1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



919 



thev told him he could pay them whatever he 

 could afford. Help came from different sources. 

 When he wanted the wherewith to fertilize the 

 ground so as to grow good crops, the city of 

 London gave him stable manure free of charge, 

 and even drew it to his place: and finally, said 

 he. the great God above gave his only hegotteti 

 Son. Is it anv wonder that the project had 

 succeeded? IVIy informant told me further 

 that they furnish a meal of victuals to these 

 poor outcasts, for only .7 cents! I remonstrated 

 a little at such an exceedingly low price; but I 

 found out later that this meal was mostly a 

 quart of rich soup; but I know by experience 

 that a man can do a great deal of work on such 

 a meal. Futhermore. a night's lodging was fur- 

 nished for a penny. T suppose this lodging con- 

 sisted of shelter and a shelf to sleep on. Bath- 

 rooms are al.-o fitted up so a good bath could \n\ 

 taken for a penny. You see. all hands are 

 working for Christ .Jesus, and therefore the ex- 

 penses are easily kept down. 



When we stepped off from the cars I soon dis- 

 covered that friend Malan had other brothers 

 than myself. When he was too far away for a 

 hand-shake he gave them the army salute, and 

 responses came from every direction. I want- 

 ed to see his people out on street parade, and 

 he hurried me along so we might not be late. 

 In order to make the shortest cui he made in- 

 quiry of a stranger. The stranger recognized 

 his uniform, and asked him some questions 

 about the meeting. Mr. Malan seized the op- 

 portunity, and in walking just a few blocks 

 the stranger became deeply interested. When 

 their paths separated, such earnest words were 

 spoken that the stranger decided to continue 

 further. Now. I do not know for certain that a 

 soul was brought into the ranks in that short 

 walk often minutes, but it looked very much 

 like it. ^, 



We were just in time for the parade. The 

 music was "inspiring. The men. and the wo- 

 men too. who marched in the streets that slop- 

 py night looked to me like saints sent from 

 above to plead with lost humanity. I prefer- 

 red not to sit on the stage, but to be down among 

 the people. Mv friend placed me on one of the 

 vacant seats in front. There was some remon- 

 strance, but he shook his finger in token that I 

 was not to be troubled. But others noticed me, 

 and he finally gave me a little card on which 

 was penciled: 



FRITZ MALAN, 



TJfflciale ncW Escrrito (Mia SaJvizza. 



1 Sefietarv tu Oen. Booth, i 



Pkiisc givr hrnirr fr<i)il seat. 



The Italian words mean, "'Officer in the Sal- 

 vation Army." 



This card proved sufficient to allow me to 

 keep my seat. Mr. Ballington Booth, son of 

 General Booth, took charge of the meeting 

 until his father came on to the stage. The 

 younger man has a military bearing, and is a 

 man of commanding presence. The music, like 

 that on the street, was of a kind to awaken 

 one's best emotions and resolutions. I never 

 thought that the tamborine was very much of 

 a mvisical instrument until that evening. Near 

 me was a mere child who seemed full of music 

 from the tips of her fingers to her very toes; 

 and the way she handled the tamborine made 

 me fall in love with the people and with the 

 instrument. The principal singer, whose name 

 I have forgotten, was an Englishman. He was 

 of about the dimensions of Dr. Miller, and his 

 singing reminded me many times of that of our 

 jolly friend. By the way, I want to tell Dr. 

 Miller right here to take the first opportunity 

 to hear and learn some of the hymns of the 

 Salvation Army. This English singer seemed 



te me to be the first individual I ever met who 

 could combine eloquent oratory with the grand- 

 est kind of music. He exhorted sinners to turn 

 from the world, singing it so slowly that he had 

 time to encourage new converts as they came 

 up the aisles, by brief, encouraging words in- 

 terspersed between the words of his music, and 

 yet the melody was not marred a particle. 

 Why. you could hear the music going on, even 

 when he was not uttering a sound. He seemed 

 to have a rare gift of tossing the melody above 

 his head, as a sleight-of-hand performer would 

 pitch balls, and then when it came back he 

 simply gave it a pitch and kept it going. His 

 voice was powerful, however, and he put his 

 whole strength into it. He had spiritual 

 strength and a winning way, as well as physical 

 strength. 



Fifty or sixty converts came forward that 

 evening. One whole family came in response 

 to the eloquent pleading. As I had no badge 

 nor uniform, every now and then some of the 

 workers would whisper in my ear, " Dear 

 brother, have you given your heart to Jesus? " 

 or some similar words. The great Music Hall 

 was full. I was told that some two or three 

 thousand were in attendance. They were 

 mostly from the humble walks of life; but they 

 evidently had followed the spirit of the text I 

 have quoted. Christ Jesus was first. Many of 

 them were humbly attired; but that seemed to 

 make no difference. It was not only brother 

 and sister in word but in spirit. I learned to 

 love the gentle words and expression in the 

 voices of the men-folks, even though some of 

 them were colored people. I learned to love, 

 too. the sweet spiritual look that beamed from 

 under the queer bonnets worn by the women- 

 folks, even though many of them were well 

 along in years, and perhaps would not be called 

 at all good-looking by the world at large. A 

 peace seemed to pervade their hearts and faces 

 that was not of this world. "My peace give 1 

 unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto 

 yon." . ., 



After the meeting closed, it was my privilege 

 tohavea little chat with the general in his 

 private parlor. He was as deeply interested in 

 strawberries as bee-keeping, because such in- 

 dustries promise a chance for him to give em- 

 ployment in that London home for outcasts. 

 He said he had found great trouble in finding 

 something to do for the lost women who had 

 joined the army. He could not well put them 

 into families, and many would object when 

 they came to find out in regard to their former 

 lives. He had succeeded nicely, and made it 

 more than pay expenses in setting them at work 

 on strawberries; but the latter could not be 

 grown the year round. I invited him to call at 

 our establishment; but he said that the de- 

 mands on his time were such chat it was im- 

 possible. He is well along in years, and I am 

 afraid that he is being overworked, as he speaks 

 to audiences two or three times every day, and 

 addresses meetings of ministers in almost every 

 city besides. The Morninn St(U\ of Boston, 

 Mass.. makes the statement that he is " general 

 of the largest army in the world, the head of a . 

 civilization of redeemed sinners, the central in- 

 Muence of a brotherhood out of every nation."* 



When I got home, twenty-four hours later. 1 

 was surprised to see more than half of my 

 greenhouse nicely covered, although the weath- 

 er had been so very cold that I did not think 

 the boys could work. In fact, three experienced 

 men in glazing had tried and given up: but my 

 two boys, Frank and Fred, are so hardened by 

 being almost constantly exposed in the open air 



*In the Moniing Star, issue of Nov. 8, will be 

 found an excellent account of Gen. Booth, his work, 

 and the Salvation Army. 



