The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1929, Page 70

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70

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

I have been the father of nineteen children.” After
this he sat down, and in a flood of tears gave vent to
his agonized feelings. “This scene,” says the relater
of the story, “occurred in my own place of worship.
I saw the man and heard him utter these expres-
sions. He was an arioi of the highest rank, and the
laws of his class required the destruction of all his
children.” — From Light in Darkness.

Mount Pleasant Chapel Damaged
by Tornado.

On Friday evening, March 22, a tornado passed
through our section and did quite a bit of damage.
We felt the blow at Mount Pleasant, N. C., where
the church was struck and moved from its pillars.
It was moved over four feet. The pillars underneath
it were caught and bulged up the floor and no doubt

chapel at Mount Pleasant, N. C., Damaged
by the Tornado.

broke some of the sleepers under there. All walls
were thrown out of plumb, especially the tower. The
chimney fell through, breaking the ceiling on the
inside, and the part of the chimney that was blown
off helped the twister to do great damage to the
old roof.

In front of the church some fifteen to twenty of.
those huge pines that have stood for fifty years or
more were uprooted, and in the rear of the church,
in our woods, many trees are down, which will furnish
us wood for a long time. To the right of the church,
about two hundred feet away, some one had care-
lessly hung an old discarded tin tub on a tree about

ten feet high. This old tub weathered the storm un- ~

harmed, while a giant pine, less than ten feet from
it, fell and came near falling on the old tub, and
the church, just a few feet away from the tub, was
badly damaged.

The old schoolhouse was anita save where
the wind tore up the roof. Strange to say, this roof
was damaged on the northeast side more than on
the other side, which was toward the church and

received the full force of the wind. Of course, the
chimney went off this building also. The men were
to repair this building Saturday, so that they might
have a place for their Sunday service.

The pastor and his wife were in the parsonage
and knew nothing of the damage that was done
until the wife went out to shut up her chickens,
only to find the hen-house gone and the church
a wreck. The parsonage was not touched.

In answer to the call I went out there Saturday
morning to see what was done. I think the building
can be jacked up and righted. I went to see
Mr. Miller, the builder, who had seen it. He did not
know whether this could be done, but we got in
touch with a Mr. Blackwelder in Concord, who
moves buildings and is, therefore, equipped with the
necessary trappings to jack the building up and
knows more about such work. He was to go out and
give his opinion Saturday afternoon. I have not
heard from him yet.

Returning from Mount Pleasant Saturday, I ran
into a rainstorm the like of which I had never seen.
All other cars parked and gave me the right of way.
I turned on my lights, and though I could not see
fifty feet in front of me for the rain, I kept moving.
In many places the road was covered with water.
My wife was undisturbed until we ran on a bridge
and the wind suddenly all but blew us into the rail-
ing and caused the car to skid worse than before on
the road. This scared her; she was not so uncon-
cerned any more until the storm had abated.

I could not get over to St. Peter because of im-
passable roads. I heard that the church there was
still standing, but that several of the windows had
lost their panes. One of the members, Mrs. Shankle,
was blown away in her house, I heard. The house
was wrecked, but she was not hurt. I expect to hear
from Rev. J. Fuller on this place to-morrow and also
to get the word from Mr. Blackwelder. Then I shall
be able to say more definitely just what is to be done.

F. D. Auston.

Notes on Immanuel Lutheran
- Conference.

Jonquils were blooming gayly, and the buds of
the wild plum were bursting into blossom when
, Immanuel Conference met on March 15 for a two-
day session in the Rey. C. R. March’s congregation in
Salisbury, N.C. After the customary opening de-
votion, conducted by the Rey. G. L. Dorpat, twenty-
two brethren answered the roll-call.

Following the