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We organized churches during the quarter as follows:

1. Crystal Bay, St. Paul Presbytery, June 5, with 14 members.

[October,

W. H. Lingle, a student from McCormick. I have a man in prospect for that field. Lingle is in good favor.

4. Red Lake Falls and one station is now

class at Union. R. M. Latimer, from Colum

5. Brainard, Duluth Presbytery, June 14, with 12 members.

6. East Grand Forks, Red River Presbytery, May 19, with 15 members.

The organization of the church at Hinckley, organized by Mr. Lyon eight years ago without elders, was completed the 30th day of June last by the ordination and installation of two elders, one of whom is a Swede. I found at the reorganization of this church that not one of the original members was left, but we received eleven that day and they start off now with better prospects than ever before.

These seven new churches organized during the quarter are all provided with permanent supplies except Crystal Bay, Warrendale and East Grand Forks, which are now supplied by students. When the students go we will have the following vacancies, as per printed blank :

1. Western and Lawrence, in Red River Presbytery. This field has been vacant for nearly three years except the services of Mr. Stephens, the student now there. He has done good work, but I have no one to take his place. It is located in a rich farming region and they have fine crops this year. A man who can live on the moderate salary of $700 will find that a very pleasant field, requiring only one new sermon a week.

2. East Grand Forks and one station six miles in the country is a new field that promises well. J. H. Melrose, a student, supplies it for the summer. They have purchased a lot with a good store building on it that affords ample room for the present, rather it was donated by Rev. H. G. Mendenhall. A plan is on foot to have Melrose return after his graduation next year.

3. Euclid, Anyns and Keystone constitute one field, and are supplied for the summer by

5. Warrendale and Como Villa are in St. Paul and supplied for the summer by J. M. Irwin, student from McCormick. At Como Villa we have a chapel and at Warrendale a new church building nearly completed that is to cost $8000. The money was donated principally by one man, Mr. Cary Warren.

6. Brown's Valley ought to have a man, but I have been unable to find him. I wish you would try your hand on Brown's Valley. Mr. Boyd knows something of the importance of this field. A Sabbath-school six miles in the country was organized a few weeks since, and five Presbyterian families are in it. This point can be worked with Brown's Valley. The field is wide open for us now, if we had an acceptable man. Send him on.

7. At Crystal Bay, two and a half miles from Long Lake, we organized a church on the 5th of June and this week we begin to erect a chapel. These fields are now supplied by C. H. McCaslin, a student, who returns to McCormick in September. I want a man for this field at once.

8. Saint James and Lake Crystal I hope to unite in one field. Madelia wants to go alone. W. S. LaGrange goes this week to Wells, so that both Lake Crystal and St. James are out in the cold. They will need aid to the amount of $265.

9. Delhi is now supplied by a student middler from McCormick. I hope to get them a permanent man soon, and can perhaps reduce the amount they will ask from the Board to $200. W. E. Bates is the name of the student who supplies them.

1889.]

10. Beaver Creek is now ready for another man. Mr. Steele has gone to supply the church at Blue Earth City for one year or till young Conrad, student, their present supply, graduates. If they succeed in gathering their abundant harvest, they may raise 550 on the field at Beaver Creek this year.

11. Winnebago City has invited Mr. E. S. Brownlee (senior), the young man I sent to Cloynet, to visit them this week with a view to a call. I have, however, a man for Cloynet in the person of Rev. S. B. McClelland, of Lyons, Neb. Just while I was mourning over Cloynet the Lord sent McClelland with his good wife to fill up the gap, and I was happy again. You know I made special mention of Cloynet when I was east last spring.

12. Balaton was very sore over Clark's leaving them. I was not favorable to his going to Pipestone, but so it is, and, true to my early training, I think it will work out good in the end. Mr. R. M. Mason, student from Princeton, came just in time to save the day. Mason is a "rustler." I want him next year.

13. Westminster, at Worthington, has been vacant for two months. They are having a Congregationalist supply their pulpit at $5 per Sabbath. In the practice of such economy they hope to build a manse soon and then call a pastor.

14. Fremont is now supplied occasionally by the pastor-at-large, Mr. Tawney, but they are almost strong enough to go alone and support a permanent pastor.

15. Ely, as you know, is on the Iron Range Railway, 125 miles north of Duluth. The church there was organized less than a year ago, and has now about 40 members. They are supplied this summer by C. E. Freeman, student from McCormick. They are engaged now in building a church and are doing well in every way. So far we have the field to ourselves, but to hold it we must have a man to follow the student. He ought to have a salary of $1000, perhaps $700 of it can be raised on the field. Where is the man?

16. West Duluth, organized April 23, with 15 members, is growing rapidly. Their new church will be dedicated on the 11th instant. C. H. Johnson, student from McCormick, sup

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plies them; indeed, he began the work and has built the church. We must have a man to follow him. It is a field of fine promise and can pay a salary of $1000.

17. Two Harbors is supplied now by J. S. Phillips (senior), from Allegheny. He is very acceptable. The work there is in good condition.

18. Gary and Canby, the first in Dakota and the other in Minnesota, is now supplied by J. A. Marquis, a student from Allegheny Seminary. He has worked up two new points in Dakota which in connection with Gary should be united in one field. He has also been preaching at a new point in Minnesota that he reports is full of promise. At Canby we have but little except the church building.

So you see we will need twelve men at once to take the places of the students, and the fields they leave, without exception, are all good ones.

PRESBYTERY OF BLACK HILLS. REV. W. S. PETERSON, SUPERINTENDENT. The season has been favorable and we have been kept busy. We are laying foundations, therefore we cannot report large things, yet we are encouraged by the progress made.

During the quarter we have visited nearly all parts of the presbytery, only one, the northern, being yet to explore. The larger part of our journey is by private conveyance, and much of it being among the mountains is necessarily slow. Five or six miles an hour is rapid driving. However, the tediousness of travel is relieved by the beauty and grandeur of the scenery through which we pass.

At three points church organizations have been effected, namely, Hot Springs, on May 19, with eight members; Hill City, on June 16, with seven members; Terraville, on June 9, with eight members.

Perhaps we should say that these organizations were partially effected, as the final choice of officers in each case was postponed until a better acquaintance of member with member could be had.

The Terraville church has grown out of a very earnest demand. A little handful of Christians in the midst of an openly-irreligious

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multitude persisted in asking at our hands the preached word and the church. It has been with difficulty that we could reach them or supply them, yet I believe on only two occasions in three months have they been missed. We are at length hoping to so arrange fields that Rev. J. B. Pomeroy, of Whitewood, shall have Terraville as part of his charge. This is in the region where the Sabbath has no general observance. The mines stop never, and the mills stop only for the "clean up" which comes twice each month. However, we trust that a better day is coming. The miners themselves and the people about them are asking for a Sabbath. The asking will be continued until it becomes a not-to-be-unheeded demand. Terraville is in the northern hills in the gold region. Hill City is in the southern hills at the centre of the tin mining. Here the English company, known as the Harvey Peak Tin Mining Company, makes field headquarters. This company is erecting several buildings for residences, shops, etc., and is getting out lumber for mills.

The little church is greatly encouraged. Brother Abel Armstrong is resident pastor and dwells in his own neat log cabin. He has gained an open entrance to the good will of all classes and is appreciated in his efforts. He extends his preaching to several outstations, making his way to the different appointments on foot. In the fall, or as soon as materials can be had, he expects to put up a house of worship. One encouraging feature of the work is in the fact, for which our English managers must be given credit, that Hill City has a Sabbath; at least the mines are closed on that day, so that all, if they will, may keep the Sabbath. There is, by the rougher element, a great deal of profanity and Sabbath-breaking and indulgence in strong drink, but the force of better things is being felt.

Conjointly with ourselves our Methodist Episcopal brethren preach at Terraville and Hill City. With the presiding elder of the district we have arranged that for the present but one church building shall be built in each of the towns. They, the Methodist Episcopal, building in Terraville, and we, Presbyterian, in Hill City. This will afford us each fair op

[October,

portunity to build, and we each are to open our house to the services of the other denomination one half time. It will, we think, save friction and expense.

At Hot Springs our little band of eight members is working with enthusiasm. The ladies have organized for their work. Plans are on foot for erecting a substantial house of worship. Sabbath services, of which we try to furnish one each week, are well attended. The committee seems to be religiously disposed. The town is growing. As a summer and health resort through all the northwest the place is rapidly gaining prominence. A railroad is promised for an early date. By act of territorial legislation the Soldier's House is placed at Hot Springs. By act of the Methodist Episcopal Conference a college for that denomination is building there. And now with a church of the Presbyterian denomination in progress, what more could Hot Springs desire. Two out-stations can easily be associated with Hot Springs church. It seems to me to be a most attractive field for some good missionary.

On July 9 and 12, Rev. Pomeroy and myself made a trip through the fine country lying between the Hills and the Cheyenne river on the east. We drove to the borders of the great Indian reservation, crossing the valleys and divides, uplands along and between the Rapid, Box Elder and Elk creeks. On our return we recrossed these glorious regions on another line, thus giving ourselves a good idea of the whole. We found a good many settlers along the streams, and a few on the uplands. Every where was seen the evidence of a fertile soil. In some cases the lands of the valleys are irrigated, yet, strange to say, the uplands generally give the better results to farming. We passed many fine fields of grain and saw many large herds of cattle, sometimes of blooded stock. It is a beautiful region, rolling and well watered, and in full view of the mountains on the west. At Smithville, on the Cheyenne, we were sixty miles east and a little north of Rapid, and on the direct road to Pierre, one hundred miles away on the Missouri river. After traversing this region we felt that we could well believe the assertion so often heard that very soon the railway lines must creep from the east to the

1889.]

Hills. It is a matter of certainty that at length the Indians of the reservation having now in sufficient numbers signed the bill, this land between Pierre and the Black Hills will be thrown open to settlement. Then for the great white populations, the railways, towns and cities to follow will require but short time. The question which presses upon us is, Shall we be ready to plant, through all the regions, the gospel?

On this journey we called on Brother W. H. Jennings. Brother Jennings' health is greatly improved since his removal from Kansas, his work is interesting to himself and effective among his people. He looks after a large field along the Rapid and Box Elder streams. He is asking a second church organization.

We visited also Rev. Rohland and a few of his people. Rohland has a large field, with headquarters and post-office at Viewfield, and a great work to do if only he shall see his opportunity and bestir himself to take advantage of it. He seems to have felt himself almost lost or overwhelmed in that vast region. We had questioned whether to ask the Board to commission him.

THE GREAT COAL FIELDS.

But the development of the greatest present commercial interest is the coal. A very strong corporation made up from Burlington and Missouri railway officials and employes has possessed itself of, it is said, ten thousand acres of coal lands along the Beaver, Little Beaver and Salt creeks. This salt stream evidences large deposits of salt in the region. The coal has been taken out in shafts on three sides of as many mountains. The vein lies horizontally and is from eight to twelve feet in thickness. It is pure bituminous coal, save the intrusion of two small sections of shale, one about three fourths of an inch thick, and the other one and one half of an inch. Above the coal lie from two to four hundred feet in thickness of yellow and red sandstone, jurassic sandstone, the expert says, showing that here is the ancient coal. Mr. Hemmingway, the expert miner in charge of coal operations, says there is no finer bituminous coal in America or Europe. The veins of coal are reached from the sides of the mount

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ains at such height from the valleys as to permit the use of the most economical methods of mining and shipping. From the loading of the coal in the mine upon tram-cars through the breakers and shifters to the cars upon the big tracks ready for shipment, the coal handles itself only by its own weight. About one hun-. dred and fifty men are now employed in opening up the veins. The most approved machinery is being put in. No expense is being spared as to methods of working, the very best are to be used. Two huge boilers and several large air compressors are on the ground being put in place to furnish power to drive the machinery. The superintendent estimates the yield of coal at twelve thousand tons per acre, and expects to furnish all the coal that the railway can handle. Tests already made show that the coal cokes, and that it is for heating purposes second only to the anthracite of Pennsylvania. Its importance in relation to the Black Hills is seen at once when it is remembered that in reducing the rich refractory gold and silver ores coke has been hauled all the way from Pennsylvania. Now we shall have it close at hand by a short haul. Here, then, at our western doors is the store of fuel for our fires after the pine of the Black Hills is gone, and we are tired of burning pine. By it we shall drive our locomotives and stationary engines, shall warm our firesides and smelt our ores. It will prove itself a most valuable article of commerce and insure the favorable development of many of our undeveloped resources. It is near at hand to the gold and tin, and must prove a valuable agent in the reduction of these ores.

As missionaries this find is interesting, especially as it indicates the certain and speedy location of a large population to which we must carry the gospel. And this evangelistic work is begun. As already intimated, Rev. Currens, formerly of eastern Dakota or a Sabbath-school missionary, went out early last spring to his work on this line of railway. He has travelled from Coal Camp in Wyoming across southwest Dakota down to Alliance, Neb., preaching the word, organizing and establishing Sabbathschools, and searching out and encouraging the Christians. He is a Sabbath-school mission

ary, and therefore relegates to our care the home mission work. We are the only denomination thus far at work on the more than one hundred miles between Crawford, Neb., and the Coal Camp, Wyoming.

At four points the work at present centres. These are Collins on Hot creek and Barton on the Cheyenne river in Dakota, and Field City and Coal Camp in Wyoming. At Collins Brother Currens superintends the erection of a small church. The building is in the rough, scarcely more than sheeted; but it serves as a rallying place for Sabbath-school and preaching. Subscriptions are made in each of the other three points looking toward houses of worship. So soon as the railway company shall indicate the permanent location of the towns these buildings are to be pushed to completion.

From Collins to Coal Camp is about ninety miles. To do the work at present required on the line at least two missionaries are needed. They should be on the ground at once, that they may mould the gathering populations and shape the societies after the gospel pattern. Thus may we take the region for Christ and the Presbyterian Church.

Everywhere along the line our work is welcomed. We esteem it a providential opening for the Church we love. Shall we not have the aid and encouragement of the Board in caring for this grand new field?

Before I conclude my report I must say a word about Rapid City church. Under Brother H. P. Wilbur's care the church and congregation have grown so that they begin to feel the necessity of a larger house of worship. The meetings have during the past few days been held, decisions have been unanimous, and they are to build a stone church at a cost of about $7000. The work was begun in Rapid City less than three years ago, and already the infant has outgrown its clothes. In a short time we are assured the church will be beyond the need of further aid for its pastor from the Board of Home Missions.

Rev. Pomeroy, of Whitewood, on next Sabbath expects to dedicate his handsome new church edifice.

Our report may thus conclude with the

[October,

thought that we should encourage ourselves and the Boards of Home Missions and Church Erection in what has been gained for the Master in Black Hills Presbytery.

On looking over my record of journeys, I find that the trips made average one for each week of the quarter save one, and one trip occupied two weeks. Myself and team have been often nearly exhausted, but the work presses very hard. I have not kept account of all distances, but the four principal journeys aggregated 950 miles by team. I preached twenty-one times, organized three churches and conducted one funeral.

IN THE BLACK HILLS.

REV. JOHN B. POMEROY.

During the past quarter regular services have been maintained at Whitewood and two stations. Attendance good, interest growing. We put pews in the church instead of backless benches, to the great comfort of the audience. Our great need now is a manse; a family of four persons cannot be made comfortable in one room 12 by 16 and a shed kitchen 10 by 12, yet this is all the room we have had during the past three months. We are about to begin the erection of a main building of at least four rooms. We must have outside help, and I have already received some. Our communion service has been postponed till August 11, when we expect several accessions to our membership. The church edifice will be dedicated August 18, the anniversary of the organization. While the work here seems very slow, yet I hear on all hands the opinion expressed that a great work has been done in this region by the Presbyterian Church through the Sabbathschool missionaries and the home missionaries. We have two good Sabbath-schools at the outstations, and two others I visit occasionally. I have accompanied Brother Peterson on a tour of exploration from Rapid City, then the field of Rev. W. H. Jennings, in Box Elder valley, then Rev. A. W. Rohland's field on Elk creek to the Cheyenne river, and back through the Box Elder valley. On this trip we found a vast region of country yet to be settled, driving in some cases eight or ten