McNairy County independent. (Selmer, McNairy County, Tenn.) 1902-1969, 1917-05-25
New Orleans, La,
May Ia, 1917.

Thank you very much. never feel
homesick when the Independent is
getting to me regularly.
New Orleans is quite town. If it
is as large in other directions as it is
the way | walked out yesterday, it is
large sure enough. They say about
four hundred thousand people. see
there are great many churches, but
about all Catholic. Nearly half of
the population of the city is Catholic.
Saloons are as plentiful as they used
to be in Memphis. The same argu-
ment that used to be offered in their
favor in Tennessee.
They say there are fifteen thousand
soldier boys here. You see them
everywhere you go, about all young
men-a sad sight to me-being
trained to kill and be killed. Most of
them look as though they realized
something of what they had in front
of them. Sad indeed are the indica-
tions of dissipation among them.
Great good must come out of this
war if it is to be paying investment.
What Of all the killed and manned
and this is only small part Of the
cost. You hear it freely talked that it
may go on three years longer. If so,
they will be wanting my boy, and
millions of others; and Satan will be
after every single one of them. H.
will not give much time to getting
them with bullets the enemy will
attend to that but it will be in in
comparably worse way.
New Orleans has great many in
teresting things. Jackson's old bat
tlefeld, where the untrsined rifemen
from Tennessee and Kentucky played
such havoc with the English veterans
of Napoleon's wars. No small sight
is the loading and unloading of the
ships: whole train loads of bananas
from one ship, train loads Of coffee
from others. In one place | saw
forty thousand sacks, and they said
there would be hundred and twenty
thousand the next day. Some coffee.
Some space is needed for all of this
business, and so on one side of the
river is fifteen miles of wharf, as long
as from Selmer to Adamsville.
Our Southern Baptist Convention is
having one of its greatest, if not its
greatest, meetings; understand over
two thousand delegates. This does
not include the delegates to the
Women's Missionary Union, which is
another organization. They have
their meetings just across the street,
in the First Methodist church. The
convention is in a building that is
supposed to hold six or seven thous-
and people. 1t is packed full at night
In this part of the city just now. it
looks like the whole world was turn
ing Baptist. About two and three
quarter million of Baptists are repre-
sented in the Southern Baptist Con-
vention, sixteen states. The contri.
buttons to both Foreign and Home
Missions have been larger than ever
before nearly million to Foreign
Missions. A number of missionaries
who are at home on furlough are
here, and add greatly to the interest
of the meetings, with descriptions of
their fields and work. Missionaries
from Africa, China, Japan, Brazil,
Mexico, Panama and Cuba have
spoken.
In meetings like this, strange as
some might think of it, they have
mostly the old time songs, such as
Amazing Grace" Grown Him Lord
Of ALL" ETC., and the preaching is
like it used to be: both heaven and
hell in it; a real Jesus Christ, a devil
too, and conviction of sin like they
tell US about away back in the coun-
try, and the peace that surpasseth
understanding that comes in the place
of that conviction to those who turn
to God in sincero repentance, trust
ing in the Christ.
My room is close to the COW antion
hall. | see they are gathering BY the
hundreds, so will 60 to get seat.
III ~