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Show I f T H I P A C I F IC seating at least 400 others, twenty of them being pastors or Bible women giving the whole of their time teaching the word, and thirty years ago there was not one Christian here and sixteen years ago the Boxer outbreak threatened complete destruction and did bring in seven years of desolation before the rebuilding. A Week in the Woman's Hospital. There were eighty treatments, and among them were most interesting cases. One patient was suffering from eating poisoned bread. The father and mother-in-law were already dead, as also a man helping them on the threshing floor. The poison was mixed with the flour by an old uncle who was angry with them. The woman's life was saved by energetic treatment. While the doctor was there, the official came, taking the testimony of the patient and of the physician regarding the case. Another patient was a suicide case, a Mohammedan woman who sought death because she was reviled by a neighbor. Upon a stretcher from a place ten miles away in the country, came a woman with a self-inflicted wound by razor in the abdomen. She had been married but nine days, and had cut the dreadful wound that her husband, who had reviled her, might see her heart. The infection was so great, no stitching was possible; but by semi-daily dressing rapid recovery was effected. As always there were tubercular cases; and one old woman who could not be helped had a tumor on the eye ball. There were some happily simple, as si little child with a burn, and a pretty young girl with a torn ear who was to be made presentable for her wedidng. The very common diseases, malaria and ring-worm and rheumatism, were represented; and there was trachoma, the disease that bars all immigrants from the United States!- At the same time, fully as many cases were treated by Dr. Tallmon-Sargent in the Men's Hospital. THE FUTURE OF THE PACIFIC. Doubtless many persons on the Pacific Coast will rejoice to learn that a movement was started not long ago to build up The Pacific and. make it more serviceable. Nothing definite, however, can be announced for two or three months yet. Suffice it to remark here at this time that the plan involves the putting of a man in the field permanently, to increase the circulation, and the securing of news gatherers in all leading cities distant from San Francisco, such as Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, Portland, Los Angeles and San Diego, to make the paper as representative and newsy for those cities as it is for the cities here by the Golden Gate. Several representative Congregationalists got together not long ago and came to the conclusion that The Pacific had been of immeasurable value during the sixty-six years of its existence and ought to be backed up! so as to make it serviceable in the highest way possible. A Glimpse of Our Letters. An editor receives all sorts of letters. Our readers may be interested if we let them peep into a few received during the last two or three weeks. We wish we had more of the criticisms to quote-it would be interesting; but letters are not kept, and only one criticism has come of late. One woman wrote to have the paper discontinued to her address, saying: "A religious paper should give spiritual help to its readers. The world needs something better than an intellectual Christianity. Christ never offered that stone to those who look to him for bread; and no one speaking in his name has any warrant for doing so. When he comes again, what will he say to those he finds so doing? 'Woe, woe, I never knew you!" The same week a layman in our church at Redlands wrote: "God bless the Editor in his work!" And, "No paper quite like The Pacific with its interesting retail of what is being said and done," came from the Rev. W. W. Will-ard, now in Chicago. The wife of a pastor wrote last week: "Since we .have been in the West we both have derived stimulus and satisfaction from the paper-more, it seems to me, than from the denominational papers to which we have been subscribers in other localities." Not long ago the increased cost of white paper led us to cut off some of our exchange publications. Immediately word came from a missionary secretary in one of the central states, who has to do with a small monthly publication, that there was something unique about The Pacific that made it the most read paper that came into the office. Yesterday there was received from Dr. Buck-ham of the Pacific School of Religion a letter in which was this postscript: "Congratulations on the editorial reprinted in the Boston Transcript." It may help any who fail to rightly estimate The Pacific as a force for righteousness on the Pacific Coast, and as a purveyor of valuable articles, to know that for several years this paper has been quoted more extensively perhaps than any other church paper by the Boston Transcript, which is, beyond question, the best daily paper in the United States. The Rev. Dr. Sidney Strong has stated to the Editor two or three times in the last half-dozen years that he cuts out and files away for future use more articles from the Pacific than from any other publication received by him. _ Twenty Years of Service. ~~m Jtny-fhrs yexr the present Editor-will have finished twenty years as editor and manager of the paper. It has been far below his ideal; but he has given himself to it from early morning till late at night, determined to do the best he could in the circumstances. An immense amount of reading is done so as to keep somewhat informed on the great questions and problems of our day. There is scarcely any time any day, and late into the night, when the Editor of The Pacific doesn't have a book or a magazine or a paper, or pen, or pencil, in his hand. Every week several hundred publications are looked through in the preparation of the portion of the paper prepared by the Editor,, many hours are spent in libraries and reading rooms, making use of publications which The Pacific cannot get in exchange and for which it is not able to subscribe; and every word taken therefrom has to be laboriously transcribed. The proofreading is done by the Editor-very hurriedly done the make-up of the paper is directed, the business is transacted, and all correspondence attended to. Editorially, several thousand words, enough all together for two sermons, are written-on the average-every week of the year. Part of it does not have to be thought out; but all has to be put down on paper. And always you have to catch your hare before you dress and cook it. It may be a surprising statement to some persons, but it is a fact that very little copy comes in that the Editor does not have to go through before it can be handed to the linotype operators. Some operators can and will correct it as they set it; others can't, and others won't; and it makes an awful job for the proof-reader when are added to the errors that are made on the linotype those in many a manuscript. All in all, it has been a very busy life. It was predicted • twenty years ago that he couldn't stand it all; but he has stood it. The work has had more pleasant features than un- |