The Sunday Oregonian., June 14, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 7, Image 53

THE STTXTVYY OREGON I AX, PORTLAND, JUNE 14, 1U0S.
? BY CAROITXN WELL
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TO be in London Is to bo In society.
Each Invitation accepted brings
two more, with an ultimate result
Tike that of the old-fashioned "chain
letter."
Having thoughtlessly begun a social
career, I suddenly found my London
carpeted with crimson velvet. And by
insidious processes, and by reason of
the advance of Summer, the velvet car
pet magically transformed itself into
country-house lawns, the only differ
ence being that the green velvet carpet
was of a richer pile.
I had determined to accept no
country-house invitations. The some
what ample length and breadth of Lon
don itself was all the England I de
Fired, and this I absorbed as fast as I
could; my only difficulty being that I
could not live nimbly enough.
Kut, like the historic gentleman who
"loved but was lured away," I was in
vited to a Sunday afternoon garden
party in the country, and, under pres
One Lav man s Views on Missionary Work
Judge George H. Williams' Address Before Conference of Episcopal Delegates, on Problems of Diocese,
At the recent conference of the
Episcopal, delegates of the diocese of
Oregon, among the papers read deal
ing with the missionary problem was
the appended most interesting article
submitted by George H. Williams, Ore
gon's "grand -old man," who has long
been prominent in the church in this
state and city.
Mr. Williams talked on "The Lay
man's Share in the Enterprise," and
gave his views on the Important prob-
lems under consideration freely and
frankly. Of special interest was his
commendation of the labors of the Sal
vation Army, which he praised highly
for its work among the poor and
downtrodden. Following is the text
of the paper:
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I find
upon the programme of today's proceed
ings that I have been selected to make
an address upon a subject described as
"The Layman's Share In the Enterprise,"
meaning as I suppose, by enterprise, the
work of missions. I have very little prac
tical knowledge on this subject, and
therefore doubt my ability to say much
of anything useful or instructive to the
learned gentlemen here assembled. I
know of but two things that laymen can
do for the missionary cause. One is to
contribute money to its support; the
other is to engage personally In the work.
Largely, if not altogether, money for the
support of missions must come from lay
men. There would be little difficulty In
finding workers if means were forthcom
ing to defray the expenses and compensate
them for their labors. The problem that
confronts ' the church is the raising of
these means.
There is no law compelling people to
contribute to the support of missions, and
therefore, they must depend for their
existence and efficiency upon money or
services voluntarily given. The chief ob
stacle missions have to encounter Is the
selfishness or sordid Indifference of the
people. To overcome this is the great,
almost insurmountable difficulty.
Many notable contributions are made by
rich people, but it frequently happens
that those who are most able are least
willing to give. The story of the widow's
mite is sometimes illustrated in this, aa
in other things.
How to Arouse Interest.
The question is: Can any way be devised
to induce people to take more interest
in the work of missions? There are dif
ferent kinds of missions and different
kinds of people to be benefited by mission
ary work. There is no doubt that If
people could be made to see that their
business Interests would be promoted by
investing their money in missionary en
terprises such investments would be
niHde, but there is little room for the
commercial spirit to work in the spread
of the Christian religion, though it Is
probably true that the establishment of
missions In foreign countries opens the
door for the entrance of trade and com
merce. To preach the Gospel of our Lord Is
no doubt an essential part of the mis
sionary work in the benighted regions
of the world, but In my judgment, it Is
necessary that something else should be
done to convert the votaries of idolatry
a;:d f"tich-worshlp to the Christian relig
ion. To substitute new thoughts for such
thoughts as have come down to a people
through numberless generations Is ex
ceedingly difficult if not impossible by
means merely of oral advice or instruc
tion. Any religion, however superstitious
or repulsive, it may seem to us. which is
the growth of ages, becomes indurated in
the affections of Its inheritors and to
supplant these affections with the sublime
ill 'as and mystic rites of the Christian
religion is more than a Herculean task.
People with such a religion must have
something which they can understand
and appreciate In a religion which is
proposed as a substitute for their long
cherished and ancestral worship.
Form of the Appeal.
The sermon of our Lord on the Mount,
with its lofty ethics and rules for right
sure of argument by some cherished
friends, I consented to go.
The garden party, unlike Sheridan,
was seventy miles away; but I learned
that it would be a typical English gar
den party of the three-volume sort, and
though it necessitated a week-end stay,
and concomitant luggage bothers, I
stoically prepared to see it through.
I was to meet my cherished friends,
who were none other than the Wag O'
The World and his kWife, at Victoria
Station. '
This, of itself, was a worth-while
experience, for meeting friends at a
London station is always exacting. To
begin with, they are never there. Tou
rush madly about from one ridiculous,
inadequate ticket wicket to another
from one absurd, inadequate waiting
room to another and then you think:
that after all they must have said
Charing Cross.
Then you forget them, and become
absorbed in watching the comic opera
crowd of week-enders in their neat
traveling suits of beflounced muslin,
frilly lace scarfs and stout boots.
eous living does not appear to have had
any immediate effect upon its hearers
otherwise than to excite their astonish
ment, but when He healed the sick, re
stored sight to the blind and did many
other wonderful works of a like nature,
the people believed in and followed Him.
These were attestations of His divine
power and goodness, which the people
could understand they were plain facts
that could be seen by the people, and
about which there could be no contro
versy. Moreover, these beneficent acts
touched the hearts of the people. Phys
ical Infirmities and distress naturally
awaken sympathy, and when our Lord
administered relief to those suffering in
that way this sympathy was turned into
admiration and love for the dispenser of
such benefactions.
Poor and ignorant people became the
followers of our Lord because, by His
acts of kindness He won a place in their
affections. It was not necessary for them
to reason about dogma or doctrine.. It
was simply a case of heart responding
to heart.
We have Biblical authority for saying
that religion, pure and undeflled before
God and the Father, is this: To visit the
fatherless and the widows in their af
fliction and keep himself unspotted from
th world, which means, if I understand
it,' that charitable, acts and right living
are the essentials of religion, or in other
words, religion is not an abstraction, a
philosophy or a congeries of ceremo
nies, but a very practical thing.
Most Effective Plan.
I have said all this to preface an opin
ion which I am about to express, which
is this: That the more effective way
to convert those ignorant of the Chris
tian religion to its faith and practice
is not only by preaching to them, but
by establishing and maintaining among
them hospitals, asylums, schools and such
other provisions as are practicable for the
relief of poor, sick and suffering human
ity. This is the Gospel the most igno
rant can understand.
Rev. J. L. Parrish came to Oregon in
an early day with other Methodist minis
ters. They came to Christianize the In
dians. Mr. Parrish visited the Siletz In
dians and preached to them a sermon in
which he depicted as well as he could
through an interpreter the crucifixion of
our Lord. When he concluded an old In
dian remarked that, "It the white men
had got into a quarrel and killed one of
their number, he could not see what the
Indians had to do with it." Such a ser
mon, of course, had no effect, but if Mr.
Parrish had gone among the Indians and
said to them: "I bring you a religion
which teaches people to take care of the
sick, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked
and, if adopted, will make you better men
and women, happier and more comfort
able." and had shown his faith by his
works, he would have reached the under
standing and the better instinct of these
rude people. ,
Our Roman Catholic brethren generally
have been more successful in civilizing
and christianizing savages than Protes
tants because their missionaries go among
such people and stay .with them and, be
ing free from family and business cares,
devote their whole time to the interests of
their church. My point is that mission
aries to savage or unchristian people
must associate with their religious teach
ing some work that is helpful to the
physical needs and wants of such people
before they can make much headway in
bringing them into the fold of a Chris
tian church. I am of the opinion that if
those who solicit aid for foreign missions
would make the support of such institu
tions as I have named the most promi
nent features of their appeals, it is quite
probable that laymen would be more in
fluenced than they otherwise would be. to
give their money for missionary work.
The willingness to give for charitable
purposes is not confined to church mem
bership. There are thousands of people
outside of the churches who will give
their money when they are satisfied that
it will be expended to alleviate the suf
ferings and sorrows of mankind. Human
sympathy is as broad and as deep as
... j
Wandering about In the luggage
room, I suddenly chanced upon my
friends calmly sitting on their own
boxes, and looking as if they had been
evicted for not paying their rent.
And such a multiplicity of luggage as
they had! I had contented myself with
one box of goodly proportions, but my
cherished friends had no less than 12
pieces of tiie varying patterns of enam
eled blackness and pig-skinned brown
ness which only England knows.
"Why sit ye here idle?" I demanded.
"We await the psychical moment,"
responded the Wag O' The World; "you
see they won't stick our luggage soon
er than 10 minutes before train time,
and they're not allowed to stick It later
than five minutes before train time.
The game is to catch a porter between
those times."
The game seemed not only difficult,
but impossible, for the porters were
not only elusive, but for the most part
invisible. Preoccupied - looking men
etrolled about with a handful of labels
and a paste-pot, but could not be in
duced to decorate our luggage there
human nature. With suitable efforts
laymen may be Induced to engage in edu
cational and charitable works in foreign
lands, and in that way contribute to the
spread of the Christian religion. Self
sacrificing, kind-hearted Christian wo
men are among the best missionaries in
the world. There is in their ministration
to poor children and sick persons much
of the beauty and sweetness of that song
which the angels sang to the shepherds
of Bethlehem.
Xeed Is Everywhere.
Everywhere there is need of missionary
work, especially in the new and sparsely
settled parts of our country, . including
the State of Oregon. Vigorous and active
young men are needful for such work.
To go- about and occasionally to preach
a sermon will not meet the exigencies
of the case. The visitation of families in
their homes id indispensable. People are
pleased and flattered by such visits. This
is the only way, in many instances, by
which they can be reached. If a clergy
man takes an interest in a family, the
chances are that he can Influence such
family to take an interest in church mat
ters. Affability, with Christian zeal, tem
pered by gentleness in personal inter
course with frontier people will be more
likely to advance the interests of the
church than any amount of pulpit ora
tory. Nowhere is there more necessity for
missionary work than in our great cities.
Wickedness, vice and crime make their
haunts In these places. To successfully
contend with these is one of the great
religious and moral problems of the day.
Laymen and clergy are alike interested in
this work. Prevention and repression are
the two ways of dealing with the diffi
culty. The most potent factor for pre
vention is the influence of religious and
moral parents over their children. That
many such parents are neglectful of their
duty in this respect must be admitted.
This is one of the most grievous sins
of the sociological world. It is hard to
devise a remedy. I can think of nothing
better than for the pulpit and the press
to thunder continually into the ears of
these delinquent parents the old and
never-to-be-forgotten maxim, "Train up
a child in the way that he should go,
and when he is old he will not depart
from it."
Many Parents Depraved.
Many parents in our cities are them
selves vicious and depraved. God pity
the children of such parents. Nothing is
more distressing than to see these poor
little creatures, with capabilities for good,
growing up demoralized and debauched
by their immoral surroundings. Of all
charitable institutions, those looking to
the welfare of such children are most
deserving of public sympathy and sup
port. Children's homes and juvenile
courts are helpful in saving such chil
dren from a downward career.
I want to say a word here in com
mendation of the societies known as the
Salvation Army and the Volunteers of
America. I believe they are doing a
great and good work in providing for
the poor and in rescuing the drunken and
depraved from the slums of our cities.
My opinion is that the strength and suc
cess" of the Roman Catholic Church Is
largely due to its excellent educational
and charitable institutions, and if there
are any persons on the face of the earth
who are doing God's work they are the
Sisters of that venerable church. As a
member of the Episcopal church I am
pleased with what that church has done
and is doing in the same direction, but
it can do more, and the more it multi
plies its charities' the more it will grow
and the more It will earn and deserve
the blessing of the good God the father
of us all. Schools, cuurches, fraternal
and charitable societies are working to
gether for the uplifting, improvement
and happiness of the people, and to a
certain extent are missionaries for re
ligion and morality.
I have seen some statistics in the news
papers to the effect that the churches
were in a state of decadence or in other
words not so many people In proportion
with. "The principle is all wrong!" I
declared. "It is absurd for one to be
such a slave to ones luggage. Some
body ought to invent a trunk with
legs and intelligence, that would run
after us, instead of our running after
it."
"Even that would not be necessary,"
responded the Wag O' The World, in
his mild way; "if somebody would only
invent a porter with legs and intelli
gence, it would fulfill all requirements."
Now thia is the strange part.
Though there were more than a
thousand people waiting to have their
luggage stuck (I. c, labeled), and
though there were but few of the in
visible porters, yet everybody was
properly stuck, and started when the
train did!
The next entertainment was the se
curing of an entire compartment for
our party of three. This is always ac
complished in England, but by many
devious and often original devices.
"I've thought of a good plan, which
I've never tried yet," observed the Wag
O' The World, "to get a compartment to
one's eelf. That is, to invent some col
lapsible rubber people like balloon
pigs, you know that may be carried
In the pocket, and blown up when nec
essary. Three or four of these, when
blown up and placed in the various
seats, would fool any guard. And if
one were shaped like a baby, with' a
crying arrangement that would work
mechanically, the otheis would not be
needed."
This plan was ingenious, but, like
everything else in England, unneces
sary. It -is one of the most striking
characteristics of the English that
nothing is absolutely necessary to their
well-being or happiness. If anything
is omitted or mislaid, it is not missed
but promptly forgotten, and no harm
done.
After an hour or two of pleasant travel
through the hop-poled scenery of South
eastern England, we reached a place with
one of those absurd names which always
suggest Edward Lear's Immortal lyrics,
where we must needs change cars.
My cherished friends strolled along the
length of the platform to the luggage van,
and judiciously selected such boxes as
they dared to claim; though I am sure
they did not get all of their own, and ac
quired a few belonging to other passen
gers. I easily picked out my own Ameri
can trunk, and, surrounded by our spoil,
we stood on the platform while the train
wandered on.
After a long, but by no means tedious,
wait there appeared on the other side of
the platform a toy railroad train, so
amateurish that it looked .like one drawn
by a child on a slate.
We were put into a boxstall. and locked
in. The ridiculous little contraption bob
bled along its track, and finally stopped
In the middle of a beautiful landscape,
and we jumped Qut to become part of it.
The barouche of our hostess awaited
us, with still life In the shape of liveried
attendants. A huge wagon awaited our
to the population go to church now as in
former times. I do not know what the
facts are but whatever the attendance
upon the churches may indicate it is
evident to my mind that the religion of
Jesus Christ is not in a state of de
cadence. There are millions of people
who do not go to church whose lives are
mora or less influenced and moulded hy
their religion.
Much is said to the prejudice of rich
people with more or less of truth, but
after all there never was a time in the
history of the world when rich men were
so liberal in their gifts to educational and
charitable institutions as the present
time. When earthquakes, floods and fires
devastate towns and cities, men who have
accumulated their millions pour out their
riches with a lavish hand for tho relief
of the afflicted and suffering, and whether
these men go to church or not these facts
show that the spirit of the Christ is work
ing in the hearts of men.
I am optimistic in this matter, I believe
th9 world is growing better as the years
roll on. Evolution is a slow process In
it 1000 years are as one day. Evolution
exists in the spiritual world and it can
no more be stopped than evolution in
the physical world. The spirit of man is
aspiring, developing and ascending I
know there appears to be much to chal
lenge these ideas. Our newspapers teem
with accounts of all sorts of offenses
against the laws of God and man, and for
these reasons some people think that
mankind is on a descending grade but
they forget that while these individual
instances of criminal conduct are
blazoned to the world there are millions
of people who have no newspaper
notoriety and are leading quiet, peaceful
and moral lives. These are the ones who
will save society from decay and de
generation. In a World of Thought. .
. I have formed an opinion about
spiritual inferences that may appear
fanciful to others but Is quite real to
me. I hold that we live, in a world of
thought as unified and universal as the
world of ether Science has denfontrated
the existence of ether which is a refine
ment or rarlfication of the atmosphere
we breathe. It is the medium through
which light and heat passes, and is sub
ject to tne laws of wave motion.
Similarly to this the world of thought is
subject to the laws of wave motion. I
could cite numerous Instances from
history illustrative of this fact but one
within our personal knowledge will
suffice.
Everywhere there Is a sudden and sur
prising opposition to the use of alcoholic
drinks and the existence of saloons. This
is the effect of a great wave of thought
that has overspread the country. Start
ing in one locality U spreads to another
and so from county to county and state
to state, until the thought world of the
country is thrown into commotion upon
the subject. My belief Is that the vibra
tion or undulations of the thought would
closely resemble those of the ethereal
world, when a thought is committed to
the wireless telegraph it goes by, or
through, the vibration of the world of
ether thousands of miles to its destina
tion. It is as invisible and Impenetrable
as the thoughts of men. If there is any
thing in this, there is much in it to en
courage those who are devoting their
lives to the spread of the Christian
religion.
Clergymen need not be disheartened by
a small attendance upon their churches
for by a deep strong spiritual sermon
they may set in motion a wave of
spiritual thought that may reach the
sensibilities of many who never hear the
sound of a clergyman's voice and so the
devoted missionary though he may speak
to a few uncultured people in a log cabin
or in the shade of a tree may start a
thought wave that the frigid winds of
Alaska cannot freeze up, or the spicy
breezes of India blow oufof existence.
Everybody and especially Christian
ministers should look cheerfully and
hopefully into the future. To every cloud
there is a silver lining and behind every
sorrow a smiling providence. Everything
is under the guidance of him who "doeth
all things well." Though the difficulties
are great they are not insurmountable.
It is possible that the time may come
when the saving influence of our blessed
Lord will cover the earth as the waters
cover the sea.
luggage, which had mysteriously dumped
Itself out of the train, and we were
whisked away to the garden party.
Partly to be polite, and partly because
I couldn't help it. I remarked on the
marvelous beauty of the country.
The wag o' the world enthusiastically
agreed with me. "But, Emily," he said,
"if you could only s?e this same country
In the Spring! These lanes are walled
on either side with the pink bloom of
the may, and the wild flowers "
Tears stood in the blue eyes of the
Wag, at the mere thought of Spring In
Kent, and I realized at last why English
poets have sometimes .written poems
about Spring.
We passed through the village, one of
those tiny hamlets which acquire merit
only by age and local tradition. The
happy villagers stared at us with just
the correct degree of bucolic curiosity,
and we rolled on through the lodge gates,
and along the winding, beautiful avenue
THE COMIC OPERA WEEK-ENDERS.
to the house. In every direction stretched
wide lawns of perfect ' grass, that prob
ably acquired its uppish look when Wil
liam the conquorer told it.
We were met by no humanity of our
own stamp, but were shown to our room
by benevolent-minded factotums, and
gently advised to prepare for the garden
party.
With the exception of entertainments
of a public nature, I have never seen so
beautiful and elaborate an affair. The
guests, to the number of 200, came from
all the country round; some in equipages
dripping with ancestral glory, and some
A Jaunt to the Land of the
Most Picturesque and Newest Route Is Vp TUrough Canada, on
THE midnight sun though it looks
like any sun hovering towards
evening has a fascination for the
people of the temperate zones. From our
own country and 'others it draws its
thousands to or beyond the circle every
year, and yearly draws more and more.
The Summer arctic has its recognized
avenues of approach. The broadest high
way, the most orthodox, the most hack
neyed, is the beautiful coast route past
the mouths of the fjords of Norway to
Tromso, and perhaps bej'ond. A less
vulgar, more romantic sea route is that
leading from some European port these
Journeys are becoming diligently adver
tised), past the Orkneys, through the
Shetlands and Faroes to Iceland and per
haps Jan Mayen and Spitzbergen. Either
route accomplishes the desired result;
the edified tourist sees the sun look at
12, midnight! exactly as It does an hour
before it sets in any temperate latitude.
He takes photographs of the "midnight
sun" (that are a blur over the whole
plate) and goes home .to recite and show
the wonders he has seen.
These two routes to the North may
be called European. A third one. more
recent than the others, is known as the
"American" or "Alaska" route. It has
many advantages.
But there is still aidnther way to the
gates of the North, with all the variety
of curving rivers and storm-swept, in
land seas not a route for the invalid or
timid, though it has its comforts and
entitles no one to hero medals. This
route is the Mackenzie River with its
branches so fresh that the best guide
book to it is the Journal of the Scotch
man whose name it bears, so unhack
neyed 'that the travelers down ' it for a
hundred years could be counted on one's
fingers and toes. Its claims' are not ex
aggerated or fraudulent it takes you to
the real Arctic Sea; its mouth lies where
the midsummer sun does not even co
quette with the horizon for 11 weeks.
And for all the 2000 miles of the jour
ney you are in the land of the fur
trader and Indian, till at the last you
leave both behind when you cross the
frontier of the Eskimo's country, where
the white man (who has lived with the
Indian for centuries) is an itinerant, a
newcomer of 20 years.
At the beginning of the northward
river journey one has,' in a measure, the
choice of routes. The present railway
terminus is Edmonton. Alberta. 36 hours
by Pullman from Winnipeg, or about four
days and a hundred dollars from New
York or Boston. For this year and per
haps the next, the Athabasca is the river
on which to commence one's Journey,
but in a little while the transcontinental
lines of the Canadian Northern and
Grand Trunk Pacific will penetrate the
Peace Valley. Thereafter the swift and
smooth Peace River will be the logical
highway to the North.
But let us say we plan our Summer
outing poleward by the more readily ac
cessible Athabasca. The map will make
it clear (and in so strange a country as
Central and Arctic Canada geographic
allusions are not clear without occasional
glances into an atlas) that this Is a
more direct route than that by the
Peace.
The Athabasca Is, however, a "bad"
river shallow, swift, and full of stony
rapids, with many a place of difficulty
and a few channels of danger. From Ed
monton one Beaches the river at Atha
basca Landing, after 90 miles by stage
route horse conveyance. Here there is
a steamer, the "Midnight Sun," of about
18-inch draught, but many years the
water is so low that even this chip of
a steamer cannot navigate and one has
ta take at once to ' scows" little flat
bottomed, blunt-prowed, oar - rigged
craft carrying eight tons of freight for
some fur-trading post in the North.
Here, and for the rest of the journey,
one should be under the protection of
the - Hudson's Bay Company, which
once owned the North literally and still
do so figuratively speaking. They are
not common carriers of passengers, but
in motor cars reeking with modern
wealth.
The women's costumes were of them
selves a study. The English woman's
dress often Inclines to the bizarre; and
at a garden fete she lets herself loose in
radiant absurdities, which she wears with
the absolute self satisfaction born of the
knowledge that in the matter of feminine
adornment England Is the land of the
free and home of the brave.
The garden party proceeded with the
regularity of clock-work. The invitations
read from four till six, and promptly at
four the whole 200 guests arrived. This
occasioned no confusion, and the hostess
greeted them with a neatness and des
patch equaling that of our own Presi
dential receptions.
The guests then conversed in amiable
groups on the lawn, while a band of mu
sicians in scarlet and gold uniforms
played popular airs.
All were then marshalled into a huge
marquee, of dimensions exceeding our
largest circus tent. Here, a Lucullian
feast was served at small tables, and me
country gentry, In their vague, involun
tary way, amply satlstied their healthy
English appetites.
After the feast, the assemblage was
rounded up into a compact audience, to
witness the performance of a troupe of
Pierrots. The antics of the Mountebanks,
with accompanying songs and dances,
were appreciatively applauded, and then,
as it was six o'clock, the assemblage dis
solved and vanished, almost with the
rapidity of a bursting bubble.
if they agree to pilot you northward
they will take excellent care for your
comfort.
Wheather you travel at first by steamer
or scow, a break in the journey comes
aftef 165 miles at the Grand Rapids. From
there for over 100 miles to McMurray the
river is possible for only the small, light
draught scow carefully steered and well
manned by the river Crees, who are
learned In the reading of Jagged rapids
and are marvels in river craft. The river,
up to this point, is narrow not much
larger, perhaps, than the Connecticut
and flows between high, evergreen-covered
I and poplar-sprinkled banks. Here and
j there you pass an Indian camp with Rem-
Ington-llke tepees and spiral smoke
I wreaths; here and there also the cabin
of a "free trader" (as the small com-
petltors of the Hudson Bay Company are
i called). Perhaps you see an occasional
lynx swimming the river, or one of the
j many moose hidden in the forest may
; come out to the water front and be seen
for a moment. If one of the boats of your
fleet has been sunk in a rapid, or yqur
steamer damaged on a rock, you man go
into the woods in search of moose or bear
and come back with new and lucid ideas
concerning the abode of the damned.
From the Grand Rapids to Fort Mc
Murray there is constant excitement to
keep the nerves tingling. It is 100 miles
series of rapids with placid stretches be
tween. Now and then a scow strikes a
rock and occasionally sinks with its load
of tea, sugar, copper kettles, bundles of
gaudy calico and ribbons, whose colors
are wonderfully blended If some of the
goods can be recovered from the river.
The passengers (when passengers there
are) ride in the best boats with the best
oarsmen and steersmen, so one has the
exhilaration of being in the midst of
some real and much apparent danger,
and still feeling reasonably secure. On
this stretch of the Journey one goes
through the best bear country in Amer
ica perhaps in the world and can amuse
himself with occasional pot shots at the
clumsy brown things prowling along the
hillside. Apparently, bagging one should
be a simple thing, but the fur transports
have a long journey before them and no
time to stop for such frivolity.
At McMurray the Athabasca widens
into placid stream and there the steamer
Grahame waits for us to take another
lap farther into the wilderness. Although
we have left farms and such things sev
eral hundred miles behind us, it is only
here we bid good-bye to the last of
the commercial activities other than the
fur trade, for the tar and asphalt which
soak the river Banks and fill the air
with their not unpleasant smell have led
various men and corporations of enter
prise to drill for petroleum. At Pelican
Portage, south of the Grand Rapids, they
struck a flow of gas some year? ago, and
the torch they lit at the mouth of the
well has since then burned steadily
through the Summer storms and Winter
blizzards, fin ring to the treetops day and
night. At McMurray itself the success
of the work is still undecided.
The northward continuation of the
journey with the Grahame is placid, but
picturesque. We cross Athabasca Lake,
In itself a large sheet of water, but nar
row where we cross it to the bright little
house-village of Fort Chlppewyan, whose
20 or 30 houses make the largest town In
the fur country. Here Is one of the
schools of the Catholic Church, whose
activity for the good of the Indian and
the advancement of the agricultural em
pire of Canada cannot be praised In a
few words, nor summarized in a news
paper column or a magazine article. Some
missions do harm where they are plant
ed: of others the good and evil results
come near or balance, but the Angellcan
Church has done some praiseworthy work
In Canada and the Roman Catholic
Church much almost beyond computa
tion. The truth of this should be evi
dent to the partisans of either and the
antagonists of both. Salvation Is of
speculative Importance, but moral and
physical well-being, now and here, are
outside the field of the theorist. While
the Catholic Church is concerned about
tha Indian's soul, it forgets his body less
To my easily flustered American men
tality, it all seemed like a feat of magic;
and I looked in amazement at my hostess
who, after departure of the last guest,
was as composed and serene as if she
had entertained but a single guest. And
like the insubstantial pageant faded. It
left not a track behind. More magic dis
solved the tent, the bandstand, the Pier
rots' platform, and all other incriminating
evidence, and then, with true English
forgetfulness, the garden party was a
thing of the past, and dinner was toward.
The house party numbered 40, and, after
exchanging the filmy finery of the garden
garb for the more gorgeous regalia de
manded by candle light, the guests re
paired to the stately dining hall. of
course, repaired is the only verb of loco
motion befitting the occasion.
Sunday passed like a beautiful day
dream. The English have a great respect
for the Sabbath day, and. perhaps as a
reward for this, the weather on Sunday
is usually perfect. It is not incumbent
on guests to go to church, but it is con
sidered rather nice of them to do
especially if, as happended in this
stance, the old church is on the estate
where one Is visiting. Nor is it any hard
ship to sit in an old carved high-backed
pew, that has belonged to the family for
ages.
Sabbath amusements are of mild nature,
one of the favorites being photography.
English people have original ideas of
posing, and any one who can invent a
new mode of grouping his subjects Is
looked upon as a hero.
Aside from Lord Nelson's declaration,
if there is one thing that England ex
pects, it is tea; and tea she gets every
day. But of all the various modes of
conducting the function, the out-of-door
tea at a country house is probably the
most delightful.
The appointments are the perfection
of wicker, china, and silver, but It is the
local color and surrounding that count
most.
I cease to wonder that the English are
only vaguely interested in their viands,
for who could definitely consider the
flavor of tea when in full view was a
rising terrace leading to a magnificent
old mansion of the correct and approved
period of architecture, and covered with
ivy that may have been planted by an
historical character? or. looking in an
other direction, one could perceive a
formal garden, with fountain and sundial;
another turn of the head brought into
view a unique rose orchard, unmatched
even in England; while toward the only
point of the compass left, rolled hills ani
dales that made many an English land
scape painter famous.
Add to this the inconsequent and always
delightful small-talk of English society,
spiced here and there by their dreadful
explentive, "My word!" and enlivened by
the English humor, which is. to those
who care for it, the most truly humor
ous thing on earth and 1, for one, ;ii
quite ready to concede that these condi
tions combine to make afternoon tea a
spangle of Existence.
Midnight Sun
the Great MeKenzie.
often than other religions. Catholics
erect churches, but they plant grain and
build flour mills also.
On the "Grahame" we passed the mouth
of the Peace, which enters the Slave
River with the sweep and volume of the
Missouri joining the Mississippi, and the
two flow on with a steady current be
tween banks a mile to three miles apart.
These streams that are so faint In your
mind and so slender on the map are
no rivulets when you see them between
their own banks.
To add to its plcturesqueness (but not
its usefulness for man), this great river
plunges at Smith's Landing into a series
of cataracts 16 miles long. This ends the
voyage of the Grahame. and we go by
wagons over the "portage" to Fort
Smith. The horses and oxen here are
the only ones north of Fort McMurray.
and rather difficult to keep alive on ac
count of the files and mosquitoes. Just
west of Fort Smith is the only herd of
wild buffalos now In existence, perhaps
300 all told. They occupy a definite range
and may be seen by any traveller who
will brave the heat and mosquitoes for
a 30 or 40-mile walk. But the mosquitoes
are almost unbearable and the heat not
Infrequently approaches 100 degrees in
the shade. It U a mistake to leave be
hind your Summer garments it you go
overland and down the river tp the
Arctic.
At Fort Smith we got the Hudson's
Bay Company's steamer Wrigley,
screw-propelled and ocean-built, for
she has to cross stormy Slave Lake, a
body of water larger than Lake Erie
or Ontario, and on which this slow
steamer often is a day out of sight
of land. The Wrigley is old and has
sleeping accommodations for only eight
passengers, though, counting the com
pany's servants, she often carries 20,
In a year more a better steamer, now
being built at Fort Smith (from logs
sawed in a mill built last year), will
be on the river service. The Catholic
Church is also building a steamer at
Fort Smith, and Hyslop & Nagle, the
Hudson's Bay chief competitor in the
Mackenzie fur trade, also have a steam
er crossing Slave Lake.
After crossing Slake Lake and touch
ing at the two posts of Fort Provi
dence and Hay River (where the
Church of England has an admirable
school) we enter the part of the river
system which bears the name "Macken
zie," after Alexander Mackenzie, who
went down it In a bark canoe in George
Washington's lime. Now we are on a
stream that impresses one as about
tiie size of the Mississippi, with a
sweep from three to seven miles wide.
Aboard the Wrigley the journey goes
fast. At Fort Simpson, where the
Liard (about the size of the Ohio)
enters from the west, is the headquar
ters of the Mackenzie district of the
Hudson's Bay Company. A few days
ater. near Fort Good Hope, we cros.i
the Artie Circle and are In tho Land of
the Midnight Sun. Some three hun
dred miles farther, and we are at Fort
Alacpherson. near the moutu of the
Peel fhu must northerly fur post in
Canada.
Beyond this the fur transports do not
carry us, but If we must see the "frozen
ocean" itself, an Eskimo bout could
take us the remaining 200 miles In,
say five days, but in that tase we
could not come home the way we went
north. To get back with the fur
transports one must be content with a
day at Macpherson and a rapid return
with the Wrigley. If one stays by the
company's boats, the Journey that was
begun at Al.iabasca Landing, Alberta,
in the latter part of May, ends there
again early in September a round dis
tance by river of 3708 miles, according
to the company's reckoning.
To reach the "midnight sun' this is
the most unspoilt of the feasible routes.
It leads through the wild and romantic
country of the trader and trapper,
across lakes as yet not fully mapped,
through limitless forests abundant
with game and many, surprises. But It
also leads through tumbling rapids and
fogs of mosquitoes Boston Transcript.