The Red Cloud chief., 1882-02-09
SUNDAY School Lessons.
Religion In the Far West.
TuUWTH QUARTER.

In the Tabernacle Baptist Church. yes
tcrhay morning. Rev. Dwight Np'u-
Ger spoke uf TIA" dcarin of Religious lu-
~ilurncc~ in the far West, particularly In
Utah Territory. lie had returned from
that country III order t. picture Ia IN"
iiapti>t> 81 the East the condition If tLr
hur,icr land ~ seen from the standpoint
"f a clergyman and a Baptist. Mr..
Spencer j. 4 tall. straight. finely formed
man Of >impl" Manners. who uses plain
language. speaks a, distinctly ~ an ar-
tor. and exhibits an impressive earnest
ness and sincerity.
=" In the Wood River country" said
he. there i not one day school, not
one S,yIiav->chool. not one church. and
not one minister. ! preached in The vii
lagc Of Haley in atcnt. The town j, siN
months old. The people Nat "u The beds
Ia hear me. Their" was 4 faro bank in
operation next door. Tho rattling "f
dice and the shunliug of cards were
plainly heard. The songs If the ballad
singers and the music oi IN" band went
un IL | preached. In the afternoon |
preached in the next town, and close At
hand two faro banks were open. Will"
TWO vi liiI't 'ilitI- were tIIi- bli~4ll'~>
Il little further of.
You would be surprised nj the Gle
gancc IF these gambling saloons" said
the minister: ''thcv arr fitted in black
walnut, are warmed and well lighted,
and are in all respects the most comfort
anlc and attractive places To the yuURg
men of those mining regions at present.
They invariably contain a liquor bar.
Very often a Young a bring 500 of
earnings into town If a Saturday even
inc and loses il all before SUNDAY morn
ing in these haunts Of vice. The devil
holds sway ~ thoroughly in the country
speak of that there J. no worse stat" Ui
affairs in the heart Of Central Africa. II
seems Ia me-. sometimes. that the effect
of the education and civilization these
men have received in the East enable,
them 10 practice a refinement of vice
such ~ i unknown in Africa.
Between Ogden. in the northern part
of Utah, and Reno the minister con
tinucd. there are siXty--cycn railroad
stations. and among them all there J. not
a minister. 7 missionary or a church or
Canization. All that i there. allied To
these. are two feeble Sundav-SchOpl-.
Altogether. in the country | refer to-a
tract eleven times larger than New En-
gland and seven and a half times H. larg"
a. the Middle StatoS-thcrc i but one
minister Ia every 2.jo0 inhabitants. and
but one To every 1000 square miles. If
YOU want To- yet n corrrc: idea OF this re-
ligiouS deSolation. imagine 2.jOu people
scattered over the surface Of COnnccti-
cut. and then put n clergyman over
them Ia minister To- their spiritual wants.
This is the picture presented in TX Ter
ritorirS and Il state. Ncy.3L
i asked a book vArdcr on one If Oh"
two trains Of eight coaches that daily
t~ravcr~c one Sectlon uf this country what
book he sold most. He said that the
greatest demand hy far was for lngcr-
soils lectures. | asked him who wcr'
his best customers, and he replied that
the cowboys were. These cowboys ar
the cattle hcrders-the most depravet
and wicked people that can % conr"'Vrri
If. They ride into a town. yet drunk,
and then ride NJ and down the village
shooting down men. women and chill
dTcn unfortunately. after which they
ride ava TO TEE seen or heard of no
more. II i a disgrace. 4 shame upon
the Christianity Of America that there =
no circulation IF moral and cl"vaiIng
literature In combat In-er>olls inndel-
ity. The best books sold on those cars
are the traShicSt novels. | would send
out works attractively printed - that
they would be kept by these bcnighied
people; tracts with passages from our
best or | would not care II they
contained the writings Of Josh Billings
or Of Bob Burdette. of Burlington. Iowa
The stories of John Z. Cough would bc
good. Such a. these | would have
scattered by the thousand. ave by the
million. throughout that land. More
over we Baptists ought 10 put n mis-
s%ionary a day in the field during the next
two wears. Even then We would rot
have enough. Let us pray for the men
As We'll a. the money; for the zien 81
purpose and Of heart TO lea,e these
pleasant Eastern homes and bsttie IN the
Western wilderness."-N. = SzH-