It was too slippery for women to venture out, so I began phoning to
members of the Lutheran Church whom I believed would come. One man in a
bank said, “I am not a clerk. I can't go out this kind of weather for
that class of men.” I replied, “I saw you at communion last Sunday, and
I venture you promised your God to serve wherever you were needed; here
is your first call.” “I shall come at once and bring three other members
of the church with me.”
That winter the Luther Memorial Church, of Erie, Pa., had sent us a
large box of men's clothing, every article mended, clean and in good
condition, and just the week before a charitable organization, at Chevy
Chase, Md., had sent us two large barrels of men's clothing, and a full
half bushel of socks nicely darned and every article clean.
So we put trousers on one pile, coats on another, vests on another,
underclothes on another, a churchman at each pile. I had charge of the
socks, then Mr. Ifft, of the Luther Memorial Church, in the next room
superintended the trying on, fitting and exchanging garments. As we
handed each garment we said about this, “The ladies of the different
churches send you these garments with their love and sympathy.” Many a
poor fellow, all unused to blessing, said, “God bless the churches for
remembering such as us.” In an hour's time we clothed over seventy-five
men. A few did not need complete outfits. We never supposed we had that
many garments on hand, but that day cleared out all we had in reserve.
Among these men were two Welsh boys, both Christians, not long in this
country. They had not known the strength of American liquors (which were
doubtless drugged); they were very contrite and were at once put to
work, one as a furnaceman, the other in the wood yard. We hear the
United States revenue cutters have been after the oyster men and
shanghaiing is no longer a common crime.
When a friend looked in on that crowd of superior business men helping
distribute clothing and saying words of consolation to the broken men,
he said, “I believe in my soul you would order in the President of the
United States to help at the Gospel Mission.” “Oh, no!” I replied,
“President Taft, good man as he is, would not be permitted to drive so
much as a tack at the Gospel Mission. He does not recognize Jesus as His
Saviour; only orthodox Christians who can tell the sinner of the
redeeming power of Jesus the Christ can successfully work in a rescue
mission like this.”
THE HOLIDAYS
are a sore trial to the homeless or to the recently bereaved. Often
women of the highest social rank come to the Gospel Mission on
Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, when we give a good dinner to
everyone who applies. (These women forget their own woes as they serve
others.) The subjoined newspaper letter will give you a good picture of
one such occasion:
THANKSGIVING DAY AT THE MISSION OF 1910
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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