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Show MISSIONS IN ALASKA. The following letetr regarding the work of the Paulist Fathers in Alaska is interesting: Washington, Brooklanel Station, D. C, Xow 13th 1905. Editor Intermountain Catholic: Three summers ago Rev. M. P. Smith of the Paulist Fathers gave a series of missions in the Youkon Territory at the invitation of the Oblates. On his return southward he was invited to preach at Skagway, Alaska, by the pastor, Rev. F. Turnell, S.J, This assignment was transferred to me, and at my first opportunity, in June df this year, I undertook its fulfilment. The mission was followed fol-lowed by others at Sewash, Valdez, Fort Liscum, Sitka. meati, Douglas and Ketchikan. Sermons were preached in churches, barracks, dance halls, on board ship and in the open forest at the railway construction camps. Everywhere Catholics rallieel with ferror to the mission cross, or eloelgeel the opportunity, in traditional proportions propor-tions of good and bad. I am happy to report, how-, ever, that each mission brought a goodly harvest of consoling mission reconciliations. With the exception of the established parishes of Juneau and Douglas, the non-Catholic, attendance cxcecel-ed cxcecel-ed the Catholic in numbers and enthusiasm. Alaska Alas-ka is a capital experiment station for the stuely of American tendencies, and my work there confirms my belief -that non-Catholics ar. more eager than luke-wann Catholics to welcome Catholic preaching. preach-ing. I was fortunately able to leave everywhere copies of Father Wyman's excellent book, 'Certainty 'Cer-tainty in Religion,' to complete their instruction The several conversions resulting should be placed entirely to his credit, as the expedition wss mainly due to his generous anel inelefatigablc zeal in spreading the non-Catholic missions along the western frontier. I covered less than one-half of the main Alaskan Alas-kan coast line, a space of some 1,500 miles, which is cared for by thre Jesuit Apostolic. Their unwearying, unwea-rying, unfaltering devotion, in the midst of oppressive op-pressive solitude, grim poverty, rigorous and gloomy climate and bitter hostility of lawless men, is the high water mark of Apostolic self-sacrifice in the whole range of my missionary observation. I learneel to reverence them as Pentecostal heroes. The. pathos of their hard lives is accentuated by the opuluce of the Protestant missions, invar- , I I j iablv tho best equipped institution? of each sm.ll town, which gather under their roots mere hand- fuls of worshippers, at the expense of mii-nary donations from the states. Here again Ala-ka niiicantly points to one of the most .Vplonibb- -In. fects of the Catholic propaganda, the failure. ,.f welbto-do Catholics to recognize their respousibil. itv to the starving frontier. If we could b-gin. la the new settlements like Seward, with the mawri.,1 advantages of . the non-Catholics, the town w..-,K be predominantly Catholic. |