“TROPHIES OF GRACE”

Taranaki Daily News, 21 November 1932, Page 9

“TROPHIES OF GRACE”

SALVATION ARMY ADDRESS

COMMISSIONER CUNNINGHAM. GATHERING AT NEW PLYMOUTH. A well-attended service was conducted in the Salvation Army’s New Plymouth Citadel by Commissioner Cunningham, territorial leader of the Army in New Zealand, yesterday afternoon when he spoke upon the subject “Six Trophies of Grace.” In the evening a salvation service was held. Among those also on the platform in the afternoon were the Mayor (Mr. H. V. S. Griffiths), who presided, the Mayoress, the Rev. R. B. Gosnell, Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Weston, Mr. B. Thorne, Mrs. Cunningham,. Brigadiers Scotney and Cotterill and Adjutant and Mrs. Green. The 'Mayor, who was introduced by Adjutant Green, announced some apologies. He expressed pleasure at being able to attend and said the Salvation Army was performing valuable work which was the more noticeable in difficult times like the present. New Plymouth was always pleased to welcome worthy people and no one was more entitled to that term than were Commissioner Cunningham and his wife.. All men owed present-day women deep debts of gratitude and he believed it would be the influence of the . women, if not an actual lead by them, that would put the country, on the right path to good times. ’ Prayer was led by Mr* Gosnell, the Scriptfire was read by Brigadier Scotney and the Salvation Army Girls’ choir, sang. . In referring to the experiences of Army officers, Commissioner Cunningham mentioned novels by such men as Harold Begbie and Hugh Redwood and said that, if he could use a pen with their skill, he could write many such tales. By trophies of grace he meant the individuals who had been re-born through the efforts of the Salvation Army and the grace of God. The commissioner enumerated examples and told the stories of their salvation and their former sinful lives. CONVICT’S CONVERSION. , Shortly after the Army opened its first shelter in London an old man arrived for a bed and meals. For 39 of his 70 years he had been a prisoner, but he was converted and did a lot of useful work in leading men as he himself had been to the right path. When he was five years of age he had been caught by a gang of Glasgow burglars who used him to push down skylights and open the doors of shops and dwellings. After' two years the gang was rounded up and the little boy received the harsh sentence of seven years. That was the beginning. At 14 years of age he had no friends and no trade,, so he again became a burglar. When he had been with the Army for some years, he died of pneumonia and was given a great Army funeral. It had been the policy of the Salva-, tion Army, continued the commissioner, always to adapt its work to the condi-. tions of the country in which that; work Was being done. In Holland, the Army, used boats as meeting houses, for it was a land of waterways with canals in all' directions. An old Dutch sailor who had been in all parts of the world attended and next prayed and was con-' verted. The next night he went home early and his wife, who was afraid of his drunken fits, did not believe that he had been converted —she thought it was a tale for he had told so many lies. Eventually his wife and son were also converted. Later the wife became ill, the bridge of her nose having been broken by the husband in one of his drunken fits. She would not have a word said against her husband; he had, she said, found a new heart and got her a new home—so the doctor provided her with a new nose.

■ EXPERIENCES IN SOUTH AFRICA. Another incident mentioned by the commissioner occurred in South Africa. A man in delirium tremens was found in the street and was taken home by an Army captain. The derelict had conducted boxing schools on diamond and goldfields and there he had learned to drink. The captain saved him and he declared his salvation in the streets of Johannesburg until the citizens came to know him and respect the cause in which he laboured. A Scotchman once called on the commissioner in Cape Colony and he was always under the influence of whisky. For three months the commissioner tried to save him but he only drank the more. One day the Scotchman was even drunker than usual. “I told him to steal a horse,” said the commissioner. ‘‘The term of imprisonment for- such a crime at that time was nine months, and I told him it was the only way in which he could help himself. He became very angry and went away. All day he worried about it and that night at my meeting he came up, full of penitence. Afterwards he did great work for the Army.” The commissioner mentioned a man who represented Australia in international cricket matches’ arid who became addicted to drink. His wife divorced him and he went to' South America, where he remained until the Boer War, when he moved to South Africa. One day there, when he was almost in delirium tremens, a ' police sergeant stopped him in Cape‘Town and warned him that he had better obtain work. The man went for a walk and swears to this day that he then heard a clear voice saying that it was his last chance. He went to the Army and was saved. Later, his former wife left New Zealand for South Africa and married him again. The work of the Army in Zululand was mentioned. For 50 years it had been going on, but for many years funds had come from other countries. The first time self-denial was introduced in order to let the Zulus help themselves a little an old woman who had been converted three months before listened to the announcement; she had no eggs, fowls or mealies to give and it worried hex'. In the early hours or the morning she'had what she described as “a revelation” and procured work from a Boer in order to provide something. For such an old woman, the effort was. a tremendous one. She worked for six days at 6d a day and gave the lot. Mr. Weston expressed pleasure, at being present at such a hearty service and said there was no doubt that the work of the Army throughout the world was a great power for good. On behalf of the public, he mentioned the fine work that had been done in New Plymouth by Adjutant Green. The music throughout the day’s service, continued- Mr. Weston, had been particularly fine. On his motion, seconded by Mr. Thorne, a vote of thanks to Commissioner and Mrs. Cunningham and the Mayor and Mayoress was carried with acclamation.