The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1907-03-23
Mrs. Lamson's Talk.

Mrs. Lamson's Talk.
The Lord has laid it on my heart to
say word in this meeting" said Mrs.
Lamson and the deacons looked round,
and even the minister was surprised
For In that little church it was not Of
ten q woman's voice was heard in
meeting, and Mrs. Lamson was one Of
the conservative members.
1--WE been praying for guidance to
say the right thing, and hope I shall
say it. Anyhow, I'm going to try.
Most Of you know that we have a
poorhouse in this town, but I don't
suppose many of you have ever been
there. I've been past 1t all my life,
whenever I've driven along that way,
but I've never had any particular er-
rand there, and 1 don't suppose you've
had. But last week went there. I
think it's shame for this town to treat
it's poor the way it does"
The little company was thoroughly
alert by this time, and Mrs. Lamson
was we'll under way, and found 1t easier
to talk on than to stop.
Il don't find any fault with the over
seers Of the poor. I suppose they do
all they can with the money they have
don't doubt they give the inmates
enough to eat, and things looked clean.
But It's the most forsaken place ever
saw. The little things those old people
have done to try to make 1t homelike
are enough to make your heart ache.
It's just pitifuL
1--WE been thinking about it ever
since I was there, and it seems to me
that If we take up collections for the
heather we might sometimes do some
thing for our own poor.
II know we pay our taxes, grudging-
ly, too, sometimes, and we see that no
one suffers. But I've been thinking that
that isn't the whole OF" Christian duty.
They are nearly all old people there
there are eight Of them who are past
7O-and not a rocking-chair In the
place. What few pictures there are
look as If they had come out Of the
ark.
II Just made up my mind I'd send up
a rocking chair for one Of the old Ia
dies, and while tho team is going up, If
any Of you have anything you want to
send I'll take it along.
THE Lord has a blessing for those
who visit the sick and those In prison
and those that respect the aged. Those
people are old and sick and in prison
and poor and friendless and-every-
thing. And I think that II we have any
Of the kind of religion that the good
Samaritan had, we'd ought to stop driv-
Ing by on the other side"
She sat down GREATNESS and appalled,
to think how long a speech she had
made. But the minister was quickly
on his feet.
Friends" said he, "this Is q good
word, and we ought to receive 1t as
message from the Lord. suggest that
we appoint a committee Of ladies, of
which Mrs. Lamson shall be chairman,
to ascertain what articles of furniture
are needed at the almshouse, and that
the list be read from the pulpit, In an
endeavor to make the last home Of the
poor among us not only habitable but
pleasant"
It was done, and the list was a long
one. Out of the attics came chairs,
couches and bedsprings, out Of style,
perhaps, but serviceable; and many lit
tie articles besides, that made the bare
old rooms more homelike.
The reports that were made from
time to time enlivened the prayer meet
ing and cheered the donors, shaming
them the while that they were getting
SO much Of credit for what cost them
50 little, and that they had not done 1t
long before. And into that thrifty New
England community, where shiftless-
ness Is the chiefest of sins, and poverty
carries with 1t the stigma Of implied
unworthiness, there came new spirit
Of compassion for the unfortunate and
the unsuccessful.
The men who had paid their taxes,
and supposed that In so doing they had
performed their whole duty to the poor,
found ways of ministering in the spirit
Of their religion, and heard the words
Of the psalmist with new interest
Blessed is he that considereth the
poor."-Youth's Companion.
The Duty of Happiness.
Human life, If rightly ordered, has
happiness for each Of its stages. The
vale OF years need not be vale of
tears" The great Father never In
tended that it should be so to any of
His children, and, least Of all, to those
whom He has guided for SO long and
who are near their final home In His