# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1931_S45 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 44 School in China. — In China the school-day starts at six o’clock, rain or shine. The learners come every day of ‘the week, even on Saturdays and Sundays. The little pupils study their lessons aloud. They make much noise in doing so, but they may not talk to one another. For that reason their desks are placed far apart. They read the last page of their books first, because their books begin there. They read down and from right to left, whereas we read from left to right. The teacher has long finger-nails on his left hand to show that he is wise. He cannot have them on his right hand, for that would keep him from writing. Chinese ways are not like ours. We say “northeast” and “southwest,” but these queer people call these directions “eastnorth” and “westsouth.” China Inland Mission in 1930.— Despite all hindrances and persecutions 197 stations out of a total of 263 report 3,571 baptisms for last year. This particular missionary society is doing much to disseminate the Bible in China. Members.of this mission are volunteering as colporteurs to spread the Scriptures, and they are working with marked success. Koonibba, Australia. — This is where the mis- sion of our Australian brethren among natives is located. On November 9, last, a class of sixteen native adults was added to the number of commu- nicants of the mission after having received a thor- ough course of instruction. In the class was a man about sixty years of age. “Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly.” — The January number of this publication (order from Mr. Theo. Eckhart, 3558 S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, Mo., $2.00 a year, with membership) is of interest from a Home Mission standpoint. Among the contents are the following: “Beginnings of Permanent English Lutheran Work in Missouri”; “arly Lutherans and Lutheran Churches in Amer- ica”; “Brief History of the Slovak Lutheran Synod” (Part II). Other titles are: “Important _ Events”; “Concordia Seminary’s First Graduate.” We thank the editors for printing the exquisite drawings by H. Ruhland of prominent members of the Synodical Conference in bygone days. The Need of Children. — Due to ignorance and hs ‘superstition in certain parts of the world 500 out of every 1,000 children die. Thousands of them e: _ grow up in ignorance of their Savior because of ther people’s neglect of duty. Famine left a mil- ion or more new orphans in China last year. Over 00,000 children in our country have no home life THE LUTHERAN PIONEER and very little school opportunity. More than one half of the children on earth are not only unable to read, but they have no school opportunities of any kind. What a change in the drab and tragic lives of these children would a little practical sympathy on our part mean! Children with Defective Speech in Our Country. — We were astounded to read that one million schoolchildren in our land are so defective in speech that they are in need of treatment and training and that fewer than 60,000 of them are re- ceiving the treatment their condition calls for. Of the million about 250,000 are stutterers. Most of these could be made fluent speakers if they were given the proper attention. Papua Mission of the American Lutheran Church. — This mission claims to be in touch with 150,000 natives. The native church numbers 20,000 members. At this time 6,000 applicants are being prepared for baptism. In 200 village schools 5,000 pupils are receiving Christian training. The whole work is directed from 16 main stations, which are manned by 100 adult foreign workers. By means of its hospitals this mission comes in contact with over 50,000 annually. A wonderful missionary oppor- tunity! Over 500 native workers are entirely sup- ported by the native church-members. A fine example of missionary zeal! The native church supports several seminaries, where 200 men are en- rolled at this time in preparation for their future work as evangelists. Jews in Chicago.— The Jewish population of Chicago is said to be about 400,000. The thought of starting mission-work among these thousands is under earnest consideration by our brethren in Chicago. May God lead and guide them aright! An Incident with Applications. The New York Christian Advocate, a Methodist religious weekly, related the experiences of a cul- tured Christian Hindu in a well-known city of one of our Eastern States. We want our readers not to forget that this city is not in the South, but in the East. Well, this Christian Oriental was to speak at some missionary convention of this particular city, and some minister was to meet him upon his ar- rival. However, as the minister did not materialize, the Hindu had a taxi take him to a hotel, where he asked to be given a room for the night. The Hindu was very dark, and for this reason there was “no \ r