24 



GLEANINGS IN BEP: CULTURE. 



Jan. 1 



Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to 

 e\ery creature. M rkiUMS. 



A great many people seem to think this 

 means that we are to go to some of the dis- 

 tant islands of the sea, to Africa, possiblj^ 

 China, or to hunt up some place where 

 there are savages who know nothing what- 

 ever of the Bible. But a few, thank God, 

 recognize that there is need of preachintr 

 the gospel, or, perhaps, icacliins; it, right 

 here in America. Sometimes right in our 

 own town — yes. may be just across the 

 street, or almost next door ; and, come to 

 think of it, I shouldn't wonder if there were 

 professing Christians who are neglecting or 

 forgetting to preach and teach the gospel of 

 Christ Jesus among the inmates of their 

 own home — among the hired help, for in- 

 stance. Why, I almost got into a jangle 

 with quite a lot of my good friends because 

 I ventured to suggest that, if the hired man 

 or hired girl sat down to the table with the 

 rest of the familj', it would give ai bt tter 

 opportunitjs by precept and example, to 

 speak of " free salvation " to all. 



For sorne years I have known more or 

 less of a work started by a single person in 

 Buffalo. This person is a woman, and not 

 a very big one at that — a girlish-looking 

 woman who started out alone, almost sin- 

 gle-handed; yes, and she chose for her lo- 

 cation one of the worst spots in that great 

 city. When my companion and I got off 

 the cars rather late one December after- 

 noon I inquired for a street-car that would 

 take me either to or near liO Erie St. My 

 informant said there was no street-car line 

 that way, but that it was onl}' a little way 

 from the Lakeshore station, and that we 

 could easily walk it. He indicated with 

 his hand the direction we were to take. 

 Now, I had made up my mind I would 

 make quite a lot of inquiries — more than I 

 realU' needed to, for that matter, in order 

 to find out what I could about Miss Mary 

 E. Remington, and of the work she is do- 

 ing. I first asked two bo3's how far we 

 were from 150 Erie St. As the direction 

 was a little complicated one of them asked 

 me whom I wished to see there. I said I 

 wished to see Miss Remington. 



■' Oh! that is all right if j'ou want to see 

 her; but 3'ou had better go this way." 



Then he told me where to turn, etc. Then 

 I asked a man with a big rubber coat on, 

 well bundled up. When I gave the street 

 and number he said: 



'■ Are you going to Miss Remington's? " 



I assented. 



Then he added, as he looked myself and 

 companion over: 



" Why, your shortest cut would be down 

 Caniil St. ; but you stand a big chance of 

 being robbed there. Look here. I will go 

 with you and show you the way." 



I told him he need not take all that trou- 

 ble, but he said it was all right. Other in- 

 quiries of a like nature were made. When 

 I asked some of the boys if they knew Miss 

 Remington their faces brightened up as one 

 of them said, "You bet." The other re- 

 plied to the effect that she was one of the 

 best women in Buffalo. 



Pretty soon we came in sight of a large 

 five-story building besides the basement. 

 In large letters on the bricks across the 

 side facing the canal were the words, 

 ' ' Remington Gospel Settlement. ' ' This was 

 somewhat of a surprise to me — yes, it was 

 one of my " /'^?/>/>r " surprises. I knew 

 something about how Miss Remington had 

 been struggling against great odds, and 

 battling with sin and Satan almost empty- 

 handed. I knew how she had, with her 

 frail strength, engaged in what you might 

 jilmost call hand-to-hand conflicts with the 

 powers of darkness. But 1 did not quite 

 understand how every boy on the street 

 knew her, and seemed to feel a manly pride 

 in speaking her praise; but I understood it 

 afterward. This big building she occu- 

 pies, besides furnishing her various school- 

 rooms that I will tell you about later, fur- 

 nishes homes to something like fifty fami- 

 lies of Italian people. Of course, each fam- 

 ily has only a small apartment. Miss 

 Remington is not onl)'^ a friend and bene- 

 factress to all these families, but she is 

 likewise on friendly' terms with the men, 

 women, and children of the whole of Canal 

 St. in that part of the city. As the man 

 said to us, it is not always safe to go 

 through that part of Canal St., even in 

 broad daylight; but again and again I was 

 assured I could go anywhere, day or night, 

 in company with Miss Remington, and 

 would meet with civil and respectful treat- 

 ment everywhere. Our visit was made 

 Saturday evening. During that evening 

 there was only one exercise — a class in 

 shorthand. Sunday morning, as I looked 

 out of the window I saw across the street 

 an old railroad building that had an in- 

 scription something like this: " Free Kin- 

 dergarten School." I asked Miss Reming- 

 ton if she had opposition in her work. 



"Oh, dear! no — not right over there. 

 Those are the quarters I occupied before we 

 came over here, and the sign has not been 

 removed." 



During the forenoon we attended church 

 services in company with Miss Remington. 

 I was rather glad to see her drop her mul- 

 tifarious duties and go to church, even if 

 she does have a church of her own on every 

 day of the week. After dinner I expressed 

 a desire to see the empty schoolrooms before 

 the children came in. Supt. Wadge went 

 around with me. When we got to the door 

 of the Sunday-school room a great crowd of 

 children were flattening their noses against 

 the window-panes, and rattling on the door 

 to get in. Mr. Wadge kindlj^ explained 

 that it was fully an hour and a half before 

 the Sunday-school would open. But it was 

 raining, and they begged him to let them 



