OUR MELBOURNE LETTER

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 1 September 1909, Page 34

OUR MELBOURNE LETTER

(Fkoh Ora Own Cobrespokdeht.) ! MELBOURNE, August 11. REVIVALIST MEETINGS. The Chapman-Alexander mission party said good-bye to Melbourne on Monday, after a short return visit of only two.days. Their departure was like their meetings, marked by a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and a great deal of emotion. The methods of the missionaries, who numbered over a dozen, may be described as a good deal -likethe methods of other visiting evangelists, only mote so. They have been subjected to some criticism for their purely emojfcional methods, 'and in same districts their members have come into conflict with orthodox ministers ; but none of these circumstances can alter the fact that in Melbourne, as elsewhere in the large towns, the meetings have been an extraordinary success. The lunch hour gatherings in the Town Hall here on the first visit were .crowded every day, and then in the evening anything from- 6000 to 8000' people would assemble in the Exhibition Building.' There*' wa»- a choir 'lOOOjstrong-, but everyone sung at the. meetings. Mr Alexander, who has charge of the musical? portion of the meetings, has a happy way . of leading a choir or of teaching an untutored congregation a new hymn, and his personality; was no double- responsible' for -part of the success of the mission. Still, Dr Chapman could hold his im- • mense audiences in a remarkable way. His sermons sounded better than they read, for in cold print they have a tendency rather towards bathos. Take, for instanoe, the following passage from his address to 8000 people in the Exhibition Building on Sunday last : — " The late Sir Frederick Holder was one day present at one of our meetings in Adelaide. An usher went into the gallery, and brought him to the platform. He sang under the direction of Mr Alexander, and he wiped away his tears as I was preaching. He was gracious enough to say kind words about the singing and preaching. The very next Sunday I called upon 7000 men to put their handkerchiefs over their hands and raise their hands steadily. They raised a white monument to Sir Frederick Holder, who had been days in heaven." After every meeting hundreds went to the inquiry rooms to give in their names as desiring to walk new paths. Time- alone of course can tell whether the desire for reform will last. In this connection, however, some words of the Rev. Henry Howard when he was welcoming the missioners to Adelaide are of interest. He -expressed himself thus : — " Seven years ■*ago there wa"s a revival here. - The aftermath fell to me. I was given a list of 600 names of those who bad in writing signified their conversion. I was to write* personally to each, of those. Well, I looked through the list, and 400 out of > the; 600 namer were those of thex best - Christian worfiers " in our city and suburban churches for the past 20 years. I put those on one side. I was not going to trouble to write to them about getting into touch with some Christian organisation or other. I wrpte a personal letter to the remaining 200. I got 150 of those letters back from the dead' letter office. There were no such persons and no such addresses. Of the remaining 50 I cannot now put my hand on one, although I do not doubt they are holding up to their promises." The rev. gentleman added that in the present case he would not prejudge, and so he participated in the welcome., DELEGATION FROM AMERICA. A new evidence of the entente cordiale established with Amtrica by means of the visit of the fleet has been furnished by the arrival of a delegation of American school boys to the number of 39. They are members of the Columbia Park Boys' Club in San Francisco, and come under the control .of Major Peixoto, the founder of the club, assisted by the treasurer, the manager, and the matron, Mrs Aog«k>. ' The club, which is mainly an athletic institution, also- discharges educational functions. Most of the lads' are studious, and all of them are musicians, so that they constitute a very creditable band. One particular object of the visit is to teach the lads the Australian game of football. The American game, Maior Peixoto save, is not suitable for schoolboys. They play | baseball mostly, but baseball is not a ! pood game for the -winter. The Major thinks the Australian game is very suitable for the Pacific slope, and it is ratheT a pity that the first match they went to here between South Melbourne and Fitz- j roy on Saturday last should have been : marked by a disgraceful scene, in which the Fitzroy team were treated in a very unsportsmanlike fashion. The club's building was destroyed by the great earthquake, and that, -with the vifit of the fleet to San Franci.«co «->nd the accounts they had read of the visit of the fleet to Australia, forms their principal subject of conversion. The boys on their arrival on Friday marched through the city to the strains of thtir band, and were welcomed br the president of the Victorian Football League , and by the Lord Mayor. A MODERN,. MERCHANTMAN. The arrival of the Orient Steam Navigation Company's new liner Oreova last week was considered so important an event that an official lunch-eon was given on board her, at which the Prime Minister and several other prominent politicians were present. She is the first of five new liners wlrich are to carry Australian mails passengers, and products between the ow world and the new. She dad her initial voyage from Plymouth to Melbourne in 33 days, and she comes under the command of Captain J. H. Ruthven. who made bis first voyage to Australia in the Cuzco, the pioneer ship of the luv>. How wide is the gulf that separatee the two j ships iv efficiency may be judged from the

fact that the Cuzca took 40 days from Ply- ' , mouth to Adelaide. This was looked upon, j and in fact, was, a wonderful voyage for the time. i Mr Deakin, in proposing " Success to the Orient Company," said he thought ■ they ought not to part without expressing I their sense of the hospitality of the company and also., what was generally felt ia Australia, a special and permanent interest in its fortun«s. The intervention of the company at a critical period in the history of our negotiations with the Mother Country had led to most important results. The most striking of these was the presence of this magnificent ship in our water*. Even a landsman's eye was captivated by the beauty of her lines aad the symmetry of her design. He had never seen a chip in which greater attention had been paid to luxury and comfort and never one in which there was a less line of demarcation between the first, second, and third classes. The Orient Company, by taking the contract and filling it in this manner, had established another strong claim to the confidence of 'the people of Australia. Sir John Quick, the Postmaster-general, in proposing " The Ship," described her as "an ocean beauty and accredit to the firm which built her (John! Brown and Co., of Clydebank) _ and to the. Orient' Company,. whose capital and enterprise originated her." Captain • Buthven, in the course of his reply, said that the* Orient Company had been the first to have . twin, screws; bilge keek, electric light, and refrigerators. The OrsOva was die product of one of the finest yards on the Clyde, and he had no doubt she would fulfil everything that had been asked- and predicted of her. The new contract with the company does not begin until February next.