The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-03-26

Birmingham. Several five and ten-dollar contributions were made.
 Leader of Mighty Host.
 Commander Booth is the fourth daugh- ter of General Booth,' said Mayor Berri- man in discussing her career last night.
 When but q school girl she served her apprenticeship in the cause which has been her llfe-work. selling War Crys, on the streets of London; her sweetness and courage made her so successful that sine became the champion War Cry seller of the Army. Her first speech was made on chain in an open-air meeting in one of the darkest slums of London.
 While yet in her teens. Miss Eva played an important part by the side Of her sister the late Consul Booth-Tueker,
 who then. as Miss Emma Booth, was in charge of the first Training Home of the
 organization. Commander Booth has held successively each title from sergeant to commander
 Her first appointment was to large corps which was assailed by storm of abuse and opposition, which threatened to stamp. out not only the existence of tho Salvation Army. but the lives of It's adherents in that district. Tho hall which held three thousand people was surround e1 by dense population of the lowest and most wicked. Every other house in the street in which the officers lived was a den of infamy. For some time the toughs had been in possession of the hall despite the assistance of the authorities. but what the law could not do, the frail. fair girl accomplished Her prayers were heard by their deathbeds, her songs were sung over their sick. her brave feet tripped mp to the highest attics of those rickety tenements and down into the low est and darkest cellars where poverty and crime lay hidden.
 Worked a Revolution.
 within few weeks she had worked q revolution in the neighborhood and had won the respect and affection of the whole gang and many who had headed
 the persecution now protected the line I of march, and when the devoted captain fell dangerously i'll at the conclusion of
 her term. one of these men pawned his coat to buy hot-house grapes for her Disguised sometimes as flower girl. some times as a water-cress seller, the intrepid girl found her way into the poor est haunts with messages of mercy. and stood by the side of the guilty and un- | fe rtunate in the police court and prison | cell No man Or woman was too filthy or too degraded. or too vicious, or too desperate to be outside the reach of her | gentle hand, or too far gone to see the divine compassion looking out through her dark lustrous eyes. No wonder that l those for whom she lived and worked at this time gave her the unofficial title of 'rhe Angel of the Slums"
 "The Commander has been the Butcher upon many a Waterloo of the army's war | fare. Wherever there has been persecution or difficulty she has been the first to volunteer to fill the gap. Like the gale
 proof petrel she has delighted to be found i in the storm, and her presence there has 1 again and again proved the herald of an of Tn | Whiechurch, Eastbourne and Ryde, she | figured as a very Joan of Arc. She pro tected the army's rights for open-air work at these places and personally led the parades through yelling and blood-thirsty
 mobs who offered bets of $50 on the man l who would knock her down or capture
 her bonnet Her courage and boldness on the street was only edualled by her
 tact and wisdom behind the scenes. She l finally took the matter to parliament. in- | terviewed members of the commons and
 epresentatives of the lords until she won l the repeal of the obnoxious bylaws | which forbade the armys privileges.
 Last English Appointment. I "Her last appointment in England was | a commander of the London province and | principal of the International Training | home, in which dual position she has 2l,- | 900 Salvation soldiers, 600 officers and | about 300 cadets always under her control. From here she received orders for | Canada. where during the past eight years she has wrought magnificent ser l vices in the Interests to which her vast 1 abilities are eonseerated.
 Briefly her command across the border | has included the following special fea-
 lures: The reception and care of refugees | during the Armenia atrocities, the inau- l guration of army day schools throughout Newfoundland. the opening of work at the | Yuken during the rush for gold to the l Klondike, and the birth and growth of | prison work, for which she has personally
 gained the car and won the approval of l the highest government officials In the | -~~~~~~~~~~~~~>~~-~-~ | (Cointlnued on F.ehrh Page.)