In the Mesopotamia of South America
By Louis Richard Conradi
AFTER my return from Chile, I stopped one night in Florida, near Buenos Aires, and found the new printing-press by this time in good running order. Next morning, November 24, I took the steamer for Diamante. Brethren J. W. Westphal, C. E. Knight, and E. Hartmann accompanied me. As we mounted the electric tramway for our boat, we met one of our sisters from Berlin, en route to the same destination. Steaming up the mighty La Plata River, we found its shores wooded, but learned that it was planted timber. In twenty-two hours we reached Rosario, which, with its population of one hundred fifty thousand, is the second city of the republic. Large ocean vessels were anchored in the river, and crowding the stone wharves, which are several miles in length; some of these boats were loading grain from a large modern elevator; others were taking on wood. Gradually the river became narrower, and toward evening we saw the high bluff upon which the town of Diamante is situated. Here a team awaited us, to convey us ten miles to the colony of Camerero, where our institutions are established. It was now dusk, so we could see only the outlines of the country; but the rough roads revealed the fact that we were traveling through a farming land. For miles we could see a bright light in the distance; and this, the brethren said, came from our institutions. After being en route thirty-six hours from Buenos Aires, we arrived at the sanitarium, where I stayed during the five days of my visit. When the sun rose the next morning, which was the Sabbath, I saw from my window a rolling farming country, with here and there a scattered farmhouse. The steamship-landing from Rosario and Buenos Aires being ten miles distant, and the nearest railway station, Crespo, eight miles away, this seemed rather a novel location for a sanitarium and a school. The explanation given was that in 1898 a good German brother had given the farm for school purposes. Later on, more property was acquired, until there is now a farm of 180 acres. Of this the school owns 120 acres, and the sanitarium the remainder. About eight o'clock team after team began to arrive from the four corners of the compass; and by the time for the sermon, several hundred persons had gathered in from the surrounding country, most of them German-Russian farmers. Some of these I had known in Kansas, others in Russia, so I felt quite at home. I had already met Profs. W. C. John and C. D. Lude, also Dr. R. H. Habenicht, in the conference at Buenos Aires. There were some familiar faces from Union College, College View, Neb., others from Friedensau, Germany, and some I saw for the first time; but we were all happy in the thought of being the children of the Lord, and that his precious truth is our common heritage. Sabbath and Sunday I spoke to the people five times, relating what the Lord had done not only in crowded Europe, but also in dark Africa. Ere they left, the brethren showed their appreciation by a gift of about twenty dollars. This amount would have been greater had it not been for poor harvests, occasioned by the grasshoppers. The next few days were busy ones for the River Plate Committee. We considered not only the institutions of that field in detail, but also their finances and organization. As the west coast had formerly been separated from this field by the lofty Andes, the River Plate Committee had been made up of members from Argentina and Uruguay; but since the new railway tunnel now connects the field, and Brazil was to be cut off, we merged this organization simply into the South American Union Conference. The school building itself is a creditable structure, in keeping with the general style of architecture in the country. In the first story is the college chapel, with two schoolrooms, while above are the rooms for students. The brethren were so anxious not to go into debt that there is as yet no plaster ceiling, and the rooms above are simply boarded off. This school surely ought to have the promised money it is to receive from the $300,000 Fund, to place it in creditable shape. Besides this, the school has a number of connected one-story buildings, where the students board and room, and where some of the teachers also live. A garden is connected with the school; the brethren have tried for the last seven years to plant an orchard, but it has always fallen a prey to the grasshoppers. Professor John seemed to be enjoying his work, and well competent to give Spanish instruction. Brother Lude looks after the German department, and Sister Lude has charge of the home. There were about eighty students of all ages in attendance, chiefly of the German and Spanish nationalities. During our stay we secured a competent farmer to look after the school farm, and hope that it may prove, industrially, a benefit to the institution. It was also decided to erect a small dwelling-house for the principal. As for the sanitarium, I found a new two-story brick building nearly completed, with sufficient room for about forty patients. The kitchen and dining-room were very small. The floors were being laid in the new bath-rooms; but treatments were still given in a small one-story building attached to the dormitory for the nurses, which stood across the road. All this bath-room contained was a small stove to heat the water, a bath-tub, three massage tables, and a small dressing corner. With this meager equipment the room was crowded. The door opened directly outdoors; and when the wind blew, the patient felt it immediately. Notwithstanding all these drawbacks, the sanitarium was prospering. The operating-room and laboratory were two small rooms which in older countries, such as Germany or England, would not have been considered at all suitable for the purpose to which they were put. Still, during my short stay, I witnessed an operation. The institution apparently serves a missionary purpose. The patients who came were those who needed medical help. They had not come from far-off cities to a pleasure resort, but they came from the surrounding farming country, with all kinds of diseases and troubles, to seek relief. Thus the physicians had their hands full with operations of all sorts, and the nurses had an excellent opportunity to gain a varied experience. The doctors are often called out into the surrounding country, and when I accompanied Dr. Habenicht on his calls, I noticed that everybody seemed to be acquainted with him; and from the hearty greetings received one could see that he was held in kind regard by Protestants and Catholics alike. The nearest doctor is ten miles away, in Diamante; and as there is a scarcity of physicians in the rural districts, the institution has, for the present, bright prospects before it. The matron sought to make the patients as comfortable as possible, and the table was sufficiently supplied with plain and nutritious food. All were happy that their new quarters would soon be completed, and that then they could more suitably care for their patients. The money promised to this institution is surely needed; and when received, it will place the sanitarium on its feet financially. While here, our committee also considered the needs of the mission fields on the west coast, as well as of Chile, and made up the budget for appropriations for 1911. Although my stay was short in the territory of the South American Union Conference, yet I was able to visit all the institutions; attend two general meetings in Chile, the conference in Argentina, and this large general meeting here; and to give attention to the needs and wants of this large field. I was pleased to notice that the committees worked together in perfect harmony, that we enjoyed the Lord's blessing, and that Elder J. W. Westphal had the full confidence of the brethren. The financial management has been a careful one; and if the money promised is forwarded, the institutions will be almost out of debt, and on a good earning basis. This will give the brethren a free hand to push the great gospel work among the twenty millions of this field.