Concerning Prof. H. R. Salisbury

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 13, 1916

Concerning Prof. H. R. Salisbury

ALREADY, through the newspaper reports, many of our readers will have been sharing the anxiety we all feel for the safety of Prof. H. R. Salisbury, president of the India Union Mission, who evidently was a passenger on the ship “Persia,” which was sunk in the Mediterranean on December 30. As we go to press, not all the survivors have been listed, and one boat that probably got away from the sinking liner remains to be heard from. This affords the faintest ray of hope, to which we cling with longing hearts, that our brother, so greatly beloved by all who knew him, may still be spared to us and to the work, and to his companion in India.

Following the autumn council in California, which he had come from India to attend, Brother Salisbury crossed to England, and then traveled through France to take a boat for Bombay from Marseilles. This is the short route, and Brother Salisbury felt it urgent to get back to his field. He had hoped to find a Dutch boat available, and our brethren in England, amid the uncertainties and breaking of mail connections in these times, evidently did not know what boat he had been able to secure.

On January 5, the General Conference received a cable message from Brother W. C. Sisley, of England, saying: “Fear Salisbury sailed on ‘Persia.’” The same afternoon the Associated Press telephoned to the office, saying that on the passenger list at Marseilles was the name of Homer R. Salisbury, of Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. The Department of State confirmed this report, by dispatch from the American consul at Marseilles. The Department is using every agency to secure a full list of survivors and information concerning American passengers. While still we hope that reports during the next few days may bring news of further groups of survivors found, we realize that we have cause for feeling the gravest concern. We know that those who have been watching the news dispatches for further reports during these anxious hours have prayed God to sustain and comfort Sister Salisbury, in India, realizing that she, too, must be watching these same reports to get news of the loved one hastening back to the field of their service. As this paper goes to press, we are still hoping against hope that our dear brother may yet be heard from.