Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-05-23
4-s+~ss-s.s-:!-s.s..s.sss.,.!.s.
:For Sunday Reading. !
!. All Sorts Of Opinions. I.
ON COAST OF LABRADOR.
Relief Work of DR.. Grenfell, of Hospital
Ship Strathcona

|
T! Ship Strathcona.
| The man who has done more than
perhaps any other for the souls and
bodies of the twenty or twenty five
| thousand fisher folk, resident and other
wise. of the coast of Labrador, is now
| in New York
| He Is one of stocky strength. with a
face bronzed by ten or more years at
sea. with the steady, clear eyes of one
with mission in life. and with a red
dish mustache. and an accent which
tells of his English birth. He is sea
captain. surgeon and preacher of the
faith undenominational, and all three
are needed in the work to which he has
devoted himself. His name is DIR. VIII
fred I. Grenfell, and he is director of
the Canadian branch OF the Royal Ma
tonal Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen.
The steamship which DR.. Grenfeli
commands is the steel hospital vessel
years ago. largely from funds supplied
by Lord Strathcona, now the Canadian
High Commissioner in London. AT
present she is In winter quarters, wait
ing until the Strait of Belle Isle thaws
out, and the Labrador shore glaciers
cease casting off fantastic bergs of ice
Early in June her blue flag will be un :
furled. and she will cruise up and
down the coast and out to the banks
where the fishing fleets gather. When
not engaged in relieving physical suf-
fering. by giving out medicine, per-
forming operations and supplying quar-
tiers for those dangerously ill, in thu
comfortable floating hospital, the deep
sea missionaries will hold services
afioat and on shore, distribute reading
matter and give out clothing to the
lonely folkswho dwell along the bleak
shore, and who are ever in dire need.
1t was ten years ago that Dr. Grenfell
first visited the Labrador coast ON his
mission of mercy He commanded the
hospital ship Albert, and on a three
months cruise treated 800 patients ana
held innunerable gospel meetings.
many OF them in hamlets, never before
visited by missionaries.
The records of any one of DIR. Gren-
fslis summer cruises would fill book
and move its readers almost 10 tears.
rhey have filled books in fact, for this
deep sea missionary is a writer as we'll
They come in every variety of YES
SELL" said DR.. Grenfell, in describing the
influx for the summer fishing: small
and large good, bad and Indifferent,
mostly of the schooner type. Besides the
crew, which varies from five to ten men
and one or two women, most New
found vessels bring number of peo-
pie called freighters.' These are landed
rin .,Y,n n. loft
mud huts and boats the previous year,
and where they will fish all summer.
These persons cure their fish on the
spot Meanwhile the vessel goes on
further north to Seek fish for herself.
When they come south again thsy call
for the freighters,' who pay 20 cents
for each hundredweight of fish FOR their
passage.
Besides the cargo of FISH. casks Of
oil, nets, boats or general goods. thirty
or forty, or fifty men and women Will
be crowded into these small vessels, 1t
times with only room to lie down in
the hold between the deck and the car
60 On one small schooner of nineteen
tons counted thirty-four men and six
teen women. The women. many OF
whom have children with them, often
are especially bad sailors. AS a rel,
they are not allowed on deck except III
fair weather and this voyage is a night
mare to most of them. They are pillars
of pluck. many of these women. They
can handle an oar and sail small boat
with the best, and among them are
Grace Darlings' only waiting an OPP
They work chiefly at clean
ing fish and keeping the huts for the
men, though some form parts OF the
fishing smack crews.
When DR.. Grenfell first visited the
coast in the Albert, wounds and dis
eases were treated IN the most primi-
tive fashion. Epidemics scourged the
people in winter, often wiping out half
a settlement. Wounds, no matter how
frightful were treated by squirting to-
bacco juice into them and binding them
up with an old rag. Even tobacco and
rags were wanting in some places.
In one miserable hut was found
little girl whose feet had been badly
frozen early in the winter. There was
nothing In the settlement to help her,
and While she suffered fortunes the fro
zen limbs grew worse, and gangrene
set in.
.They will have to come off," her
father said, "or you will die"
'.Will it hurt much?' asked the little
one.
'Tll do it quickly" he answered get
ting a Ratchet from the shelf.
1T can't hurt much more than it does
now said the child. heroically. and she
put the worst leg on the block, shut
her eyes and waited.
One can only imagine the feelings of
the father. as. in his despair, he per-