the cup. Wondering, she looked at me, understanding now why this book was forbidden. Her fear was overcome and she said, This is the book which I wanted for a long time, and I am so glad that I can buy it.'

One evening I was received kindly by a Socialist. When he learned that I had the Bible he said despicably, 'This book is good for nothing; there is not one reliable story in it.' I asked which one he meant, and he said, 'It does not say where Noah's ark stood.' I read to him Genesis 8:4, And the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.' There came more questions, which I explained to him for two hours, answered by Scripture. As I wanted to go away, he asked if it was God's will to lose a hand, pointing to an eighteen-year-old girl, who had lost one hand in the factory. I read to him Matthew 5:30, If thy right hand offend thee cut it off,' and told her, 'This is for you'; but the 29th verse, If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee,' is for me, because I lost one eye, but not my faith in God and Jesus; so I speak from my own experience, and know that there is no salvation without a cross. Now the man bought the Bible and said, 'You did convince me, and if you can believe, I will too.' To the crippled girl I presented a New Testament in the name of the American Bible Society, which she thankfully received.

"In a house I met five men and three women drinking beer and whiskey. When I offered the Bible one asked, mockingly: Where is hell? I have traveled much already, but did not find it anywhere.' I said to him, 'The Bible speaks often of hell, and if you cannot understand this, will you explain to me on what the earth rests and who holds the seas together, that they do not flow out?' After this all were silent, and I could convince them of the power of God. The mocker was the first who bought a New Testament, and invited me to come again.

“I visited a Polish man who, when he found out that I had the Bible for sale, cried, 'Nothing of that kind in my home!' and scolded the priests, God, Jesus, and the Bible most fiercely. His wife and three boarders joined him, saying that the Bible was only a humbug. I said to him, 'I am sorry that you have read only humbug until now, and am not surprised that you are against the priest, but if you would have read the Bible, you would have become another man.' I asked him if he were not willing to read the Bible, and he said that if he could get an old one he would do When I came with the Bible he began to say again that God gave him nothing and he expected nothing from him, and he sneered at the thought of his help. When he stopped I asked him, Man, if your children should talk that way to you, how would you like it ?' He answered, 'Not at all.' Now, how shall God accept your blasphemy? But the Lord is merciful to you,' and I read to him the 103d Psalm, I. Timothy 1:15, and many others. Whereupon he said: 'You are right; go on and talk more in that way to

so.

me, because I hear you gladly. Leave us the Bible and come often

to us.

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Among the Hungarians in Burnsdale, South Chicago, I found many Protestants, but mostly without a Bible, so I was welcomed by them. In one house there were six men, and I read to them Luke 2. One man bought a Bible and another sprang up from bed to get one. In another house a young man was reading the Bible, which he had bought from a colporteur. I was rejoiced because it was the first young man that I met reading the Bible. He told me, I feel very happy since I have the Bible, and this is my only lecture.'

out money.

he was not at

"I met a young man who was interested in the Bible, but withHe asked me to come on pay-day, but when I went home. The next day he was sick in bed, and without a penny. All had gone into the saloon. His landlord told me that he earned $50 in two weeks, but that he did not have a pair of good shoes or two shirts. I find the same true of the Polish and Lithuanians; that they have the money only on pay-day. Afterward it is hard to sell them anything, because they are without money.'

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The Golden Word

One young German woman invited me very kindly to her home. When she found out that I sold Bibles she said: 'Oh, what a wonderful book this is-every letter is golden. I received a Bible as a present, but did not read it for a long time. Once when I started to read the Lord appeared to me and opened my eyes and heart and I found out what a big sinner I was. Since I read the Bible I am a new creature; all is different with me. I have five little children, but the Lord strengthens me every day with new power.' She called her neighbor, also a converted woman, and we held a prayer meeting together, thanking the Lord for his great mercy.

Waiting for the Word

"In Chicago Heights a Lithuanian woman told me: 'I have been waiting for two years for the Bible. I had one, but a man took it away from me, and I was afraid that I would never receive another. Now my desire is fulfilled, and I am happy.' The Lithuanians buy the Bible gladly, but many who possess one complain that the new version is unintelligible, mixed with German words which they cannot understand, and therefore the Bible is put aside unread.

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"I often hear distainful words against the Bible, as This is nothing,' or, This is dung.' In such cases it takes all of my energy to interest the people in the Bible and to try to put it at all events in every home. It requires a lot of courage to put something into such a brutish mind, but I have learned during my sixteen years of this work to have patience with the people."

Mr. Kowalik has sold Scriptures during the year in the following

languages: English, Lithuanian, Swedish, Blind, Polish, Bohemian, Roumanian, Croatian, Russian, Flemish, Ruthenian, German, Servian, Hungarian, Slavic, Italian, Slovak, and Slovenian. Bibles sold, 281; Bibles donated, 17; total, 298. Testaments sold, 247; Testaments donated, 59; total, 306. Portions sold, 596; Gospels donated, 7; total, 603. Families visited, 4,131; families found without Bibles, 3,418.

B. M. Baligrodzki

"The greater part of my time this year has been spent in selling Bibles in Chicago and its suburbs, where the foreign settlements are located. I have spent much time in the stockyard district, South Chicago, and Gary, where I have placed many Bibles in the hands of the people who had never seen the Bible before. Very often I have spent days in visiting people in saloons and did my best to interest them in the Word of God and the salvation of their souls. The work in saloons is very hard, as it does not very often meet with the saloon-keeper's approval; yet it brings good results, because many who laugh first when I offer them the Bible, later see their mistake and buy the Bible or a Testament. My work has been chiefly among the Polish, Lithuanian, and Russian people.

How the Other Half Lives

"I have made a few trips to Gary, Ind., where I have sold many Bibles to people of many nationalities. Especially I have made many visits to Polish laborers who are squatters' on the steel company's land. They have a regular colony of shacks, built from old lumber and tar paper. Some of these are hardly high enough for a man to stand in. Usually the shack holds one or two families, or from five to twenty-five men, who are boarding themselves. Most of them have recently come to this country, but I have found them willing to have me read the Bible to them, and many have cheerfully bought Bibles and Testaments from me. They are hard workers and save money, but often they forget themselves, on pay-day especially, and drink hard.

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In one shack I found two brothers playing cards. They were keeping boarders. I asked them if they would like to have me read the Bible to them, to which they gladly consented. They asked me many questions, and after a long talk they were deeply interested. They asked me the price of one. I told them seventy-two cents. They said it was very cheap, and that they would like to buy it, but they could not read. The older brother gave me the money, saying that one of the boarders was well educated and could read, and that he would read it to them.

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While in Gary I visited the steel company's hospital, and I distributed many Testaments and portions in many languages to sick laborers. They thanked me many times and were glad to get the Gospels in their native language.

Playing Good Samaritan

He

"In one house I found a man crippled with rheumatism. had been in this country only a year, and was about forty-five years old. He was without any money and was kept by his countrymen. Some men in this house were singing and quarreling over cards, but when I read the Bible to the sick man they all became quiet and took their hats off. When I knelt down to pray, many of them knelt down and prayed with me. I donated a Bible to this man. He was very grateful. When I was leaving many of the men wanted to give me money for praying with this sick man, but I told them to use it for him. I took the sick man to Chicago, where the doctors said that he would never get well. He cried when I sent him back to Gary, and said he wished he could see his family in Europe before he died. I reported his case to the Immigration Commissioners, and they have sent him back to Europe to his native-village. I raised a purse of $25 among his countrymen to help him along. When I put him on the train, en route to New York, he cried like a child and thanked me for the Bible which he was holding in his hand, and said that he will remember to his last hour the day when the man with the Bibles came to his home.

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The Sooner the Better

I have learned that it is easier to work among the people who have just come to this country than those who have been here longer and have been poisoned with the lectures of drunken infidels in saloons, who say, 'No church, no Bible for me,' but God has helped me to show many of them how wrong they were, and I have sold many of them Bibles."

Mr. Baligrodzki's report for the past year shows the following totals: Bibles sold, 361, Bibles donated, 9; total, 370. New Testaments sold, 76, Testaments donated, 4; total 80. Portions sold, 166, portions donated, 106; total, 272. In all, 722. Days spent in work, 260; miles traveled, 2,203; families visited, 6,860; families found without Bible, 2,523; families without a Bible supplied, 246; individuals without a Bible supplied, 270.

D. M. Didriksen

This faithful co-worker has suffered a great affliction the past year in the loss of his voice. The Secretary accompanied him to the best medical authorities in Minneapolis, but they gave no hope for a cure. Help was sought in Evanston, Ill., and in California, without success. In spite of this handicap, Mr. Didriksen, aided by his faithful wife, has done most effective work and has kept up his sales to an unexpected figure. He writes:

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Another year has passed and God has been merciful to me. I am very happy that I can do something for my Lord. With the help of my wife my work has enlarged a little this year. Most of our canvassing has been done among the Scandinavians in the Twin Cities,' only a few trips having been made to surrounding places.

6

On the banks of the Mississippi River, a short distance below the city, are what are known as the Bohemian Flats,' where quite a settlement of these people are living in shacks and rude structures. I canvassed the place and gave some Scriptures to the poor, who are very numerous there.

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A Penitent Thief

'One afternoon I went to the post-office to buy stamps. Somebody, thinking my satchel was a jewel box, walked off with it. I felt very badly over my loss. Three days later I received a postal card, telling me that my bag was at the post-office. The thief had come back and left the satchel, with my Bibles and contents safe, in the same place I left it. I think that when the thief found out that there were no jewels, but something better than jewels, that God's power over him was so strong that he led him back with it." The sales were 1,431 Bibles, 1,097 Testaments, and a limited number of portions.

LeRoy Knott

This worker continued his activities with his accustomed diligence and success in and around Indianapolis until the early summer. Wishing to send an experienced colporteur to test the opportunities for Bible work at the great locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Mr. Knott was sent to the Soo in August and labored there until October 1st, when he was discontinued as our representative. He co-operated with Miss Emma Nason and the other officials of the Great Lakes Mission in evangelistic and Bible work, but for several reasons did not find it possible to sell books to the sailors on the vessels as they were being locked through the canal. While the experiment was in a measure a failure, it also taught us what steps must be taken to reach the multitudes passing through this port. We cannot be satisfied until we have found the man and the method to perform our peculiar ministry at this place.

Mr. Otto H. Nater has been secured to represent us at Indianapolis and vicinity, and the way he has begun gives great promise both in the method and spirit with which our work will be done.

R. L. Petersen, a correspondent in South Dakota, put out many books in that most needy field.

Bibles Sent in Answer to Prayer

"I found an aged lady who had been praying that her Heavenly Father would send her a large-type Bible, that she might enjoy reading His Word. She bought both a large-type Bible and a Testament, and as I was leaving the house I heard her thanking God for sending those books to her."

A Common Testimony

In this word Mr. Peterson voices the sentiments of most of our workers: "I find my greatest joy not in selling high-priced Bibles,