Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-26

and within a short time the work Of
christianixing this nation began in ear
nest.
All this happened about thirty years
ago. and now the Uganda people are
practically Christians. or course there
are still many heather among them. but
I think IL is safe to say that something
like a million OF these natives believe in
Christianity In one form or another In
addition To the Protestant movement.
which IL by far the most important and
which IL under the auspices of the Church
Missionary Society q. England. a great
work has been done by the Catholics.
The White Fathers. famous French de-
nomination. have native churches scat-
tered over the country and a large mis-
sion station here. The Mill Hill Mission,
also Catholic. and composed largely o:
Irish priests. IL doing a great work hav-
ing Its churches. hospitals and schools.
The converts OF these two missions. rsu-
ally marked by the little crosses which
seen everywhere.
As to the work OF the Protestants II IL
enormous. Archdeacon Walker. who IL
At the head OF the Church Mission So
verts were baptized just about twenty
Ave years ago. and that today Uganda
has S00 native Protestant churches and
ZD native evangeists. who are going
about over the country doing mission work
II has 5000 native preachers. who are
holding regular services from week to
week. The natives have built their own
churches. and they support their preach
ers
The people 20 to church: they hold
earnest Christians. They are called to
church by the beating OF a drum They
keep the Sabbath and on that day the
markets throughout the country are
closed. The arehdeacon says the rela-
tons between the Protestants and Cath
olics are good and that the field is still
large enough for all denominations. Said
he: Il am glad to have the Catholics do
what they can. We are all working to
benefit the natives and We all believe in
the creed. the Lords prayer and the
ten comma ndments" This mission work
has to a large extent abolished the savage
has been done away with and the king
and chiefs cannot MAIN or kill their sub
tects. The natives AZ rule have each
but one wife and many of their children
the three RS. Both the Catholics and
Frotestante have manual training schools
| and there IL also a high school here at
Menso.
The Namirembe Cathedral.
| I wish could show the American skep-
tics who doubt fhe good OF mission work
the great Protestant cathedral which has
| been built here by the natives with their
own money. It stands on the hill of Ma
mirembe about three miles from KAN
| pala and il can be seen for miles around
My first glimpse OF IL was on my way in
| land from Lake Victoria. and l thought
then that II must be the palace of the
King. II 10 an enormous structure of SUM-
dried brick with a roof Of veivety thatch
| which rises In three spires OF the same
material. The architecture makes you
| think Of the wonderful temples OF Siam or
Burmah. save that this. to my eye. 10 far
the more beautiful. The structure covers
about half an acre and IL can accommo-
date I'VE thousand worshipers It's
walls are about nifty feet high end are of
great thickness. They are of a rich red
color. From their tops sloping upward to
a ridge with a beautiful curve extends the
mighty roof. which Is so large that IL took
more than two hundred tons of grass to
cover il.
The interior is equally beautiful. 1t is
a symphony OF whites and blacks and
rich dark reds. The floors are OF sun
dried bricks and so are the walls. The
roof is composed entirely OF reeds OF ele-
plant grass. laid together in punches
and 50 tied with black shrubs from the
The roof is upheld by many red brick
columns and the work Of fitting the roof
20 the walls IL beautifully done. The
building il in the shape of a cross with q
great nave sixty feet wide and with a
| chancel for the choir at the front. The
people come in bringing skins and mats
| with than and they sit cross-legged upon
| these during the preaching.
| This great church is the fourth which
has been built here. The first was made
many years ago. II was constructed by
the voluntary labor Of the natives and its
| labor cost represented 5000. This was
at the rate of cents per day for the men
who worked upon IL and at our wages OF
dollar a day the labor cost would be
over &st0e0. All this work was given Of
| their own free will by the natives and
they must have had considerable faith to
have done SO. short time after that
church was built it was destroyed by one
o. the big thund srstorms common to this
part Of the world. The present cathedral
| which has taken its place was erected in
| 1904. Ten thousand natives were present
| at its dedication.
| FRANK q CARPENTER