The Portland daily press., 1900-01-13
WORK In INDIA.
Address BY Mrs. BaIlsntine at Thank
Onering Meeting of Congregational
Churches.


Onering Meeting of congregstfe nal
Churches.
Yesterday afternoon large number Of
ladies left the security and comfors oil
their homes and gath cred In High street
yestry on the occssion Of the annual
thank offering meeting Of the Congrega-
tional churches. The announcement thst
Mrs. Ballantine, = missionary from In
dia was to be the speaker, and to speak
on her work, gave additional impulse to
the meeting, and the general verdict was
that the committee having the matter Of
securing a speaker In charge had made
no mistake In their selection.
Mrs. RalIantine is an easy and natural
speaker. She takes her hearers iuto her
confidence; tells them Vt the things they
wish to know In an informal. CONVERSE
tional way that put, one at ease immedl-
ately. A woman with a strong faoe that
shows courage and energy, the kind OF .
woman who will walk aud work un-
harmed through plague and famine In
fsttsd districts. thinking naughs Of b er-
S6lIs one bPoAo VI hCf oohy tAAS-CA tae
round Of duties that crowd into . mis-
sionary's work. In passing to her theme
she touched upon the wsll-nigh invul-
nsrabls caste syssem. which 10 q serious
hindran oe to the work.
In the thousands Of the years Of midas
existence, the condition Of women re-
mains unchanged. except such as come
under the Chrlttianizing influence Of the
missionaries. Husbands. sons, brothers
may have all the breadth of university
training; none 10 for her. She 10 the
untaught. unhonored, household drudge.
Christianity changes thiL BY the help
Of its civilization she becomes the re-
speoted and loved companion Of her hus.
band, the wise counsellor Of hsr children.
and . helper, In tho best sense. TO the
people about her.
Christian training 10 changing, also,
the condition OF the child widows. Upon
the death OF their husbands thess children
were left with no hope for anything save
. life Of abandonment. or entire self
effacement. Now they are being recog.
nized as people having and bearing q
part in the world.
In the Marathi mission the services OF
three Bible women cannot be overssti'
mated. BY their knowledge of the peo.
pie and the customs Of society they oan
lind entrance to the homes. ma
Mrs Ballsntine Interestingly described
one of the touring experiences upon
which they started with one COW for the
baby, one calf, which must go with the
mother, one dog to guard the tents ut
night. and other necessary equipments.
In the morning, very early. before the
sun has power over the land, they 60
from houss to house with the story Of the
gospel message. The poor untaught
women listen for the first time to the di.
vine words and wonder II they can be
included among those for whom the mes
sage Is intended. They beg the mission
aries not to leave them. Eight or nine
companies are thus gathered together Ia
the morning. Then the same work goes
on In the cool Of the afternoon. 1t IL
from these tours that the children for
the village schools are gathered, VITO
after their rrdiEentar training are se nj
t. the high school Of Ahmednagar,
from whence they graduate as teachers.
Bible women and evangeiists.
An interesting incident was told Of an
old woman who came 10 the village
school. She could neither read or wrlt,,
and little five-year-old pupil took hel
in charge and patiently and felightsdly
sought to fashion the strange characters
that would open to this poor creature
such q new world.
The famine with its horrors was de-
scribed-goores of women and children
subsisting for weeks and months on the
expressed juice Of weeds, gaunt, with
despair. written upon their faces; babie,
fed upoL opium to quiet the demands
of their hunger.
During this awful time, DR.. and Mrs.
Ballantine took into their homes ten In
fants to care for permanently. 1t WA
pitiful, said Mrs Ballantine to hear those
children cry. for the opium with which
they had been fed. a cry unlike anything
ever heard before-liks a Wild beast,
nothing human about It
The medical work was described In
connection with the 3ubonio plague
In one town alone Of 5000 persons, for q
time so died each week. The English
government is insisting on incubation,
but the natives do not take kindly to 1t
They think the Queen Is getting old and
has used this method Of exacting sacri-
foes of the people to the end that shs
may be restored to youth and vigor. They
evade it whenever possible. DIR. BaiiaI-
tine m ede himself an object lesson when
In the public square, In sight Of crowds
of people he was inooulated, seeking In
this way to inspire confidence. The
mortality OF tho plague Is great; out o.
every 100 stricken with the disease IS dc
not recover. Very rarely European OF
American is subject to the plague because
their living Is more In accordance with
sanitary laws. The first indication of the
plague In q house In the prsssnse Of dead
rats, which are found In great pum bers.
In Ahmednagar a new hospital is great
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