^7 
 
 Home Mission Paragraphs 
 
 THE HOME MISSION 
 TOPIC FOR JUNE, 1913 
 
 ^be pacific Coast 
 
 Alaska 
 Washington and Oregon 
 California 
 
 OMEONE has said that if the Pil- 
 grim Fathers had landed at San 
 Diego instead of Plymouth Rock 
 it is questionable whether bleak New 
 England would ever have been settled. 
 Happily history is not an accident. 
 New England was settled and its civ- 
 ilization has been the determining fac- 
 tor in the history of the Republic. The 
 Pacific region was reserved for a time 
 and a stage in our civilization when 
 new forces are called into play. With- 
 out irrigation Southern California is a 
 barren waste ; under irrigation's magic 
 it becomes a second and a better Eden. 
 It remains for the spiritual forces of 
 our civilization to preserve the Edenic 
 charm of that vast region of the West 
 which new methods and movements 
 are adding to the national domain. 
 
Cordova harbor, Alaska, is 20 degrees of 
 latitude nearer the North Pole than Vladi- 
 vostok, or about 1400 miles. The former is free 
 of ice the year 'round while all the world 
 knows the troubles Russia suffers from ice in 
 the latter. Terrible frosts cut off Siberia from 
 the approach of commerce during much of the 
 year, and are such a handicap to the whole 
 Russian Empire that the Czar is ready to resort 
 to almost any extremity of war and conquest 
 to gain an open harbor. Such harbors as Cor- 
 dova, open the year 'round, must make the 
 development of the amazing resources of in- 
 terior Alaska only the question of a short time. 
 The reason for these mild winters on the coast 
 of Alaska is well understood. The so-called 
 Japan current in the sea is constantly washing 
 the shores with streams from the tropics. 
 
 Alaska is such a great country that when one 
 tells the truth about one section, he is at once 
 elected to the Ananias Club by another writing 
 from a point two or three thousand miles away, 
 but still in Alaska. 
 
 The Eskimo of Alaska usually do not know 
 their ages, but it is not because they cannot 
 count. Rather is it because there is no practical 
 use in knowing ages. With no written language 
 there is no history; so no dates are preserved. 
 The man of but average intelligence counts as 
 high as 500. " Five is one arm, ten the top, 
 fifteen the across, and twenty a whole man, 
 counting fingers and toes." 
 
 The transition from a primitive civilization 
 to modern is perilous at best; it is specially so 
 when it comes in the life-time of a single gener- 
 ation. The noted explorer whose story has 
 filled the newspaper with tales of "white Eski- 
 mo " has observed the peril and has strongly 
 advocated " leaving them alone." It is better, 
 he thinks, to let them live on their present con- 
 tented life, meager and narrow as it is, rather 
 than subject them to the risks of civilization. 
 
 2 
 
He who came " that they might have life and 
 that they might have it more abundantly " might 
 reach a different conclusion. But there can be 
 no question on any one's part that the perils 
 are great and that a true Christian civilization 
 will do its utmost to carry a bewildered primi- 
 tive _ people through the dangers. That our 
 civiHzation has not done so successfully is mani- 
 fest in the case of the natives of Southeastern 
 Alaska where terrible diseases, formerly un- 
 known _ among them ara weakening if not 
 decimating the race. 
 
 Among natives farther north the success 
 has scarcely been better : " In accepting Chris- 
 tianity and putting ofif the old man for the 
 new, they have literally put away all their old 
 customs which are interesting only to the eth- 
 nologist. At Point Barrow, farthest north, there 
 are but two real underground houses left, and 
 the people now Hve in cheap imitations of the 
 white man's house. These are not so well 
 ventilated, are damper and more crowded. As 
 a result there is much more sickness than there 
 used to be. The so-called higher civilization 
 has taught the Eskimo to want all of its luxur- 
 ies, but has given them no way to increase the 
 income to meet the greater demands. Now sub- 
 stitutes for whalebone have reduced the price 
 to about a dollar a pound when it used to bring 
 seven, and there will be more suffering in the 
 future than in a real famine year of the past, 
 for there were always seal, but now they want 
 beef and mutton in nice red tin cans." 
 
 Barrow has always demanded a pastor- 
 physician, a combination of offices which is not 
 without distinguished phototype in One who 
 preached the Gospel and " healed their sick." 
 
 A sensational announcement would appear 
 in the Barrow Times — if such a sheet were 
 pubHshed, or could even be imagined. It would 
 astonish and elate the populace with the assur- 
 ance that henceforth that metropolis is to enjoy 
 
 3 
 
three mails each winter in addition to the one 
 in the summer. For the past ten years there 
 have been but two. Before that dependence was 
 placed on the one each summer — some summers. 
 Winter mails come by reindeer or dog team, the 
 summer by ship. 
 
 Fifty miles out from Cordova, Alaska, on 
 the new railroad is one of the world's great 
 natural wonders. Miles and Childs glaciers, not 
 far apart on opposite sides of the Copper River, 
 d'scharge their ice into the river. These glaciers 
 are extremely active during the summer months, 
 moving forward four to eight feet daily, and 
 discharging their bergs into the river with great 
 spectacular effect. Tourists are beginning to 
 understand the privilege of an easy access to the 
 world's largest active glaciers, and many have 
 visited these in the past two years. A trip to 
 this place is now as easily accomplished, and as 
 comfortably, as to Niagara Falls or to the 
 Grand Canon. 
 
 WMle Cordova is primarily a commercial 
 city it is in the midst of a mineral country. The 
 immediate future of this place however, depends 
 upon the action of Congress in the coal matter. 
 It is immaterial to the great mass of Alaskans 
 whether a leasing system is adopted or some 
 other method authorized, but it is of vital interest 
 that the coal should be unlocked in some way. 
 The development of the gold and copper mines 
 of the territory depends to a great extent upon 
 an abundance of cheap fuel. With the greatest 
 deposits of both anthracite and bituminous coal 
 in the United States at our very doors we are 
 compelled to pay twelve to eighteen dollars per 
 ton for a poor quality of foreign coal shipped 
 from British Columbia and Australia. The rail- 
 way which was built with the intention of reach- 
 ing the coal deposits is using California oil for 
 fuel. The injustice of this unreasonable delay 
 has been very irritating to the spirits of the 
 hardy pioneers who have braved the hardships 
 of a frontier life in an honest desire to develop 
 
 4 
 
the resources of the wilderness. They have not 
 received the honest treatment and encourage- 
 ment which the government has always extended 
 to other new countries in the making. 
 
 They are still hopeful, however, that after six 
 years of continued investigation by almost every 
 department of the government, some measures 
 will soon be proposed that will meet the approval 
 of Congress and settle the coal question in such 
 a way as to permit the coal to be mined. If 
 this is done Cordova will immediately experi- 
 ence a revival of business prosperity and a 
 steady growth in population. Among the people 
 who will come _ there will be found a goodly 
 number of Christian people whose religion is 
 genuine enough to stand transportation and 
 temptation; they will find a church home await- 
 ing them, and a hearty welcome, and a field of 
 activity without limit. 
 
 The Presbytery of Wenatchee (Washington) 
 has recently passed the fourth anniversary of 
 its organization, during which time it has grown 
 from ten churches to twenty-two, from 523 com- 
 municants to 1,07s, from $9,000 raised for all 
 purposes in 1908 to over $18,000 this last year. 
 With very_ few exceptions the churches have 
 grouped with them outstations where regular 
 services are maintained so that the number of 
 preaching points in the Presbytery totals forty. 
 Petitions for organization are presented at 
 almost every meeting of the Presbytery as rail- 
 road extension and reclamation projects are 
 developing the country and attracting many 
 settlers. 
 
 So far as we have been able to learn there 
 is not a field occupied by the Presbyterian 
 church in this large Presbytery (Wenatchee) 
 where ours was not the pioneer organization. 
 This is an even higher average than that of the 
 Synod of Washington within whose bounds 
 90% of the churches are the pioneer organ- 
 izations in their respective fields. 
 
 5 
 
Two strong churclies are located, at Wen- 
 atchee, almost the geographical centre of the 
 state, and at Cashmere, in a beautiful valley- 
 said to be a wonderful reproduction of the 
 famous old-world vale of that name. These 
 cities are at opposite ends of the far-famed 
 Wenatchee Valley the home of the big red apple, 
 where dollars grow on trees, and from which 
 4,000 cars of choice fruit were shipped this last 
 season. Both towns are " dry " and exceedingly 
 prosperous. This, the youngest Presbytery of 
 the Northwest, has a splendid band of home 
 missionaries. In no part of the state is there 
 greater development in immediate prospect or 
 a greater opportunit--^ for our beloved church. 
 
 Ten counties of the Golden State (Cali- 
 fornia) are oil-producing with a yield per month 
 of almost 8,000,000 barrels. Of the state's total 
 output, estimated for 1912, of 84,000,000 barrels, 
 the fields in the two counties of Kern and 
 Fresno, a portion of the territory of the Pres- 
 bytery of San Joaquin, yield 87% or over 
 73,000,000 barrels. To gain an idea of the 
 growth of this industry in California we need 
 only to know that in 1892, twenty years ago, 
 the output from the whole state was but 385,049 
 barrels, and that in 1902 it was only 14,356,910 
 barrels. Yet this colossal industry is in its 
 infancy,^ as the oil territory widens and the 
 output is ever on the increase with the price at 
 present on the up grade. There are approxi- 
 mately twenty thousand men upon the pay rolls. 
 
 The work is needy beyond all telling in the 
 California oil fields. Masses remain almost 
 untouched by the church. The society of these 
 great communities is unfavorable to religion. 
 Home life with its refinements is almost entirely- 
 absent. Men, men, multitudes of men meet your 
 gaze everywhere — untouched, unreached men. 
 The possibility for definite service is great. The 
 writer knows of a friendly contest in our West 
 Side Church, five miles from town, where in a 
 few weeks the Young People's Society had 400 
 
 6 
 
members enrolled, and they still have lOO on 
 the roll. Armies of men are interlocked with 
 enormous resources and live under abnormal 
 conditions. Think of combined communities in 
 the oil industry in our own Presbytery with an 
 aggregate population of some 20,000, with but 
 eleven small churches, including Roman Catho- 
 lic, with accommodations for less than 2,000 
 people, and the need is apparent. Is not many 
 a worthy son of worthy parents upon this great 
 field, exposed to temptations (hidden from sight, 
 if existing, in their home towns), worth the 
 strenuous effort of our great Presbyterian 
 Church to rescue and save? Education is as 
 efficient here as elsewhere, the buildings are as 
 costly and the equipment is as perfect. Shall 
 the Church of Jesus Christ lag behind and lose 
 out or shall she triumph here as is her right? 
 
 From Petersburg, Alaska: Two hundred 
 people attended our Christmas exercises in the 
 church, about three-quarters being men, most of 
 whom would have been down in the saloons if 
 they had not been with us. The band helped 
 furnish the music . ... If your seismograph 
 notes any special disturbance you may know that 
 it is at the "Devil's Thumb" on the Alaskan 
 Coast. That "Thumb" is 9,127 feet long. 
 Naturally, when_ a thumb as long as that shakes, 
 there is a seismic disturbance somewhere. 
 
 In the forests of Washington 25,000 men 
 are at work, and in the evening when the ax 
 and saw have ceased to wake the echoes of the 
 vast recesses, these men sit down in God's first 
 and greatest temple without a messenger of the 
 Gospel of Redeeming Love. About 3,000 of 
 these men have services every six weeks, around 
 the Gray's Harbor country where the Presby- 
 tery of Olympia has a commissioned lumber 
 camp missionary. The remaining 22,000 men are 
 deprived of services of any kind. Standing on 
 a pulpit which took one thousand years to build, 
 and surrounded by pillars of spruce and cedar 
 200 feet high, which seem to support the very 
 
 7 
 
dome of heaven itself, a missionary could 
 deliver the new^s of redemption to sixty men 
 each evening for nearly 500 evenings and never 
 repeat his message to a single soul. 
 
 The Indians in California are responsive to 
 rnissionary effort. They listen with deep atten- 
 tion to the Gospel message and come long dis- 
 tances to hear it. They love to sing. They are 
 devout and fluent in public prayer. In four of 
 our Presbyterian missions we have organized 
 churches with Indian elders and a growing 
 membershio. The work has been remarkably 
 successful. In two years from its inception the 
 church membership has grown to about one 
 hundred and twenty-five. These missions need 
 better equipment, suitable literature for the 
 young people who read English, gospel hymn- 
 books, Bibles, and especially better and more 
 buildings for school and church purposes. 
 Some of them need additional workers. All 
 need the support and prayers of the whole 
 church. The work is interesting and promising, 
 and we must believe that the souls of these 
 children of nature are precious in the sight of 
 the Lord. 
 
 Nearly all the Hoopa Indians of North- 
 western California have a technical tendency, 
 being self-taught by the great teachers, patience 
 and experience. Some are good wood-workmen 
 and construct their own houses; others do black- 
 smithing and shoemaking of the neatest designs. 
 The women engage in dressmaking and basket 
 weaving, the latter being a very remunerative 
 occupation. 
 
 A few of the more advanced Indians have 
 herds of cattle, hogs and sheep, often reaching 
 great numbers, which are usually consumed at 
 the home market for individual family use or 
 sold to the Government. Many tons of hay are 
 annually sold by the Indians at a good price 
 and they need_ not hesitate to take their stand 
 among the white brethren. A decade ago very 
 
 8 
 
few buggies or spring wagons could be seen in 
 the valley; now it is only the exceptional family 
 that has not one or both of these luxuries. In 
 like manner the homes are constantly improving 
 and a two-story modern house with a piano in 
 the parlor is no rare thing. Flower gardens, 
 rose bushes, and ferns often bedeck and beautify 
 the front yards and walks. They all dress in 
 the latest becoming style with none of the gaudy 
 colors or flashing ribbons often seen among the 
 Indians. 
 
 Sumpter, Oregon, is a small town of about 
 600 people. It is a distributing point for quite 
 a large section of mining camps in the Blue 
 Mountains. In its booming days it had a popu- 
 lation of 4,000 with 27 saloons. With the 
 present population it has had seven saloons and 
 two groceries. Recently three saloons have 
 dropped out of business, and the town needs to 
 be still much smaller before it can become a 
 very great deal better. Sumpter derives its 
 financial support largely from the mining busi- 
 ness. " The mountains are round about " Sump- 
 ter, and there is gold in the mountains. The 
 miner who digs for the gold generally receives, 
 good wages. But he does not always " spend 
 his money for that which is bread." The miners 
 need a Sky Pilot — a man who can stay a day or 
 two with the lone prospector, or a week or 
 more at the camps where there are large num- 
 bers of men working in the mines and mills. 
 The Pilot could steer many of the boys over 
 the dangerous rocks where so many make ship- 
 wreck. 
 
 The foreign born population of the State 
 of Washington, exclusive of the Orientals, is 
 250,000, or about one-fifth the whole number in 
 the state. They are divided among thirty differ- 
 ent nationalities, with numbers ranging from 
 about 500 Portuguese to 40,000 Canadian born. 
 The Scandinavians predominate, there being 
 70,000 in all. with 30,000 Germans, 15,000 Italians, 
 12,000 Russians, 15,000 Austrians, and about 
 
 9 
 
So,ooo from the British Isles. Agents are in 
 the East arranging for the transportation of 
 large numbers more as soon as the Panama 
 Canal is open for traffic; 100,000 or more, it is 
 estimated, will come to the Northwest in the 
 next two years. 
 
 Tlie cLuestion of employment and support 
 for these populations in Washington is a serious 
 one. They are well scattered and in some 
 measure participate in all the industries of the 
 state. The larger portion of them are in the 
 fisheries, on the farms, in the mines and in the 
 mill and lumber industries. There are twenty- 
 three nationalities employed in the Roslyn mines, 
 in a town of 4,000. The Italians, Austrians and 
 the British predominate. _ The Scandinavian 
 people are in large numbers in scattered farming 
 communities and in the fishing industries, with 
 a TOod many also in the mill towns and the 
 lumber camps. The German people are not so 
 exclusive but are well assimilated in the life 
 and business of native born Americans. With 
 the larger number, however, the foreign born 
 population already in Washington, and the sud- 
 den influx in anticipation, the problem of work 
 and support and contentment is growing more 
 complex. 
 
 This problem of labor involves the problem 
 of spiritual needs. A happy, contented, indus- 
 trious people are more readily reached with the 
 Gospel, and especially when in sufficient numbers 
 to make organized ef¥ort possible. The mining 
 towns are largely Catholic and the Catholic 
 Church is doing little for them. The mill towns 
 are better cared for but the lumber camps are 
 woefully neglected. The danger is that the 
 evangelical churches will not be able to meet 
 the emergencies arising in this problem and that 
 our foreign brethren will fall in with our com- 
 mercial and social and political ways_ to the 
 neglect of the spiritual, and so to their great 
 harm and wrong. 
 
 10 
 
The ancient prophecy that the desert should 
 be made to blossom as the rose is being fulfilled 
 in Oregon. Rapidly she is building up the old 
 " waste places " where for ages the rabbits, 
 gophers and coyotes have tenanted the sagebrush 
 plains. Either under the supervision of the 
 Government Reclamation Service, or under pri- 
 vate companies, engineers conduct the water 
 from its ancient channels to the land which is 
 then offered to home-seekers, generally in small 
 tracts. From being a " waste and howling wil- 
 derness " these acres are transformed into a 
 " Garden of the Lord." No other lands yield 
 such increase. No other place offers such cer- 
 tainty of crops. No other land is farmed like 
 the irrigated land, and when once the farmer 
 learns to irrigate seldom does he wish to return 
 to the land of clouds and rain. The irrigated 
 " ranch " makes a strong appeal to the business 
 or professional man who wishes to " get back to 
 the land." It follows that in no other farming 
 community is there such a high average of in- 
 telligence and consequent desire for mental and 
 moral training and activity. 
 
 From the church's standpoint where a 
 given field is valuable in proportion to its future 
 prospects as a power in its community and a 
 contributor to benevolent objects, the irrigation 
 project oresents the best opportunity for the 
 activities of our benevolent boards. On the 
 other hand, perhaps no other field is more sorely 
 in need of their help during the " lean " years 
 when there is much labor and little return for 
 it because of the newness of the land, and also 
 because of the many failures which necessarily 
 accompany the determination of what are the 
 best crops in a given locaHty. 
 
 The irrigation projects scattered widely 
 over the west are' much alike in the problems 
 that they present to the winner of souls. The 
 people farm intensively. They must be _ taught 
 to worship in the same manner or their lives 
 will become warped. Nothing but the gospel 
 
will keep them from working on the Sabbath 
 and becoming wholly immersed in the business 
 of " getting rich." Sodom and Babylon flourished 
 in " well-watered plains " and Moses invoked 
 the plagues on a peonle spoiled by prosperity. 
 These people need helo because many of them 
 have spent their all in getting the land alone, 
 and are obliged to live as best they may until 
 developments begin to pav. which, in the case 
 of an apple orchard, is several years. When the 
 building of a church confronts them, the most 
 liberal giving on the part of the first-comers 
 will not build a church suitable to the needs of 
 a rapidly growing community, and comparison 
 with other projects enables one to compute with 
 fair accuracy what the population of the town 
 and community will ultimately be. 
 
 Some Home Board Statistics for 1913 
 
 (For the Year 1912-13) 
 
 Number of churches aided by the Board.. 1,847 
 Number of missionaries, including 68 
 Cuban, Porto Rican, Mexican and In- 
 
 dian Helpers i,75o 
 
 Number of missionary teachers 404 
 
 Sunday Schools organized 275 
 
 Number of Sunday Schools 1,381 
 
 Churches having reached self-support 52 
 
 Churches organized 113 
 
 Congregational offerings from the churches of the sjmods 
 of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio and in several scattered 
 Presbyteries elsewhere, designed for the general work of 
 Home Missions, should be sent to the treasurer of the Home 
 Mission Committee of the Presbytery. In Wisconsin, Mich- 
 igan, Kansas and "West Virginia they should be sent to the 
 synodical treasurer. (For Michigan and Kansas, the treas- 
 urer of the Board is also the synodical treasurer.) In other 
 territory such funds not for synodical or presbyterial self- 
 support should be sent direct to Harvey C. Olin, Treasurer 
 of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the U. S. A., 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City. 
 
 Copies of this leaflet and other Home Mission literature 
 may be had on application to the Board of Home Missions 
 of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A., 156 Fifth Ave- 
 nue, New York City.- 
 
 No. 439. Please use number in ordering further copies 
 
 12