in life so we can talk about what Jesus 
 has wrought, God will be with you. I know He is with me. 
 Sister, I gave myself to Jesus and I feel more satisfied, and 
 how sweet it is to have Jesus with you 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 449 
 
 THE DAY IS AT HAND. 
 
 "Poor, fainting pilgrim, still hold on thy way, 
 
 The dawn is near; 
 True, thou art weary now, but yon bright ray 
 
 Becomes more clear. 
 Bear up a little longer; wait for rest; 
 Yield not to slumber, though with toil oppressed. 
 The night of life is mournful, but look on the judgment near. 
 Soon will earth 's shadowed scenes and forms be gone. 
 
 Yield not to fear. 
 
 The mountain 's summit will, ere long, be gained 
 And the bright world of joy and peace attained. 
 Joyful through hope, thy motto still must be 
 
 The dawn is near. 
 What glories will that dawn unfurl to thee! 
 
 Be of good cheer. 
 
 Gird up thy loins, bind sandals on thy feet, 
 The way is dark and long, the end is sweet. ' ' 
 
 I hope to hear soon from you, dear sister. Meet me in 
 heaven. Jesus is with me. Because He cometh to judge 
 the earth, let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice. 
 
 Your brother, C S. 
 
 Germantown, Jan. 27, 1890. 
 
 Dear Sister : I received yours of the 28th. I am so glad 
 that you have not forgotten me, and the words which I 
 heard you say, although it is a long time since you said them 
 at Coal Hill. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou 
 shalt be saved." Acts xvi., 31. Jails are dark, dull, damp, 
 loathsome places even now; but they were worse in the 
 apostolic times. I imagine tonight we are standing in the 
 Philippian Dungeon. Do you not feel the chill? Do you 
 not hear the groan of those incarcerated ones who for ten 
 years have not seen the sunlight; and the deep sigh of 
 women who remember their father's house, and mourn over 
 their wasted estates? Listen again. It is enough. Oh, it 
 is the cough of the consumptive, or the struggle of one in 
 a nightmare of a great horror. You listen again, and hear 
 a culprit, his chains rattling as he rolls over in his dreams, 
 
450 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 and you say: "God pity the prisoner." But there is an- 
 other sound in that prison. It is a song of joy and gladness. 
 What a place to sing in. The music comes winding through 
 the corridors of the prison and in all dark wards the whisper 
 is heard: "What's that? What's that?" It was the song 
 of Silas and Paul in prison, and they cannot sleep. Jesus 
 went to prison then, and as you say He will and does come 
 nowadays also to visit the prisoners as they are shut up. 
 God will be and is our helper. I will not fear, He leadeth 
 me in pastures green. Your brother in Christ, C. S. 
 
 Germantown, May 16, 1890. 
 
 Dear Sister: Your letter of February I7th duly received, 
 and glad to hear from you. But, sister, I am so glad to 
 have some Christian friend to write to me in a place of 
 temptation and trouble. I know that Jesus is my rock and 
 my salvation and a shelter in a storm. Jesus is with me 
 right now. He is waiting for us every day and hour. O, 
 how many will there be that will call on Christ on that 
 day, when the book of the Lord will be opened, with the 
 seven seals, and who will be able to open the seals ? No one 
 is able to open it but the Lamb. Sister, this is my idea 
 and opinion about that Day: There will be a great big 
 scale, with a cross beam and Satan will be on one side of 
 it and the people of all trades will be weighed, and if 
 Christ the Son of God and our Redeemer, is not there to 
 balance them, what will become of them? Won't they be 
 thrown down in hell? 
 
 Hoping and trusting faithfully that there be many of the 
 poor prisoners among the hundred and forty and four thou- 
 sand with the Lamb on Mount Zion, with the Father's name 
 written in their foreheads and the harpers will be harping 
 with their harps and singing the new song which no man 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 451 
 
 could learn, but the hundred and forty and four thousand 
 which were redeemed from the earth. O, what a day that 
 will be! O that song is so true. O sinner give your heart 
 to God and you shall have a new hiding place that day. 
 O the rocks in the mountain shall all fade away and you 
 shall have a new hiding place that day. "O sinner turn, 
 why will ye die? God in mercy asks you why." 
 O, I am so happy tonight ! 
 
 Your brother, C. S. 
 
 Germantown, Ark., Dec. 18, 1890. 
 
 Dear Sister : Your kind words gladly received, and may 
 God bless you and give you strength in your undertakings. 
 
 Sister, forgive those wicked men who put you in prison 
 for preaching the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, for He, 
 the Lord, said: "Father forgive them, for they know not 
 what they do," and Silas and Paul in prison sang praises 
 to the Lord our God and He delivered them from the 
 prison in which they lay, and the jailor got saved. 
 
 Oh ! my dear sister, I trust and pray to the Lord that we 
 could safely say with Robert McChane, the ascended min- 
 ister of Scotland, who, seated on the banks of Galilee's 
 Lake, wrote, in his last sick days, and just before he crossed 
 the Jordan .(not the Jordan that empties into the Lake of 
 Gallilee, but the Jordan that empties into the "sea of glass 
 mingled with fire"), these sweet words, fit to be played by 
 human fingers on strings of earthly lute, or by angelic 
 fingers on seraphic harps: 
 
 "It is not that the mild gazelle 
 
 Comes down to drink thy tide, 
 But He that was pierced to save from hell, 
 
 Oft wandered by thy side. 
 Graceful around thee the mountains meet 
 Thou calm, reposing sea; 
 But, ah! far more, the beautiful feet 
 
 
452 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Of Jesus walked o'er thee. 
 O Saviour! gone to God's right hand, 
 
 Yet the same Saviour still, 
 Graved on thy heart is this lovely strand 
 
 And every fragrant hill. ' ' 
 
 O ! is it not good to be with one's Lord and to think how 
 sweet He says in his Book of Books: "I am the way," 
 and in danger He speaks again : "Fear not, it is I." 
 
 The Lord is with me for I do not have to work in the 
 ranks any more, and by His help I am assistant postmaster 
 of this place. 
 
 Until we leave, and that time will be Christmas, address 
 your next letter to Little Rock. 
 
 That you may save many souls from everlasting torture 
 is my prayer every hour. My love to the poor sinful prison- 
 ers and to you, my dear sister in Christ. 
 
 A happy Christmas, and may God bless you to live and 
 see many more. 
 
 I will sing now : 
 
 "I was once far away from the Saviour" and 
 "When Jesus shall gather the nations before Him at last to 
 appear. ' ' 
 
 Oh ! I am so happy ! Goodnight, 
 
 Ever, S. 
 
 Wichita, Kansas. 
 Dear Sister: 
 
 This is to acknowledge yours of the I5th inst., and was 
 glad to hear that you have received my letter. Well, sister, 
 we have our regular meeting every Sunday, and I will 
 never cease praying to the Lord that He may help me to live 
 my life, and that I can say, like our great Brother said, that 
 no man can measure the glories which God has revealed to 
 us. Glory to Thee, O God, glory to Thee! * * * 
 
 It is said that religionists make too much of the human- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 453 
 
 ity of Christ. I respond that they make too little. If some 
 doctor or surgeon of His day, standing under the cross, 
 had caught one drop of the blood on his hands and analyzed 
 it, it would have been found to have the same plasma, the 
 same disk, the same fiber, the same albumen. It was un- 
 mistakably human blood. It is a man that hangs there. 
 His bones are of the same material as ours. His nerves are 
 as sensitive as ours. If it were an angel being despoiled, I 
 would not feel it so much, for it belongs to. a different 
 being. But my Saviour is a man and my whole sympathy 
 is aroused. Jesus our King is dying. Let couriers carry 
 the swift dispatch. His pains are worse; He is breathing 
 a last groan; through his body quivers the last anguish. 
 The King is dying ; the King is dead ! His royal blood is 
 shed. 
 
 I can imagine something of how the spikes felt ; of how 
 the temples burned ; what deathly sickness seized His 
 heart ; of how mountain and city and mob swam away 
 from His dying vision ; something of that cry for help that 
 makes the blood of all ages curdle with horror: "My God, 
 my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" * * * 
 
 O! Jerusalem, my happy home, 
 
 When shall I come to thee; 
 When shall my sorrows have an end! 
 
 Thy joys, when shall I see? 
 Jerusalem, my happy home, 
 
 Would God that I were there! 
 Would God my tears were at an end, 
 
 Thy joys, that I might share. 
 
 I am so glad that I can write to you. I never will cease 
 praying for you. 
 
 I remain, your brother. 
 
 C. H. 
 
454 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Washington County Jail. 
 
 Greenville, Miss., Jan. 29, 1889. 
 
 My Dear Sisters : 
 
 I cannot express my feelings when I read your kind let- 
 ters. They make me feel as though you were still at my 
 prison door. I know I am not the same boy that came to 
 prison. I feel much better in every way. I read my Bible 
 instead of novels, and find more pleasure in it. 
 
 I expect to get out of prison soon, and when I do I want 
 to write you a long letter. Mr. McL. was to see me to-day, 
 and read your letters-. He said he would also write you 
 to-day. There is a great change in him since you were 
 here. 
 
 All the boys send love. Direct me as before, care Geo. 
 S. If I get out I will work for him here. I am, as ever, 
 
 Your true friend and brother, J. F. D. 
 
 Penitentiary at Yuma, Ariz., May 19, 1889. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton. 
 
 Dear Friend : Your kind letter, written from Los An- 
 geles, Cal., has been received, after much delay. We are 
 all glad to hear from you, and thank you very much for 
 your kind remembrance and the good advice given to us 
 in your letter, and when you spoke to us here in the prison. 
 Most all the boys hold you in kind remembrance and often 
 express their wishes to see you and hear you talk again, and 
 I sincerely hope it will be convenient for you to call and see 
 us in the near future. The short visit you paid us awak- 
 ened earnest thought in a number of the boys, and I am 
 confident a few more such visits would result in much good 
 to many of the inmates of this institution. 
 
 Asking your prayers, I remain, 
 
 Respectfully, J. E. W. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 455 
 
 Deer Lodge, July 15, 1889. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton. 
 
 Madam : I received your postal last Friday, and was 
 very pleased to hear from you and to know that although 
 far away you still hold us in kindly remembrance. There 
 are so few who think of us after the prison door has closed. 
 The boys who were so fortunate as to meet you, and even 
 those who only heard of your good work, wish to be remem- 
 bered to you. So far as we are personally concerned, there 
 have been no changes, and we will very probably go 
 through the same routine day in and out until our several 
 times have expired. 
 
 KITCHEN AND DINING ROOM OF PRISON, DEER LODGE, MONT. 
 
 I can safely say that you have made a greater impression 
 upon us than any others we have been privileged to hear. 
 In the intercessions you make with the Ruler of All, we ask 
 to be remembered, and hope that you will receive all the 
 returns of good which your work so richly merits. If you 
 can find time in the future, you can give us no greater pleas- 
 ure than writing us, even if only so much as may be placed 
 upon a postal. 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 HERBERT A. M. (Librarian). 
 
456 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Cole City, Bade Co., Ga., July 5, 1890. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton : 
 
 Yours of May 25th received yesterday in this camp and 
 contents duly noted. How it thrills the hearts of the boys 
 to hear the reading of a letter written by the hand of 
 "Mother Wheaton," the friend of the unfortunate ones. 
 Dear Christian Mother, you can't imagine the encourage- 
 ment it gives to the boys here, especially those who are try- 
 ing to do right. Your work has been implanted here so 
 very deep that God cannot, according to His promise, oblit- 
 erate it, for He approves of all good works. You shall 
 have our prayers, and we desire to have your presence 
 again when possible. 
 
 I intended to take your letter to Rattlesnake Camp No. 4 
 to read to the boys up there, as Capt. Brock promised me 
 I might go, but for some reason, I know not what, I failed 
 to get off, but I do hope and believe the way will be opened 
 for us prison-bound boys who desire to do a work for Him 
 to do it without fear. 
 
 I received also enclosed in your letter a most interesting 
 pamphlet of "Capt. Ball's Experience," which is so grand. 
 Also another of the "Widow and the Judge." 
 
 We have a very good Sunday school here now, arid I 
 am trying to v make it as interesting as I possibly can, and 
 any books and Sunday school papers and catechisms you 
 can send us will be quite a favor. That would have been 
 my business at No. 4 Camp to-day, if I could have gone, to 
 organize a Sunday school. 
 
 I must close by asking an interest in your prayers. Write 
 often. 
 
 Your friend and brother in Christ, 
 
 J. W. S., Camp No. 3. . 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 457 
 
 Eastern Penitentiary, Philadelphia, Dec. 15, 1890. 
 Dear Madam: 
 
 Your invitation given any of the prisoners who may wish 
 to write, I for one accept. I was greatly impressed with 
 your words of truth and the earnest, determined manner 
 in which they were spoken. I believe they proved an ex- 
 ception to the routine of professed Christianity we are used 
 to, and have set more than one mind to thinking of their 
 spiritual condition. I assure you they were not without 
 effect, and that you are engaged in a noble work, of which 
 I and others would be glad to hear more. 
 
 True it is that in the world around us are many persons 
 struggling with poverty as great as ours, who are loaded 
 with cares and anxieties which seem to hinder them in the 
 service of God. There are many who cannot offer him a 
 pure heart which has never been stained by sin, yet in the 
 grief for misspent time and neglected grace would gladly 
 atone for the past by fervent, grateful love, casting them- 
 selves upon the mercy of the Saviour. 
 
 I am an old soldier, have fought in the late war, but 
 the greatest battle I have yet to fight is with myself the 
 battle of reformation. 
 
 Almighty God, in His wondrous wisdom, has chosen His 
 saints from every rank of life some poor and unknown to 
 the world while they are in it; others great and powerful; 
 no two have been exactly alike, even in their way of pleas- 
 ing the Lord. 
 
 The "boys" here are satisfied your mission was for good, 
 and left them knowing that for once they were not locked 
 up within the hearing of false professors. To say that 
 "locks" would not be necessary to hold a congregation 
 within your hearing would be well founded. For a great 
 many others this could not be said. 
 
458 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 The boys from Block 9 send you their respects, and 
 would be glad to hear from you again ; would be glad to 
 hear that you received this and that our appreciation of 
 your service be accepted. 
 
 Respectfully yours, A 2552. 
 
 Washington County Jail. 
 
 Greenville, Miss., Jan. 9, 1890. 
 Dear Sister: 
 
 Your postal of the 5th to hand. The boys are all glad to 
 hear from you. 
 
 Mr. McL. was acquitted and was the proudest boy I 
 ever saw. The St. Louis boy also got free and went home 
 to his mother. 
 
 There has been a great change in the prisoners since you 
 were here. They are always praying and singing, and you 
 are remembered in every prayer. I don't think I am the 
 same boy that came to jail; I know my poor old mother 
 will be proud of me when I see her again. She lives in 
 Mobile, Alabama, and it has been three years since she 
 saw me, but I am praying to meet her soon and be a son 
 to her, as I never was before. I feel like I could teach 
 young men some good lessons if I get out of this place. 
 
 We received some reading matter from you a few days 
 ago. Please let me hear from you whenever you can spare 
 the time to write. All the boys join me in love and hope 
 to hear from you again soon. 
 
 Your friend and brother, 
 
 J. D. (alias the Artist). 
 
 Penitentiary, Salt Lake City, Utah, April 14, 1901. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton, 
 
 Dear Madam: Your welcome and interesting letter to 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 459 
 
 hand and contents noted, being exceedingly pleased to hear 
 from you. In response would state, your letter, though a 
 great surprise, has been read by many of the inmates of this 
 institution with great interest, you being the only one, so far, 
 who has shown enough respect for us to address a few lines 
 to us by mail. For this kindly remembrance and respect, 
 please accept our united thanks, with the wish that as you 
 are journeying along life's pathway you may escape many 
 of the annoyances which you have been subjected to in the 
 past, while dispensing the gospel tidings to a class of unfor- 
 tunates. After your departure from here, am pleased to 
 state, the "Boys" have taken a deeper interest in Jesus and 
 His works than ever before, and I verily believe that were 
 you to come again you would have no difficulty in bringing 
 many of them to the foot of the Cross. Bibles that have lain 
 for months in cells, covered with dust, have been taken up 
 and read with avidity, selecting texts as you suggested for 
 future guidance, and many are the prayers and kind words 
 which ascend nightly to the Throne of Grace in your behalf 
 prayers for your future guidance and welfare, with health 
 to sustain you in your glorious work of reclaiming the err- 
 ing and fallen. God speed the good work along ! We wish 
 there were more like you, to bring a few kind and cheering 
 words to sustain us, while undergoing this isolation. Your 
 voice has lingered in our ears ever since you left, and many 
 of the boys here would like to secure, if they possibly could, 
 a copy of that wonderful song you sang for us, "Throw Out 
 the Life-line." If you would kindly forward a copy, as it 
 is not in our hymn-books, it would be very acceptable. 
 
 You may rest assured, no firmer, truer or better friends 
 are to be found than those you possess in the Utah Peni- 
 tentiary. Allow us to hope that when comparing this insti- 
 
460 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 tution with some of the grander ones you may visit in the 
 East, you will not speak disparagingly of your boys out 
 West, but remember there are as many honest hearts beating 
 beneath striped jackets here as you will find anywhere, with 
 none more willing to do you a favor. In conclusion, accept 
 our united and kindest regards. Hoping that after your 
 life's labors are finished on this earth, you may find that 
 "Haven of Rest," where it shall be said to you, "Well done, 
 thou good and faithful servant; enter ye into the kingdom 
 of Heaven," trusting these few lines may give you further 
 encouragement, and hoping to hear from you again, with 
 united thanks for past remembrance, I remain, 
 
 Yours most respectfully, M. M. 
 
 Baton Rouge, La., October u, 1891. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton. 
 
 My Dear Sister: Yours addressed to the boys in prison 
 here was received, and I shall take the responsibility of an- 
 swering your letter, which is so full of the Word of God. 
 
 Your songs I shall never forget. I wish you could come 
 and pray for us and sing those sweet songs to us every day. 
 
 I have got a life sentence in this prison. I do not know 
 whether you remember me or not, but I remember you and 
 always will, I hope, and I pray to meet you in Heaven. Since 
 I listened to the songs you sang, I have felt that I was 
 nearer Heaven than ever before. Your few minutes with 
 us in this prison helped me more than all others that I 
 ever heard preach the Word of God. Your service enlight- 
 ened me more. I feel better and I think that every one in 
 here will long remember your few minutes' talk with them 
 on that blessed Sunday morning. I shall constantly pray 
 and try to become as pure in heart as I think you are. Your 
 home is surely in Heaven, and I will endeavor to reach that 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 461 
 
 home and meet you there. Pray for me that I may become 
 acceptable in the sight of our Lord. 
 
 I pray the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of 
 God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you. 
 
 B. P. 
 
 Lancaster, Neb., Oct. 25, 1891. 
 Our Dear Sister in the Lord : 
 
 I received your kind note through our Brother Burge. I 
 am thankful for your words to us and for the encourage- 
 ment I received through you. I am trying to live a Chris- 
 tian life, to follow the teachings of the words of God in the 
 book He has given. I am persuaded of myself I can do 
 nothing, but by the help of God and our Saviour I am able 
 to resist temptations and sin. The world looks down upon 
 me from two standpoints the one because of my color, and 
 the other because I try to serve the living God through 
 Christ our Lord. I feel that I am weak and need much 
 help, both from the Lord and from the brethren and sisters. 
 I need your prayers daily to help me in my surroundings 
 and trials. We are hated and mocked, but this does not 
 move us. My faith is strong and I will, through the grace 
 of God, meet you in Heaven. In my imagination I still 
 hear those words that you spoke to us, and I hope they will 
 continue to ring in my ear. 
 
 I do not fail to mention you in my prayer to God the 
 Father, in the name of our Lord and Master. 
 
 Our chaplain has just returned from the prison congress 
 and he gave us a talk on prison reform. 
 
 From your brother that is colored, that had a talk with 
 you in the warden's office. J. H. No. 1579. 
 
462 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 West Virginia Penitentiary, Jan. 31, 1892. 
 Dear Sister Wheaton : 
 
 Your letter to "Boys in the Penitentiary" was received, 
 and it gave me pleasure to read it to them in the chapel, as 
 also that enclosed for the female prisoners ; and after read- 
 ing the latter the officer in charge gave it to the sisters, and 
 they can digest its helpful contents in the quietude of their 
 own apartments. 
 
 At the very mention of a letter from you I could see many 
 faces light up with interest, and I am sure your earnest and 
 faithful appeals for recruits to the Master's cause on your 
 visits to this place will never be forgotten ; also that many 
 hearts feel to thank you for the kindly and unabated interest 
 that prompted your letter of cheer and encouragement. God 
 bless you with power by His Spirit in your noble work. 
 Twenty-six lifetime men are confined here, and I am one of 
 the number ; but I am glad to tell you that even here I have 
 learned a freedom which is not compassed by iron bars, and 
 I am looking forward with confidence when I will come into 
 the full enjoyment of that inheritance which is "incorrupti- 
 ble, undefiled and fadeth not away." Have been here over 
 thirteen years; converted twelve years and nine months 
 ago, and have been trying to do something for my Master 
 ever since, and I feel glad that He has wonderfully blessed 
 and kept me in His love. Pray for us that God will save the 
 fallen. 
 
 Yours in Christian love, W. S. D. 
 
 Oregon State Penitentiary. 
 
 Salem, Ore., April 3, 1892. 
 
 Dear Mother Wheaton : 
 
 Your kind letter was handed to me by our Superintendent 
 to-day, and we were more than pleased to hear from you* 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 463 
 
 May our Father in Heaven protect and keep you for many 
 years to come in the faithful work of rescuing the souls of 
 men who are so far astray that each one saved seems like a 
 miracle. Many a prayer has gone up from the solitudes of 
 our prison cells for Mother Wheaton's health and success, 
 and many of us in conversation have oft repeated, "God 
 bless Mother Wheaton !" But we have not lost sight of 
 Jesus, always our Friend. We have services every Sunday. 
 Mother Smith (God bless her!) comes once a month, and 
 each Sunday our pulpit is occupied by some minister from 
 the city. Then some night during the week our choir has 
 rehearsal; so you see, we have plenty of opportunity to 
 worship and listen to the divine Word, and in consequence 
 we are very grateful to our kind officials, who earnestly look 
 out for our spiritual welfare, especially Mr. Downing, our 
 good Christian Superintendent, who would not rest easy if he 
 thought one of us was in want of anything that he could 
 obtain for us that would be for our good. We often think 
 of the difference between some other prisons and ours. "Oh, 
 Father in Heaven, not as we will, but as Thou wilt, but 
 spread a little divine love in those quarters where it is so 
 much needed" that is often our prayer. 
 
 God bless you and protect you in your noble work, and 
 may the jewels in your crown be many, are the prayers of 
 many of the inmates of this institution, and when you come 
 again many an honest hand will unite with yours in our 
 expression of love and faithfulness for Him who died on 
 Calvary, not in the arms of a loving mother, but between 
 two such men as many of us have been; yet one of them 
 dwells with Him in Paradise, which proves to a certainty 
 that He saves to the uttermost. God bless you again. Write 
 us often, and when you reach those pearly gates there will 
 
464 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 be those to meet you who will say, "You showed me the 
 way." Yours in Christ. 
 
 WM. AND YOUR BOYS. 
 
 Lancaster, Neb., Aug. 20, 1892. 
 Dear Sister in the Lord : 
 
 Yours of the 5th at hand. I always rejoice to hear from 
 you, or to hear you speak, for your words are words of com- 
 fort, and are after the doctrine of our Lord and Master and 
 according to the Scripture. It is a great comfort to me to 
 hear or speak with those that live in Christ Jesus. No I have 
 no thought of turning back to the poor and weak elements of 
 this world. By the help of the Lord I will press on to the 
 end, that I may claim all the promises, and I want to be 
 found faithful in all good works, and in doing good to those 
 that have need. The promise you spoke of can be found in 
 Revelation, 14:12. You ask if I will seek to be such. Yes, 
 with all my heart. God, that knows all our hearts, knows 
 that my desire is to live and work for His sake and for His 
 glory. As for me, I am not worthy to be called His child, 
 but only a servant, because I have wasted my life in sin 
 when I ought to have served my God and Lord. But four 
 years ago the Lord drew me unto Him. I repented of my 
 ways, gave my heart and soul to God the Father, and Jesus 
 our Lord. I received forgiveness of my sins, and not many 
 days after I received the promise of my Lord. That was 
 the promise of the Comforter, which came to me even me. 
 And now shall I turn back? No, God helping me, I will 
 endure all things ; for He is able to keep me in the hour of 
 temptation. And oh! His promises are so true to them 
 that put their trust in Him. In Isaiah, 41 st chapter and 
 loth verse, and .gain in 1st Kings, I9th chapter, 7th verse, 
 we are told the journey is too great for us without God's 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 465 
 
 help. But if we accept the help we shall be faithful to the 
 end. 'And here is another promise that He will help in time 
 of need: "Lo! I am with you always,. even unto the end of 
 the world." (Matt. 28:20.) 
 
 He has promised to reward us according to our works. 
 (Rev. 22 :i2.) I have done nothing worthy of reward. But 
 you have labored and have kept the faith, and God will re- 
 ward you for all your trials and tribulations, and give you 
 a crown that will never fade. Yes, God helping me, I will 
 meet you in Heaven, where there is no more sorrow and no 
 more weeping, but joy in our Saviour. May God bless you. 
 May He give you health and strength to the end, is my 
 prayer. Pray for me, for the prayer of the righteous avail- 
 eth much. Yours in Jesus, P. B. 
 
 Ionia, Mich., October 21, 1894. 
 Mrs. Wheaton. 
 
 Dear Madam : I write to thank you for those pamphlets 
 you sent me, and I think I can say they did me good. At 
 any rate, I am trying to faithfully follow their suggestions. 
 I practically devour any of that kind of reading, for, thank 
 God, I do hunger and thirst after instruction in His word 
 I should like to have said righteousness, but I don't there ! 
 I cannot finish what I was going to say, for a blessed thought 
 has just come to me that is, Abraham believed God, and it 
 was counted to him for righteousness. I not only believe 
 God, but Jesus Christ also. So I believe I may say I hunger 
 and thirst after righteousness. Anyhow, I pray every day 
 to get nearer to God. You will be glad to hear that I have 
 decided to leave all and follow Him. I have consecrated 
 my life to His service. When I get out, wherever I feel 
 that He calls me, I shall go there, if it is to China. I am 
 praying for sanctification. I want to get so close to God 
 
466 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 as to always be able to feel His presence. This is just two 
 weeks since you were here, and I started to serve God. 
 Praise the Lord, I think I am justified in saying that I am 
 a new lad. 
 
 I have given up tobacco and don't feel the need of it any 
 more than if I had never tasted it. I have given up profanity 
 just as easily. Now I want to read the Bible every day. 
 Since you were here I have read Corinthians I and II, Rev- 
 elations, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, and am now reading 
 the Acts of the Apostles. Before you came I had thought a 
 little of being a Christian, but had not taken any steps 
 towards it, but you decided me, and I thank you for it. 
 
 I must close now or my paper will give out. Pray for 
 me that I may receive sanctification and have the indwelling 
 of the Holy Ghost. God bless you. 
 
 I remain, yours sincerely and respectfully, 
 
 M. J. B. 
 
 Lancaster, Neb., Feb. 3, 1895. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton. 
 
 My Dear Sister in Christ : Yours was received with wel- 
 come and thanksgiving to our Lord that comforts us through 
 His Holy Spirit. Yes, God has given me grace to overcome 
 many temptations. He is my whole trust and confidence, 
 and I know He hears my prayers, and He will open a door 
 for you here. There are some hungry souls here for the 
 truth. I believe if you had been permitted to have service, 
 some would have been saved. About the first of December 
 there were some seeking quite sincerely. My desire is that 
 I might be found faithful to the end, and I ask your prayers 
 for me to Him who is able to save to the uttermost. I am 
 so glad you had the Spirit of God in your service in Lincoln 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 467 
 
 December 25. We had the follies of this world without the 
 Spirit of God. But the world knows its own and they please 
 not our Lord. And because we are not of the world, the 
 world hates us, and that without a cause. I have been pray- 
 ing for you that God will give you the victory In all things. 
 And now may the peace and grace of God our Lord be with 
 all His saints and them that truly love Him. 
 
 From your brother in Jesus, P. B. B. 
 
 Cole City, Ga., April 26, 1896. 
 Mrs. Wheaton. 
 
 Dear Mother: I take the pleasure of writing you a few 
 lines. 
 
 I do hope that 1 can meet you and tell you the good you 
 have done me. God is the one and the only one I look to. 
 I want to go to Heaven and believe I will. I believe some 
 day, if we do not meet on earth again, that we will meet in 
 Heaven. 
 
 Poor and needy though I be, 
 God, my maker, cares for me; 
 Gives me clothing, shelter, food; 
 He will hear me when I pray* 
 He is with me night and day, 
 When I sleep and when I waka 
 Keeps me safe for Jesus * sake, 
 He who reigns above the sky, 
 Once became as poor as I. 
 
 He whose blood for me was shed, 
 Had not where to lay His head. 
 Though I labor here awhile, 
 He will bless me with His smile. 
 And when this short life is past, 
 I shall rest with Him at last. 
 
 I hope and pray that you will have power and strength to 
 obey the Master's will 
 
 Good-bye, R McM. 
 
468 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Boise City, Idaho, May n, 1896. 
 Mrs. Wheaton. 
 
 My Dear Mother in Christ: I hope you are well and 
 enjoying the love of the Lord. It is a great thing to be in a 
 position to work for the Lord Jesus. We are having good 
 services now every Sunday, and we have a good Bible class 
 of our own. The Lord has wonderfully blessed this place, 
 and I hope to see many souls saved. Praise God ! All the 
 boys send love and wish to see you, and we all wish you suc- 
 cess. God bless you in your good work. W. B. 
 
 Waupun, Wis., Feb. 26, 1897. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton and Mrs. Kelly, 
 
 Dear Friends: Enclosed please find P. O. order for 
 $6.66, which is sent you with the best wishes of the inmates 
 of this institution, as a slight token of the appreciation 
 which we have of your efforts toward the uplifting of fallen 
 beings like ourselves, and the upbuilding of Christ's King- 
 dom. 
 
 Although most of the contributions came from the C. E. 
 members, yet they were not confined strictly to them. 
 
 It was a surprise to me, when in conversation with many 
 of the boys, during our short time of liberty on Washing- 
 ton's Birthday, to find among them such a general feeling 
 of friendliness and respect toward you, even from those who 
 usually scoff at everything religious, and who are thor- 
 oughly hardened in sin and crime. 
 
 I am sure it will be gratifying to you to know that God 
 so blesses your efforts that even the most hardened ones 
 can feel the influence of His Holy Spirit in your ministra- 
 tions. 
 
 Rest assured that we shall always hold you in kindly 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 469 
 
 remembrance, and shall never cease to pray that God's rich- 
 est blessing may crown your efforts. 
 
 While our contribution is very small, we know that you 
 will receive it remembering only the motive which prompts 
 its bestowal, which is the only method by which the value of 
 a gift can be determined. 
 
 With renewed expression of our wishes and prayers for 
 your success, we are, 
 
 Yours for Christ, 
 WAUPUN PRISON C. E. SOCIETY. 
 
 A. I. W., Cor. Sec. 
 
 P. S. The enclosed order is sent in the chaplain's name, 
 W. G. Bancroft. 
 
 Eddyville, Ky., April 18, 1897. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton. 
 
 My Dear Christian Friend : It is with pleasure that I 
 write you these few lines to let you know that your visit to 
 Eddyville was not in vain. Many of my brothers here 
 express their appreciation of your visit. We have some 
 earnest workers for the salvation of men in this prison. We 
 are praying for you that God will strengthen you for His 
 work. We hope to see you again soon, and receive a mes- 
 sage from Jesus, for we receive you as His messenger. 
 
 All my brothers send their thanks to you, for they say 
 you seem like a mother to them. Some of us have not seen 
 our mothers for thirteen or fourteen years, and only live in 
 hope of seeing them in heaven, when we can lay down 
 these stripes and greet them there. 
 
 O my dear Christian friend, when I think of a wasted life 
 and how easy a poor frail being like myself is led off, it 
 almost crushes my heart, but thank God that the blood of 
 Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin, and that is my only 
 
47O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 hope. T want to meet you in heaven and, by the grace of 
 God, I'll be there. We will not be in prison always. Jesus 
 will come to claim his children soon. Those who oppress 
 us now will all have to stand before that just Judge and 
 give an account of what they have done to crush the hearts 
 of their fellowmen. May God forgive them, is my prayer, 
 for they know not what they do. 
 
 I hope to hear from you soon. May God bless you in His 
 service. Your friend in Christ, L. P. 
 
 La ramie, Wyo., May 31, 1897. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton: 
 
 I got your letter some time ago and also the papers. Was 
 real glad to get them and to hear from you. I also get the 
 paper regularly, and when we are through reading it I send 
 it to a little boy in Montana that I used to know. We still 
 continue our Bible class and have several new members. 
 We have changed the time from Thursday until Sunday, 
 on account of some of the boys who work on the farm. 
 
 I got a good letter from a friend in Kansas not long ago. 
 He tells me that my wife and little girls have joined the 
 Christian Church. The happiest days of my life were spent 
 with them, and if there is one of us four who has to be lost 
 I hope it may be me. I want your prayers for our Bible 
 class and that God will make me a better man; and espe- 
 cially for my wife and children I want your prayers. It 
 will be four years to-morrow since I have seen them. 
 
 Some of the boys often speak of you, and I can assure 
 you of a welcome by us if you ever come this way again. 
 May God bless you and sustain you in this world for many 
 years to come, is my prayer. The text of the sermon we 
 heard to-day was John 3*116. W. J. T. 
 
 Luke 15 115. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 471 
 
 Waupun, Wis., July 4, 1897. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton. 
 
 Madam: The privilege of writing is accorded me by the 
 rules of this institution, and as I have no friends to whom 
 I write, I will address this letter to you. I have not taken 
 any great interest in your work, but have heard you speak 
 before you visited this place last February, and under simi- 
 lar circumstances. 
 
 All are doing nicely here and are looking forward to the 
 treat we shall get to-morrow by being allowed the liberty 
 of the yard, as we celebrate the Fourth then. 
 
 The Christian Endeavor Society is getting along nicely, 
 I guess, though I have not been present at their last two 
 or three meetings, but some of the boys seem to take con- 
 siderable interest in the work. 
 
 The front yard is very pretty. All the flowers are in 
 bloom and nature seems to bless the convicts as well as 
 those whose conduct permits them to remain out in a cruel 
 world. 
 
 Flower Mission Day was observed here June 2Oth. Some 
 ladies of the W. C. T. U. distributed some flowers and 
 spoke in the chapel. Told us of the sufferings of Jennie 
 Cassidy of Kentucky, the originator of Flower Mission Day, 
 invoked a divine blessing on us, and sent us to our cells, 
 feeling that our lot was not so bad as others have had to 
 endure. 
 
 The prison is about the same, six hundred males and ten 
 or twelve females ; some changes in the discipline ; the 
 lock-step is dispensed with; we are allowed two books a 
 week from the library, and other changes which lighten our 
 burden. 
 
 Believing you will pardon this liberty I have taken, I 
 am, Most respectfully, No. 6965. 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Laramie, Wyoming, May, 1898. 
 Dear Mother : 
 
 Mr. requests me to answer your kind and most wel- 
 come letter. I was thinking of you this morning, and of 
 your mission on earth, and how you had spent your life in 
 the service of the Lord, and in trying to benefit others. We 
 regard you as the Good Samaritan, and pray that the Lord 
 will bless you in your work wherever you may go. The 
 members of the Bible class unite in sending you their love 
 and best regards, and will be delighted to have you visit 
 us again. According to nature, your earthly mission will 
 soon come to a close, but your acts of kindness and deeds of 
 mercy will live on forever. Remember us in your prayers. 
 It is written that the prayers of the righteous avail much. 
 Our class has increased considerably since you were here. 
 Some of the boys seem to be very much in earnest and sin- 
 cerely repent of their past conduct. I hope to live the re- 
 mainder 'of my life in the service of the Lord, and I hope 
 to meet you in a brighter and a better world, where parting 
 and sorrow are no more; where our tears are all wiped 
 away, and the light of the Lord shines forever. 
 
 Sincerely yours, F. P. 309. 
 
 Eddyville Prison, March 17, 1900. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton, Prison Evangelist : 
 
 Though it has been one year the 5th of February past 
 since I heard your kind, sweet, motherly voice, how glad 
 and proud I am to see you once again and hear your kind 
 voice, full of a mother's pity for her children. May God 
 bless you, mother, in your journey from prison to prison 
 to teach fallen men that there is a Jesus who loves them 
 and will forgive their sins if they only believe on Him. 
 Thank God for His Son He sent into the world to save 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 473 
 
 sinners, for Jesus has pardoned all my sins, and I mean to 
 serve God for the remainder of my life. 
 
 You are welcome thrice welcome. If you did not love 
 us you would not come to visit us each year so faithfully. 
 May God bless and go with you wherever you may be or go. 
 
 Though I have only about three weeks to serve here yet, 
 I thank God I will leave a saved boy through the blood of 
 Jesus. Bless His holy name ! 
 
 I highly appreciate your kind words and the advice you 
 gave me. I will take your advice. 
 
 I will close by saying, "May God watch between me and 
 thee." Amen. My motto through life is, "In God I trust." 
 
 I remain, Your son in Jesus, 
 
 F. P. K., Jr. 
 
 Yuma, Arizona, May 25, 1903. 
 Dear Sister Wheaton: 
 
 Our kind Superintendent handed me your letter of the 
 22d inst., also the tracts you sent, which I distributed to 
 those who I knew would read and appreciate them. I also 
 showed your letter to several, and intended reading it, or 
 having it read, during church yesterday morning, but our 
 minister was late, so I thought best to wait till next Sunday. 
 During the week I will pass it around to as many as I can. 
 All to whom I showed the letter seemed glad to hear from 
 you, and requested me to ask you to remember them in your 
 prayers, and said to tell you they hoped you would be able 
 to visit the prison again soon. 
 
 I am sorry I haven't a more favorable report of Christian 
 progress in the prison; but Satan seems to hold the upper 
 hand, and there has been no conversion for some time, and 
 there has been quite a number of Christian boys sent out, 
 
474 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 and a great many new men came in of late, which may 
 account for the small attendance at services. 
 
 I hope the Lord will open the way for some good revival- 
 ist to come to Yuma and stay for a while at least. This 
 place needs a real stirring up. 
 
 I hope that the Lord will continue to bless you in your 
 work for Him among fallen men and women, and that you 
 may lead many to live better lives and be prepared for 
 heaven. Your brother in Christ, 
 
 R. C. 
 
 Frankfort, Ky., October 8, 1903. 
 Elizabeth R. Wheaton, Prison Evangelist. 
 
 Dear Mother Wheaton : It is a matter of the deepest 
 regret that I am in prison, but I am very proud to have you 
 call me one of your boys. 
 
 My dear mother was named Elizabeth. I was her pride 
 and joy, but rejoice to think that my fall did not occur until 
 after her death. 
 
 * It would please my sweet wife if you could write her a 
 letter of encouragement and good cheer. 
 
 I hope that your latter years may be many, and am cer- 
 tain they will be rilled with the joy and blessedness which 
 come to those who are serving the Master in such a noble 
 work as yours. 
 
 Most respectfully yours, H. E. Y. 
 
 Frankfort, Kentucky, November 15, 1903. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Wheaton, Tabor, Iowa. 
 
 My Dear Mother Wheaton : Your visit to those who 
 were confined to their beds in our prison hospital October 
 6th was a great blessing to them. Your gospel hymns gave 
 them visions of angels singing the praises of their Master, 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 
 
 475 
 
 and your prayers carried them before the great white throne 
 for mercy and pardon. 
 
 Prisoners need Christianity more than any other class 
 of men, and when they get the love of God in their hearts 
 they immediately become better prisoners, are more con- 
 tented, and have more hope for this life and the life to 
 come. 
 
 Surely your work is a noble one, and each song and prayer 
 
 DRUG DEPARTMENT IN PRISON HOSPITAL. 
 
 for prisoners makes your heavenly reward more glorious. 
 With many thanks for the kind words spoken to me, I 
 remain, Most respectfully, 
 
 H. E. Y. 
 
 Jefferson City, Mo., Sept. 2, 1904. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton, Tabor, Iowa. 
 
 Dear Mother in Jesus : I thought I would address you in 
 behalf of a Christian friend by the name of J., as he is sick. 
 He requested me to write to you, and as I would like to hear 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 
 
 from a Christian from the outside world, he said you would 
 answer my letter. I am trying to live a Christian life. 
 When I was almost ready to give up and go back to my 
 sinful life, there was a bright light came in my pathway to 
 refresh my soul and to point out the dark places wherein I 
 stood. And this light was Brother J. When he talks to 
 any one it is in a loving way, and to talk to him five minutes 
 one can tell that he is one of God's true children. I enjoy 
 greatly to hear him talk of Jesus' love, for it does my soul 
 good. Have you any Christian papers and tracts that you 
 would please send to me? I would enjoy reading them 
 greatly. 
 
 I am your boy, saved in Christ Jesus. 
 
 GEO. W. R. 
 
 Huntsville, Texas, Feb. 17, 1905. 
 Dear Mother Wheaton : 
 
 Yours to our chaplain, Dr. M., has just been handed to 
 me, and it affords me great pleasure to write you, for I 
 often think of you, and the good lady that was here with 
 you, and I knew :t would be gratifying to you to know how 
 sincerely the boys appreciate your words of kindness and 
 Christian advice for their spiritual welfare. I have heard 
 many of them speak of you, and it was always with heart- 
 felt wishes for your success and happiness. I trust and 
 pray that many lost souls will be brought to Christ through 
 your noble work in the meeting you mention. 
 \ Through reading the Christian Herald I have been much 
 impressed with the need of missionary work in India. And 
 I pray that Miss Grace, who was with you here, will be 
 abundantly blessed in her undertaking. I assure you that 
 we will all be glad to see you at any time. God's richest 
 blessings upon you. I beg to remain, 
 
 Yours in Christ, W. H. S. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 Kind Words from Friends. 
 
 We give here a few letters from dear friends who have 
 been especially inte e^ted in the Master's work, some of 
 whom have given me many words of encouragement, or 
 otherwise been helpful to me in advancing the work of the 
 gospel. 
 
 FROM H. L. H AS 1 INGS AND WIFE. 
 
 47 Cornhill Place, Boston, Mass, January 27, 1886. 
 Blessed Sister: 
 
 Your card came duly. Glad to hear. Sorry you could 
 not call. Mrs. Hastings wanted to see you. Come to our 
 house when you will. If you go to New York, call on Miss 
 Annie Delaney, Fruit and Bible Mission, 416 E. 26th St., 
 New York, opposite the Bellevue Hospital right in the 
 middle of prisons and prisoners. Tell them I sent you. Miss 
 D. is superintendent and has lived with us and can open 
 doors there. 
 
 I was at State Prison one night. Heard many good tes- 
 timonies from yoiy friends there. Surely, your labors 
 have been blessed. May the Lord direct your way in all 
 these things, and guide your endeavors. How much you 
 need the Heavenly Father's guidance. He will guide you 
 with His eye. Pray that you may know and do His will, 
 and pray for us that we may please Him in all things. Do 
 you need some tracts or papers? Let us know. 
 Yours in the work, 
 
 H. L. HASTINGS. 
 
478 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Goshen, Mass., March 9, 1900. 
 My Dear Sister: 
 
 I am very glad indeed to hear from you, and to know 
 that you are still alive and still at work. 
 
 It was a great shock to me when Mr. Hastings left us. 
 But the Lord has been very good to me, and I feel that 
 He means what He says: "E'en down to old age I will 
 never leave thee." "I'll never, no, never, no, never for- 
 sake." This is a beautiful and a comforting thought to me 
 at this time. 
 
 May God bless you, my sister, and keep you in health to 
 do His work, is the prayer of 
 
 Your friend, 
 
 MRS. H. L. HASTINGS. 
 (Per E. B.) 
 
 E. E. BYRUM, AUTHOR AND EDITOR. 
 
 September n, 1903. 
 
 During the past few years I have been acquainted with 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton, and known of her earnestness 
 and zeal in behalf of the unfortunate prisoners of our land. 
 For many years her time has been almost wholly given to 
 the work of relieving the distressed and discouraged in their 
 cells, and in prison chapels. 
 
 Her songs and words of encouragement, mingled with 
 tears, have caused the feelings of depression and sadness 
 to flee away, and those bowed down with sorrow to grasp 
 a ray of hope and look . forward with renewed energy to a 
 higher life, trusting in Him who is able to keep. Many 
 years of continued evangelistic work in the penitentiaries 
 and prisons of America have given her a wide range of 
 experiences of prison life, a description of which cannot 
 fail to be of intense interest to every reader. It was par- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 479 
 
 tially due to her untiring zeal that I was moved to write 
 the book entitled "Behind the Prison Bars." Her written 
 words will continue to warn and comfort after her departure 
 from this world to her home beyond the cares of life. 
 
 E. E. BYRUM. 
 Moundsville, W. Va. 
 
 FROM MOTHER OF PRISONER. 
 
 Chicago, March 4, 1900. 
 Dear Friend : 
 
 I was greatly surprised and glad to hear from you, for 
 my son has often spoken of you and has regretted that the 
 quarantine has kept you away. I feel very grateful to you 
 for taking an interest in my dear boy, for he is still very 
 dear to me. 
 
 You cannot imagine my feelings all these years, knowing 
 he was behind gloomy walls. My health has given way 
 two or three times on account of it. Like so many others, 
 he thought he knew best, and left a good home to go roving. 
 The cause of his downfall is due to bad company, but then, 
 his time is up in October. I hope to see him once more 
 and keep him with me, for I am growing old am nearly 
 sixty-two. 
 
 I shall be very glad to welcome you to our home. 
 
 If you should see my dear boy before you come to Chi- 
 cago, tell him I am waiting patiently until I see him. 
 
 This letter hardly expresses my feelings, but, sleeping or 
 waking, my thoughts are nearly always with my absent 
 boy. Once more accept thanks from a broken-hearted 
 mother. Mrs. M. E. F. 
 
 FROM A PRISONER'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Denver, Colo., Jan. 7, 1903. 
 My Dear Mother Wheaton : 
 
 Praise God for salvation this afternoon ! I am glad I 
 
480 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 found your address, for I have wanted to write to you for a 
 long time and tell you the result of your visit to R. State 
 Prison, where you talked with my precious father. 
 
 He wrote me soon after you left and said you left him 
 under awful conviction. He confessed and forsook his 
 sins and is now a man saved by the blood that was shed 
 on the cross for him. He said that he was restless from 
 the time you left until he found Jesus. He told how you 
 and a young lady talked and prayed with him, and how, 
 after he retired, he rolled and tossed in awful agony until 
 about eleven o'clock, when he cried to God for mercy. God 
 heard his cries and came to his release. O hallelujah! It 
 just makes me shout to read his letters now. I can tell 
 by them that he is really resting in Jesus. He before sel- 
 dom wrote more than two pages, and now he writes from 
 fifteen to twenty-four. And oh, such letters! I just can't 
 help but cry for joy when I read them and realize that my 
 precious papa is serving the only true and living God. I 
 give God the glory and all of the honor for what has been 
 done; and I praise God for using you as an instrument 
 through whom He worked Eternity alone can reveal the 
 result. 
 
 My heart is full of praises to Jesus my King this even- 
 ing. He has done so much for me lately. He blesses me 
 in soul and body and supplies all my needs. 
 
 I may go to C soon and try to do something for my 
 father. Pray that God may lead me and that the devil 
 may not hinder in any way, if God sees fit to release papa 
 from prison. I am perfectly resigned to God's will. 
 
 Your sister for Jesus, M. H. 
 
 (This daughter was a successful Christian worker.) 
 
~^ OR A LABOR OF LOVE 481 
 
 FROM AN EDITOR. 
 
 Ashburn, Ga., May 12, 1897. 
 Dear Sister: 
 
 Grace and peace be multiplied to you. I received your 
 letter and communication for "Holiness Advocate," which 
 will appear in the next issue. Always let me know where 
 to find you. I would have written sooner, but have been 
 away to Macon, where I saw Sister Perry. She has been 
 here and visited the convict camps since you were here. 
 I have been visiting those camps pretty regularly since you 
 left here. You put it on me and I am trying to be faithful. 
 You asked me in your letter if you knew me. Yes, I met 
 you here. It was in front of my store. You held the street 
 service here at Ashburn, while waiting for the train, and 
 I was with you until the train left. Well, sister, I wilt 
 never get done praising God for ever meeting you. It 
 marked a new epoch in my experience. I want you to take 
 my paper on your heart. Ask the Holy Spirit to run it for 
 me and the Father to supply financial help. I am trusting 
 Him for it. How glad the prisoners in the camp will be 
 to hear from you in this way. I will send up to both the 
 camps a bundle of the issue containing your letter. I want 
 you all to pray for the South, that a deeper work may be 
 done in the hearts of the Holiness people; that the mis- 
 sionary spirit may get hold of us so that we will send out 
 our sons and daughters to tell of Jesus' love to a perishing, 
 dying world. 
 
 May the Lord bless you and use you in the future even 
 more powerfully than in the past. Come and see us when 
 you can. 
 
 Yours, bound for Heaven, 
 
 J. LAWRENCE, 
 Ed. Holiness Advocate. 
 
482 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Ashburn, Ga., August 25, 1898. 
 Dear Sister Wheaton: 
 
 Your letter came to us all right, and you have no idea 
 what gladness it brings to us all to hear from you, and 
 yet conviction. For it certainly convicts us for the little we 
 are doing when we see how the Lord is enabling you to put 
 in full time. Pray for me that I may be more zealous. 
 Things are taking a deeper move in the South. A great 
 number of the Holiness people are getting down for a real 
 experience. We have been satisfied long enough with a 
 profession. So you may expect something from the South 
 in the near future. Men and women giving themselves for 
 the foreign field and for the home field, working in the slums 
 and in the prisons and wherever God may lead them. Love 
 to all the saints at Tabor. I have never met any of them, 
 but I do love them and the work they are doing. "Blessed 
 be the tie that binds." 
 
 God bless you, and may you be preserved blameless unto 
 His coming. 
 
 Yours in Jesus' love, 
 
 J. LAWRENCE. 
 
 FROM AN EX-PRISONER. 
 
 Sioux City, la., Jan. 31, 1901. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton : I don't suppose you will remember me, 
 but possibly you may, as I think I was one of the most 
 wretched in or out of prison at that time. It was at Sioux 
 Falls, So. Dak., between three and four years ago, if I re- 
 member correctly. You visited the prison and spoke to us 
 in chapel, and later in the day you and a lady with you, 
 came around to the cells. I was in cell No. 13. You shook 
 hands with me and asked, "Are you a Christian?" I re- 
 plied, "No." Again you asked, "Have you ever been one?" 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 483 
 
 "No." "Will you meet me in Heaven?" you asked again, 
 and I answered, "I will try to." You spoke only a few 
 words, saying, "Do not be discouraged." These few words 
 and that warm hand-shake helped me very much. I was 
 indeed much discouraged. Life seemed dark indeed. I 
 was serving an eleven years' sentence. I was under deep 
 conviction of sin. Not long after that the blessed Christ 
 came into my heart. I believed on His name and He saved 
 my soul. Two years ago last August I was pardoned from 
 the prison. The I7th of last March I became Superintend- 
 ent of a Rescue Mission in Dakota, and for ten months or 
 nearly that I was there and the Lord blessed our efforts by 
 saving souls. I am now married. My wife was converted 
 in the mission last June. She is an accomplished musician 
 and singer and, the Lord being willing, we expect to go 
 out and preach the gospel among railroad men in the near 
 future. 
 
 I have often thought of you and your labor of love among 
 prisoners. May God bless and encourage you in the work, 
 is my earnest prayer. I heard that you were in Sioux Falls 
 at the prison a short time ago. I did not know it in time 
 to see you. If the prisoners only knew what joy and peace 
 there is in the service of Jesus, it seems to me they would 
 yield their hearts to Him. Again I wish you godspeed in 
 your work. May you have many precious jewels for the 
 Master's crown. To Him belong the praise and glory. 
 
 Good-bye, and God bless you and the sister that was with 
 you. Never be discouraged. Jesus loves and uses you. 
 Yours, in His service, T. F. M. 
 
 Sioux Falls, S. Dak., Feb. 9, 1904. 
 Mrs. E. R. Wheaton. 
 Dear Sister: Your card of November was received. 
 
484 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Hope you will pardon me for not writing before. I am glad 
 that you are still trusting Jesus, and working in His vine- 
 yard. May God bless, comfort, strengthen and keep you. 
 
 Jesus is coming again, perhaps soon. It may be that we 
 shall be alive when He comes. If so we shall be caught up 
 together with the dead in Christ to meet Him in the air, 
 so shall we ever be with Him, Blessed be His name 
 (I Thess. 4-17.) I want to exalt Him. I want my daily life 
 to be a testimony of His power to save and to keep. Many 
 years of my life were spent in sin. Finally I was tried, con- 
 victed and sentenced to state's prison for a long term of 
 years. God says : "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall 
 he also reap, for He that soweth to his flesh shall of the 
 flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit shall 
 of the Spirit reap life everlasting." (Galatians 6:7, 8.) 
 God's word is true. 
 
 I found my mind giving away and my body a physical 
 wreck. I read the Bible and God showed me that I was 
 a lost man. I tried to destroy my life, but God in his love 
 and mercy would not permit it. I was in great darkness. 
 I said to a friend, there is no hope for me in this life or 
 the life to come, but I did not know Jesus Christ nor His 
 saving power. God sent His ministers each Sunday morn- 
 ing to preach the blessed gospel, and one Sunday morning 
 He sent "Mother Wheaton" to us. In the afternoon, I be- 
 lieve it was, she visited us in our cells. I had quarreled with 
 my cell-mate, and he had left me. Mrs. Wheaton came and 
 shook hands with me, and asked if I was a Christian. I 
 said, "No." Again she asked, "Have you ever been a Chris- 
 tian?" I replied, "No." She said, "Will you meet me in 
 Heaven?" I said, "I will try." With a warm hand-shake 
 and a few words of encouragement, she left me. God 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 485 
 
 helped me to believe in Jesus Christ, and there came into 
 my life joy and peace such as I had never, known before, 
 even in my best days on the outside. 
 
 After my conversion I asked God if it was His will that 
 I might be pardoned out. He also heard and answered that 
 prayer. God is love. He loves the vilest sinner. To-day 
 I have a loving Christian wife and two lovely children. 
 I have no desire for the old life of drinking, gambling, etc., 
 but my desire is to love and serve God and help my fellow- 
 men to find Jesus, who is mighty to save and to keep. To 
 Jesus belongs all praise and glory. If it is his will, may 
 He use this testimony to bring souls to Himself. T. F. M. 
 
 4064 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, Mo., 
 
 October 25, 1899. 
 My Dear Mrs. Wheaton : 
 
 I thank you so much for your letter. I was greatly 
 pleased in reading it. I will be so glad to see you when 
 you come. I realize, as you say, that I have never fully let 
 go of myself in the Master's work, but I have given my life 
 to Him, and if I know my own heart, I am willing to be 
 and do anything He shall choose for me. I love to help 
 lost ones, and if the Lord should use me as He does you, I 
 believe I should be the happiest person in the world. Do 
 pray for me, won't you, that the Lord may lead me into 
 all His will? Time is flying, and soon all of our opportuni- 
 ties will be over and our Lord will take us to Himself. 
 Pray that the Lord will keep me busy serving Him. I love 
 you and pray for you. May you be kept rejoicing in hope 
 even though you see nothing but sin and sorrow around 
 you. (Psalm 125:5, 6.) 
 
 Lovingly yours, 
 
 TULA D. ELY. 
 
486 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Sapphire, N. C, August 15, 1901. 
 My Dear Sister: 
 
 I received your letter to-day. I have been thinking about 
 you and praying for you often, and see by your letter that 
 God has made all of your trials a blessing to you and know 
 that God can make up for any loss He lets us have. What 
 a hard time you did have, dear sister. I praise God for 
 bringing you through it with such joy. Sometimes it seems 
 true He does with us like He did with Job just tells Satan 
 he may do everything but take our lives, and when our self- 
 justification and friends are gone, He joins us in with Him- 
 self and makes us powerful in His own power. He knows 
 whether we want Him, and if we do we will be taken 
 through death to self and put to hard tests. It seems some- 
 times as if He hides His face to let us suffer and say, 
 "Though He slay me yet will I trust Him." I am glad you 
 are with the people who hold you up in prayer. We need 
 one another's prayers in these times when Satan has so 
 many snares. Tula is well. She and Mildred send love. 
 Affectionately and in Jesus, love, 
 
 CLARA D. ELY. 
 
 S , Colo., June 24, 1903. 
 
 .Dear Mother in Christ: 
 
 May this find you well and happy in the Lord Jesus. 
 We have not forgotten you and we never shall. Our gospel 
 tent meeting at P. was a blessed time. Souls were saved 
 and sanctified. We give all the glory to Jesus. We are 
 holding meetings here in our tent. The Lord is blessing 
 the preaching of His Word. The Lord willing, we will 
 begin a meeting at Raton, New Mexico, the 2nd of August. 
 We would like to have you with us if it were the Lord's 
 will. The Lord is helping us while we are here to open 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 487 
 
 a home for poor girls. We have rented a five-room house 
 and He is giving us everything we need for the home. 
 Glory to God for all things! 
 
 My brother H. is with us in the gospel work. God is 
 blessing him in singing the gospel. Remember us all in 
 prayer. May the Lord give you many souls in your work. 
 We both send love to you. 
 
 Your children, 
 
 J. E. AND WIFE. 
 
 The above is of especial interest to me though the reader may 
 have to rea.l between the lines, as it were, to understand why it is 
 so. The writers are faithful and efficient workers in the Master's 
 cause. 
 
 A TESTIMONIAL. 
 
 Columbia, South Carolina. 
 To Christian Women : 
 
 Dear Sisters : We have long known the bearer, Mrs. E. 
 R. Wheaton, and can testify as to her arduous labors for 
 the most needy classes. It was our privilege to have her in 
 our Home for one week and we certainly received the Lord's 
 blessing during that time. We are working for Christ, but 
 her labors are more abundant, her trials far greater. As she 
 goes forth without commission or salary she must depend 
 entirely upon God. He usually supplies her through His 
 people. Few of us could work where and as she does, but 
 we may lovingly minister to her necessity and the dear 
 Lord will surely bless in so doing. Yours in Christ, 
 
 MARIA JONES, 
 ELLA F. BRAIN ARD. 
 
 The writer of the following sketch was an orphan girl making her 
 home, when I first met her, with some of my relatives in Iowa. She 
 was raised by her aunt and was kept in school and in society till 
 she was grown. Having been converted at the age of twelve years 
 and engaging some in Christian work, soon after my first acquaint- 
 
488 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 ance with her she received a call from God to devote her life wholly 
 to His service. Being an orphan the Lord gave me a mother 'a love 
 and care for her. She went with me to the Missionary Training 
 Home at Tabor, from whence she went as a missionary to India. 
 While at the Home she was faithful in caring for orphan children, 
 etc., and traveled with me some, staying at one time several months 
 as a worker in a rescue home in Chicago, and later spending some 
 time in evangelistic work. I have elsewhere mentioned her trip with 
 me to the Pacific coast on her way to India. 
 
 It was my privilege in the fall of 1903 to travel with 
 Mother Wheaton in Gospel work in prisons, jails, missions, 
 churches, etc. God made her a blessing to many souls who 
 needed a mother's love and sympathy. She always lifts up 
 Jesus, that souls might be drawn unto Him and be saved. 
 We first visited the Reformatory for Girls at Mitchelville, 
 Iowa. We were kindly receh ed by the Superintendent who 
 had been a friend of Mother Wheaton's for several years. 
 He gave her the privilege of holding services in the chapel 
 with the several hundred girls. She also visited the girls 
 in their cottages, singing, praying and talking with them. 
 
 We then visited the prisons at the following places: 
 Moundsville, W. Va. ; Baltimore, Md. ; Allegheny, Pa. ; 
 Columbus, Ohio ; Waupun, Wis. ; Stillwater, Minn. ; Frank- 
 fort, Ky. ; Nashville and Brushy Mountain, Tenn. 
 
 In the hospital of the prison at Waupun we visited Mr. 
 Colgrove, a prisoner who was converted fifteen years pre- 
 viously when Mother Wheaton was holding a service in the 
 prison. He was a life prisoner but he yielded to the con- 
 viction of the Holy Spirit and was saved. During these 
 years he proved by his daily walk that he was a Christian. 
 He often conducted the devotional exercises, and he had 
 taught three Bible classes, two in German and one in 
 English, until his health failed. As I bade him goodbye he 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 489 
 
 said, "I will meet you in the better world if I never meet 
 you here again." He was in poor health and a few months 
 later died a triumphant death. 
 
 The prison physicians gave permission to visit the sick, 
 for they know the words of comfort and songs of cheer by 
 Mother Wheaton will give them encouragement and a de- 
 sire to live for the better world. 
 
 In a Gospel Mission I heard an ex-convict testify to how 
 God had saved him from a life of sin. He said that he 
 knew ''Mother Wheaton" but perhaps she did not know 
 him dressed as he was; for when she had met him before 
 he was behind prison bars. He praised God for such a 
 person who was willing to work among that class of peo- 
 ple. I am sure there is much good accomplished in the 
 prisons for individuals as Mother Wheaton stands at the 
 door after services and shakes hands with the hundreds 
 of prisoners as they pass out. Her "God bless you" is 
 not soon forgotten. When her work is ended and the re- 
 wards of the righteous are given, many will arise and call 
 her blessed. GRACE YARRETT. 
 
MOTHER WHEATON. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 Sketches from Press Reports. 
 
 My call being not only to the prison bound but to every 
 creature, the newspaper men have received their part of 
 the Gospel message and were often instrumental in herald- 
 ing some truth to their readers whom I have been unable 
 to reach in person. I have often been interviewed by re- 
 porters regarding my work for the Master and they fre- 
 quently give accounts of meetings held in the prisons, on 
 the streets, etc., very correctly, though sometimes in a hu- 
 morous style and from that standpoint of the onlookers or 
 the prisoners. In this chapter I give a few sketches from 
 reports of my work clipped from the papers. 
 
 A LABOR OF LOVE. 
 
 A WOMAN WHO LEFT A LUXURIOUS HOME TO SERVE THE 
 UNFORTUNATE. 
 
 MRS. WHEATON AMONG THE CRIMINALS AT THE PENITEN- 
 TIARY. 
 
 SHE VISITS THE HOSPITALS, JAIL AND WORK-HOUSE AF- 
 FECTING SCENES WHILE SHE PREACHED. 
 
 A white-haird lady, clad in deep mourning, carrying a 
 volume bound in morocco, visited the penitentiary yester- 
 day. This was Mrs. E. R. Wheaton. In a few minutes she 
 was delivering a sermon to the convicts. She is a remark- 
 able woman. Four years ago she left a luxurious home in 
 Ohio to preach the gospel to convicts, and since then has 
 exhorted in the penitentiaries of thirty-seven States. She 
 visits hospitals and the abodes of fallen women, also, and 
 has ministered to the wants of thousands of unfortunates. 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 An American reporter asked her how she happened to be 
 engaged in the work. 
 
 "No member of my family was ever in a prison or afflicted 
 as are those to whom I speak," she exclaimed; "my evan- 
 gelical work did not originate in any morbid sympathy be- 
 cause of personal bereavement. I simply felt called of 
 God to preach his word to the people, and have entered upon 
 it for the remainder of my life. My heart and soul are in 
 it, and though I am far from my dear ones I am happy." 
 
 She had been speaking to the convicts but a few minutes 
 when the effect of her words of exhortation was visible. 
 At first the majority were listless, but as she warmed to her 
 cause they responded with closer attention and in fifteen 
 minutes every eye was fixed intently upon the gentle, earnest 
 woman, who sought to save their souls and bring a divine 
 light to their benighted lives. When she closed her dis- 
 course and asked if any desired her prayers twenty hardened 
 men of crime, with tears in their eyes, raised their hands 
 and three advanced to the mourners' seat. With these she 
 prayed and every word was fraught with all the potent 
 power with which the voice of woman in prayer is capable. 
 The three unfortunates were moved as men seldom are and 
 at the close of the meeting professed conversion. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton then visited the hospital, department of the 
 penitentiary, after which she went to the jail, work-house 
 and city hospital and at each place delivered a discourse. 
 To-day she will see fallen women. Nashville American, 
 Nashville, Tenn., 1887. 
 
 A PRISON EVANGELIST. 
 
 ELIZABETH R. WHEATON TALKS AT THE COUNTY JAIL. 
 
 Elizabeth R. Wheaton, the celebrated prison evangelist, 
 visited the Buchanan county jail yesterday, and conducted 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 493 
 
 a religious service of forty minutes' length. The evangelist 
 pointed out the errors of her hearers and advised them to 
 make early amends. The evangelist assured the audience 
 that all they needed to be saved was faith. Wife murderer 
 Bulling was one of the evangelist's most attentive hearers, 
 and the horse thieves, burglars and other criminals were 
 among her closest listeners. Sheriff Spratt thinks much 
 good will result from Evangelist Wheaton's visit to the 
 bastile. St. Joe, Mo., paper, Aug. 8, 1889. 
 PRISON EVANGELIST. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Rider Wheaton, prison evangelist, held 
 services in the county jail this afternoon, lecturing and sing- 
 ing to the eleven prisoners there. She told in few words and 
 four songs the whole plan of salvation, and it didn't take 
 her but twenty minutes to do it. She talked a little while 
 and sang "I Will Tell the Wondrous Story," following with 
 a few words of comment her rich contralto voice burst into 
 "You Must Be Born Again," followed in the same way. 
 Then "It Pays to Serve the Lord," and "Parting to Meet no 
 More," closing with a short prayer. These songs coming in 
 the order they do, tell the whole story and make a very 
 pretty one. Unidentified. 
 
 EVANGELISTIC SERVICE AT PRISON. 
 
 Elizabeth Wheaton, a noble Christian woman who has 
 consecrated her life to work in prisons, jails, reformatories, 
 houses of correction, houses of refuge and hospitals, visited 
 our city Saturday, and after presenting her credentials was 
 given hearty permission to hold services at the prison on 
 Sunday, Father Murphy, the Catholic chaplain, whose day 
 it was to officiate, kindly consenting to this arrangement. 
 Her manner would probably not be agreeable to an aesthetic 
 Christian audience in a fashionable, upholstered church, 
 
494 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 but she knows how to reach the hearts of the men and boys 
 who wear the stripes, one of the prisoners, a Catholic, who 
 has been behind the bars for almost seventeen years, remark- 
 ing that this was the best service they had had there during 
 his long term of imprisonment. No one, be he Christian 
 or pagan, could have listened to the service at the prison 
 chapel last Sunday without being convinced that there was 
 an opening for unselfish work among prisoners and that 
 this lady was pre-eminently fitted for such work. There is 
 no mawkish sentimentality about her, but an all absorbing 
 zeal in the work of leading the criminals, the erring, the 
 lowly, the sick and the afflicted to Christ and a better life. 
 It is doubtful if there is an ordained minister in the land 
 who can do as much good in this field as this plain, unpre- 
 tentious, but thoroughly consecrated woman. She has 
 now been nearly five years in this work, and has visited 
 nearly every .prison in the United States and Canada, a few 
 in Mexico, and also the jails, reformatories, houses of 
 refuge and hospitals in all the prominent cities through 
 which she has passed. She has traveled almost 100,- 
 ooo miles and has never met with an accident. Wher- 
 ever she goes she is kindly received, non-Christians in 
 fact treat her better than those whose sympathy and co- 
 operation she has a right to expect. Thus does the world 
 ever recognize and honor earnest, conscientious and capable 
 laborers in the cause of God and humanity. She never 
 allows a collection to be taken up in her behalf, though fre- 
 quently invited to speak in churches, but accepts such offer- 
 ings as may come without solicitation. Last Sunday, while 
 she and the citizens in the audience were retiring from the 
 chapel, a Swedish servant girl, whose name is unknown to 
 the writer, took from her scanty purse a silver dollar and 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 495 
 
 gave it to Mrs. Wheaton. If the lesson of the story of the 
 widow's mite be true this humble girl's gift was greater 
 than that of the millionaire who gives thousands of dollars 
 toward, tfce. ..ejection of a magnificent church edifice. Still- 
 water, Minn., Messenger,- Oct. 27, 1888. 
 
 MRS. WHEATON 's ELOQUENCE. 
 
 CAUSES A SUFFERING WIFE TO FORGET HER BRUISES AND FOR- 
 GIVE HER CRUEL HUSBAND. 
 
 The case of Henry Cooper was brought up before 'Squire 
 F. yesterday afternoon at 2 o'clock. 
 
 Catharine Cooper stated that her husband had beat her 
 brutally on last Saturday afternoon and that this was not 
 the first ill treatment she had received at his hands. 
 
 The court room was converted into a prayer meeting and 
 Mrs Wheaton's prayers presented an affecting scene ; be- 
 fore the trial was ended Mrs. Cooper asked to withdraw her 
 prosecution and was willing to forgive her cruel husband. 
 'Squire F. ordered the prisoner to be taken to the work- 
 house to work out the cost of the suit. Chattanooga, Tenn., 
 paper. 
 
 FROM A PRISONER IN THE PRATT MINES STOCKADE, ALABAMA. 
 
 To the Chronicle : 
 
 Supposing a line or two from our prison, its surround- 
 ings, happenings, etc., would be acceptable, prompts me to 
 drop you this. 
 
 The monotony of prison life is such that hardly anything 
 transpires, that would command the notice of a news re- 
 porter, or draw an article from a newspaper correspondent. 
 But, Mr. Editor, we had something to take place here last 
 night that beats anything we ever saw or heard of. 
 
 About the time all the convicts had finished eating the 
 evening meal, Captain P. J. Rogers announced that all 
 
49-6 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 should remain seated awhile, to hear preaching. Now to 
 hear preaching is no uncommon occurrence here, Brother 
 Rush preaches regularly for us, and occasionally other min- 
 isters deliver discourses upon the importance of living the 
 life of a Christian, so when Capt. R. announced that we 
 were about to have preaching, no one experienced much 
 motion of spirit. The minds of those who gave the matter 
 any thought were picturing in expectation, a man, perhaps 
 baldheaded, clad in a long priestly robe with Bible and 
 Hymn-book in hand, and of a solemn, or sanctimonious 
 countenance, others, perhaps, drew a different man in ap- 
 pearance, but none had drawn the picture correctly. 
 
 Imagine our surprise when instead of a man, a woman of 
 mature age, clad in the usual mourning apparel worn by 
 the ladies, armed with Bible and Hymn-book, mounted the 
 rostrum, and announced that she was going to preach to us. 
 This announcement at once produced the most profound 
 and reverential silence imaginable every eye was at once 
 riveted upon the face of the fair preacher, whose counte- 
 nance wore a pleasant smile and indicated an affectionate 
 and amiable disposition, and complete surprise or amaze- 
 ment was vivid upon the countenance of her entire audience. 
 The discourse was one worthy of the attention of all who 
 heard it the sufferings of Jesus in and around Jerusalem 
 His temptation and trial of toil and misery His holy life 
 His triumphant death and resurrection His grand ascen- 
 sion to the realms of the blessed, were eloquently delineated. 
 The certainty of death the shortness of life the never 
 ending of the life beyond the grave were theories eagerly 
 pressed for reception upon the minds of her hearers. Tak- 
 ing all in all, the discourse was well delivered and spiced 
 with enough enthusiasm to produce good effect. But, Mr. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 497 
 
 Editor, the idea of a woman canvassing the world in behalf 
 of the church is simply an incident so unusual that quite a 
 number of us here eagerly inquire, what has become of the 
 men? * * * * 
 
 Elizabeth R. Wheaton, for such is the name of our dis- 
 tinguished visitor, related among other things, that she was 
 called and led by the God of Glory to go all over the world 
 and preach the gospel to the lost children of men, that the 
 prisons, saloons, dens of sin and pollution were the places 
 of her special care. The huts of the poor and outcast were 
 by her to be visited and that she did not ask for money, 
 that her Master had promised to provide all things tor her 
 and did so dafly. 
 
 SAW MOTHER WHEATON. 
 
 THE NOTED PRISON EVANGELIST VISITED THE COUNT\ J AIL 
 PRISONERS TODAY. 
 
 A kindly faced, white-haired old lady walked into the 
 county jail this morning and asked permission to address 
 the prisoners. She was "Mother" Elizabeth Rider Wheaton, 
 the prison evangelist, who is known from coast to coast. 
 As soon as her identity was made known Turnkey Reynolds 
 and his corps of assistants did their utmost to assist the 
 generous old lady. She was shown through the building, 
 and then allowed to enter each ward. 
 
 From ii o'clock until long after the noon hour she re- 
 mained with the unfortunates, visiting them separately and 
 then preaching to all. Tears were in the eyes of many of 
 these hardened criminals before she had finished. 
 
 "Mother" Wheaton was met at the jail entrance and 
 asked to explain her system of working. "It is all done by 
 faith," she said. "I have faith in God, and that is sufficient 
 
498 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 4 
 
 He will provide me with all that is necessary to carry on 
 this work." 
 
 "Under whose guidance do you work?" was asked. 
 
 "The Lord's, and His only," was the reply. 
 
 "But are you not employed by some religious sect?" 
 
 "No. I do this on my own responsibility, and for the 
 glory of God. For the past fifteen years this has been my 
 life's work. I go where I please and do as I please." 
 
 "How far have you traveled?" 
 
 "Thousands and thousands of miles. Last year I was 
 in Europe and have been all over America." 
 
 For the past forty years "Mother" Wheaton has been 
 a professed believer in Christianity. Fiften years ago she 
 started in the work of visiting prisons, and has been in e\ery 
 place of detention in any city of note. She is received with 
 the utmost courtesy both by the officials and the prisoners. 
 Many of the latter have met her at different places, and 
 most all the officials are acquainted with her and her work. 
 A Detroit paper. 
 
 THE PRISON EVANGELIST. 
 
 MRS. E. R. WHEATON DELIVERS AN ADDRESS AT THE PENI- 
 TENTIARY CHAPEL SUNDAY MORNING. 
 
 The service at the penitentiary chapel Sunday was made 
 memorable by the presence and discourse of Mrs. E. R. 
 \Vheaton, the world-known prison evangelist. Chaplain 
 Winget conducted the services and offered the invocation 
 and in a few explanatory remarks introduced Mrs. Whea- 
 ton. Mrs. Wheaton's hair is white as silver, but she still 
 retains her ever-youthful appearance and sprightly step. 
 She sang in an indescribably sweet, but powerful, voice 
 "Some Mother's Child." At the -conclusion of the singing 
 Mrs. Wheaton preached a wonderful discourse, "I was 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 499 
 
 on my way to Jerusalem," said she, "and had gotten as far 
 as London, England, when the Lord turned me back to my 
 own country and to my suffering boys in prison ; and I said 
 God bless my children, my boys, for I am their mother. 
 
 "Oh! how sad and discouraged many of you are, but if 
 you will believe in God and read your Bible you will be 
 comforted. How can any man have the heart not to be- 
 lieve the Bible and rest his case upon the bosom of the good 
 Lord who died for us ? I thank God that the good old-time 
 religion still lives. The devil, my children, causes you all 
 your sufferings and sorrows. Exchange him for Jesus. 
 He will keep you. Forgive your enemies and submit your- 
 self to the officers of the prison. You must obey it is the 
 Lord's will. He has placed you here for his own purpose, 
 maybe for your soul's good and salvation. Jesus says, 
 'Come to me all ye that are heavy laden and I will give you 
 rest.' Have faith. I am so sorry when some of you do 
 wrong for the innocent must suffer with the guilty and 
 society becomes stern with you. God bless you all." Colum- 
 bus, Ohio, paper. 
 
 MRS. ELIZABETH RIDER WHEATON PREACHES TO UN- 
 FORTUNATES. 
 
 VISITS THE BRIDEWELL AND HEARS THE COMPLAINT OF ONE 
 OF THE CITY'S CHARGES. 
 
 "What's the use ? What have I to hope for ? Who cares 
 for me? Who'll help me? What can I do when my time 
 expires? Everybody's hand will be against me! A hope- 
 less drunkard is past redemption." 
 
 Tears came to the eyes of Mrs. Elizabeth Rider Wheaton 
 yesterday afternoon as she heard these words fall from the 
 lips of a dejected prisoner at the bridewell. The prison and 
 train evangelist whose work for fifteen years among con- 
 
5OO PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 victs had brought her many such questions, which she was 
 unable to answer to the satisfaction of the prisoners, spoke 
 to the wretched man in tender tones, and told him of the 
 consolation offered by religion. 
 
 "But," she said, turning to a reporter, "what can I do 
 in one conversation? It needs many. I'm going back to 
 Chicago next week, and I intend to devote considerable 
 time to every prison and house of refuge in the city. I 
 haven't done any work in the city since the anarchist exe- 
 cution." 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton's methods of evangelizing are sometimes 
 dramatic. For instance, Mrs. Wheaton arrived in Chicago 
 from St. Louis on a Wabash train early yesterday morning. 
 Night before last, while the train was speeding along in 
 the darkness, the occupants of the reclining chair car were 
 startled. 
 
 "Look out!" cried a voice in shrill tones. "We're coming 
 to a high bridge. Before we reach it we pass over a curve. 
 The rails may be all right, the bridge may be safe; but 
 who knows?" 
 
 The passengers turned around in their seats. They looked 
 frightened and appeared anxious to know whether there 
 was really an impending danger. They saw only a woman 
 whose face, softened by grief, .bore lines of pain and care. 
 She was Mrs. Wheaton. 
 
 "But the Christian is not afraid to die," she continued. 
 "He welcomes death as a release from care and a blessing." 
 
 Then the evangelist preached a sermon, to which all 
 listened with attention. 
 
 Although Mrs. Wheaton has visited every state in the 
 Union many times during her fifteen years of missionary 
 work, she has been in a sleeping car but once. Railroads 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 50 1 
 
 give her passes. She has no property, and, of course, can 
 collect no money from convicts, though occasionally she 
 teceives a contribution on trains. 
 
 "The trouble of it all," said she after her talk with the 
 man in the bridewell, "is not in the prisons. It is after the 
 convicts get out. For that, humanity is to blame. Prison- 
 ers have not much hope, and some of them accept religion 
 in a tentative sort of way. 
 
 "When they are released they are hounded by the police, 
 marked by all citizens as ostracized men, unable to get em- 
 ployment, and, in fact, the second termers tell me they are 
 reduced almost to the necessity of choosing between starva- 
 tion and stealing. Those whose conversion is real do 
 neither, because no man need ever starve in this country, 
 but the weak go under and are brought back to jail. What 
 the world needs is more Christian charity. We should for- 
 give, as our Saviour did, seventy times seven." 
 
 In addition to her charm as a speaker, Mrs. Wheaton is 
 a singer of no mean ability. She is not a believer in men 
 who accept religion for the sake of business and put on a 
 sanctimonious air, The view that she takes of life meets 
 with favor among the convicts, and she sings a song called 
 "The Twin Ballots," which illustrates her opinion on the 
 temperance question. The song is about two rum votes that 
 sanctioned the license plan, "but one was cast by a cunning 
 brewer and one by a Sunday-school man." 
 
 The evangelist left last night for Pittsburg, but will re- 
 turn next week. She said she wished to impress upon 
 people the fact that converted prisoners are not hypocrites, 
 although the guards often suspect insincerity and treat a 
 converted man worse than any other, because they think he 
 is seeking to curry favor. A Chicago paper. 
 
502 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 A DISGRACEFUL PROCEEDING. 
 
 Thursday afternoon, Mrs Elizabeth R. Wheaton, the noted 
 prison evangelist, accompanied by a sister, asked permission 
 from a policeman, which was granted, to hold a street meet- 
 ing for religious purposes. 
 
 After singing some hymns, which, from their superior 
 rendition, attracted a large crowd, Mrs. Wheaton, an el- 
 derly lady who has devoted seven years of her time entirely 
 to prison evangelical work, began an earnest exhortation to 
 sinners. After preaching for a few minutes Officer C. came 
 up and said that the mayor had ordered him to put a stop 
 to the proceedings. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton said she would do her duty without fear 
 of man and continued for a moment longer. Then the party 
 knelt on the snow and began to pray for the mayor and the 
 policeman. While they were praying the officer came up 
 closely followed by Mayor J., and roughly pushed Mrs. 
 Wheaton over. The mayor with fire in his eye as well as 
 his complexion, spoke in a very rude manner to the ladies, 
 practically endorsing the rough treatment already accorded 
 the party. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton showed The Dispatch credentials from 
 very high sources and a very bulky bundle of railroad passes 
 which gave substantial evidence of the manner in which she 
 and her work are regarded elsewhere. 
 
 She has traveled over the United States and Mexico, and 
 parts of Europe, and it remained tor a Leadville mayor to 
 break the record and treat her with indignity. She was 
 very much shocked and grieved and said she felt deeply 
 sorry for Leadville, which she had often heard spoken of 
 as a wicked city. 
 
 The Dispatch is free to say that Mayor J. acted without 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 503 
 
 adequate provocation and displayed an unnecessary exercise 
 of authority. If the services had been prolonged to any 
 great extent he might have sent a request to have them dis- 
 continued, but there was no occasion for any such arbitrary 
 exhibition of power as was made. 
 
 Far greater blockades with less meritorious objects have 
 existed without protest in Leadville. A medicine faker who 
 pays a few dollars license can yell and sing and make night 
 hideous for hours and it is all right, but a humble evangel- 
 ical missionary, whose sincerity and good intentions are not 
 doubted, however persons may differ concerning the methods, 
 is unceremoniously made to move on. If the authorities 
 displayed as much zeal in suppressing vice as they do in 
 shutting off missionaries, Leadville would be a model city. 
 
 The prison evangelists, after having been ordered off 
 Harrison avenue, visited both city and county jails, where 
 they were kindly received and permitted by the officers to 
 hold services among the prisoners. It is said that this is the 
 first religious service held in the Leadville jails. Leadville, 
 Colo., Dispatch, March, 1891. 
 
 DISGRACEFUL. 
 
 Last night, when the ladies who have been conducting re- 
 ligious services in the park, were preparing to close, some 
 miscreant in human form threw a small torpedo at them 
 and struck Mrs. Wheaton above the right eye. It did not 
 produce any serious injury, but was very painful at the 
 time, and may terminate worse than at first supposed. This 
 act evidently issued from some low, depraved fiend whom 
 the darkness of the hour shielded from justice. The ladies 
 departed from the city this morning, and the exact result 
 of the disgraceful episode cannot be learned. As soon as it 
 was done some man in the crowd offered $100 reward for 
 
504 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 the identification of the party who did the dastardly trick, 
 but of course no one knew who the miscreant was except 
 he himself. Jacksonville, 111., paper, June 26, 1887. 
 
 THE PRISON EVANGELIST. 
 
 "Elizabeth Rider Wheaton, prison evangelist, Chicago, 
 111. Meet me in heaven. No home but heaven." This is 
 what is printed on the card of a remarkable woman who 
 visited the penitentiary and talked to the convicts at n 
 o'clock on Sunday. This woman has been engaged in this 
 work for about nine years, and she has visited nearly every 
 prison and jail in the United States, Canada and Mexico. 
 She is the Moody of the convict world. She asks for no 
 money. She gives her services free, and trusts to Provi- 
 dence for her support. "The Lord provides," she says. 
 She has held services in a different state or territorial prison 
 the past five Sundays, from Still water, Minn, (where Cole 
 Younger is confined and assists in and sometimes leads re- 
 ligious services), to Salem, Oregon. Mrs. Wheaton also 
 visits reform schools. She is one of the chief advocates of 
 the reformatory system being adopted in some of the East- 
 ern prisons whereby convicts of different classes are graded 
 and kept separate, wear different uniforms, etc., and are 
 also let out on furloughs on trial or probation. Mrs. 
 Wheaton devotes her whole time to prison work. She cer- 
 tainly accomplishes some good from all this effort. She was 
 a Methodist before taking up this life work, but now holds 
 to nc sect. Salem, Oregon, paper, Nov. 16, 1891. 
 
 A NOBLE WORK. 
 
 Among the evangelistic workers who go out among the 
 people seeking the low and degraded and trying to lift them 
 up to be better men and women, Elizabeth R. Wheaton is 
 one of the chosen few who is well adapted to this work. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 505 
 
 She asks no pay and receives none, but with noble purpose 
 and with heart and mind fully in the work which has been 
 given her, she travels from Maine to California and from 
 British Columbia to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 Her work is chiefly among the state prisons, county jails 
 and reform schools. Here she meets a class of people 
 schooled in vice and who have been kept face to face with 
 the different evils all their lives ; these are the people whom 
 she seeks to save. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton has just returned from a successful trip 
 through Mexico and the South and is now on her way to 
 Walla Walla, Portland and British Columbia. She stopped 
 off here to visit our penitentiary and jail. Through the 
 kindness of the warden she held a song service last Sunday 
 at the State penitentiary, and the amount of good which she 
 did was shown by the eager attention of the convicts, and 
 the tear-stained faces of some who, when the good old- 
 fashioned hymns were sung, thought of their fai-away 
 homes and mothers. Sunday evening she held services at 
 the jail and on the street, both of which were much appre- 
 ciated. Unidentified. 
 
 GOSPEL FOR THE PRISONERS. 
 
 THE INMATES OF ATLANTA'S PRISONS HEARD PREACHING 
 YESTERDAY. 
 
 The prisoners at police headquarters, at the jail and at 
 the city stockade listened to the gospel of Christ yesterday. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Rider Wheaton, the famous prison -evan- 
 gelist, of Washington, held services at all these places. 
 Her talks were of the most interesting character and evi- 
 dently made deep impressions upon her hearers. 
 
 The service at the jail was held in the morning, the one 
 
5O6 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 at the stockade in the afternoon, and the one at the police 
 station at night. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton is perhaps the most famous evangelist of 
 her kind in the country. She makes a specialty of this work 
 and follows it closely week after week. She has preached 
 to convicts and prisoners in every state in the Union, fre- 
 quently traveling as far as 700 miles between Sundays in 
 order to make an appointment. She has letters of introduc- 
 tion from the governors of many states, and free passes on 
 railroads. She is here with the Christian Workers, but is 
 not a delegate. Atlanta, Ga., paper, Nov. 14, 1893. 
 
 PRISON EVANGELISTS. 
 THE INMATES OF THE COUNTY JAIL TREATED TO A SERMON. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Rider Wheaton, the prison evangelist, who 
 has been traveling over the United States for ten years past, 
 and two sisters from Washington, D. C, and Kansas City, 
 arrived in the city this morning and held religious service 
 in the county jail. The twenty-four inmates of the bastile 
 were much pleased with the service. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton and her companions held services yester- 
 day at the prison at Lansing, Kan., where 900 convicts are 
 confined. Lately they have come from the convict camp of 
 South Carolina and Mrs. Wheaton can tell many tales of the 
 sufferings endured by the 'prisoners there. Unidentified. 
 
 THE NEWS AT LEAVEN WORTH. 
 
 MOTHER WHEATON, PRISON EVANGELIST, VISITS THE UNITED 
 STATES PRISON. 
 
 Religious services at the federal penitentiary at Fort 
 Leavenworth yesterday were somewhat out of the usual 
 order. Mother Wheaton, the prison evangelist, late of Wash- 
 ington, D. C., now of Iowa, preached to the convicts at the 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 507 
 
 morning hour. Her address was a most effective one and 
 men all through the audience were moved to tears. At the 
 close of the service she stood at the chapel door and shook 
 the hand of each prisoner as he went out. 
 
 Her head is white with age, yet she has visited the prisons 
 of the United States and many in Europe, bearing messages 
 of hope and cheer to the condemned. She is not alone a 
 woman of ready speech, but is a sweet singer as well. Her 
 life is dedicated to her work, and many is the unfortunate 
 who has cause to bless the visit of Mother Wheaton. Mrs. 
 T., of this city, accompanied her to the prison. Leaven- 
 worth, Kan., paper. 
 
 JAIL SERVICE. 
 
 The inmates of the county jail were honored yesterday 
 by a visit from that well known prison evangelist, Eliza- 
 beth Rider Wheaton, who was accompanied by a Mrs. S., 
 of Kansas. Mrs. Wheaton conducted religious services and 
 her talk had a deep effect upon murderer Williamson, the 
 old man being visibly moved. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton has made the visiting of prisons, con- 
 demned men and fallen women hej- life work, and in the 
 course of her travels during the past seven years has visited 
 Europe, the British provinces, Mexico and the United 
 States. As an example of her earnest efforts it may be 
 mentioned that during the past thirteen Sundays she has 
 visited and held services in fourteen different state peni- 
 tentiaries. Mrs. Wheaton is a lady of striking appearance. 
 She has a motherly countenance and a magnetism which at- 
 tracts the closest attention to what she says. Her discourse 
 yesterday was eloquent, yet at times plain and pointed to 
 severity. Mrs. Wheaton left yesterday on the afternoon 
 train for the Pacific coast. Sedalia, Mo., paper, November, 
 1891. 
 
508 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 PREACHED TO CONVICTS. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Rider Wheaton, the noted evangelist, and 
 Mrs. Perry, who are engaged in preaching and working 
 among the prisons, visited the Virginia penitentiary yester- 
 day and held services in each chapel. Their exhortations 
 and singing were of a high order and produced a powerful 
 effect among the prisoners. Many of them made a profes- 
 sion of faith. Mrs. Wheaton has preached in most of the 
 penitentiaries of the United States. She has also traveled 
 and preached in Canada and Mexico as well as in the Old 
 World. The ladies are being entertained by Superintendent 
 Lynn and will remain in the city several days. 
 
 POLICE STATION SERVICES. 
 
 MRS. ELIZABETH RIDER WHEATON TALKS TO THE MEMBERS 
 OF THE FORCE. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Rider Wheaton, the evangelist, was at the 
 police station last night at roll call and held a short service 
 for the benefit of the members of the police force. She de- 
 livered an interesting address to the officers and offered a 
 prayer, after which she led them in a song. The officers 
 expressed themselves as having been greatly benefited by the 
 service, and the evangelist was invited to call again. 
 Unidentified. 
 
 SERVICES AT THE WORKHOUSE. 
 
 "Mother" Wheaton, the prison evangelist, who was men- 
 tioned last Monday as holding meetings in Island Park the 
 day before, called at the police station this morning to ask 
 permission to talk and sing to the prisoners confined in the 
 workhouse. The permission was granted. The lady has 
 traveled extensively in her evangelistic work, making flying 
 trips all over the United States especially. Within the last 
 thirty days she has talked to prisoners at Walla Walla, Ta- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 5OQ 
 
 coma and in other northwestern cities While in this 
 city she is the guest of her sister, Mrs. Huffman, of Ken- 
 wood Elkhart (Ind.) Paper. 
 
 A STRANGE LIFE OF DEVOTION IN NEGLECTED FIELDS. 
 
 The prisoners in the Dade coal mines made the acquaint- 
 ance yesterday of two women -two religious tramps, if 
 you please, using the word literally whose adventures in 
 evangelizing are probably without parallel. 
 
 They are Mrs. Elizabeth Rider Wheaton, the famous 
 prison evangelist, and her temporary assistant, Mrs. P. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton has for ten years been preaching in 
 prisons, convict camps, houses of ill-fame and the like, not 
 only in the United States, but in Canada, Mexico and 
 Europe. One, upon meeting her, would naturally be very 
 uncertain as to where one might or might not meet next this 
 spirit-led traveler recognizing which uncertainty, perhaps, 
 she has printed upon her cards, in lieu of an earthly ad- 
 dress : 
 
 "Meet me in heaven." 
 
 The two women visited the jail Thursday, becoming very 
 much interested in the case of P. S., it seems, on account of 
 his relationship to Rev. S. J. Mrs. Wheaton spoke of P. 
 as a "beautiful black-eyed young- married man." 
 
 They took part in the Christian alliance meeting Friday 
 afternoon at 51 James street, at which over thirty people 
 were present. 
 
 They will hold special services at the coal mine convict 
 camps to-day, returning to Atlanta within a few days. They 
 carry this letter an "open sesame" to every prison and 
 camp in Georgia : 
 
 "Atlanta, Ga., June 30. To the captain in charge of convict 
 camps in Georgia: I desire that each of you extend to these ladies, 
 
5IO PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton and Mrs. , any courtesies possible during their 
 
 stay with you; that they may be given opportunities to talk to the 
 men and women in your charge. I will particularly appreciate any 
 kindness shown them. The governor also requests that they be shown 
 courtesies. ' ' 
 
 It is signed by George H. Jones, the principal keeper. 
 "Courtesies," by the way, is spelled "curtisys" in the letter, 
 but it's official, and "it goes." 
 
 Return to Atlanta that is to say they will return unless 
 the spirit moves Mrs. Wheaton to go on from Chattanooga 
 to St. Louis, or Montreal, or Berlin, or somewhere else. 
 
 Coming to Atlanta on the Richmond and Danville, Mrs. 
 Wheaton was moved to hold services in the smoking car. 
 Just as the train was rolling out of Calhoun, S. C, Mrs. 
 Wheaton spied some convicts at work. 
 
 Convicts ! 
 
 Instantly she decided to stop over. She and Mrs. P. 
 bundled up their wraps and packages and got off 
 after the train had started. They knew nobody there. 
 They had no money that is, "not enough to count." Some- 
 how or other they got transportation to and from the sta- 
 tion, and supper, and to other works, and arranged a meet- 
 ing. It was a glorious meeting, they say. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton's faith and railroad passes, she adds 
 laughingly 'have kept her going for ten years. 
 
 She traveled 5,000 miles between one Sunday and the 
 second Sunday afterwards, collecting only fifty cents on the 
 way. 
 
 The Lord will provide, she knows. 
 
 The faith that removes mountains is here in reality. 
 
 Always on the go never stopping but a day or two in 
 one place meeting men to be hanged the next day pray- 
 ing with fallen women interceding with governors for 
 human life blindly following, without regard to time or 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 511 
 
 distance, the mysterious dictates of what she calls "the 
 Spirit." 
 
 She is so well known now throughout the United States 
 having been engaged in this work for ten years that she 
 is rarely refused a railroad pass. She has letters of com- 
 mendation from governors and prison authorities. * * * 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton's services in the jails and convict camps 
 are unique, remarkable for their fervency and impromptu 
 character. Singing plays an important part. * * * 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton has made many wonderful conversions 
 in the slums and prisons, and has seen many famous crim- 
 inals in their last hours. 
 
 She is the guest in Atlanta of Mrs. J. H. Murphy, at 267 
 East Cain street. Atlanta (Ga.) Herald, July 2, 1893. 
 
 PREACHING ON THE STREETS. 
 
 Thursday evening the sound of an alto voice singing a 
 familiar hymn on Sandy street, near Murphy's corner, soon 
 gathered a crowd, when a lady, whose hair was beginning 
 to silver with gray, mounted a box and preached to the 
 mixed assemblage a sermon, after which the singing was 
 resumed, the meeting- concluding with a fervent and earnest 
 prayer. A reporter called at the hotel and learned that 
 the lady was Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton, a prison evan- 
 gelist. Heretofore she has had a "sister" to travel with 
 her. She showed the reporter stacks of letters from the 
 wardens of various state penitentiaries, commending her, 
 and praising the work she has done in this specialty. She 
 has preserved files of newspaper criticisms, many of which 
 are complimentary of the work she has done, and some 
 from the secular press making light of her work. 
 
 That she is in earnest no one who considers that she has 
 given up home and friends and roamed all over the United 
 
512 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 States, Canada, Mexico and in part of Europe to preach to 
 unappreciative street crowds, prison convicts, etc., can doubt. 
 And whatever may be said of the method, as was illustrated 
 on the streets here last night, there are many reached with 
 a sermon that have not perhaps heard one for months. 
 Unidentified. 
 
 PRAYER SERVICE IN JAIL. 
 
 Through the efforts of Mrs. E. R. Wheaton, the prison 
 evangelist, the county jail was turned into a house of prayer 
 last evening, and for an hour or more the walls of the build- 
 ing resounded with the shouts of prayer and praise of this 
 earnest woman. 
 
 During the afternoon Mrs. Wheaton called on Gregory, 
 the horsethiet and desperado, and was the first to bring to 
 the surface in his case any signs of remorse or sentiment 
 of any kind. When the gray-haired and motherly woman 
 took the hand ot the confessed thief and ex-convict in hers 
 and prayed for him great tears flowed down his cheeks 
 and he was affected as none of the other prisoners had 
 been Gregory said he had known Mrs. Wheaton for four- 
 teen years. She does not remember him, but says it is not 
 unlikely that he has seen her if he has been in the several 
 prisons in which it is said he has served time, as .she has 
 been visiting them all off and on in her work for a great 
 many years Council Bluffs, Iowa, Nonpareil, Jan. 19, 
 1900. 
 
 THEIR WORK IS IN PRISONS. 
 
 Party of Evangelists Pay a Visit to the County Jail. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Rider Wheaton, the prison evangelist, 
 was in Butte for a short time yesterday on her way west, 
 and between trains conducted services in the corridor of 
 the county jail. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 513 
 
 In addition to being an earnest exhorter, Mrs. Wheaton, 
 despite the fact that she is well advanced in years, is the 
 possessor of a fine voice. When she sings in a prison the 
 most hardened criminals never fail to listen to her with 
 great respect. During the services in the jail yesterday 
 clerks and court officers ceased from their duties and with 
 the people who had business in the building, blocked the 
 passage ways leading to the jail to listen to her. The 
 other members of the party also delivered exhortations and 
 joined in the singing. The farewell hymn, given in a 
 clear soprano voice by Mrs. Wheaton, "God be with you 
 till we meet again," was especially sweet. Whether the 
 services made any lasting impression on the men behind 
 the bars cannot be known, but the fact remains that when 
 they were over there was an unusual quiet in the jail and 
 the air seemed more wholesome. From Butte she went to 
 Deer Lodge to visit the penitentiary. Butte, Montana, 
 paper, 1897. 
 
 STREET SERVICES. 
 
 On Wednesday and Thursday our town was visited by 
 two lady missionaries or preachers of the gospel. They 
 were perfect strangers here and claimed that their mission 
 was to try to open the eyes of sinful people and beg them 
 to come to Christ. They sang, prayed and preached upon 
 the streets, and at the colored church, having been refused 
 the use of some of the white churches. We know not whom 
 these persons are, or from where they came, but we do 
 know that they were very lady-like in their conduct, and 
 there was a terrible earnestness about their work. They 
 preached pure gospel in the most Christ-like manner that 
 it was ever our privilege to hear down upon their knees 
 in the streets, surrounded by a motley multitude, begging 
 
514 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 God in a most pleading and fervent manner to save the sin- 
 ners of this place, and singing glorious praises to Him on 
 this beautiful day of national thanksgiving, was a spectacle 
 that we had never expected to witness. Whether or not 
 this is proper in the eyes of the world we cannot say, but 
 if their work is earnest as it seems, they will be rewarded 
 in heaven. Unidentified. 
 
 FOR PRISONERS. 
 
 TOUCHING SCENES IN BANGOR JAIL.' GOOD DEEDS THAT 
 SHINE IN MORAL DARKNESS. 
 
 Never were gospel hymns words of comfort set to 
 hopeful music, sang more sweetly and earnestly, or with 
 better effect than were the songs of a plainly dressed woman 
 of tranquil face and gentle manner in the echoing corridors 
 of Bangor jail Tuesday afternoon. 
 
 This woman was Mrs. Elizabeth Rider Wheaton whose 
 home is everywhere in earth's saddest ways. She is a 
 prison evangelist and her card bears the simple admonition: 
 "Prepare to Meet Thy God." 
 
 She came lately to Maine, and arrived in Bangor Tues- 
 day noon from Belfast. On the train Mrs. Wheaton talked 
 of Christian things, and she sang hymns to the passengers 
 "Throw Out the Life Line" and other well-remembered 
 songs in a way that reached the hearts of all. When 
 she got here she went for a few minutes to a low-priced 
 hotel, and thence to the county jail. The officials received 
 
 her kindly, and the prisoners, who, after their dinner of 
 soup, had gone into the work shop, were brought in to 
 
 hear some of the kindest words and most touching songs 
 that they had listened to for many a day. 
 
 Those innocent and comfortable Christians who have 
 only heard hymns sung in churches or chapels to well- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 515 
 
 dressed and presumably good people can have no idea of 
 the sweetly weird effect of gospel melodies swelling in the 
 vast and dismal spaces of a jail, while gathered around are 
 the very lost sheep that the shepherds of churches are com- 
 manded to find. It is a reproachful picture from the real- 
 ism of blasted lives a startling, chilling glimpse of the 
 depth of wretchedness, lighted up by a feeble ray from the 
 goodness that yet survives amid it all. 
 
 Some old and hardened habitues of jails mock and sneer 
 at the voices raised in their behalf and scoff at the hands 
 held out to lift them up, but most men, in jail or out, treat 
 women like this with silent respect. It was so in the jail 
 Tuesday. 
 
 When the men had filed out to the broom shop again 
 Mrs. Wheaton went to a cell occupied by two elderly 
 women and talked and sang to them. The women, whose 
 wickedness all lay in drink, seemed pleased and affected. 
 They thought this evangelist the kindest they had ever 
 met. 
 
 The evangelist may hold some meetings here before she 
 leaves. She was much pleased with her reception in Ban- 
 gor, and would like to remain a few days. She has letters 
 of recommendation from the governors of several states and 
 from the officials of numerous prisons. She belongs to no 
 army or organization, but travels independently, doing 
 what good she can. Bangor, Me., paper. 
 
 ELIZABETH R. WHEATON. 
 
 THE NOTED PRISON EVANGELIST PAYS THE TRINIDAD JAILS 
 
 A VISIT. 
 
 Elizabeth R. Wheaton, the well-known prison evangelist, 
 arrived in the city Monday evening and yesterday visited 
 the county and city jails, where she talked and prayed with 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 the poor unfortunates confined therein. * * * More 
 than one poor fellow has blessed the short hour when her 
 motherly presence and sweetly spoken words of comfort 
 have made his fate seem easier to bear, while repentant tears 
 have filled the eyes of many a hardened criminal when 
 listening to her pleadings. She approaches the most de- 
 graded with a familiar motherly air, which at once wins 
 their most profound respect and reverence. * * * 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton expects to leave today for Pueblo where 
 she will be joined by a sister in the work, when they will 
 continue their journey together. She spoke very highly of 
 the courteous treatment received from the officers and of 
 the cleanly condition of the jails. Daily Advertiser, Trini- 
 dad, Colo. 
 
 VISIT FROM MISSIONARIES. 
 
 Elizabeth Rider Wheaton, better known as "Mother 
 Wheaton," the prison evangelist, and Mrs. Elizabeth Tay- 
 lor, of Tabor, Iowa, called at the Institution Thursday aft- 
 ernoon on a missionary errand. Mother Wheaton has spent 
 fifteen years in evangelical work among the inmates of 
 the various prisons throughout the United States. Her 
 friends among the convicts are numbered by the thou- 
 sands. We so rarely meet with any one who really sym- 
 pathizes with us in our misfortune that when these two 
 good women come inside the walls for no other purpose 
 but to encourage us to do better and give assurance of their 
 love and good wishes, we are made to feel that we are still 
 human and may hope for a better day. By reason of the 
 chapel building undergoing repairs, it was impossible for 
 them to meet many of the boys or hold services. A Prison 
 Paper. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 517 
 
 A REMARKABLE SCENE. 
 
 A WORK OF LOVE BY AN ELDERLY LADY. THE SCENERY OF 
 OAK CLIFF. 
 
 Last night the moon shed its full luster slightly dimmed 
 by thin clouds. 
 
 The crowd stood by a negro church at the point of the 
 hill, just above the creek banks at their intersection. The 
 view from the top of the hill was enchanting. 
 
 The lady passed the crowd and stopped in the moonshine 
 in front of the church. Here she was joined by a party of 
 three other ladies and two men, whom she had preceded 
 a little. Two of the ladies held babies in their arms. 
 
 In a strong and beautiful alto voice a song burst forth 
 from the lips of the elderly lady : "I Will Tell the Won- 
 drous Story of the Christ Who Died for Me." Her com- 
 panions joined her in the song and the refrain echoed far 
 and near over the hillsides: "Of the Christ who died for 
 me." 
 
 The inhabitants heard it. 
 
 But this is the part of Oak Cliff inhabited by negroes. 
 In response they swarmed out as would have done the 
 followers to the signal of Roderick Dhu. 
 
 Pretty soon the church was filled and a few white people 
 were among the audience drawn thither by the song. 
 
 The services were begun with prayer by the elderly 
 lady, whose hair, when she had removed her bonnet, shone 
 silvery gray. It was nothing out of the usual order of 
 prayers except that it was accompanied with unusual fer- 
 vor and simplicity being adapted to the circumstances. If 
 any had assembled through curiosity she prayed that their 
 hearts would be turned. 
 
 Then came other singing and prayer by a good colored 
 
5l8 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 sister named Cynthia Maria, who wore a white bonnet, and 
 chanted her words, making the scene a wierd one. 
 
 Then the elderly lady rendered in beautiful solo, "Oh 
 Christ, I am lost forever. I am to confront an angry God," 
 from which she began her discourse, pleading to her col- 
 ored hearers to open their hearts that night. She said she 
 had the old time religion. This announcement was greeted 
 with religious laughter from the congregation. The women 
 had not been allowed to preach and she thought that there 
 were souls in perdition on this account. People said that 
 she had no business there last night. She had business in 
 glory and was going to help crown Christ the Lord of 
 Lords. For seven years she had been a pilgrim and had 
 traveled from ocean to ocean and from state to state with- 
 out receiving a salary or taking up a cent. There was the 
 same God with her who was with Daniel in the lions' den, 
 and who led the Children of Israel through the Red Sea. 
 She had seen sore trouble, but there were few who knew 
 it. She had the old-time religion, and that was what her 
 hearers needed. She forsook home and country to go and 
 preach the gospel to convicts and fallen women and most 
 of her friends had forsaken her for this. She used to be 
 proud. She had given up pride and given up style. She 
 was glad that God had called the meeting. She did not 
 know that she was to preach there until yesterday after- 
 noon when someone informed her that the colored people 
 wanted her to preach. She had visited the county jail 
 last Sunday and prayed and sang with the prisoners. Some 
 of them had forgotten about the old-time religion and re- 
 quested her to sing the song having that title. 
 
 Here the woman began that song joined by the congre- 
 gation, a large number of whom got happy. It required 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 5IQ 
 
 the efforts of several of the colored portion of the congre- 
 gation to hold down one sister who wore a straw hat and 
 got shouting happy and paid no attention to her surround- 
 ings. 
 
 After a short talk by Rev. B., colored, the congregation 
 was dismissed. 
 
 Ax THE COLORED CHURCH. 
 
 MRS. ELIZABETH R. WHEATON LECTURES ON THE IMPORTANCE 
 
 OF CONVERSION SHE SAYS THE HARDEST PEOPLE 
 
 TO CONVERT ARE PREACHERS. 
 
 As a News reporter and a News special artist, guided 
 by a friendly star, wended their muddy way last night to 
 the little negro church upon the hill at Oak Cliff, they 
 overtook two solemn looking figures going up an incline. 
 One of them proved to be the famous prison evangelist, 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton. This lady turned her face to 
 the News emissaries and inquired in a sweet silvery tone: 
 
 "Going to church, brothers?" 
 
 "Yes, ma'am." 
 
 "Oh, God bless you, brothers, come on." 
 
 A few minutes later the church was reached. The pen- 
 itent sister with the white bonnet, who was inspired on 
 the previous night and started to shouting, had already ar- 
 rived, as also had the good sister who called on the base- 
 ball man to run from the devil. What influence drives 
 those simple worshipers to shouting and to imitate flying, 
 is a question for the psychologists. Certain it is that the 
 little and the great are linked together in this life and 
 perhaps the present is linked to the future. Quien sabe. 
 The meeting last night was free from shouting, but fervid 
 with emotion. On arriving in front of the church Mrs. 
 Wheaton turned her face to the pale moon, which had 
 
520 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 sailed high in the heavens, and sang "Sweet are the tidings 
 that greet the pilgrims' ear." As she sung she gesticu- 
 lated and her gray hair shone like silver. She had not gone 
 beyond the third line of the said stirring hymn before the 
 penitents inside of the church started to sing a hymn and 
 then the scene was as impressive as the music was dis- 
 cordant. The hymns over, Mrs. Wheaton knelt on the wet 
 ground and prayed while Deacon Banks did likewise in- 
 side of the church. The interjections were so many that 
 he was forced to -use short sentences. 
 
 "Come one, come all, while it is day." 
 
 "O, yes, Lord, we come, we'se a'comin'." 
 
 "O Lord, put the move on and call us away." 
 
 "O, yes, good Lord, we come." 
 
 At this point Mrs. Wheaton entered and ascended the 
 low pulpit from which, for a moment, she silently sur- 
 veyed the assembled multitude of black faces. She was 
 wreathed in smiles, looking like the sun of righteousness 
 shining on a dark, murky cloud of suffering humanity. 
 
 "God grant/' she observed, "that nobody goes down to 
 the lake of fire."' "God grant it, ma-a-a-m." "Oh-oh-bo-bo." 
 "Nobody knows de trouble I see," and any number of ex- 
 clamations each giving vent to an exclamation suited to 
 the feelings of the penitent. The mention of fire seemed 
 to cause a panic among the good colored people with a 
 single exception. He* was a dude who did not deign to 
 sit down, but stood near the door seemingly watching the 
 females. Only once did he drop on his knees and that was 
 when he discovered the News artist in the act of tracing 
 his outlines on the flyleaf of a prayer book. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton then lectured upon the importance of 
 conversion. As she proceeded, describing the fate of con- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 521 
 
 victs and other sufferers, the iron of the ways of the world 
 seemed to enter her soul and she wept. Nobody who hears 
 her doubts her sincerity. She does not criticise the fallen ; 
 she weeps for them. The folks in heaven do the same. 
 Only once last night did she criticise, and she said she did 
 it for a benevolent purpose, and as she did it (as indeed 
 throughout her entire remarks) the colored woman with 
 the man's straw hat interlarded her remarks with her own 
 opinions rendered in a whanging, chanting voice. This 
 was how it ran: "The churches have got away from the 
 old land marks [yes, ma'am; deed they has, ma'am]. It 
 is hard, hard work to reach preachers [yes, ma'am; yes, 
 ma'am]. The big white preachers and the colored preach- 
 ers are nearly just as bad [O Lord, yes; good Lord ye-e-s, 
 ma'am.] They put on plug hats, jewelry and the trickery 
 of the devil. If preachers would do their duty I would 
 not have to visit the penitentiaries. Oh, the hardest work 
 I have is to preach to preachers. [Dat's so, ma'am; dat's 
 so!] How many of you are living in lasciviousness, the 
 sin that's hidden but that God sees? It is going on in the 
 churches among some of the preachers. [Ah, yes, ma'am: 
 good Lord! Deed'n 'tis, ma'am]. Ah! I have got to go to 
 judgment and I will tell you the truth. There are other 
 sins, but I do not want to mention them because I feel that 
 you know all about them; but they won't be hidden and 
 unless you have a pure spirit and a clean heart you can 
 never see the face of God. Now say you will sin no more. 
 [Several voices in alto: A-a-a-men.] These white 
 churches," proceeded Mrs. Wheaton, "are a little worse 
 than the colored churches, for there is a little Holy Ghost 
 left in the Colored churches. Oh, how many of those white 
 church members are going down to hell! It grieves me 
 
522 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 to think of it. I'm going to meet some of you in glory. 
 After I get there the first ones I want to see crowned are 
 the poor convicts who have been murdered on the scaffold 
 after they had turned their faces to God, and those poor 
 convicts who have suffered, oh, you know not how much, 
 how much, without human sympathy." 
 
 At this point a sad-looking man volunteered a hymn, 
 during the singing of which much of Mrs. Wheaton's re- 
 marks v/ere drowned. Mrs. Wheaton resumed : "It troubles 
 my heart to see the people drifting down, down to hell. I 
 feel like getting down to the foot of the cross and crying 
 mercy For the attractions of this world I have no use; 
 I have no use for newspaper puffs. [They's no good, 
 ma'am- yes, ma'am.]'' 
 
 The way in which the penitents chimed in as Mrs. 
 Wheaton proceeded rendered it impossible to report her 
 fully. The best that could be done was to catch sentences 
 on the fly. The stronger she appeared to her colored list- 
 eners to seek for mercy the longer they sought it. Their 
 bodies were moved by their souls. Some swayed from 
 side to side ; . others placed their faces on their hands and 
 wept ; others wrung their hands, -and there was weeping and 
 wailing 
 
 This was the state of affairs at the conclusion of the ad- 
 dress. Just then Deacon Banks started i hymn and a few 
 others drifted off into different familiar hymns, so that 
 the music was varied. It was a spontaneous outburst of 
 songs of praise from away down in the bottom of af- 
 flicted hearts which pays no attention to the measures of 
 music. The singing was awful. One female screeched 
 and no two voices were in harmony. 
 
 At the conclusion ot the hymn a deacon kneeling by a 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 523 
 
 chair prayed, striking the chair with his fists while a hun- 
 dred voices accompanied him. It was impossible to follow 
 him throughout, but among other things he said : "I know 
 that hell is broad and eternity too long. Oh King, King 
 Lord have mercy on us. Guide us by the still water's side 
 and give us new pastures. Bless this congregation in the 
 hollow of thy hand, amen." 
 
 Mrs Wheaton informed the News reporter that she will 
 not go to Galveston. Dallas News. 
 
 PRISON WORKER VISITS TACOMA. 
 
 "MOTHER" WHEATON CALLS AT COUNTY JAIL AND FEDERAL 
 PENITENTIARY. KNOWN ALL OVER THE WORLD. 
 
 TWENTY-ONE YEARS OF HER LIFE DEVOTED 
 
 TO LABOR AMONG UNFORTUNATES 
 
 OF MANY NATIONS. 
 
 "I trust in God and the railroad men." 
 
 This is the explanation of her ability to carry on her 
 work, expressed by "Mother" Wheaton, the prison evan- 
 gelist, who has an international reputation for her work in 
 the penitentiaries of the United States, Canada, Mexico 
 and Europe. Mother Wheaton is in Tacoma carrying on 
 her work among prisoners, work that has taken her into 
 every penitentiary in the United States and Canada. For 
 over twenty-one years she has carried the gospel to the 
 men in stripes and to those who wear the broad arrow of 
 England's displeasure, and it is Mother Wheaton's boast 
 that during all that time she has never asked for a con- 
 tribution or received a cent of salary. 
 
 Mother Wheaton came to Tacoma from her headquar- 
 ters in Tabor, la., accompanying Miss Grace Yarrette, a 
 young woman who is going as a missionary to India. 
 
 MANY YEARS IN PRISON WORK. 
 
 There is no woman in the world, and perhaps no man. 
 
524 
 
 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 who has had the prison experience of Mother Wheaton. 
 The last twenty years of her life have virtually been spent 
 inside prison walls, and there is not many in the country 
 in which she is not a familiar figure. Long terms and lifers 
 all over the land know her. Frequently she inquires for 
 some prisoner whom death or the leniency of the law has 
 released, whom she has not seen or heard of for years. 
 
 Dressed in a soft gray suit, with a gray bonnet, Mother 
 Wheaton's appearance is distinctly motherly, and her smile 
 the personification of kindness and tenderness further bears 
 out the "Mother" by which she is known to thousands of 
 unfortunates. She is the guest of Mrs. Ellen M. Bates, 
 12 1 1 North Prospect street. She is at work from the time 
 she arises in the morning until services are over in the 
 evening. While her principal work is in the prisons and 
 penitentiaries she takes part in evangelical and religious 
 work and finds time to visit rescue homes where her ad- 
 vice is eagerly sought. 
 
 MANY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 "Experiences?" Mother Wheaton exclaimed, when asked 
 if her life had not been productive of many events out of 
 the ordinary run. "Experiences, why I have had so many 
 and such varied experiences that they are all a jumble in 
 my head. I have been in nearly every prison in the land. 
 I have consoled men who were but a few feet from the 
 gallows and I have held the hand of those unfortunates as 
 they sank into their last sleep in a cheerless prison hos- 
 pital. 
 
 "I have seen sights that made my blood run cold and then 
 I have had the joy of seeing the word of God prevail and 
 the most case-hardened sinners the human mind could con- 
 ceive of have reformed before me. It has been a curious 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 525 
 
 mixture of sunshine and shadows, but after twenty-one 
 years I think 1 can say that the sunshine has predominated. 
 I put my trust in God for my work and I trust the railroad 
 men for transportation, and between the two I believe I 
 have been fairly successful. 
 
 ONCE TAKEN FOR CARRIE NATION. 
 
 "I have spent nights in the toughest slums of New York, 
 Chicago and St. Louis, places where men by force of habit 
 always carry their hand near their hip pocket, and I have 
 not always been welcomed. Sometimes I have been roughly 
 handled, yes, indeed. Why, one time I was mistaken for 
 Carrie Nation. Of course I don't look like Carrie Nation, 
 and I would never thii.k of adopting smashing methods. I 
 was holding services in San Pedro, California, one night, 
 and went into a saloon. There were two bright looking 
 young men standing at the bar and I asked them to come 
 with me. The owner of the saloon was sitting at a faro 
 table in the back end of the saloon, and as soon as he 
 caught sight of me he rushed at me and literally threw me 
 out into the street. 
 
 "When he learned afterwards who I was he was very 
 sorry and avowed that he would never have treated me 
 in that manner had he not thought that I was Carrie Na- 
 tion and that I had a hatchet to chop up his expensive bar 
 fixtures 
 
 OPPOSES CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 
 
 "As sad an experience as 1 ever had in my life was my 
 effort to save the life of a young man who was condemned 
 to hang in Colorado. I heard of the case through the 
 young man's mother, who was heart-broken. I interceded 
 with Governor Peabody and secured a reprieve for a year, 
 and when Governor McDonald took office he fixed the date 
 
526 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 for the death of the young man I tried to save him the 
 second time, but public sentiment demanded his death. I 
 don't believe in capital punishment. I have seen how a 
 man can be punished in prison and I don't believe in taking 
 a life to avenge a life, foi stripped of all the specious ar- 
 guments which surround capital punishment, it simmers 
 down to nothing more than revenge. 
 
 ESTABLISHES NEW RECORD. 
 
 "I think I established a prison visiting record upon one 
 trip I visited five penitentiaries in as many states in a 
 week. I started at Deer Lodge, Montana; from there I 
 went to Boise, Idaho ; then to Rawlins, Wyo. ; then to Salt 
 Lake City, and from Salt Lake City to Lincoln, Nebraska, 
 all of which I call pretty fast traveling. I hold meetings on 
 the train, in depots, at water tanks, any place I can gather 
 a little knot of people together, and 1 could tell of some 
 queer conversions in out of the way places, the last places 
 in the world where you would expect the seed to sprout 
 and bear fruit. 
 
 "I was over to the federal prison on McNeil's Island 
 Saturday, and this morning I went to the county hospital. 
 This afternoon I called at the county jail. I will be here a 
 day or so longer and then must start East, as I have work 
 to do in New York City. You see I will have to stop at 
 the prisons on the way back and I have to make allow- 
 ance for delays." 
 
 Mother Wheaton has become interested in Grace Russell, 
 the young woman in the county jail, who is addicted to the 
 use of morphine. Mother Wheaton will try to secure a 
 place foi her in some home. Tacoma, Washington, paper 
 of July 31, 1905. 
 
OR A LAIK)R OF LOVE 527 
 
 I give the following extract from a Baltimore paper 
 published while I was there attending the Convocation of 
 Prayer in that city, January, 1903 : 
 
 SPIEITUAL ADVISEE OF FAMOUS CRIMINALS. 
 
 WORK OF "MOTHER" WHEATON IN PRISONS ALL OVER THE LAND. 
 
 For twenty years Mrs. Wheaton has been traveling throughout the 
 United States, Europe, Canada and Mexico, working among prison- 
 ers in hundreds of prisons and penitentiaries. On a number of occa- 
 sions she has converted criminals under death sentence. She has 
 preached in the Maryland Penitentiary. 
 
 Mrs. Wheaton came to Baltimore direct from Ohio, where she nad 
 been holding prayer in the cells of the state prison with eight men 
 condemned to die. She was in San Francisco a number of years 
 ago when Alexander Goldenson killed his sweetheart, Mamie Kelly, 
 and after Goldenson had been tried, convicted and sentenced to death 
 1 * Mother ' ' Wheaton prayed with him for forty days. The day of the 
 execution, September 14, 1888, he was converted through her instru- 
 mentality, and just before walking to the gallows she tied her silk 
 handkerchief about the condemned man's neck. 
 
 Is NOT A STRANGER. 
 
 OLD-TIMERS AT COUNTY JAIL GREET MRS. WHEATON AS 
 LONG-TIME FRIEND. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton, of Tabor, la., famous in this 
 and other countries as a worker among the inmates of 
 jails and penitentiaries, yesterday morning went to the 
 county jail and prayed and sang hymns with the prisoners 
 in the tanks. 
 
 Although her time was very much circumscribed, Mrs. 
 Wheaton shook hands with most of the prisoners, many 
 of whom had heard of her, and some of whom had met 
 her in other prisons. John King, awaiting his transporta- 
 tion to Walla Walla, and one of the most admittedly pro- 
 fessional criminals in the jail, stated that he had met 
 "Mother Wheaton" several times before, both at Salem 
 and at Walla Walla. 
 
528 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Both he and J. H. Le Roy, another old-timer, had many 
 anecdotes to tell of her kindnesses in past years. Paper of 
 August 9, 1905. 
 
 The above sketch was accompanied by a cut from protograph 
 taken by the reporter and a nicely finished photograph presented me. 
 From this photograph the cut was made that is inserted at the 
 beginning of this chapter. E. E. W. 
 
 PRISONERS ON BENDED KNEE. 
 INMATES OF COUNTY JAIL BOW IN PRAYER WITH MOTHER 
 
 WHEATON. 
 
 On bended knees and with low bowed heads nine pris- 
 oners at the county jail reverently followed a prayer ad- 
 dressed to the throne of grace in their behalf yesterday by 
 Mother Wheaton, the noted prison evangelist. Under the 
 remarkable influence of the woman who came among them 
 as a messenger of soul-saving, every rough instinct of the 
 men was quelled and every scoffing word hushed on their 
 lips. No more devout prayer meeting was ever held in a 
 sanctuary than that which took place in the jail corridor. 
 
 Mother Wheaton and a younger woman called upon the 
 prisoners and sang a song such as the men might have heard 
 their mothers or sisters sing in the long ago, when their feet 
 had not strayed from youthful paths of innocence. If there 
 was any inclination to ridicule or make light of the service 
 at the start, it was entirely subdued inside of five minutes. 
 Mother Wheaton talked to the men and told of the work 
 she has been doing for twenty years among the inmates of 
 jails and penitentiaries. She declared that she and her 
 assistant wanted to help save them. 
 
 There was no hesitation whatever when Mother Wheaton 
 asked the prisoners to get down on their knees. One and 
 all, the nine assumed the attitude of humble submission to 
 the deity and remained in that position until their patroness 
 had finished her petition for the pardoning of their sins. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 529 
 
 Some of the men were seen to blink significantly and wipe 
 their eyes with handkerchiefs. When the prayer was done 
 and another hymn rendered, the men joining in, hands were 
 shaken all around before the visitors departed. 
 
 Mother Wheaton has been coming to the Council Bluffs 
 jail for several years. She was in the city on her way from 
 Nevada to Wisconsin. Council Bluffs Paper. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 Furnished unto Every Good Work. 
 
 Who will man the life-boat, who the storm will brave? 
 Many souls are drifting helpless on the wave; 
 See their hands uplifted; hear their bitter cry: 
 "Save us ere we perish, save us ere we die! " 
 
 See! amid the breakers yonder vessel toss'd, 
 Onward to the rescue, haste, or all is lost; 
 Waves that dash around us cannot overwhelm, 
 While our faithful Pilot standeth at the helm. 
 
 Darker yet, and darker grows the fearful night, 
 Sound the trump of mercy, flash the signal light; 
 Bear the joyful message o'er the raging wave, 
 Christ, the heavenly Pilot, comes the lost to save. 
 
 Who will man the life-boat, who will launch awayf 
 
 Who will help to rescue dying souls to-day? 
 
 Who will man the life-boat, who will breast the wave! 
 
 All its dangers braving, precious souls to save? 
 
 Sel. 
 
 The dear Lord wants workers, both men and women, 
 whom He can trust in every line of Christian work, and 
 what do Christians most need in order to be successful soul- 
 winners for God? 
 
 First of all, it is to be born of the Spirit ; then to be filled 
 with the Holy Spirit, whereby we are sealed unto God. 
 Then the fruits of the Spirit will be manifest in our lives. 
 Of course, we should not presume to go out as mission 
 workers without a divine call from God. 
 
 The first thing, then, is to know God and then to know 
 ourselves as utterly helpless without the cleansing power 
 of the blood of Christ on our own souls. Then the especial 
 anointing for service in the vineyard of the Lord. If to 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 531 
 
 these be added a thorough knowledge of human nature and 
 a sincere desire for the salvation of souls, then the glory of 
 God will be revealed in us and we will be forgetful of seli 
 and alive to the needs of others. We must see men and 
 women lost, going down to eternal death and must reach 
 them at any cost and be willing to gladly suffer the loss 
 of all things that we might gain Christ and win souls for 
 Him. 
 
 We should acquire from the Lord the gift of adaptation 
 to any and all kinds of work, people and places. We must 
 see the people from their own standpoint and then from 
 God's standpoint and then have implicit confidence in God 
 and in the power of the blood of Jesus to cleanse from all 
 sin. We must be humble and meek and yet strong, through 
 faith in God and His promises. Is anything too hard for 
 the Lord? And has He not told us, "Greater works than 
 these shall ye do because I go unto my Father?" Is He 
 not at the Father's right hand, interceding for us and for 
 the souls to whom He sends us? 
 
 We must be all things to all men that we might win 
 some. We must watch for opportunities for service and 
 be quick to use them when they are given us. We must be 
 ready to launch out into the deep at the Master's com- 
 mand. We must have grace, not only to serve, but if need 
 be, to die, in order that souls might be saved souls that 
 are going to destruction for the want ot a kind word or a 
 helping hand at just the right time. I have often found 
 them upon the verge of suicide. Men and women in de- 
 spair, both in prison and outside, were goaded into des- 
 peration and the enemy of their souls was urging them to 
 end it all that nobody dared, and God had forgotten them. 
 
 How glad I have been to clasp their hand and tell them 
 
532 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 there was One who cared; that He loved them still and I 
 have seen the long pent-up tears start from their eyes and 
 hope has sprung up once more in their desolate hearts. I 
 hope to hear God say in the Day of Judgment of some, 
 "Here are the discouraged, the tempted and tried ones, who 
 were almost lost, but who were won through your faithful- 
 ness." To God be all the glory. 
 
 We must not seek our own ease. Jesus, in the Garden 
 of Gethsemane, would have died in agony, only that an an- 
 gel came and ministered unto Him, yet he prayed, "Not My 
 will, but Thine be done.'' Such must be our heartfelt cry 
 and we must abandon ourselves to God's will in all things 
 and forgetting ourselves and the opinions of the World, 
 seek to please Him only. Then He will make even our ene- 
 mies be at peace with us. 
 
 Multitudes all about us are going down to despair for 
 want of true love such as Jesus had when He said, "Father, 
 forgive them, for they know not what they do," and 
 "Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more." 
 
 Having this spirit, God has promised to furnish us unto 
 every good work. That is, every work to which He calls 
 us. We each have our responsibility to meet, our especial 
 capability, our gift or talent. Then let us adapt ourselves 
 to the work which God has given us to do not ignoring the 
 work of others, nor lording it over God's heritage, but each 
 abiding in the calling wherein we are called, having char- 
 ity for all, whether saints or sinners. Surely, with the field 
 so wide and the work so great, there is the greatest need 
 for love and the unity of the Spirit among all Christians. 
 Why there are so many divisions, I know not. I find true 
 and earnest hearts among all classes, all denominations and 
 all nationalities. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 533 
 
 Jesus prayed, before He ascended on high, for his chil- 
 dren, that they all might be one as He and the Father were 
 one one in purpose and one in heart. If we manifest this 
 oneness, sinners will come flocking home to God and souls 
 will be saved and God will get all the glory. The lack of 
 oneness among God's people stands in the way of souls and 
 the poor and ignorant are at a loss as to what to think or 
 believe. 
 
 Surely, there was never greater need for Holy Ghost, 
 Spirit-filled Christian workers than now, when false doc- 
 trine is proclaimed on every side and in every form. But 
 let Christians unite, losing sight of everything but God and 
 souls and it will not be long until God will fulfill his prom- 
 ise that a nation shall be born in a day. Oh, that there 
 might be a rallying of all of God's true children of every 
 class and nationality; that they might, with united forces, 
 charge upon the enemy and soon the world, which now 
 seems to be at variance, would be won for God and for our 
 Christ 
 
 THE MASSES ARE NOT REACHED through the ordinary 
 channels of the churches. Look at the need of the Gospel 
 being carried to the railroad and street-car men, the sol- 
 diers, sailors, policemen, firemen, and postmen. Are we 
 seeking to reach the people ? We must get the love of God 
 in our hearts to that degree that we will not only be willing 
 to suffer, but to die for them, and mean it mean business, 
 and fast and pray and call mightily on God for help and 
 direction, and look to Him for results. Don't expect an 
 easy time don't let us expect to be above our Master. 
 Jesus had no place to lay His head. He went among the 
 despised, the poor, the fallen, the lowest of earth ; and if 
 He were to return now, how many of us would He find 
 filling the places appointed us? 
 
534 PRISONS AND PRAYJiT 
 
 The Lord is ready to do exceeding abundantly above all 
 we can think or ask, and will bless every unselfish effort 
 on our part to help save a lost world. When the end comes 
 for you and me, dear one, let us have our lamps trimmed 
 and burning, ready to go in to the marriage supper of the 
 Lamb, which is to soon take place. 
 
 God help us do our part, to be instant in season and out 
 of season ; to keep free in our souls ; to be filled with the 
 spirit of Jesus; to be ever ready with a kind word, 
 a "God bless you," a silent prayer, a warm hand- 
 clasp. Let us be quick to follow the leadings of the Holy 
 Spirit, humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God. 
 Let us take a firmer hold on God and be ourselves in His 
 hands. Let us see our own responsibility as God sees it, 
 and by His grace measure up to it. 
 
 Then the hosts of hell shall not be able to prevail against 
 us and God will use us to his glory, and with hearts filled 
 with love and compassion, we will go forward and God 
 will go with us and give us victory. 
 
 MY BOY IN INDIA. 
 
 Some years ago the Lord made plain to me that I should 
 support a famine orphan in India, and since that time He 
 has enabled me to give twenty dollars per year for the sup- 
 port of my adopted son, John Ryder Wheaton, named for 
 my brother, who departed this life a few years ago, and for 
 myself. I give his picture and a copy of his first letter to 
 me, translated by one of the missionaries ; also some letters 
 from Brother and Sister Jarvis, in charge of the Orphan- 
 age in Lahore, India. We ask the prayers of our readers 
 for this dear boy, and if God should lay it upon any of 
 your hearts to provide for one of these famine orphans, any 
 money sent to the Missionary Home in Tabor, Iowa, will 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 
 
 535 
 
 be promptly forwarded to any orphanage or missionary you 
 may designate. God has laid this boy upon my heart, and 
 the tie is dearer, perhaps, because I am alone in the world, 
 having laid my only child in the grave with my husband. 
 My heart was touched when I received this letter from 
 John's own hand, and sometimes I long to see and know 
 
 I 
 
 ; 
 
 m 
 
 JOHN RYDER WHEATON, INDIA FAMINE BOY. 
 
 him for myself. He is being trained for a missionary, and 
 when my labors are ended, I hope to see him coming home 
 from India, bringing his trophies with him precious souls 
 from his own native land, and that there we may praise 
 the Lord through all eternity together. 
 
536 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Lahore, Frontier Faith Mission, April 12, 1904. Dear 
 Mama : Salam, I am well by the grace of Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and hope you are well. Matter is this that I live 
 here very happy, few days ago that the fever and cough at- 
 tacked me so I went to the hospital, now 1 am well and do 
 my duty. I learned the work of Gardener. I pray every 
 day. May God help me and make me His true Christian 
 and grant me abundant grace. I also hope that you do 
 pray for me. I pray for you. Here are all well. I am also 
 with other boys well. My compliment to you, 
 
 Your son, 
 
 JOHN WHEATON, 
 Head Gardener. 
 
 Frontier Faith Mission and Orphanage, Lahore, N. In- 
 dia, Dec. n, 1901. Dear Sister Wheaton We have cho- 
 sen for you a bright little boy by the name of Ruthena, 
 about ten years old. He is one of our brightest little boys, 
 one that bids fair to be something for God. He is a shoe- 
 maker by trade and is doing well at4t. We are endeavor- 
 ing to teach the boys trades, wanting them to be like Paul 
 where they can preach the Gospel while they make tents 
 for a living. Ruthena is a bright boy in every way and 
 will be named John Ryder as you wished We do not have 
 time to write often but our hearts are with you. 
 Yours for India's redemption, 
 
 LAURA E. JARVIS. 
 
 Lahore, N India, Sept. 18, 1902. My Dear Sister 
 Your dear boy is healthy and well. He is such a 
 help, and seems to know just what to do at the right time. 
 We feel that we can count on him at all times. He is a 
 precious Christian boy, and God is using him. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 537 
 
 God is blessing our precious children, and the work i< 
 going forward. We are so glad to be on our own land. 
 Our homes are only temporary, but our faith is in God for 
 the permanent ones. He says no good thing will He with- 
 hold from them that walk uprightly. 
 
 Your Sister seeking the lost, 
 
 L. E. J. 
 
 Lahore, North India, August 20, 1903. Dear Sister 
 Wheaton Your kind offering of twenty dollars for the, 
 support of your boy, John, is very thankfully received. 
 The Lord bless and repay you Continue to pray for him, 
 and for the rest of our great family. God is hearing prayer 
 for us. There are some slight fever cases among the chil- 
 dren. This is our sickly season. Unite in prayer that our 
 workers may keep well. We are all burdened because of 
 the lack of workers and much has to remain undone. 
 
 Though burdened, we will stand at our post until Jesus 
 comes. (R. V.) Our faith is in God. So many young 
 people at home seem to be wasting their lives and talents, 
 when they might be doing so much for God in this land. 
 
 Your brother seeking the lost, 
 
 ROBERT JARVIS. 
 
 Lahore, N. India, March 16, 1904. 
 
 My Dear Sister Wheaton Greetings in Jesus' name. 
 "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white 
 already to harvest." 
 
 I write to tell you today that your boy John is quite poor- 
 ly He has been having an attack of lung fever. I believe 
 that in answer to prayer God will raise him up. I felt he 
 would have better care in the hospital than we could give 
 him, so we took him there, but we go to see him frequently, 
 and I will keep you posted as to how he is doing. I know 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 you are interested and are praying for him. We thank you 
 much for your interest, and all you are doing for him. I 
 hope you are keeping well and seeing souls saved. 
 
 John was a real help in the garden outside of school 
 hours. He has always been a willing little worker. God 
 bless you much, dear Sister Wheaton, and use you greatly, 
 is our prayer. 
 
 Your sister, 
 
 L. E. JARVIS. 
 
 Lahore, N. India, April 12, 1904. 
 
 My Dear Sister Wheaton Greeting in Jesus' name. I 
 am glad to write you this time that John is all right again. 
 I think his sickness has drawn him closer to God. He is 
 writing you a few lines that I will translate for him and 
 send it with this. Yours to be faithful, 
 
 L. E. JARVIS. 
 
 PREACHING IN THE PEST-HOUSE. 
 
 Just why the dear Lord saw best to permit me to take 
 the loathsome disease of smallpox into my system, I know 
 not ; but I do know the same God that made man and pro- 
 nounced him very good, permitted Job and many others of 
 His people to suffer many things. Of one thing I am cer- 
 tain, the Lord permitted me to preach the Gospel in the 
 pest-house. No one was allowed there but the physician 
 of the Board of Health and those in charge, and there were 
 many lost ones there and no gospel services for years and 
 not even the superintendent and his family were allowed to 
 go to church. I had held meetings in almost every other place 
 and I now had opportunity to go there, this being the only 
 way to get to them. During the summer of 1901 I was 
 taken very ill and the sixth doctor pronounced the disease 
 smallpox. There was no alternative but to prepare for the 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 539 
 
 hospital, which I did unaided. This was remarkable ; for 
 I had been very near death, the suffering both mentally and 
 physically was so intense and the agony so great. Surely 
 God heard the prayers of His believing ones and raised me 
 up to once more go forth to glorify His name by preach- 
 ing His gospel and singing His praises. Bless His holy 
 name! 
 
 I was hedged in with God. He got the glory of my 
 healing. I bless the Lord that in answer to prayer He 
 never let one person take the disease from me that we 
 knew of. When leaving the minister's home where I was 
 taken sick, I was shouting and praising the Lord. I told 
 the mission workers I was sure I could go to Heaven even 
 from the pest-house, with the smallpox. I told the young 
 sister with me to bring the tracts for service in the hospital. 
 I had told her that morning that there would be several 
 doctors call and hold a consultation and pronounce the dis- 
 ease smallpox and they would take me to the pest-house, 
 and I expected I would die there. I had such victory in 
 my soul that I just shouted and praised the Lord. 
 
 In the hospital I was given the privilege of all the wards 
 to sing and pray and talk with the patients. Some were in 
 a very dangerous condition, and others convalescent. 
 Others were trembling with fear, having been exposed and 
 quarantined here to protect the public from contagion. 
 Those were weeks of suffering, although full of service and 
 song. The hymns were listened to with the greatest delight 
 even by foreigners who could not understand our language. 
 I often wonder why professing Christians are not as care- 
 ful about the spread of sin as people are about the trans- 
 mitting of disease. The same day I left the hospital the 
 Lord sent me out on a long journey to preach the gospel 
 
54O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 on the train. As I was talking with the conductor, there 
 was a sudden stop and he ran to find the cause. Our en- 
 gine had become disabled on a bridge, and as a train was 
 coming behind us, the trainmen ran to flag the coming 
 train before it should overtake us; but it was too late. I 
 dropped on my knees on the platform of the rear car and 
 asked God to spare our lives. I arose, took in the situa- 
 tion, went to my seat in the center of the car and again 
 knelt in prayer. I turned to look just as the engine struck 
 our car, raising it about five feet in the air, crushing tim- 
 bers and glass, and causing a panic among the passengers. 
 I was blest of God through it all, and went immediately to 
 work holding meetings while we waited some hours for 
 help to come. I see so plainly the hand of the Lord in all 
 this. I might have left the train when on the rear platform, 
 but I felt impressed to stay with those on board and call on 
 God for help. Do you wonder that when all our lives were 
 spared I felt that as the Lord gave all on the ship into 
 Paul's hands, so in this case, as in many others, the wise 
 Master gave me those who traveled with me ? "As thy days 
 so shall thy strength be." "A thousand shall fall at thy 
 side and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not 
 come nigh thee." 
 
 HOW THE LORD PROVIDES. 
 
 One night in San Francisco while holding a meeting in 
 the Old Adelphi Theater, I was impressed to give a dollar 
 to a sister who often sang and exhorted in our service and 
 who assisted me that night. At the close of the meeting I 
 handed her a silver dollar. She seemed much surprised and 
 said, "No, I should not take this from you." I told her 
 God showed me to give her that dollar and I must obey 
 Him ; so she took the money. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 541 
 
 The next day, while waiting for the street car on a pub- 
 lic thoroughfare, I saw a man giving out ladies' fashion 
 plates. I spoke kindly to him and suggested how much 
 more good he could do by giving out tracts. He replied 
 that that was the way he made his living that the firm 
 paid him for his services. 1 told him that God would care 
 for him if he only trusted and served Him, but he evidently 
 thought me somewhat of a fanatic. Just then a well- 
 dressed old gentleman spoke to me and said, "Do you be- 
 long to the Salvation Army?" I said that I did not and 
 he then asked, ""What is your work ?" I answered, "I am 
 a missionary to the prisoners and lost girls." He handed 
 me a dollar and hurried on. The man with whom I had 
 been speaking looked on surprised and said, "Who was 
 that man?" I said, "I do not know; I never saw him be- 
 fore and may never see him again." He was evidently 
 thinking, for I had told him that God provided for me and 
 would provide for him if he would but work for Him, and 
 God was giving him an object lesson. I said, ''I believe 
 the Lord sent that man to convince you that what I said 
 was true for I never ask any person for money, but trust 
 all to Providence." 
 
 Going on my way later in the day, outside the city where 
 I changed cars, I saw hurrying toward me the same man 
 who had given me the dollar in the morning. He said, 
 "I have been thinking all day about you and what you said 
 and here is another dollar for you," I told him how I felt 
 God had used him to convince the fashion plate man, that 
 if we fully trust and serve the Lord He will provide for us. 
 I have never seen either of these men again since that .day, 
 but God sent me the two dollars in place of the one dollar 
 I had given that poor woman the night before, in the meet- 
 ing. 
 
542 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 The sequel was given me sometime after this when I 
 again met that poor sister. She said to me, "Sister 
 Wheaton, I want to tell you about the dollar you gave me 
 that night in the meeting," and then she said : "I had noth- 
 ing in my house for my children to eat (there was a large 
 family of them), and husband was out of work. I had to 
 wash next day and had neither soap nor starch, and I had 
 to go across the city to pray for a sick woman, whose son 
 had said that he would believe in God and serve him if his 
 mother were healed in answer to prayer. I had to take 
 that young man with me and pay his car fare and my own. 
 The mother was healed and the young man, being con- 
 vinced, yielded himself to God and was converted and be- 
 came a Christian." And then she added, "All this your dol- 
 lar did, for I had prayed God to send me a dollar that night 
 and you obeyed God and see what was accomplished 
 through obedience to the God who hears the ravens when 
 they cry and notes the sparrow's fall." 
 
 Then I related to her my experience to show how the 
 Lord used a stranger to return me double, or two dollars 
 instead of one, and perhaps saved two men for God was 
 evidently dealing both with the stranger who gave me the 
 money and with the one with whom I was speaking on the 
 street. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS. 
 
 I was once called upon to minister to the needs of a 
 woman who was burned almost to death. I assisted the 
 doctor as best I could to dress the burns. I took the scis- 
 sors and cut the loose flesh from her arm, and held her 
 while the doctor filed the rings from her hands. 
 
 If I had not been previously convinced" by the Scriptures 
 of the folly of wearing rings I think this awful sight would 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 543 
 
 have been sufficient to satisfy any doubts in my mind, as 
 they cut so cruelly deep into the charred and swollen flesh. 
 She finally passed away to that land where there shall be 
 no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall 
 there be any more pain. 
 
 While being entertained at a certain place a few years 
 ago, a caller was announced one evening, to see "Mother 
 Wheaton." Entering the parlor a tall, handsome man, 
 dressed in the uniform of a policeman, advanced to greet 
 me. I bowed politely, but perhaps a little distantly, as I 
 did not know him. He came forward and extended his 
 hand cordially, saying, "Don't you know me, Mother?" I 
 
 said, "No, I do not know you." He said I sang in 
 
 prison in the choir. I served a term there and heard you 
 sing and preach there. This is my daughter," and he pre- 
 sented a nice looking young lady who was with him. He 
 said he now held a responsible position and was getting 
 along nicely, and invited me to come and visit his family. 
 
 While holding meetings in a little town in one of the 
 southern states, I was entertained at the home of a wealthy 
 man who was accused of crime. He had a beautiful wife 
 and lovely children. I was greatly troubled about his con- 
 dition. I held meetings there in the home. I wa a created 
 very kindly and cordially welcomed, but he would not yield 
 to God. I warned him faithfully, and plead with him to 
 repent of his sins and become a Christian. I told him that 
 a terrible calamity awaited him if he did not yiefd himself 
 to the Lord. I went away believing it was his last chance 
 of salvation. Not long after that he laid in wait to kill a 
 man against whom he had had a grudge for some time ; but 
 the other man seeing his intention, drew his revolver and 
 
544 
 
 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 fired in self-defence. The man fell dead. He had had 
 his last call. He had rejected the Lord and was ushered into 
 eternity without a moment's warning 
 
 One day years ago, in M , Mississippi, I went on 
 
 the street to hold a meeting. A policeman came along and 
 forbade me after I had begun to sing, saying it was against 
 the law to hold religious services on the street. My spirit 
 was grieved as I felt the Lord had a work for me to do 
 among the poor and lowly who were too poorly clad to at- 
 tend church services. A sister (a woman of God who en- 
 tertained me) was with me She then proposed taking me 
 to see a sick child, an infant. When we reached the house 
 we found the young parents weeping over their dying child. 
 My heart was touched with sympathy, and kneeling down 
 I asked Him who said, "Suffer little children to come unto 
 me," to heal the child for His glory. I believed His word 
 where it says, "The prayer of faith shall save the sick." 
 My faith touched divinity, the child was healed and the 
 young parents, seeing the power of God manifested, were 
 converted, and gave their lives to God for His service. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 Selections from My Scrap Book. 
 
 Many of the selections given in this chapter were written 
 by prisoners and given me by them. The others may not 
 all be new to the reader, but I have thought them of suf- 
 ficient value to thus preserve, as they may be reread with 
 profit, and no doubt may be read here by many who have 
 not seen them elsewhere. Such will surely feel the time 
 it takes to read them well spent. 
 
 Many of the songs I have sung are not in print here, as 
 the> are familiar or may be found in popular books ; others 
 I thought might be copyrighted and I do not know the 
 owner, etc. I have not meant to use any copyright selec- 
 tions without procuring the right to do so, but if through 
 mistake any have been used I shall be glad to make due 
 requital. 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF FLOWER MISSION DAY. 
 
 I once visited this sister, a saint, meekly lying upon her 
 bed, and when I asked if she would like for Jesus to heal 
 her, she said God could use her better in that condition. 
 
 E. R. W. 
 
 Jennie Cassady was born in Louisville, Kentucky, June 9, 1840. 
 She came to earth through no royal line of ancestry. No booming 
 cannon and flying flags proclaimed the birth of a princess. No 
 jeweled hand beckoned her to a place of rank and title. Nothing 
 in babyhood or girlhood distinguished her above what is visible in 
 ten thousand homes to-day. But as she stepped over the threshold 
 into womanhood, there fell upon her a great calamity a cruel acci- 
 dent made her a cripple and an invalid for life. But in her afflic- 
 tions she arose to a sublimity and sweetness of soul that has chal- 
 lenged the admiration of two continents. And out of the awful 
 shadows that fell upon her she has gathered up the sunbeams of 
 God's smiles and scattered them into the dark places of earth. Out 
 of that one little darkened room in Kentucky there has gone forth 
 an inspiration that has fired the heart of heroic Christian woman- 
 hood. And out of the darkness that smote her pathway leaped the 
 
54$ PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 lances of light that pierca the gloom of prison walls. A gleam from 
 that radiant life touches the poet's fancy, and gives us these beau- 
 tiful lines. J. M. CROCKER, 
 
 Prison Chaplain. 
 
 FLOWER DAY AT THE PRISON. 
 
 Composed and read by F. L. Platt at the Iowa State Prison at 
 Anamosa, June 9th, 1894. 
 
 In a cottage in Kentucky, 
 
 In the years that have gone by, 
 Was a woman, oh, so lonely, 
 
 She'd been given up to die. 
 
 As she lay upon her sick bed, 
 
 Ere the spark of life had flown, 
 Neighbors called, and strangers also, 
 
 Whom before she had not known. 
 
 They had heard of her misfortune, 
 
 Day and night she lingered there; 
 And to make her life more cheerful 
 
 Seemed to be their every care. 
 
 Now they come, with noiseless footsteps, 
 
 As the rose is kissed with dew, 
 Each one bringing in some sunshine, 
 
 In "these flowers I've brought for you." 
 
 As she looked into their faces, 
 
 Realizing death had come, 
 "Take these flowers," she said, "I'm dying," 
 
 They will brighten other homes. 
 
 Take them, give them to the children 
 
 Who in orphans ' homes are found, 
 Who have parents silent sleeping 
 
 Underneath some grassy mound. 
 
 Take them, place them by the bedside 
 
 Of some one whose life is drear; 
 They will bring a ray of sunshine, 
 
 They will drive away a tear. 
 
 Take them, bear them to the prison, 
 
 Where the trembling convict stands; 
 They'll encourage and they'll cheer him, 
 
 And they'll help him be a man. 
 
 They will speak to him of Heaven, 
 Of a home with God above; 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 549 
 
 They'll dispel the gloom and heartache, 
 They'll recall a mother's love. 
 
 They'll remind him of a sister, 
 
 With youth 's bloom upon her brow, 
 With whom he used to gather flowers 
 
 When life was bright as yours is now. 
 
 They '11 recall some little sweetheart 
 
 In the early spring of life, 
 Who, when summer flowers were blooming, 
 
 He had asked to be his wife. 
 
 Oh, that wife! may God's own blessing 
 
 Best upon her loyal head; 
 Though he's caused her many a heartache, 
 
 She would love him were he dead. 
 
 Then with all these sacred memories 
 
 Welling in these hearts of ours, 
 Who in all this land of sunshine 
 
 Could forbid this gift of flowers'? 
 
 Bring the flowers with sweetest perfume, 
 
 This is flower mission day; 
 Some forlorn, discouraged prisoner, 
 
 "You may rescue, you may save." 
 
 Blest the home that knows no sorrow, 
 
 Blest that wife, whose tears are joy, 
 Blest that mother who in old age, 
 
 Can lean upon her darling boy. 
 
 Men, look up, the clouds have gathered, 
 
 Some of them are silver-lined; 
 There 's a day when all creation 
 
 Will be marshalled into line. 
 
 When these prison walls are sundered- 
 
 When the grave gives up its de"a, 
 All may march the streets of Heaven 
 
 Who by Jesus Christ are led. 
 
 LINKS BY A PRISONER TO HIS WIFE. 
 These lines were handed me by the author. I insert them 
 here because of their clear testimony to the saving grace of 
 God and the love they manifest for wife and children: 
 
 Dearest wife, you know I love thee, 
 Deep as yonder sky; 
 
550 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Know that love can never fade, 
 Affection never die. 
 
 Though in prison I am cast, 
 
 And cannot now return, 
 Yet on thee my love reclines, 
 
 For thee my heart will burn. 
 
 God has made us one indeed, 
 
 In ways the world can never know. 
 
 One, like drops of water found 
 Within the pure white snow. 
 
 God has made us one indeed; 
 
 Has joined us, hand and heart; 
 What God has joined together, wife, 
 
 Let no man put apart. 
 
 As well might men uproot the earth 
 
 As by their scoff or scorn 
 Think to accomplish parting us 
 
 Because our hearts now mourn. 
 
 Nay, dear wife, I feel for thee, 
 
 As ne'er I felt before, 
 Prizing thee with deeper strength 
 
 For pining sad and sore. 
 
 While there you wait my glad release, 
 
 The day that sets me free, 
 Await my coming home to wife; 
 
 Yes, wife and children three. 
 
 And I will come. Have patience, wife. 
 
 The time will wear away, 
 And day by day approaches near 
 
 That glad releasing day. 
 
 With little baby in your arms, 
 
 Two others at your knee; 
 I know, dear wife, your heart is sad 
 
 And longs to see me free. 
 
 To help you in your daily toil; 
 
 To earn for them their bread; 
 To clothe and help and comfort them, 
 
 And find a shelter for each head. 
 
 But cheer up, wife, and so will I, 
 
 As mankind surely may, 
 Till darkness fade in morning light 
 
 That ushers in the day. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 55 l 
 
 And oh, what joy will visit us, 
 
 What peace in that glad hour; 
 Our home shall then renew its strength 
 
 In all its silent power. 
 
 Here as I lay me down to sleep, 
 
 In my narrow little cell, 
 I think of the happy times we've spent 
 
 In the shady wooded dell. 
 
 How we plucked the flowers beside our path, 
 
 And strolled along the stream, 
 Neither feeling aught of sorrow, 
 
 For life was like a pleasant dream. 
 
 But alas, my dear one, all is changed; 
 
 And we are parted now for years; 
 But well we know that God will come 
 
 And wipe away our falling tears. 
 
 Sin, dear wife, hast brought the change; 
 
 Sin has caused our grief and pain; 
 But now that I trust in Jesus 
 
 I will never fall again. 
 
 In my very darkest moments 
 
 Would you know what comforts me? 
 'Tis my living faith in Jesus, 
 
 In Him who died on Calvary. 
 
 He died on the cross for you, dear wife, 7 
 
 His precious blood was shed for me; 
 All our sins on Him were laid 
 
 When they nailed Him to the tree. 
 
 And now that blessed Saviour, 
 
 Who was born at Bethlehem, 
 Looks down from the heights of heaven 
 
 On the sinful souls of men. 
 
 His thoughts are full of mercy, 
 
 His heart is filled with love. 
 He is pleading with the Father 
 
 That we might come above. 
 
 So we will trust our Saviour, 
 
 And follow where He leads; 
 And say, in faith believing, 
 
 He'll provide for all our needs. 
 
 So we'll walk close beside Him 
 And let Him take our hand; 
 
552 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 As He points, with face all shining, 
 To that bright and happy land. 
 
 And oft to others round us 
 
 The story we will tell, 
 How Jesus Christ saves sinners, 
 
 The heavenly hosts to swell. 
 
 You will tell them, wife, how He found me, 
 
 Sinful and all cast down, 
 And hew through love He raised me up 
 
 And promised me a crown. 
 
 And when we see still others 
 
 Caught in Satan 's snare, 
 We'll lead them on to Jesus, 
 
 And leave them in His care. 
 
 And when He treats them gently, 
 
 As He treats both you and me, 
 Other sinners, looking on, 
 
 To His bosom soon will flee. 
 
 For thus the world around us 
 
 For Christ could soon be won; 
 He'll end in glorious triumph 
 
 The work He has begun. 
 
 All glory then to Jesus! 
 
 Sing praises to His name! 
 He saved lost sinners years gone by, 
 
 And today He'll do the same. 
 
 In language very simple 
 
 I've told to you, dear wife, 
 My love to you, your love to me, 
 
 And the love of Jesus Christ. 
 
 So we'll just keep on trusting 
 
 In the Saviour GcJ lias given; 
 And He will fill with peace 
 
 Our journey on to heaven. 
 
 And we'll not forget the Father, 
 
 But give thanks for all He's done, 
 In giving us our Saviour, 
 
 In His own beloved Son. 
 
 WOMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 TO MRS. WHEATON. 
 
 These lines are most respectfully presented as a prisoner's tribute 
 of sincere respect: 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 553 
 
 O, woman's love, past understanding! 
 
 So near to God's, so wondrous deep: 
 Deep as the depths of space ; expanding 
 
 Till it blooms beyond death's mystic sleep 
 
 Throughout the earth, the rich and lowly 
 
 It reigns supreme within her breast. 
 O, woman's love! through its beauty holy 
 
 She will win eternal rest. 
 
 Born of woman, purest, dearest 
 
 Lily of fair Bethlehem, 
 Christ to her will be the nearest 
 
 In his bright home Jerusalem. 
 
 A fadeless flower in beauty blooming 
 
 'Midst heaven's host of immortelles. 
 His peerless love her soul perfuming 
 
 She'll reign a queen mid arch angels 
 
 Cole City, Ga., Sunday night, Nov. 17, 1889. 
 
 TAKE THIS MESSAGE TO MY MOTHER. 
 (Written by a Prisoner in Jackson, Miss.) 
 
 Take this message to my mother, 
 
 It will fill her heart with joy; 
 Tell her that her prayer is answered, 
 
 Christ has saved her wandering boy: 
 
 Tho' through sin from home I've wandered, 
 
 And I almost broke her heart; 
 Tell her to be glad and cheerful, 
 
 Never from the Lord I'll part. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 Take this message to my mother, 
 
 It will fill her heart with joy; 
 Tell her that her prayer is answered, 
 
 Christ has saved her wandering boy. 
 
 How she wept when last we parted, 
 How her heart did ache with pain 
 
 When she said: " Good-bye, God bless you, 
 We may never meet again." 
 
 O my boy, just look to Jesus, 
 
 What a friend Ho is to all! 
 Only trust Him, He will save you 
 
 Can't you hear His sweet voice call? 
 
 In this world of sin fire many 
 
 Who have wandered far from God. 
 
554 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Will your mother's prayers be answered? 
 Listen, sinner, you, her boy. 
 
 You have ofttimes heard this warning, 
 In your heart conviction's deep; 
 God is calling to the wanderer 
 Who asks mercy at his feet. 
 
 NOT LONELY NOW. 
 
 I am not lonely, mother, now, 
 
 Though far from me you roam. 
 One dried my tears and smoothed my brow. 
 
 And stilled the sob and groan. 
 I am not lonely, mother, dear, 
 For Jesus dwells with me, e'en here. 
 
 All day I feel Him by my side; 
 
 And when betimes would come 
 The Evil One, I quickly hide 
 
 Behind my Precious One. 
 Think you I 'm lonely, mother, dear, 
 When Jesus thus is ever near? 
 
 And when at night I think of thee, 
 
 As in my cell I sit, 
 Bright vision of thy form I see 
 
 By His own presence lit. 
 Can I be lonely, mother, dear, 
 When thy pure spirit is so near? 
 
 Farewell, my darling mother-friend, 
 
 And if for aye, Oh ! fare thee well ! 
 Whate'er betide, unto the end, 
 
 Christ's love for me I'll gladly tell. 
 
 The following was written by a young brother who, with 
 his wife, were with me for a time in my work. In thanking 
 them for a kindness done me I used the words, "Jesus is 
 looking on," implying that He would reward them. Only 
 an hour or so afterward the young brother handed me these 
 lines, suggested by my words: 
 
 Little did I think when I spoke the words that thev would 
 make so deep an impression upon his mind. How little we 
 realize what a word may do. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 555 
 
 JESUS IS LOOKING ON. 
 
 "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are 
 open unto their cry." Ps. 34. 
 
 [TUNE, "ARE YOU WITHIN THE FOLD TONIGHT?"] 
 
 1. While traveling as a pilgrim 
 
 Across life's desert drear, 
 My feet ofttimes are weary, 
 
 Mine eyes oft drop a tear; 
 But when I look to Jesus, 
 
 All weariness is gone, 
 My heart then joys within me 
 
 To know He's looking on. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 Yes, He is ever looking on, 
 
 With anxious ear our cry to hear. 
 He hears each sigh, 
 
 He sees each tear; 
 He knows each heart "with sorrow riven," 
 
 He hears each word of joy or moan, 
 And whispers gently in our ear, 
 
 I'm looking, looking on. 
 
 2. When troubles rage around me, 
 
 And trials fiery come. 
 My thoughts are then directed 
 
 To my eternal home. 
 Though walking on the mountain, 
 
 Or on the verdant lawn, 
 This is the thought that cheers me, 
 
 He's always looking on. 
 
 3. When friends do turn against me, 
 
 And frown and persecute, 
 I'm then brought nearer Jesus, 
 
 Than when my foes are mute. 
 While Jesus walks beside me, 
 
 His arm I'll lean upon, 
 And ne'er forget the promise, 
 
 He's always looking on. 
 
 4. Take courage, brother pilgrim, 
 
 And let us journey on, 
 For soon life's many trials 
 
 Will all have passed and gone; 
 Then sweeping up to glory 
 
 We '11 join the ransomed throng, 
 And sing God 's endless praises, 
 
 While He is looking on. 
 
556 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 HOW GOD CALLS MISSIONARIES OUT OF 
 PRISON CELLS. 
 
 S. H. HADLEY. 
 
 Superintendent of the Old McAuley Mission. 
 
 Some of the best missionaries this world ever knew are 
 men who have been sentenced to long terms in prison. 
 Wholly shut away from the world and its dreadful temp- 
 tations, God had a chance to speak to them. Jerry Mc- 
 Auley was a wonderful example of this, and that drunken 
 loafer and thief was finally used so wonderfully by the Lord 
 God that his name has gone all over this world and has 
 been an inspiration to millions. He was sent to prison from 
 the Fourth Ward of New York for fifteen years at the age 
 of nineteen. 
 
 One Sunday morning in the chapel the speaker was old 
 "Awful" Gardener, an old-time ruffian and prize-fighter in 
 New York, but God had got hold of him and he had been 
 wonderfully saved. With tears streaming down his face, he 
 told of the love of Christ, and he said, "Boys, I ought to be 
 wearing the stripes the same as you are, and I feel a deep 
 sympathy for you." 
 
 He also quoted some verses from the Scriptures, and 
 after the boys had gone back to their cells Jerry found a 
 Bible in the ventilator of his cell, and, looking it over aim- 
 lessly, tried to find the text that "Awful" Gardener had 
 quoted, but instead he found that Christ came to save sin- 
 ners, and the Holy Spirit showed him his dreadful past 
 life. As the day grew into night, Jerry got down on his 
 knees and began to pray. He had never prayed before, 
 but now he cried to God for help and mercy. How long he 
 was there he does not know, but some time during the night 
 a glorious light dispelled the deep darkness of his soul, and 
 he cried out, "Oh, praise God, I found Jesus, and He gives 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 557 
 
 peace to my soul." The unusual sound brought the keeper, 
 who asked, "What is the matter with you?" 
 
 Jerry answered, "I found Jesus, that 's what 's the matter 
 with me." 
 
 He found some opportunities to breathe out the new- 
 found hopes of his soul and the love of Jesus to the prison- 
 ers about him. Soon a revival broke out in the prison such 
 as never had been seen before or since, and Jerry was the 
 center of it all. He was pardoned in 1864, but when he 
 got home he had no friends, no money, and he soon fell 
 into bad company, and got to be a worse scoundrel than he 
 ever was before. It was after this he became known as 
 the dangerous East River pirate. He was reclaimed in 
 1868, and although he fell five times after that during the 
 first eight or nine months, he was finally anchored to Christ. 
 
 Do you know that every drunkard uses tobacco? Jerry 
 was no exception. Some faithful friends said to him, "Jer- 
 ry, give up your tobacco for Jesus' sake," and he gave it up, 
 and then he never fell afterward. . 
 
 He was afterward married to Maria, his faithful wife, 
 who also was redeemed from a drunkard's life, and in 1872 
 opened the world-renowned McAuley Mission, at 316 Wa- 
 ter Street, down on the East Side, nearly under the Brook- 
 lyn Bridge. 
 
 He stayed here ten years, and then opened the Cremorne 
 Mission, Thirty-second Street and Sixth Avenue, where he 
 died in 1884, and had the largest funeral of any private 
 citizen who was ever buried in New York. 
 
 The writer succeeded Jerry McAuley down there, and 
 the work is going on night and day. Drunkards and thieves 
 come in by the thousand, and, thank God, many of them arc 
 saved unto life eternal. The writer is also a convert ct 
 Jerry McAuley Mission. The Life Boat. 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 OUTSIDE THE PRISON WALLS. 
 Free, free at last he left the dreary jail, 
 
 And stepped into the dewy April night; 
 Once more he breathed, untainted, God's pure air. 
 
 And saw the evening star's sweet trembling light. 
 How strange! how strange! and yet how strangely dear 
 
 The old familiar turf beneath his feet! 
 How wonderful once more to be alone 
 
 Unwatched, unguarded, 'neath the sky's broad sweep. 
 
 Free! free again but O, so old and worn 
 
 So weary with his wasted, ruined life 
 Full twenty years the cell, his only home 
 
 Full twenty years with hopeless misery rife! 
 His thoughts sped backward till they reached that day 
 
 When he had entered that grim house, a boy 
 Naught but a boy in stature and in years, 
 
 But with a heart all bare of hope and joy. 
 
 For in a dreadful moment, crazed with rum, 
 
 His hand had laid a fellow creature low, 
 And for that glass of brandy in his brain 
 
 Full twenty years of wretchedness and woe. 
 And now, a gray-haired man, he walked again 
 
 The very path his boyish feet had pressed 
 So many, many years ago ; 
 
 And now he wandered lonely, seeking rest. 
 
 Where should he go? Where now his footsteps turn? 
 
 No living soul was there to welcome him! 
 No friend of all his youthful days he knew 
 
 Would greet again this wanderer in sin. 
 Unconsciously, he sought his boyhood's home, 
 
 The low, white cottage he had held so dear; 
 Twas standing in its old accustomed place, 
 
 But strangers had dwelt there for many a year. 
 
 Where next? The tears stood in his mournful eyes; 
 His breath came thick and fast he could not stir, 
 

 OR A LABOR OF LOVE 55Q 
 
 But leaned upon the old familiar gate 
 
 With thoughts of mother O, could he find her? 
 
 Where was she now that mother, sweet and good, 
 Who tried with tears and prayers to save her boy, 
 
 Who knelt alor.e at midnight 's solemn hour 
 
 And mourned for him who should have been her joy. 
 
 His faltering steps at last he vaguely turned 
 
 Unto the silent churchyard near the sea, 
 And stood alone while pitying moonbeams spread 
 
 Around his form a veil of charity. 
 Alone with God in that still, solemn place, 
 
 Alone with hundreds of the silent dead, 
 The outcast stood with lowly, sin-sick heart, 
 
 The cold night dew upon his drooping head. 
 
 At last he found her in a place apart, 
 
 Where moonbeams sparkled through the willow boughs, 
 And shone upon her simple headstone white 
 
 That marked the limit of her narrow house. 
 'Twas but a snowy marble, simple, plain, 
 
 That bore her name, her age, and just below 
 * ' Died of a broken heart ' ' alas ! lie knew 
 
 The cause of all that life and death of woe. 
 
 He flung himself face down upon the grass, 
 
 Alone between the living and the dead, 
 And wept and prayed beside the lonely grave 
 
 Until in sorrow 's slumber sunk his head. 
 They found him in the morning, stiff and cold, 
 
 His hands clasped o 'er his mother 's lowly grave, 
 His head upon its turf, as though he thought 
 
 That turf the bosom his poof heart had craved. 
 
 Upon his pallid cheeks tnc trace of tears 
 
 Showed in tf.e glowing ray of morning's sun, 
 
 But o VY that face there shone a wondrous peace. 
 A aonile of joy now all his life was done. 
 
 Men marveled that he looked so young again 
 
560 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Despite his crown of sorrow-silvered hair, 
 And tender-hearted women sighed and wept 
 
 And smiled to think that they had found him there. 
 Ah! God is good! with loving tenderness 
 
 He saw the sad, repentant soul alone 
 Weep out his sin upon his mother's grave, 
 
 And gently led the weary wanderer home. 
 This we believe: That now in Heaven's street 
 
 The mother and her son are reconciled, 
 And all the pain and sin of earth below 
 
 Are blotted out, and he is God's own child. 
 
 Hat tie F. Crocker, in Union Signal. 
 
 IF WE KNEW. 
 
 If we knew the heart 's sad sighing 
 
 In the secret hour; 
 If we knew the bitter crying 
 
 O'er the tempter's power, 
 Slower would we be to censure, 
 
 Kinder in reproof ; 
 From the erring, peradventure, 
 
 We would not stand aloof. 
 
 If we knew the hard, stern struggle 
 
 Of the one who fell, 
 Toiling on 'mid grief and trouble 
 
 That none but God can tell, 
 Our thoughts, perhaps, would be kinder, 
 
 Our help more pitiful 
 Be of God 's love a reminder 
 
 To the tempted soul. 
 
 If we knew the fierce temptation, 
 
 Could we feel the pain 
 Of the deep humiliation, 
 
 The tears shed all in vain, 
 We, perchance, would be more gentle, 
 
 Our tones more tender be; 
 O 'er his fault we 'd draw the mantle 
 
 Of fervent charity. 
 
 If we knew how dark and cheerless 
 
 Seem the coming years, 
 We might then appear more fearless 
 
 Of each other's, cares. 
 Could our eyes pierce through the smiling 
 
 Of the face so calm, 
 See the bitter self-reviling, 
 
 We 'd apply the' balm. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 561 
 
 Did we walk a little nearer 
 
 To Jesus in the way, 
 Hear His voice a little clearer 
 
 We would know how to pray. 
 He has words of comfort given 
 
 That we to them should speak, 
 Ere the hopeless soul is driven 
 
 His faith with God to break. 
 
 We shall know each other better, 
 
 The mists shall roll away; 
 Nevermore we'll feel the fetter 
 
 Of this toil-worn clay. 
 Only let us love each other, 
 
 'Tis our Lord 's command, 
 To each fainting friend or brother 
 
 Keach a helping hand. 
 
 Anna L. Dreyer, of Missionary Training Home at Tabor, Iowa. 
 
 LITTLE GRAVES. 
 
 You have your little grave ; I have mine. You have your 
 sad memories ; I have mine. For, 
 
 "There is no flock, however tended, 
 
 But one dead lamb is there; 
 There is no fireside, howsoe 'er defended, 
 
 But hath its vacant chair. 
 
 "The air is full of farewells to the dying, 
 
 And weepings for the dead; 
 The heart of Kachel for her children crying 
 
 Will not be comforted." 
 
 I have pleasant thoughts sometimes about these little 
 graves. I think what a safe place the little grave is. Temp- 
 tations never come there. Sins never pollute there. Tears, 
 pains, disappointments, bereavements, trials, cares, and 
 snares, are all unknown in that silent resting place. And 
 then, Jesus has the keys, and he keeps our treasures safely, 
 and guards them securely. No mother's heart is anxious 
 about a child that is laid in the little grave. No prayers of 
 anguish go up for it as for those tossed by the storms of 
 passion, sunk in the whirlpool of vice, or lost in the wide 
 wilderness of sorrow and of sin. There is now no need of 
 chiding, reproving, watching, and restraining. The chief 
 
562 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Shepherd bears the lamb on his own bosom, and it is for- 
 ever safe. 
 
 The little grave is a sacred place. The Lord of glory has 
 passed into the sepulchre, and from it he has opened up the 
 path of life. Hope blooms there, and hearts-ease and 
 amaranth blossom amid the shadows that linger over it, and 
 Jesus watches his treasures and counts his jewels in the 
 little graves. 
 
 The little grave shall be opened by and by. The night is 
 dark, but there is a flush of morn upon the mountains, and 
 a gleam of sunlight glows along the distant hills. He who 
 bears the keys of hell and of death, shall come back to open 
 the little graves, and call the sleepers forth. Then cherub 
 forms shall burst the silent tombs, and these green hillocks 
 shall bear their harvest for the garner of our God. Sel. 
 
 THE MOTHER'S WARNING. 
 Touch it not ye do not know, 
 
 Unless you've borne a fate like mine, 
 How deep a curse, how wild a woe, 
 
 Is lurking in that ruby wine. 
 Look on my cheek 'tis withered now; 
 
 It once was round and smooth as thine; 
 Look on my deeply furrowed brow 
 
 'Tis all the work of treacherous wine. 
 I had two sons, two princely boys, 
 
 As noble men as God e'er gave; 
 I saw them fall from honor's joys 
 
 To fill a common drunkard 's grave. 
 I had a daughter, young and fair, 
 
 As pure as ever woman bore. 
 Where is she? Did you ask me where? 
 
 Bend low, I'll tell the tale once more. 
 I saw that fairy child of mine 
 
 Linked to a kingly bridegroom's side; 
 Her heart was proud and light as thine, 
 
 Oh, would to God she then had died! 
 Not many moons had filled their horn, 
 
 While she upon his bosom slept; 
 'Twas on a dark November morn, 
 
 She o 'er a murdered husband wept ; 
 Her drunken father dealt the blow 
 
 Her brain grew wild, her heart grew weak ; 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 563 
 
 Was ever tale of deeper woe 
 
 A mother's lips had lived to speak? 
 She dwells in yonder darkened halls, 
 
 No ray of reason there does shine; 
 She on her murdered husband calls. 
 
 'Twas done by wine, by cursed wine! 
 
 Temperance Banner, 
 
 HARRY'S REMORSE. 
 
 It's curious, isn't it, chaplain, what a twelve months may bring? 
 Last year I was in Chicago, gambling and living in sin; 
 Was raking in pools at the races, and feeing the waiters with ten, 
 Was sipping mint juleps by twilight, while today I am in the pen. 
 
 What led me to do it? What always leads a man to destruction 
 
 and crime? 
 
 The prodigal son you have read of has altered somewhat in his time. 
 He spends his money as freely as the Biblical fellow of old, 
 And when it is gone he fancies the husks will turn into gold. 
 
 Champagne, a box at the opera, high steps while fortune is flush; 
 The passionate kisses of women whose cheeks have forgotten to blush. 
 The old, old story, chaplain, of pleasure that ends in tears, 
 The froth that foams for an hour and the dregs that are tasted for 
 years. 
 
 Last night as I sat here and pondered on the end of my evil ways, 
 There rose like a phantom before me the vision of boyhood days; 
 I thought of my old, old home, chaplain, of the schoolhouse that 
 
 stood on the hill, 
 Of the brook that ran through the meadow I can hear its music still. 
 
 And again I thought of my mother, of the mother who taught me 
 
 to pray, 
 
 Whose love was a precious treasure that I heedlessly cast away; 
 And again I saw in my vision the fresh-lipped, careless boy, 
 To whom the future was boundless and the world but a mighty toy. 
 
 I saw all this as I sat there, of my ruined and wasted life, 
 And the thoughts of my remorse were bitter, they pierced my heart 
 like a knife. 
 
564 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 It takes some courage, chaplain, to laugh in the face of fate, 
 When the yearning ambition of manhood is blasted at twenty-eight. 
 
 Composed and written by Harry S while taking a retrospection 
 
 of the past. 
 
 TWENTY THIRTY-FOUR. 
 
 The line of dingy-coated men stretched along the broad 
 granite walk and like a great gray serpent wound in and 
 out among the wagon shops and planing mills that filled 
 the prison yard. 
 
 Down beyond the foundry the beginning of the line, the 
 head of the serpent, was lost at the stairway leading to the 
 second floor of a long, narrow building in which whisk 
 brooms were manufactured. 
 
 An hour before, on the sounding of a brass gong at the 
 front, the same line had wound round the same corners into 
 the building whence now it crawled. There, the men had 
 seated themselves on four-legged stools before benches that 
 stretched across the room in rows. Before each man was 
 set a tin plate of boiled meat ; a heavy cup of black coffee, 
 a knife, a fork, and a thick bowl of steaming, odorous soup. 
 
 During the meal other men, dressed like the hundreds 
 who were sitting, in suits of dull gray, with little round- 
 crowned, peaked-visored caps to match, moved in and out 
 between the rows, distributing chunks of fresh white bread 
 from heavy baskets. Now and then one of the men would 
 shake his head and the waiter would pass him by, but usu- 
 ally a dozen hands were thrust into a basket at once to 
 clutch the regulation "bit" of half a pound. The men ate 
 ravenously, as if famished. 
 
 Yet a silence that appalled hovered over the long bare 
 dining-hall where eight hundred men were being fed. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 565 
 
 There was no clatter of knives and forks; there were no 
 jests; they moved about as noiselessly as ghosts. 
 
 There were faces stamped with indelible marks of de- 
 pravity and vice, but now and then the "breadtossers" 
 would see uplifted a pair of frank blue eyes, in which 
 burned the light of hope. Men were there who dreamed 
 of a day to come when all would be forgiven and forgot- 
 ten ; when a hand would again be held out in welcome, and 
 a kiss again be pressed to quivering lips. Men there were 
 of all kinds, of all countenances, young and old ; the wav- 
 ing, sunlit hair of youth side by side with locks in which 
 the snow was thickly sprinkled. All these men were paying 
 the penality society imposes on proved criminals. 
 
 And now, their dinner over, they were marching back to 
 the shops and mills of the prison, where days and weeks 
 were spent at labor. Those men employed in the wagon- 
 works dropped out of the line when they came opposite the 
 entrance to their building. Those behind pushed forward 
 as their prison-mates disappeared, and never for more than 
 ten seconds was there a gap in the long, gray line. 
 
 The whisk-broom factory occupied the second floor of 
 the building at the far end of the prison yard. On the 
 ground floor men worked at lathes, turning out the wooden 
 handles to the brooms that were finished, sorted and tied up- 
 stairs. At the corner the line divided, sixty-five of the men 
 climbed the stairway to the second floor, the other thirty 
 entered the lathe-room below. 
 
 A dozen men in blue uniforms marched beside the line 
 on its way from the mess-hall, six on each side, at two 
 yards' distance. Their caps bore ''Guard" in gold letters, 
 and each guard carried a short, heavy, crooked cane of pol- 
 ished white hickory. On entering the work-room of the 
 
566 . PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 second floor, the men assembled before a railed platform, 
 upon which a red-faced, coatless man stood behind a big 
 desk. In cold, metallic tones he called the numbers of the 
 convicts who in turn replied "Here !" when their numbers 
 were spoken. 
 
 "Twenty-thirty-four!" called the red-faced man. Thete 
 was no response. 
 
 "Twenty-thirty-four?" The red-faced man leaned over 
 the desk and glared down. Then a voice from somewhere 
 on the left answered "Here !" 
 
 "What was the matter with you the first time?" snapped 
 the foreman. 
 
 The man thus questioned removed his cap and took three 
 steps toward the platform. In feature the word "hard" 
 would describe him. His head was long, wide at the fore- 
 head, and yet narrow between the temples. His eyes were 
 small and close together. His nose was flat, and mouth 
 hardly more than a straight cut in the lower part of his 
 face. The lower jaw was square and heavy, and the ears 
 protruded abnormally. A trifle above medium height with 
 a pair of drooping, twitching shoulders, the man looked 
 criminal. 
 
 To the question he replied doggedly, "I answered the 
 first time, sir, but I guess you didn't hear me." 
 
 The foreman gazed steadily at the man. Their eyes met. 
 The foreman's did not waver, but "2034" lowered his and 
 fumbled nervously at his cap. 
 
 "All right," said the foreman, quickly, "but I guess you'd 
 better report to the warden as soon as you get through in 
 here. Don't wait for any piece-work. Go to him as soon 
 as you have finished your task. I'll tell him you're coming. 
 He'll be waiting for you at the front office." 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 567 
 
 "Yes, sir." The convict did not raise his eyes. He 
 stepped back into the line. 
 
 Then, at the clap of the foreman's hands, the men broke 
 ranks, and each walked away to his own bench or machine. 
 Five minutes later, the swish on the corn-wisps as they 
 were separated and tied into rough brooms, and the occa- 
 sional tap of a hammer, were the only sounds in that long 
 room where sixty-five men toiled. 
 
 Now and then one of the men would go to the platform 
 where the foreman sat bent over half a dozen little books, 
 in which it was his duty to record the number of "tasks" 
 completed by each of the workmen "on his contract" a 
 "task" in the prison vernacular being the work each man 
 is compelled to accomplish within a certain space of time. 
 On the approach of a workman the foreman would look 
 up and a few whispered words would pass between the 
 two. Then the broom-maker would dart into the stock 
 room, adjoining the factory, where, upon receiving a writ- 
 ten requisition from the foreman, the officer in charge 
 would give him the' material he needed in his work a ball 
 of twine, or a strip of plush with which the handles of the 
 brooms were decorated. 
 
 At ten minutes past three, 2034 crossed to the platform. 
 
 "What do you want?" asked the foreman, as he eyed 
 keenly the man in the gray suit. 
 
 "A paper of small tacks," was the reply, quickly spoken. 
 The order was written, and as 2034 moved towards the 
 door leading toward the stock-room, the man on the plat- 
 form asked in an undertone, "Anything wrong, Bill?" 
 
 "That's what I don't know, George," the foreman re- 
 plied. "That man Riley's been acting queer of late. I've 
 got an idea there's something up his sleeve. There's not a 
 
568 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 harder nut on the contract than that fellow, and by the 
 way he's been carrying on, sullen like and all that, I'm fear- 
 ing something's going to happen. You remember, don't 
 you? What, no? He's that Riley from Acorn. He came 
 in two years ago on a burglary job in Give, where he shot 
 a drug clerk that offered objections to his carrying off all 
 there was in the shop. They made it manslaughter and 
 he's in for fifteen years. There's another warrant ready 
 for him when he gets out, for a job done four years ago in 
 Kentucky. He's a bad one. A fellow like that is no good 
 around this shop." 
 
 The guard smiled cynically at the foreman's suggestion 
 that a convict may be too bad even for prison surround- 
 ings. 
 
 "But I've got my eye on him," continued the foreman. 
 "I'm sending him up to the warden this afternoon. Say, 
 George, when you go back, will you tell the warden Riley 's 
 coming up to call on him ?" 
 
 "Sure, Bill," was the smiling reply of the guard as he 
 moved away. Twenty-thirty-four had returned with a 
 paper of tacks and gone directly to his bench. 
 
 It was a quarter of four* by the foreman's watch when 
 the door at the head of the stairway opened and the war- 
 den entered, accompanied by two friends whom he was 
 showing through the "plant," as he preferred to call the 
 prison. 
 
 "This is where the whisk-brooms are made," said the 
 warden. "On the floor below, which we just left, you will 
 remember we saw the boys turning out broom-handles. 
 Well, here the brooms are tied and sewed through by hand, 
 over at those benches. In the room beyond, through that 
 door, we keep the stuff handy that is called for from time 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 569 
 
 to time. In a further room is stored the material used in 
 the manufacture of the brooms, the tin tips, the tacks, the 
 twine, and about ten or twelve tons of broom straw." 
 
 As the warden ceased speaking, the foreman leaned 
 across the desk and tapped him on the shoulder. "Riley's 
 coming up to see you this afternoon. He's been acting 
 queer don't answer the call and the like." 
 
 The warden only nodded, and continued his explanation 
 to the visitors. 
 
 "Now/' he said, moving towards the door of the stock- 
 room, "if you will come over here I'll show you our store- 
 room. You see we have to keep a lot of material on hand. 
 Beyond this second room the stuff is stored up, and is taken 
 into the stock-room as it is wanted. Between the rooms 
 we have arranged these big sliding iron doors that, in case 
 of a fire, could be dropped, and thus, for a few minutes at 
 least, cut the flames off from any room but that in which 
 they originated. You see," pulling an iron lever which let 
 the heavy iron sheet slide to the floor, "that completes the 
 wall." 
 
 The visitor nodded. "Now, come on through the second 
 room, and into the third," there, ranged regularly on the 
 floor were huge bales of broom straw, and piled against the 
 walls were boxes upon boxes of tacks, velvet, ornamental 
 bits of metal, and all the other separate parts of the com- 
 mercial whisk broom. 
 
 The visitors examined the tacks and the tins and felt of 
 the bales of straw. 
 
 "Very interesting," observed one of the men, as he drew 
 his cigar case from his pocket, and biting the tip from one 
 of the cigars it contained, struck a little wax match on the 
 sole of his shoe. He held the match in his hand till it had 
 
570 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 burned down, then threw it on the floor, and followed the 
 warden and the other visitor under the heavy iron screen 
 into the workingroom of the factory. 
 
 The foreman was busy at his books and did not observe 
 the little party as it passed through on the other side of the 
 broom-bins and out at the big door. 
 
 Two minutes later, 2034 happened to look out through 
 the window across his bench and he saw the warden with 
 his friends crossing the prison yards to the foundry. A 
 guard just then sauntered into the room and stopped at the 
 first of the bins. He idly picked up one of the finished 
 brooms and examined it. His attention a moment later 
 was attracted by some one pulling at his coat from behind. 
 He turned. 
 
 "Why, Tommy, my boy, what is it ?" 
 
 The two soft brown eyes of a little boy were turned up 
 to him. "I'm looking for papa," replied the little fellow. 
 "The foreman down-stairs said he come up here. Uncle 
 George is back in the house, and mamma sent me out to 
 find papa." 
 
 The guard patted the little fellow's head. "And we'll 
 find him, Tommy," he said. He went over to the foreman's 
 desk. "Bill, did the warden come up here? Tommy is 
 looking for him ; his mother sent him out." 
 
 The foreman raised his eyes from his books. "Yes," he 
 replied, "he went in there, with a couple of gentlemen. 1 ' 
 
 The guard looked down at the little boy. "He's in the 
 store-room," he said, "you'll find him in there, Tommy." 
 
 Then he turned and walked out of the shop. The child 
 ran on into the room beyond. His father was not there. 
 The stock-keeper did not observe the little boy as he tip- 
 toed, in a childish way, past the desk. Tommy passed on 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 571 
 
 into the farther room. He knew he would find his father 
 in there, and he would crawl along between the tiers of 
 straw bales and take him by surprise. 
 
 He had hardly passed when the stock-keeper, raising his 
 head from the list of material he was preparing, held his 
 face and sniffed the air. Quietly he rose from his revolv- 
 ing chair and went to the straw-room door. He merely 
 peered inside. Turning suddenly, he pressed upon the 
 lever near the door and the iron screen slid down into place, 
 cutting off the farther room. Then, snatching a few books 
 that lay on his desk, he slipped out into the shop, and at 
 that door released the second screen. As it fell into place 
 with a slight crunching noise, the foreman turned in his 
 chair. The eyes of the two met. The stock-keeper raised 
 his hand and touched his lip with the first finger. He 
 crossed rapidly to the desk. 
 
 "Get the men out ! Get the men out !" he gasped. "The 
 store-room is on fire !" 
 
 The foreman rapped on the table twice. Every man in 
 that room turned and faced the desk. 
 
 "Work is over for today," said the foreman. His man- 
 ner was ominously calm, and the men looked at one another 
 wonderingly. 
 
 "Fall in!" 
 
 At the order, the dingy gray suits formed in the same 
 old serpent, and the line moved rapidly through the door 
 at the end of the room and down the outside stairs. 
 
 There, in front of the building, they were halted, and a 
 guard dispatched to find the warden. He was discovered 
 in the foundry. "Fire in the broom-shop!" whispered the 
 guard. 
 
 The warden's face paled. He dashed through the door- 
 
572 
 
 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 way, and one minute later came around the corner of the 
 building, just in time to see the first signs of flames against 
 the windows of the rear room up-stairs. 
 
 Within five seconds, a troop of fifteen guards had drawn 
 the little hand-engine from its house and hitched the hose 
 to the hydrant nearest the shop. From all the other build- 
 ings the men were being marched to their cells. 
 
 "These men!" hurriedly whispered the foreman to the 
 warden. "What shall I do with them?" 
 
 "Get 'em inside as soon as you can! This won't last 
 long, the front of the building is cut off. It'll all be over 
 in ten minutes." 
 
 The foreman gave an order. At that instant a woman 
 came running down the prison yard. Reaching the war- 
 den's side, she fell against him heavily. 
 
 "Why, Harriet," he exclaimed, "what is the matter?" 
 
 "Oh/' she gasped, "Tommy ! Tommy ! Where is 
 Tommy ?" 
 
 A guard at the end of the engine rail turned ashy white. 
 He raised a hand to his head, and with the other grasped 
 the wheel to keep from falling. Then he cried, "Mr. Jef- 
 fries, I I believe Tommy is up there in the stock-room. 
 He went to look" 
 
 The warden clutched the man's arm. "Up there? Up 
 there?" he cried. 
 
 The sudden approach of the woman and the words that 
 followed had wrought so much confusion that the men had 
 paid no attention to the foreman's command, and he had 
 even failed to notice their lack of attention, in the excite- 
 ment of that moment. 
 
 "Great God !" cried the warden. "What can I do what 
 can I do? No one can live up there!" 
 
OR A LA COR OF LOVE 573 
 
 There was a crash. One of the windows fell out. "Get 
 a ladder!" some one cried. A guard ran back toward the 
 prison-house. Then, in the midst of the hubbub, a man in 
 a dingy gray suit stepped out a yard from the line of con- 
 victs. His prison number was 2034. He touched his little 
 square cap. 
 
 "If you'll give me permission, I think I can get up there," 
 was all he said. 
 
 "You! you!" exclaimed the warden. "No, no; I will 
 tell no man to do it !" 
 
 There was a second crash. Another window had fallen 
 out, and now the tongues of flame were lapping the outer 
 walls above. 
 
 The convict made no reply. With a bound he was at the 
 end of the line and dashing up the stairway. 
 
 The warden's wife was on her knees, clinging to the 
 hand of her husband. In his eyes was a dead, cold look. 
 A few men bit their lips, and a faint shadow of a cmile 
 played about the mouths of others. They all waited. A 
 convict had broken a regulation had run from the line ! 
 He would be punished ! Even as he had clambered up the 
 stairs a guard had cried, "shall I shoot?" 
 
 The silence was broken by a shriek from the woman 
 kneeling at the warden's feet. "Look!" she cried, and 
 pointed towards the last of the up-stairs windows. 
 
 There, surrounded by a halo of smoke, and hemmed in 
 on all sides by flames, stood a man in a dingy gray suit. 
 One sleeve was on fire, but he beat out the flames with his 
 left hand. Those below heard him cry, "I've got him!" 
 Then the figure disappeared. Instantly it returned, bear- 
 ing something in its arms. It was the limp form of a child. 
 
 All saw the man wrap smoking straw round the little 
 
574 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 body and tie round that two strands of heavy twine. Then 
 that precious burden was lowered out of the window. The 
 father rushed forward and held up his hands to receive it. 
 
 Another foot he hugged the limp body of his boy to his 
 breast! On the ground a little way back lay a woman, as 
 if dead. 
 
 "Here's the ladder!" yelled the foreman, and that mo- 
 ment the eyes that were still turned upon the window above 
 where stood a man in a dingy gray suit, witnessed a specta- 
 cle that will reappear before them again and again in vis- 
 ions of the night. 
 
 . The coat the man wore was ablaze. Flames shot on 
 either side of him and above him. Just as the ladder was 
 placed against the wall, a crackling was heard not the 
 crackling of the fire. Then like a thunderbolt, a crash oc- 
 curred that caused even the men in their cells to start. The 
 roof caved in. 
 
 In the prison yard that line of convicts saw 2034 reel and 
 fall backwards, and heard, as he fell, his last cry, "I'm 
 a-comin', warden!" 
 
 He was a convicted criminal, and died in prison gray. 
 But it would seem not wonderful to the warden if, when 
 that man's soul took flight, the recording angel did write 
 his name on the eternal Book of Record, with a strange 
 cabalistic sign, a ring around a cross that stands for "good 
 behavior." The Youth's Companion. 
 
 HIS MOTHER'S SONG. 
 
 Beneath the hot midsummer sun 
 
 The men had marched all day; 
 And now beside a rippling stream 
 
 Upon the grass they lay. 
 Tiring of games and idle jest, 
 
 As swept the hours along, 
 They cried to one who mused apart, 
 
 ''Come, friend, give us a song." 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 575 
 
 ' ' I fear I cannot please, ' ' he said ; 
 
 ' ' The only songs I know 
 Are those my mother used to sing 
 
 For me, long years ago." 
 ' ' Sing one of those, ' ' a rough voice cried, 
 
 " There's none but true men here; 
 To every mother's son of us 
 
 A mother 's songs are dear. ' ' 
 
 Then sweetly rose the singer 's voice 
 
 Amid unwonted calm, 
 "Am I a soldier of the Cross, 
 
 A follower of the Lamb? 
 And shall I fear to own His Cause?" 
 
 The very stream was stilled, 
 And hearts that never throbbed with fear 
 
 With tender thoughts were filled. 
 
 Ended the song; the singer said, 
 
 As to his feet he rose, 
 i l Thanks to you all, my friends, good-night, 
 
 God grant us sweet repose. ' ' 
 ' ' Sing us one more, ' ' the captain begged, 
 
 The soldier bent his head, 
 Then glancing round, with smiling lips, 
 
 "You'll join with me?" he said. 
 
 "We'll sing this old familiar air, 
 
 Sweet as the bugle call, 
 'All hail the power of Jesus' name, 
 
 Let angels prostrate fall ; ' ' 
 Ah! wondrous was the old tune's spell, 
 
 As on the soldier sang, 
 Man after man fell into line, 
 
 And loud the voices rang. 
 
 The songs are done, the camp is still, 
 
 Naught but the stream is heard; 
 But ah! the depths of every soul 
 
 By those old hymns are stirred, 
 And up from many a bearded lip, 
 
 In whispers soft and low, 
 Rises the prayer that mother taught 
 
 Her boy long years ago. 
 
 Safeguard. 
 
 PERFECT PEACE. 
 
 [Lines written by a lady on the steamship ' ' Mongolia, ' ' near 
 Malta. She was en route from China, where she had been i mis- 
 sionary for seventeen years, to her home in England. She gave 
 the verses to Bishop Bowman, who was on the steamer with her, 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 and he sent them to his wife, not knowing she had died a few days 
 before he wrote his letter. A. Lowry.] 
 
 Lonely? No, not lonely 
 
 While Jesus stands by; 
 His presence always cheers me, 
 
 I know that He is nigh. 
 
 Friendless? No, not friendless, 
 
 For Jesus is my friend; 
 I change, but He remaineth 
 
 The same unto the end. 
 
 Tired? No, not tired. 
 
 While leaning on His breast; 
 My soul hath full enjoyment, 
 
 'Tis His eternal rest. 
 
 Saddened? No, not saddened 
 
 By darkest scenes of woe; 
 I should be, if I knew not 
 
 That Jesus loves me so. 
 
 Helpless? Yes, so helpless, 
 
 But I am leaning hard 
 On the mighty arm of Jesus, 
 
 And He is keeping guard. 
 
 Waiting? Oh, yes, waiting, 
 
 He bade me watch and wait; 
 I only wonder often 
 
 What makes my Lord so late. 
 
 Joyful? Yes, so joyful, 
 
 With joy too deep for words; 
 A precious, sure possession, 
 
 The joy that is my Lord's. 
 
 Divine Life. 
 
 SWEET REVENGE/ 
 
 A few years ago while Robert Stewart was Governor of 
 Missouri, a steamboat man was brought in from the peni- 
 tentiary for a pardon. He was a large, powerful fellow, 
 and when the governor looked at him he seemed strangely 
 affected. He scrutinized him long and closely. Finally he 
 signed the document that restored to the prisoner his lib- 
 erty. Before he handed it to him he said, "You will commit 
 some other crime and be in the penitentiary again, I fear." 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 577 
 
 The man solemnly promised that he would not. The gov- 
 ernor looked doubtful, mused a few minutes and said, "You 
 will go back on the river and be a mate again, I suppose?" 
 
 The man replied that he would. 
 
 "Well, I want you to promise me one thing," resumed 
 the governor. "I want you to pledge your word that when 
 you are mate again, you will never take a billet of wood in 
 your hand and drive a sick boy out of a bunk to help you 
 load your boat on a stormy night." 
 
 The boatman said he would not, and inquired what he 
 meant by asking him such a question. 
 
 The governor replied, "Because some day that boy may 
 become a governor, and you may want him to pardon you 
 for a crime. One dark stormy night many years ago you 
 stopped youi boat on the Mississippi River to take on a load 
 of wood. There was a boy on board working his way from 
 New Orleans to St. Louis, but he was very sick of fever 
 and was lying in a bunk You had plenty of men to do the 
 work but you went to that boy with a stick of wood in your 
 hand and drove him with blows and curses out into the 
 wretched night and kept him toiling like a slave until the 
 load was completed. I was that boy. Here is your pardon. 
 Never again be guilty of such brutality." 
 
 The man, cowering and hiding his face, went out without 
 a word. 
 
 What a noble revenge that was, and what a lesson for a 
 bully. Success. 
 
 NO TELEPHONE IN HEAVEN. 
 
 ' ' Now, I can wait on baby, ' ' the smiling merchant said, 
 As he stooped and softly toyed with the golden, curly head. 
 "I want oo to tall up mamma," came the answer full and free, 
 1 ' Wif yo ' telephone an ' ast her when she 's tummin ' back to me. 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 1 ' Tell her 1 so lonesome 'at I don 't know what to do, 
 An' papa cries so much I dess he must be lonesome, too; 
 Tell her to turn to baby, 'tause at night I dit so 'fraid, 
 Wif nobody here to tiss me, when the light bedins to fade. 
 
 ' ' All f roo de day I wants her, for my dolly dot so tored 
 Fum the awful punchin' Buddy gave it wif his little sword; 
 An' ain't nobody to fix it, since mamma went away, 
 An ' poor 'ittle lonesome dolly 's dittin ' thinner ever ' day. ' ' 
 
 ' ' My child, ' ' the merchant murmured, as he stroked the anxious brow, 
 " There's no telephone connection where your mother lives at now." 
 "Ain't no telephone in Heaven?" and tears sprang to her eyes. 
 1 1 1 fought dat God had every 'fing wif Him up in de skies. ' ' 
 
 Atlanta Constitution. 
 
 PERFECT THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 God would not send you the darkness 
 
 If He felt you could bear the light, 
 But you would not cling tjo His guiding hand 
 
 If the way were always bright; 
 And you would not care to walk by faith 
 
 Gould you always walk by sight. 
 
 'Tis true He has many an anguish 
 
 For your sorrowing heart to bear, 
 And many a cruel thorn-crown 
 
 For your tired head to wear; 
 He knows how few would reach home at all 
 
 If pain did not guide them there. 
 
 If He sends you in blinding darkness, 
 
 And the furnace of seven-fold heat; 
 'Tis the only way, believe me, 
 
 To keep you close to His feet; 
 For 'tis always so easy to wander 
 
 When our lives are glad and sweet. 
 
 Then nestle your hand in our Father's 
 
 And sing if you can as you go; 
 Your song may cheer some one behind you 
 
 Whose courage is sinking low; 
 And, well if your lips do quiver, 
 
 God will love you better so. 
 
 Selected. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 579 
 
 A TRUE HERO. 
 
 Two men were sinking a shaft. It was dangerous busi- 
 ness, for it was necessary to blast the rock. It was their 
 custom to cut the fuse with a sharp knife. One man then 
 entered the bucket and made a signal to be hauled up. 
 When the bucket again descended, the other man entered 
 it, and with one hand on the signal rope and the other hold- 
 ing the fire, he touched the fuse, made the signal, and was 
 rapidly drawn up before the explosion took place. 
 
 One day they left the knife above, and rather than ascend 
 to procure it, they cut the fuse with a sharp stone. It took 
 fire. "The fuse is on fire!" Both men leaped into the 
 bucket, and made the signal ; but the windlass would haul 
 up but one man at a time ; only one could escape. One of 
 the men instantly leaped out, and said to the other, ''Up wi' 
 ye ; I'll be in heaven in a minute." With lightning speed 
 the bucket was drawn up, and the one man was saved. The 
 explosion took place. Men descended, expecting to find the 
 mangled body of the other miner ; but the blast had loosened 
 a mass of rock, and it lay diagonally across him ; and, with 
 the exception of a few bruises and a little scorching/he was 
 unhurt. When asked why he urged his comrade to escape, 
 he gave a reason that sceptics would laugh at. If there Is 
 any being on the face of the earth I pity, it is a sceptic. I 
 would not be called "a sceptic," today for all this world's 
 wealth. They may call it superstition or fanaticism, or 
 whatever they choose. But what did this hero say when 
 asked, "Why did you insist on this other man's ascending?" 
 In his quaint dialect, he replied, "Because I knowed my soul 
 was safe ; for I've give it in the hands of Him of whom it is 
 said, that 'faithfulness is the girdle of his reins/ and I 
 knowed that what I gied Him He'd never gie up. But 
 
580 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 t'other chap was an awful wicked lad, and I wanted to gie 
 him another chance." All the infidelity in the world cannot 
 produce such a signal act of heroism as that. Selected. 
 
 THE "KID." 
 
 It was not a long procession or a pleasing one but it at- 
 tracted much attention. 
 
 There was a policeman in the lead. Beside him walked 
 a stockey, bullnecked young fellow in a yellowish suit of 
 loud plaid. His face was bloody and his right wrist encir- 
 cled by the bracelet of the ''twisters" which shackled him 
 to his captor. The face of the policeman was also bloody 
 and his clothes were torn. Behind these two walked three 
 other patrolmen, each with a handcuffed prisoner. 
 
 The "kid" and his "gang" had been caught in the act of 
 robbing a saloon, and the fight had been lively, although 
 short. The prisoners had been taken to the detectives' of- 
 fice, and photographed and registered for the rogues' gal- 
 lery. They were now on their way to court, and thence, in 
 all probability, to jail. 
 
 At Broadway there was a jam of cars and heavy trucks, 
 and the procession had to wait. Nobody has been able to 
 tell just what happened, but they all agree as to the essen- 
 tial points. First the bystanders saw a streak of yellow, 
 which was the kid; then a streak of blue which was the po- 
 liceman. The prisoner had wrenched the twisters from his 
 captors' hand, and made a dash across the tracks. The po- 
 liceman, thinking, of course that he was trying to escape, 
 had followed. 
 
 Then everybody saw a little child toddling along in the 
 middle of the track. A cable-car, with clanging bell, was 
 bearing down upon it with a speed which the gripman 
 seemed powerless to check. The baby held up its hands, 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 58! 
 
 and laughed at the sound of the gong. On the other side of 
 the street a woman was screaming and struggling in the 
 arms of three or four men who were trying to keep her 
 from sacrificing her own life to save that of her child. 
 
 Then the kid stood there with the child safe in his arms, 
 the steel twisters hanging from his wrist. He set the baby 
 down gently at his feet, loosened the clasp of the chubby 
 hand on his big red fist, and quietly held out his wrist to the 
 policeman to be handcuffed again. He had one chance in a 
 million for his life when he made that desperate leap, but 
 he had not hesitated the fraction of a second. 
 
 CHARGED WITH MURDER. 
 
 "Prisoner at the bar, have you anything to say why sen- 
 tence of death should not be passed upon you ?" 
 
 A solemn hush fell over the crowded court-room, and 
 every person waited in almost breathless expectation for the 
 answer to the judge's question. 
 
 "I have, your honor ! I stand here convicted of the mur- 
 der of my wife. Witnesses have testified that I was a loaf- 
 er, a drunkard and a wretch ; that I returned from one of 
 my debauches and fired the shot that killed the wife I had 
 sworn to love, cherish and protect. While I have no re- 
 membrance of committing the awful deed, I have no right 
 to condemn the verdict of the jury, for their verdict is in ac- 
 cordance with the evidence. 
 
 "But, may it please the court, I wish to show that I am 
 not alone responsible for the murder of my wife! The 
 judge on this bench, the jury in the box, the lawyers within 
 this bar and most of the witnesses, including the pastor of 
 the church, are also guilty before God and will have to 
 stand with me before His judgment throne, where we shall 
 all be righteously judged. 
 
582 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 "If it had not been for the saloons of my town, I never 
 would have become a drunkard ; my wife would not have 
 been murdered ; I would not be here now, soon to be hurled 
 into eternity. 
 
 "For one year our town was without a saloon. For one 
 year I was a sober man. For one year my wife and children 
 were happy and our little home was a paradise. 
 
 "I was one of those who signed remonstrances against re- 
 opening the saloons of our town One-half of this jury, the 
 prosecuting attorney on this case, and the judge who sits 
 on this bench, all voted for the saloons. By their votes and 
 influence the saloons were opened, and they have made me 
 what I am. 
 
 "Think you that the Great Judge will hold me the poor, 
 weak, helpless victim alone responsible for the murder of 
 my wife ? Nay ; I, in my drunken, frenzied, irresponsible 
 condition have murdered one; but you have deliberately 
 voted for the saloons which have murdered thousands, and 
 they are in full operation today with your consent. You 
 legalized the saloons that made me a drunkard and a mur- 
 derer, and you are guilty with me before God and man for 
 the murder of my wife. 
 
 "I will close by solemnly asking God to open your blind 
 eyes to your own individual responsibility, so that you will 
 cease to give your support to this hell-born traffic." Set. 
 
 MOTHER'S FACE. 
 
 There's a feeling comes across me 
 
 Comes across me often now 
 And it deepest seems when trouble 
 
 Lays her finger on my brow; 
 O it is a deep, deep feeling, 
 
 Neither happiness nor pain! 
 'Tis a mighty, soulful longing 
 
 To see mother's face again! 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 583 
 
 'Tis, I think, a natural feeling; 
 
 Worst of me, I can't control 
 Myself no more! It seems to stir 
 
 And thrill my very soul! 
 Try to laugh it off but useless! 
 
 Oh! my tears will fall like rain 
 When I get this soulful longing 
 
 Just to see her face again! 
 
 You won't know how much you love her 
 
 (Your old mother) till you roam 
 'Way off where her voice can't reach you, 
 
 And with strangers make your home; 
 Then you'll know how big your heart is, 
 
 Think you never loved before, 
 When you get this mighty longing 
 
 Just to see her face once more. 
 
 Mother! tender, loving soul! 
 
 Heaven bless her dear old face! 
 I'd give half my years remaining 
 
 Just to give her one embrace; 
 Or to shower love-warm kisses 
 
 On her lips, and cheeks, and brow, 
 And appease this mighty longing 
 
 That I get so often now! Sel. 
 
 ONLY SIXTEEN. 
 
 Only sixteen, so the papers say, 
 Yet there on the cold, stony ground he lay; 
 'Tis the same sad story we hear every day. 
 He came to his death in the public highway. 
 Full of promise, talent and pride, 
 Yet the rum fiend conquered him so he died. 
 Did not the angels weep o'er the scene? 
 For he died a drunkard and only sixteen. 
 Only sixteen. 
 
 Oh! it were sad he must die all alone, 
 That of all his friends, not even one 
 Was there to list to his last faint moan, 
 Or point the suffering soul to the throne 
 Of grace. If, perchance, God's only Son 
 Would say, ' ' Whosoever will may come. ' ' 
 But we hasten to draw a veil over the scene, 
 With his God we leave him only sixteen. 
 Only sixteen. 
 
 Eumseller, come view the work you have wrought! 
 Witness the suffering and pain you have brought 
 To the poor boy 's friends ; they loved him well, 
 And yet you dared the vile beverage to sell 
 
584 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 That beclouded his brain, his reason dethroned, 
 And left him to die out there all alone. 
 What if 't were your son instead of another? 
 What if your wife were that poor boy's mother? 
 And he only sixteen. 
 
 Ye freeholders who signed the petition to grant 
 The license to sell, do you think you will want 
 That record to meet in the last great day 
 When heaven and earth shall have passed away, 
 When the elements melting with fervent heat 
 Shall proclaim the triumph of right complete? 
 Will you wish to have his blood on your hands 
 When before the great throne you each shall stand? 
 And he only sixteen. 
 
 Christian men! rouse ye to stand for the right, 
 To action and duty; into the light. 
 Come with your banners inscribed: " Death to ruin." 
 Let your conscience speak, listen, then come; 
 Strike killing blows; hew to the line; 
 Make it a felony even to sign 
 A petition to license; you would do it I ween 
 If that were your son and he only sixteen, 
 Only sixteen. 
 
 THE DRESS QUESTION. 
 
 One day, at Louisville, riding with Mrs. Wheaton to visit 
 the sick prisoners, she said, "Do you think it your duty to 
 rebuke Christians who wear jewelry?" I saw her question 
 was a kindly reproof to me, and said, "If the Lord wants 
 me to give up the jewelry I have, He will show me." Yes, 
 He will," she answered ; "for I am praying for you." The 
 next morning the friend who was entertaining me told me 
 her little eleven-year-old daughter, Emma, just converted, 
 said, "Mamma, I wish you would read to me in the Bible 
 where it says not to wear jewelry." The mother read the 
 verses. Then the child said, "Mamma, if the Lord does 
 not want me to wear jewelry, I don't want to;" and she 
 brought her little pin and ring to her mother. I took my 
 Bible and read, "Whose adorning, let it not be that outward 
 adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold, or of 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 585 
 
 putting on of apparel ; but let it be the hidden man of the 
 heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament 
 of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of 
 great price" (i Peter ii, 3, 4) ; and, "In like maner also, 
 that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with 
 shamefacedness and sobriety, not with braided hair or gold 
 or pearls or costly array, but (which becometh women pro- 
 fessing godliness) with good works." (i Tim. ii, 9, 10.) 
 Then I thought : "The child is right. The Bible means just 
 what it says." Then I recalled that Mrs. Wheaton had told 
 me how she went one day to visit a poor, sick girl, to whom 
 she had talked of the love of Christ until she was almost 
 won. She went again with a wealthy woman, who was 
 decked with diamonds. As they entered the room, the girl 
 pointed to the jewels, and said: "O mother, mother! I 
 have wanted them all my life !" The rich woman tried to 
 hide her diamonds, and Mrs. Wheaton tried to turn the 
 girl's attention again to the Savior, but in vain. Her last 
 thought was of the diamonds, and her last words, "I have 
 wanted them all my life !" 
 
 Sitting there, with this incident fresh in my mind, I quiet- 
 ly slipped off ring, watch, chain, cuff-buttons, and collar- 
 stud ; and gold, as an adornment, was put away forever. 
 Abbie C. Morrow, in Revival Advocate, March 7, 1901. 
 
 SONGS USED IN MY WORK. 
 ROCK ME TO SLEEP, MOTHER. 
 
 "Backward, turn backward, oh time in your flight, 
 Make me a child again just for tonight. 
 Mother, come back from that echoless shore, 
 Take me again to your arms as of yore ; 
 Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care, 
 Smooth the few silver threads ut of my hair ; 
 Over my slumbers your loving watch keep, 
 Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep." 
 
586 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 LIFE'S RAILWAY TO HEAVEN. 
 
 Life is like a mountain railroad, 
 
 With an engineer that's brave ; 
 We must make the run successful, 
 
 From the cradle to the grave ; 
 Watch the curves, the fills, the tunnels; 
 
 Never falter, never quail ; 
 Keep your hand upon the throttle, 
 
 And your eye upon the rail. 
 CHORUS : 
 
 Blessed Savior, Thou wilt guide us 
 
 Till we reach that blissful shore; 
 Where the angels wait to join us 
 
 In Thy praise forevermore. 
 
 You will roll up grades of trials; 
 
 You will cross the bridge of strife; 
 See that Christ is your conductor 
 
 On this lightning train of life ; 
 Always mindful of obstructions; 
 
 Do your duty, never fail ; 
 Keep your hand upon the throttle, 
 
 And your eye upon the rail. 
 
 You will often find obstructions ; 
 
 Look for storms of wind and rain; 
 On a fill, or curve, or trestle, 
 
 They will almost ditch your train; 
 Put your trust alone in Jesus; 
 
 Never falter, never fail ; 
 Keep your hand upon the throttle, 
 x And your eye upon the rail. 
 
 As you roll across the trestle, 
 
 Spanning Jordan's swelling tide, 
 You behold the Union Depot 
 
 Into which your train will glide ; 
 There you'll meet the Superintendent, 
 
 God the Father, God the Son 
 With the hearty, joyous plaudit, 
 
 Weary pilgrim, welcome home. 
 
 By permission of Charlie D Tillman, owner of copyright. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 587 
 
 MEET ME THERE. 
 
 1. On the happy golden shore, 
 
 Where the faithful part no more, 
 When the storms of life are o'er, 
 
 Meet me there. 
 
 Where the night dissolves away, 
 Into pure and perfect day, 
 I am going home to stay, 
 
 Meet me there. 
 
 CHORUS: 
 Meet me there. 
 Meet me there, 
 Where the tree of life is blooming 
 
 Meet me there. 
 
 When the storms of life are o'er, 
 On the happy golden shore, 
 Where the faithful part no more, 
 Meet me there. 
 
 2. Here our fondest hopes are vain, 
 Dearest links are rent in twain, 
 But in heav'n no throbs of pain, 
 
 Meet me there. 
 By the river sparkling bright, 
 In the city of delight 
 Where our faith is lost in sight, 
 
 Meet me there. 
 
 3. Where the harps of angels ring, 
 
 And the blest forever sing, 
 In the palace of the king, 
 
 Meet me there. 
 
 Where in sweet communion blend, 
 Heart with heart and friend with friend ; 
 In a world that ne'er shall end, 
 
 Meet me there. 
 
 Words and music copyrighted by W. /. Kirkpatrick, Phil- 
 adelphia. 
 
 GOD BLESS MY BOY 
 
 I. When shining stars their vigils keep, 
 
 And all the world is hushed in sleep, 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYF* 
 
 'Tis then I breathe this pray'r so deep 
 God bless my boy tonight. 
 
 CHORUS : 
 God bless my boy, my wandering boy. 
 
 And keep his honor bright; 
 May he come home no longer roam 
 
 God save my boy tonight. 
 
 2. I know not where his head may lie, 
 Perchance beneath the open sky; 
 But this I ween, God's watchful eye 
 
 Can see my boy tonight. 
 
 3. As pass the days, the months and years, 
 
 With all the change, the hopes and fears, 
 God make each step of duty clear, 
 And keep his honor bright. 
 
 4. And when at last his work is o'er, 
 And earthly toil shall be no more, 
 May angels guide him to the shore 
 
 Where there shall be no night. 
 
 THE GREAT JUDGMENT MORNING. 
 
 Tune ' l Kathleen Mavourneen. ' ' 
 One cold Winter eve when the snow was fast falling 
 
 In a small, humble cottage a poor mother laid ; 
 Although racked with pain she lay there contented 
 
 With Christ as her Friend and her peace with Him made. 
 
 CHORUS : 
 We shall all meet again on the great judgment morning, 
 
 The books will be opened, the roll will be called; 
 How sad it will be if forever we're parted, 
 
 And shut out of heaven for not loving God ! 
 
 That mother of yours has gone over death's river. 
 
 You promised you'd meet her as you knelt by her bed, 
 While the death sweat rolled from her and fell on the pil- 
 low; 
 
 Her memory still speaketh, although she is dead. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 589 
 
 You remembf r the kiss and the last words she uttered, 
 The arms tli.it embraced you are mouldering away ; 
 
 As you stood 6y her grave and dropped tears on her coffin, 
 With a vcw that you'd meet her, you walked slowly away. 
 
 My brother, my sister, get ready to meet her, 
 
 The life that you now live is ebbing away, 
 But the life that's to come lasts forever and ever, 
 
 May we meet ne'er to part on that great judgment day! 
 
 MY NAME IN MOTHER'S PRAYER. 
 
 'Twas in the days of careless youth 
 
 When life seemed fair and bright, 
 When ne'er a tear, nor scarce a fear 
 
 O'er cast my day or night. 
 Twas in the quiet even tide, 
 
 I passed her kneeling there, 
 When just one word I tho't I heard 
 
 My name, my name in mother's prayer. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 My name, my name in mother's prayer, 
 
 My name in mother's prayer! 
 There is just one word I tho't I heard 
 
 My name, my name in mother's prayer. 
 
 I wandered on, but heeded not 
 
 God's oft repeated call, 
 To turn from sin and live for Him, 
 
 And trust to Him my all in all. 
 But when at last convinced of sin*, 
 
 I sank in deep despair, 
 My soul awoke when memory spoke 
 
 My name, my name in mother's prayer. 
 
 That kneeling form, those folded hands. 
 
 Have vanished in the dust ; 
 But still for me for years shall be 
 
 The memory of her trust. 
 And when I cross dark Jordan's tide, 
 
 I'll meet her over there; 
 I'll praise the Lord, and bless the word, 
 
 That word, my name in mother's prayer I 
 
590 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 OVER THERE. 
 Come all ye scattered race, 
 And the Savior's love embrace; 
 You may see His smiling face 
 
 Yet with care ; 
 He is on the giving hand, 
 Will you come at His command, 
 Will you with the angels stand 
 
 Over there? 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Over there, over there, 
 There's a land of pure delight 
 
 Over there, 
 
 We will lay our burdens down, 
 And at Jesus' feet sit down, 
 And we'll wear a starry crown, 
 
 Over there. 
 
 Yes, He went to Calvary, 
 
 And they nailed Him to the tree, 
 
 That poor sinners such as we, 
 
 He might spare ; 
 From the bitter pangs of death, 
 He does with His dying breath, 
 Seal an everlasting rest, 
 
 Over there. 
 
 God has placed us on the field, 
 To the foe we will not yield, 
 
 On our tower we will stand, 
 
 By His care. 
 
 Wave the Christian's banner high, 
 Hold it up until we die, 
 And go home to live with God, 
 
 Over there. 
 
 THIS WAY. 
 Our life is like a stormy sea, 
 
 Swept by the gales of sin and grief, 
 While on the windward and the lee, 
 
 Hangs heavy clouds of unbelief ; 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 5QI 
 
 Out o'er the deep a call we hear, 
 Like harbor bell's inviting voice ; 
 
 It tells the lost that hope is near, 
 And bids the trembling soul rejoice. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 This way, this way, O heart oppressed, 
 
 So long by storm and tempest driven, 
 This way, this way, lo here is rest, 
 
 Rings out the harbor bell, of heaven. 
 
 O tempted one, look up, be strong; 
 
 The promise of the Lord is sure, 
 That they shall sing the victor's song, 
 
 Who faithful to the end endure ; 
 God's Holy Spirit comes to thee, 
 
 Of this abiding love to tell ; 
 To blissful port, o'er stormy sea, 
 
 Calls heaven's inviting harbor bell. 
 
 MORE TO BE PITIED THAN CENSURED. 
 There's an old concert hall on the bowery 
 
 Where were assembled together one night 
 A crowd of young fellows carousing, 
 
 To them life looked happy and bright. 
 At the very next table was seated 
 
 A girl that had fallen to shame ; 
 How the fellows they laughed at her downfall, 
 
 When they heard an old woman exclaim : 
 
 CHORUS. 
 "She's more to be pitied than censured, 
 
 She is more to be loved than despised; 
 She is only a poor girl who ventured 
 
 On life's rugged path ill-advised. 
 Don't scorn her with words fierce and bitter, 
 
 Don't laugh at her shame and downfall, 
 Just pause tor a moment consider, 
 
 That sin was the cause of it all." 
 
 There's an old-fashioned church 'round the corner, 
 
 Where the neighbors all gathered one day, 
 To listen to words from the parson, 
 
592 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 For a soul that had just passed away. 
 'Twas the same wayward girl from the bowery, 
 
 Who a life of adventure had led ; 
 Did the parson then laugh at her downfall? 
 
 No, he prayed and wept as he said: 
 
 SOME MOTHER'S CHILD. 
 
 At home or away, in the alley or street, 
 Wherever I chance in this wide world to meet 
 A girl that is thoughtless or a boy that is wild, 
 My heart echoes softly: It is some mother's child. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Some mother's child, 
 Some mother's child, 
 My heart echoes softly : 
 It is some mother's child. 
 
 And when I see those o'er whom long years have rolled, 
 Whose hearts have grown hardened, whose spirits are cold ; 
 Be it woman all fallen, or man all defiled, 
 A voice whispers sadly : It is some mother's child. 
 
 No matter how far from right she hath strayed ; 
 
 No matter what inroad dishonor hath made ; 
 
 No matter what elements cankered the pearl; 
 
 Though tarnished and sullied, she is some mother's girl. 
 
 No matter how deep he is sunken in sin ; 
 
 No matter how much he is shunned by his kin ; 
 
 No matter how low is his standard of joy ; 
 
 Though guilty and loathsome, he is some mother's boy. 
 
 That head hath been pillowed on tenderest breast ; 
 That form hath been wept o'er, those lips have been pressed ; 
 That soul hath been prayed for in tones sweet and mild; 
 For her sake deal gently with some mother's child. 
 
 Used by permission of Charlie D. Tillman, owner of copy- 
 right. 
 
 JUST TELL MY MOTHER. 
 
 'Twas in a Gospel Mission, in a distant western town, 
 The meeting there that night had just begun, 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 593 
 
 When in came a poor lost sinner who by sin had been cast 
 
 down, 
 
 Thinking perhaps that he might have some fun ; 
 But as he heard of Jesus' love, of pardon full and free, 
 
 He sought it and the wanderer ceased to roam. 
 And going to his room that night, his heart all filled with 
 
 joy, 
 He wrote a letter to the folks at home. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 Just tell my dear old mother, my wandering days are o'er, 
 
 Just tell her that my sins are all forgiven, 
 Just tell her that if on earth we chance to meet no more, 
 
 Her prayers are answered and we'll meet in Heaven. 
 
 His mother got the message as she lay at death's dark door, 
 Which told her of her boy so far away, 
 How his sins were all forgiven and wandering days were 
 
 o'er, 
 
 . And that his feet were on the narrow way. 
 Her heart was filled with gladness, as it had not been for 
 
 years, 
 
 Her dear old face was all lit up with joy, 
 As on her dying pillow she said amid her tears, 
 God bless and keep my precious darling boy. 
 
 Your mothers have prayed for you, my friends, for many 
 
 and many a day, 
 
 Perhaps these days of life will soon be o'er, 
 Come, give your hearts to Jesus, get on the narrow way, 
 
 And meet her on that happy golden shore. 
 Oh, come just now while still there's room, and pardon free 
 
 for all. 
 
 The Savior pleads, oh, do not longer roam. 
 And then with Jesus in your heart, you will send the 
 
 message 
 To your dear mother, praying still for you at home. 
 
 SOON THE DEATH-BELL WILL TOLL. 
 
 When the last Gospel message has been told in your ears. 
 And the last solemn warning has been given you in tears ; 
 
594 PRISONS AND 1'UAYEK 
 
 When hope shall escape from its place in your breast, 
 Oh, where will your poor weary soul find its rest? 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Soon the death-bell will toll look after your soul ; 
 O, sinner be ready, for the death-bell will toll. 
 
 When the darkness of death shall compass you round, 
 When the friends you have loved are all standing around ; 
 Unable to save you now from the tomb, 
 Unable to alter your terrible doom. 
 
 When before the white throne of His Judgment you stand, 
 "What have you to answer?" the Judge will demand; 
 Oh, terrible moment to be standing alone, 
 When mercy forever and forever is gone. 
 
 THE END OF THE WAY. 
 
 The following beautiful lines were written by a girl in 
 Nova Scotia, an invalid for many years : 
 
 My life is a wearisome journey ; 
 
 I'm sick of the dust and the heat ; 
 The rays of the sun beat upon me, 
 
 The briars are wounding my feet. 
 But the city to which I am journeying 
 Will more than my trials repay ; 
 All the toils of the road will seem nothing 
 
 When I get to the end of the way. 
 
 There are so many hills to climb upward, 
 
 I often am longing for rest, 
 But He who appoints me the pathway 
 ' Knows what is needed and best. 
 I know in His word He has promised 
 
 That my strength shall be as my day ; 
 And the toils of the road will seem nothing 
 
 When I get to the end of the way. 
 
 He loves me too well to forsake me, 
 
 Or give me one trial too much ; 
 All His people have been dearly purchased, 
 
 And Satan can never claim such. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 595 
 
 By and by I shall see Him and praise Him, 
 
 In the city of unending day ; 
 And the toils of the road will seem nothing 
 
 When I get to the end of the way. 
 
 When the last feeble steps have been taken, 
 
 And the gates of the city appear, 
 And the beautiful songs of the angels . 
 
 Float out on my listening ear ; 
 When all that now seems so mysterious 
 
 Will be plain and clear as the day 
 Yes, the toils of the road will seem nothing 
 
 When I get to the end of the way. 
 
 
 Though now I am footsore and weary, 
 
 .1 shall rest when I'm safely at home; 
 I know I'll receive a glad welcome, 
 
 For the Savior Himself has said "Come." 
 So, when I am weary in body, 
 
 And sinking in spirit I say, 
 All the toils of the road will seem nothing 
 
 When I get to the end of the way. 
 
 Cooling fountains are there for the thirsty, 
 
 There are cordials for those who are faint : 
 There are robes that are whiter and purer 
 
 Than any that fancy can paint. 
 Then I'll try to press hopefully onward, 
 
 Thinking often through each weary day, 
 The toils of the road will seem nothing 
 
 When I get to the end of the way. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 The matter which I have here appended I thought of 
 too much value to omit from this volume. The first article 
 is explanatory in itself. The second is by a prisoner whom 
 I have known for many years. The third (regarding 
 Christ in Gethsemane) was written by a prisoner as a letter 
 to myself. I hope the reader may profit by the reading 
 of each page. E. R. W. 
 
 THE PERSONNEL OF PRISON MANAGEMENT. 
 
 Address of C. E. Haddox, warden of the West Virginia peniten- 
 tiary, to the National Prison Association, at its annual session, 
 Louisville, Ky., Congress of 1903: 
 
 This is the age of industrial development. On every side 
 we see colossal enterprises undertaken and prosecuted to 
 a successful and profitable conclusion. 
 
 Great railroad systems span the continent, carrying mil- 
 lions of passengers and countless tons of freight, with 
 safety, celerity and dispatch, to the doors of factory, work- 
 shop, store and consumer. 
 
 Immense industrial enterprises are constantly being pro- 
 jected, consolidated and carried on in a manner to excite 
 the admiration, mayhap, the wonder and fear of mankind. 
 
 Colossal financial transactions amaze the minds of those 
 uninitiated to the magnitude and the intricacies of such 
 undertakings. 
 
 The unexplored recesses of the earth are exploited in a 
 manner and on a scale heretofore undreamed of and un- 
 known, and every department of enterprise is carried on 
 to a degree that distinctly stamps this decade as the acme 
 of industrial enterprise and achievements, the golden age 
 of industrial prosperity, and the acquirement of material 
 improvement and material gain. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 597 
 
 If it be asked why such strides have been made along 
 industrial lines, the answer is that it is due to ORGANIZATION 
 
 AND SPECIALIZATION. 
 
 The PERSONNEL of the management have devoted 
 their lives, their talent and their energies to the special 
 work before them. They have been drilled and educated 
 along special lines; they have been deaf and blind to out- 
 side matters not relevant to the work in hand, and by close 
 and careful study, by unceasing and constant labor, care and 
 effort, having evolved, projected and carried on these im- 
 mense enterprises. 
 
 The National Prison Congress at its meeting this year is 
 mindful of the material progress of the country. 
 
 This association is equally ambitious along the lines pe- 
 culiar to itself to obtain from the various penal institutions 
 of the country the highest and best results morally, educa- 
 tionally, reformatively, and as an incident, punitively and 
 financially. 
 
 How shall we keep pace in penal improvements with the 
 great material progress of the outside world? 
 
 The answer necessarily must be, that improvements in our 
 department of work must come, as they do elsewhere, by 
 the investigation, the study, the thought and the effort of 
 those who are in actual control, of those who are in a posi- 
 tion to see, to observe and to know. 
 
 In other words, the question as to whether prisons are 
 to improve, whether their work shall continue to be of a 
 higher and nobler character, whether we are finally and 
 forever to break away from the customs of the galleys of 
 France, the prisons of Hawes in England, of the Mamer- 
 tine of Rome and of Rothenburg in Germany, will depend 
 utterly, entirely and absolutely upon the personnel of the 
 prison management of the country. 
 
598 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Prof. Henderson, in his admirable address delivered at 
 the Philadelphia meeting in 1902, on "The Social Position 
 of the Prison Warden," says: "Some institutions have no 
 marked qualities; they have walls, cells, machinery, prison- 
 ers, punishments, but no distinct, consistent and rational 
 policy." 
 
 Where this is true it means that the worst possible con- 
 dition of affairs exists. Such an institution has the dry 
 rot. It is managed (or rather mismanaged) by time 
 servers, too careless to feel the high responsibility devolving 
 upon them, and too listless to acquaint themselves with the 
 many opportunities spread before them to improve and 
 keep pace with the onward march of progress. 
 
 Such officers in their abuse, by inaction, of the opportu- 
 nities afforded them, commit "Crimes against criminals" 
 and through them against society. 
 
 On the contrary institutions which have distinct features 
 and characteristics, have them as the result of the care- 
 ful investigation, the patient research and thought of those 
 who are in responsible and actual control, and these charac- 
 teristics and features reflect the wisdom and intelligence 
 of those who have given their energies and their lives to 
 the special work before them. 
 
 THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 
 
 In the management of penal institutions a Board of Di- 
 rectors or of Control is, ordinarily, the nominal head. 
 
 By the laws of most states they are supposed to fix the 
 administration policy, to restrict and define the powers and 
 duties of the officers in actual and intimate control. 
 
 In some institutions they meet a day or so each month, 
 in most institutions not so frequently. Their duties while 
 at the institution may or may not be largely perfunctory, 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 599 
 
 and as they are generally active business men at home in 
 other channels, the day or two a month or quarter is apt 
 to be regarded by the unthoughtful as a respite or surcease 
 from other duties. The mam duty of a Board of Directors 
 or of Control may be said to be the determining of the 
 general policy upon which the institution shall be con- 
 ducted, and a cursory oversight of the conduct of its affairs. 
 
 THE WARDEN. 
 
 The warden or superintendent is the one official who can 
 give tone, expression and color to the institution. He is 
 distinctly and positively its actual managing head, and 
 upon his intelligence, interest, zeal, tact and discretion will 
 depend, almost entirely, its weal or its woe. 
 
 He must be a man of intelligence, and be willing and 
 anxious to increase his fund of knowledge and information. 
 
 He should be a profound student not only of the ordinary 
 subjects that attract the student, but of prison systems, of 
 laws, business, government, society as it exists, and of 
 human nature in all its many phases. 
 
 HE MUST BE AN ORGANIZER. 
 
 No difference how elaborate a system may be found in 
 any institution of this kind, the warden will always be an 
 intensely busy and greatly occupied officer. 
 
 If he would prevent chaos and confusion and obtain 
 from every official the highest and best work of which he 
 is capable, he must organize every department thoroughly. 
 Every officer and every inmate must know his exact duties, 
 so far as it is possible to know them, and be made respon- 
 sible for those duties and the warden nr.ist be enabled to ap- 
 preciate a high order of talent and the accomplishment of 
 good work, and to locate the blame for omissions and short 
 comings, and provide for their correction. 
 
600 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Thorough system in every detail will conserve the ca- 
 pacities of all his subordinates and leave him in a measure 
 free to observe the actual conditions and to plan and to put 
 into effect improvements along moral, industrial, physical 
 and financial lines. 
 
 HE MUST BE A FINANCIER. 
 
 The financial question in every prison in the land is an 
 extremely important one. Funds for prisons are doled out 
 grudgingly, and the demand for absolutely necessary pur- 
 poses is always far greater than the supply. 
 
 A warden performs no more important function than 
 when he sees that the funds of the institution are so used 
 as to effect the highest possible results, and that all the 
 forces of the prison are so energized and conserved as to 
 permit, under ordinary conditions, a satisfactory and proper 
 earning and economizing power. With the many demands 
 made upon him for means for increasing the usefulness of 
 his institution, a high order of financial aptitude is an ab- 
 solutely necessary characteristic in a successful warden. 
 
 DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Discipline in a prison is its first requisite. Nothing can 
 be accomplished until officers and convicts are under its 
 sway and control. 
 
 The warden who would have control of those under him 
 must himself at all times, be under self control. 
 
 The maxim "No one knows how to command who has 
 not first learned how to obey/' is a trite and a true one. The 
 population of a prison is made up of a heterogeneous col- 
 lection of people whose first instincts have been and are, 
 not to obey. 
 
 To bring such people into habits of obedience and con- 
 trol requires the highest type of skill, tact and discretion. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 6oi 
 
 Punishments and reward must be so blended and com- 
 bined as to effect the needful results with the least possible 
 friction, and in the most humane and rational manner pos- 
 sible. 
 
 No warden can afford to delegate the matter of enforcing 
 discipline entirely or partly, if at all, to another. His first 
 duty to himself, that he may know actual conditions as they 
 exist, is to preside over or assist in, the trial of offenders 
 and to order discipline. 
 
 Individual treatment is a necessity in our dealings with 
 delinquents, and a study of the many phases of delinquency 
 is a prime requisite in a successful warden's repertoire. 
 
 Brainard F. Smith says: "Many a prisoner has been re- 
 formed or, if not reformed, made a better prisoner by 
 punishment." 
 
 Will the warden have any higher duty to perform than 
 to face his delinquent delinquents and to order in merciful 
 severity, rational punishments for their short-comings? 
 
 But a warden's disciplinary powers are apt to be taxed 
 more severely in another direction. The great problem or- 
 dinarily, is not so much the discipline of convicts as that 
 of subordinate officers. If subordinate officers will obey 
 the spirit and the letter of the rules, the convict has the 
 potential influence of a powerful example to aid him. 
 "Like master like man." 
 
 In institutions where officers are appointed solely with 
 reference to their fitness, comparatively little trouble should 
 be had in the matter of proper official discipline. But 
 where places are given to heelers, ward-workers and po- 
 litical strikers, the matter of efficient discipline is a question 
 of grave concern to the warden. In the absence of better 
 material, however, he must address himself to organizing 
 
602 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 what he has to the highest efficiency possible, and insist 
 and require a rigid regimen and adhere to his demands 
 and requirements with Spartan firmness. 
 
 THE PRISON SCHOOL.. 
 
 The educational work of a prison is of the highest, I may 
 say, of the first importance. The education of the hands 
 to work comes naturally, partly as an incident of the neces- 
 sary work carried on in prison. 
 
 Nearly all convicts are densely ignorant. The polished, 
 scholarly, shrewd criminal of whom we hear so much, and 
 to whom the papers and books give so much prominence, 
 is the exception, not the rule, in prison. 
 
 If the prison is to have a reformatory feature, it must 
 come very largely through the school. Many prison schools 
 are such only in name. The work accomplished is very 
 meager. The results are very unsatisfactory. 
 
 To no part of prison work should a warden address him- 
 self with more ardor and determination than so to organize 
 the prison school as to make it the great positive factor in 
 dispelling ignorance and its attendant viciousness, and in 
 quickening and enlivening the moral sense in those whose 
 moral judgment is exceedingly obtuse. 
 
 The course of study in a prison school is necessarily a 
 very elementary one, and unless followed by a supplemen- 
 tary course of reading and study, will be of little perma- 
 nent and practical benefit. Many prison libraries, largely 
 the result of indiscriminate and heterogeneous donations of 
 all kinds of literature, good, bad and indifferent, chiefly the 
 latter, are not in a position to be a positive force. 
 
 Let the warden see that his library is so arranged, classi- 
 fied and used as to be a source of information, profit, help 
 and pleasure to the inmates, and that a course of reading 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 603 
 
 along rational lines is laid out, encouraged, and, if possible, 
 adhered to, in order that the preliminary school course may 
 not have been in vain. 
 
 COURAGE NEEDED. 
 
 The warden must be a man of courage. I do not refer 
 to the kind of courage necessary to face a regiment of de- 
 praved and wicked men shorn of their power and their 
 stimulus to do evil, but that high moral courage necessary 
 to clean the Augean stables of abuses of customs, to re- 
 verse policies of long standing that are nevertheless wrong 
 in principle and in practice, to fight against unjust, im- 
 proper and unwise legislative propositions concerning his 
 institution; the kind of courage that prompted the chap- 
 lain in Chas. Reade's " NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND," to 
 fight and destroy the iniquitous prison system of Keeper 
 Hawes and his minions ; the courage that will keep to the 
 fore-front a persistent opposition to prostituting peniten- 
 tiaries into elemosynary institutions and political cribs and 
 feeding troughs for political strikers. 
 
 He must have the courage to weed out and eliminate use- 
 less barnacles in the shape of incompetent and worthless 
 employes, and substitute in their stead men of capacity, 
 character and intelligence, who are in love with their work 
 and believe in its dignity and usefulness; the courage to 
 face demagogues in their efforts to take from the prison 
 its educative, moral, reformatory and economic force, the 
 right of the unfortunate inmates to learn the gospel of 
 labor under right and just conditions. 
 
 OPTIMISM NECESSARY. 
 
 The warden needs to be intensely optimistic. He must 
 have a reserve fund of enthusiasm. He must believe pro- 
 foundly in the high character of his office and educate oth- 
 
604 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 ers constantly to believe in it. The ignorance of the great 
 mass of the people as to the real function of penitentiaries 
 and the methods by which they are carried on is amazing 
 and mortifying to prison officials. 
 
 A part of the warden's mission is to acquaint the out- 
 side world with conditions as they exist inside, and to in- 
 spire the interest and support of the general public in 
 measures for bettering and improving prison conditions. 
 Legislative bodies especially, need to be brought into closer 
 relations and the law makers made to realize their duty 
 to the public and the convict in the enactment of wise, 
 proper and righteous legislation. 
 
 Longfellow, in his beautiful poem, "THE BUILDING OF 
 THE SHIP," tells why the master builder achieved success. 
 It was because 
 
 "His heart was in the work and the heart 
 Giveth grace to every art." 
 
 The warden's heart must be in his work. His whole soul 
 must be animated and permeated with an honest and sin- 
 cere desire to bring penology up to a higher and nobler 
 standard. 
 
 He must have a reserve force of enthusiasm that will not 
 be daunted and destroyed by temporary failures or the 
 lapses of some discharged or pardoned convicts, who, in 
 spite of care and pains, will return to their evil ways. The 
 enthusiasm that can bear the harsh and ignorant criticism 
 and misrepresentations incident to his work; the enthusi- 
 asm that in its contagion will inoculate directors, subordi- 
 nate officers, the press and the people with a desire for 
 more light on penal problems and a purpose to be gov- 
 erned by that light; the enthusiasm that will beget great 
 patience for the exacting, difficult and trying problems be- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 605 
 
 fore him ; that will make him believe that "a convict saved 
 is a man made" ; that will make him believe with the great 
 English novelist "It is never too late to mend," and that 
 as infinite care and pains finally brought Robinson, the 
 twice convicted thief, up to the estate of honest manhood, 
 so, infinite care and pains should be exerted with every 
 man under his charge. 
 
 Pessimism has no rightful place in a penitentiary. In the 
 language of Socrates, "Why should we who are never angry 
 at an ill-conditioned body, always be angry with an ill- 
 conditioned soul?" 
 
 The ignorant Hawes believed in the profitless crank, the 
 black-hole, the deprivation of food, of bed, of clothing, the 
 tortures of the waist jacket and the collar, and a sign over 
 the door, "ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE/' 
 
 The twentieth century warden believes in the gospel of 
 productive labor, of education of hand, head and heart, in 
 the deprivation of privileges, largely as punishment, the 
 segregation of the desperate and nearly hopeless, the en- 
 lightenment of an all-powerful, all potential, all influential 
 example and the motto of Pope Clement, "It is of little 
 advantage to restrain criminals by punishment unless you 
 reform them with training and teaching." 
 
 THE CHAPLAIN. 
 
 The chaplain occupies an extremely important but deli- 
 cate position in prison management. It is possible for him 
 to be of vast influence and power for good. 
 
 The chaplain needs to be a man of large heart, aided by 
 an abundance of sound common sense. He needs to bear 
 in mind constantly, in the difficult and delicate work he is 
 called upon to perform, that the discipline of the prison 
 must be upheld and enforced. 
 
606 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Associate officers are frequently disturbed with the fear 
 that the chaplain's influence will subvert the discipline of 
 the prison ; that the shrewd, unprincipled convicts by pour- 
 ing into his ears their imaginary tales of woe, may succeed 
 in working him. 
 
 The chaplain's first requirement, if he would succeed, is 
 not to lose sight of the majesty of the law and of the 
 prison rules. 
 
 The chaplain and the warden should go hand in hand, 
 the one sustaining the other. They need to have a perfect 
 understanding, neither mistrusting the other. Frequent 
 conferences ought to enable them to proceed along proper 
 lines. The chaplain's opportunities are limitless. I do not 
 undertake to say what direction his duties shall take him. 
 That will be discussed fully in the Chaplain's Association. 
 
 It is personal, individual work that counts in a prison. 
 All the chaplain's work should be thought out beforehand, 
 be methodical, premeditated, intentional, systematic and 
 thorough. His chapel service should be rational, oi the 
 proper length, with exercises, song service and preaching 
 service carefully chosen. There should be no room in a 
 prison service for the spectacular, the highly emotional and 
 ; the haphazard sermons and addresses of a chance visitor. 
 A reasonably rigid censorship ought to be exercised over 
 the contributions of outsiders to the chapel service. 
 
 The influence of sight seers and idle visitors to prisons, 
 always bad, reaches the acme of its perniciousness in the 
 chapel service, if unrestrained and unguided by prison of- 
 ficials of experience and firmness, who alone are in a posi- 
 tion to know that sickly sentimentality is the worst pos- 
 sible pabulum to offer men already too eager to justify 
 their evil deeds. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 607 
 
 THE PHYSICIAN. 
 
 A physician's duties in a prison are necessarily onerous, 
 important and difficult. Convicts are constantly claiming 
 that they are unable physically to do the work assigned 
 them. No one can determine the truthfulness of their 
 statements except the physician, and to determine whether 
 the convict is realy ill or exercising his usual finesse to 
 shirk his duties, requires keen judgment of human nature 
 as well as an accurate knowledge of his profession. 
 
 The convict, housed and hemmed in, is peculiarly suscep- 
 tible to hallucinations and to thinking that he is afflicted 
 with imaginary ills. 
 
 A physician needs a large fund of good judgment, will- 
 power and common sense to combat successfully with this 
 class of people. How far he should use some of the sub- 
 terfuges supposed to be employed by physicians in the out- 
 side world in dealing with people afflicted with hypochron- 
 dria, I am unable to say, but a certain amount of cheerful- 
 ness coupled with firmness is undoubtedly of great value. 
 
 SUBORDINATE OFFICERS. 
 
 The subordinate officers of a prison are very important 
 factors in the management of a prison. They come in 
 actual, cdntinual, personal contact with the men. 
 
 No difference how capable and zealous may be the 
 warden and his deputy, unless they have men of character, 
 zeal, intelligence and discretion to carry out their 'orders 
 and wishes faithfully and well, all their plans will come to 
 naught. 
 
 Guards, keepers and watchmen should be of good moral 
 character. It is useless to talk about reforming convicts 
 unless they have continually the benefit of good examples 
 
608 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 set before them. Precept amounts to nothing unless re- 
 enforced by good examples. 
 
 They should be educated and intelligent. 
 
 Their duties are largely discretionary, and in their con- 
 tact with convicts a high order of intelligence is necessary 
 to know the right thing to do. Strict integrity and truth- 
 fulness are prime requisites. An officer's word should be 
 beyond question and he should be absolutely impartial in 
 his dealings with his men. 
 
 No special system will bring the highest results with any 
 kind of men behind it. Any system with men of character, 
 conscience and capacity will achieve great good. Any sys- 
 tem with men of bad character, ignorant, careless and in- 
 different, will fall to the ground. 
 
 A common impression prevails that any one is good 
 enough for a prison guard, and if he is too old, too feeble 
 and decrepit or too lazy for other work, his political strikers 
 will try to unload him on the penitentiary authorities. 
 
 Prison Directors, Wardens and all in authority should set 
 their faces resolutely against this erroneous and terribly 
 harmful idea. Partisan politics should not be a factor in 
 the appointment or the retention of any prison officer. All 
 subordinates should be appointed under civil service rules 
 and be required to pass a civil service examination, and 
 after entering upon his duties be required to take up a 
 course of study on penological questions and problems and 
 be otherwise carefully schooled and drilled along the lines 
 of their work. If time demonstrates their unfitness for the 
 position they should be summarily removed. If they mani- 
 fest an aptitude and an interest in their work they should 
 be encouraged, promoted and protected against removal 
 for partisan reasons. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 609 
 
 Whenever directors in banks are elected with reference 
 to their political proclivities and not with reference to 
 their business sagacity, it will be proper to select prison 
 officials for the same reason. 
 
 Whenever great business firms discharge their managers 
 because their political views do not coincide with those of 
 the owners, then and not till then should prison officials 
 step down and out for political reasons. 
 
 What would be thought of directors of a business enter- 
 prise or the regents of a university who selected their busi- 
 ness manager, their teachers, with regard to their views 
 on finance or on the tariff, or who would remove a faithful, 
 efficient and capable servant after years of experience in 
 his work, merely because he did not coincide with the po- 
 litical views of the majority of his directors in a matter in 
 no way germane to his work? 
 
 As Boards of Directors spend but a small percentage of 
 their time at the institutions they control, it necessarily takes 
 them years to get a clear insight into all the details of its 
 work, and to make a change just when, through the process 
 of time, the director becomes fitted for his work, is the 
 height of unwisdom and folly. Boards of Charity and Cor- 
 rection having charge of all the institutions in the State 
 would certainly be much more desirable. Such officers 
 could devote their entire time and attention to the work, 
 and thus be able to give all the institutions of the State uni- 
 form treatment and attention. Boards of Directors or of 
 Control should be appointed and reappointed as long as they 
 are efficient and manifest an interest in the work. 
 
 And so with all other officers from the warden down, 
 and each should feel and know that faithfulness and ef- 
 ficiency is the only standard, and that they would not be ex- 
 
6lO PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 pected, required or permitted to weaken their influence or 
 their energies by undue or active participations in political 
 effort or political manipulations. 
 
 The surest sign of unfitness for prison work and lack 
 of interest in the work is an undue activity in political cau- 
 cuses and conventions. The official practically advertises 
 that he cannot hope to hold his place on account of his ef- 
 ficiency, but expects to do so because of his services as a 
 
 political henchman. 
 
 
 
 THE DEMANDS OF THE AGE. 
 
 As this age demands a high order of talent and effort in 
 the industrial, so It should demand and require great ability 
 and power in the penal world. 
 
 The third of a century of the life of the National Prison 
 Congress has witnessed great, progress in the domain over 
 which it has advisory power. Many problems pressing 
 for solution demand the highest functions of those in con- 
 trol. 
 
 Do punishments deter men from crime? 
 
 Do the universal customs of the times foster and beget 
 much of the crime committed? 
 
 Does war beget murder elsewhere? 
 
 Is social vengeance a failure, and are other means neces- 
 sary to prevent crime? 
 
 Should not executives now clothed with power to ter- 
 minate or shorten sentences of imprisonment also have 
 power to lengthen terms of imprisonment or to change 
 from a definite to an indefinite term whenever they become 
 in possession of facts regarding the convict's previous life 
 or present character, which were unknown to the sentencing 
 judge? 
 
 Should not United States prisoners incarcerated in the 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 6ll 
 
 various state prisons have the restrictions of the indeter- 
 minate sentence and the parole, thus securing a uniform 
 system of treatment for all prisoners and greatly promoting 
 the discipline? 
 
 Should we go back of the commission of crimes and as- 
 certain if the State itself is not committing a crime in im- 
 posing and permitting conditions that beget crime? 
 
 Should not the pardoning power be exercised frequently 
 before the convicted man ever reaches the prison at all? 
 Could not many a man be saved by being put on probation 
 from the start, who otherwise would be in great danger 
 of being lost? 
 
 Does the discipline of prisons have anything to do with 
 the commission of offenses by convicts when released? 
 Does the enforced restraint exerted to the very last mo- 
 ment of his release and then wholly relaxed, cause the re- 
 leased convict to swing to the other extreme like Jean 
 Valjean, who after nineteen years of imprisonment for steal- 
 ing a loaf of bread and an attempt to escape, robbed his 
 benefactor, the Bishop, of his plate, and upon being for- 
 given robbed little Gervais of his forty sou piece, but after- 
 ward got his bearings, attained his balance and lived an hon- 
 orable life? 
 
 Should any prisoner ever be released at the prison door, 
 or should he not for his own sake as well as society's be re- 
 quired to live a period on probation and under oversight, 
 subject to return for violations; in other words, should not 
 paroles be, under proper restrictions, the universal and only 
 rule? 
 
 To the solution of these and countless other problems let 
 the highest order of talent, the best combination of head, 
 heart and brain be summoned; let every prison be a school 
 
6l2 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 for study and investigation, and be engineered and controlled 
 by men of skill, drilled and educated along these lines, and 
 who are animated by a desire to contribute their full share 
 towards the upbuilding and uplifting of the race and the 
 amelioration of the woes that beset mankind. 
 
 MEDITATIONS OF A PRISONER. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 To any one who may read these lines I will say: Do not 
 criticise ; I know you will find many mistakes, but I hope 
 you will remember they are written by one who has not had 
 the advantage of an education. My school days ended when 
 I was nine years old. Knowing this, I hope you will ex- 
 cuse mistakes. Respectfully yours, E. S. K. 
 
 I often wonder if the busy world ever gives a thought to 
 the men incarcerated in places made for the punishment of 
 crime and reformation of criminals, but often failing of 
 reaching the desired result. Why is this failure? It must 
 be from defect in the law or prison discipline. Some think 
 perhaps the rigid enforcement of the law in its severest 
 way is right, and that the prisoner should be shown no 
 mercy. But this is wrong in every detail and should be just 
 the reverse, so far as consistent with good order and disci- 
 pline. 
 
 A judge in sentencing a prisoner should give a sentence 
 consistent with justice and mercy, regardless of public sen- 
 timent, considering his own judgment, and not the possible 
 consequences of his act on his future. Until this is more 
 generally practiced, I am afraid there will be many too se- 
 vere sentences passed on minor criminals and first offenders, 
 as now, which will work to the injury of the convicted in- 
 stead of his reformation. In my humble opinion, one year 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 613 
 
 would give the lesson desired to many a novice in crime 
 who is now serving from three to ten years. It should be 
 remembered that short sentences give a novice in crime a 
 wholesome dread of the law and fear of prison life, while 
 custom and association with criminals tend to harden. The 
 cases of old offenders, require more severity as regards 
 time of confinement. Nor can we say to the jurors or, 
 rather, gentlemen of the jury be very careful of what you 
 do. Don't treat the trust you have in charge too lightly ; 
 give it all the consideration you are masters of. Remem- 
 ber you have the liberty, and, perhaps the life, of your fel- 
 lowman at stake. Be very careful of what you do. Allow 
 no personal motive to interfere with your duty, for, if we be- 
 lieve in the Bible, those who do so will answer in the here- 
 after for actions in this life. Beware, then, of how you 
 mete out justice to your fellowman. Do unto others as you 
 would have others do unto you. Weigh well the evidence 
 given against the prisoner. If you find that there is a mo- 
 tive on the part of the witnesses to convict the prisoner be- 
 ing tried, you may rest assured they will trifle with the truth. 
 In such cases a juror should try and put himself in the de- 
 fendant's place and try to assume his feelings and condition, 
 as much as possible, and see how he would act in a like 
 case. If all jurors would do this, I think they would give 
 a just and true verdict in nearly all cases. But I fear as 
 things are now they let the press have too much weight 
 with the rendering of a just verdict, and it may be of what 
 their friends will say to them if they have a different opin- 
 ion. Yet the man who does such a thing is a coward, a devil 
 incarnate, and unfit to be at large. Such action may be the 
 cause of making a criminal out of a so far really honest 
 man. May God forgive them who recklessly tamper with 
 
PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 tin- liberty of their fellowman. Some may think I am not 
 for punishment of crime. If so, they are wrong. I believe 
 in punishment of crime. But I believe in tempering justice 
 with mercy. There should he no lingering doubt in a per 
 son's mind when he skives his verdict against the prisoner. 
 It is a very easy thing to place a man in prison, but oh ! s< > 
 hard to get him out. A lie sworn to and believed is one of 
 the hardest things in the world to get righted. And T know 
 from personal experience what it is. Though it seems bard 
 to say a lie is more readily believed against a person charged 
 with a crime than the truth, yet it seems easier to a great 
 many to believe bad rather than good of their neighbor. 
 Yet, thank God, it is not so with all. We have many noble 
 and true Christians yet in this vale of tears gentlemen and 
 ladies who practice what they say by many kindly acts to 
 the poor, unhappy men who are unfortunate enough to get 
 behind prison bars. GoJ bless them for such acts. It does 
 not hurt them, and gives to the unhappy prisoner a little hap- 
 piness a ray of sunshine through the clouds that surround 
 him. Continue your noble work. You will be the gainer 
 in the end, from the knowledge that you have done in tin- 
 Lord's work, if in no other way. Oh, could you see the 
 happiness beam from the eyes of some of those here, after 
 the call of some who take friendly interest in them, you 
 would know the good they are doing. Others seem to say : 
 Oh, well, I am forgotten by all. Poor heart; what a sad lot. 
 It would seem the sooner that death ended their misery the 
 better. But while there is life there is hope. I must say 
 that many ladies of C- - are very kind in giving up their 
 own pleasures on Sundays that prisoners in this prison may 
 have some little change in their life. The visiting chaplains 
 always bring a choir with them, and to them we give our 
 
OK A I AKOK MI | OVI 
 
 heartfelt thanks, with a (iod bless \<,n. I l<vc to read of 
 
 tlu- progress made 111 these penal institutions when- reform 
 is practiced. 1 am sure tlu- prisoners must take an inteicM 
 in it all, for it is all for their own good. The Stillwater 
 
 prison and Klmira prison must be models .>| n.iin, ,, 
 
 good order, with a perfect system of discipline. It 
 be well for all prisons to copy them. If prisons are sup 
 posed to he erected for the purpose of reformation, \\h\ 
 not make them in reality what they are intended to be ? Of 
 
 course, there aie many different kinds of crime committed 
 by men of different temperaments, all of which are thor- 
 oughly understood, or as nearly as possible. For example, 
 
 lakr the greatest nimr >mmil led in the eyes of the law 
 
 murder which is often called murder when (here is no 
 ground for it. The public outcry when one man is unfor- 
 tunate enough to tahe the life of another at a time when he 
 
 may have even ieas<>n to believe his own life is in tin- great- 
 est danger. The cry is raised by some one, possibly an eye- 
 witness Murder ! It is taken up by the press and conveyed 
 to every one, and possibly a slight coloring given to it. The 
 people believe it all. The consequence is the public mind is 
 piejudiced against the prisoner, and it takes a great amount 
 
 of proof by the defendant to change that belief, and slmnM 
 
 he not be able to produce this evidence, in spite of all he 
 can say he is convicted of the crime of murder, when in 
 reality he is guilty of manslaughter, if anything. For, no 
 matter how truthful a man he may be known to be, his 
 word, unsustained by evidence, is not accepted; while, on 
 the other side, no matter how untruthful a witness be known 
 to be, he is ^iv n en-dil for the truth. What kind of a state 
 of affairs is this? No wonder we often hear the cry j;o up 
 from some poor wounded i (i n IK , I li, .11 1 .1 in (i 
 
6l6 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 is there no mercy left in man? Is humanity wholly dead? 
 Must death overtake me here ? Shunned I am by all whom 
 I once called friends wife, children, it may be a brother 
 but never by a mother, God bless her. 
 
 Let us take a look at this class of sufferers. What will 
 we find them? Idle? No. They are as a rule men attend- 
 ing to their work and submitting to all the courtesies of 
 life, only asking the same in return. Surely, such cannot 
 be very bad men, who, hearing the cry of distress, respond 
 at once to the appeal. I know some such to have a heart as 
 tender as a woman. Yet you will shut them up, it may be 
 forever. Don't understand me to say that murder is not 
 committed. Of course it is, and the law should deal with 
 it accordingly. All true men regret the taking of human 
 life, even on the field of battle. How much more so under 
 other circumstances ? And the causes are many which make 
 men do this ; some of them hard to understand, may be. In 
 many cases of this kind they deserve punishment and should 
 be punished. But, for God's sake, let the punishment be 
 consistent with justice and mercy. If ten years is not suf- 
 ficient punishment to make man control himself in future, 
 why not be merciful and kill him at once ? For as we hope 
 for mercy, so must we show it to others. All other crimes 
 should be dealt with accordingly. Give a man a chance to 
 reclaim himself. Should he return to a life of crime in pref- 
 erence to an honest one, the law has its remedy and can act 
 accordingly. This is well worth a trial, and by all means 
 should be given one. But I hear some one who never gave 
 these things a thought say : How is this to be done ? I will 
 answer, Very easily, if it receive the support of our legis- 
 lative body, by the recommendation of the state governor. 
 Provide your prisons with workshops of different kinds 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 617 
 
 provide them with schools, and teach the prisoners how to 
 make a living by some useful trade. Give them a chance 
 to improve themselves by an education. Make the prison 
 a place of reformation, one of improvement as well as pun- 
 ishment, and instead of increasing crime you will reduce it, 
 which should be the aim of all having the good of their fel- 
 lowman at heart, and society will be the gainer. I would 
 give a prisoner who would show by his conduct a spirit of 
 reform a parole after half of his time, with' conditions at- 
 tached, as is done in the Minnesota state prison, so that, 
 should he fall back into his old way of living, he would be 
 returned to prison to serve out the remainder of his sen- 
 tence. By this means you to all intents and purposes hold 
 a power over him, and he will be very careful as to what he 
 is about. This habit in time will grow upon him and be the 
 cause of making him a good citizen and trustworthy mem- 
 ber of society. To men serving life sentences I would, on 
 the recommendation of the prison warden, give a parole 
 after manslaughter sentence has been served. This is a 
 class of men that deserve some looking after by the kindly 
 interest of humane persons. Give them hope and encourage- 
 ment. Do not leave them to their own morbid thoughts; 
 you cannot tell what drove them to an act they will regret, 
 whether in or out of prison. If hasty once, it is no reason 
 to suppose they will be so again. Why not, then, look after 
 them? Let some of you Christian people talk with them, 
 and if you find they ought to be assisted, help them. You 
 know not what good you may do, and without such aid a 
 poor and friendless man in prison is without hope. Will 
 you, as Christians, let him die believing the word Chris- 
 tianity a mockery? God forbid. I know there are many 
 good Christians that feel and mean what they say. But I 
 
6l8 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 am afraid that many of the less courageous are deterred 
 from doing all they would like to do by the sneers of the 
 hard, cruel world. But this should only spur you on. If 
 you feel you are right, push on ; do not stop half way. 
 
 In connection with the parole law we should have our 
 prisoners graded as first, second and third class, giving to 
 the second grade or class advantages above the third, and to 
 the first above the second, giving them a motive to reform 
 their ways while yet in prison, and their partial liberty from 
 the first class by parole. By this means you instill into the 
 prisoner a habit for good which in time will take root and 
 prove a blessing, not only to the prisoner, but also a source 
 of pleasure to those bringing it about, It must be expected 
 that some will fall again; but why should the many suffer 
 for the few ? I have heard and read such sayings as this : 
 The worst men are the best behaved while in prison if there 
 is anything to be gained by it. I dispute this. No man can 
 control or hide his real nature for any great length of time. 
 Nature is bound to come to the surface sooner or later. The 
 officers and guards of a prison should be men strict in the 
 enforcement of the prison rules, humane and just in all their 
 actions, men who by their own actions and deportment will 
 gain and hold the respect of those under their charge. They 
 should reward the good as well as punish the evil in men. 
 It would, in my humble opinion, be nothing but true justice 
 to the prisoner to put the whole power of pardoning, com- 
 muting and paroling prisoners in the hands of the governor. 
 I do not say a judge will not give justice where clemency 
 is asked. But it may be the case that a judge on the board 
 of pardons has sentenced the prisoner, and probably in some 
 way became prejudiced against the applicant, and it might 
 be the cause of influencing his vote ; consequently, it would 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 
 
 look like a piece of injustice to the prisoner to allow that 
 judge to sit on his case. I think ft would be well for a gov- 
 ernor to make himseli perfectly acquainted with all pertain- 
 ing to the mode of life of the prisoners, as much as possible. 
 It ought to be remembered that when, the prison doors close 
 on a man your duty is only half done to yourself, the pris- 
 oner and society at large. He needs looking after mentally, 
 morally and physically. Do not leave him to his own morbid 
 thoughts, but help him to forget his surroundings as much 
 as possible. Give him hope, for without hope we are lost 
 to ourselves and the world. It is possible some will say they 
 ought to be ; but it must be a very heartless person who 
 makes this remark. Remember, while you are walking about 
 to-day, feeling self-conscious of your own strength to re- 
 sist any and everything in the line of temptation, the time 
 may come when you will lose control of yourself ; or, it may 
 be, some one dear to you will fall. In such cases, how many 
 excuses you can find for yourself or him. Can you find 
 none for those now suffering for the same ? I feel impelled 
 by some power to speak of those very people in a few lines. 
 Perhaps it may catch their eye. Why will you follow one 
 to prison with hate, malice and persecution, one who would 
 not harm a single hair of your head, one who never had or 
 has a single bitter thought against you, one that nightly 
 asks God's protection to you and yours ? And yet you per- 
 secute him, or it may be them, with all the might you can. 
 Is it not enough that he has lost home, friends, wife, chil- 
 dren and happiness at one false move? Is it not enough 
 that he is condemned to a living death, hearing every hour 
 of the day the clang of the iron bars that shut him out from 
 the world, that separate him from all he loves? I say to 
 you, is this not enough to satisfy the most bitter feelings of 
 
62O PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 any avowed enemy ? It ought to be. Yes, this ought to sat- 
 isfy you without trying to obliterate the memory of the 
 father from the child's heart and without denying him the 
 privilege of communicating with them; without denying 
 him the pleasure of doing something for them and of one 
 day seeing them, which is all he has left to live for. To all 
 to whom these lines refer, who read them, I will say, change 
 all this. Ask God's help to give you strength to do right. 
 In time you will feel a restful peace come to you, and it will 
 make you content, if not happy. Try this, and may God in 
 his mercy show you the way. And to all prisoners who may 
 be suffering from the persecution of injustice by others, I 
 will say the same. Say with all your heart: God forgive 
 them, they know not what they do. And you will always 
 find a comfort in helping one another. For as we hope to be 
 forgiven, so must we forgive. What use in saying the 
 Lord's prayer Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive 
 those who trespass against us? We must consider well 
 the meaning of those lines, and if we cannot or do not com- 
 ply with all they mean it is better for us not to use them. I 
 thank God from my heart, I can say I forgive all my ene- 
 mies. I have nothing but a kindly feeling for all mankind. 
 I do not mean to say that I am not ruffled at times, for I 
 am ; I would not be human if I were not. 
 
 There is one class of men who come to prison that should 
 command the attention of our lawmakers namely, married 
 men. . Not on their own account, for they should pay the 
 penalty of the law as well as another, but on account of their 
 families. It must be remembered that when you take away 
 the father and supporter of a family you leave them with- 
 out the means of support ; and if the mother happens to be 
 a sick and weakly person, what is to become of them? 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 621 
 
 To be sure, we have the orphans' home and the alms- 
 house, but this is only taxing more heavily the already over- 
 burdened taxpayers, of the country. Then it would be a 
 commendable act of the legislative bodies to enact, laws to 
 provide for the improvement of such married men and give 
 the earnings of their labor to their families. This, to me, 
 looks reasonable and just, and easy of accomplishment, and 
 should be acted upon by all means. Let me draw you a pic- 
 ture from my imagination : We will visit a family who are in 
 easy circumstances these cold nights. What do we see? 
 Well-clad and well-fed children, a happy, contented look 
 rests upon the wife's and husband's faces. Why should it 
 not be so ? They have plenty to eat and wear ; a full bin of 
 coal. Again, visit one where the husband may be languish- 
 ing behind the prison bars, but of the same class. It is not 
 so cheerful, but still no want is felt, and the father and hus- 
 band, although chafing at confinement, feels that his family 
 is not in want. This, of course, will be a consolation to him. 
 Now let us visit another house, where they have always lived 
 from hand to mouth. The father is gone. The mother and 
 children, poor souls, ill-clad, ill-fed, and, my God, it may be, 
 no fire. What a picture to contemplate. It makes me shud- 
 der to think of it. Now come with me behind the prison 
 bars and see the head of this family. Knowing the want and 
 needs of his family, and knowing how impossible it is for 
 him to alleviate their suffering, it is enough to drive a man 
 insane. But, on the other hand, if this man could earn 
 something for his family's support, it would relieve his mind 
 of a heavy burden. Think well of this, and in the name of 
 God change the law that certainly works contrary to what it 
 was intended for. As it now stands, you simply provide 
 punishment for the criminals. In so doing you cause untold 
 
622 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 suffering and shame to innocent ones. In God's name, let 
 it cease to be so. Now, then, for fear I may tire the reader, 
 I will close. Very respectfully, E. 
 
 CHRIST IN GETHSEMANE. 
 
 State Prison. 
 
 January 18, 1886. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth R. Wheaton, 
 
 Prison Evangelist. 
 My Dearest Sister: 
 
 'What might a single mind may wield, 
 With Truth for sword and Faith for shield, 
 
 And Hope to lead the way: 
 Thus all high triumphs are obtained, 
 From evil good as God ordained 
 
 The night before the day ! ' ' 
 
 "And being in an agony, He prayed." St. Luke 22:44. 
 When the last supper was over, and the last hymn had 
 been sung, our Lord and His Apostles with the one traitor 
 fatally absent from their number went out of the city gate, 
 and down the steep valley of the Kidron to the green slope 
 of Olivet beyond it. Solemn and sad was that last walk to- 
 gether ; and a weight of mysterious awe sank like lead upon 
 the hearts of those few poor Galileans as in almost unbroken 
 silence, through the deep hush of the Oriental night, 
 through the dark shadows of the ancient olive-trees, 
 through the broken gleams of the Paschal moonlight, they 
 followed Him, their Lord and Master, who, with bowed 
 head and sorrowing heart, walked before them to His willing 
 doom. 
 
 That night they did not return as usual to Bethany, but 
 stopped at the little familiar garden of Gethsemane, or "the 
 oilpress." Jesus knew that the hour of His uttermost hu- 
 miliation was near, that from this moment till the utterance 
 of that great cry which broke His heart, nothing remained 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 623 
 
 for Him on earth, save all that the human frame can tol- 
 erate of torturing pain, and all that the human soul can bear 
 of poignant anguish till in that torment of body and 
 desolation of soul, even the high and radiant serenity of 
 His divine spirit should suffer a short but terrible eclipse. 
 One thing alone remained before that short hour began ; 
 a short space was left Him, and in that space He had to 
 brace His body, to nerve His soul, to calm His spirit by 
 prayer and solitude, until all that is evil in the power of evil 
 should wreak its worst upon His innocent and holy head. 
 And He had to face that hour, to win that victory, as all 
 the darkest hours must be faced, as all the hardest victories 
 must be won alone. It was not that He was above the 
 need of sympathy, no noble soul is; and perhaps the 
 noblest need it most. Though His friends did but sleep, 
 while the traitor toiled, yet it helped Him in His hour of 
 darkness to feel at least that they were near and that those 
 were nearest who loved Him most. "Stay here," He said 
 to the little group, "while I go yonder and pray." Leaving 
 them to sleep, each wrapped in his outer garment on the 
 grass, He took Peter and James and John, the chosen of the 
 chosen, and went about a stone's-throw off. But soon even 
 their presence was more than He could endure. A grief 
 beyond utterance, a struggle beyond endurance, a horror 
 of great darkness, overmastered Him, as with the sinking 
 swoon of an anticipated death. He must be yet more alone, 
 and alone with God. Reluctantly He tore Himself away 
 from their sustaining tenderness, and amid the dark-brown 
 trunks of those gnarled trees withdrew from the moonlight 
 into the deeper shade, where solitude might be for Him the 
 audience-chamber of His Heavenly Father. And there, 
 till slumber overpowered them, His three beloved Apostles 
 
624 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 were conscious how dreadful was the paroxysm through 
 which He passed. They saw Him sometimes with head 
 bowed upon His knees, sometimes lying on His face in pros- 
 trate suffering upon the ground. And though amazement 
 and sore distress fell on them, though the whole place 
 seemed to be haunted by Presences of good and evil strug- 
 gling in mighty but silent contest for the eternal victory, 
 yet, before they sank under the oppression of troubled slum- 
 ber, they knew that they had been the dim witnesses of an 
 unutterable agony, in which the drops of anguish which 
 dropped from His brow in that deathful struggle looked to 
 them like gouts of blood, and yet the burden of those broken 
 murmurs in which He pleaded with His Heavenly Father 
 had been ever this, "If it be possible, yet not what I will, 
 but what Thou wilt." 
 
 What is the meaning, my beloved sister, of this scene for 
 us? What was the cause of this midnight hour? Do you 
 think that it was the fear of death, and that that was suf- 
 ficient to shake to its utmost center the pure and innocent 
 soul of the Son of Man? Could not even a child see how 
 inconsistent such a fear would be with all that followed ; 
 with that heroic fortitude which fifteen consecutive hours 
 of sleepless agony could not disturb; with that majestic 
 silence which overawed even the hard Roman into respect 
 and fear; with that sovereign ascendency of soul which 
 flung open the golden gate of Paradise to the repentant 
 malefactor, and breathed its compassionate forgiveness on 
 the apostate priest? Could He have been afraid of death, 
 in whose name, and in whose strength, and for whose sake 
 alone, trembling old men, and feeble maidens, and timid 
 boys have faced it in its worst form without a shudder or a 
 sigh? My friend, the dread of the mere act of dying is a 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 625 
 
 cowardice so abject that the meanest passions of the mind 
 can master it, and many a coarse criminal has advanced to 
 meet his end with unflinching confidence and steady step. 
 And Jesus knew, if any have ever known, that it is as nat- 
 ural to die as to be born ; that it is the great birthright of 
 all who love God ; that it is God who giveth His beloved 
 sleep. The sting of death and its only sting is sin ; the 
 victory of the grave and its only victory is corruption. 
 And Jesus knew no sin, saw no corruption. No, that which 
 stained His forehead with crimson drops was something far 
 deadlier than death. Though sinless He was suffering for 
 sin. The burden and the mystery of man's strange and 
 revolting wickedness lay heavy on His soul ; and with holy 
 lips He was draining the bitter cup into which sin had in- 
 fused its deadliest poison. Could perfect innocence endure 
 without a shudder all that is detestable in human ingratitude 
 and human rage ? Should there be no recoil of horror in the 
 bosom of perfect love to see His own, for whom he came, 
 absorbed in one insane repulsion against infinite purity 
 and tenderness and peace? It was a willing agony, but it 
 was agony; it was endured for our sakes; the Son of God 
 suffered that He might through suffering become perfect 
 in infinite sympathy as a Savior strong to save. 
 
 And on all the full mysterious meaning of that agony 
 and bloody sweat it would be impossible now to dwell, but 
 may we not for a short time dwell with profit may not 
 every one whose heart being free from the fever of pas- 
 sion, and unfretted by the pettiness of pride is calm and 
 meek and reverent enough to listen to the messages of God, 
 even be they spoken by the feeblest of human lips, may we 
 not all, I say, learn something from this fragment of that 
 thrilling story that "being in an agony, He prayed"? 
 
626 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 ' ' The chosen three, on mountain height, 
 
 While Jesus bowed in prayer, 
 Beheld His vesture glow with light, 
 His face shine wondrous fair. ' ' 
 
 To every one of us, I suppose, sooner or later the Getli- 
 semane of life must come. It may be the Gethsemane of 
 struggle, and poverty and care ; it may be the Gethsemane 
 of long and weary sickness ; it may be the Gethsemane of 
 farewells that wring the heart by th deathbeds of those we 
 love ; it may be the Gethsemane of remorse, and of well- 
 nigh despair, for sins that we will not but which we say 
 we cannot overcome. Well, my dearest sister, in that 
 Gethsemane aye, even in that Gethsemane of sin no angel 
 merely, but Christ Himself who bore the burden of our 
 sins, will, if we seek Him, come to comfort us. He will, 
 if being in agony, we pray. He can be touched, He is 
 touched, with the feeling of our infirmities. He, too, has 
 trodden the winepress of agony alone ; He, too, has lain face 
 downwards in the night upon the ground ; and the comfort 
 which then came to Him He has bequeathed to us even 
 the comfort, the help, the peace, the recovery, the light, 
 the hope, the faith, the sustaining arm, the healing anodyne 
 of prayer. It is indeed a natural comfort and one to which 
 the Christian at least flies instinctively. When the water- 
 floods drown us, when all God's waves and storms seem to 
 be beating over our souls, when "Calamity comes like a 
 deluge, and o'erfloods our crimes till sin is hidden in sor- 
 row" oh, then, if we have not wholly quenched all spirit- 
 ual life within us, what can we do but fling ourselves at the 
 foot of those great altar stairs that slope through darkness 
 to God ? Yes, being in an agony, we pray ; and the talis- 
 man against every agony is there. 
 
 And herein lies the great mercy and love of God, that 
 
OR A LABOR OK LOVK 627 
 
 we may go to Him in our agony even if we have never gone 
 before. Oh, if prayer were possible only for the always 
 good and always true, possible only for those who have 
 never forsaken or forgotten God, if it were not possible 
 for sinners and penitents and those who have gone astray, 
 -then of how infinitely less significance would it be for 
 sinful and fallen man! But our God is a God of Love, a 
 God of Mercy. He is very good to us. The soul may 
 come bitter and disappointed, with nothing left to offer 
 Him but the dregs of a misspent life ; the soul may come, 
 like that sad Prodigal, weary and broken, and shivering, 
 and in rags ; but if it only come the merciful door is open 
 still, and while yet we are a great way off our Father will 
 meet and forgive and comfort us. And then what a change 
 is there in our lives ! They, are weak no longer ; they are 
 discontented no longer ; they are the slaves of sin no longer. 
 You have seen the heavens gray with dull and leaden-col- 
 ored clouds, you have seen the earth chilly and comfortless 
 under its drifts of unmelting snow: but let the sun shine, 
 and then how rapidly does the sky resume its radiant blue, 
 and the fields laugh with green grass and vernal flower! 
 So will it be with even a withered and a wasted life when 
 we return to God and suffer Him to send His bright beams 
 of light upon our heart. I do not mean that the pain or 
 misery under which we are suffering will necessarily be re- 
 moved, even for Christ it was not so ; but peace will come 
 and strength will come and resignation will come and hope 
 will come, and we shall feel able to bear anything which 
 God shall send, and though He slays us we still shall seek 
 Him, and even if the blackest cloud of anguish seem to 
 shroud His face from us, even on that cloud shall the rain- 
 bow shine. 
 
628 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 You do not think, my sister, that because God never re- 
 jects the prayer of sinner or sufferer, that therefore we may 
 go on sinning, trusting to repent when we suffer. That 
 would be a shameful abuse of God's mercy and tenderness ; 
 it would be a frame of mind which would need this solemn 
 warning, that agony by no means always leads to prayer ; 
 that it may come when prayer is possible no longer to the 
 long-hardened and long-prayerless soul. I know no hope 
 so senseless, so utterly frustrated by all experience, as the 
 hope of what is called deathbed repentance. Those who are 
 familiar with many deathbeds will tell you why. But 
 prayer God's blessed permission to us, to see Him and to 
 know Him, and to trust in Him that is granted us not for 
 the hours of death or agony alone, but for all life, almost 
 from the very cradle quite to the very grave. And it is a 
 gift no less priceless for its alleviation of sorrow than for 
 its intensification of all innocent joy. For him who would 
 live a true life it is as necessary in prosperity as in adver- 
 sity, in peace as in trouble, in youth as in old 
 age. Here, too, Christ is our example. He lived, 
 as we may live, in the light of His Father's face. It 
 was not only as the Man of Sorrows, it was not only in the 
 moonlit garden of His agony, or on the darkening hills of 
 His incessant toil, that prayer had refreshed His soul; but 
 often during those long unknown years in the little Gali- 
 lean village, daily, and from childhood upwards, irf sweet 
 hours of peace, kneeling amid the mountain lilies or on the 
 cottage floor. Those prayers are to the soul what the dew 
 of God is to the flowers of the field ; the burning wind of the 
 day may pass over them, and the stems droop and the colors 
 fade, but when the dew steals down at evening, they will- 
 revive. Why should not that gracious dew fall even novpr 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 629 
 
 and always for all of us upon the fields of life? A life 
 which has been from the first a life of prayer, a life which 
 has thus from its earliest days looked up consciously to its 
 Father and its God, will always be a happy life. Time 
 may fleet, and youth may fade, as they will, and there may 
 be storm as well as sunshine in the earthly career ; yet it will 
 inevitably be a happy career, and with a happiness that can- 
 not die. Yes, this is the lesson which I would that we all 
 might learn from the thought of Christ in the garden of 
 Gethsemane; the lesson that Prayer may recall the sun- 
 shine even to the dark and the frozen heart ; but that there 
 is no long winter, there is no unbroken night, to that soul on 
 which the Sun of Righteousness has risen with healing in 
 His wings. 
 
 And that because true prayer is always heard. We read 
 in the glorioles old Greek poet of prayers which, before they 
 reached the portals of heaven were scattered by the winds ; 
 and indeed there are some prayers so deeply opposed to the 
 will of God, so utterly alien to the true interests of men, 
 that nothing could happen better for us than that God 
 should refuse, nothing more terrible than that He should 
 grant them in anger. So that if we pray for any earthly 
 blessing we may pray for it solely "if it be God's will" ; "if 
 it be for our highest good," but, for all the best things we 
 may pray without misgiving, without reservation, certain 
 that if we ask God will grant them. Nay, even in asking 
 for them we may know that we have them, for what we 
 desire to ask, and what we ask, we aim at, and what we aim 
 at we shall attain. No man ever yet asked to be, as the 
 days pass by, more noble, and sweet, and pure, and heaven- 
 ly-minded, no man ever yet prayed that the evil spirits of 
 hatred, and pride, and passion, and wordliness, might be 
 
630 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 cast out of his soul, without his petition being granted, 
 and granted to the letter. And with all other gifts God then 
 gives us His own self besides, He makes us know Him, 
 and love Him, and live in Him. "Thou hast written well of 
 me," said the Vision to the great teacher of Aquinum, "what 
 reward dost thou desire?" "Non aliam, nisi te Domine" 
 "no other than Thyself, O Lord," was the meek and rapt 
 reply. And when all our restless, fretful, discontented long- 
 ings are reduced to this alone, the desire to see God's face ; 
 when we have none in Heaven but Him, and none upon 
 earth whom we desire in comparison of Him ; then we are 
 indeed happy beyond the reach of any evil thing, for then 
 we have but one absorbing wish, and that wish cannot be re- 
 fused. Least of all can it be refused when it has pleased 
 God to afflict us. 
 
 "Ye now have sorrow," said Christ, "but I will see you 
 again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man 
 taketh from you." Yes, when God's children pass under 
 the shadows of the Cross of Calvary they know that through 
 that shadow lies their passage to the Great White Throne. 
 For them Gethsemane is as Paradise. God fills it with sa- 
 cred presences ; its solemn silence is broken by the music of 
 tender promises ; its awful darkness softened and brightened 
 by the sunlight of heavenly faces, and the music of angel 
 wings. 
 
 "I am baptized into thy name, 
 
 O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! 
 Among thy seed a place I claim, 
 
 Among thy consecrated host; 
 Buried with Christ and dead to sin, 
 
 Thy Spirit now shall live within." 
 
 "And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent 
 the Son to be the Savior of the world." 
 
 Your Brother in Christ, L. J. 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 63! 
 
 DIRECTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 PENITENTIARIES, STATE REFORM SCHOOLS, 
 
 STATE INDUSTRIAL REFORMATORIES, 
 
 ETC., OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 AND CANADA. 
 
 UNITED STATES PRISONS. 
 
 United States Penitentiary, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. 
 
 United States Penitentiary, Atlanta, Georgia. 
 
 United States Penitentiary, McNeil Island, Washington. 
 
 United States jails in the Indian Territory : Vinita, Mus- 
 kogee, South McAlester and Ardmore. 
 
 United States Jail, Fort Smith, Arkansas. 
 
 United Stales Jail, Guthrie, Oklahoma. 
 
 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. District Jail, Reform School, 
 and Reform School for Girls, Washington. 
 
 There are several small United States jails in Alaska and 
 within the States occupying rented quarters. 
 
 STATE INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 ALABAMA. Penitentiary, Wetumpka ; two prisons at 
 Pratt Mines. Boys' Industrial School, East Lake. 
 
 ARIZONA. Territorial Prison, Yuma. 
 ARKANSAS. Penitentiary, Little Rock. 
 
 CALIFORNIA. Prisons, Folsom and San Quentin. State 
 Schools, Whittier and lone. 
 
 COLORADO. Penitentiary, Canon City. Reformatory, 
 Buena Vista. Reform School for Girls, Denver. Industrial 
 School for Girls, Morrison. Industrial School for Boys, 
 Golden. 
 
 CONNECTICUT. Prison, Weathersfield. Reform School, 
 Meridan. Industrial School for Girls, Middletown. 
 
 DELAWARE. Ferris Industrial School and Industrial 
 School for Girls, Wilmington. 
 
632 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 FLORIDA. Stockade Camps (13 in 1900). Prisoners 
 farmed out, mining phosphate. Reform School, Marianna. 
 
 GEORGIA. Woman's Prison, Milledgville. Stockades at 
 mines and farms; prisoners leased. 
 
 IDAHO. Penitentiary, Boise City. 
 
 ILLINOIS. Penitentiaries, Joliet, Chester. Reformatory, 
 Pontiac. Industrial School for Girls, South Evanston. 
 Home for Female Offenders, Geneva. Erring Woman's 
 Refuge, Chicago. 
 
 INDIANA. Prisons, Jeffersonville, Michigan City. Wom- 
 an's Prison, and Reform School for Girls, Indianapolis. Re- 
 form School for 'Boys, Plainfield. 
 
 IOWA. Penitentiaries, Fort Madison, Animosa. Indus- 
 trial Schools : Boys, Eldora ; Girls, Mitchelville. 
 
 KANSAS. Penitentiary, Lansing. Reform School, To- 
 peka. Industrial Reformatory, Hutchinson. Industrial 
 School for Girls, Beloit. 
 
 KENTUCKY. Penitentiaries, Frankfort, Eddyville. Re- 
 form School, Lexington. Industrial School of Reform, 
 Louisville. 
 
 LOUISIANA. Penitentiary, Baton Rouge. Boys' House 
 of Refuge, New Orleans. 
 
 MAINE. Prison, Thomaston. Reform School, South 
 Portland. Industrial School for Girls, Hallowell. 
 
 MARYLAND. Penitentiary, Baltimore. House of Refuge 
 for Boys, Female House of Refuge, and St. Mary's Indus- 
 trial School, Baltimore. Industrial Home for Colored Girls, 
 Melvale. House of Reformation for Colored Boys, Chel- 
 tenham. 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. Prison, Charlestown. Reformatory, 
 Concord. Reformatory Prison for Women, Sherborn. In- 
 dustrial School for Girls, Lancaster. Lyman School for 
 Boys, Westboro. State Primary School, Monson. 
 
 MICHIGAN. Prison, Jackson. Branch prison and House 
 of Correction, Marquette. House of Correction and Re- 
 
OR A LABOR OF LOVE 633 
 
 formatory, Ionia. Industrial School for Boys, Lansing. In- 
 dustrial Home for Girls, Adrian. 
 
 MINNESOTA. Prison, Stillwater. Reformatory (for 16 
 to 30 years old), St. Cloud. State Training School, Red- 
 wing. 
 
 MISSISSIPPI. Penitentiary, Jackson. Farms. 
 
 MISSOURI. Penitentiary, Jefferson City. Reform School 
 for Boys, Boonville. Industrial Home for Girls, Chilli- 
 cothe. House of Refuge, St. Louis. 
 
 MONTANA. Prisons, Deer Lodge, Billings. Reform 
 School, Miles City. 
 
 NEBRASKA. Penitentiary, Lincoln. Industrial School for 
 Boys, Kearney. Industrial School for Girls, Geneva. 
 
 NEVADA. Prison, Carson City. 
 
 NEW HAMPSHIRE. Prison, Concord. Industrial School, 
 Manchester. 
 
 NEW JERSEY. Prison and Industrial School for Girls, 
 Trenton. Reform School, Jamesburg. 
 
 NEW MEXICO. Penitentiary, Santa Fe. 
 
 NEW YORK. Prisons, Sing Sing, Auburn (also one for 
 women). Reformatories, Elmira; Ellensville ; Bedford. In- 
 stitutions also at New York, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, 
 Hudson and Albion. 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA. Penitentiary, Raleigh. Prisoners 
 mostly on State Farms. 
 
 NORTH DAKOTA. Penitentiary, Bismark. 
 
 OHIO. Penitentiary, Columbus. Reformatory, Mans- 
 field. Industrial School, Boys, Lancaster ; Girls, Delaware. 
 House of Refuge, Cincinnati. 
 
 OREGON. Penitentiary, Reform School, Salem. 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. Penitentiaries, Philadelphia, Allegheny. 
 Industrial Reformatory, Huntingdon. Reform School, 
 
634 PRISONS AND PRAYER 
 
 Morganza. House of Correction, Philadelphia. House of 
 Refuge, Glen Mills. 
 
 RHODE ISLAND. Prison, Work House and House of Cor- 
 rection, Sockanosset. School for Boys, and Oaklawn 
 School for Girls, Howard. 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. Penitentiary, Columbia. State Farms. 
 
 SOUTH DAKOTA. Penitentiary, Sioux Falls. Reform 
 School, Plankinton. 
 
 TENNESSEE. Penitentiaries, Nashville, Petros. Indus- 
 trial School, Nashville. 
 
 TEXAS. Penitentiaries, Huntsville, Rusk. House of 
 Correction and Reformatory, Gatesville. 
 
 UTAH. Penitentiary, Salt Lake City. Reform School, 
 Ogden. 
 
 VERMONT. Prison, Windsor. House of Correction, Rut- 
 land. Industrial School, Vergenes. 
 
 VIRGINIA. Penitentiary, Richmond. Laurel Industrial 
 School, Glen Allen. 
 
 WASHINGTON. Penitentiary, Walla Walla. Reform 
 School, Chehalis. 
 
 WEST VIRGINIA. Penitentiary, Moundsville. Reform 
 School for Boys, Pruntytown. Girls' Industrial School, Sa- 
 lem. 
 
 WISCONSIN. Prison, Waupun. Reformatory, near Green 
 Bay. Industrial School for Boys, Waukesha. For Girls 
 and Boys, Milwaukee. 
 
 WYOMING. Penitentiary, Rawlins. 
 
 PRISONS IN CANADA. 
 
 Penitentiaries or Prisons, Kingston, Toronto, St. Vincent 
 de Paul, Dorchester, New Westminster, and Stony Mountain. 
 
"IT WIUL, STIR THB SOUL." 
 
 A NEW AND WONDERFUL BOOK. 
 
 OLD-TIME RELIGION. 
 
 Bv REV. S. B. SHAW. 
 
 Including an account of the Greatest Re- 
 vivals since Pentecostal Days, and telling how 
 to bring about an old time revival. Also 
 recording many remarkable answers to prayer* 
 
 MAKE MONEY AND DO GOOD 
 
 By selling good books that the people want. The 
 first edition of 10,000 copies of this new book ia 
 already selling rapidly and is doing great good. 
 It will attract both saint and sinner. Some of the 
 old time sermons that moved the multitudes 
 toward God, like men slain in battle, until their 
 cries seemed to rend the very heavens, are recorded 
 in this book. The description of sin and deprav- 
 ity, of hell and the Judgment, by such men as 
 Edwards, Bunyan, Fletcher. Whitfleld, Fin- 
 ney, Caughey, Finley, and many others, will 
 waken the slumbering conscience and reveal the 
 wrath of God against sin and this evil generation. 
 
 FROM TESTIMONIALS RECEIVED, WE SELECT A FEW. 
 
 Michigan Presbyterian: "A mine of old time revivals and contains much 
 gold. Thoroughly practical. Intensely solid truth respecting old time repent- 
 interesting. It will stir the soul." ance, conversion, and righteousness. 
 TK wn rf rraitif TTI thij timplv The author quotes from 'Fletcher's 
 ^ tKnVhor discusSs Sid Tim? Appeal,' Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Prog- 
 DenravitV ' ' Old *ess, ' James B. Finley, James Caughey, 
 -^ Repentance ' and other noted ' old time ' writers and 
 and so on evangelists. The work is full of inter- 
 
 vivals are described and incidents 
 related which are calculated to thrill 
 the reader and beget a longing desire 
 for the return of the Old Time Revival 
 Power." 
 
 Bishop N. Castle: " It surely has the 
 old time swing. It is rich in senti- 
 ment, thrilling, heart-inspiring. It 
 certainly will have a large sale." 
 
 Religious Telescope: The Old-Time 
 Religion,' by S. B. SHAW, is a 
 new book, which is a revelation of 
 the awful corruption of sin and of the 
 mighty transforming power of the 
 grace of God. Other books by the same 
 author have had a sale of nearly a 
 HALF MILLION 'copies, and we con- 
 
 e A saj . sider this booh f fully equal, if not su- 
 The Free Methodist: "An excellent perior, to any of them." 
 compilationof facts in connection with * 
 
 320 PAGES, 5 BY 8 INCHES. 
 
 Price, per copy, post-paid: Cloth, $1.00; Paper, 35 cents* 
 
 Be early in the field* Secure a copy of the book* It will be 
 all the outfit needed* Write us at once for terms to agents. 
 
 S. B. SHAW, Publisher, 
 
 212 West Chicago Avenue, CHICAGO, ILL. 
 
RELIGIOUS BOOKS 
 
 ONE THIRD ACTUAL SIZE 
 
 THAT STIR THE SOUL 
 
 Books worth having. Books thai re- 
 cord facts. Books that do good and per- 
 manent good . Books that reveal heaven 
 and hell. Books that melt hearts to tears. 
 Books that awaken conviction and WIN 
 SOULS. Books that people love NEXT 
 TO THElp BIBLES. See list below. 
 
 HALF niLLlON SOLD 
 
 ALL BOOKS Afte UNIFORM IN 
 
 3 X S INCHB9 
 
 The Great Revival in Wales, Shaw. 
 Cprapiled. Concise. Complete. Includes full 
 account of Great Revival in Ireland in 1859. 
 In great demand 256 pages. 
 
 Cloth 75c Paper 25c 
 
 Miracles in the Slums, Ree$. Timely, 
 True. Touching. Rightly named. 40 illustra- 
 tions. Selling fast. 304 pages. Cloth $1.OO 
 
 Spiritual Flashlights, Perry. New, 
 Neat, Nothing like it. Selected from hun- 
 dreds of writers. 153 topics. Alphabetically 
 arranged, 408 pages. Cloth 81. CO 
 
 Old Time Religion, Shaw. Primitive, 
 Pathetic, Powerful. Contains accounts of 
 greatest revivals since Pentecost. Stira 
 hearts, wins souls* and will help to bring 
 about an old time revival. 288 pages. 
 Cloth 81. OO paper 35o 
 
 Wayside Sketches, Cooke. Bright. 
 Bracing, Biographical. 28 illustrations. 382 
 pages. Cloth 81.OO 
 
 Touching Incidents and Remark- 
 able Answers to Prayer, Shaw. Attract- 
 ive, Absorbing, Authentic. 300,000 sold. 
 320 pages. Cloth 8 1..OO Paper 35c 
 
 Children's- Ed Hi mi of Touching Inci- 
 dents, Shaw. 42 illustrations. 128 pages. 
 125,000 sold. Cloth 6O<5 Board 35c 
 
 Dying Testimonies of Saved and Un- 
 Saved, Shaw* True, Thrilling, Triumph* 
 ant. 160,000 sold. 320 pages. 
 
 Cloth 81.OO Paper 36<J 
 
 The Men Behind the Bars, Sanders. 
 Interesting, Instructive, Illustrated. 820 
 pages. Cloth $1.OO 
 
 God's Financial Plan, Shaw. Search- 
 ing, Scriptural, Spiritual. Largest sale Of 
 any book of its theme ever published. 820 
 Cloth 91.OO Paper 35o 
 
 Traits of Character, Kletzing. Elevat- 
 ing, Entertaining, Excellent. 180 illustra- 
 tions. Cloth fl.OO 
 
 Any FOUR of the above books sent POST PAID to one address. 
 
 Cloth 93.OO Paper S1.1O 
 Any THREE of the above books sent POST PAID to one address* 
 
 Cloth 88.50 Paper 9Oe 
 
 ONE THOUSAND AGENTS WANTED 
 
 WRITE FOR TERMS AND LARGE ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE 
 
 Address, S. B.SHAW, Publisher, 
 
 212- 214 W. Chicago Avenue, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.