The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-12-06
'sTHE SUBMERGED TENTH,
Interesting Address by Mrs. Booth of
New York.

tion Army in the Great Cities of This
Country.
Mrs. Maud Booth, the wife of Com
mander Booth of the Salvation Army,
spoke at the First Baptist church last
evening on Human Wreckage." Several
Army officers occupied the pulpit There
was fairly large attendance, very large
when the weather is taken into consider
alton. Mrs. Booth is good speaker and
is thoroughly acquainted with her sub
| ject.
| She said that the Army goes to
humanity of the Submerged tenth, not
only to give a bit of the sunshine, but if
possible to open the door and let in all
the light of God. The Army goes to the
poor and distressed with strong faith in
a living God, and with strong belief in
human ity, in the something of good in
every one, and it may be that the fact
that the Army does believe in this poor
fallen humanity is the reason why people
come to believe in themselves. They says
'sDear me, these people believe there is
good in one and it may be that can find
good in myself, and so they make an
attempt to come up out of darkness.
| People come to us and tell us of some
case of depravity and say: There, did
you ever know the like? What is there
that can be done for such brute? and
we say: "We have heard of many such
cases, but there is something of God in
every human soul"
Mrs. Booth told with thrilling effect a
story of convicted murderer,
Hungarian, who when told the day be-
fore his death that he could have any one
last request he might ask for, and asked
that he might put his baby to sleep once
more That touch of the fathers love
was the evidence of the existence of God
in the soul.
She said she would speak of the slum
work OF the Army, and every one of the
1000 officers and of the many thousand
soldiers are engaged in slum work, but
the word is especially applied to the
sections of great cities that are plague
spots, places where vice and crime, sin
and poverty is to be found. There are
sections of New York, Boston, Phiiadel-
phia and Chicago, where the Salvation
Army could not have gone once with
drums and banners.
Stunning has to some degree come to
be fashionable fad, but that said OF
Summing does no good. it only leads the
poor to revolt against possibly we'll
meant, but certainly useless efforts.
won by love to God. All else is nonsense.
What the slums want is parity, and those
who go to them must be ready to scrub
the floors, to nurse the sick and to pray
with the dying.
The Salvation army goes to people who
hate religion, but who are won to believe
in religion when they see it come down
Christ. 1t is mistake to suppose that
the women of the Salvation Army who
do this slum duty are poor and unedu-
Gated, such is not the case; they are as
we'll educated as many of the ladies
present, as likely to be shocked by the
exhibition of vice but grandly moved to
spirit of self sacrifice by perfect love
for Christ.
The time will come that wherever there
is a slum there will be slum post of the
Army; wherever there is a drunkard
there will be Salvation Army officer to
steady his steps from the streets to the
Army barracks; wherever criminal
some one to lift him up and wherever
fallen woman there will be Christian
woman to lay loving hand on her arm
and to tenderly lead her to better life
Mrs. Booth gave striking illustration
| of the work of the slum officers in New
York. They found one woman who was
helpless, whose bed hadn't been made for
two years. and who was in most
Wretched condition. The work of the
Army girls brought light and life to that
poor home, and to that poor soul Mrs
Booth said that it was impossible to
describe the real state Of things in some
of the sO-called "homes in the Sums"
There is great deal of crime in the
slums, but at the same time there is
great deal of loving human nature and
divide their last bit of bread with
friend, or who will do their best to keep
others from helping those in their tene-
ment by themselves removing as far as
possible the necessity.
She spoke of the work of the "slum
sisters in the darkest places in the great
cities The girls have made the name of
the Army respected in sven the worst
places in the cities, and have made i'll
possible for other agencies to come in
and to make them better
She spoke of the difficulties in the way
OF the officers of the Army. Even when
they have won their way to the heart of.
some rough fellow their trouble has bit
just begun. There is some unconfessed
crime, something that bars the way to a
higher life, something that means
trouble, and suffering for them and then
it is no small thing for men to stand out
from among their companions and to try
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