Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-03-26
SAL ISBURY REPORT
SHOWS RESULT OF
BUSY YEARS. WORK
Winter Was Hard on Most Con-
gregations. but Objectives
Were Met.
MANY CHANGES IN PULPITS

dent of the Salisbury district, nreSente'
his rcport for the year to the Wilmington
Nj. f. Conference today as follows:
at is easy enough to be pleasant
When the world moves along like sons
But the man worth while
Is the man who can smile
When everything goes dead wrong
ssThat little jingle receives my mos
cordial Endorsement. To have been a sue
cessful superintendent Of Salisbury dis
trict during the past twelve months.
man ought to have had the patience OF ;
saint the wisdom of a Solomon, anC
physically ought to have been quadrupit
cross between song-sparrow, game
rooster. bull dog and donkey. IL
needed the song-sparrow blood that ne
might be able to sing in storm; thu
game rooster. that he might be alert; the
bull dog blood he needed to help HIM holo
on so long as there was hope OF victory
and shut his eyes and hold on still tighter
when hope seemed lost; and lastly ne
needed the donkey blood that he might
patientlv bear innumerablc knocks with,
out mIirmur, and to smile rs he munched
a thistle TOP and be thankful for such
banquet of dainties.
.JInIcss he is blessed with the heaven
sent gift of being able TO see ralnbows
where others see only clouds; ana can
hear the voice of God when Others declare
it is only thunder; unless he can near the
rustic OF angels wings where others near
naught but the signing OF the wlntry
winds in the tree-tops, or Swish OF the
rain and sIeef against his auto; unless he
can laugh at calamity and mock when
others fear. he has no business To tackle
al. L.. All the
shine and iollity inherited from dear
mother. with ali the endurance inherited
from brave father; all the strength Of a
body that seldom knows an ache or pam
all the Irish humor and Scotch steadtast-
ness inherited from my ancestry, coupled
with all the grace / could pray down from
heaven above. have been taxed TO the
limit IN an honest effort 60 successfully
load the hosts of God and Methodism on
Salisbury district to higher planes OF living
and nobler doing, and to hearten the AZ
faithful men who were assigned as my
coJaborers in the great harvest field
known as Salisbury district, | sing with n
new meaning todav,
And are we vet alive,
To see each others face
"To he more specific; to start with, there
were 20 changes in pastors on Salisbury
district last vear--fearful thing, 20 new
men to face 20 new charges, with the
Centenary drive only ono month OIL !!
In addition, and worse by far, after filling
in with every local preacher supply await
able. five appointments had to be LETT
without a pastor, because | SIMPLY couid
not get the men. The experiences That
followed have given me new dehnltion OF
nurgatorv ueed TO think that 1T was
purgatory to be compelled to attend the
sessions Of AN annual conference when we
had . cross autocratic bishop in the chair
Then later: ON concluded that purgatory
was TO be appointed TO serve under pre-
siding elder who would not work with
yo,, But | know now that these are only
the vestibule to the real thing. The real
purgatorv as | see it now, is TO be dis
trict superintendent, holding the quarter
" conference of charge that has received
no pastor. trying TO explain to the mem
hers WHY thew have received no pastor.
Bv the time the dear brethren have each
one plared his little, lighted fagot around
the chair of the presiding officer, II be-
comes so hot he can hear himself slzzle.
And Of those who were appointed
rastors moi al! remained with their work.
One local preacher supply went TO his
a,nointment the first Sunday after Con-
ference. preached morning and afternoon,
and started toward his evening appoint
ment-and drove off home and never went
back TO the work again. Another local
preacher supply stayed three weeks at ms
charge and summary left-simply m
forming me that he was going. One regular
pastor stayed four months and lett One
broke down In three months with nervous
trouble. and was compelled to leave ms
work. Another broke IN the middle OF the
wear with tuberculosis. Another was
stricken down with small pUx- Another
had diphtheria in his family, and lost
darling little bright-eyed boy, tive years
old with this dread disease. Then TINS
winter has been one of unusual length and
unusual severity, turning many OF our
dirt roads into bottomless quagmlres,
impassabIe for autos and frequently even
for horse teams Rainy Sundays followed
each other in unending procession-one
pastor told me as many as ten already
AND tomorrow, he added, will be snow
or rain | feel sure And 1t so proved,
showing ike a regular blizzard as We
came out from his church next morning.
Then we have had epidemic after cpl
denic. smallpox sweeping through lower
S,,ssax county and Chincoteague Island;
diphfheria through lower Somerset; IN
3,ienza everywhere. Permit me to intro
duce an excerpt from letter from one OF
our faithful pastors accompanying ms
report:
. 4 have been waiting for conditions TO
improve so / could send you my report
but they are not improving, and cannot
tell when they will These are the most
distressing times | ever witnessed. We
are again in the midst of tins dreadful
flu. and it is working havoc with us IN
more WAYS than one. Especially so at
Crowson. All that place needs TO be a
hospital is to have roof over II. Nearly
every family is sick, and in some cases
every one in the family Since last Mon
dav | have buried three out of Brother
Luther Matthews family, his mother-ln-
Law, and two grown daughters, one 10
and the other 26; and there are yet others
for whom we feel very anxious.
GAS to our benevolent collections, | am
sure our annual conference benevolences
will be met In full We viii fall short,
think. In our Centenary, that is for thus
first year / will do the very best | can If
keep we'll Sometimes | ap very tired
when / get home. / have buked as many
as FIVE In one day, and it was in the night
when got home; but this is our work. and