Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-09-29
MISSION WORK.
What the Congregationalists Are Doing
in Turkey.
A Lady Missionary Tells of the Degradation
of the People-The Method
of Work.

Quietly spending a few weeks in Fort
Worth with her brother, S. P. Tucker,
Esq, is Miss Laura Tucker, who over
nine years ago left Texas to
work in Turkey in Asia Minor
as missionary of the Congregational
church which has the most energetic
board OF missions in the world Miss
Tucker kindly gave a GAZETTE reporter
brief account of the work done for
Christ in that far away country.
There are four large central stations.
one of which is at Adama where the lady
was located. There are twenty out sta
tons connected with Adama and
thirty other stations At Adana is a.
large and fiourlshing school for girl. ida
second school for boys The first thing
the missionaries try to do isS TO
educate the people, then TO Christianize
them, and if they then desire affiNation
with a church they embrace Consrega-
democracy in church affairs,
each member being taugRfs to
govern himself. The mIssionarr.g work
has been very successful and Miss Tucker
thinks if the church will continue its 2ez.
forts for genera ton that Turkey will
become Christianiged, and that means
the elevation of the people from
a degree OF degr edation and poverty
unheard of in this country. The people
are priest-ridden as well as being COM
PEELED to pay heavy taxes to support the
sultan's immense standing army.
Adana has a population of 55, 900
people, and the poverty exist
ing may be imagined when it
is stated that laborers gel but
Il cents per day and are glad to earn that
much. So cheap is labor that the school
at Adana, four story brick structure,
was built for $4,000. The chief products
of the county are wheat, cotton, figs and
raisins. There are no manufactures of
any kind and the result Is the peo-
pie sell only raw materials
and buy all manufactured articles
of very inferior grades from England,
paying high prices In 1887 and 1883
there was terrible famine in
the country and the good mission
aries distributed food to the starving
thousands. Some one notified the sui
tan of this fact and informed
him that the missionaries were
buying Protestants for soup, whereupon
the sultan gave orders that no more
food was to be given to
his subjects. In this extremity
the missionaries hit upon a happy idea.
Near the school was a great hole where
clay had been taken out to make brick.
The missionaries employed the natives to
fill this hole and paying them for their
work the starving creatures could buy
food. During this drought SO per cent.
of the cattle died.
Connected with the work at
Adana besides Miss Tucker were
Miss Webb of New Orleans and
Mr.. and Mrs Meade of Boston.
When Miss Tucker left Turkey u great
revival was progressing at Aintab and
$50 natives were received into the
church.
Miss Thicker is lady of rare iutelli-
gence, cultivated and refined, and
that one so gently reared could en-
dure the hardships and deprivations
If so hard life shows that the love Of
Christ can conquer all things. The |
lady has closely studied the po-
Iitical situation in Turkey and |
thinks that England should take
Turkey and give it good govern
mept. A Tory in politics or belief, Miss |
Tucker considers the rule of Beacons- |
field and Salisbury far superior to that |
of Gladstone. 1t was the general opinion |
among the Englishmen in Turkey that |
would take Constantinopie |
and surrender the rest of the |
country to Russia, which Miss Tucker |
thinks would be a terrible thing for the /
natives. The lady will leave for the !
North in q few weeks