General Conference Bulletin, vol. 4

VISITING WORK

J. H. KELLOGG

The students and other workers engaged in connection with the Chicago Mission have been encouraged to go into the homes of the people, holding gospel of health, cottage meetings, etc., which have been productive of much good, and proved a most efficient means of reaching souls, especially among those who are not reached by the churches or other evangelistic effort. GCB April 10, 1901, page 174.9

The maternity work in Chicago has from the first been conducted purely as a work of faith, and has had no regular provision for support. It is entirely dependent upon contributions. Not unfrequently a destitute mother and her newborn babe are found homes in Christian families. GCB April 10, 1901, page 174.10

The Home Finding department seeks to procure homes, not only for orphan boys and girls of all ages, but also for rescued women, reformed men, discharged and paroled prisoners, and all classes of homeless and friendless persons. A considerable degree of success has attended this department since its establishment in 1896. GCB April 10, 1901, page 175.1

The Children’s Christian Home is designed to care for children under the age of eight, especially those who have but one parent, either father or mother being dead. School privileges are provided for the children, and a kindergarten in maintained in connection with the home. Many of the children are sent into good Christian homes. A branch of the Children’s Home is maintained in Berlin, Wis., with a corps of workers from Chicago in charge, and is able to accommodate fifteen or twenty children. The annual report shows 102 children cared for during the year, with an average number in the Chicago and Wisconsin homes of 48 during the year. The number sent into the country during the summer was 30. GCB April 10, 1901, page 175.2

The Chicago Medical Missionary Training School, established in 1897, is proving to be a practical success in the training of Christian medical missionary workers. Students admitted into the nurses’ classes are provided with work with which to meet the expense of instruction, board, room, etc. A fine opportunity is furnished for initiation into the various departments of missionary work in the great city, at the same time due amount of attention is given to the study of the various branches essential to the preparation of those who desire to engage in medical missionary work. GCB April 10, 1901, page 175.3

The Life Boat rescue work has done an untold amount of good in the rescue of discouraged, despondent, and fallen women. Scores of such women may now be traced to Christian homes, where they are rejoicing in their deliverance from the very gates of hell. GCB April 10, 1901, page 175.4

The Life Boat Mission, 436 State St., is in charge of W. S. Sadler and a corps of workers who are assisted by the students of the Chicago A. M. M. C. Gospel meetings are held every night at 7:45, and the regular gospel service is followed by what is known as the “midnight meeting,” which begins at 10 p.m. The mission carried on this work in co-operation with the Workingmen’s Home and other institutions of the Chicago Medical Mission. Those who profess conversion, and desire to lead a better life, are then taken at the close of the evening mission meeting to the Workingmen’s Home, where they are furnished with facilities for cleanliness, given proper food and clothing, and started out in a better way encouraged and strengthened. For a lack of these facilities many have fallen through hardships into intemperance and discouragement. Each year scores of hopeless cases are raised out of the mire of sin and restored to usefulness in home, society, and church. GCB April 10, 1901, page 175.5

The Life Boat.—Since the last General Conference the publication of the little monthly illustrated periodical called the Life Boat has proved a valuable aid in mission and prison work in the slums of the great cities. Two special prison editions of 50,000 copies have been issued. A large number of regular correspondents resulted from these efforts, and the usefulness of the journal seems sure beyond a doubt. GCB April 10, 1901, page 175.6

A Department for Prisoners’ Aid has been established, and has already secured employment for a large number of discharged prisoners. GCB April 10, 1901, page 175.7

The Good Health Hotel affords better accommodations than are found in the usual lodging-houses, where, for a moderate price, ranging from $1 to $2 a week, workingmen can have regular home privileges, with good, clean, Christian influences. This institution was established in 1900, and has been entirely self-supporting besides being a substantial help to those who are seeking to lead better lives. GCB April 10, 1901, page 175.8

The Life Boat Rest, 581 1-2 Clark Street, was also established in 1900, and is the youngest of the Chicago Medical Missionary group. It was opened in February of the past year in the very midst of a submerged portion of Chicago. The matron and two assistants live in the institution, making it the headquarters for their rescue work. This institution depends entirely upon voluntary contributions for its support. GCB April 10, 1901, page 175.9

The Life Boat Supply Department is the result of a recent effort at self-support. This department seeks to take advantage of the exceptional commercial advantages of Chicago in supplying its readers with such things as they may need at a moderate cost, and utilizing the profits of the same for the establishment of the work. By this agency, brethren living in distant States may make purchases by mail to good advantage and at the same time aid the work. The Catalogue of the Life Boat Supply Department gives full information concerning this enterprise. GCB April 10, 1901, page 175.10

The Treasurer’s report for the last year shows the total donations received for the Chicago Medical Mission, to be $4,542.72; earnings of the various departments, $37,573.79; balance on hand at the beginning of year, $515.24; disbursements amounted to $44,738.58; overdraft on Treasurer at the end of year, $2,106.83; bills payable, $1,210.50; leaving a total deficit, Nov. 1, 1900, of $3,317.33. GCB April 10, 1901, page 175.11

The financial need of the work at the present time, besides the amount to cover the deficit of the running expenses last year, would be $200 for repairs on the training school; $900 for the Life Boat Rest for the ensuing year; $1,500 to maintain the Life Boat Mission; $1,200 for the general expenses of the Chicago Medical Mission; about $1,000 for the Emergency Fund for immediate relief in caring for the sick and poor; and $3,000 for the support of evangelistic workers, visiting nurses’ salary and board of non-salaried workers. GCB April 10, 1901, page 175.12

The Workingmen’s Home and Good Health Hotel are practically self-supporting. GCB April 10, 1901, page 175.13

The statistical report gives among others the following very interesting items:—
No. of treatments given during the past year, 5,756.
Medical examinations at the dispensary, 1,534.
Surgical operations, 153.
Children cared for in the Children’s Christian Home, 102.
Garments given away, 4,500.
Visits by visiting nurses, 2,025.
Full days of nursing, 8,274.
Penny lunches, 591,860.
Lodgings given, 70,872.
No. of attendance at gospel meetings, 48,174.
Testaments and Bibles given away, 1,018.
Pages of tracts distributed, 34,800.
Other literature, 35,600.
Pages of Life Boat printed and circulated, 4,184,000.
Requests for prayer, 2,769.
Professed conversions, 615. GCB April 10, 1901, page 175.14

The workers report that scarcely a week passes but what, in addition to the general rescue work done by the missions in Chicago, they succeed in saving some young man or woman from entering into the snares and temptations of Chicago city life, encouraging them to return to their country homes to lead honest and honorable lives, rather than choose the path that leads to sin and destruction. GCB April 10, 1901, page 175.15

The Nurses Training School is an efficient and valuable factor in the advancement of health principles. Those who have presented themselves for training have, for the most part, developed into useful and consecrated workers. Many who have gone out into the field from this department have been instrumental in starting centers in various towns and cities, from which the light of health principles have shone to those who are in need. Some of the enterprises started by the nurses who have gone out from the parent institution have grown, in spite of the numerous obstacles and difficulties which had to be met, and are now dignified by the name of branch sanitariums. Such institutions are to be seen now in Detroit, Mich.; Toledo, O.; Wheeling, W. Va.; Jackson, Mich.; Madison, Wis.; Little Rock, Ark., and a number of other places. GCB April 10, 1901, page 176.1

Number of nurses at present in the field, 236. GCB April 10, 1901, page 176.2

Number of graduate nurses, 212. GCB April 10, 1901, page 176.3

Number of undergraduate nurses, 404. GCB April 10, 1901, page 176.4

Advanced Nurses’ Course. About a year ago a number of nurses who had gone out in the field were invited to return to the Battle Creek Sanitarium, in order to get a more thorough and advanced training. Forty-five nurses, who proved successful in their work in the field, responded to the invitation, and were given every advantage of the advanced facilities and improved methods of treatment which have been developed in the past few years. One of the principal features of the course was the study of the principles of hydrotherapy, and the application of the same in the treatment of diseases, making use of the advanced sheets of Dr. Kellogg’s new book on that subject. The nurses were also given an opportunity to study the diagnosis of diseases, and also given a short course in the general principles and practice of medicine, as it would come within their sphere of work. The course proved both valuable and effective for the nurses, making them much more efficient laborers, especially where they are obliged to go into fields unaccompanied by a physician to aid them in carrying out their treatments. The board is coming to realize more and more that the educational workers must be constantly pushed in order to keep up the supply of efficient laborers in the field. The numerous calls coming in from various parts of the broad field serve to admonish us that in spite of our past efforts, we shall have to make a hard pull to keep abreast with the demands. GCB April 10, 1901, page 176.5

There have been fifty schools of health held since the last report. These have been held in connection with Chautauqua assemblies in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and elsewhere, and other schools in Iowa, Washington, and other places. In these schools, lectures and practical demonstration on dietetics, dress, physical culture, and general principles of health have been held. The audiences have, especially at the Chautauquas, numbered into the thousands, and the demonstration classes from 50 to 200. By these means many who would not otherwise have been reached have received some knowledge of the gospel of health. GCB April 10, 1901, page 176.6

As to our own people, physicians and nurses from the Sanitarium have attended camp meetings, and labored as they had opportunity. GCB April 10, 1901, page 176.7

Health Publications. There have been ten periodicals issued in the interest of healthful living during the interval since the last report. Of these the oldest is Good Health, founded as the Health Reformer in 1866, and steadily pressing forward these forty years and more, its purpose of disseminating the principles of healthful living. During the last two years it has issued three special editions.—December, 1899, with an edition of 75,000; December, 1900, with an edition of 100,000; and the midwinter number of 1900, with an edition of 50,000. The aggregate circulation for 1900 was 375,000, making a monthly average of 30,000 for last year. The plan of Good Health has been to give the principles of healthful living, diet, and dress, simple treatments, etc., in a form adapted to the popular understanding, illustrating the various subjects by original cuts. GCB April 10, 1901, page 176.8

The Haskell Home for orphans and dependent children is now in its eleventh year. For the purpose of this and the James White Memorial Home for Aged Persons we refer the delegates and those interested to the April number of the Haskell Home Appeal, which will be distributed. GCB April 10, 1901, page 176.9

During the last two years we have had:—
Applications for admittance to the Haskell Home, 115.
Children admitted, 72.
Children placed in families or returned to parents, 20.
Deaths, 3.
Children in Home, Jan. 1, 1901, 112.
The James White Home for Aged Persons has had:—
Applications for admittance, 46.
Persons admitted, 22.
Deaths, 14.
Returned to relatives, 10.
In Home, Jan. 1, 1901, 36. GCB April 10, 1901, page 176.10

The Medical Missionary and Gospel of Health is a thirty-two page monthly, devoted, as its name signifies, to medical missionary work in its various phases, and the promulgation of the gospel of health. It devotes much space to the study of health as a religious obligation, and the practical phases of Christianity in the home, the community, and in home and foreign fields; with reports of medical missionary work in the denomination, and the progress of medical missionary work at large. There have been six monthly journals issued in English, and one each in the French, German, Danish, Norwegian, and Spanish languages, whose influence, reaching an immense circle, can hardly be estimated. GCB April 10, 1901, page 176.11

We have spoken of the special editions of Good Health, and their circulation. The Pacific Health Journal has also issued special editions during the past two years, with excellent success. The journals in foreign languages, especially on the Continent of Europe, have from the first, beginning with Elder Matteson’s efforts in the Scandinavian languages, met with excellent acceptation and a wide circulation. We regret that our reports from these fields have not given us data from which to speak definitely. GCB April 10, 1901, page 176.12

Health Foods. The past two years have demonstrated more fully the stability of our reforms in the lines of health foods. At the present time there are on the market over forty health foods, which are a direct outgrowth of the reforms along this line. Three such foods, which have been developed during the past two years, have already proved themselves to be much-needed and valuable articles, and have gained a place in the world’s market. The output of cereal foods amounts to about $1,000 worth a day. These foods go into the numerous homes where our literature or Bible and other workers have not been, and sit as guests at the tables, imparting instruction and health to their hosts. The large number of testimonials which are constantly pouring in to the Health Food offices, and the inquiries in regard to how to eat for health and long life, show that this branch of the work is making its field, and is doing an untold amount of good. It is not an unusual thing for letters to come in telling how lives of individuals and sometimes of families have at least been made happier, and in some cases, even lives saved by the use of the foods without any other treatment whatever. GCB April 10, 1901, page 176.13

In illustration of this fact, we might mention the case of a gentleman who was suffering from ulceration of the stomach. He had been practically given up by his physicians, and was suffering from daily hemorrhages. By the simple use of one of the health foods, under the direction of one of our physicians, the man began to recover from the first day of treatment. During the first week, though he had been very much emaciated, he gained six pounds of flesh. In three weeks he had gained twenty pounds, and in five weeks he had gained thirty-five pounds, and was back to his normal weight. It is needless to say that he is now not only a living advertisement for the health foods, but a strong advocate of the principles which have done so much for him. Similar testimonials could be produced as to the effect of health foods upon people of all ages. GCB April 10, 1901, page 177.1

At the present time the foods are being manufactured in at least six different portions of the United States, and in eight foreign countries. The home institutions have realized that the health foods are a valuable adjunct to the spread of the work of the third angel’s message, in giving the people a correct idea of the rational reforms which we advocate, and in opening the way to receive many of the other good things which we have for them. More than $9,000 has been expended in protecting the health foods in foreign countries, where they may be taken up as a missionary enterprise, and also a means of self-support by our workers who may in the future open up work in these countries. As a people, we have great cause for gratitude that our Heavenly Father has directed our minds to this much-neglected subject. Surely our prayers, sympathy, and support should be with the health food work. GCB April 10, 1901, page 177.2

Every nurse has a thorough training in the theory and practice of scientific cookery. The course covers a period of about four weeks of class work, after which each member stands four weeks in the Hospital kitchen, thus getting a training in how to take charge of a dining room and kitchen and to manage tray service. GCB April 10, 1901, page 177.3

A class for patients is also carried on daily. These classes are well attended by those of our patients who are anxious to grasp the principles, and gain everything possible to enable them to regain health, and work a reform in their homes and among their friends. GCB April 10, 1901, page 177.4

Cooking Schools. It is not only important that health foods should be manufactured, but that the people should be instructed on the best methods of preparing them. Many have failed to receive the benefit from the health foods which they might have received, because of a lack of knowledge of the proper methods of combining and preparing such foods for the table. It is for this reason that cooking schools are of special importance. Such schools are maintained in most of our leading institutions for the instruction of both helpers and patients. Great interest is taken in the cooking schools by those who come to our institutions from the outside. The interest that is taken by outside people in this branch of the work, and its influence upon the home life of such people, may perhaps be best illustrated by an incident which occurred in one of our large cities not long ago. GCB April 10, 1901, page 177.5

A wealthy lady of good standing in society visited one of our branches, and became interested in health foods. Her interest led her to introduce the health foods upon her own table and to her numerous friends. Not long ago this lady, feeling a desire of presenting to her friends in a suitable manner that which was doing so much for herself and family, got up a vegetarian dinner, to which she invited twenty of the leading people of her city. It was the writer’s privilege to be present, and it was certain that no one could sit down to a more healthful dinner, or more daintily prepared, than that which was spread by this apostle of health reform raised up by the instrumentality of the health foods. The lady shortly afterward visited one of our cooking schools, and laying aside her gloves, etc., soon had on an apron, and was a pupil among the rest. Later reports show that the principles which she gathered from the cooking school have been carried out in her home, and that her husband and family of grown-up boys have been quite won over to the principles of healthful living by the mother’s skillful care and discretion in presenting the foods before them. Certainly here is a lesson for us all in the method in which we present our food reforms. Our cooking schools are the most valuable adjunct to the work, and the principles of food combinations and the healthful preparation of foods should be agitated wherever there are Seventh-day Adventists. GCB April 10, 1901, page 177.6

During the past two years a large number of pupils have been instructed in our organized cooking schools, besides numerous others who have received instruction in our cooking schools on a smaller scale. GCB April 10, 1901, page 177.7

The definition of the word “sanitarium” has been given as “a place where the whole gospel is presented.” To the careful observer in any of our Sanitariums, this definition will soon be apparent as the correct one. It is not an unusual thing for a physician or a nurse to hold seasons of prayer, Bible conversations and studies, with those who come under their care and protection, aside from the regular services held by the chaplains of our institutions. It must be apparent that some of the most effectual heart-to-heart work is done by the physicians and nurses, who, in the midst of their work for the salvation of the body, are seeking to lead them to a higher and better life. GCB April 10, 1901, page 177.8

It has been frequently remarked by the physicians and nurses connected with our institutions that many of the sick people who come to us are sick because they are out of touch with God, and that in spite of the best efforts to treat and heal their disease, no progress can be made until their hearts are right with their Heavenly Father. Frequently during the past two years, we have noted cases in which no progress was made until the heart was yielded to God, and then, following the same methods of treatments, the patients began at once to improve until complete health was restored. Such a case was that of a wealthy ranchman who came to the Sanitarium about a year and a half ago. After spending eight months at the institution, he seemed to have made but little progress. He was greatly discouraged, as were his friends, and about despaired of his life. One day while in the physician’s office, he expressed a desire to know more of Christianity, and thereupon the physician invited him to read the Bible, and pray. The man replied that he could not read the Bible, and did not know how to pray. The physician read to him some verses from the Scripture, which seemed to be appropriate to his needs at the time, and then, kneeling with him, placed on the lips of the grayhaired man a simple prayer. This was repeated day after day until the man had learned to pray for himself, and to study the Bible. From the day that he thus yielded himself to God, his improvement was marked. In three months he went away from the institution apparently well. GCB April 10, 1901, page 177.9

Numerous such cases might be cited, and also instances of people who have been brought into the truth to do efficient work for the Master in our various institutions. There seems to be more and more disposition on the part of our workers to seek the blessings of God in the accomplishment of their great work, and to recognize the fact that ours is not simply a medical work, but a medical missionary work. GCB April 10, 1901, page 178.1

Calls for Aid. Numerous calls for aid from various sources are daily coming in, and making their demands upon the Medical Missionary Board. Calls for financial aid have been frequent during the past two years from individuals in need of charity, and from institutions in need of financial encouragement and help, as well as from other branches of our work. It has been possible to respond to these calls from the fact that occasionally the Lord has sent to our institutions people of means, who have become interested in our work, and have been led to put at our disposal money to be used for its advancement. Among the patients in our institution are frequently representative men from communities that are in need of just the kind of work that is being done in our institutions. Frequently during the past two years such men have made appeals to our board to establish treatment-rooms or branch sanitariums in their locality. Some have offered financial aid as an inducement to establish such work. Others, have offered property and moral support. Some of these calls have been so urgent that it was impossible to refuse them. One such man, inside of twenty-five hours after he was told to find what his people would do, had secured subscriptions to over $800 worth of treatments to be given in the prospective treatment-rooms. Others have raised as high as $15,000 and $20,000 worth of pledges for money to be paid in treatments as given at such institutions. It has been necessary during the past two years to keep some one of our physicians, and often more than one, in the field a good portion of the time, looking up interests of this kind of work, and giving it direction. GCB April 10, 1901, page 178.2

Calls for Literature. Demands for reading-matter on health principles and concerning our Christian Help and philanthropic work, are daily made. Tracts, pamphlets, and the various health subjects are receiving a wider distribution than ever before. The health books are being greatly appreciated. Hardly a patient comes to our institution who does not take away with him a small library of literature to be read after returning to his home. Through the facilities of the press it is made possible for many who can not visit our institutions or branches of our work, to become intelligent and well-informed in regard to the principles of healthful living as well as the rational treatment of disease, through the literature which is published. GCB April 10, 1901, page 178.3

Calls for Cooks. During the past two years, demands for those who are instructed in scientific and healthful cookery have been more numerous than ever before. The committee have found it utterly impossible to supply the demand, and fill the great need to-day for intelligent young people who have a burden for this phase of the work, to take up the study of healthful cookery and make it a profession. GCB April 10, 1901, page 178.4

The calls for nurses and doctors during the past two years, as in all years previous, have been a steady demand. It is very perplexing to know the best disposition to make of our limited supply of nurses and doctors. The demands are so numerous, and the laborers so few, that many calls must necessarily remain unanswered. Yet it is the desire of those connected with the work so to arrange that the best interests of the work may be advanced, and that as far as possible these calls may be answered. In the presence of advancing disease, it must certainly be apparent to the observer not only to seek to educate and train faithful workers who shall be ready to stem the tide of death and destruction, but also as individuals so to equip ourselves with the knowledge of the principles which the Lord has given us, that we may all be in our place when the enemy comes in like a flood, to lift up the standard against him. GCB April 10, 1901, page 178.5

The Chair: What will you do with this report? Is there any action to be taken with relation to it? GCB April 10, 1901, page 178.6

W. W. Prescott: I thought it would be of interest to make one or two comparisons from the facts which were submitted. GCB April 10, 1901, page 178.7

The Chair: Would it not be well to get the report before the house first? GCB April 10, 1901, page 178.8

W. W. Prescott: I move to accept the report. GCB April 10, 1901, page 178.9

L. R. Conradi: I second the motion. GCB April 10, 1901, page 178.10

W. W. Prescott: I find from the statistics given in the General Conference Bulletin, on page 163, that the entire General Conference employs 510 ministers, 337 licentiates. 571 missionary licentiates, making a total of 1,418 workers of these three classes, with sufficient other helpers and workers, such as stenographers, secretaries, etc., to bring the total number of employees up to 1,500. I was not quite sure, Mr. Chairman of the statistics: but the best I could get it, from the report, is that this association employs 74 physicians, 448 nurses, and about 1,200 other helpers. Am I correct? GCB April 10, 1901, page 178.11

The Secretary: I think that is about right. GCB April 10, 1901, page 178.12

W. W. Prescott: Then if this is correct, there are more persons in the employ of this association in its various departments of work, than in the employ of the whole General Conference. Is that correct? GCB April 10, 1901, page 178.13

J. H. Kellog: The number is nearly 2,000 now. GCB April 10, 1901, page 178.14

W. W. Prescott: There are 1,500 in the employ of the General Conference. Now it has seemed to me that these figures were very striking, and are worth noticing; and so many were nodding assent while it was going on that I fear they did not notice these figures, and do not realize the size of the work that is being brought before us to-day. I would like to ask in this connection from the Chairman or Secretary, for just a word of explanation as to the way in which this vast army, a larger corps of workers than is in the total employ of the General Conference, is supervised in its work, and how much machinery is required, and is actually in use by this association for carrying forward such a work as has been brought to our attention in this brief report. GCB April 10, 1901, page 178.15

J. H. Kellogg: I do not know exactly what answer should be given to this question. I might say, however, that in the first place, the Medical Missionary Board is the center of this work, yet the Medical Missionary Board never assigns work to anybody; it never sends anybody to a field. It was set down as one of our cardinal principles at the beginning of the work of the Medical Missionary Board, that it would send nobody out; it would call nobody to a field; but when there was a call presented, the Medical Missionary Board here at Battle Creek would present the call, and if a man came forward, and said, “I feel a burden to go to that field,” the board would say, “We will help you to go, and the Lord will help you when you get there.” It does not undertake to manage people in the field. The medical work is a kind of work so evidently personal that it is full of emergencies; it is a work that can not be managed at a distance; so it would be utterly impossible to undertake to do anything of that sort. The Medical Missionary Board simply encourages its workers in the field, and helps them to do the work which they feel that the Lord is leading them to do. If the man has something to do that seems to be contrary to the wisdom, or the opinions and views, of the board; if the Lord gives him the means with which to do it, he goes ahead and does it. The board does not put a veto on his work. GCB April 10, 1901, page 179.1

At the Sanitarium each one in his department has his own work. There are persons in each of the departments who work with them, and one person takes charge of the department, not as having command of it, but as a person who has had experience in that department, and knows something about it, and can instruct those who come to work with him. We have very little machinery, and certainly very little exercise of authority. Our work is of such a character that it would be impossible to do that. Are there any other questions? GCB April 10, 1901, page 179.2

A. T. Jones: The impossibility of it is not the only reason for it, is it? GCB April 10, 1901, page 179.3

Dr. Kellogg: The board at the very start decided they would not do business that way because it is evidently impossible to do that. I might say another thing: It is impossible not only because of the nature of things, but because of the nature of the people. One finds out, when he comes to deal with doctors and nurses, that their work can not be managed at a distance. It is a work that is full of emergencies that require immediate action; and if there is anybody on this earth who learns to be independent, and rely on his own resources, with God helping him, it is the doctor and the nurse. They can not work by rule; they can not work under authority. The work has to be done with direct reference to the case in hand. GCB April 10, 1901, page 179.4

There are one or two interesting items in relation to the report. The first is in relation to the work in Chicago. It is the matter of self-support. It was mentioned that the work was largely self-supporting there. The Workingmen’s Home is a little more than self-supporting. It takes care of its houses, cares for a multitude. I understand that some have had the idea that the Medical Missionary Board has erected a large number of buildings in Chicago. Some have held that idea, and some have believed it. The illustrations in the Life Boat have perhaps given the idea that these buildings have been erected by the Chicago mission, or by the Sanitarium. The Medical Mission Board, or the Chicago branch of the work, does not own a single building in Chicago. There is one building in Chicago, owned by the American Medical Missionary College, and that is the old mission building at 28 Thirty-third Place, where the branch Sanitarium is located. This mission building was purchased from the General Conference. When the Wessels Brothers of South Africa gave some money to the Medical Missionary Board to start the work in Chicago, this building was purchased, and afterward turned over to the Medical College by the Medical Missionary Board. The other buildings are large ones, which were vacant, and practically of no use for the business for which they were built: and so they are rented to us at a very small rental. A building, for example, that would otherwise bring four or five hundred dollars a month is rented for one hundred and twenty five dollars. GCB April 10, 1901, page 179.5

One word also with reference to the Treasurer’s report, which shows the amount of the bills payable, to be $20,000. The report does not represent all the property of the Association. In addition to the property mentioned here, there is the Pedicord farm, which was donated to the Chicago work, and of which I was personally made a trustee. I have not yet had an opportunity to turn it over, as the courts have the matter still in hand. Just a word as an illustration of how God is taking care of our work in Chicago. For instance, there is the dispensary, which earns forty, or fifty, or a hundred dollars a month. There is the Branch Sanitarium, carried on by the Medical College, of which Dr. Paulson and his wife have charge. This earns from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred dollars a month. Not a dollar is taken away from Chicago. The doctors there have worked in a self-sacrificing way. GCB April 10, 1901, page 179.6

The nurses go into the training school, in the city, and work for their board. They go out and work for nothing until their scanty amount of money is gone, and then they come back to the Sanitarium to work again. Or, two or three working in the city will put their money into the same treasury, and support themselves on perhaps one or two dollars a week. Our work in Chicago is only maintained by our workers laboring on a self-sacrificing and self-denying plan, and because our expenses are so little, and our doctors and nurses contribute so liberally of their means. GCB April 10, 1901, page 179.7

When our medical college was starting in Chicago about five years ago, we were holding a gathering of our medical students, and talking over the situation, our needs, etc., I asked them, “What do we need the most for this work?” A young man, who is now a doctor, and sitting here in this audience to-day, spoke up, “We need, most of all, a farm, to help our work, and get these poor fellows that we are trying to reform, out of the city into the country, away from temptation.” So I said, “We will kneel right down, and pray for a farm.” So we prayed for that farm, and we agreed that we should keep on praying every day for a week. We said: “The Lord owns all the farms in Illinois, and he can give us a farm if we need it.” GCB April 10, 1901, page 179.8

Before that week was out, a wealthy man who was here at the Sanitarium sent for me to come and see him. I thought he wanted to see me about his heart, so I went to see him for a few minutes, and came away. He sent for me again the next day. I thought I had seen him enough; but I dropped in, and saw him for a few minutes. and he did not know what he wanted of me himself. But on Sabbath morn[ing] he telephoned out to my house, and said that he must see me that morning, so he had the nurse wheel him out to my house. I was out under the trees with my children, telling Bible stories and singing some songs, and he came right out where we were. He said: “Doctor, I am not going to live very long, and I want to do something with my money, so that it will be doing some good after I am gone. I have provided for my children, and I want to talk with you about this matter.” GCB April 10, 1901, page 179.9

“Well,” I said, “there are some medical students in Chicago who are praying for a farm to help them in their work there.” GCB April 10, 1901, page 180.1

“Is that so?” he said; “why, I have six farms, and they can have one of them just as well as not. Send for a lawyer, and we will make them over a deed for one of them.” GCB April 10, 1901, page 180.2

So we sent for a lawyer, and that evening we had the deed made out for the farm, and it was deeded to me by the lawyer’s advice, because the man had said: “I don’t believe in your doctrines at all; I am a Baptist, but I believe in this work, and I want to help it. It saved my life years ago, and I feel that the money I have now, I have earned because of it. The last twenty years of my life are due to this institution, and I have earned the $80,000 that I have now since I came here. I gave away all my money when I came here; but I have earned another fortune since then, and so I feel an interest in this work, and I want to do something that will help it along.” GCB April 10, 1901, page 180.3

Well, he died six weeks afterward. His children contested the deed, and the courts set it aside. They had no reason for doing so, except, they said, that undue influence had been used. Besides, the law of Illinois has a statute which says that when a gift of that kind was made, there must be a instrument of trust accompanying it. But there was no such instrument accompanying the deed. The lawyers finally telegraphed me, asking, “Shall we carry it up to the Supreme Court?” I consulted them, and other lawyers, and they all thought that there was not much hope of our recovering it. Judge Arthur said: “There is no chance at all, because the law is against you.” GCB April 10, 1901, page 180.4

I was going to give it up when the thought struck me all of a sudden, “The Lord gave you that farm; stick to it.” So I telegraphed the attorney, at the very last moment, to carry the case up to the Supreme Court. The thing ran along for a year and a half, and nothing was heard about it. I said, “Well, we were not ready for the farm. It was ours, for God gave it to us; but he has taken it away from us for some reason.” GCB April 10, 1901, page 180.5

I went to England about a year and a half ago. When I was returning, I was on shipboard one Monday night, in midocean, and I got to thinking about that farm, and was worried about it. I thought, “God gave us that farm, but now he has taken it away from us.” I felt very badly about it; I wept and prayed about it. I felt that we were not what we ought to be, or we would have been permitted to keep the gift. As I thought how the work had lost what it so sadly needed, I felt sorry. I felt that I was not what I ought to be, and I repented, from the bottom of my heart, and spent the whole night praying about it. One does not easily forget that kind of nights. Some of you have had the same thing, and you know what the experience means. GCB April 10, 1901, page 180.6

Well, as I got off the ship, I saw a man shaking a telegram over the ropes at the landing. So I hastened to the place for the telegram, for I feared it was bad news from home; but it read: “Won the Pedicord case. The farm is ours.” I looked at the date, and it was Monday,—that very day when I spent the night out in mid-ocean, praying over this matter. I shall never forget the sensation that I experienced at that moment. “Oh,” I said, “there is a Universal Intelligence, that knows everything, and that takes care of us all; and when we once get in touch with him, and keep in touch with him, we may have a sure source of strength. GCB April 10, 1901, page 180.7

I met Judge Arthur afterward, who said: “Doctor, I want to talk with you a little about that case. It was the most interesting one I ever heard of. You must have had a friend on that Supreme Court bench, who knew you, and knew all about your work. I don’t know of any other reason why they should have gone into the case in such a wonderful way. They took such pains to inquire into every detail of it. They have declared that this farm is yours, notwithstanding that you have never had any formal instrument of trust.” GCB April 10, 1901, page 180.8

“How did they do it? Why did they go right against the law?” said I. GCB April 10, 1901, page 180.9

“They didn’t go right against the law.” GCB April 10, 1901, page 180.10

“How is that?” GCB April 10, 1901, page 180.11

“You signed a sworn statement that the farm was given you for such a purpose; then when you went down to testify, they threw your written testimony out, because they said you were an interested party. But the Supreme Court, in hunting this case all over, found this piece of rejected testimony, and said that it was really a declaration of trust.” GCB April 10, 1901, page 180.12

So they converted that rejected testimony into an instrument of trust. That is what it really was. I had signed it, and sworn to it. Now the Lord moved the Supreme Court to go and look that up. The lawyers had said we had no chance at all of winning; here was Judge Arthur, who had been fourteen years on the bench, and had never heard anything of that kind before. Why was it? The Lord’s Spirit put it into those men’s minds to search deeply into this thing. The Judge said: “Doctor, you must have had a friend in court,” and sure enough we did. But I didn’t know one of the judges, and I don’t to this day. But we did have a friend there. GCB April 10, 1901, page 180.13

Another interesting case of $7,000 more that has not been reported here. Down in Illinois somebody sent me a newspaper clipping which said that Lucy Price, an old lady, was taken to the insane asylum a few days before; and before she went, she made a deed of her property to the Medical Missionary Board. Well, that wasn’t a very promising kind of case: A crazy woman made a deed, and was taken to the insane asylum the next’ day. The judge thought it was rather a laughable case. Still, he thought it might be all right to look it up. So he wrote to a lawyer down there, and of course they said the woman was insane; and that the will was not worth anything. Her relatives came on to claim the property, but again I said, “We will see what the Supreme Court will say about it.” Lawyers said, just as they said before, that there wasn’t any chance for us at all. But when it came up to the Supreme Court, the Judge said that the only evidence that this woman was insane was the fact that she gave the Medical Missionary work $7,000, and there wasn’t anything very crazy about that. So the Supreme Court reversed the decision or the lower court, and we have another good farm in Illinois. I am glad to say that while we have no regular source of income, the Lord sees that our needs are all supplied, so we are not afraid on that score. GCB April 10, 1901, page 180.14

W. W. Prescott: Mr. Chairman, may GCB April 10, 1901, page 180.15

I ask one question more of the Treasurer? GCB April 10, 1901, page 181.1

The Chair: Yes, sir. GCB April 10, 1901, page 181.2

W. W. Prescott: Could the Treasurer tell us, without too much trouble, what proportion of the funds expended, according to this report, has been drawn by donations from the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, or how much it has cost the denomination to carry forward the work reported here to-day? GCB April 10, 1901, page 181.3

The Chair: Of the amount of money expended in carrying forward this work, only a small part of it is reported here. The amount actually expended during the last two years is somewhere about forty thousand dollars. About twenty thousand dollars of this has come in as contributions to the Haskell Home and the James White Memorial Home. That, of course, comes entirely from our own people. The greater portion of the remaining twenty thousand dollars comes from outside donors. But there is a very much larger sum used every year in carrying forward this work, which is not reported in this report. For illustration, the dispensary in Chicago earns and expends about five hundred dollars a month. There is six thousand dollars from that little dispensary. Then the branch Sanitarium in Chicago takes in from twelve to fifteen hundred dollars a month, which it expends in the work; so there is fifteen thousand dollars there, which does not enter into this financial report. The Workingmen’s Home earns about a thousand dollars a month, and expends it on the spot; so there is twelve thousand dollars there. If I should go through the whole list of institutions, and figure it all up, I could show you about one hundred thousand dollars which does not appear in this report, which is earned and expended in this work. But I will take pains to see that it does appear in the detailed report yet to appear. About ten per cent of the money actually expended in this benevolent work is contributed by our people. Nine tenths, at least, is earned in the work itself. GCB April 10, 1901, page 181.4

We have still a little time left. We have with us Dr. David Paulson and Brother W. S. Sadler, and some other representatives of the work in Chicago, and it might be of interest to hear from them concerning their work. We have with us Dr. Riley, of Boulder; Dr. Sanderson, of St. Helena; Dr. Ottosen, of Denmark; Dr. Moran, of Los Angeles; and many others, representing various institutions and branches of our work. There is not time for them to speak fully to-day with reference to their work. I will call on Brother Sadler to present a few words in relation to the evangelical part of the work in Chicago, as that is the work now mostly before you. GCB April 10, 1901, page 181.5

W. S. Sadler: I am sure I hardly know what to undertake to say to you, in a few words concerning a work that extends its influence over so many classes of society as you can naturally suppose a work in the city of Chicago would. GCB April 10, 1901, page 181.6

As I was listening to the report of the Secretary, there ran through my mind the different classes of society that are reached by various phases of our work in Chicago; and I think perhaps I can do no better in these few moments than briefly to pass over some of these classes, and mention some of the departments of work that reach them. GCB April 10, 1901, page 181.7

First, there are the poverty-stricken, thousands upon thousands of the extremely poor, residing in the slums of the city. These are helped and influenced both spiritually and physically by the visiting nurses and by our other workers—medical students and training-school students who go out to hold meetings, and spread the gospel of grace and of health. This same class are helped by our dispensary work, where they can receive free medical attention, and, as has been called to your attention, thoroughgoing treatment in the way of baths, etc., and not simply prescriptions for drugs. GCB April 10, 1901, page 181.8

Second, there are the wage-earners, a large class of people who are enabled to earn but small salaries; and these are helped by the mission. Large numbers of these people come to the Life Boat Mission. It is a mistaken notion that the mission reaches only the lower class of society. Almost any evening you can find nearly any class of society there; some of the higher classes come there to see what God is doing among other classes of people. GCB April 10, 1901, page 181.9

Third, there is the unfortunate class—those who perhaps have been sinned against more than they have sinned; those who find that society is against them, and for whom there is very little effort or sentiment to help to arise to a higher plane of living. There is an institution maintained for the special purpose of helping this class. GCB April 10, 1901, page 181.10

Fourth, we come down to the criminal class, to which your attention has been called in the department of Prisoners’ Aid. Many touching incidents are developed in this department, not only among the cases that come directly to us in Chicago, but elsewhere. Hardly a day passes but that some poor creature who is “out” with society, which goes on the supposition that “once a criminal, always a criminal,” comes to us for help. We must try to help such to find work, and get them on their feet again. If some of you could come to Chicago, I would be glad to introduce you to some of our earnest workers there, who are faithful and energetic, and yet who have been taken from prisons, some of whom are out on parole. We take many of these persons out of prison, some whose terms have not expired, and try to furnish them work. Then there is the correspondence, which might be spoken of. If the Lord Jesus would come to-day, I believe there would be a company of earnest people who are still in prisons, who would be ready to meet him. Many of them have received the whole truth while they are yet in prison. GCB April 10, 1901, page 181.11

Fifth, the wealthy. This class of people are reached in various ways, among which are the schools of health, the health education, and health literature. Moreover, our work is brought before them by virtue of what we are doing for these other classes in Chicago. I know Dr. Paulson and many of these workers are doing all they can to fill the openings which have been created among the better classes by these means. Brethren, we do not lack for opportunities, but for consecrated workers to do the work which opens before us. GCB April 10, 1901, page 181.12

I have tried to hold up before you the different classes that are reached by our different lines of work. Dr. Paulson could tell you of some of the most influential persons of the city who are at the Sanitarium there, gathered in by visiting of missionary nurses in the city. Our nurses enter both the best and the worst homes, and minister to the needs of the highest and the lowest classes; and the experiences and influences gained in the one are helpful in their work for the other. GCB April 10, 1901, page 181.13

I might specify several other classes, but I think I have swept the ground over in such a way that you may see that the medical missionary work furnishes us with machinery with which we are enabled to reach all classes in Chicago. I am grateful to God for his blessing in the work in Chicago. We have had many lessons to learn, and experiences to pass through, and perplexities to meet; but I believe steady improvement has been made all the time. Of the entire expense of about forty thousand dollars for the work in Chicago, over thirty-seven thousand dollars have been earned in the city of Chicago. The entire donations from our people to help sustain this work have been less than four thousand dollars. I believe that the work accomplished, with its direct influence in doing good to those who have been helped, and its indirect influence all over the United States in eradicating prejudice and holding up these phases of work before the world, has been well worth the investment. GCB April 10, 1901, page 181.14

The Chair: We will now listen to Dr. Paulson. GCB April 10, 1901, page 182.1

Dr. David Paulson: We are frequently asked, “What results can you show from the work in Chicago?” I have this to say, briefly,—that if a man knows he is doing his duty, he does not have to be inspired by results to continue working. It is enough for us to know that the Lord has used us to influence the lives of thousands of men, and make them more friendly for the further reception of this truth, even if they have not embraced the whole truth. What does it mean to embrace the whole truth? If a man’s life has been changed and helped; if his home has been made more happy; if he has been made a better man; if he has learned to pray; if he has accepted all the light he has had has not something been done? GCB April 10, 1901, page 182.2

As far as I am concerned personally, the two years I have spent in Chicago have been the happiest of my life. I know God sent me there. It was not a board that sent me there, and no board can take me away from there until God takes me away. If God should want me to go elsewhere, I want to go there. If I had not seen a particle of results, I would continue, remembering that men have gone many times farther than I have gone, and have worked many, many years, who yet could show no visible results. But we have seen noble men and women saved, who are now occupying good positions in this cause: and we can count dozens of precious souls who are the fruits of our labor. And is it not worth a great deal of effort to save even one soul? I have seen enough results to keep me encouraged. GCB April 10, 1901, page 182.3

We have had discouragements, perplexities, and difficulties to contend against; but these have been good for us. One thing I will mention, and that is a story that started two years ago, that there had been just about as many workers lost in Chicago as there were souls saved. I wish to say here, to the glory of God, that there has not been one worker who has been sent down to Chicago, or who has worked in connection with our organized work there, that met with a moral disaster. I want to say that over again: There is not one worker in all these years who has met a moral disaster in Chicago. GCB April 10, 1901, page 182.4

The Chair: It is time to end our meeting to-day. We shall have opportunity for other meetings, and many things more will be said. We hope to have time in some future meeting to hear from these representatives of our various institutions in different parts of the world. Is their any other business today? I hope our friends are going to take an interest in these meetings. GCB April 10, 1901, page 182.5

The term of office of the four following-named persons expires at this meeting: Geo. A. Irwin, A. T. Jones, O. A. Olsen, J. S. Comins. This association is to select persons to serve in these places for a term of two years. What is your pleasure with reference to this? GCB April 10, 1901, page 182.6

W. T. Knox: I move that the Chair be authorized to appoint the usual committees. GCB April 10, 1901, page 182.7

The motion was seconded. GCB April 10, 1901, page 182.8

The question was called, and carried unanimously. GCB April 10, 1901, page 182.9

It was moved and seconded to adjourn to 4 P. M., April 10. Motion prevailed. GCB April 10, 1901, page 182.10

Benediction pronounced by H. W. Decker. GCB April 10, 1901, page 182.11

J. H. KELLOGG, Chairman.
A. J. READ, Secretary.