Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-03-23
SALISBURY DISTRICT
OvERCOMES SETBACKS
Many Difficulties Encountered,
Superintendent v. S. COL
Inns Reports.
Special Dispatch to Every Evening.

Vaughan =. tplllns, superintendent ct
Salisbury district of Wilmington NJ. f.
Conference. IN his report for the year.
submitted AZ the Conference session
here today. II think without exceo-
tlon. | have had sung into my ears
one song. with innumerablc variations
t is trUc. but the central theme OF
the melody has been always the same.
viz: Hard times. and wuss is comm
This song | have heard from one end
II the district to the other-from the
nowerbedecked village OF Claremont
assumed the majestic. swelling. hyhthm
10 the verdant meads of Ocean View.
Sometimes the song was rendered as a
solo. sometimes a ductt. sometimes a
trio or quartet. and sometimes II
~ symphony chorus with full or
ches'ral accompaniment. Surely there
is one thing ON which the laymen of
the district are of one mind and
heart, viz That we have had hard
times this year. II we were equally
one on the great subject of being
'storehousc stewards We could have
laid on the Lords affairs even this
year enough To have paid our Center
AIRY quota I'm fun. and would have
enough left over as a thankoffering
to God to have paid for the new home
OF our good bishop of Wilmington.
The financial situation with us Is
like this. our principal sources of rev.
'nuc might be stated as agricultural.
timber and seafoods Somehow in ell
three ~ these branches of industry
prices and supply have chased each
other all the year. hut without getting
t. H..fns n t,ars l., n
oysters tho price was low: IL the prices
went up. weather conditions prevented
their being caught. Fruits. that usual
ly bring In hundreds OF thousands az
dollars. We're virtually wiped out by
the last freeze last spring. Lack oftem-
rloyment due To business stagnation
has been quite serious in many places
-At Sharptown. FOR instance. where a
shipyard has for generations fur
nishcd the principal employment for
the town. since the war the shipyard
has been not only sold but dis
mantled: So the ship carpenters. some
ot them the mainstay of our church
there. have been compelled to go to
Norfolk. Newport News. baltimore.
New York anywhere to get few
days work. Then since the new wear
came IN we have had blizzard after
blizzard. and delugcs of rain for n
string Of Sundays. which made our
roads virtually impassahle and broke
up all services for several weeks In
our rural churches. But we might
have known something like this
would happen when we put that water
amendment in the Constitution. and
Alr
United states. As we Methodist
were doubtless very much the cause o.
both Of these events we ought not
70 rrumhle II little more water than
usual comes our way.
Sickness Among Ministers.
Then sickness among our minister.
has materially interfered with IN,
work Of the district Rev. W. +
Dawson was for months a sufferer
and so was his wife both being in q
hospital in Baltimore at the sam,
time: but both are now much i'm,
proved. Rev. l.. +. Poole. usually ex.
hibiting excellent judgment. most in.
opportunely selected his revival meet
inc time for months vacation in tn,
form Of an aggravated illness tina
finally yielded TO treatment. Rev. II
: Dulany has twice been TO tn,
Methodist Hospital for a malady. tn,
nature OF which is obscure. Even tn
interchangeable Rev. John L. johnson
suffered a temporary breakdown il
the midst Of his autumn work and 4
now confined To his home with an in
fectcd foot. Rev. A. r. Zimmerman
the earnest young pastor of Bishop
vile. was unfortunately kicked Will
cranking his Ford. and had his arr
broken in two places Pluckily h
never missed a service. That youn
man has good stuff in him. Rev. {
V. Steininger was also on the sick lis
for while. Rev. W. L. Matthew.
81 Hebron. has for six years or NOR
suffered from falling vision. whic
reached such a stage that an opera
tion was necessary TO prevent toti
blindness. Dr. l.. Webster Fox, {
Philadelphia. performed most sue
cessful operation; but his vision j
Yet SO impaired that Brother -a5ai
thews viii ask for a retired relatio
al this session of Conference. Sue
list OF sick ministers I have neve
known on any district during IN
connection with the Conference.
has necessarily affected the eficieT
working OF the district.
Pastors Changing ad Interim.
When conference adjourned q
,rriraeld a year ago ! was happy
the fact that at last Salisbury distriC
had pastor for every appointment
the first tirpe since my appointmer
TO the district. In September thing
began TO happen. Rev. a. a. Bichel
supply at WestoVer, without askin
my consent 70 the arrangement, not
fled me that he was leaving Westove
as he had already accepted an al
pointment 1T the Central Pennsy
vania Conference. The same ma
that brought me tidings of Broth,
Bichell's desertion brought me a r.
quest for work from Rev. O.. w Has
ings, who was placed on the retire
relation at the last session Of the col
ference. So Brother Hastings az
cepied the work thus dropped |
Brother Bichell, and has greatly ei
deared himself 10 the people. Broth
Hastings will ask that he be restor,
to the active relation at this sessiC
of the conference. About the san
time Rev. w. a. Wright. pastor
Claremont. sent his resignation. wit
drawing from both the ministry al
membership Of the Methodist Episc
pol Church. to take effect on Octob
as. ! ask that this case be referred
the committee on conference relation
Rev. w. r.. Tomkinson. our own r
tired veteran OF four score and 70
years. was sent TO work i'm Decemb
70 MI nuf the conference wear. al