Christ, which is an infinite fullness of delight, was in them. My heart was full of joy, for I felt the real presence of my risen Saviour Jesus, so that, if He had manifested himself to us, as He did to His disciples, bodily, I should have felt no surprise. Other eight similar meetings have been held, all very largely attended. Some evenings I have to tell the janitor not to let in any more people, for every corner is packed with people and even the aisle is so crowded that one could not pass.

Last Friday evening an accident happened. There is in one corner of the room an opening down into the cellar, for it was a beer saloon before, and there is a railing, and one poor fellow stood up on the railing in order to see the speaker, and leaned on the shoulders of one standing before him; suddenly the crowd standing there was somehow moved; then his hands, which were fastened on the other's shoulders, slipped off, and he lost his balance and tumbled over down to the bottom of the cellar. There was a disturbance for a minute, for the fall attracted the attention of all. I vis. ited the poor man, who said: "God punished me because I thought bad of Jesus at that very time."

Last week Monday at 2 P. M. I saw two young men, who asked me to see them privately. One said: "I am convinced that Jesus is the Messiah, as you preach, and I want to become one of the Messiah's company." He, like others, are very ignorant how to join a church, and he expressed it this way. The other one said: "I love Jesus, and could you tell me what I could do to show my love to Him as well as He did show?" When I preached to them once on the beauty and power of the Lord Jesus Christ on the text, "Come and see," and when I noticed that nearly all were much moved and touched, I wanted to feel their pulse. I announced that those who want to know the story of the Messiah Jesus should come to the platform after the meet. ing and bring one cent each, and I would give them a copy of the New Testament. To my great surprise over a hundred people responded, and each, with a cent in his hand, shouted, "Give me! give me!" Myself, my dear wife and my boy had a hard time to manage the business. Now the Jews, because of their ignorance and superstition, would

not even touch with the tip of the finger
any book in which mention is made of the
Crucified One, and here they rushed for it
and yet gave their money for it; this is a
great concession, and shows that the set
time to favor Zion is at hand. On one even-
ing an old, gray-bearded Jew rose from his
chair very reverently and asked for permis-
sion to say one word. When I granted his
request, he said: "Mr. Cohn, we never
heard such things which you show us from
the Bible; we wish to hear more; why do
you hold only two meetings a week? We
ask you to give us more speeches." I was
so touched that, although I am engaged in
the other mission at Brownsville, I had to
promise to hold one meeting more here in
Williamsburgh. Now we meet Wednesday,
Friday and Saturday evenings at Williams-
burgh, and the rest in Brownsville.
I remain, dear brother,

Yours truly in His service,
L. COHN.

A Tour Among the Germans in the Northwest.

REV. G. A. SCHULTE, SUPERINTENDENT OF

MISSIONS.

At the request of the General Missionary Committee of the German Churches, I undertook, during the last quarter, an extended trip through the Northwest. The object was to become personally familiar with the mission fields and their workers, and to consult with the brethren concerning the advisability of organizing churches, and the building of several chapels in new districts.

The first stopping place on my way North was St. Paul, Minn., where the Association of German Churches of Minnesota was in session. It was my privilege there to meet Dr. O. A. Williams, Superintendent of the Red River District, who addressed the Association in behalf of the general work of the Society, while the opportunity was extended to me of presenting to the Minnesota brethren the claims for the special German work. I can assure our English-speaking brethren of a hearty welcome at the associational gatherings of the German brethren. Such a spirit of co-operation cannot fail to be for the benefit of our cause, and will draw us closer together and strengthen that bond of unity that ought to exist be

tween brethren who are engaged in the same work for the Master. Neither the difference in the language nor the fact of the separate organization through which the work is for the time being prosecuted ought not to be an impediment to mutual intercourse and encouragement.

Province of Alberta.

From St. Paul I journeyed to the extreme northern field of our missionary operations, the Province of Alberta, N. W. T. In this territory there are numerous German settlements. A large number of the new settlers are "Stundists" from the German colonies in Russia. The people are very poor. The outlook last year for a good crop was very favorable, but an early frost in July and severe hailstorms destroyed the labor of the year. Thus the people have become very destitute, so that the Government has been compelled to supply them with seed and the necessaries of life.

Bro. F. A. Mueller, a missionary assisted by the Society, came here three years ago to do pioneer work. He found 17 German Baptists on the field. He began his work visiting the people and preaching in the miserable huts called homes. The blessing of the Lord has rested abundantly on his labors. A church has been organized at Otoskwan with 60 members, another at Leduc with 155 members. The latter received formal recognition, while I was with them, by a council consisting of delegates from several German churches and the English-speaking church at South Edmonton. At Witaskawin, a place 25 miles south of Leduc, steps were taken, by my advice, for the organization of another church, which has since been completed. Thus there are three centres from which effective and successful missionary work can be carried on. With the assistance of the Church Edifice Department of the Society, two chapels have been erected, at Leduc and at Otoskwan. The dedication at the latter place was a great feast day for the people in this district. Other brethren participated in the services held in both the German and the English languages.

A Taste of Pioneering.

In company with Brother Mueller I visited the different missions. It was rather difficult to get from place to place. On account of the heavy rains in June the temporary

and very primitive bridges across the creeks had been washed away. As there are no roads, "trails" had to be followed, leading through creeks, small lakes and swamps. In the midst of one of these our wagon broke down, and we were in a dilemma, but Brother Mueller, being accustomed to pioneer life, was equal to the emergency. Leaving me with the broken wagon be hind, in a pouring rain, he rode on horseback to the nearest hut, a distance of a mile and a half, to procure the necessary material to repair the break, which was soon accomplished. At another time, a young man went ahead of us on horseback for five or six miles to measure with his horse the water for our teams to pass through, and thus helped us to get on the "trail" again. I had an excellent opportunity to get a taste of pioneer missionary life. The missionaries on the foreign fields are justly lauded for their lives of self-sacrifice and self-denial, but very little is said of the daily sacrifices of the pioneer missionaries on the home field and the hardships they have to endure, with salaries hardly sufficient for bare necessities; they suffer with the people, they lodge in huts, which would not be considered good enough in more advanced districts to put cattle in, and are often satisfied and grateful for a clean bed of straw on which to rest their tired limbs. But for Christ's sake they do it gladly. Such is the condition not only in the extreme northern and newer districts, but in all the places I visited in Assiniboia, Manitoba, and even in some parts of South and North Dakota. My sympathies go out to the brethren laboring in these fields; though no one here proclaims their praise, yet they will finally hear from their blessed Master the precious words: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of the Lord."

From Prison to Pulpit.

I cannot go into details concerning the other mission stations visited on my return trip in Assiniboia and Manitoba, on the line of the Canada Pacific Railway. In the latter province, at Morden, a new church was organized with twenty members, and preliminary steps were taken for the formation of another church with thirty members, which has since been organized at Plum

Coulee, Man. These two churches will be served for the present by one missionary. Brother G. Burgdorff, who has labored successfully for many years among the Ger. mans in Russia, and who has been imprisoned twenty times, and finally banished for preaching the Gospel, is the newly appointed missionary for this field. The outlook for a successful work is very hopeful.

Although it necessitated a change in my plans, yet I most gladly accepted the urgent and cordial invitation of the brethren beyond the boundary to attend the Manitoba Convention at Winnipeg, July 7th, and deliver an address on the German work. The Convention expressed in flattering terms its appreciation of this visit, and the interest taken by the Society in the work among the foreign populations. I spent Sunday with the church at Winnipeg, which is in a flourishing condition, but Winnipeg being only a temporary home for many Germans, the church suffers constantly by the moving of the members to farming districts.

In the Dakotas.

In North and South Dakota the outlook for our work is very hopeful. A new church has recently been organized at Fessenden, N. Dak., with eighty members, and a beautiful chapel dedicated. I attended the German Association at Eureka, S. Dak., and also the North Dakota Association at Berlin. Two of the stations of the Berlin church have been organized with sixty members under the name of the Jewell Baptist Church, and plans made for the erection of a new chapel. Mission work has been carried on for some time at Kulm, a new flourishing town on a branch of the Soo Line. A house of worship is the great need at this place. The plan of work in both of the Dakotas was thoroughly canvassed with the brethren, and every detail carefully considered.

One of the most destitute places visited on this tour was the district beyond the Missouri River, comprising Gregory County, S. Dakota, and the eastern part of Nebraska, where two years ago through the entire failure of the crop great distress and poverty prevailed. Several applications for aid in the building of chapels made it necessary to visit these fields and investigate the circumstances. Las year's crop was good, but the corn is so cheap in price that very little money was realized for it, and that had to go for the payment of a high rate of in

terest for farming implements purchased on time. This is an entirely new country. Traveling for miles and miles over the prairie no houses are to be seen except the commonest kind of sod houses and the inside is frequently bare of the most necessary furniture. One homemade bedstead for father and mother, a table, a bench, and several boxes, usually constitute the whole outfit of furniture, and the appearance of the people and their wearing apparel corresponds, in lack of comfort and protection, with the houses they live in. Yet some one must live and labor amongst them in order to win them for Christ, and it is a fact that these people are eager to listen, and that they seem to be more susceptible to the truth than many of their fellow-beings who are situated in more favorable circumstances. This is the great encouragement to the missionary in his self-denying and self-sacrificing labor of love.

On my way eastward I had a solemn duty to perform, to preach the funeral sermon of one of our brethren, Rev. H. G. Carstens, Pastor at Big Stone City, S. Dak., who fell asleep in Jesus at Minneapolis, Minn., on July 14th. It was also my privilege to at

tend the B. Y. P. U. A. Convention at Milwaukee, Wis., the Jugendbund (German B. Y. P. U.) of the Central Conference at Chicago, Ill.,,and the dedication of the new mission chapel at Massillon, O. After a brief stop at Pittsburg, a few hours ride on the Pennsylvania R. R. brought me safe and sound again to my loved ones after an absence of nearly ten weeks.

countries, reverses have inevitably accompanied these efforts. Towns have been built, farms improved, and homes made; but, in most cases, heavy debts, public and private, have been incurred, which, together with general business depression, and often failure, or partial failure, of crops, makes the burden at the present time nearly intolerable.

It is under these circumstances that religious denominations are endeavoring to build up the cause of Christ. Churches must be organized, meeting houses built and pastors secured. In many cases the heroism and self-denial of Christian people has been something wonderful. In this time a goodly number of little chapels have been built, with here and there a more pretentious church house. Little of this could have been done in this time of the people's poverty but for the aid of Home Mission Societies, while the sustaining of anything of an adequate ministry would have been impossible. Our own Home Mission Society has been foremost in this work, which has put the Baptist Church in the forefront of all Christian enterprise. But, right here and now, we are threatened with disaster. It will be readily seen that a new country has no reserve to fall back upon in case of a shortage. The wheat crop of Oklahoma, this year, was but half a crop, with price very low. Their corn crop is fairly good, but price very low, about ten cents per bushel. There is nothing to bring money with which to pay debts, preachers, or anything else. In the eastern part of the Indian Territory the drought was very severe, so that very little of anything has been raised and the people are complaining bitterly. With this condition of things, it will be plainly seen that it will be very hard to prosecute religious work. The enforced retrenchment policy of the Society is working great hardship. Several of our mission fields we have been compelled to abandon altogether. Nearly all our missionaries have had to submit to a reduction of salary which in many cases has worked very severe hardship. Again, very many important fields are still untouched, and pleading in vain for help. But with all this embarrassment, we have not entirely neglected new fields, we have reached out a helping hand to some, and pray for better times, when we can answer the Macedonian cry in a more substantial way. In the midst of this anxiety we have

many things to encourage us. Many of our brethren have been greatly blessed. Bro. Rowell of Choska, in the Cherokee country, has been under appointment for three years. We felt compelled to say to him, "Bro. Rowell, you will have to go alone," "Very well," says Bro. Rowell, "I'll try." The most he can hope to get off his field is $150. The rest necessary to support his family he earns in a blacksmith's shop. Here comes a letter from him from which I quote a few lines: "Dear Bro. Dyke, I have just closed the best meeting of the year at Clarksville; 15 or 20 converted, 13 baptized. There will be more next meeting. There are about 30 Baptists here. Do you think it best to or. ganize a church? Our congregations are from 175 to 200."

Bro. Hays, our District Missionary in the eastern part of the Cherokee Nation writes concerning a meeting now in progress at Salisaw, "Dear Bro. Dyke, we have had a hard pull at this place, but thank God for the victory; 23 have been received up to date, and the end is not yet; 17 have been baptized, bless God. I cannot tell when the meeting will close. It is running itself. I have baptized

125 during the past two months." This Brother has a family-wife and four children to support. We could only appoint him for six months, with a promise of $100, the Territorial Convention to add a like amount. Reports equally encouraging come from different parts of the Territory. I believe that the money we invest is bringing a very large return to the glory of God. But, O, how it makes my heart ache to be compelled to say "No" to so many appeals for help, where $100 or $200 would make it possible to build a meeting house, and a very little help would give a needy people the Gospel. Would that some of our brethren whom the Lord has blessed with their thousands and even millions, could see this great need and come to the rescue. I believe their crowns of glory would be studded with jewels, that now they will lack.

Oklahoma-Alva.

L. J. DYKE.

We began work here the first of July, '96. We have a little church of faithful Baptists here. We worship in the Union Hall; we have the use of this hall three Sabbaths in each month. We have good congregations

for this town and country; good Sabbathschool, Thursday night prayer-meetings. There is about 1,000 inhabitants in this town. The Congregational and Methodist churches are working here.

We have the saloons and a good deal of this wild Western cowboyism to contend with, besides the failures in crops, dry weather, hot winds and the unsettled conditions of a new country. The church here is trying to pay me $120. The Baptist Home Mission Society is helping us $150. But it is very hard for the church here to pay me even $120.

I have only 12c. in my pocket this morning, and I owe $1.00 on my house rent and $1.50 on my board bill. I don't see sometimes how I can stay here this winter, but I am trying to trust and obey. Some of the families of my church can hardly clothe their children so they can come to Sabbathschool.

I wish some of the good sisters in the Aid societies would help us some in the way of bedding or clothing before cold weather sets in; we will be thankful for anything.

The membership of my church live all the way from one to seven miles away, but still we have as good attendance at church and Sabbath-school as any church in town. The way of the Baptist Church is a plain way, and the people are getting to see it. Even in this dry country the way is so plain that we can find water deep enough to be baptized in.

Truly, there is a great work to do here in this new country for the Lord.

This county (Woods) is about sixty miles square, and there are only two or three Baptist churches in the whole county so far as I know.

We have calls from many places in the county to come and hold meetings. They say they want some Baptist preaching. I go out to different school-houses and preach at 3.30 o'clock in the afternoons. I only wish I was able to go to the many places and hold meetings where some of the good mothers told me they had not heard a sermon of any kind since they been in the Strip (three years). I am visiting from house to house as much as I can, selling, giving away Bibles and tracts; I find some families that have no Bibles. The American Baptist Publication Society have kindly sent us some Bibles, Testaments and tracts for dis

tribution, but we need a great many more if we could get them.

We thank the Lord for the American Baptist Home Mission Society.

Pray for us here at Alva that we may be able to go forward in the work.

ISAAC C. PATTON, Missionary at Alva, O. T.

Guthrie.

Dear Bro. :-I wish to add a few words to the figures. The summer quarter is severe upon people and pastor. Five churches of the city joined in union services through July and August in the evening, hence the pastor had some rest from preaching. He was absent one Sunday only at the B. Y. P. U. Convention, Milwaukee.

We have lost several families by removal, but others have moved to the city from whom we expect as many additions.

We are greatly enjoying our new edifice, and subscriptions taken dedication day to provide for indebtedness are coming in quite well. Although the month of August and part of September were unbearably hot the crops had matured-corn, wheat and cotton -so times are really quite good. Thousands of bales of cotton are now finding a good market and the money received is helpful to all. The outlook for a successful winter's work in church is hopeful. The Church united, congregation fair, the pastor hopeful. L. H. HOLT, Pastor.

P.S.-We entertained the Central Association in August and had an excellent time.

Indian Territory-Chickasha.

Dear Bro. :-I have been on the field nine months with the ending of this quarter. When I became pastor for Chickasha and vicinity, the church have had only 30 members. During the nine months the church in town has received 37 accessions, and a little church in the country to which I preach has received seven accessions, making in all 44, of which 17 were baptisms. The interest in the work seems hard to keep up for the last two months. I suppose the extreme draught and politics are the principle causes. As a rule, I think our congregations are the best in town. Fraternally,

H. B. MCGEE,