Chapter VIII (2)

The next year’s labor of the Union presented some new features. It was during this year that the hippodrome was opened for the evangelistic work of Moody and Sankey in New York. Prior to their coming we had sent forward a request that one day in each week might be devoted to temperance. The request was favorably considered, and Friday was set apart as temperance day. The members of the Union were diligent in their co-operation in this gospel work, some of them devoting their entire time to it. They worked in the inquiry rooms, visited from house to house, and did their part to sustain the woman’s meetings, which were thronged and of thrilling power.

During this year also very successful outside labor was accomplished, members of the Union going out to other towns, and holding a series of private and public meetings, through one or two days; organizing the work and stimulating their sisters. These occasions were attended with a rich blessing from on high.

The juvenile work also occupied the attention of some of our most earnest workers. This has been well begun, especially among the class of children gathered into the industrial and mission schools of the city. Our hope is in the children, and, as far as we have gone, we find there is no more effectual method of reaching the homes of the drinking classes than through the little ones.

In the fall of 1875 a coffee-house was projected, and engrossed the Union during the following year. It did not, however, prove a success as a business enterprise. It drained our financial resources, failed to reach the class for whom it was designed, consumed in secular interests the time and energies of the workers, and thus unavoidably diverted them, in a great measure, from the spiritual work to which they had been devoted. The struggle was continued through a period of fifteen months, and then was given up.

The gospel meetings held at the coffee-house, however, accomplished much good. Many souls were hopefully reclaimed from the depths of intemperance, by the grace of God, some of whom have labored publicly and diligently in the service of God.

As we look around from our present standpoint, we are assured that the Lord has set his seal of approval upon the labors and influence of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. We see the increased attention given to this subject, the rising of public sentiment, the efforts, though spasmodic and almost farcical, to put down the traffic, the more positive espousal of the cause by ministers and churches, the establishment of gospel temperance meetings on every hand, in the openness of the people to the truth, and the increased demand for Christian temperance laborers. All this we recognize as answer to prayer, and a pleasant foretaste of what the Lord is ready to do for us.

“It is useless for the women to do anything here: New York is a walled city,” said a liquor-dealer to one of our visitors, in the early days of the Crusade. And, indeed, we have proved it so; its walls are thick and high, and to all human force impregnable. First in the intrenchments are the drunkards, men and women, standing shoulder to shoulder, not very erect and firm, it is true, but, supported and filled in by the moderate drinkers next behind them, every one is a brick well laid. Then come the domestic and social users and offerers of beer and wine, next the traffickers, then the property-holders with their wealth and greed, and last, but not least, since they afford strength, finish, and adornment to the defences, stands the Church in its cold indifference. What a strong wall is this! No wonder our opponents feel secure behind it; no wonder human sight discerns no way to overthrow it.

But the Lord of hosts is with us; the Lord strong and mighty, and, even in New York, we are not disheartened. The multitude on the side of wrong is immense, but chased by the army of God’s resurrected ones, must and will flee. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but spiritual, and, for that very reason, will be invincible.

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

I am indebted to Mrs. Mary C. Johnson, President of the Brooklyn Union, for the following facts:

In the month of January, 1874, Mrs. Caroline E. Ladd, who was chosen to lead a Union Bible Class, which met weekly in the Friends’ Church, was so strongly convinced that the time had now come for the inauguration of a woman’s temperance prayer movement in this city, that she said she could not consent again to conduct the exercises of the class unless a half-hour should be spent in prayer to God for the success of the temperance cause, now given by Divine commission to Christian women. Her wishes were acceded to, and as far as is known, this was the beginning of the Prayer movement in this city.

About this time an invitation was given in the Bible class, by Mrs. Mary A. Wilder, to an afternoon prayer-meeting. Most of the members accepted. There came a bestowal of power in answer to prayer in larger measure than they had ever realized. At times the Spirit’s manifestations seemed almost to break their hearts, and found vent in tears; again they were exultant with the glad tidings of deliverance.

Miss Hamilton was deeply impressed with this passage of Scripture; “Ye shall not need to fight.”

On the 30th of January, an all-day prayer-meeting was held in the “church on the heights,” by the ladies’ union prayer-meeting, which was brought into existence by a mother in Israel, Mrs. S. A. Merrill, who became one of the most faithful supporters of the work, and who was beloved by all who knew her. The meeting was one of spiritual power. The chrism of the Spirit fell upon many, who afterwards became workers. The voice said: “Cry,” and souls replied: “What shall I cry?” It was like children stretching out their hands for a blessing, not knowing what they wanted.

During the month of February, 1874, renewed activities began in an old temperance society, of which a number of the ladies were members. In one of these meetings, held March 13th, as time was being consumed in passing resolutions, etc., Mrs. Ladd arose and expressed the wish of most of the ladies present, to organize a union for the purpose of prayer. Nearly all the ladies retired to an upper room. A glorious prayer-meeting followed. The presence of the Spirit was manifested. The two hours spent together proved to be a pentecostal season, and faith claimed the promise, when Miss Hamilton voluntarily read from 2 Chron. xx. 15, 16, 17: “Be not afraid, or dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.... Ye need not to fight in this battle; set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you. Fear not, nor be dismayed; to-morrow go ye out against them, for the Lord will be with you.”

The next day Mrs. Mary C. Johnson and Mrs. Conkling called upon the officers of the Y. M. C. A., who placed their handsome rooms at the disposal of the ladies, and they have held their daily meetings there, through all these months and years. On Monday, March 16th, 1874, the first meeting of the Christian Temperance Union was held; hundreds of earnest men and women attended, and Mrs. Mary C. Johnson, who was chosen the leader, presented the seven “Fear Nots” of Isaiah, 41, 43, 44, which became the watchword of the society.

From this little beginning, smaller, indeed, than a mustard seed, has sprung a goodly tree, under whose shadow many weary and tempted ones have found rest. At the daily meetings requests for prayer were presented; some of them coming by letter long distances; and as the work has gone on, this prayer-circle has extended to the uttermost parts of the world. Requests coming even from Australia, where the influence of this meeting has been felt, and led to the formation of two temperance prayer-meetings.

Perhaps the most touching request for prayer received was from a mother, beseeching prayer for nine sons, all intemperate.

During the first week of the meeting, the following remarkable message, telegraphed to the New York Chamber of Commerce, was read by a gentleman present:

“CINCINNATI, 12.25 P. M.

“Provisions stronger--unchanged. The women Crusaders are singing and
praying so loudly and earnestly in the saloon next to the Chamber of
Commerce, that business is quite demoralized at this hour.”

This despatch created great enthusiasm. In response to a call for workers, large numbers volunteered to go forth to the druggists, licensed grocers, and saloon-keepers. A prominent saloon-keeper sent an invitation for the ladies to visit him, and hold a Sabbath evening prayer-meeting at his saloon. The invitation was accepted, and twelve ladies were appointed to attend the meeting. Promptly at seven o’clock the ladies were at Mr. Myers’ saloon. Fully three thousand men gathered into the saloon, and about the doors, and in the street, to see and hear the ladies, whose zeal and courage had prompted them to such singular service in the cause of temperance. The gathering was composed almost exclusively of young men. Mrs. Chace, who had a singularly rich and attractive voice, sung,

“There is a gate that stands ajar.”

Prayers and hymns followed, and the Word was read to an attentive audience; and yet there were those in that motley throng who came to jest. A spirit of solemnity pervaded the meeting; numbers signed the pledge; and God graciously set his seal of approval upon the effort. Thirteen conversions resulted, and the liquor-dealer in a few days voluntarily placed the keys of his saloon in the hands of the ladies, and it was afterwards opened as a temperance restaurant.

Sabbath evening saloon meetings followed, and from this time the call of God to the Union to visit the saloons, was gladly acknowledged; and it has indeed been the one secret of the deeply spiritual character of the work, and of the harvest of souls which has resulted.

During the first month, the number of young men attending the three o’clock meeting became so large that Mrs. F. E. Thomas and Miss Annie J. Ludlow were led to invite them to a meeting for personal conversation and prayer. This led to a second daily prayer-meeting, from five to six o’clock, which is still continued. The room was filled nightly with the same changing class, from the jails and saloons, the gutter and the homes of wealth, all bitten by this serpent of sin, intemperance; and not a few have been led to look at the crucified One and live.

During the year 1875, 1,325 arose for prayers. Among the number of thrilling histories, but one can be given: A man under the influence of liquor found his way into the room, and slept until evening on one of the settees. At the opening of the meeting, he left the room, but reappeared at the close, and in a voice husky with emotion, said, “I have not gone; something has held me. I have been behind the door, and have heard all that has been said. Oh, if there is any hope, pray for me.” A few gathered around him in prayer. His sad story was this: The son and grandson of a clergyman, a graduate of a theological seminary, he had given up his studies because of failing health, entered business, taken the first social glass, which in time resulted in his becoming a helpless victim, and a living sorrow to his wife and four little ones. The pledge was offered, and with trembling hand he signed it for three months only, and left us. At the expiration of that time the pledge was returned, and on it these words, “By God’s help I have kept this pledge, and now renew it for all eternity. I have also found Christ as my Saviour.”

The jails were visited; meetings held on shipboard, in private houses, Naval Chapel, Naval Hospital, the Inebriate Asylum, the Penitentiary, and Sabbath meetings at Fort Hamilton. Miss Beatty also held a meeting at her residence, and Mrs. Chace, for young men; and the wife of a city alderman was led by a remarkable providence into a blessed work among a reckless class of young men.

The President of the Union, accompanied by a lady of each of the denominations, visited and addressed the New York East Conference, Ministerial Union, and the Baptist Union of Ministers. She also, accompanied by Mrs. Alderman Richardson, visited the Roman Catholic Bishop Laughlin, who gave them respectful hearing, and made special inquiries as to the number of children they found in the saloons. They were cordially received by all, and earnest, favorable responses given.

When the Brooklyn Union was organized, only a few churches could be found, whose doors were open to Christian women who came in the interests of gospel temperance, but now the majority of Protestant churches are open to them. The temperance sentiment among church-going people has been greatly increased, and as an outgrowth of the Union, a Temperance Brotherhood has been formed, which has done a glorious work on the legal line. A flourishing juvenile society has been organized, and well sustained. A restaurant and friendly inn was opened in the first saloon that surrendered, and has formed an important part of the work.

For the means to carry forward their great work, they have looked to Him in whose hands is the silver and the gold, and during these years they have received and expended $7,739.24.

The receipts and disbursements of the temperance restaurants one year was $13,021.69, and 5,000 free meals and lodgings given.

A Reform Club has been organized, and those who remained in Brooklyn gathered into churches, but many of the men, especially the sailors and officers of vessels, have gone to other lands. Most encouraging letters have been received from the Pacific coast, from Yokohama, Japan, and other distant points.

The untiring and successful labors in the legal work of Captain Oliver Cotter, a converted saloon-keeper, who gave up his business, and has been laboring for the Master, has resulted in great good. He was one of their first trophies, and has greatly helped on the work. When the Union was organized, March, 1874, there were 3,110 saloons in this city, and their doors were open on the Sabbath day, bidding defiance to the Sunday closing law as well as to the sacred day. An official statement, published after three months of prayer and labor, showed that 180 of these had been closed--twenty-one being closed through their direct influence in three weeks. At the expiration of three years, _one-half of the saloons were closed_, and there was no open selling on the Sabbath day. The arrests for drunkenness in 1875 were 6,810 less than during the year 1874.

It is a matter of special thanksgiving to God that every saloon, without exception, in which the ladies held saloon prayer-meetings, is closed, and the buildings devoted to other purposes. Many property-holders now refuse to rent their buildings for such uses. A liquor-dealer recently said: “The trade will never revive until these crazy women cease their persecutions.”

The work cannot be put into numerical figures. An army of voices has joined in the great song of redemption; broken homes have been restored; the morning of joy has come to many a night-weeping mother; women have had their dead raised; and the laborers themselves have seen higher and deeper into the wonders of a wonder-working God. Friends are numerous; pastors and churches are now allies; public sentiment gaining; saloons and institutions open for work; the enemy trembling; and above all, the hand of God is visible in the battle.

The death-angel has come to one of our most gifted and earnest workers, Mrs. Hannah E. Chace. One who sat beside her in her last hours writes, “she hoped till the very last that she might be allowed to work again for the Master. Her soul was filled with love: ‘I love you all--_everybody_;’ she said. After a season of prayer, in which we had earnestly plead with God to prolong her life, she looked earnestly into my face, saying: ‘What does He say?’ I answered, ‘Forever with the Lord.’ With a sweet smile she responded: ‘Thy will be done.’ In giving directions for her funeral, she asked that ‘Forever with the Lord’ might be sung.”

The officers and earnest workers of this Union were: Mrs. Mary C. Johnson; Mrs. Caroline E. Ladd; Mrs. Mary E. Hartt; Miss Albina Hamilton; Mrs. J. Bowman; Mrs. S. A. Merrill; Mrs. L. D. Oakley; Mrs. R. L. Wycoff; Mrs. E. Squires; Mrs. H. B. Spellman; Mrs. K. E. Cleveland; Mrs. Bayless; Mrs. E. L. Conklin; Mrs. Wilder; Mrs. Watson; Mrs. Field; Mrs. Thomas; Miss Ludlow; Mrs. Duncklee; Mrs. Allen; Mrs. Blakely; Mrs. Annie S. Hawkes (author of “I need Thee every hour”); Miss Lizzie Green; Mrs. Marinor; Mrs. Harmon; Mrs. Stout; Mrs. Philip Phillips; Mrs. Holman; Mrs. Crocker; Mrs. Tremaine; Mrs. Reynolds; Mrs. Goodrich; Mrs. Richardson; Mrs. Thorn; Mrs. Acker; Mrs. Dr. Bond; Mrs. Swanson; Mrs. Bartlett; Mrs. Alford; Mrs. Griffing; Mrs. Higley; Mrs. Tate; Mrs. Hemmenway; Mrs. Hutchins; Mrs. Ressique; Mrs. Dickinson; Mrs. Trask; Mrs. Langford Palmer; Mrs. Tilney; Miss M. E. Winslow; Miss Meacham; Miss Meserole; Miss Greenwood; Miss Slack; Mrs. Eyer; Mrs. C. F. Ketchum; Mrs. H. B. Jackson; Mrs. T. W. Ladd.

In the year 1876, Mrs. Mary C. Johnson, the efficient and talented President of the Brooklyn Union, visited Great Britain and Ireland, and spent six months in successful work in drawing-room and public meetings. Her efforts to help forward the cause of gospel temperance were richly blest. She addressed during her absence 121 audiences, and conducted forty-one prayer-meetings. Her work was chiefly among the upper classes, and her drawing-room and lawn meetings were attended largely by the nobility. Mrs. Johnson, who is a cultured Christian lady, was received everywhere with great attention, and the American women have reason to be proud of her record abroad, and the National Union that one of her officers so ably represented her in the higher circles of Great Britain.

By special request of the writer of these pages, Captain Oliver Cotter has written out the following history of his conversion, and his legal work:

CAPTAIN OLIVER COTTER’S CONVERSION AND WORK.

On Thursday afternoon, April 12th, 1874, Mrs. A. Wilder and Mrs.
Richardson, of the Ladies’ Union, first called on me, and found me
in my saloon, behind the bar. The barkeeper and several gentlemen
were present. I was in the act of drinking liquor with the gentlemen
present. These two agents of Christ inquired for the proprietor. I
responded. They said: “My _brother_, we have called on you to inquire
and to talk to you about your soul’s salvation, and about this
business _you are in_.”

I immediately quit my company, and invited them into the reading-room
attached to the saloon, and entered into conversation relative to
my business. It was then a _novel_ and rare thing to hear and see
two such fine, respectable, highly-cultured ladies, strangers then
to me, take such a deep interest in me, and particularly in my
soul’s salvation, that word my _brother_ still coming from their
lips every time they addressed me. For over an hour they remained in
that reading-room, and before leaving both of them knelt in prayer.
I felt then, for the first time, that I was a sinner, and needed
God’s forgiveness, and that I was in a bad business, and that for
seven years I had been making drunkards by law, and was blind to
the sin and iniquity I was every day heaping on my soul: for I was
running _five different saloons_, four in Brooklyn, and one in New
York; was the Secretary of King’s County (Brooklyn) Liquor-Dealers’
Society--2,500 strong, with $10,000 in our treasury, to work for the
devil. Was chairman of the executive committee, and stood high among
my friends in the trade. For six years I worked faithfully for Satan,
as the secretary. On Friday, the 13th, two other ladies called on
me, same saloon, 358 Fulton street, Brooklyn, and again pleaded with
me by exhortation and in prayer. Same, on 14th, Saturday. It was
then I broke down, and gave my consent for a saloon prayer-meeting,
next evening, Sunday, April 15th, 1874, which commenced in the
reading-room of the saloon, seven and a half P. M., and ended at
eleven o’clock, nine of my customers and myself being present. Ten
Christian women marched in, two by two, as the disciples of old
went out, and commenced the services with the hymn, “Nearer, my
God, to Thee.” We all signed the pledge, relying on God to help us
keep it. The whole of us were soundly converted, and all of us are
to-day living evidence of God’s goodness. Not one of us has fallen,
but have grown in grace. So you see that each Christian woman had
a trophy: ten came, and ten were converted, the liquor-dealer and
his customers. All are working for the Master. It was a powerful
meeting; the Holy Spirit was there in great power. The saloon was
closed, never again to be opened. Not sold out; no, no. That would
be compromising with God. I never could do that. I destroyed all the
liquors I had, and counted my redemption good pay for the loss of the
filthy stuff. And I now thank God for a Union of Christian women in
Brooklyn, through whose instrumentality I was saved and cleansed in
the blood of the Lamb--clothed, and in my right mind.

Persecutions then awaited me from all sides--friends and foes. The
devil commenced; the society, of which I was an honored officer
for six years, commenced; the wholesale and retail liquor-dealers
commenced; my house, that cost me $9,000, I lost; large amounts were
offered, my house to be given me back, if I would resume the business
again, but I would not give in; my brother turned against me, and
said I ought to go to the poor-house. My time won’t here permit me
to go into detail of what I suffered. God’s grace was sufficient to
keep me through it all. I put my hand to the plough--He kept me from
looking back. Glory be to His holy name!

Being left almost penniless, and not willing to take anything from
any one, only what I could earn by the sweat of my brow, I set out
for New York city, relying on God and trusting Him. I found an humble
situation in a mercantile house. When asked for my reference I told
the merchant (who I found afterwards was a Christian man) that he
must take me just as I was, gave my history, etc.; he took me by the
hand and engaged me. I was six months in his employ, when I was
called through him and others who are now with me, all members of
the same church (Dr. Budington’s), into the legal work, the history
of which would fill several volumes. At this time I cannot go into a
full detail of the work which God has done through me, in Brooklyn
and elsewhere. Suffice it for me to say, when I commenced the work
here, in 1874, we had 3,110 saloons, now we have less than 1,500,
still getting less; the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union has helped
also.

I have been in the States of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia; also in over 150
cities, and villages, and towns in New York, Connecticut, and New
Jersey; and have inaugurated the legal work and addressed meetings,
besides a large amount of correspondence--all this in the past three
years.

I was President of a Reform Club for two years; have organized Reform
Clubs on the gospel plan in other places, all of which has been for
the honor and glory of God. I never had a day’s sickness; never was
better in my life, spiritually and temporally. The Lord provides and
gives me more than I ask for. My faith is in my Redeemer; His grace
has kept me. I rely not on man, but on God’s precious promises. I
believe them all; I trust God for everything. The legal work and the
gospel work go together. God has blessed me abundantly in the work;
and I know he has called me into this kind of work. I would have been
murdered long since if the work had been of myself; therefore, I
know it is His work. How sweet the knowledge I have derived from the
many hair-breadth escapes I have had from the cursed liquor traffic,
and the enemy of Christ and His work, who oftentimes assailed me.
Divine Providence protected me; therefore, I always go out in His
name, and for Him, and Him only, so that He should get all the honor
and glory.

BINGHAMPTON, NEW YORK.

I gather the following facts from the report of Mrs. H. Morris, Secretary:

Our Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was organized in the spring of 1874. The first meetings for prayer and consultation were fully attended, and with it praise went up to God for His blessing on the Temperance Crusade. We felt that God was present by His Spirit, inditing our prayers and efforts. Our inquiry was, “Lord, what wilt Thou have us to do?”

A special day of fasting and prayer was observed. Our sisters met together in one place; and every hour had its separate leader through the day. A large number present pledged themselves before God to a life-work in the temperance cause. This spirit has animated our Union ever since.

The first year of our work the drug stores, saloons, and other places were visited, and urgent appeals were made, to induce the occupants to desist from selling intoxicating liquors as a beverage. The druggists uniformly denied that they sold the article except for mechanical and medicinal purposes, and were all ready to sign the pledge.

A committee from our Union have visited the Board of Excise several times, and presented a petition from 1,300 of our citizens to grant no licenses. All the inducements that could be presented to them in the most solemn manner, drawn from three worlds, seemed to have but little weight upon them.

Our Union has met for prayer many times, feeling that no earthly arm could save us, and that God’s strength must be extended. He alone could save. And in answer to our prayers, Mr. Robinson came, held meetings, and labored personally, with great success. Some five thousand pledges were taken, and the good work has been going on ever since. Mass-meetings have been held two and three times a week.

At the request of some of the reformed men, a religious evening meeting has been kept up by our Union. They feel and know that Jesus can alone save them from everlasting ruin, and they are trying to lead Christian lives, and are doing all they can to bring their associates to temperance and to Christ. So that this work is a religious one--a gospel revival. Souls, that were fast sinking into the drunkard’s grave, are now redeemed, and a new song put into their mouths, even praise to their Redeemer. Towns all around us are participating In this great movement, and are sending to Binghampton for speakers.

A juvenile temperance society, a young men’s temperance union, and a young ladies’ blue ribbon society are among the outgrowths of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. The blessed Lord has indeed heard our prayers. We need more faith, more earnest workers, and more of the blessing of God, for the warfare against intemperance in this place. But we rejoice and bless God that He has so wonderfully visited us in mercy and love, and that He has shown to those who profess not His name that this is His work, and He is mighty to save.

POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK.

We glean the following facts from a report sent by Maria A. Wiley;

In response to the invitation given through the daily papers, a large audience assembled at Temperance Hall on Tuesday evening, April 7th, 1874. Mrs. Deyo, of Dutchess county, addressed the meeting, stating the object of the movement, which was to help the rum-seller out of his evil business. There were ministers and representatives from all the denominations present, and favorable to the movement, and the Lord was evidently with us in this beginning of our action.

A letter was read from Messrs. Brown & Doty, druggists, stating they were willing to pledge themselves to sell no liquor except on physicians’ prescriptions, and for medicinal purposes.

An invitation was given to the women present, who were willing to begin this movement, to signify it by rising. Seventy-five arose; and notice was given that a woman’s prayer-meeting would be held in the chapel of the Congregational Church at three o’clock, on the following day. Sixty-five women were present at the meeting next day. The meeting was one of deep solemnity and heart-searching. We consecrated ourselves to the work in response to a question proposed by our leader, “Are we _ready_ for anything?”

Another large meeting was held in the evening. The Lord poured out his Spirit. Large mass-meetings continued to be held in the churches each evening. Encouraging reports were made. Committees were appointed to visit property-holders, drug stores, groceries, and hotels, asking them not to rent their property as saloons, or sell intoxicating drinks. A petition to the Board of Excise was also circulated, that the license be hereafter withheld from the one hundred saloons, that were such a curse to the city. Notice was sent us of the voluntary surrender of some of the liquor-dealers. The first from George M. Frazier, 61 Main street, wherein he states, in a letter which was read at one of our public meetings, that in five years he had been ruined by selling rum, and intended to discontinue the business. He also inserted the following notice in the daily papers:

“_Anticipating the Ladies’ Crusade_, the undersigned surrenders
without a call. Hereafter the Mansion House, 61 Main street, will be
conducted on the temperance plan. We offer first-class accommodations
to both custom and transient boarders. Meals furnished at any time.

“G. M. FRAZIER.”

An impressive incident occurred about this time. William St. John, proprietor of the Exchange Hotel, sent in a letter, which was read at our fifth mass-meeting, April 11th, wherein he announced he had given up selling liquor, and would never, _never_ enter the business again; that he believed it to be wrong, and was doing much evil. He was taken sick soon after, and died the 17th of April.

The Catholic priest sent us a letter of encouragement, saying his heart and prayers were with the movement; he was willing to be present at a meeting, on neutral grounds.

The committee of fifty ladies, who had been canvassing the city with petitions to be presented to the Board of Excise, completed their work by April 29th. The total number of signatures of citizens and real estate owners was 3,966; of property-holders alone, 867. A large number of signers to the total abstinence pledge was obtained at the same time; 149 signed it in the White House shoe factory.

Some who had rented their buildings for liquor-selling agreed not to rent them for that purpose again. Appeals to mayor and common council were presented by a committee of ladies, asking for the enforcement of the laws prohibiting the sale of liquors on Sunday, and to minors. But this was discouraging work, for we found the Excise Board had no regard for our petitions, for they granted 130 licenses in June, that year. Some had delayed applying for license until they knew the result of the appeals to the Excise Board, and the limits of the power of that body. Statements had been made to the Excise Board and common council of the violation of the excise law; but they were in some instances evaded, and in others treated with an indifference which left the impression that the laws would not be enforced; but we had pledged ourselves for life to the work, and no one felt inclined to give it up.

We visited the poor drunkards’ families, and from there we went to the saloons that had the legal right to make them such.

In most places the ladies were treated respectfully. They went in companies of two or three, and generally called on the family first, or on the proprietor at his home,--in some cases, only one called,--and by gentle, friendly remonstrances, many promises were made of reformation. Some promised to leave the business if other occupation could be furnished them. We were rewarded for a time by seeing some saloons closed on Sundays. A few voluntarily abandoned the business, and others were persuaded, and now, after three years, have not broken their promise. But very few had the moral principle to abandon a business which was sanctioned and encouraged by the law, and our only alternative was to work on diligently in the line of moral suasion, trusting in the Lord.

Forty-three saloons were visited during the summer and fall, but all in a quiet way. The temperance pledge was circulated in Sunday-schools, factories, and on Bible and tract districts, and hundreds of names obtained.

Several ministers, one of them the Roman Catholic priest, and other gentlemen of influence, met with the executive board again on May 9th, to give counsel as to the most effective measures to carry out our purpose.

The petitions had been presented by a committee of twelve ladies, on May 4th, 5th, and 6th. They were politely received, but no encouragement given of their aid in the temperance work.

Two Friendly Inns were established. Some of the most forlorn and ragged boys who were cared for, and for whom we found employment, walk our streets to-day well clothed, and industrious members of society.

Seven Sunday-school temperance societies were organized in the spring and summer of 1875, auxiliary to the Woman’s Temperance Society. A juvenile temperance union was organized, November, 1876; number of children on roll-book, 160, though we have had as many as 200 at one meeting. On the 30th of August we treated the children to a picnic. We went to a beautiful grove, just south of the city, and spent the day very pleasantly, many of the parents of the little ones accompanying them.

GENEVA, NEW YORK.

The Society reports the following:

The Geneva Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was organized April 22d, 1874, with twenty-six members. Of the original number twenty remain; present number, fifty-two. Became auxiliary to the State Union, September 30th, 1875.

Our work for the three years has not been Western Crusade work, but trying to create public opinion in favor of temperance; using our influence against license and for prohibition, distributing temperance tracts and papers, holding mass-meetings, and inviting temperance lecturers, as our means allowed; sustaining without fail one weekly prayer-meeting, and for a time two--both still continue; occasionally distributing temperance literature in saloons and hotels; laboring with individuals and families of drunkards. All this time working and praying with no apparent success, “hoping against hope,” but with never failing faith in our faithful God, believing firmly that He would yet answer our prayers, and make our work apparent. At last the answer came. The reform movement with us was the culmination of all these years of work and prayers.

As God caused the “Western Crusade” to be the great lever to “open the door which no man can shut,” and thereby inaugurating the great temperance movement not only all over our own land, but throughout Christendom, so I believe this reform work is but another door opened to still greater work, setting forever at rest the question, Can drunkards be reformed? and also, Will temperance principles finally triumph? involving in it, as it does, the same glorious principles of the gospel and temperance combined.

About six months since a Reform Club was organized, numbering now about 200, many of whom have come from the lowest depths. A few have been converted, but we are looking and laboring for the salvation of them all. Over 2,000 have signed the pledge during that time, many of them youths and children.

We have two beautiful club-rooms, furnished nicely; have quite a library already, and papers and innocent games. These are a continued resort for many who would otherwise visit saloons. Already the damage to saloons is estimated to be a hundred dollars per night. One saloon-keeper remarked, “he did not know whether it was the blue ribbon or hard times, but something affected his business.”

Our work is now almost exclusively through this channel, assisting families, and contributing in many ways to their welfare. We gave them and their families a dinner on the 4th of July, a scene which had never been witnessed in this place before. Truly it was a dinner on the gospel plan: over six hundred men, women and children were fed, and many more than twelve baskets full sent out the next day.

So we are working and praying, and hoping to see the day when there will be no liquor sold in our beautiful village.

PEEKSKILL, NEW YORK.

A. M. Stewart furnishes the following facts:

The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union of Peekskill was organized on the 19th of January, 1875, with about fifteen members.

Although the attendance has never been large, the prayer-meetings have been characterized by great earnestness and fervor of spirit.

It has been utterly impossible to arouse the villagers to a sense of their danger, though we had three wholesale liquor establishments in the place, and forty or fifty saloons where the young men congregated, and spent night after night in drinking, gambling, etc.

There has been considerable quiet saloon visiting by wives and mothers, who have had the sting of the serpent in their own families, but no organized systematic crusading in that direction.

Public sentiment is becoming more awake to the importance of saving the boys and young men of the community from the grasp of the destroyer.

We have made complaints against several saloons, by watching the persons who visited them, and sending their names to the district attorney of the county, who was, of course, obliged to subpœna them as witnesses against the places, and bring them “before a jury for trial.” Some would swear falsely, of course, but there is honor even among thieves and drunkards, and some would testify to the truth. In that way we have brought the village into a great commotion, and have succeeded, we hope, in arousing fathers and mothers to watch their boys. Great consternation was manifested by parents when they found that their sons were in the habit of frequenting the low places, and joining the drunken revelries, so we feel that good has been done by this effort. Quite recently, by the help of a noble woman, who is driven to severe measures by home sorrow, another of these dark dens has been complained of, and the proprietor brought to justice; she appearing to testify in the court-room, after he had sworn falsely. This place is closed. Others are being watched, and the dealers will be brought to justice before long.

We have now about fifty or sixty members of our organization, but only few that have time or inclination for outside work; but when we remember how feeble we were in the beginning, and how coldly Christians, generally, have looked upon our efforts, we feel like thanking God and taking courage.

Mrs. Allen Butler, President of the State Union, gives the following summary of work accomplished in these three years:

Nearly all the cities and large towns, and very many of the smaller ones, have active Woman’s Temperance Unions. Three counties, Herkimer, Ontario, and Onondaga, are thoroughly organized, having a Woman’s Temperance Union in nearly, if not all, the villages and hamlets. Many of the towns are being swept thoroughly by the tidal wave that is rolling over the land. Some of the villages are driving the entire traffic, with its attendant evils--licentiousness and crime--from their midst. Some of the dealers are taking the pledge, and giving their stock of liquors to be consumed by the midnight fire kindled for the purpose; while the ringing of bells, and shouts of praise to God, attest the joy of the people.

Petitions have been circulated, and thousands of signatures obtained and sent to Congress and the State Legislature, imploring their interposition in behalf of our suffering people.

New Unions are being formed, Friendly Inns established, and Juvenile Societies organized. Reform Clubs and Bands of Christian Brotherhood have been formed in some places, and are doing a good work in securing the enforcement of the laws against selling intoxicating liquors without license, and at such times, and to such persons, as are forbidden. Many places have been closed entirely, especially in the cities of New York and Brooklyn, where both men and women have labored untiringly since the commencement of the Crusade, with wonderful results; more regular saloon visiting having been done there than in any other part of the State; yet some of this has been done in most of the cities, and in many of the villages. There are towns in our State that have had “no license” for years. One has had none for thirty years, another for seventeen years.

Different bodies have been visited with very encouraging results, especially medical societies, some of which have pledged themselves as a whole not to use alcoholic liquors in their practice at all, having found substitutes that are safe and entirely sufficient.

The press and the pulpit are giving their aid as never before. The children of the Sabbath and public schools are being reached; and, altogether, the work is most successful and promising.

VERMONT, NEW HAMPSHIRE, AND RHODE ISLAND.