PAM. 
 N. AMER, 
 
 MISSIONARY LIFE 
 IN ALASKA 
 
 HETHER justly or not, 
 we are apt to measure 
 the hardships of mis- 
 sionary Hfe by the de- 
 gree of removal from 
 the rest of the world 
 that is experienced by 
 the missionary. When 
 India and China were at the farther end of a 
 long sailing voyage, in the days before tele- 
 graphs and telephones, it meant infinitely more 
 of privation than it does to-day to go as a mis- 
 sionary to those countries. Interior China and 
 the heart of Africa, with Tibet, are the modern 
 examples of what we used to know as mis- 
 sionary lands. Where trade and mechanics 
 go, the missionary no longer counts it hard- 
 ship to follow. 
 
 Measured by the standard of isolation, our 
 missionaries on the island of Unalaska, at the 
 extreme southwest of the Aleutian "stepping- 
 stones to Asia," rank with other faithful pion- 
 eers in unknown lands. Dr. Newhall, for sev- 
 eral years superintendent of Jesse Lee Indus- 
 trial Home of the Woman's Home Missionary 
 Society, said: 
 
 "It is now going on four months since we 
 were completely isolated from the world. We 
 are still wondering what were the results of 
 the annual meeting. 
 
 "This has been the severest winter we have 
 known. For more than five weeks at one 
 time it was almost a continual storm. It has 
 been mostly snow and wind. 
 
"The work at the Home is going on well. 
 We have plenty to eat, and our credit is good 
 for enough coal to keep us warm — about live 
 tons a month this winter. We buy our next 
 year's supply of food in May. We send our 
 order in February. This year it may be late 
 in being delivered, as there has been no com- 
 munication with the outside world. 
 
 "Please do not be alarmed about the work 
 or needs. _ Of course there is no surplus in the 
 treasury, in fact there is not a red cent, and 
 has not been for some time, but mail and 
 money are only delayed in the coming. Every 
 day we scan the horizon to discover some trace 
 of smoke, but all in vain." 
 
 Eleven days later Dr. Newhall adds a post- 
 script, saying: "The mail has come. I re- 
 ceived forty-seven letters, and as the boat stays 
 only a few hours I am very busy." 
 
 With all of these deprivations there is noth- 
 ing but cheer in Dr. Newhall's letters. He 
 closes by saying: "We trust that all is well 
 in the homeland, and that the interest in the 
 Alaskan work continues." 
 
 Enclosed in his letter are most interesting 
 sketches of Christmas at Jesse Lee Home. We 
 can quote but a single paragraph: 
 
 "Some of the children had never even seen 
 a tree, to say nothing of a beautiful Christmas 
 tree. The snow was deep, and along the sea 
 walk the waves had washed upon it, making a 
 salt slush that did not harden or pack down by 
 travel. Moreover, the cows had used the same 
 path, and there were deep holes where they 
 had sunk in the snow. At times it was snow- 
 ing quite like a blizzzard. Yet in spite of all 
 this the room was filled with natives and the 
 few whites who reside there, including the 
 Bishop and priests of the Russian-Greek 
 Church." 
 
 Through other correspondence and the re- 
 ports of the superintendent, we have further 
 glimpses of the meaning of "missionary life 
 in Alaska." It is not all snow and ice and 
 storm. Of October one of the teachers writes : 
 "The weather has been glorious, so much sun- 
 
shine and balmy air, and the snows on the 
 mountains have added zest to the surround- 
 ings. Between the inspiration of the loving 
 hearts around and the glory of the hills, I feel 
 on the heights continually. 
 
 "The children are so sweet, and show so 
 plainly the effect of the labor of love spent on 
 them. The United States Marshal said of 
 them the other day, 'I think those children 
 from the Home are the finest-looking lot of 
 children I ever saw. Why, they look as if they 
 had such good care, they are so fat and happy- 
 looking, and dressed so comfortably.' 
 
 "We have not a very beautiful schoolroom, 
 nor is it very convenient, but it is far better 
 than none, and I enjoy every hour in it!" And 
 then she adds, in the same triumphant tone of 
 victory, "I cannot see where the trials of a 
 missionary's life are. There is deprivation of 
 the society of friends, but thoughts can travel 
 so fast, and it is easy to be with them after 
 all." 
 
 From thirty to forty children, Aleut and Es- 
 kimo, are cared for in Jesse Lee Home. As 
 in all of the Industrial Homes of the W. H. 
 M. S., the teaching includes housework, cook- 
 ing and sewing, and, with the boys, gardening. 
 A feature peculiar to this Home is the fishing. 
 In the good boat Perchment — named for the 
 friend who made its purchase possible — the 
 superintendent and older boys go out for the 
 salrnon catch by means of which they supply 
 an important^ share of the food needed in the 
 Home. Berries are picked and carefully dried 
 during the short summer, and the garden 
 yields abundant supply of vegetables. Butter 
 enough is made in the summer for daily needs 
 and for the winter's store. 
 
 People get sick in Unalaska, as well as else- 
 where — and whites as well as natives, for the 
 island is a favorite stoppir^ place for whaling 
 vessels. What with sickness and accidents, 
 and difKculties requiring surgical treatment, 
 there has been pitiful need of a Christian hos- 
 pital on the island. Provision to meet this 
 need has been made by the W. H. M. S., and 
 
the hospital is an untold blessing to all who 
 come under its influence or within reach of its 
 help. 
 
 Of Alaskan needs but little can be said here. 
 They are the needs inseparable from a life 
 of semi-heathenism and gross ignorance. But 
 the coming of civilization, through whalei's and 
 traders, has brought another and a terrible 
 ■danger for Alaskan girls. We quote from an 
 impassioned appeal in their behalf, written by 
 one familiar with the facts through personal 
 residence : 
 
 "God pity native orphan girls whose lot 
 
 Is cast upon Alaska's western isles. 
 There, they are less than chattels sold and 
 bought — 
 
 The vilest white-skinned riff-raff that de- 
 files 
 
 Our land has rights that no one dare gain- 
 say, 
 
 But not the least respected rights have 
 they." 
 
 Alas, for the girls sold "for toil degrading 
 first, then purpose base." With Jesse Lee 
 Home as a starting point, we should have 
 other lighthouses of hope and cheer all 
 through that land, until it will be no longer 
 possible for child life to pass into such pitiful 
 eclipse; 
 
 Woman's Home Missionary Society 
 Methodist Episcopal Church 
 160 Fifth Avenue New York City 
 
 60 or less, 6c.; 60 to 100, 10c.