Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1884-01-18
4 GOSnr! Tugb0at.
A Vessel Built by Pious Gifts Turned
Into . Mean. Of Private Gain.
San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 3.

San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 3.
There is now plying the waters of
Puget Sound a handsome little steam
er called the Eranqel, which was built
bv the subscriptions of those who
believe that the gospel should he
preached in the deserts of Alaska,
but which, instead of doing mission
ary duty, has been used as tow
boat for coin ever since she was
launched. The Baptist church OF
Olympia a few years ago, had for
shepherd, the Rev. James P. Ludlow,
q truly pious snd humble man, who
served the Lord we'll and frithfully
until tue political powers of the
United States interfered and made
him clerk of the Washington Terri
tory District Court at higher salary.
r v. Mr.. Ludlow was the leading
spirit of the Home Mission Society
in Alaska, and the great grief and
trouble of his mundane existence
was that Olympia was too small a
town upon which to exhaust his
spirituality. He lay awake at night
and sighed for a greater field for
gospel work, until one night he had
an apparition which told him that he
must do like the Pacific street old
clothes dealer-go after custom if
custom would not come to him. 1t
was then that the reverend gentle
man conceived the idea of building
a gospel ship, which should carry the
good tidinss TO all the inhabitants Of
the inland waters of the great North
west. Rev. Mr.. Ludlow had not YET
forsaken the service of the Lord for
the more lucrative service of the
goddess Justice in the court room,
and he had comparatively little diff
Guilty in securing funds with which
to commence the work. The vessel
was launched in the autumn OF 1881
to the great foy of the Rev. Mr.
Ludlow. But she was not yet
equipped.
A SEDUCTIVE PAMPHLET.
To secure the necessary funds and
material, Rev. Mr.. Ludlow en-
ployed, no doubt the same means,
with the AID of which he had man
aged to get sufficient money to build
the hull. Mr.. Ludlow could not
only speak very piously, but he
could als) write, and to printers ink
he had recourse. He embodied his
appeal for aid to forward the Lords
work in little pamphlet, which he
carefully omitted to circulate on the
Pacific coast, but which he distrib-
uted lavishly among the good and
religious spinsters Of the East and
Europe. 1t is a curious literary
production. The title page looks
like the horoscope of an a,trologer,
with four-m asted steamer sailing
in circle, its bow-sprit in collision
with the words /" He taught the
people" and its stern just clear of
"out of the ship" The sea is
formed by the words Occupy while
I come" and the sky over the ship
by the command" Go We into all the
world" The pamphlet pretends to
be issued by the North Star Mission
of Alaska, Washington Territory,
and British Columbia, of which Rev.
Mr.. Ludlow seemed to be the only
member, fer it was written in the
first person and signed with his
name. This is the opening sentence:
" Beloved in the Lord: After five
years of waiting, watching. working
and praying in this far away field
{ whether he means tho Baptist
Church or the court room does not
seem plain) the dear Lord is now
permitting me to 60 forward in the
execution of a mission which he has
laid and kept as special burden on
my beart. This is none other than
to build and equip steam launch.
which shall 60 up aud down all these
inland waters of the great North
west, including Washington Terri.
tory. British Columbia, and Alaska,
bearing to all classes the precious
gospel of Jesus, without money and
without price. No grander or more
comprehensive missionary work is
presented anywhere than this
AN ENTICING PROGRAMME.
As the sequel shows, the mission,
in the execution of which tho dear
Lord permitted the Rev. Mr.. Lud-
low to go forward, was the hood
winking of Eastern religious people
to make them contribute to the cost
of building q steamer to be used as
q tug boat on Puget Sound "Every-
where" continued this persuasive
parson, "the religious restitution is
very sad" This, no doubt, was true,
especially since he himself cast off
the ministerial garb and became a
court clerk at an increased compon-
sation. Among this great fleet of
vessels and army of seamen there is
at no point q Bethel, or any sys-
tematic Bethel work done among
them. The Chinese element is
totally ignored by any Christian
effort except in one or two larger
towns. Throughout this entire
field" he continues on page 5, "to
ooch and oil ifo cl.oooe of b,~