The Haskell and James White Homes
By E. H. Whitney
WE gladly accept the kind invitation of the president of the General Conference to make, through the columns of the REVIEW, a statement of the needs and circumstances of the Homes at Battle Creek for the aged and the children. For some time the donations, once so freely given by our people for the support of the Homes, have perceptibly diminished, owing, we have supposed, to the many important calls from other needy branches of the work. We have adjusted ourselves as best we could to the circumstances, our work growing in spite of its restrictions. But in April, a year ago, the building which contained our heating plant and laundry was destroyed by fire. We20waited all summer, hoping that in some way money would come in, which, with the insurance, would enable us to replace the building. The time for the October donation drew near, and winter also was approaching. Our boilers had to be protected before cold weather, so we had the building re-erected, studying to save expense in design, in material, and in work, but the donations for the year were scarcely more than half what they had been in the days of more liberal giving to the Home, and the severe winter added considerably to our expenses, so we have yet most of our bills for the building unpaid, and our fuel and other supplies for the winter to provide. At the Old People's Home the boilers have been patched and repaired for several years, and ought to be replaced, both for safety and for economy. Meantime the appeals for us to take children and feeble old people are coming almost daily from all parts of the country,—North, South, East, and West. We shall be glad to do our part in helping them to the utmost capacity of the Homes by the closest economy consistent with the health of the old people and children. We have been greatly cheered by the words of sympathy and encouragement that have come to us from time to time from various sources. As a member of the General Conference Committee said to us not long ago, “These are the only institutions of the kind our people have, and they surely must support them.” A great encouragement to us was a recent visit of Sister White to both the Homes. She was not strong enough, with all else she had planned for the day, to go through the buildings, but the children, teachers, and caretakers at the Haskell Home came out on the veranda to greet her, gathering around the carriage while she spoke a few words to such as were near. Then, as she observed the size of the family gathered on the veranda, and saw that she could not speak to each individual, she addressed to them a few words of counsel, urging them to follow the instructions that were given them that they might become useful members of the Lord's family. At the James White Home, as there were so many feeble ones, she came into the sitting-room, where were gathered all who were able to get there. I have rarely been more touched than by the way these white-haired pilgrims, many of them near their journey's end, gathered about the dear aged servant of the Lord, eager to take her hand, and hanging on her words. Many of them had listened to her voice years in the past, and all of them were familiar with the work of her pen, and they will carry to the end the memory of that brief interview; for not one was missed, except those who were confined to their rooms. Her parting words, as she withdrew from the group, seemed inspired in their adaptation to the time and place, as she pointed them to the mansions above which Christ has gone to prepare for them. We were all grateful, both for ourselves and for our dear old people, that they had this privilege of meeting Sister White. As to the work the Homes are doing, we refer the reader to the little sheet, the Haskell Home Appeal, issued every three months in behalf of our work. As through the courtesy of the publishers of the REVIEW we are permitted to send it twice a year to its subscribers, we will not trespass upon its columns to repeat what we have said in the Appeal. No one is more conscious of our failures than ourselves, but we are striving to make each day's work better than the last. We have a group of earnest Christian workers, who are conscientiously endeavoring to mother the children committed to their care, but we need more such to do justice to the increasing number that are asking entrance. We wish to assure the friends of the Homes that we have appreciated their assistance through all these years, both in money and clothing and in the sympathy so often expressed in our work, and we are glad to believe that they will still stand by us in our efforts for these who so need our help and sympathy.