Missionary Work in the Pacific Islands
Brother W. G. Buckner and wife, who have just spent two years on Pitcairn Island, arrived in San Francisco on the 22d inst. They came on the missionary ship Pitcairn to Tahiti, arriving at Papeete July 8. Thence they came home on the mail ship Galilee. Of the movements of missionaries, we learn that Brother and Sister Butz, Maria Young, and Thomas Christian are to locate on Raratonga. Brother and Sister Whately take charge of the school on Pitcairn Island. Brother and Sister Green remain at Tahiti, and Sisters Rosa Young and Hattie Andre are with the Pitcairn, expecting to come with her to America at the close of her voyage. Brother J. R. McCoy accompanies the ship as a missionary. Brother Buckner gives a good report of the condition and progress of the people on Pitcairn. He was enabled, by boring into the mountain side, to find a good supply of excellent water, of which the inhabitants were very much in need. This alone far more than paid for his two years’ sojourn on the island, as, previous to this achievement, the people were dependent upon stored-up rain water for a good part of the year. Altho well along toward the three-score-and-ten mark in life, Brother Buckner is still ready to be sent as a missionary of the cross. His address, till further notice, is Stockton, Cal.