The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-06-18

~ T.
country was af1ame. The dreaded 'swar
boys of Chief Bal Burch had risen in re-
volt. The little American mission of Rati-
funk, hidden away in the forest, was
known to be marked for destruction by
the pagan natives.
Thu missionaries We're all Americans
There was but one mar among them, Rev.
j. n. Cain. Besides his wife there were
Miss Schenk and the two women doctors,
Miss Hatfield and Miss Archer.
Under the leadership of Mr.. Cain and
the native guide the party set cut for the
coast. They had gone scarcely q mile
when they came upon a body Of b "war
boys" who completely blocked the way.
Mr.. Cain tried to brighten them away by
firing q revolver over their heads, but this
had no effect. Then the heroic missionary,
true to his religion, declared that he would
have no mans blood On his hands and
threw his revolver away.
Taking a position in front of the women,
he calmly awaited the assault of the in
furiated warriors. They seized the defense
less missionaries and stripped them OF
their clothing. With u~nspeakable brutal
tiles the blacks dragged their victims back
to the mission house.
In the confusion Mrs. Cain, the wife of
the minister, escaped with a native wom-
an convert into the forest, but the war
boys, soon discovering her absence, went
shrieking after her and killed her In the
jungle.
Then followed the hideous death dance
IN the very spot consecrated by 80 years OF
devotion Of American missionaries,
The frenzied war boys enciroled theh lit.
tie group Of remaining martyrs and begun
the sacriicial rites of their henthens devil
worship. With horrible nominations they
raised their battleaxes and dealt sossuf-
ing blows OF their eaptives. One axtex an-
other the little band sank down. CULVER
ing in the agony Of slow death. Theaacnds
danced on, hacking at those in whonlfe
fingered longest.
Then the flames Of the mission build
ings burst forth, illuminating this terri.
BILE scene of pagan barbasity. 1t seems
like q rehearsal OF the pages OF the martyr
dom of missionaries ages ago rather than
an incident OF the closing years OF tbs
nineteenth century.
The American missionaries who met
this dreadful fate were members of the
United Brethren church of the middle
west. Rev. J.. N. Cain and his wife were
from Eagle Grove, Mimi; Miss Hatheld
was from Huntington, Ind, and Miss
Schenck from near Dayton, o., and Miss
Archer was from Des Moines, La. Miss
Archer and Miss Hatfield were medical
missionaries.
Sierra Leone, where this latest and most
terrible missionary massacre occurred, Is
q British colony on the west coast OF
Africa. 1t is situated in the tropics just
north of the negro republic of Liberia,
formed by ex-slaves Of the United States.
While American missionaries have been
seeking to Christianize this sinkhole OF
humanity the English traders have been
bartering gin with the natives mi deep
ening their degradation. Sierra Leone is
called The White Mans Grave owing
to the deadly climate and the natural en-
nifty of the natives.
For 48 years the United Brethren In
Christ have supported missionary stations
there, during which time they have suf-
fered only one attack from the natives, in
1887, none of the missionaries being
killed.
Through these tribes there runs a sort
of voodoo society which meets at stated
times to determine matters Of tribal and
national import. This society has the
power of 'spura, - a sort of taboo which ia
declared against institutions or persons
and devotes them to destruction. "Pura'
was declared against the English and all
their works late in April because of the
hut tax of 8 shillings upon all huts of n
room and 10 shillings upon all huts of
more than one room, set by the British
government. Addedt to this was the resent
ment against the government because Of
its vigorous efforts to stamp out slavery
and c~annibalism.
Plague Figures I'm Hongkeng.