The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1906-11-16

The Sunday school of the Congrega-
t1onal church has an active interest in
the work Of Rev Howard N. mith,
! state superintendent of the Congrega-
tional Sunday School and Publishing
Society in Oregon. Miss Mabel Tay-
lor, secretary Of the school. has receiv-
ed the following interesting letter
from Mr. Smith:
Portland, Ore, Nov. 2, 1906.
Miss Mabel L. Taylor, Sec'y
NeWtOwn, Conn, Congl. S. S.
Dear Friend:-Christian greetings
from Connecticut "native" in far
away Oregon. Early this year inform
alton reached me from our secretary,
DR. BOyntOn, in Boston, that your
school had again contributed $25 tow.
ards our Sunday school mission work
and for me in particular This is es-
pecially gratifying to me, for | still
have tender memories OF my old Con-
ton and of other splendid Christian
workers and givers. 1t is a pleasure
to add you to my list of interested
Perhaps you will be interested in
some features of my work out here in
this great state of Oregon. That you
may better understand my work,
please permit me to repeat what you
alreauy know that Oregon is the larg-
est of the Pacific Northwest states,
having an area Of 96, 030 square miles,
divided into 33 counties. Many OF
these counties are very large. will
name one only, Malheur, which is $50
miles long by 60 miles wide and con.
in comparison with our beloved state,
Connecticut. Our state is 800 miles
from east to west and 800 miles from
north to south. 1t is my duty and
great privilege to extend the Masters
kingdom in the way we Congregation
alists think is best. Our Sunday
school mission work is growing rapid
ly. The past year has been one of
great gains in new schools organized
and in money raised on the field, but
the amount is so small and the calls so
many and urgent that it is tragic to
try to deal with the conditions with
out the liberal gifts of our friends be-
yond our border. Even with these we
are still nable to respond to calls
from the neglected parts for Sunday
school and preaching services. l have
four missionaries to help me in this
great work. Two of them were added
to the force this year. Two of my
schools, Astoria on the west and On
tario on the east are $40 miles apart.
Most of our mission schools are from
20 to!45 miles from the main lines of the
railroads, and must he reached on
horseback, or team, sometimes bY bi-
cycle. l have just completed 113O
mile tour, 200 Of it in my stage and
my private team. l travelled for II
days visiting families and schools,
sleeping in different bed each night.
The heat and dust made this very
weary trip. One day rode Is miles
on pair of heavy farm wagon wheels.
During the year / have Travelled
10,388 miles, organizing, visiting,
preaching. exploring new sections
through it all led and kept by the
hand of God.
might fill pages with experiences,
but must not weary you with much
writing. Let me say something of our
plans and needs for the next year.
Please refer to the September issue Of
school Quarterly. Therein you will
find an article from our missionary,
Mr. Brown. He describes true condi-
tions. hope that the Lord will
place $500 in my hands with which to
send two or three new missionaries In
to that neglected section described by
Mr. Brown. Please read the article to
your school in connection with my let
ter, if you think it expedient. In
southwestern Oregon the conditions
are much the same in so far as the
dire need for the Sunday school and
the gospel is concerned. l will enclose
a printed Ieaflet which l have issued
from Mr. Munson's reports. 1t is but
one, and very true in it's statements.
Our new man, Rev Mr. Davis, is do
| ing heroic work in the extreme south
Jackson counties Our Sunday school
society is able to pay him only $3.50
per month. He left work in large
gold mine where he received 81 per day
| because he was compelled to work
Sundays, and took up our Sunday
school mission work. He is a good
preacher and organizer, and true