FROM COORANBONG TO ST. HELENA.
By W. C. White
Knowing that some of the readers of the REVIEW will be interested in an account of the providences that have attended us in our removal from Cooranbong to St. Helena, I will give a brief record of them. For several months mother had felt that it was her duty to return to America, and attend the next session of the General Conference. But it was not till the last of July that she decided to sail on the “Moana,” August 29. To me it seemed impossible that in four weeks we could sell our homes, dispose of furniture, horses, cattle, etc., close up our connection with the various Australasian institutions and enterprises, attend a ten-days’ council of the Union Conference Committee, and get off by the August steamer. But we began to do our best, and we found help at every step. Mother sold her house and land, furniture, farm implements, horses and vehicles, to Mrs. Minchin, of Dunedin, New Zealand, who desired to be near the Avondale School. I traded property with Brother Metcalfe Hare, and then sold my newly acquired property to the school. This gave Brother Hare a place with more land, which he desired; it gave the school another residence for a teacher, which was much needed; and it freed me from the ownership of property seven thousand miles from my future field of labor. With these matters settled, I felt free to attend the annual meeting of the Victorian Conference. It was a great privilege to meet again old friends and fellow laborers, and especially the workers in the Echo office. Monday morning I attended the regular weekly gathering of the Echo Company’s employees. There were seventy-five assembled, and half an hour was devoted to a brief review of the development of the company’s business from the time when the typesetting for the Echo was done in a cottage, to the present time, when it is turning out a large part of the illustrated subscription books sold by our seventy-five canvassers in the seven Australasian colonies. In the meetings of the Conference there was manifested a spirit of harmony and progress. Steps were taken to place the book business on a more solid financial basis, and to relieve the Echo Company and the General Conference Association from some of the burdens they have carried in its behalf. Returning to Cooranbong, I found my daughter Mable very sick. Before I went to Melbourne, she was ill, and I had sent her to the Health Retreat, hoping that a few days’ treatment would do her good. But in spite of the best of care and treatment, she had grown worse, and I found her in great suffering, with a nurse in attendance day and night. All said, “She can not go on the voyage unless there is a great and sudden change; and if she can not go, what will you do?” We said, “Our times are in His hands. God would not prepare the way for our going, by so many providences, and then leave us in confusion on account of sickness. Please join us in daily prayer that the Lord may heal and strengthen her for the journey.” Many prayers were offered for her restoration, and five days before our sailing she began to improve, and was able to go on board the steamer, and endure the voyage with but little suffering. Since landing, she steadily grows stronger. Mother bore very well the confusion and worry connected with the breaking up of her home, and took an active part in the meetings of the council, which continued from August 16-26. By the steamship company we were favored with reasonable rates, and the very best accommodations and service that the good ship “Moana” could afford. Captain Cary, Purser Hodson, and Chief Steward Naismith did everything for our comfort and enjoyment that their kindness could suggest, and the thoughtful attention of the stewardess lightened for mother the weariness of the long voyage. For mother especially, there were two things hard to bear: the ubiquitous smokers; and the playing of quoits and the dancing on the upper deck right over her head. Some of the passengers asserted their right to do as they pleased, regardless of “one old lady’s comfort.” Our voyage from Sydney to San Francisco was a remarkably pleasant one. During the greater part667of the voyage the ocean was as calm as an inland lake, and at no time was it really rough. The weather was exceptionally fine, and there was much less than the ordinary amount of seasickness. The “Moana” is a good ship, and we shall be sorry when she goes off the line. At Auckland we were not permitted to land, on account of the quarantine regulations. Brethren Teasdale, Mountain, and Nash, with other friends, came out in row boats; and although they could not come on board the ship, we could talk with them from the ship’s deck. At Samoa we were taken ashore by Prof. D. D. Lake, who entertained us royally, and furnished us with a liberal supply of fresh fruits for the remainder of our journey. At Honolulu we were taken to the hospitable home of Sister Kerr, where we met Elder Baxter Howe, some of the workers from the sanitarium and Brother and Sister Howell, from the Chinese school. How we did enjoy this visit, and the feast of good things with which Sister Kerr’s bountiful table was loaded. After dinner we visited the sanitarium and the Chinese school, and held a meeting with the church in their meeting-house. Honolulu shows many signs of progress since our last previous visit. Thursday night, September 20, we dropped anchor in San Francisco Bay. By nine o’clock Friday morning we had all passed inspection, and the ship had a clean bill of health. Yet we were ordered to the quarantine station. There all boxes and trunks were opened, and the contents transferred to wire cages, and all put into great retorts to be steamed or smoked according to their character. Then the passengers were again examined, and being found well, were allowed to repack their goods. This consumed the day, and we were taken by a tug boat to the San Francisco wharf, where we landed at 8 P. M. How glad we were to land, and to meet Brethren C. H. Jones, J. O. Corliss, and others, who took us to their houses, and gave us a hearty welcome. On Sabbath mother spoke to a large congregation in the Oakland church. Before leaving Australia, and on the voyage, we planned to settle for the winter in Oakland, but we find that Oakland has grown to be a crowded and busy city. Rents are high, and a place exactly suited to our requirements is hard to find. At St. Helena we find a place that seems to have been providentially prepared for mother and her family of workers. I will briefly describe it: The place is about two and one-half miles northwest of the St. Helena Railway station. It lies at the foot of the mountain on which the St. Helena Sanitarium is situated, and is twelve-minutes’ walk from that institution. It was for many years the residence of Mr. Robert Pratt, a brother of William Pratt, one of the founders of the sanitarium. The place comprises thirty-five acres of valley land, of which ten acres are in bearing vineyard, eleven acres in prunes, and five acres in a home orchard of apples, pears, peaches, plums, olives, and figs. In the midst of this tract is a knoll, beautiful with oaks, elms, walnuts, and other ornamental trees and shrubbery, on which stands an eight-roomed, two-story house. Back of the house is an old cottage, which can be fitted up as an office for copyists; and back of this are large stables, dairy and fruit house. On the mountain side are twenty acres of wild land, having sufficient wood to supply us fuel for several years. Providential circumstances enable us to secure this place for about five thousand dollars, with four-years’ time in which to make the payments. Among the many advantages of this location, three are worthy of special mention,—the climate of this portion of the Napa Valley is excellent; the rural surroundings are conducive to health and happiness; the proximity to the sanitarium places mother in easy touch with a most encouraging field for Christian labor, a field in which she has always been deeply interested and greatly blessed. From this time forward the permanent address of Mrs. E. G. White, W. C. White, and Misses Sarah McEnterfer, M. A. Davis, S. E. Peck, and Maggie Hare will be St. Helena, Cal. W. C. WHITE.