San Francisco and Oakland.
By W. M. Healey
THE cause in these cities is moving forward. Our tent-meeting in San Francisco closed with the best meeting of the series, and we learn that the Sabbath meetings there have since been well attended and are growing in interest. Sunday afternoon, June 16, we visited the church there for a baptism season, and Brother Israel buried four willing souls in a watery grave. We have been one week, with the tent, on the corner of Peralta and Eight streets near Center station, West Oakland. Our tent is very nicely arranged having a floor with coarse carpet or matting in the aisles. Our seats nearly all have good backs to them, we also have one hundred chairs, which were in our church hall and kindly furnished us, these are neatly arranged in front of the stand, back of which in connection with our charts and a clock, we have a large wall lamp with porcelain globe which is easily fastened to the chart frame, and we find it very useful as it throws the light from behind the speaker over his shoulder, and so induces him to stand erect while reading, which is much better than having to stoop over to read by a lamp on the stand. Try it. Our tent is furnished with a stove, also double wooden doors at the entrance which enables us to make it very comfortable even in cold evenings. We have an organ which with the singing are in the charge of Brother J. E. White, and this also adds a feature of attraction to our meeting. Of course we cannot recommend under all circumstances the same arrangement of tent that we have here, but we do endorse better light and more of it, especially the lamp back of the stand, and again keep the tent neat and clean; we have our trunks, bed, tool-chest, etc., all neatly arranged in the back part of our tent. The people seem to appreciate our efforts and appear willing to help us. Our contribution box has received $10, and we have spoken of it but once. But the best feature of all is that the Lord is with us, and the people nearly fill the tent, our attendance being from two hundred and fifty to five hundred and the attention is always good. We think we have never had a tent meeting upon this coast with such favorable prospects at the close of its first week. Do pray for the cause here, and especially for us that God will give wisdom for the work assigned us. June 24, 1878. W. M. HEALEY.