The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 12, 1906, Page 10

THE SAN FRANCISCQ SUNDAY CALL. e of commereialism no one ressed surprise that the saving of a soul should be placed on a dellar and cent basis. In the statement of the Rev. E. H. Peacock of the Tabermacle Church of Atlamta, Ga., to the effcet that souls could be saved in Atlanta at cents ench, but that it o $1 to mave a soul im Chi- mment arose—not from the cago, the sssertion that souls could be bartered for like sacks of meal, but from the ridicuously low price of the market quotations. Chiesgo indignantly re- sponded that it cost to make a convert im that eity. A little investi- gation of the subject resulis in the information that there ix 3 possibility of market value It might be figures of the rev- placing an estimated on the saving of a woul shown—taking the erend gentleman of Atianta and going back of the surface figures in of mere numerons instances—that the cost saving a single soul varies from cents to $100,000—perkaps more. By Frederick Boyd Stevenson. sts $100,000 a t is worth price in either eve But there is something in e sp of these times a s for the k grasp of the fola P i loss ledger and our d en arawn dollars and cents. S * that this assevera- o t Dr to the [ B to the bread ®nd r womanr the sav- e of souls making shoe pegs - spir a . o Be t s = etock P . o n © . B ar t 3 s i cas . expe X ways ss to ways = n the v glous & w of tw was ever alike. It i er of two and two ted combina- ces that late what oul on a rice field in ing on the Bowery the soul-gav- culs than rice field in China; likewise re expensive acock obtained his could be spved in cents each has ta at the rate of been made clear to us, but it has demonstrated by other sources ring a certain time the average ving a soul on the Bower vhile in the Tenderloin distri American metropolis it great ost $10 as against $7 in Harlem d behind these calculations there caleu perplexing in their scope and far- g In the ultimate unfolding of ilts. Yet minded vast of other nery seriou men have entered into these calculations and their consideration of them, has de- veloped an interesting problem. Now the Salvation Ar that pie- band of soul-savers, is noth- ot practical. Qulek as are its to take advantage of the dra- vet are they just as quick to the receipts and disbursemen of the great financial proposition which they control and its relation to the ac- tual results it is likely to produce. Con- sidering the possession of this power and the wide and varied field which fs covered by the Salvation Army, the de- ductions of its leaders on the saving of soul and the cost thereof will prove a valuable addition to this study of soulology f course,” sald Lieutenant Colonel Willlam A. McIntyre, field secretary of the Saivation Army in America, “of that it certain amount to save a certain type of mankind in a certain locality, but we keep a close account of our work and we try to ascertain just what re- snits may be obtained from it. It would be impossibility to put an absolute price upon salvation, but the figures on our books do show what the verage of making course one cannot say costs a an utter cost converts in different localities. If these figures be taken as a basis at a st we can get B m you understand that there s much that should enter into the cost fon that 1d figures on does the ledger. not appear For in- there is ation of the soul-saver. “He or she may be a grad- uate of some college. Thousands may have been spent for education.. Then there is the training in the Salvation there is the cost of these head- | quarters and all the other forts in all rts of the city and country, and, if| . figy to Army; ré on a business basis we must | side the iInterest| nd plants and ing capacity of the money we have| invested | the expense ings the | Then circumstances always alter cases and this is especially true in the | saving of a soul. But look at our fig- will convey to you much | knowledge. They may pre-| to the world a new view of the| science of soul-saving.” With the statistics spread before him, Major Thomas Stanyon, assistant to Licutenant Colonel MelIntyre, for field | affairs, selected two typical months, | showing the total incomes.of the army | the United States. One of these| months was February last, and during | that time the book showed that the| entire income in this country was| $76,000, and the total number of con-{ verts 6910 On its face, therefore, the cost of| conversion $11 each. Another | month selected was April last. Durinz ures; they pract sent ical was | fair idea of how much it costs the Sal- rather definite result. | <& SOME QUOTED AT 25 CENTS OTHERS AT $100.000. (& Wl 1\ LA i this period the income was $110,000 and | the number of converts 6481, thus indl- | eating {n round numbers that the aver-| age cost of converslon was $17 a per- | son. In the metropolitan district—that | is, New York—there were 184 conver-| sions last May, at a cost of $4633, thus| indicating an average cost of §25 for| each convert. Now, If taken on the| basis that it costs $250 to train the/ average Salvation Army worker up to the point where he can go on the street as a soul saver, and this be added pro rata to the average amount expended a | year In actual cash, together with the interest on the money invested in plants and bulldings, we shall obtain a pretty vation my to make conversions. But| in this connection we must not lose sight of the fact that there are many who return to the old life after pro- fessing a desire to lead the new life For an accurate survey these ‘“back- sliders” should be considered in the es- | timate, and it s impossible to ascer-| tain to what extent they prevail. On| the other hand there are numerous con- versions of which the soldiers of the| Salvation Army know nothing. There are also other circumstances, some of | which are never apparent, that enter| into the scheme of salvatién in fts en-| tirety. But these figures that appear/| on the face form an excellent basis.| They are an object lesson of the great| work that is being done by the num-| erous organizations of different denomi-; nations all striving for the common | good. | this calculation must | It is this: Tt costs| varying sums in difterent lacalities, | same city, to rescue from | sin different types of men, women and | children. In New York City, for example, the types of the candidates for conversion vary in character as greatly as the these who forsake the old paths are| prices of converting thenr vary. Based|among the men, | on the figures that have been presented | with the varying costs in different sec-|to control he is not so difficult to in- tions of the city, it is shown that l"l‘ fluence as the dweller on the Bowery.! Harlem a soul may be saved for $7./On the Bowery one meets the dregs of | Just why the price in thia locality Is|soclety. The murderer, the thief, the | But one point in not be overlooked. even in t While the Tenderloin’denizen is hard | below the average cannot be explained, | drunkard, the panhandler—all the lypen[ but the figures corroborate the state. ment. | that make for the greatest criminals| The Harlem type of humanity and the lowest specimen of the genus| that is amenabie to proselyting influ- | homo are on the Bowery. Yet the aver- | ences consists for the most part of age cost of rescuing one who has sunk| those ir the middle class of life. They |in the mire of these foul slums is only | are people with fairly good ideas 0f|$21. The habitues of the Bowery are| the place a man or a woman should fill | for the most part men. Women are| in the world and among them more| there, to be sure, but they are of the/ conversions are made in proportion to|very lowest order, for the Bowery is their numbers than in any other part of the city. The average cost of saving a soul in the Tenderloin is $10. In that locality the temptations to sin are much great- er than in Harlem, and the cost of sa vation is consequently higher, The in- clination to be a sport and the desire to live the fast life are the alluring ambi- year, the same as on the Bowery. far below the surface of womanhood | that she is shameless. But there is one | section of the city that is even worse In Brooklyn the cost of conversion than the Bowery and that is the Cherry | corresponds with the cost in Hariem. | Hill Qistrict, where the tough organi-| An exceedingly good class of people at- | zations known s “‘gangs’ congregate|tend the meetings of the Salvation |and form plans for assaulting and ‘,‘ra~}Army on this side of the bridge. There tions with which the soul saver has to| moving” for stipulated sums certain| are large gatherings every evening on combat. There are many women in the| citizens who are placed on their black | Washington street near Johnson, Tenderloin district, some of whom afe lists. However, hard as these dwellers | and also at the other meeting places, continually jolning - the ranks of the are, they are sometimes attracted by |especially so at No. 7. out on Fulton converts. but the =reater number of | the workers In Sjum Headauarters on ! street. and Ne. 9 in Greenpoint. 1 °f‘gfl\m!gl | If you ask a Salvation Army worker | what is the underlying cause of crime | he will answer promptly, “Drink.” Next | to this is ranked cigarsttes. There are | other causes to be.sure, but on these two hangs the crim{nal record of the world. New York, however, field where the soul-saving Industry | prevails. There are regions stretching far around the earth where the future of man Is watched with untiring vigi- lance. The great work of the foreign and home misalons of the various relig- ious bodies forms material for a library in itself. Its scope Is boundless; its | good results limitless. But these phases of soul-saving, too, have their com- mercial side, for without money the great work would come to an end. Let us lodk, for instance, at the work of the Presbyterian church in the United States, which last year dis- bursed more than $).241,000 for the pur- pose of saving souls. It would be diffi- | cult to place on a dollar and cent bas the results attained by this expendi- | ture as separate accounts are not avall- | able and the different localities—rang- ing from America to China—furnish such a varfety of types and such a vari- { ety of prices that averages are practi- cally impossible. A few cases, near at home, may be cited to show how varying are the results even within our own ob- servation. In the Madlson Square Pres- byterian Church—Dr. Parkhurst's chureh—for example, the expenses last year amounted to $55,000, le the | number of converts was only seven. On the surface, therefors, it would appear that the cost of making a convert in this church was something more than 47857, On’ the other hand there is the | Morningside Presbyterian Church, | Harlem, the cost of maintaining which amounted to $3065 last year, the num- ber of converts mumbering twel dicating that ths cost of saving each s s 3 In Brookiyn the Throop Avenue Presbyterian Church had four- teen converts, at a cost of 38461, indi- cating that the average cdst was $504 while Grace Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn had thirty-seven with expenses of $11,112, making t average cost of converts $300; and Me- morial Presbyterian Church of Brook- Iyn. with expenses amounting to $18,25: wi in e. in- converts, and converts numbering forty-seven, shows an average cost for each con- vert of §$345. From ancther viewpoint it can be shown that the total receipts of the American Board of Commissioners for Forelgn Missions of the Congregational Church avallable for forelgn work | amounted to $812,143, while the number of converts was 6464. This would bring | the average cost of making a convert the cost of conversion being about | save a soul in the Zulu mission than it| when the weather does to save a soul In Turkey, or vice | versa, | The American Baptist Home Misston | Soctety’s receipts last year were $878.- | 746, and its conversions numbered $42 | making the average cost of conversion | $116. The other foreign and home mis- | | sion organizations show abdout Ihe‘\ same results, Indicating that the cost | of church missionary work in the same ‘localities runs in parallel lines. and that [ is not the only| youls cost of making converts in different Ids vartes greatly “You can make a convert cheaper in China than you can in New York." sald Dr. Arthur Judson Brown, secretary ef the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United Stat, “That !s easily explained by the fact that everything is cheaper In Ching, aand there, you must remember, we have not expended money for great educational Institutions for the educa- tion of our men and women, and these institutions and the cost of maintalning them form an important part in the saving of a soul. While we may arrive at certain very satisfactory figures as to the apparent cost of making con- werts in different localities we can never arrive at the exact truth in this particular. We never kmow, for In- stance, what other Influence has been at work upon the subject before we tried to save him. Some other denom!- nation than ours may have sown the ! first seeds of conversion and we may be but the accidental means through which the conversion is finally brought about. - As an instance of this, the fact that Dr. Parkhurst's church shows a high average rate for the actual com- versions In that church does not enter intp the calculation at all. 28 we can- not tell how many strangers visiting that church go away to be converted in other churches of the same or per- haps of different denominations. The work done is like the sowing of apple Dr. Nevius, the famous mis- in China. For years his work bore no tangible evidence of good re- s but today, after his death, there are frult bearing apple trees in the land where he labored so well"” Dr. Brown paused a moment and then a * here are some things that you ean- not put on a dollar and cent basis. You cannot gauge a mother's love by money. You canrot measure a father's devotion by the yard stick. So it is with the ng of a soul.” New York, Aug. 6, 1906. Flies Hig Flag Day and Nighl’ who lives in Springfield in sa Union County, Jersey, is ‘the most patriot known to medern h name is Charles F. Andrews, and by courtesy he is “Major” Andrews, al- though he denies the distinction and says: “T fought in twelve battles of the Civil War and was in innumerable skir- mishes, and the best fighting rank 1 ever reachbed was orderly sergeant. After I got back I was commissioned & captain on the Governor's staff, but I never served. I was too busy growing my crops.” But Mr. Andrews not beem teo busy to keep the Stars and Stripes fiying night and day since his mother, lo since dead, hoisted them in the spring of 1861, when her four sons en listed in the Union ranks. Only one o them came bagk. One dled in Florence prison in Seuth Carolina and two others were killed in battle—one at Chancel- lorsville, the other at Sailor's Runm, when the war was about over. Charles Andrews came home after Petersburg. having lost an arm. The flag had been fiying while the Andrews boys were away, and when Charles came back alone he declared that it should always fiy, so long as he lived, at least, but for Memorial day, the Fourth of July and the anniversaries of the battles he took part in he has especially large ones, which he holsts. Even the flag- poles wear out, and as one after an- other has succumbed to the seasons it has been replaced by a larger and finer one, yntil the existing pole towers among the oak and hickory trees which surround it full seventy feet in air. It is pleasant to record that ths pa- triotic fgrmer has prospered. His flelds | have ylelded him their increase snd his | flocks have multiplied, and in his ripe | old age he sits on his shaded porch sur- | rounded by his grandghildren, and | while the flag waves over them he | rehearses the stories of Antletam, Get- | tysburg and Cold Harbor. For a long time after the war the | people called Andrews crazy, but in I they have accorded him [recent times and his flag the honor that his deter- | mination to keep the Stars and Stripes afioat deserve. | Times were a little hard with the 0ld soldier after the war was over, and the effort to keep Old Glory fiying cost { him po small part of his meager earn- ings.. He himself the flag has not | always been ting and rarely silk. More frequently it has been a printed cotton banner;: but whatever it has been the stars were the total number of States and the stripes were there. Sometimes it has been small and often ragged, but it never came down un the other one was up. “I rigged the first pole with double halliards, so that it has never ceased to fly,” sald he the other day. “For more than twenty years I have not been worrfed about the flag. but I used to teel that it was pretty shabby when I couldn’t always replace it as 1 would | have liked. But it still flew. Now I | buy a dosen flags at a time, and T don't too low, too degraded for even the| Cherry street, and the records show | up to $125, but no figures are available| let them get ragzed. When the weather i fallen woman, unless she has sunk so|that several converts are made each|te indicate whether it costs mors to|is bad I send u P a stout small one and is fine I fiy a big |one, and on anniversary days a very blg one; but since June 15, 1864, forty- | two years, that flag has floated. Befors that mother Kept it up while we boys were away from April 19, 13§1. Only he followed the army custom and | hoisted 1t at 8 o'clock and hanled it down at sunset. There it is," said the old soldier, coming to attention snd saluting it as he spoke, “and there it stays so long as T live, and after Wy death., %o long as my children and shrandchildren observe my wishes.” y A