Arizona sentinel and Yuma weekly examiner., 1913-11-20
S|DEL|GHTS ON CUBA,
 PEARL OF ANTILLES
(By Ida Clyde Clarke).

| G1IO OOWh III NOOC, hO Cdll Ol the Antilles," seems fascinating and
 interesting when viewed from dis
 tance, but only the missionary sees
 life there as it really is.
 MT. John F. Caperton, whose work
 in Cuba is well known, tells of his work there and gives a true insight into the life of the people. He says:
 'Mayari is in the center of large valley and is built along the river that bears the same name. We are sur rounded by beautiful, high mountains, some of them towering 2,500 and 3,OO0 feet in the air. I have been to the little mining camp at the mountain top, and believe the view is one of the most beautiful on this hemisphere. The magnificent Nipe bay stretches out almost at the foot of the mountain and further on is the broad Atlantic, and in the other directions are mount aims and cities of the eastern prov ince of Cuba.
 They tell me there are 15,000 jeo- pie in this valley, and I am the only missionary here. In one afternoon rode thru five settlements where there was no less than 6U0 people, and in none of these was there any ser vice at all. The Sabbath is a day of drunkenness and revelry. There are a number of cock pits scattered along the valley wherever there is settlement, and two large ones here in Mayari, and on Sunday afternoon the hoarse screams and yells of the men can be heard all down the valley Such is their idea of sport and the ob servance of the Sabbath day.
 eff there is a nation on the globe that needs salvation today, it is Cuba.
 There is no doubt that God is use ing us. At my first service seven little street waifs came out of curios- ity. It was almost impossible to have order, and finally succeeded. The ser vices have grown gradually, till we  have an average of about fifty now. The Sunday school had to begin with nothing, and we have enrolled forty nine to date.
 Every other Sunday I ride twenty four miles in the middle of the day to preach. They are not organized yet, indeed only last week managed to find a shed in which they could hold services. On the other Sundays l have an eight-mile trip, to preach.
 "Up in the heart of the mountains there is a little settlement which 1 have visited, and one man has prom ised to let me hold services in his house. I will have to go on moonlight nights, as it is only path and danger ous. I have two other appointments in private houses, and one on Tues day night 4 miles away, where we have a small church. I have been having five service nights week, and some times will have an extra one. The horseback riding and the brisk noun tain air is splendid for me, and have not had better health since I came to the tropics five years ago.
 q wish you could ride out with me over my work. There is one -one especially, a humble place, matched hut with dirt floor, but the preacher always has warm welcome there. The Cubans are not, as a rule, very hospitable, and one almost never gets an invitation to eat wI.n them. but old Don Ramon and his wife, Dona Josefa, always wants me to stay for dinner when I go, and are disappoint- ed if I refuse. The last time I ate with them they had chicken roast ed on the coals, and fried bananas for bread, and the regular Cuban dinner of soup and frijoles. ate with a meat fork and an immense butcher knife, while the others ate with their fingers. I came away with oranges, sweet lemons and other fruits tied to ny saddle and bouquet of roses. l love flowers, and they always save ne the choicest blossoms"
 Who can doubt, after reading these bright, cheerful lines, that the writer is rendering a true and beautiful ser vice to the Master. In the end of his very interesting letter he adds just one little tender plea:
 "Let me ask you above all things, | don't fail me with your prayers. You can hold up my hands in the battle | with your prayers. It is a lone struggle with no human companion ship and sympathy, and I feel the need Of the prayers of the faithful"