lha San Francisco Sunday Call THE SKY PILOT TO THE LUMBERJACKS WW&RE a Missionary Must Be First a Man. Afterward a Preacher, "Biggins'" • Has a Congregation of 30.000 in 250 Camps. r ■•/■ ■ ../.... - • - The Sky Pilot, His Church and His Audience CoDvrieht .1010 by A. H. Richardson PASTOR of the "Parish of the Pines" is the Rev. Francis E. Higgins, an evangel, who ministers to the spiritual and often the tem poral wants of a congregation of 30,000, and yet has no church. He is the original of Norman Duncan's stories of the nprthwest. His follow ers are lumberjacks and his parish comprises the vast timber lands of the northwest, which he traverses with a dog drawn sledge. How he preaches in the language of the woods and how he practices muscular Christianity are told here. , , I F I were getting ready for my work again," 1 said the Rev. Francis E. Higgins, "I would take I lessons in boxing." He smiled a good humored smile from a pair of Irish blue eyes. "The man that goes into the woods to preach to men has to be a man first and a preacher afterward." He is Higgins, just plain Higgins, to the saloon keepers he has put out of business and the councils he has awakened to their duty in the lumbering towns of the Great Lakes. , But to his parishioners, the men who cut the timber, he is "the Pilot." He has no church. His sermons are preached in the low, dimly lighted bunkhouse of the camp, with its double tier of straw filled bunks and its red hot stove around, which hang the half dry "mackinaws" and mittens of the men. And with a blanket covered barrel for his pulpit the Pilot preaches in the lingo of his hearers. Perhaps it is the story of the Prodigal Son. "He got tired of living at home with the old man, boys, so he packed his turkey and went out to blow his stake. Where did he land? You know. He ended in the snake room. And there the old man found him, and took him home and sobered him up." Committees, officials and public sentiment are con serving the forests. Higgins, single handed, is con serving the lumberjacks. He has no church, but he has a congregation of 30,000 Irish, Scotch, French- Canadian, American—they wait for him. The missionary travels all over the timber region of Minnesota with his team of dogs. Although Hig gins is a man who weighs more than 200 pounds, his beautiful team of dogs carried him 40 miles, to Little Fork, in six and a half hours. When there is a crust on the snow he can travel anywhere in the open timber, regardless of roads. He says his team is worth $500 to him. . Sometimes he is caught out at night and is obliged to camp in the woods. He has a small tent and builds a fire in it, cuts boughs and fixes a bed on the snow, and with a dog on each side of him he sleeps com fortably and with a conscious security. He feeds the dogs but once a day— at night. He generally shoots a rabbit or two during the day. Sometimes he cooks a part of one for himself and gives the dogs all they can eat of the raw meat. Higgins is the first preacher that has found his way.to this forest, where there is no person except ing the sturdy pioneer that is blazing the way for civ ilization and progress, and the first meeting was held in the cabin of the oldest pioneer, a man who has not had a sight of civilization for more than 10 years. There were 20 homesteaders present at the meeting, and to their credit be it said that reverently they sat and quietly they listened to the first spiritual mes *-*JHS®sBB@P HfIHHH His territory extends from Duluth 200 miles west, south to Braincrd and north to the Rainy river. There are 250 camps in this region. A lumber camp has much the same appearance as a very small and rough looking village. The foreman is. the arbiter of almost life and: death, and beyond his "say so" there is no court; of appeal. .The' activities of the camp begin with the first streak of dawn, when the cook begins to prepare the morning meal, which consists chiefly of beans, porridge and hot tea, sweet ened with mlfrasses. After breakfast the men are assigned to their day's work, the hewers often going, three or four miles from the camp. The teamsters get ready to haul the first logs to the railroad or the river. The teams are often composed; of four •to six horses to drag the monster logs, lashed together .with heavy chains, over the rough places and up the grades. The men work, until sundown. Then they hasten back to camp to prepare for supper, the principal meal of the day. usually consists of potatoes, cream of tartar biscuit, sour dough bread, boiled beef or some ■fcoinr. ispm Camp to Camp Photo by Hakkerup sort of game and tea. After supper trie men amuse themselves as best they can some fall asleep, others play cards or tell stories. Since the missionary has entered the field the men also have books to read. ,:' When the camp breaks in the spring and the "boys" go to town in search of their own ruin in the guise of the only pleasures they know, they find him waiting for them, watching over them still. * "Who's that?" asked a stranger? in one of .the old time saloons, seeing; ham take a drunken boy by the" throat and carry him out bodily. "That's Higgins," replied a man in spiked boots: and mackinaw. "His job's keeping us' boys;out of hell, and he's the only man on the job."' -.-*..' There is no cant or "grand standing" about his work. Following his congregation. into the haunts of their temptations is! simply a part of his duty ;as he sees it. And the men recognize it as such. It does not occur to them that they arc wit«*»ssing an appli cation of practical Christianity such as the modern world seldom sees. It is easy to listen to the tale of the good Samaritan .' if, you see him exemplified before , you in "the person: of the man .: who is telling the story. And many a; member of v his congregation the Pilot has with his' own hands taken out of the snake room, the filthy dens where they; are; thrown to snore ' and . groan . and; shriek themselves back to -consciousness after the - adulterated whisky of "The Lumberman's Home" or "Jake's Place." " .< * And if during the 'process of washing them up or :nursing them .through pneumonia the Pilot has : "rubbed it into them," it is his recognized right so to do. He has proved that he means what he. says. The friend who would save a man in ; places where ? they give him "doped" whiskey, take his winter wages of $400 in a. night . and cast him . out in ; the . morning without a cent, has need of a strong right arm. And the Pilot does -not hesitate to use his. > "A young.fellow, named Pat -Murphy, a likely lad, asked me to look out for him one spring," he said, / "but: he'd been in town a whole day before I heard of > it. ; Then - I found in Jake Hart's place, one of the; worst. Just as I came in the door ,he ; put a r double : handful of bills down on the bar. 'Here, bungswatter,' he said, 'set up. the house.' , "The men crowded up for their drinks, and. the bar ' keeper took a few bills 'off the pile. But T: knew as soon ,as i Pat's „ back was turn ,' the - whole pile ; would go into the till. :".'■■ '■" I. ■■'■■■.. , *, ,:' ■ '. ' ■ ":..' ■"■/ ■- . ' ' '■ ''„ ■ Rev. Francis E. Higgins and His Dog Team '"My" turn, Pat,'. I said, putting my hand over it. 'I'll take this.'' '• ; ".-'•'.' ."'Look;here, Higgins,' said;the ,bar keeper, 'what do you mean by butting in this way?' "This is my job; and I'm. going to see it-through",' I.said. He struck at me, but couldn't reach me; so he came over the bar with a spring. ; But before he landed I caught him on the point of the jaw, and while he ; was still stretched out on the floor I got Pat out 'of the place. , When ■he was on the train j for Wisconsin I sent a draft for his money to his old mother. , "It used to be. easier. When they logged by water the camps were far away from th* towns, and the boys were; safe for the winter. They could only have a log fall on * them* or . get cut ;in two by a; saw, or something like that, all ; in the day's work. But now they log by rail, and the towns spring up about the camps' like leeches. * That's what * they are, leeches, made up of saloons and gambling .hells' and : worse. What do they give a boy who's worked from dark to dark six days; a week? ( Nothing but what * his money will buy, badl liquor, a crooked game and women that cities have tired of. It isn't only one big spree in ; the spring now. It's a little one every Sunday. The- boss has •to send ' a wagon on Monday'■ to gather ; his men out of the; snake rooms. .* "Not that all woodsmen drink. Some of the older ones are sober, steady men, with ] families. * But the young fellows don't know anythingMse, though they are quick enough to take it when it comes their way. They, don't get a show. - "I know, because I have worked in the woods my self. I grew up on a frontier farm in Canada, hunting with bow and arrow with, the Indian boys, and work ing in the woods with my father. I saved what little money earned, and "when I was 20 went to Toronto for my first schooling. Five years later I was through the high school and in my first little church out in Barnum, Minn. ' "One day I was standing on a log, in - the river, watching the men breaking the logjam. The Jogs were piled up 20 feet high, and the men were working right in the face of the jam, when suddenly they got the key log and the jam gave way. We all had *" to jump for. our lives, and.so the men found out who I was. While we-were sitting on the bank, watching, the logs go down, all smooth and quiet, the men asked me to preach to them,-and I; did. " 'Boys,' I said, 'you're on the merry go round. You work all winter in the; woods, and come down in the spring and blow your; money. You go back on the drive, and blow your money. You go into, the mills and •> blow your money. ' Then you go back to ;the woods, and blow your money. What does it get you? ;; Nothing . but the ■■ snake room. It goes to buy diamonds for other men's wives. Jake Sharkey's wife says she can have all she wants. Her husband's got ■a;thousand men working for him in the woods! She meant you, boys. Are you going to do it again after this drive? -• * "'You can't stop?. I ' know you can't. But the grace of God in your hearts can help you *to stop, and it's the only' thing that can.' And then we prayed and sang. . - ; " 'Come out to the camp and talk to us, parson,' one of them said when we.were shaking hands. 'Nobody wastes much time talking to us.'. t ""-■*/* ' ; "And so I went. And T told them the truth as we all knew it. I didn't have to preach hell to them. They knew that They'd seen it in the snake rooms. The love of God was harder for men who'd always had to pay: for what they got to,understand. But at last some of them began to see what I meant. . "One c night, just as "I. was starting home, a man named John Sornberger . came to me with tears; run ning down his face. My God 1'; he says, 'if you know anything to help me tell me about it.' We .went to an empty shack and I ; talked \ to: him and prayed " with him all night. v ; He told me an awful story Of a life of thievery and crime. Once he had hit a man with a. jug and ' left him for dead, and spent a year in hiding. . At the end of that time '■- he found.that the man had got well, so he went back. He was a 'dough puncher,' a cook, and a good one,, but such a drunkard and thief that :he couldn't keep a job. He was a kind of tramp, going from camp to camp, staying a few days, and then get ting thrown out for ""* drinking or) stealing. . ;"'Well. John,' I said, 'the first thing is to get you straight with the authorities.' He was willing to go REV FRANCIS E . HIGGINS , , ;. Vhoto by Freuds Studio to jail, but the sheriff didn't send him there when I promised to keep my eye on him. : ■ . ' "I got him a job in another camp, and he stuck to it t and paid; up ; all ; that ;he could of his • back d ebts.^/*' :T • ."Two years later; he got a'" job in the ; summer cook ing - or -a ; railroad ? construction crew. " A farmer's daughter brought them milk every morning, and pretty soon John came to me" to know if ;I; thought he might marry her. I • found ; she knew 1 the -story; of, his ! life andi had forgiven" it, and so after a■. time I married them. ; . Three years '. later •he became "my first mis sionary. , * . ■ s^BßmmWs^O^mkm^mmmVmWm ("The sum of $200 means a; missionary to us in the woods, for! the boys furnish the rest of ■ the money themselves;,,;.'. That's why I - have left -' my work and come: out! to ;tell' about their needs.. No one man ! can .reach them all. This ; year :lam : going to ; send \ a man into northern Michigan, where the conservation people would tell you that } .the! timber •is ! all cut, but where there are 10,000 men still at work. - -■. "I; didn't ask the boys for; any money, "*•because:l knew that? everybody who eve» went * near the ' camps did that. At first'they: kept Jon their hats and smoked while I was talking, and 'finally one night I wore my , hat myself. - When I; got T up 1 I said," 'Boys, this is the only, church .we've got. Let's make rit;as-' good , a one as we can.' I took off; my hat. And every hat came off;.:.'., '".".-:•-/.:;:■"!"•;:•";";;■. ;/;;..'./".;:. ;„,; //;;'//';; : "Another time a big Frenchman was grinding his ax : while .I ; was talking. - 'The ; boys T have asked me to come out here and talk to them,' I said to him, 'and I'll be ; glad if you'll wait a few minutes to grind that ax.' . "He went right on and began to whistle. P*"*^ Mike O'Leary, the blacksmith, stepped: up too him, took.him by the shoulder and threw.;him;out of th« door. 'I'm,roadmonkeying for the puot, i .«•*• *» nave •£• to know,* he ; said, 'and any damned peasoup ;< that thinks T can't do >it can step up right now. So atte? that it was good sledding forme. . ♦t,.- --"The camp was always ; swept ; before. I got tner-^ and the boys knew what hymns they wanted to sing. 'Jesus; Lover of My Soul,' is .one. that they liketl 'That's a damned fine tune, pilot,'. said' one! of tner one night. 'Why, don't they •• have. tunes ; like that W8 the shows? "Let's sing her again!' So we sang again, and next !morning as they started out in th© dark tor their work they' sang again— " " 'Other refuge« have . I * none, Hangs .my helpless ' soul Jon Thee, - Leave; oh leave me not alone, .:» ( - Still ""preserve; and comfort! me. ;. - '-'And when I heard that song coming back through all the solemn whiteness of the woods I knew where 'my .work was. and I made up my mind that' some day ■I*. would all my time to it. /:"/"" "I urged the boys to* come -to church when they were in town, and one day three of them did—spiked • boots, mackinaw coats and all. The town was used enough to lumberjacks' and river pigs, but only on the streets and in the saloons. . , "'Pilot,' they'said.-'..while.l --ter among the boys and the homesteaders. We don't forget \ the little [cabin*.' "A good many of the boys give me their money in the spring and r I see that it gets. to their ! families where it is needed. Some day, perhaps I'll be able to look out for the boys on the coast and ■ in; the south too. ";;,■. ;•. '•/ -: '; .; .:•". .■ ■-■■' "Would I rather have a city church? Well, it wouldn't take much of my preaching to close most ;of, them, I guess. I'd like to see more of my wife and my little girl than T; do, but my place is with the boys. I understand them and they understand me. I'm going back to the real;thing. „'' ' "In the city you think nothing of spending a dollar - for a meal. Why, \ when ' I have-to ; pay 50 cents for a hotel bed I have the nightmare, and if I pay more than a quarter ; for, a * meal! I>; have* indigestion. ■•* I'd never leave the woods or the work if I could help it" That is what HigginT' gets out of it—that v and the *. appreciation