Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-06-11
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The Recording Secretary, Rev. Mr.. Leon
ard, of this city, submitted a very able and
comprehensive report, from which We make
the following extract:
The Trustees of the Western Seamen's
Friend Society, never more than now felt
impressed with the greatness and goodness
Of their work.
Six hundred thousand American seamen
and boatmen live on the waters, and more
than tnO millions of our people aEo directly
connected with navigation.
Are we not called upon, therefore, to pros
eeute sea missions, until the bread Of life
with liberal hand is cast upon all waters.
Impressed with such views and feeling as
we do the responsibility Of this great mis-
sion upon US, we are constrained to call on
all who are loyal to our eountry-loyal to
our God, and loyal to the great mission of
the church to preach the Gospel to every
creature, for increased sympathy and coop
Grafton IN this great enterprise.
These sailors are men whose services and
self denials are vital to the highest pros
perity and profit ofour great commerce, and
every one should feel indebted to the gen
erous marine for many of the comforts of
life, and should at least in return, render
him as intelligent, happy and good as his
circumstance will allow.
Itmay be true, indeed, that you labor for
Q class Of men who, like their own ocean,
appear rough and boisterous at times, but
their generous souls respond to every ex-
preston of sympathy and kindness.
The great mission of the Church among
Seamen, although of but recent date, has
shared as largely, perhaps, in the Divine
blessing as any other Christian enterprise.
In 1928 there were not more than 1900
seamen communicates in the churches of all
denominations in this country. In 1S4S
there were l4,000,isn 1858 10000, and at
the present time there can not be less than
$4,000 sailors and boatmen in good standing
in American churches.
We have been enabled during the past
year with our little band of laborers to &C
complish a great amount Of real work in
the masters vineyard.
Our field OF Christian labor is large, en-
bracing an area of six million square miles,
and more than twelve thousand miles of
navigable waters, with a of if
teen hundred millions of dollars, managed
by 300, 900 men aud boys.
Our chaplains and missionaries have gone
forth on all these waters distributing the
bread of life. Our principal stations and
missions are in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Gin
~cinnsti, Detroit, Saginaw Bay, Saudusky,
Lake Shore, Toledo, Milwaukee, Chicago,
st. Louis, Upper and Lower Mississippi,
Cairo, Upper and Lower Ohio, Illinois river,
Illinois Canal, Ohio Canal, Wabash and
Erie Canal, the Miami and G. Bay and
Lake Superior.
These ministers have performed a vast
amount Of pastoral labor, and have preached
the gospel to a vast number of people, who
otherwise would not have heard it. Some
of these men have preached moro than two
hundred sermons, others have made three
and four hundred visits on ship and on
shore during the year.
And God has fulfilled TO them his
promise: "Lo, 1 am with you always even
unto the end of the world
At several of our stations and missions
and on ONE of our boats and vessels the
Divine presence has been manifested in a
remarkable degree; and it gives
the managers Of this association
unspeakable pleasure TO record at
this anniversary alarger number of hope
full conversions than or any similar occa-
sion.
Pittsburgh, Chicago, Milwaukee, Wash
ington Island, and sven Cleveland has
shared in these precious manifestations of
Divine grace, and we trust hundreds have
been gathered into the fold of Christ. But
the most wonderful manifestations of Gods
power has been among the fishermen and
their families on the Island in Green Bay
Although our Mission here is not two
years old, the community has been changed
from hideous revelrY, drunkenness and bar
barism to a quiet, peaceful, orderly and
happy people. The dram-shop has been
driven from the island, and a beautiful
Bethel now grace the head of the most
charming bay of Washington Hsrbor.
One of the most important and perhaps
n of the most hopeful and useful features
of our enterprise is our system Of Loan
Libraries to the boats and vessels. These
floating books, with their thousand tongues
of instruction, reproof and admonition, are
accomplishing great good.
The station at Cincinnati has already
closed its first year under its Reconstructed
form and is doing well. Its Bethel depart
ment proper seems to be very efficient and
useful, and its Sabbath School the largest in
the world. Would God we had what we
should have in Cleveland and, every city,
a mission Of such moral power as the Beth
ell in Cincinnati.
BUILDING.
We have completed and conseerated free
of debt, a beautiful little Bethel church on
Washington Island, l n Green Bay. for the
use of the fishermen who inhabit the group
and fish in those clear waters. And the
Saviour is saying to many Of these hardy
men As he said 10 Q similar class on Gal
lice, Follow me-" And like Peter and
James and John and Andrew, they do fol-
low him. Perhaps no mission of the church
in modern times, at home and abroad, has
caused a greater change among the people,
or q more eeutiful and wonSe-ful disnlnv
of the power and grace of God.
A portion of the debt or the church at
Cleveland, which has been the subject of
so much unnecessary and unintelligible an
imsdversion has been paid.
Reconstruction seems to be the great mat
ter Of interest in our country this year, and
50 we have been doing a little in this way.
It is believed that five can identify our
Bethel work more fully with the increased
spirit of missions in our larger cities, it may
prove an advantage to our cause, Cincip-