Morning journal and courier., 1892-10-19
A WONDERFUL FAMILY,

"A "ONDhnrtL FAMILY.
 The Booths, Father, Mother, Sons
 and Daughters, Who Organized and
 Direct the Salvation Army.
 Editor Stead in the Review of Rsriewsl
 A journalistic career of twenty years has brought me into close quarters with an immense number of the sblest men and women of our time, and have no hesita- tion whatever in saying that in the whole sweep of my acquaintance I have not met more than half dozen men-British, Flu ropean or American-crowned or un- crowned, prelates, statesmen, soldiers or workers, whom I would rank as the supe- riors in force. capacity and initiative with General Booth, Mrs. Booth and their eldest son. Whether or not General Booth be. as Lord Wolseley declared, the greatest organizing genius of our time, he and his family constitute the most remarkable group of men and women that know.
 There have been great men and famous men who have founded great and world wide organizations, but General Booth is the first one who has at the same time reared family for the express purpose of carrying on and perfecting the work which he has begun. Perhaps the secret is to be found in the fact that the Salvation army is quite ss much the work of his wife ss 1t is of himself. The Salvation army be- lieves in heredity; 1t believes in training; and both beliefs find strongest confrms- tion in the extraordinary capacity of the whole family. Consecrsted from the era dle to the service of the army, they have without single exception-snd there are eight of them-devoted their lives to the cause. All differ, but all possess some measure of the extraordinary gifts of their extraordinary parents Physically they are far from robust. There never was such a set of cripples who did such heavy work ss the Booth family. Mrs. Booth, who is now dying with cancer, sll her life through suffered from an affection of the heart, which often prostrated her for hours after addressing a great meeting. and has repeatedly laid her aside for weeks together. Mrs. Booth Clibborn, the mar shal of the French Salvation army, suffers from weakness of the spine. Brsmwell Booth for years was such a sufferer from heart disease, left by rheumatic fever, that he could not lie down even to sleep. Her bert Booth suffers similarly.
 Bramwel Booth, the eldest, Is now thir- ty-four years of age. There is no more striking characteristic of the army than the youth of all its officers. Bsllington Booth, when he went to conduct the cam paign in Australia, was only twenty six. Miss Katherine Booth started on her for lorn hope to indoctrinste atheistic Belle vile with the gospel of the Salvation army when only twenty-one. Miss Emma Booth took charge of the Training home when little more than a child. The majority of the nine thousand officers are under twen- ty- five It is an army possessing all the fervor, the enthusiasm and the confidence of youth.
 Weak and ailing though they are, they have an infinite reserve of energy and "go." Trained almost from childhood to handle all the practical details of admins tration and finance, accustomed every day to deal with men and women as irdivid uals and in masses, there is not mem Der of the family now in the field who would not, if the occasion should unfor- tuuately arise, ba muck better prepared to take over the duties of commsnder-in- chief than General Booth twelve years ago seemed prepared for the direction of a great worldwide religious organization.
 Around the family are Rroupsd an ex- ceedingly competent staff. The most novel and instructive feature of this reli- RlOue AOI OA CtllOdAce bus tA ried folk, is the extent to which the in stitution of matrimony ministers to the success of the organization Hildebrand, by dooming the priesthood to celibacy, created an effective force of ecclesiastical Mamelukes; but General Booth has made marriage one of the corner stones of the Salvation army. He has not only got sons and daughters of his own to succeed him, but he has made marriage alliances which double the fighting force of the fam fly. The wife of the chief of the staff, but the other day a doctors daughter from South Wales, is now st the hsad of the largest system of rescue homes for fallen women in the world. The wife of Railing ton Booth, the daughter of an English clergyman, is now with her husband di- recting all the operations of the army in the United States of America. The third son has just married capable and gifted Dutch lady, notable as their first marriage outside the English speaking pale. Of the daughters only two are as yet married. The elder, usually known as the Marechale, married Quaker from the north of Ire land, upon whom has devolved the task of directing the army corps stationed in France and Switzerland. The younger married Commissioner Tncker, of the well known Anglo-Indian family, and upon the two has devolved the organization of tht marvellous missionary operations of the army in Hindostan. From these mar risges have sprung a numerous progeny all of whom have been consecrated and dedicated to the holy war before they Jeff the cradle. do not know any other fam | fly as numerous which has succeeded 1T | infusing into every one of it's members | their wives and their husbands, the enthu | siasm of its founder.