The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-03-21
TRACT SOCIETY HAS
ANNUAL MEETING
Reports Show Great Work Has
Been Accomplished
MANY PAMPHLETS PRINTED
The Society Has Sent Publications
Broadcast Over the World, and
Has Accomplished Much
Good in Foreign Lands

washington, March 20.-The Washing
ton annual meeting of the American
Tract society was held this afternoon in
the Church of the Covenant. Justice
Brewer presided and made a brief adj
dress, setting forth the general work of
the Tract society, both in the home and
foreign fields. He emphasized the neces-
sity of this work, as well as showing that
there was no other agency so well equip
ped to furnish Christian literature In the
many languages and dialects.
The Rev. Judson Swift, field secretary,
reported the years work, and William
H. Taft, secretary of war. delivered an
| address which gave a most accurate de-
scription of progress in the Philippines,
relating particularly to education and
| Christianity. The secretary Of the So
ciety said that $4,000 publications had been
published during the year. These were
in England Polish. Bohemian, German
Hungarian, Spanish, Swedish and 1tal-
ian, and the total number of distinct peri
odicals added was $50, making the grand
total of publications issued since the or
ganization of the society, including vol
umes, tracts and periodicals, 749,s15,572.
More Periodicals Printed.
The number of periodicals printed and
distributed within the last twelve months
reaches 2,73S9OO, and the total number Of
languages and dialects in which the So
eety has published is las.
Union missionary coportage is a house
to house visitation, carrying the gospel
message to those who would not other
wise receive It.
The number of family visits made by
the colporters during the year was 1s7.-
163. Prayer has been offered in the ma
jority of these visits. Sixty-one thou
sand five hundred and eighty-one vol
umes have been left in the homes The
total number of colportage Is 1886, 600
and the total number of volumes left in
families Is 16, 495, 1886.
With the fiscal year ended June 80 1903
| 10000 immigrants landed in the United
States.
The tract society, at much expense, pro-
vides necessary literature in the language
of these foreigners and thirty-six of it's
colporters are laboring under them. BY
means of their personal work, whole
families are in many instances trans
formed, and in others one or more mem
bers converted. 1t is really, it was stat
ed, the only sensible way of reaching
these people.
Work of Great Interest
Work In the islands is of great interest
The tract society furnishes all or nearly
all of the Christian literature in the Span
ish language, and during the year has
distributed in the American colonies up
ward of one million pages and the total
for the year in the Spanish-speaking
countries is 5312, 900 pages.
The work among the Mormons in Utah
is of intense interest. The distribution
of Christian literature by colporter wa
CONS and colporters, reaches thousands of
homes, placing wholesome reading in the
hands of the youth
The society has expended a total Of
s750,00O in creating and circulating Chris
tian vernacular literature at the foreign
mission stations.