The Daily Missoulian., 1914-09-21
SKY PILOT HIGGINS
DELIGHTS HIS
AUDIENCES
NOTED RELIGIOUS WORKER aiN
THE LUMBER CAMPS, IA BIG,
eRoADMINDEp cHRisTlAN

eRoA0MiNDED CHRISTIAN
Rev. Frank r. Higgins. tile we'll
known lumberjack sky pilot, the hero
of Norman Duncan's Higgins,
Mans Christian. and Thomas d.
sWhittles' 'sThe Parish OF the Pines
and the originator OF mission work
among the lrmberjacks in this country.
at present superintendent Of lumber
camp missions under the Home MIS-
sion board Of the Presbyterian church
in the United States, spoke yesterday
morning in the Presbyterian church
and In the evening to union congre-
cation IN the Methodist church. The
churches were crowded on both occa-
sions. and there was much interest
manifested in the man and his work.
The subject of both addresses was
Missionary Work Among the Luri-
Der Camps" the evening address be-
ing a continuation Of the morning
talk, but in no respect repetition Of
lit.
Big, eroadminded Man.
1t is impossible to give any fair un-
derstanding of these great addresses.
They were not merely an account Of
the mans work, but a revelation Of.
the man. Here was a man dead set
on doing good; and full of faith, not
only in God, but in his fellowman. The
story OF his work for the lrmberjacks
was intensely arresting The big
heartedness and observation-disclosures Of
the Sky Pilot was evident in his splen-
did tribute to the Catholic Sisters of
Charity and their hospital work.
Half Million Lumberjacks,
Mr.. Higgins called attention to the
tact. that there are in the country
about half a million men EMPLOYED in
lumber camps. in Wisconsin, Michigan.
Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon,
California, certain of the southern
states, western New York, and Maine.
according to my observation said
ne, conditions are worse in the lum-
ber camps today than they were %
Years ago. Twenty years ago or SO
they logged by river; now they log by
rail. Then the men were withdrawn
from civilization and its temptations
while employed In the forests: now the
saloon and the gambling house and
other awful places of sin, follow the
railroads. il they do not precede them.
into the woods where the men are at
work. work. and take away not merely the
mems money but their character and
all that IT Is worth while to live for
He told how. 20 years ago, he was
appointed to minister to a small Home
Mission church in Bemidji, a little
town Of about 1000 people, in north
ern Minnesota, in the lumber camp
country. In that little town there we're
g saloons, 20 gambling houses, and
1--WE houses Of shame. And from BIZ
midi north 25 miles to Black Duck.
the end OF the logging road, there were
100 saloons 1t was there he began to
90 mission work in the lumber camps,
preaching in the town on Sundays and
tramping from camp to camp during
the week, preaching every night, and
bringing what light he could to these
men of the woods. He had been
brought up in the woods himself, ana
worked in the camps as a lumberjack
Tor several years. He soon found it 4
Was losing game to preach to men
in the camps. and let them be robbed
and debauched and destroyed in the
saloons that hung on their borders ana
proved on their weakness and appe-
tites and hungerings for comradship.
Then his great fight with the saloons
began. "And,' he says. there isn't
an open town in the whole state Of
Minnesota today.
Gave Up His Church.
His labors in the lumber camps SO
increased and his church work Mt the
same time, that he found he had to
give up either the one Or the other,
He gave up his church and fer ~
years he has given his whole time to
this work. For some years he was the |
SAAaJ ttAuu uOlu$5 tHIS htilu OI WORK. To- l
day there are missionaries in the
woods of New York, Michigan, Wis
,onsin, Montana, Idaho, Washington,
Oregon and California. For many
years the Presbyterian church, sup |
porting Mr.. Higgins and his workers,
was the. only agency doing mission
work in the lumber camps. Now the
Young Mems Christian association has
: few missions in various states. A
sew years ago the Home Mission board |
'f the Presbyterian church, recogniz-
ng the Importance and need of Mr..
Higgins kind Of ministry. appointed
lin superintendent of camp mission
work, and it is in that capacity that
IL visits Missoula. He says his best
workers hre converted lumberjacks
'aised, as he says from the ranks. OF
'uch is Jack Mccall, whom he has