TEMPERANCE COLUMN

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 13

TEMPERANCE COLUMN

THE GOSPEL v. DRINK

'A Y.H.C.A. TRIUMPH.

One of the most remarkable battles j ever waged by the V.M.C.A. has lately ; taken place in Montana, The town of Taft, Montana — if one can call it aj j town,— consists of one long street, along one side of which are ranged the commercial houses- of the community, Standing at the head and looking down one may get a fair idea of what the interests of ite citizens are.* There are 28 buildings — a store, 26 saloons, and an undertaking establishment. . Two years ago there was no settlement whatever on the site. Then suddenly work commenced on the great tunnel which the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul railroad was to drive through at that spot, and almost in a night there sprang up a community of a thousand men. So rapid was its rise that for months after it had become the largest town on the branch of the road it still did not appear on the time-tables. With the men .came all those vicious institutions . which prey upon them — saloons, houses of ill-fame, and gambling dens. The town won the reoutatioh of the " toughest place in the world." The V.M.C.A. has attacked similar problems in other places with Bucoess, out even those who knew its work discouraged any attempt at Taft. The town, they said, was too rough. In the face of this well-meant advice Mr Morrison, a secretary of the association, went on to the ground, and, with the help of the company, established a pleasant and attractive V.M.C.A. room. Up to this time the men had been cashing their pay cheques in saloons, there being no other place to cash them. Mr Morrison arranged with a banker in a nearby town to undertake this business. On the next day the money was shipped into Taft, and Mr Morrison, armed with a revolver, rode with it from the train to the camp. There he cashed the cheques, encouraging the men to leave over all surplus funds with him for deposit in the bank. The result was that over 2000dol wae left with him, all of which, in the regular course of events, would have gone over the bars. Opposition grew hot against him, of course, and on two occasions, the saloonkeepers caused his arrest on the charge of carry- ! ing concealed weapons. At other times they threatened his life, and a threat ] is no idle- thing in Taft, where the melt- j ing' of the imow each spring discloses the skeletons of men killed during the ! winter. None of these things deterred ! him, however ; he continued to fight the liquor element and urge the strict enforcement of the laws. With the aid of the sheriff, who stood at his side with drawn revolver, he gathered a com- ' pany and held meetings before the most notorious resort. In spite of the piano inside and the jeering crowds in the windows, the Gospel finally conquered; men and women were drawn out of the houses to gather about the cart which ■ served as a pulpit, and more than one , found eternal life. j The great test came on Christmas of ( last year, when the camp was given its , first birthday. So certain was the foreman that the majority of his workmen would be incapacitated for labour through drink, that he took the precaution of ordering 200 extra men to start , work on the 26th. Gamblers and boot- ] leggers flocked into town in anticipation J of the day. But Mr Morrison was ready j for them. On the night before Christmas he held a meeting in the camp, and talked the matter over with the boys. There, after prayer and a brief speech, they pledged themselves to fool j the whole crowd of devils by boycotting the town on Christmas. A tree was arranged in the camp, a phonograph played during the day, and Mr Morrison showed pictures in the afternoon and evening. The result — wonderiul to everyone from the superintendent down — was that only two men out of the whole number were unable to report for work next day, and the gamblers in disgust declared that " there was not enough money spent in Taft to pay for calling a quorum." It would be of thrilling interest to tell the stories of notable conversions which took place in Taft, testifying to the power of the Gospel to win even the most sin-soiled souls. The whole experience is like i passage from the Gospels. There are probably not a dozen men of experience in construction work who would have said that religious work could be effective in a town like Taft.

Those who approved the experiment said : " Don't preach religion ; just make yourself useful to the men.'' But it was preaching which the men wanted. They said to Mr Morrison time and again, " Don't close your meeting, pard:ier, until you pray for us." It was the distinctly religious element in the work which made Us success possible.

The success of the work at Taft and in other construction camps has encouraged the International Committee of the V.M.C.A. to extend this work as rapidly as possible to all the camps in the countiy. Contractors and the railroads are contributing y-enerously to this end, recognising that no sum is too large to pay in return for sobriety and steadiness in the men.