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Show W.Q. REESE WRITES A LETTER H iH 41H WEST MA1TLAND, April 22. Editou Bki'Uiilican: Fortwo reasons rea-sons I havo not written to your paper for sometime; one Is 1 have not received receiv-ed a copy of your paper since I left home; tho other that tho over success of your party In the last election was rather grinding on my feelings and so intoxicating to the majority of your readers that I feared they could not appreciate anything from the antipodes. antipo-des. Now as 1 have forgiven jour forget-fulness forget-fulness of me, and the smoke of the battle has cleared away, I feel that a few lines may be In order. Over a month ago, Elder II. P. Balr and I were appointed to visit some of the larger cities on the U.K. line from Sydney to Brisbane. In looking at my atlas (I bought a large two volume atlas when 1 llrst arrived) wo found that West Maltland, a city about twenty miles from New Castle and one hundred miles from Sjdney, containing contain-ing about 12,000 inhabitants, would be a good place to make our llrst stay. We took boat for Now Castle (It Is cheaper to travel by boat than by rail) and spent about a week there In sight seeing. We held one meeting on the street thero and had a largo number gather around to listen to us. Wo have been over three weeks here engaged In trading, visiting and doing what we can to make tho people acquainted ac-quainted wit our message. Tho past two dajs have been liko a Fourth of July celebration at home as Malt'and has been decorated with Hags and bunting, and a number of triumphal niches displaying the principal prin-cipal farm products of tho district. What means tills stir in town? "A very good reason; thoGovornor General, Gener-al, Lord Northcotc, Sir Gerald Strickland, Strick-land, Governor of Faslnanlco, and soveral minor dignitaries have been visiting iMaltland and surrounding dlstnds. Tho visitors arrived on Wednesday at 1:30 p. m. and wero mot at the station by a largo crowd who welcomed them by hearty cheers. After the usual Introductions to the majors of East and West Maltland and Morpeth and other leading citi zens (Elder Balr and I wero no doubt 1 unintentionally overlooked) the Mayor ''H (Mayor Crackncll), on behalf of the Ml citizens welcomed the Governor Gen- 'll era), who returned thanks for hU j cordial welcome. HU excellency and ll sulto were received by a guard of lH honor, consisting of (lftv men of com- Jl pany B, twenty men of the Aus. iTiHHH Light Horse, 1000 of tho school child- KH rcn who sang the National Anthem, lH and the Federal Band which played the National Anthem. H A line of march was formed and "H proceeded to the town hall The pro- iiiiH ssesslon consisted of vehicles, and -. horsemen, headed by a police escort. -il More beautiful horses 1 havo never 'fjl seen than those ridden by the Light iul Horse ojH At the town hall the Governor Gen- ijil cral made a happy speech after which fl the dignitaries took a drivo to the Dial hospital and from thero through tho fH farming districts A grand banquet All w as provided for tho evening In tho 'll town hall but we, did not go; It would ,H have cost us six shillings 'and I do :M really thing wo might spend that '1 amount In a less profitable way. iH Yesterday the vice-regal party visit- iuLifl ed the coal mines in this vicinity of jLI which there aro several. The output jH of coal from theso mines is 3000 tons 3H per day with a fair prospect of a great jH increase. There o,ro the train loads H per hour. Tho coal Is of good quality. SJ At 5:30 last evening the distinguish- ed party left in their special train of ll two finely fitted up coaches. Among H tho hundreds of Hags Hying, wo only H saw ono bearing tho Stars and Stripes; HH this was from the firm of a Singer H Sewing Machlno company. It had a H greater charm for us than oven tho H Governor General. Oh, you don't M know what; It is to bo among strangers jl until you have tried it. In our tractlng wo havo somo funny ' experiences. There arc many Catho- iH lies in this community and It Is seldom 'il that they will accept of a traot as It ll a p peers to bo contrary to their teach- U ings to investigate other religious be- M llefs. Some of the devout old ladlis H are cspechlly cutting In their lemarks )H Continued en page 4 ,H Australian Letter Continued from Page 1. dreds and thousandsof souls are here and Is a land of Interest. The greatest part Is heavily wooded with hard wood and bush llrcs are quite frequent in the country places, sweeping ttio prairies and destroying homes. Such fires are often read of but seldom Is their seriousness realized except by those who can see plainly the destruction. destruc-tion. The benefits arising from the performing per-forming of the call made of a goodly number of Latter-Day-Saints to go Into tho world and set forth tho gospel gos-pel to those who are In darkness, are great. I believe benelUs deilved from missions along ways from home aro not had In any other way than a mission to the Islands or a foreign land, such as Australia. In tho lirst place, there is a great sacrifice In leaving parents, brothers, sisters and friends and going I so far away from home, which when overcome brings a rich outpouring of the holy spirit on the head of the elders who luvo courage to accept tho call and help roll on the work that he owes his fellow men. I'reely ho has received and freely ho must glvu. The next thing he considers Is the long way In which he lias to travel and the treatment the different people give him. In his start from homo he is seated in a nine palace car which soon delivers him at San Francisco. He has already seen many interesting things traveling over those rough mountain ranges. He again continues his Inurnev after a few days visiting here and his homo Is now on the sea for little less than a month, and in limes of rough weather his mind is broadened and had bnc sickness which he had not had while on land. Day after day ho sails on, finally reaches Australia, tired, but after a little rest decides he would hate to have not had his experience. Ho has memories ot things he will long remember and has developed an appreciation for the condition con-dition that surrounds his mountain home. On reaching his Held of labor ho has crossed the torrid zone and has again gono a long ways across the equator, nearly as far south as homo Is north In passing tho different Islands ho has seen tho people who Inhabit them, also seen tho different plant life In 1 those places as their to sec and learn many tilings about those people, but in careful comparison finds they rcsem-bio rcsem-bio their cousins In North America who were their when Columbus discovered dis-covered It. Their stories and old traditions aro sutliclent as they run hand in hand and aro the same class of pcoplo without anv doubt. I landed their February 28, lOOO.and spent a Uttlo less than eight months on Islands Tlulula, Upolu and Savll and found a good work being done by tho hard working elders, preaching tho Gospel and teaching the natives to work and how to Improve, their old i ways. The ciders have taken upon them-solves them-solves this great task and are rooting them out. A few years ago the church biought a tract'Of land and this Is being be-ing used for homes by thoso who still llvo lives Inaccordanco to tho laws and regulations. It Is hard. In some, cases for them to lay by their old laws and traditions, for just rcllcct back even ono century ago many grandfathers met;cach other at tho soup kettlo and seo If you can realize what Is being done. Wo may ask, have tho peoplo who go there dono any thing for tho natlvesV Well, If I am to answer this, I would sav "no" in most cases, as many of their degraded conditions were learned them by the white man, but still a day will come when they will be greatly blessed and forward In the sight of their maker. October .1 1 left, as I had been transferred trans-ferred from here to Australia and on leaving 1 left friends and a people who still had my love and a strong wish for their wellfarc. On my Journey I had the privilege of visiting a few more Islands among the Tongan Islands Is-lands or group. My next stop was Auckland, New Zealand, where I met a few good hard working elders who made my visit pleasant and the fruits of their earnest labors were easily seen without Inquiring. I at last reached Australia and was greeted with a welcome wel-come hand from the ciders and a good welcomo feeling was felt through tho kind treatment the saints showed me. I had now got in a city of a little more than one million Inhabitants. After a few month's time very pleasantly spent In my work at Sydney a wtll known Cache valley citizen, W G. Ileese, and myself were appointed to a labor in a country town one hundred and twenty-live miles from Sydney, Maitland, U.S. A., a town of a little over twelve thousand Inhabitants. Wo are on our way going to Maitland stopping stop-ping hero a few dajs visiting New Castle It Is a large coaling station for vessels that visit tills place. I remain re-main yours respectfully. II. 1. llAHt |
