SALVATION ARMY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 26

SALVATION ARMY.

SELF-DENIAL WEEK. The week of self-denial commences on Saturday, October 9. Previous to this the officers and soldiers canvass the city, and they continue to do so till the end of the self-denial week, finishing up on the 17th. The effort is an annual one, and has long > ere this become familiar to all classes, receiving support from every grade of tha - religious and philanthropic community. In its appeal for the exercise of the self-deny-ing spirit the Army points out some re- - markable developments of the work, both in this and in other lands. In our own town it would be difficult to overestimate ; its influence for good, particularly among the doserving poor, where, in addition to the music and song of the open-air gatheriniys, the officers spend many hours daily in^visiting the sick and assisting deserving cases. Nor does the missionary zeal of the Army show abatement. A large extension of ita operations for the moral and spiritual elevation of the native races of South Africa has, we understand, been decided upon, while in India ita system of penny banks, famine relief, day schools, etc., is" proving of untold benefit. Their Grand Old Man, the General, is ever alive to the need of humanity, and his officers right throughout tlie world seem to have imbibed the same spirit. Adjutant Thurkettle, the officer in charge of the Dunedin division, is very anxious to come up to past achievements, and to this end is soliciting the hearty co-operation of the friends who from year to year assist in this noble cause. Donations in_ aid of tha work may be sent to the officer in charge, or handed to the soldiers with their official collecting books.' A few of the most recently published statistics of the Salvation Army may be or interest:— Corps and outposts, 8224; officeraand employees, 21,186; "local officers (un- , paid), 52,789 ; bandsmen (unpaid), 20,325 ; . slum posts, 139: day schools, 523; countries" and colonies, 54; publications, 71; weekly and monthly circulation, 1,100,920 ; t lan- -. guages Gospel preached in, 31; social instU . tutions for the poor, 840; officers and em« - ployees in charge, 2451; cheap meals to th« hungry (12 months). 9,867,509; cheap lodging's for the weary (12 months), 5,702,416: fallen women through Rescue Homea (12 months), 6693; criminals through homes (12 months), 1918^ For woolprosses. windmills, pumps. And pumping plants, consult Nimmo and BlAir.