Ship Mission Work in New York Harbor
By J. L. Johnson
SEVENTEEN years ago I was called to this great seaport to help Capt. John V. Christianson, of the late missionary ship “Pitcairn.” He was at that time engaged in Bible and colporteur work. The following August, he sailed for his home in Norway, and has since been engaged in the same line of work in Hamburg, Germany, and the harbor of Rotterdam, where he is now located. During this time, I have spent two years in Boston harbor, and one summer in Buffalo harbor, on the Great Lakes, with good success, the Lord giving me souls for my hire. I find men of all nationalities on the ships at the different ports in which I have been, but in the great harbor of New York there is a mixed multitude, on steamers, sailing ships, and boats of every kind. About one hundred Danish-Norwegian steamers and sailing crafts enter and clear this port monthly; from one hundred and fifty to two hundred German; fifty Italian; and about five hundred English and American; besides French and South American boats. Then there are the harbor tugs, steam lighters, float boats, scows, and others. These ships and various boats furnish all kinds of nationalities and tongues to be supplied with the message in printed form. For this purpose the yacht “Liberty” carries a supply of reading matter in English, German, Swedish, Danish-Norwegian, Dutch, French, Italian, and Chinese. Many English and German steamers have Chinese crews. Some time ago, the English steamship “Lord Stanley” visited this port. I called to visit with the officers and crew. The captain refused to have any reading matter left in his quarters. After talking with him on the current topics of the world, he remarked, “You Adventists are a very energetic lot of people.” When asked why he made this statement, he said, “Why, we meet you people in China, India, the islands of the sea, in fact, the world over.” What a blessed thing to hear this from a man who makes a voyage around the world twice a year. It shows that the message which started in weakness in 1844 has belted the world and is going with power. Before I left him he said he should like to know something definite about the doctrinal points of the message, so I gave him tracts on all subjects of the message. He remarked that it was the finest lot of reading matter on Bible truth he had ever seen. Seafaring men, as a rule, are great readers, and will read anything that is placed in their hands. I placed on a full-rigged sailing ship bound for Australia, “Daniel and the Revelation,” “Great Controversy,” and “Patriarchs and Prophets,” requesting that they be placed on a return ship. Five months later I received a letter from the captain, saying that he had turned the books over to the “George T. Hay,” which would be due at New York in about six months from the time the letter was written. The master expressed his thanks for the loan of the books, and told how much they were enjoyed. Six months later, on watching the report of incoming ships, I read of the arrival of the “George T. Hay.” Upon visiting it, I found all the officers interested in the books. The chief officer informed me that he and the master of the ship had sat up night after night studying the books and reading the Bible. He said that the voyage seemed the shortest they had ever made, but in very fact it was ten days longer; for it took them one hundred and fifteen days to make the trip from the Philippines to the United States. I sold this lot of books to the master for his own use, also “The Desire of Ages,” “Christ’s Object Lessons,” “The Marvel of Nations,” “Heralds of the Morning,” and some small books. J. L. JOHNSON.