{loo 
 
 PAM. 
 N. AM Eft, 
 
 At Sinuk and Nome 
 
 (ALASKA.) 
 
 Mrs. R. H. Young 
 SINUK 
 
 JOHN WESLEY said it was useless 
 to preach the gospel to a hungry 
 man. In our work for the Eskimos 
 in Alaska, we have tried to be true fol- 
 lowers of the Master and of John Wes- 
 ley. In 1906, when our first missionaries 
 arrived at Sinuk, they found the people 
 cold, hungry and discouraged, as well as 
 ignorant and superstitious. Our workers 
 at once began to teach them how to have 
 better and more sanitary homes than their 
 dirty igloos ; they taught them carpentry, 
 better modes of fishing and caring for 
 their fish, and protected them from the 
 conscienceless trader who for a few gal- 
 lons of whiskey would secure hundreds 
 of dollars' worth of furs. The next year 
 we secured from the Government a herd 
 of reindeer and began the instruction of 
 Eskimo apprentices, who are required to 
 have four years' training under a compe- 
 tent herder before they can own deer in 
 a separate herd. If faithful, at the end of 
 four years each apprentice will own 
 thirty-four reindeer. In this way several 
 young men at Sinuk have become own- 
 ers of a herd, and this is an assurance of 
 food and clothing for himself and his fam- 
 
ily. It is hoped that in time every Es- 
 kimo family will have this help. 
 
 In 1910 we sent a schooner to Sinuk 
 for the use of the missionaries, and to aid 
 the natives in securing large game. They 
 have thus been helped to gain a comfort- 
 able living so that mothers need no more 
 give their starving babies dried sealskin 
 to chew because they have no food. In 
 all this our aim has constantly been to 
 teach them to help themselves, and not 
 to become paupers, as are so many In- 
 dians in this country. When they use 
 our boat they must pay for their own 
 gasoline, and give a percentage of what 
 they earn to the Mission. We send boxes 
 of secondhand clothing, but unless old, 
 or sick, each must pay for what he gets, 
 in work, in hauling driftwood to the mis- 
 sion, securing fish or game, or in any way 
 that he can. 
 
 In 1908 our Hilah Seward Industrial 
 Home was completed ; here neglected and 
 orphan children are cared for and given 
 Christian and industrial training. The 
 Government built a school house, and 
 supplies a teacher for eight months each 
 year. The Eskimos are eager to learn 
 and the children are bright. Miss How- 
 ard, who went to Sinuk from Kansas City 
 Training School in 1914, says, "The 
 [fatherless] Byers children (four of 
 whom are in our Home), are all bright 
 and lovable. In fact, all of our children 
 
are intensely interesting, and well worth 
 the time we are giving to them." 
 
 Religious services are well attended. 
 The church organized in 1912 is doing 
 well. The Sunday-school and Junior 
 League are prospering, and we hope that 
 these fruits of our work will continue to 
 grow and be a blessing to our needy 
 brothers and sisters. Matron Hannah, 
 an Eskimo girl adopted and trained by 
 our missionaries there, is in charge of 
 the Government school. An urgent need 
 *at Sinuk is a new chapel, the one in the 
 Home being needed for a drying room in 
 winter and a play room for the children. 
 
 NOME . 
 
 The missionary in charge of our work 
 at Nome is much encouraged with its de- 
 velopment among the Eskimos since the 
 opening of the gymnasium in September, 
 1914. All the Eskimo young people, and 
 many who are older, are eager to attend 
 the gymnasium classes. There are three 
 or four classes each week for men and 
 boys, and as many for women and girls. 
 Thus the people become interested in the 
 mission and attend the Sunday-school, 
 the Epworth League, and other religious 
 services. 
 
 It was a great blessing to these people 
 to have a place other than a saloon or 
 pool room in which to meet socially. One 
 boy exclaimed soon after the opening of 
 the building, "Gym plenty hurt pool 
 
room." The game and reading room is 
 well patronized, but that had to be closed 
 in the winter to save fuel and light, money 
 coming in so slowly. The workshop 
 proved too small, and a business man of 
 Nome, who was pleased with the kind of 
 work being done, gave us a house and lot 
 across the street from the gymnasium, 
 The influence of our Mission is felt not 
 only among the Eskimos in Nome — about 
 iooo — but in all the surrounding villages. 
 At one time fifteen men came from a vil- 
 lage twenty-six miles distant to ask what 
 they should do to be Christians. There 
 was no teacher or missionary near their 
 village. Another day a poor old man, all 
 crippled with rheumatism, walked fifteen 
 miles to inquire how to live the better 
 life. 
 
 An earnest call — a Macedonian call — 
 to "Come over and help us," comes from 
 Nome. May the good Lord put it into 
 the heart of some one who has the means 
 to heed the call. The gift of $1000 would 
 make possible either a much-needed hos- 
 pital for Nome, or the opening of an 
 equally important mission at Port Mul- 
 ler. Write for further information to the 
 Bureau Secretary, Mrs. R. H. Young, 
 Long Beach, Cal. 
 
 Woman's Home Missionary Society 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
 150 Fifth Avenue : : New York City 
 
 50 or less, 6c: 50 to 100, 10c.