given a full month's salary toward the building fund for this new church. People are praying daily for help to complete this edifice. Mr. Holton, the missionary, refers to the increasing efforts on the part of the people to carry on Christian work through a Sunday school and Christian Endeavor Society; the latter maintains a weekly street preaching service, beside holding its own service. Here, as in other stations, the work is done through the itineracies, seven of which have been held during the year, with gratifying success. During one of these itineracies Miss Harriet E. Parker, M.D., coöperated, attended by her medical assistants. Aside from the value of the medical work done, the presence of these helpers gave added interest to the meetings held. Educational Work.-Mention is made of the boarding school for boys and girls, 2 Hindu girls' schools, a large day school, and II village schools, all in good condition. Dindigul and Palani.—In the report these two stations are joined, inasmuch as during the absence of Mr. Jeffery both were under the care of Mr. Elwood. The labor has been heavy, and much that was desirable to have done could not be attempted, but gratitude is expressed for special strength granted to the missionary in the performance of duties. The death of Rev. Savarimuthu, who was nearly eighty years of age, is referred to, he having been educated in a mission school and ordained to the pastorate in 1858, doing a most excellent service and greatly beloved. Four congregations have been supplied with places of worship this year. In one place the building had been under construction for four years, and is a very roomy and satisfactory structure. Reference is made to the company of people who a few years ago were practically slaves to their Hindu employers, but have gradually broken away and established themselves in a spot where they heard the gospel preached and became Christians. They have prospered and advanced in every way, and this year they have a place of worship which has been built for them, they themselves contributing some of the materials and doing some of the work. The gospel has made a great change in them. In another place a brick church is nearing completion, largely the work of the people themselves. The schools connected with these places number 21, with 1,286 pupils. Of the town schools 3 are for Hindu boys, 2 for Hindu girls, and 2 for boarding girls and boys. In the boys' department there have been about 100 boarders. In all these schools careful religious instruction is given. At Palani, though without a resident missionary, Mr. Elwood has made monthly visits and the work has gone on as usual, without serious loss. Six harvest festivals were held, and the gifts nearly doubled those of previous years. Battalagundu.-Mr. G. Sherwood Eddy, who is connected with the Young Men's Christian Association as traveling secretary in South India, has most generously continued his labor of love during the past year in the care of this station. He has had under him a staff of 2 pastors, with 33 catechists and teachers, and they are so well organized that Mr. Eddy is able to do his work among the colleges, which takes half his time, giving the other half to the care of the station. He is able on his bicycle to reach the most distant of the 600 villages connected with the station in three hours' time. He reports that the station, which has now 1,031 Christians connected with its 21 congregations, has 5 organized churches, having more than doubled their contributions the past year. Of one little congregation he says: "In addition to their weekly contribution they paid a full tenth of their gross crop at harvest twice this year. Thus they are giving more than two-tenths of their net income. By their own suggestion, in drawing up a new constitution for their church, they proposed that no one was to have a vote in the church affairs who did not pay tithes. I wonder how many voting church members there would be in America upon these conditions. In the matter of giving, this church is an example, not only in this station, but to people in America who a few years ago were supporting them. A generation or two ago these people were in poverty and in practical serfdom. They have steadily risen in education, intelligence, and liberality through Christian training, till today they are a self-supporting church." Mr. Eddy speaks also of the discovery of some secret disciples, and of the contributions made by Hindus, these Hindus having listened to the truth with many expressions of sympathy, and they are sending their children to Christian schools. Twelve itineracies have been conducted, the gospel having been preached in some 300 villages to over 24,000 hearers. Mrs. Eddy reports for the Bible-women who have worked faithfully in the homes of Hindu women to which the missionaries have had access, their work being most satisfactory. During the latter part of 1908, Rev. Burleigh V. Mathews, who joined the mission, was assigned to Battalagundu for his language study. Periakulam. The large Periakulam station is still under the care of Dr. Tracy, who can report that the congregations show a decided increase and that the tone of life in the Christian community is improving. Special mention is made of the offerings of the people, larger by nearly forty per cent than the previous year. Of the $2,500 expended in the care of 4,000 Christians, these Christians have raised over $1,066. Still the income from all sources is painfully inadequate, and, as Dr. Tracy says, "the hardest part of a missionary life, harder than separation from friends and the wide privileges of a home land, is to live day by day, and month by month, and year after year, facing a situation in which he is himself largely helpless to respond to opportunity. No report of the situation in this station would be a true. report without laying distinct emphasis on the fact that the opportunities for enlargement have far outrun the means within our reach. I think I could mention a dozen places where schools, with great possibilities of usefulness, might be opened, and where they would be welcomed by the people, and where they have been repeatedly asked for. But not one of them can be opened till larger resources are available." Mention is made of work for women and children. The pastor of the Kambam church reports severe trials, the cholera having been unusually prevalent; pestilence among the cattle has destroyed many herds; and a flood swept away 200 houses; yet the people have supported their pastor and done their work earnestly. Only five of the eight congregations in the Kambam pastorate have any church or prayer house. The Andipatti church has shown growth in numbers and spirituality, and in one of its villages the people have begun the erection of a permanent building for a church. The Kodaikanal church has had a good year, 46 persons having been added to its membership and congregation. Earnest work has been done among the thirty-one villages on the hills about Kodaikanal. Mention is made of the death of Rev. C. William, pastor of the Kotaimedu church, who was ordained to the office fifty years ago, and was a faithful and beloved minister, whose memory will long be cherished for his pure life and loving service. In his place a new pastor has been installed, Mr. Masilamani, whose coming has been welcomed and whose pastorate gives promise of much success. Mrs. Tracy reports concerning the excellent work done by the five Biblewomen, who have reached hundreds of non-Christian homes and have brought light and cheer to many hearts. SPECIAL DEPARTMENTS American College, Madura.-Rev. William M. Zumbro, the principal, reports that "an intelligent, wide-awake, hard-working body of 609 students has been at work in the college, representing all classes of society, high caste, low caste, 84 Christians, 525 Hindus and Mohammedans, of whom 33 were in the college department, 107 in high school, 151 in the lower secondary, and 318 in the primary department, 128 of whom belong to the new branch school started this year on North Masi Street." The religious influence of the college is most marked, and though many students did not openly confess Christ, they are impressed by the instruction they receive. One of these students, a Hindu, at his graduation, in response to the question, "What has the college done for you?" wrote: "I am proud that the best part of my scholastic career is spent in a Christian institution like this. My character has, I think, been shaped. I dare say I am more religious now than I could have been if I had studied in some other school, where generally the student is unfortunately deprived of religious instruction." The college received from the American Board a grant of $2,500, and the income from the tuition fees amounted to $2,204. The government grant amounted to $5,073. A feature of the year has been the completion of a new college building, costing, with furniture, $16,666; also the completion of the first story of a new students' hostel, costing, with furnishings, $5,000, and the purchase of new scientific apparatus and new books for the library, amounting to $1,700. The Theological Seminary.-Allied with the Madura College is the theological seminary located at Pasumalai, under the care of Dr. J. P. Jones, and for the past year it has had the largest attendance in its history-25 men and 20 women-and among these some of the best students ever con nected with the institution. The outgoing class has been an unusually strong one. The year has been marked by much illness among the students. Aside from the work in the classes the seminary has conducted, as before, evangelistic work during the year, and many thousands have had the gospel message from the lips of these students; this kind of work is as advantageous to the students as to the people visited. High and Training School at Pasumalai.-This department of the college is located at Pasumalai, and is in charge of Mr. Miller, who writes of it: "The year 1908 will long be remembered as an epoch-making one in the annals of our educational work in Pasumalai, for it marks a time of transition and expansion. The instruction and training have been greatly enlarged and some modern features of education introduced. Four classes which had formerly been a part of the practice teaching in the normal school were added to the high school, and a separate department, to be known hereafter as the Model School, in which the instruction is to be given in the vernacular, was added to furnish practice for the students of the Training Institution. This means the employment of 6 more teachers, and adds both to the efficiency and to the expense of the work. In January we opened our new Manual Training School, and fully 250 boys have this year had regular training in carpentry, blacksmithing, and drawing." The school farm has been improved and regular instruction given in horticulture and botany. The staff of instructors in all these departments consists of 30 teachers; the enrollment of students is 582, a gain of 42 over last year; 73 per cent of the pupils are Indian Christians. There is a variety of Bible classes and various agencies, like the Young Men's Christian Association, prayer meetings, and Sunday schools, used for the religious development of the students. Special meetings were conducted by Mr. G. S. Eddy and his helpers in September, during which fully 100 boys professed conversion. The High School and Training Institution for Girls.-This school, located in a beautiful grove of palms on the outskirts of Madura City, has been in charge of Miss Mary Noyes and Miss Helen Chandler. The attendance in the normal class has been larger than that of the previous year, 25 taking the course in one year and 12 in two years. The total number of boarders and day scholars has been 315. The religious work of the school has gone on quietly and II girls have been admitted to church membership. Miss Gertrude Chandler has joined the mission, and after her examinations in Tamil will help in the training of the normal students in kindergarten methods. Mention is made of the continued influence for good in the memory of Miss Bessie Noyes, whose portrait was presented to the school by her loving pupils and fellow-students. The Lucy Perry Noble Bible School, under the care of Miss Swift, is designed to prepare earnest Christian women for special Christian service, presumably Bible-women. The course of instruction offers a maximum of Bible study with a minimum of other subjects useful and necessary for the workers. The year opened with 12 students in attendance, and the year's work has been interesting and profitable. During the year the students went out into the villages and gained practice in teaching Hindu pupils, leading meetings, and entering Hindu homes. MEDICAL WORK The two hospitals, one for women and one for men, have been flourishing during the year. Dr. Van Allen was absent on a furlough in America for the larger part of 1908, and both hospitals were managed by Dr. Parker The tables show that there were 28 medical agents employed in the two hospitals and in the Pasumalai dispensary, which was under Mrs. Miller's care. There have been 758 in-patients and 39,151 outpatients. In the hospital and dispensary for women there were treated no less than 109 Eurasians, 1,101 Mohammedans, 7,942 Hindus, and 5,756 native Christians. Special mention is made of a new building nearly completed, to be called the Harriet Newell Hospital Annex, a gift of Miss Helen S. Lathrop and her family, of Providence, R. I. It is expected that with these accommodations the hospital can lodge 50 patients comfortably, and will give not only a more comfortable place for the patients, but a better home for the employees. Great gratitude is expressed for this noble gift. In concluding the report mention is made of the Lenox Press at Pasumalai, which is a self-supporting institution. It has sent out nearly 2,000,000 pages of Christian literature throughout the district and the country. Dr. Jones has given considerable time to the work of this press. Two volumes have been added to the Pasumalai Devotional Booklet Series; 200,000 handbills have been printed also during the year, and a Christian Endeavor Almanac has been issued and the two papers, The True News and Joyful News. The Home Missionary Society, formerly known as the Native Evangelical Society, has had a year of remarkable success. It has taken over a part of the Dindigul station, called Konganadu, as its own field, where there are now working 2 evangelists, 2 teachers, and 2 Bible-women. The Indian Christians are contributing generously toward the support of this work. CEYLON MISSION VADDUKKODDAI (Batticotta).-Giles G. Brown, Ordained; Mrs. Clara L. Brown. MANEPAY.-Thomas B. Scott, M.D., Ordained; Mrs. Mary E. Scott, M.D.; Miss Susan R. Howland and Miss Julia E. Green, living at Uduvil; Miss Isabella H. Curr, M.D. TELLIPPALLAI.— UDUPPIDDI.-William E. Hitchcock, Unordained; Mrs. Hattie H. Hitchcock. Associated with the mission, not under appointment.- Mr. Arthur A. Ward, Mrs. Alice B. Ward. Four stations; 23 outstations; 4 ordained missionaries, of whom one is a physician; 4 wives, of whom one is a physician; 3 single women, of whom one is a physician; 13 |