p. 16 | New Brunswick by James G. Hanna

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 7, 1903

New Brunswick

By James G. Hanna

JAMES G. HANNA

NEW BRUNSWICK is a province of Canada on the Atlantic coast of North America. It has an area of 28,200 square miles, and a population of 321,270. This province has a sea-board of about five hundred and forty-five miles, and carries on an extensive industry in fishing. The surface of the country is generally undulating, but in the northern and north-western parts there are many high ranges of hills, varying from ten hundred to twenty-five hundred feet in height. The scenery is picturesque and varied. Vast forests abound all through this section, and furnish material for an extensive lumber business. Lumbering is one of the chief industries.

The coast line is indented with numerous fine bays and harbors. The Bay of Fundy, which is a large arm of the sea extending into the land between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, is noted for its high tides, said to be the highest in the world.

The whole of New Brunswick is well watered; rivers, bays, and lakes are numerous. The St. John River, famous for its scenery, rises in Maine, and is over four hundred and fifty miles in length. It is navigable for vessels of moderate tonnage for about one hundred and fifty miles. A trip up this “Rhine of America” on a beautiful day on one of the well-equipped steamers is one of the most interesting and pleasant we ever enjoyed. This river is an important highway for the lumber traffic.

A large portion of the country is well adapted for agriculture, the soil being very fertile. The principal grains raised here are wheat, oats, buckwheat, corn, rye, and barley; the most important vegetables are potatoes, turnips, beets, celery, carrots, parsnips, beans, and peas; fruits, such as apples, plums, cherries, gooseberries, currants, strawberries, and raspberries, are also grown. Imported fruits are generally high. Butternuts and filberts are about the only native nuts, but a great variety of imported nuts can be had at reasonable prices.

We find no difficulty in living up to the principles of health reform in this country, although we do not have many of the things we thought were necessities when we were in the States.

The climate is subject to pronounced extremes of heat and cold, but is considered healthful. The past summer was very wet, and cooler than usual. During the day it was generally very hot, but the nights were cool. We were not very much troubled with mosquitoes, which was a great blessing. They are rare in these parts. At this writing we have had snow for about four weeks, and the thermometer has stood at twenty-five degrees below zero. The winters are long, beginning about November and continuing to the last of March or the middle of April.

A large proportion of the population is composed of immigrants from Great Britain and France, and their descendants. At the close of the Revolutionary War many of the American loyalists settled in this province. Their habits and customs are similar in many respects to those of the fatherland. They keep Sunday strictly, and speak disapprovingly of the “American” way of keeping it. The various denominations are represented. The people are conservative in their opinions, and are slow to receive anything different from their old ideas. Because of this the third angel's message moves slowly, but none the less surely, in this field. As a rule, when they receive the message, it comes to stay.

In this city, Woodstock, there seems to be a more liberal spirit in some respects toward us now than there was some time ago. We are getting acquainted with some of the leading people. This has been brought about partly as a result of a series of revival meetings held here several weeks ago. Five of the different churches arranged for union services, and engaged an evangelist from Boston, Mass. They rented the opera house for two weeks. In the same building is a hall which we use Sabbath afternoon and Sunday evening. The same entrance leads to both halls. I saw that our meetings would be crowded out for the time, so I postponed them until after the union services.

The committee for the meetings did not say anything to me about their arrangements, but took the seats out of the hall we rent, and used them in the other hall. I attended several of the meetings, and was much pleased with the way they were conducted; there was no excitement. A few days after they began, the chairman of the committee, the Methodist minister, met me on the street, and apologized for their action in not seeing me about the hall before they made their arrangements. Of course I accepted his apology, and he invited me to occupy a seat on the platform with the other ministers. I accepted the invitation, which gave me an opportunity to get acquainted with the people. Quite a number professed conversion, and I am holding Bible readings with some of them. I hope to see some take their stand to obey the Lord fully. We have resumed our public meetings with fair interest. I hope to secure a better hall where we can push the work uninterruptedly.

Woodstock.