The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 108

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108 THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

between two Taiyals, he is supposed to have come
out victor who can first produce a human head.
Boys aged fifteen are expected to bring home heads
to prove that they have attained to the estate of
manhood. When a boy returns with his first
trophy, a feast is arranged in his honor, and his
courage and manly prowess is made much of. Thus
a premium is placed upon brutal murder.

These savages seldom, if ever, confront their
victims face to face. Only after they have brought
down their human prey with a successful shot, do
they spring upon the victim to cut off his head.
When the boy is too young or has little or no prac-
tise with a gun, his father will accompany him to
do the shooting.

Sometimes a whole village will make an attack
upon another village. Just what the causes of these
spasmodic uprisings may be is hard to tell. It may
be revenge for some supposed or real wrong, or it
may be that their superstitions are aroused by the
doings of the government in the way of making
improvements on the island, such as making roads,

~ laying railroad tracks, or running telegraph lines.
The Japanese have tried hard to get possession
- of the guns in the hands of the wild tribesmen, and
“in the past thirty years they have actually succeeded
in taking about 32,000 rifles; but unprincipled
traders are always ready to supply the savages again
with these dangerous weapons. When, a few years
ago, several clans of the Taiyal tribe were persuaded
to give. up their guns, the clansmen gathered in a
solemn ceremony, drank wine from the barrels of
their guns, and with tears running down their
cheeks and their voices a-quiver surondered their
weapons.

Into the haunts of the wild head-hunters of
Formosa, into the dread shadows of its mountain
fastnesses and entangled thickets, where the light
of the sun scarcely ever penetrates to dispel the
physical gloom, also the bright rays of the Gospel
have never shined. To these “uttermost parts of
the earth” no Gospel-messenger has ever come to
bring sunshine, love, security, and happiness such
as only Christ can bring. to the heart of man.
Satan’s complete mastery and slavery over the souls
of men in those parts has never yet been challenged
by the preaching of the Gospel. Let us hope and
pray 'that some day these wild head-hunters in their
_ jungles will hear the glad sound of the Gospel, see
_ the great light, and be saved. F.J.L.

v eeu , ————_—— SS —————
“T= Church is full of willing people. Some
are willing to work; others are willing to let them.”

Items of Missionary Interest.
(By the Eprror.)

Luther Preparatory School. — This institution,
the successor of Luther College in New Orleans, we
are pleased to learn, will have another year added
to its curriculum, thus becoming a school with a
full high-school course. Director Scherf will be
given two instructors to assist him in his work. We
hope that Luther Preparatory School may be the
means of giving many servants of the Lord their
preparatory training.

Baton Rouge, La.—Superintendent G. M. Kra-
mer of the Louisiana Field has been working at
Baton Rouge for a number of years. About a
month ago Pastor Kramer gathered in the first-
fruits of his efforts by baptizing an adult. There
are good prospects that the ingathering will con-
tinue. The service in which this person was bap-
tized was well attended. One mother who was
present in the service asked Pastor Kramer to bap-
tize her five children at an early date. Pastor
Kramer has a zealous assistant in Baton Rouge in
the person of a member of Bethlehem, New Orleans,
who is ever gathering children and adults about
her when she visits Baton Rouge, and she tells them
of her Church and its beautiful services. The ser-
vices are being held for the present in the house of
this lady’s aunt.

Concordia, New Orleans. — Here Pastor Kra-
mer confirmed five adults a month ago. Two of
these new members were won through the aid of
the Lutheran Radio Hour. They told their rela-
tives living eighty miles from New Orleans of the
Lutheran Hour, and the result is that quite a large
group of people gather at the home of these rela-
tives every Thursday evening to listen to hymns
and the sermon coming to them through the air.
It seems as if we may be called upon to open a
station there in the not distant future.

Napoleonville, La. — Pastor Kramer preaches
here once a month to an audience numbering fif-
teen to twenty persons. <A young lady, the sister
of one of our pastors in Alabama, teaches Sunday-
school here.

Mount Zion, New Orleans.— On May 23 Pastor
O. Luecke confirmed a class of eleven children at
Mount Zion. In the past few years he baptized 200
of the pupils of the Mount Zion School, and some
of these are now reaching the age of confirmation.
Pastor Luecke told the Editor very recently that
he has very few unbaptized children attending his
school.

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