The Book Work in District 5
By B. R. Nordyke
BELOW are given the names of a few of the leading subscription books, and the number of copies of each sold in this district during the past two years:— | NAME OF BOOK |
COPIES IN 1900 |
COPIES IN 1901 |
|---|
| Prophecies of Jesus..... |
133 |
200 |
| Patriarchs and Prophets. |
162 |
143 |
| Great Controversy...... |
1,601 |
1,952 |
| Daniel and Revelation... |
1,281 |
2,038 |
| Bible Readings....... |
2,374 |
2,624 |
| Heralds of Morning... |
2,260 |
2,132 |
| The Coming King...... |
2,472 |
1,886 |
| Marvel of Nations..... |
.... |
900 |
| Health subscription books |
250 |
488 |
| Small subscription books. |
3,464 |
2,464 |
| Best Story, Primers, and Helps .......... |
22,650 |
26,940 |
| Christ’s Object Lessons.. |
6,787 |
9,707 |
| Bibles........ |
900 |
639 |
The sale of “Great Controversy” increased by 351 copies; that of “Daniel and Revelation” by 757 copies; “Bible Readings” by 250 copies; and Dr. Kellogg’s large health books nearly doubled in sale; and there was an increase of about 3,000 copies in the sale of “Christ’s Object Lessons.” The interest taken in the sale of our large subscription books is encouraging, and we trust that this interest will continue to grow until the printed page is placed in every home in the district. We have been told by the spirit of prophecy that no work is more important than this; we have also been admonished that the canvassing work has been neglected in the past, and that we should have one hundred canvassers at work in the field where we now have only one. Is it not high time that we should become interested in this branch of the Lord’s work? Sixty thousand dollars’ worth of books, at retail prices, have been shipped from the Kansas City Branch of the Pacific Press the past year. Nearly all of these have been used in District 5, a small portion of them being sent out to mission territory adjoining the district, by order of the Mission Board. The outlook for the canvassing work in this district was never more promising than it is for the campaign just before us in the season of 1902. Most of the States in the district have held two or more canvassing institutes, with the best results. Texas has thirty-five canvassers in the field, Oklahoma reports over forty canvassers in charge of two State agents, Missouri and Kansas each will have at least twenty canvassers, and plans are being laid for an increased interest and advancement of this branch of the work in Colorado and Arkansas. To show how the work will grow when taken hold of with vim and interest, we cite the progress that has been made in Arkansas during the past three years. This is probably as difficult a field as any in the district, and one having the smallest reading population. During the past year the north half of the State of Arkansas has suffered a severe drought, and people are, perhaps, in as unfavorable a condition for the purchasing of books as any in the Union. The figures given below are the retail prices of the books. During 1899 we shipped from the Kansas City Branch to canvassers in the State of Arkansas, $3,625 worth; in 1900, $4,455 worth; in 1901, $6,390 worth, notwithstanding the drought and other hindering circumstances. If this good work can be done in a State with a small number of canvassers and under adverse circumstances, should we not all take courage, and enter into the work with renewed interest to see that it is advanced in the larger and more prosperous States in the district?