The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-06-22


gave 90 the publisher. The pub.ishe.
demuTred. IL would make the book
appear cheap he said. and his houSl
could no; afford to get a reputation
for publishing cheap books. Mr.
Sheldon insisted. and the papcr-bouud
edition was published. In JUS one
year Il was selling at the rate 81 iicO
copies a day.
II found its way TO ENGLAND. and
met with immediate favor. Twenty
diferen; publishers 'pirated-' Il. as 3;
was not copyrighted in England. Is
sale far exceeded even that tn Amer
lea. and recent letter from an Eas-
l'sh publishing house says that s.GD1. .
600 copies OF Mr.. Sheldon's books have
been sold In Great Britain during "a.
last few months. the greater part %
them being In His Steps" which has
been issued in twenty editions. rang
Ing in price from n penny up.
In a twelvemonth Charles ". Shell
don has leapcd from obscurity To- a po-
sition as one OF the foremost religious
authors of the day. Bui no; withstand
Ing the honors which hts admirers
have attempted to heap upon him he
Is unchanged in all respects. lie has
received repeated calls to- rich East
ern churches. hut in all OF his work he
puts to himself the question made
prominent In his book. What would
Jesus do?" and he has preferred to
remain with his own little congrcga-
ton.
Mr.. sheldon Is still Il comparatively
young man. lie IL a native OF Wells
Vile. y. y. where he was born In
1857. \ large part OF his early life
was spent on Dakota farm. and he
has much of the spirit and dash OF
the West. His father. Who Is also q
minister. farmed during the week
days and did missionary work on sun
days. lie attended school Mt Yaukton.
and when about l. wrote several s;o-
ries which were published in the
IanSton papers.
Il
his father recently. are just a. ia
teresting. in my opinion. n the ones
he writes now
Mr.. sheldon was educated q, Phil
lips Academy. Andoycr. Mass: Brown
University. and at Andover ThcoIog-
zeal Seminary. graduating from the
latter institution in 1856. After a
summer in Europe he entered the
ministry and began preaching at Wa
terbury. Vt. But the spirit OF the
West was in him. So when he re-
ceived n call to- become the pastor OF
the newly established Congregational
Church in Topeka in iSSS nc gladly
accepted IL as che opening he had been
waiting for. Ills church began with
sixty members. now e NUMBERS more
than 900. His frs, work was tn build
n modest little church. in which he be-
gan his strikingly original career. lie
was dissatisfied with the quality Of
Christianity he saw in many protested
Christians. He wanted 20 know what
ideas the masses OF the people had on
the subject OF Christianity. and he
wanted to find out about their daily
lives and occupations.
With this desire In his heart he
asked HE congregation to excuse him
from pastoral work for three months.
and his congregation saw HttI. os
him except during church services. lie
was at home scarcely any OF the time.
but very few people knew what he was
doing. IL was characteristic Of the
man. He was getting acquainted
Topeka Is the headquarters Of the
Atchisnn. Topeka and Santa Pc Rail-
road. Hundreds OF men are employed
In the railroad shops. and hundreds OF
trainmcn make their headquarters
there. II was among these that Mr..
Sheldon spent mucn OF hts time. lie
obtained an employees pass from the
railroad company. and dressed as an
emPloye. He made trips up and down
the road in company with the train
men. learning their ways and drawing
out their ideas on every conceivable
subject. especially on religion. After
that he spent n week or two with the
physicians Of Topeka. studying their
patients with them. Another week
was spent with the lawyers in their
offices and in court. Again he spent
hours riding on stree; cars. talking
with mO;ormen and conductors.
The immense sales OF In His Steps
in England Is doubtless largely due 20
the fact that twenty English firms
were pushing the book at one time.
An English publication says that in
four months Its circulation has far
surpassed the total circulation OF all