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A Visit to the East Indies

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 20, 1908

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 85, No. 34.

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A Visit to the East Indies

By J. M. JOHANSON

J. M. JOHANSON
Just recently I have returned from a visit to the East Indies. This trip was planned for rather suddenly, and upset my arrangements for my summer's work. But it seemed necessary that some one should go there without delay; and, although I felt sorry to miss the visit to West Australia, yet on the whole I believe it has been for the best that I spent the time I did in Singapore.
Through Java I journeyed by rail from Sourabaya to Batavia; this gave me a good opportunity for viewing the country and for getting some idea of the place, especially as the trains do not travel any too fast, and never after sundown. The Dutch believe in comfort, and they reason that the night is made for sleep and rest, not for travel. So long-distance trains start about six o'clock in the morning, and run till the same hour at night; then the traveler must get out, and find a hotel for the night.
In past years I have traveled considerably in many parts of the world, but I have never seen anything so beautiful as the scenery in Java. In every part of the country one sees intense cultivation—rice-fields and cane-fields on every hand, bordered by a luxurious growth of trees and shrubs. Here and there one gets glimpses of large cities and towns, partly hidden in the luxuriant foliage.
ON THE QUAY, SOURABAYA
ON THE QUAY, SOURABAYA
The low-lying part of the country is very unhealthful. Sourabaya especially is a most unhealthful spot; in fact, it seemed to me about the most undesirable place to reside in that it has ever been my lot to visit. But when one gets a little way up into the hills, the climate is all that could be desired. We have now erected a rest-house about forty miles from Sourabaya, the place being connected with that city by a tram-line. And as it is well up in the hills, among the summer residences of many of the Dutch merchants, it should offer a healthful change for our workers, and be as well the means of giving them an opportunity to work during the summer months among the Dutch residents of that place. Our sisters who have been working in Sourabaya for some time have become quite proficient in the Malay. Sister Tunheim speaks Dutch quite fluently, and Sister Nordstrom is also acquiring the Dutch language, so that they will be prepared to make a special effort to reach the European families.
At Singapore I stayed at our school at Mount Pleasant, about three miles out of town. I spent a month at that place, and feel very thankful for the opportunity I have had of becoming personally acquainted with the progress of our work, past and present, as well as with the wonderful possibilities for aggressive work with our literature which that field presents. I fully believe that if we can succeed in getting the right man to take charge of the general work in that field, there should be no difficulty in making our publishing work self-supporting, and the manufacturing part of it a means of supplying the needed industry in connection with our school work, to enable us to conduct it on a self-supporting basis also.
The first effort will be to build up the work in the field, and develop agents, so that as soon as we get the native literature prepared, we shall have men who can speak the native languages to take the books right to the people. We have already demonstrated that we can sell books as readily to the Asiatics in the East Indies as we can to the Europeans in Australia. The greatest difficulty will be to find the right class of men who can take up the work. The East Indies, while they present many opportunities and advantages, are of necessity a difficult field. The climate is trying, and it takes men with good constitutions to go there,—men who will use good sense, and take care of themselves, in order to continue steadily at work. Still, I fully believe that the man who will study the situation, and use intelligence in planning his work, may enjoy as good health there as elsewhere.
Warburton, Victoria, Australia.