The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1909-12-23
The Mission Mail Bag.
WELFARE WORK IN BULGARIA,

WELFARE WORK IN BULGARIA.
In the new nation Of Bulgaria, the
latest to join the sisterhood of European
States, the government is recognizing
the value of missionary methods by using
them in the promotion of temperance.
More than twenty years ago Frances E.
Willard asked the wife of an American
Board missionary to take charge of or
ganizing temperance societies through
out European Turkey, and they were es-
tablished in sixteen different centers.
But the Neal Dow of the movement is
the grand old man" of Sofia, DIR.
James F. Clarke, who has just complet-
ed fifty years of service among the Bull
garians, and now has the hearty coop
GRAFTON of the Minister of Education in
carrying on his crusade against intern
perance. They have placed literature on
the subject in the 5000 or more public
schools, and also distributed it among
the national clubs which have been start
ed under the new regime. Mr.. Clarke
and his daughter were recently granted
an audience with Queen Eleanora, who
expressed great interest in this educa-
tional campaign. 1t was hoped that a
law in favor of local option could be car
ried at the first session of the new Ma
tional Assembly. The queen said, cit is
impossible to secure such a law at pres
ent, but patience will bring success and
the desired result will be gained"
Miss Clarke has fourishing kinder
garten in the city, and when the queen
made her first visit she was so delighted
with the exercises, and with the work
done by the little folks, that she asked
where in the city it would be desirable
to start another. This one has been
made possible only through the generos-
ity of Boston woman who is deeply in
terested in Bulgaria and believes in its
future, if thoroughly leavened with
Christian schools and institutions.
FILIPINO CHARACTERISTICS.
DR.. c. T. Sibley, a brilliant young
doctor who is working in the Philippines
under the auspices of the American
Board, finds a rather poor brand of hui
mainly in Mindanao, where he is station
ed. In making recent tour of the is
land, with a U. S. army officer, he was
impressed with the cruelty of the natives
and believes that the cockpit, which
everybody attends, even mothers with
babes in their arms, is the school in
which this trait is developed. He says:
eff it was ever the duty of the U. S. to
emancipate the slaves then it seems to
me even more it's duty to annihilate the
cockpit" He gave specific cases to il
lustrate how Indifferent the people are to
human suffering. For instance, labor
ing man who was terribly injured was
taken to his shack and left upon the floor
to die or get well as fate might will. The
two Americans found him fourteen days
after the accident seething mass of
filth and pus. After bathing and dress
ing the poor wretch they placed him in
their launch and took him to Davao,
where he recovered and is now we'll and
strong. His employer lived directly
across the street and DR.. Sibley writes:
cit is safe to say that he took better
care of his pigs than of his servant He
also expresses doubt whether military
measures alone will ever abolish this
characteristic of cruelty, and adds:
Truly great responsibility has been
placed upon the Christian church of
America.
A CAPTAIN OF INDUSTRY.
There is an establishment in South
Africa which, like Tuskegee, is an OBJ
ject lesson in how the Negro race can be
developed under the right kind of leader
ship. This is an industrial station at Mt
Silinda in charge Of C. c. Fuller, lay
man working under the auspices of the
American Board. The set of buildings,
erected almost entirely by school labor,
is without a rival in South Africa. A
new schoolhouse, easily worth $4,000 to
So, 900, was started with only 1900 in
sight, knowing how much the native
pupils could contribute in work. The
bricks and tiles were made largely by
the boys, the lumber was all sawed by
them, they made the doors and sashes,
and did all the carpenter work. Mr..
Fuller says that it is necessary to fur
nish the boys work in order to make
them self-supporting, and their well-di-
rected labor makes it possible to build
fine houses at comparatively little cost.
He believes that through the Christian
school, in which manual training is made
an essential feature of education, these
people can be civilized. His own success
at Mt. Silinda amply justifes this belief.
When he reached there seven years ago
the region abounded in lions, leopards
and hyenas. 1t took year to bring up
the traction engine from the coast, dis
lance of about 200 miles.