Rev. J. C. Haselhuhn was elected as Brother Bickel's successor, who, although now in broken health, owing to his efforts to do the work alone, and with as little expense as possible to the Society, is still the indefatigable and successful Editor. Thousands of hearts are daily lifted up to God, asking for the restoration of his health, and to spare the life of this good brother, who has now been at the helm of the Society for more than fifteen years, and who labored incessantly before that time for its success.

At the last meeting of the Executive Committee, Rev. Walter Rauschenbusch, now in Germany for the benefit of his health, was chosen to be Dr. Haselhuhn's assistant. It is hoped that he will accept this position, for which he is eminently qualified.

We have reviewed the history of our publication work with feelings of sincere gratitude towards the Lord for His help in this work. The writer, who twenty-five years ago was a young man in the ministry, took active part in the formation of the Society. He has prayed and labored for its success since that time, and now, with feelings of mingled joy, exclaims: "Behold what the Lord has done !"

The German Baptist Orphans' Home, Louisville, Ky.

BY EDWARD ZACHERT, SUPERINTENDENT.

The above institution was organized Aug. 20th, 1871, by Rev. A. Henrich, and J. T. Burghard, for which purpose Mr. Burghard donated $500 cash and a suitable house, rent free for six years. On the 2d of October,

1871, the first children were admitted into the Home, which was then in charge of Mrs. Weimar. During her supervision, for three years, the Lord greatly blessed the undertaking. Towards the close of 1874 the work became too heavy a burden for her, upon which a call was given to Rev. John F. Dohrmann and wife, who took charge of the institution Oct. 16, 1874. The Lord sent such an increased number of children until the house was considered too small.

This splendid showing caused Brother Burghard to make an offer of $3,000 for a larger house, provided the German Baptist

churches would raise an additional $4,000. As the churches failed to raise the sum in the limited time, Brother Burghard offered $3 to every $4 already received, and yet to be received from the German Churches.

On October 5, 1877, the present site was purchased for $6,000.

In the same year the subject was introduced into our General Conference, and the following resolution was adopted by that body:

"As the Orphans' Home has to the present day succeeded on the faith plan, we consider the work worthy of thorough confidence among our churches, and although we do not consider it the property of this body, we wish it God's richest blessings and the hearty co-operation of our denomination."

Upon this Brother Burghard proposed to give to the Board of Directors a deed of conveyance, provided that the Board accept certain conditions and restrictions which he made. Should the Board accept these conditions, the money paid by the German Churches should go into a Building Fund for the institution to make needed repairs on the property. A resolution was adopted by the Board to accept these conditions.

On the 18th of November, 1877, the new property was dedicated unto the Lord, under the name of the "German Baptist Orphans' Home, of Louisville, Ky."

On the 10th of September, 1880, the Building Account showed $853.77 paid out for necessary repairs. Later a second floor was added to the original residence at a cost of $2,465.60, which made the total sum of improvements $3,319.57. A lot of forty feet was purchased to give the grounds a more desirable entrance, thus increasing very materially the value of the entire property. For this purpose $2,035 was expended, making the total cost of the present property $11,354.57.

Since the organization of the institution, 125 children have been received and cared for, from the different churches of our denomination, twenty-two of whom are at present in the Home. In this time there has been contributed for the cause $25,904.49 for the support and maintenance of orphan children.

On the 9th of April, 1890, Brother John F. Dohrmann, the Superintendent of the Home

was called from his great work on earth to his heavenly rest.

Upon the recommendation of the General Conference, Edward Zachert and wife were elected as successors to Brother Dohrmann and began their responsible work on the 11th of December, 1889. Brother Burghard now cancelled all the conditions and restrictions made in the deed, except for its own protection the following condition was retained :

"That the Orphan Home Property shall always and only be used for that purpose and that the same cannot be sold or removed without his personal consent during his lifetime. That if the German Baptist denomination should fail to support the institution, the same could be sold, and one-half the net proceeds shall return to the General Conference and the remaining half flow towards the Highway Mission Purpose, provided this is not contrary to the Laws of the State of Kentucky."

Our churches should never give vent to

fruits, etc., add much to the comfort of the Home.

As there had been but few repairs made in recent years, the Board was compelled to make some necessary alterations in the building to secure more room and make other changes necessary for the comfort of the institution. At the close of last fiscal year we had a deficit on this account of $1,488 which would, of course, have been covered, had not the intended funds for this purpose been invested in the purchase of the additional ground before mentioned. Much is still to be wished for to make our institution stand at a par with the many similar ones.

Recently a woman's auxiliary was organized which is doing much to promote the good cause.

We desire that all Baptists should become thoroughly familiar with the affairs of the Home, so that measures can be introduced to secure the greatest possible benefit from the institution and we will endeavor to fulfil our call in the future in such a manner that the honor of God and the welfare of the Church be promoted in this work.

As the progress of our German Baptist churches was at the commencement a slow one, so it was also with the Sundayschool work. This branch of Christian service was something new both to the German pastors and members, and in order to get teachers experienced in Sundayschool work it was necessary to call for volunteers from the English-speaking churches. In the first German Baptist Sunday-schools our American brethren had to give the German members instruction in how to conduct a Sunday-school and teach a class, and consequently the schools were more English than German.

Not only was this true among the Baptists, but also among all denominations working among the Germans. The main purpose of

a German Sunday-school seems to have been to teach the children to read the German language, and we find the German A B C book used as a text-book. The children having mastered that, the Bible was used in the Baptist schools, and the catechism in the schools of the other denomina

tions.

I always was a great friend of Sundayschool work, and have now been engaged in it almost thirty-nine years. It was in 1853 that I received an invitation from the First German Baptist Church of New York to take charge of a Sunday-school on Thirty-eighth Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, and at the same time teach a German dayschool.

We met in a basement room, and our outfit consisted of a few plain benches, a table which was a relic from a previous century, a few Bibles and Testaments, and some German spelling and question-books; thesc, with one singing-book and my violin, constituted our entire outfit. In spite of the disadvantages under which we labored, our school soon became well known, and every Sunday we had visitors from other schools who had heard of us.

When a new song was to be learned, the superintendent repeated the words until all the children knew them, and then, with the aid of my violin, we learned to sing it. All helped and sang with an enthusiasm and carnestness that soon gave us the reputation of being the school with the best singing.

This was the commencement of German Baptist Sunday-school work in this country. Small though our beginning may have been, we were nevertheless greatly blessed by the Lord. Our members took great interest in the school, and from all teachers who left us, owing to removal, we took a pledge that they would start Sunday-schools wherever their lot might be cast. This they did, and several schools were started which have now developed into self-supporting churches.

Our Christmas festivals at that time were more for the heart than the eye and car, as is the case at the present time, and songs, prayers and short Christian testimonies were the principal part of our programmes at our picnics. I could give many instances of persons who were converted at such picnics.

It soon became clear to all that if our

German Baptist Sunday-school work was to prosper, a suitable Sunday-school paper and singing-book was a necessity. We communicated with Rev. P. W. Bickel, who was at that time preaching in Cincinnati, and who later on published, at his Own expense, "Das Singvögelein " (Singing Bird), which is to-day used in almost all our German Baptist Sunday-schools. The first edition was a small book of fifty-two songs without music, and 600 copies were issued, of which 400 came to New York for our work. Mr. Bickel also began the publilication of Der Säeman (The Sower), a monthly Sunday-school paper, which is also to-day in circulation in all of our schools.

The Minutes of the Eighth Annual German Conference, which met in 1858, contain the first report of our Sunday-school work. We find at that time six schools and 559 children. There was one school each in Philadelphia, Pittsburg and Cincinnati, with seventyfive, twenty-four and sixty children respectively. The others were all in New York City.

It is a pity that complete statistics were not always given of our Sunday-school work in the Minutes of our Conferences, but the growth of our work can be seen from the following:

Since 1880 the German churches have annually reported the number of conversions from the Sunday-schools, and 3,490 are so reported.

Much of this progress in Sunday-school work has been due to Dr. P. W. Bickel, who devoted every energy to its upbuilding. He became the Manager of the German Baptist 'Publication Society, and it was through his efforts that our present flourishing Publication Society was put on its feet. This Society now issues regularly two Sunday-school papers, besides many books and tracts.

Surely it can be seen that the Lord has been with us in this work. Our success has been remarkable; but we must not be content to rest upon our achievements in the past, but must press forward and accomplish still greater things for the Lord's cause.

There yet remains much to be done. Let us do it, and do it quickly, while it is yet day, for the night cometh when no man can work.

God prosper this branch of our great mission work.

The Mission Among the Immigrants Arriving at the Port of New York,

BY REV. JOHN SCHIEK, MISSIONARY. "Better late than never." This proverb may find its application with reference to our mission work at the so-called "Castle Garden." Long before the attention of the Baptists was directed to this important field of missionary labor, other denominations had been wide awake to the necessity of appoint ing select forces on such a promising field, The Church of Rome has gained a powerful influence during the twenty years they were ahead of the Baptists. Other churches, like the Methodists and others, have proven themselves a great blessing to their respec tive churches.

This is not to be wondered at, as any one taking an interest in mission work must come to the conclusion, when witnessing the stream of immigration that is pouring into New York City, that the landing place of millions is the place where mission work is needed the most and where it can be car ried on with great success.

In 1882, when the present missionary, who had been engaged in a similar work in Europe, arrived in this country, he found that Rev. G. A. Schulte and Rev. J. C. Grim mell, who are German pastors in New York and Brooklyn, had been for some time convinced that the Baptists ought not longer to neglect the appointment of a missionary at such a promising field, and they took steps to secure the services of the newly arrived missionary.

Rev. Dr. H. L. Morehouse kindly assisted in presenting a petition to the Commissioners of Immigration asking for a permit for a representative of the Baptist denomi nation to labor in Castle Garden. To the first petition the Commissioners failed to respond, but as the application was renewed, success attended the effort and the permit was granted.

On the first of June, 1882, under appoint

ment of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, and supported jointly by the Society and the German Baptist churches, I commenced my work. In 1886 the Chicago Women's Baptist Home Mission Society appointed two lady missionaries to the same field, so that our denomination is now represented by three Christian workers. During this period from 1882 to 1891 over five millions of people have passed through this wonderful gate of entry, and we have endeavored to sow the good seed of eternal life among them.

Furthermore, 12,000 persons of our own faith have been given a Christian greeting, and with kind advice sent to our different churches, where they now enjoy the blessing of Christian fellowship and of a spiritual home. Hundreds of these were destitute of the necessaries of life, and had to be supported. Many of them had suffered severe persecutions in their former homes in the Fatherland, for the sake of our blessed Saviour, and had been driven away from home, friends, and all that had been near and dear to them. For such especially, it was a great comfort to meet a Baptist missionary immediately upon their arrival.

Our work has not, however, been confined simply to those of our own faith, but also to strangers who often stood sad, lonely, down-hearted and friendless. Of such we took special care, and directed them to our churches where many were brought under the influence of the Gospel, and are to-day serving Christ. As the work in itself is full of self-denial and requires many sacrifices, the missionaries need the sympathy and prayers of Christian friends, as well as their financial assistance to carry on the work.

Boxes of clothing can be used at all times, and we would be glad if some of the ladies' societies would remember our mission. All boxes or barrels can be sent to me at the Barge office, New York City. My post-office address is 30 State Street.

Although figures can give but a faint idea of the work to be done, they will nevertheless show something of the work accomplished. This report includes work done in six different languages.

During the year we have made 412 visits to the landing depot; boarding-houses, hospitals, etc., visited 435; immigrants reported to me and recommended to my

care, 680; Baptist members received, 960; Immigrants to whom special attention was given in regard to their spiritual and mental welfare, 3,600; poor immigrants assisted, 331; services held, 68; Bibles and testaments distributed, 183; tracts and church guides given away, 22,000.

Our German Pioneers,

It was a pleasure to greet, at the Jubilee meetings in Pennsylvania, many of our German Baptist pioneer ministers, and among the many whom it was a pleasure to hear, none were listened to with greater interest than were they. It did all good to hear these veterans in the Lord's cause tell of the beginning of the German work, of the trials endured, and of the glorious success that attended their efforts.

We present on page 300 of this number of the MONTHLY the picture of a group of such pioneers, together with our present very able and efficient General Secretary of German Missions. We are indebted to Dr. D. B. Stumpf, of Buffalo, N. Y., for this picture, he having taken the photograph at Anthony Township, Pa., during the Jubilee meetings.

REV. ALBERT ALEXANDER VON PUTTKAMMER,

in the lower center, was born in Potsdam, near Berlin, Germany, in 1806, and is therefore eighty-five years of age. He received a thorough military education and training, spending nine years in a military school in Berlin, after which he entered the army and became an officer of the First Regiment of the King's Body Guard, a company composed entirely of the nobility. He served eleven years, and then, after a visit to Paris, where his uncle was Minister Plenipotentiary, representing Prussia, he sailed from Havre for America, arriving in New York in September, 1836. In 1837 he was converted, and on the 6th of November of that year was baptized in the Susquehannah River by Rev. C. Colby, and became a member of the Baptist church at Lawrenceville, N. Y. Mr. von Puttkammer is there. fore not only the oldest German Baptist in America, but also, so far as is known, the first German to have been baptized in this country.