The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-01-11
Major Berriman on Work
 of Salvation Army
CONDITIONS IN MONTGOMERY
Plans and Purposes of Army Are
 Explained.
Is Surprised at Conditions in Which Some white ChiIdren Are Raised by Negro
 Women.

Before . large audience. composed chiefly of representative Jewish citi- gems of Montgomery, Major John A. Rorriman, leader and commander of the Salvation Army forces in the South. delivered an interesting and instructive lecture on the work his organization has and is doing at Temple Beth Or last night. While the lecture was for everyone it was especially for the Jews and was held in the Jewish synagogue.
 Having been in the Salvation Army work for a number of years during which time he has risen from the ranks to the position he now holds, Major Bsrriman was able to give his audience a clear view and 8 careful understand ing of just what the Salvation Army stands for and the work that it is do- ing. principally in the larger cities. In his lecture he frequently mentioned the good work being done in Montgomery by Captain Odom and the strides that have been made here in such short time.
 Owing to local conditions existing just at present the feature of Major Berriman's lecture to the minds of his hearers last night, was the orphanages that the army has established and the success with which they are being con- ducted. He mentioned some of the homes that have been established fin 0lncE6nL parts OI Jne country ana ,Il9 good they are doing.
 Those homes are filled up with chil- dren whose environment is identical with those of the children Captain Odom is now trying to have removed from tbeir unnatural homes in Mont gomery," said Major Berriman. T am surprised to hear that the good people of this city have let this matter go so far and that they even now, when legal steps have been taken to place these children in good homes do not mani fest greater interest"
 Many of the children kept in these homes are sent there by mothers who are compelled to earn a Livelihood continued Major Berriman. They are kept there for cents a day and are reared as children should be. This cents helps but little to paying for their keeping but in thousands of cases mothers would not let 1t be done for nothing. This takes away the charity part of the transaction and Is the means by which many child of a poor. proud mother is given a good home when otherwise they might be reared in dire neglect"
 Last year the Salvation Army spent about s100.000 in maintaining the lodg- ing houses for men of which there arc so many oyer the country. We are imposed upon great deal in this branch of the work, but nevertheless we think that we do great deal of good In this place man Is given first a good bath, his clothes are fu- migated. he gets a good, clean warm bed, and coffee and rolls in the morn ing for ten cents. If he hasn't got a dime he is given some kind of work around the place for an hour or so. About $S0,000 was turned into the cof- fers of the Army last year by these poor men. This left only a balance of S2O.O0o. that was obtained from other sources.
 One of the biggest undertakings that the Army has taken hold of is that of establishing three farms in this country so that poor people who are - inclined to work can be talk en from cities and given healthy employment in the open ait. We nave one-- a. Cleveland, one>in Colorado and another in California.
 We give man ten acres of ground on which there is a substantial cot tage. We give him seed to plant his first crop and also stock him with poultry and small supply of Hve- stock, For this we charge him $500 and give him ten years to pay 1t in, or one dollar year. He is not re- quired to pay one cent until after he has made his first crop. These faYms have grown so fast that we now have a farm bank at each of the three pla- ces, besides stores and warehouses. In fact they are developing into regular towns, made up of good men who might otherwise have wasted their lives away in the slums of a city. When our finances are such that we can, we Intend starting more of these farms. for we believe that they do a wonderful good"
 The history that Major Berriman gave of the Salvation Army was very interesting and disclosed many little things that were not generally known to the most of his audience. He stat ed that 1t began in London 43 years ago, when General Booth left the church of which he was the pastor and started to preaching on the street cor ners. His work became noticed and when he went into the slums of Lon- don with a few women whom he had interested and began his work among the poorest of the poor, his action com manded the admiration of everyone. Later his efforts resulted in a small detachment of women being sent to America to work in the slums of New York City, and now the work has grown to such proportions that there arel representatives in 56 different countries, all doing active work.