The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1899, Page 42

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42,

The Lutheran Pioneer.

(For the LUTHERAN PIONEER.)
Milwaukee Congregation of Deaf-Mutes.

Our picture shows most of the members of
our ‘Evangelical Lutheran Immanuel Con-
gregation of Deaf-Mutes at Milwaukee, Wis. ,”
and part of the school house in which they meet

for divine service.

In the year 1896, upon urgent request of
Rey. Reinke sen., of Chicago, the Missouri
Synod, then convening at Fort Wayne, Ind.,
resolved to take up the work among the deaf
of this country, in consequence of which three
missionaries are now laboring among these un-
fortunates, residing respectively at Milwaukee,
Chicago, and Cincinnati.

The following cities are being attended to by

these missionaries: Chi-
cago and the neighboring _
cities, St.Paul,Minneapo-
lis, Cincinnati, Louisville,
Indianapolis, Evansville,
Milwaukee, Sheboygan,
Racine, and Oshkosh.
Here it may be said that
Rev. T. Claus of Elkhart,
Ind., who has become
proficient in the sign-lan-
guage, has also taken up
mission work among the
deaf in Elkhart, Goshen,
and South Bend, Ind.

In. the autumn of the
year 1896, Rev. T. Wan-
gerin was installed among
the deaf of Milwaukee,
and his work has been
visibly blessed by our
Lord. In the summer of
1898, after public confir-
mation of eight grown deaf
persons, steps were taken
towards the organization
of a deaf congregation.
A constitution has been accepted and a congre-
gation established, numbering at the present
time 18 voting and 35 communicating mem-
bers with a prospective increase of about five
or six members in the near future. This con-
gregation is now partly supporting its pastor,
besides raising moneys to cover local expenses.

At the recent meeting of the Missouri
Synod at St. Louis this congregation applied
to the Synod for membership and was admitted

‘with great joy. ‘his is the first Evangelical
Lutheran congregation of deaf-mutes in Wis-
consin and the first of its kind connected with
the Missouri Synod.

Through solicitations by Rev. Wangerin
47 deaf-mutes have subscribed to and are
eager readers of the FIoNEER. It must be
said that the deaf are very grateful for the
Word of Salvation and acknowledge the good
done them by the Synod.

_ Undoubtedly every reader will be glad to
Tearn that this young mission is gradually
growing larger through God’s grace. May

God, from whom all blessings flow, hold His
gracious hand over it, that many be saved
from destruction, many be crowned with lov-
ingkindness and tender mercies, many be
abundantly satisfied with the fatness of the

Lord’s house, and many be made to drink
of the river of the Lord’s pleasures, through
Christ. X.

——> +o e+

Children in Japan.

Before nearly every house in Japan stands
an immense mast, taller than the roof, and on
it float huge fishes, red or green, made of
cloth, which the wind fills out so that they are
quite life-like. These fishes indicate the num-
ber of boys in each family—a son to each

Lutheran Congregation of Deaf-Mutes at Milwaukee, Wis.:

fish. The Japanese are great fishermen and
fish fanciers, and the carp, which always
swims up stream, is much admired by them
for its courage and perseverance. It has,
therefore, become the emblem of the boys.
But, when there are only girls in the family,
nothing is put upon the mast—they do not
count at all!

Since we are speaking of fishes, let me tell
you that the Japanese children eat a great
deal of fish, and eat it entirely raw, too. The
fishes are kept alive in the kitchen, either in
sea water or river wafer, and, when meal-time
comes, they are cut upin small pieces and eaten
without salt, pepper, or seasoning of any kind.
In Japan, knives and forks are unknown, so
two little sticks, called chop-sticks, are used
to eat the fish. At first thought, the idea of
eating raw fish is unpleasant; but do we not
eat oysters and clams raw, in America, some-
times?

There are many toys made in Japan for the
children. All the games known here are to

be found there, and many others besides. In
Tokyo, the capital, there is one quarter of the
city, consisting of three or four streets, in
whose bazars nothing is sold but children’s
toys. Christmas and New Year are unknown
as holidays, but once each year there is a
great children’s festival. On that day the
bazar quarter is beautifully illuminated; the
toy-shops are filled with pretty things, and
the children gather there and are laden down
by their parents with all the toys that their
arms can carry. :
Japanese boys are extremely brave and
patriotic; they love their country with all
their heart, and would willingly give their
lives to defend it. When the late war be-
tween Japan and China was raging, all the
boys of fifteen and sixteen
who thought themselves
strong enough to carry a
gun and fight, offered to
enlist. Their services,
however, were not needed,
as Japan already had an
army larger than was nec-
essary to vanquish the
Chinese. There are in
Japan several military
schools and a great naval
academy, where young
men are prepared to be-
come officers in the army
or navy. Pleasant Hours.
> + o-<a eo - @

The Lodge Member.

A Lutheran pastor. was
recently invited to call
uponasick man. Theman
had been confirmed a Lu-
theran, but shortly after
his marriage he took to a
lodge and was gradually
weaned away from his
church. He was taught to believe that if he
“lived up’? to what his lodge taught him, he
would be safe.

The pastor did his best to convince him
that his only hope of salvation was in Christ;
but every time he preached Christ to him, the
sick man would talk about his always having
been a ‘‘sober’’ man, honest in all his dealings,
and so on to the end of the Pharisee’s chapter.

The pastor tried to show him that to be
honest and ‘‘sober’’ did not go far, as some
very respectable heathen were what the world
calls honest and sober men. The point was
whether he had kept the whole law of God in
all his thoughts and words and deeds. If he
were honest, he must admit that he had trans-
gressed the law of God, and that he therefore
was a sinner who could find salvation, not in
his own works, but only in Jesus, the Saviour
of sinners. But say what he might, the man
would fall back on what his lodge taught him.

Oh, how many lose the pure light of the
Gospel in the darkness of secret societies! -