The Portland daily press., 1899-05-05
BAPTIST MISSION SOCIETY.
second Days Session Of Twenty First
Annual Meeting.

After IN early prayer meeting Thurs
day morning at the session Of the Won.
ans American Baptist Home Mission
society which was held In the FIRES
Street Baptist church, the>Hrst matter oil
business of the second days meeting, fol-
lowing very fervent prayer by Mrs.
Donovan. was the reading Of the report OF
the board of directors by Mrs. Nj. @.
Reynolds A reference was made In the
report to the epidemic of designations
which seemed to have reached some of the
officers in Maine, and 1t was regretted
that Mrs. K. Il. Bonney and Mrs. Be-
linda Farnsworth, had found 1t necessary
to give up their work s officers for the
society in this state.
We have escaped debt by reducing ex-
penses. Intemperance, the.political des'
potism of the Mormon church which 1t Is
attempting to foist on the western section
of the land, the condition which exists in
the South, the Chinese in our midst and
their treatment were pointed out as cry
ing evils demanding the serious attention
OF the society. Whether expansion Is
wise or unwise 1t is not for us to say, but
new duties are imposed upon us and rs .
society we should meet them.
What we need is courage, and the Lord
God will not forsake us. The report was
accepted. A
Miss Gertrude L. Davis, treasurer, SUBJ
mitted her annual report which was &C.
cepted. Under the sub-head treasury Mrs
Reynolds reports that the receipts OF last
year from the general work were $50, Off,
81; expenditures, ss7, 2sl.64; receipts for
Alaska, IS, 675.35; expenditures, "a. FOL. 81
1t is a matter of congratulations that the
society is out of debt. The reason for this
is that at the beginning Of the year tho
expenditures were reduced for the work,
last year there as q balance of over 80, 0OO,
that the available funds have been used
up. The society starts out the year with
1868 and no available funds.
1t appeared from the report that A per
cent of the receipts came in the month OF
March.
Mrs. James McWhinnie gave an Inter
ssting report on A laska, and detailed the
winters work in this field. In Hon.
John &. Brady, governor of the territory,
the mission work has warm friend.
The receipts for this year have been
SO. 675.s5, slla 90 more than the amount
last year. The Sunday schools have
fallen or We number 227 schools. rs less
than last year. Maine reports "A schools,
s16s. ~; New Hampshire, 81 schools,
s172. Os; Vermont, % schools, Ss7. "a; Mas
sachusetts, rs schools. $57i.21; Rhode
Island, &c schools. $780, 5; Connecticut,
"a schools, S272. 10. Total, 227 schools.
In closing Mrs, McWhinnie says:
Given, mission 1900 miles distant, the
entire support of which amounts to.$50OO
annually, or S4l6. rs month. To meet
this expense the Womans American
Baptist Home Mission society received for
the year 1898. S3,675.35 of SSoa.27 a
month. How can this amount plus the
minus the unpaid bills of $1,000 to cover
the expenses of the mission, and what
shall we say to the outlook for the year
1899? Your board has been trying to solve
this problem. We pass it on to you today,
believing our New England workers hold
the true key to its solution. In solving 1t
we ask that there may be no elimina-
tions."
The report ON Alaska was accepted.
The various reports gave good insight
into the workings Of the society for the
past year and after them came the ad-
l-o,so. 60, +ha ,,,orp m r, tho frat IF which
was made by Mrs. Grace Coleman Lath-
rop of Boston, whose topic was "Hid
Treasure" Mrs. Lathrop sdid we have
"hid treasures, and she wasn't going to
give the old chestnut about Alaska fields
where mines are rich, but rather in vited
the attention of the hearers to the hidden
treasures gathered from missionary mines.
She held up gems in the shape of pic
lures which could be found at the publ
cation house in Boston, not pictures mere
ly but pamphlets which would be slim
ulant to missionary work and too often
these treasures were permitted to lay hid.
"What the Letters Bring" was tine SUBJ
ject of Miss Gertrude l.. Davis remarks
who gave glimpse into the communica-
lions received by her during the:year. In
some cases money was sent but the object
was specified so that it did not reduce
our debt. One wants to renew a sub
scription to tho Echo but fails to give
name and address. Another is signed
"Yours Truly" and nothing more. A
variety of subjects was touched ON in
these letters and Miss Davis review of
them proved to be very interesting feat
ure of the morning session. She stated
that the fact balance was on hand in her
department was not the result of liberal
contributions but rather because of the
outing down of expenses. She appealed
for higher standard and mora vigor-
Gus striving.
Mrs. Richardson said good word for
Mi. J. B. Upham of Maiden in Massa-
chusetts for assistance rendered the Echo
and Mr.. Upham was called to the pulpit
and referred to the dangers of Mormon
ism and the insidi GUS work which Its
agents were carrying on even in the
n ,,Iacas of Massachuspt,ts and Mama