Part II, Chapter VII — Progress in Every Direction (1880-82)
Rajahmundry in 1880, as described by Schmidt, was a town of about 20,200 inhabitants, of whom 18,000 were Hindus, 2000 Moslems and 200 Christians. "The town is located about seventeen degrees north latitude and 81 de- grees east longitude, on the left bank of the Godavery River, 40 miles from the sea and 365 miles north of Madras. It has one long, main avenue, from which most of the streets, which are narrow, run down to the river. The town is an old one and is irregularly laid out, excepting in its southern suburb, Innespett, which, begun a few decades ago, has broad streets crossing at right angles. Many of the wealthier natives Hve in this suburb, at the southern extremity of which are the Government College and the telegraph office.^
''As one approaches the town, little can be seen except the trees which are large and afford abundant shade. The houses are nearly all one-story buildings made of mud walls, covered with tiles or a palm-leaf thatch. In the western ^ part of the town is the Municipal Hospital, where patients are admitted free. Near the hospital is an old Mohammedan cemetery, near which our mission buildings are located, namely, St. Paul's Church (the old mission house), and, on the opposite side of the street, Carlson's bungalow. Farther east are the cemetery of the Mission and of the Anglican Church. Nearby is the residence of that old friend of our Mission, Captain Taylor. The northern part of the town is occupied chiefly by Europeans. Here the Anghcan Church and the Museum are located. North of the Judge's bungalow, along the river bank, is the public Promenade, where in the evening many
^ The telegraph office, connected with the post-office, is now in the heart of the city.
2 At the present time the Municipal Hospital lies rather in the central part of Rajahmundry.
19s
196 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL people resort after the heat of the day. About one hundred paces away Hes the Museum Garden. The Promenade ends on the north with a part of the old walls of a fort; right beyond this is the Court House which, being in a state of dilapida- tion, is to be replaced by a new building. Close by lies the garden which is the site of the new missionary's bungalow (Riverdale). On the northern outskirts is the washermen's quarter. Between the buildings near the river bank and our mission buildings lie the residences of the Collector, College professors, EngUsh lawyers and Hindus, the Anglican and Roman CathoKc churches, the district jail and the poHce headquarters.
"Rajahmundry is a center of considerable trade. The chief articles of commerce are rice, tobacco, gall-nuts and teak wood. Merchandise and passengers are daily transported to Coconada, Narsapur, Koringa, Amalapur and Ellore, as well as up the stream to Dummugudem. Hundreds are em- ployed at ship-building. The town boasts of a small printing- press and several newspapers whose subscription Hsts, how- ever, are small, for the Hindu is too conservative to adopt novelties."
Poulsen, after nine years of uninterrupted service at Rajahmundry, left on a well-earned furlough with his wife and four children, sailing from Madras April 16, 1880, and reaching Copenhagen early in June. Leaving his family in Denmark, he came to the United States on the invitation of the Foreign Missions Committee. He secured a free passage across the Atlantic in a Danish ship by serving as chaplain during the voyage. Reaching Philadelphia on August 25th, he spent four months in the United States, met the Committee at its September meeting, attended the convention of the General Council at Greensburg, Pa., and several of the district Con- ferences of the Synod of Pennsylvania, and preached to con- gregations in Pennsylvania and New York. He returned to Copenhagen in December, again securing a free passage on a Danish ship.
Carlson studied Telugu with the assistance of James and other native Christians. He began EngHsh services in St.
PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 1 97 Paul's Church, Rajahmundry, on the first Sunday of the year 1880, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, immediately after the close of the session of the Sunday school which Mrs. Carlson or- ganized and superintended, assisted by James and William. He also aadertook to teach Bible-classes in Rajahmundry and Dowlaishwaram, which at first were well attended but afterward were discontinued. It was understood that he was to take charge of the educational work, and on March i8th he started for Masulipatam, where the Church Missionary Society conducted two boarding schools, one for boys and one for girls, and where Noble High School, afterward raised to the grade of a college, was located, in order to study the meth- ods used in these schools and work out a plan for the organiza- tion and management of a training-school for native workers at Rajahmundry. After the hot season, which he spent with his wife at Narsapur, he also visited Vizagapatam to see the schools of the London Missionary Society.
Meanwhile Schmidt supervised the work of the entire Mis- sion. He left the care of the district work, however, almost entirely in the hands of the native pastors. When in Rajahmundry he conducted a devotional exercise every morning for the teachers and pupils of the school and such Christians as desired to attend, devoted an hour each day to the reHgious instruction of the boarding boys, and conducted the Sunday Telugu ser\dces in St. Paul's Church, which were held at 7 A. M. during the hot season and at 8 a. m. during the cool season. At these Telugu services the vernacular translation of the order of service in the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer was used, with omissions and modifications. At the English services in the afternoon and on Wednesday evenings the Church Book of the General Council and its Sunday School Book were used.
Schmidt was busily occupied during the year 1880 in the erection of a new bungalow. He had bought a garden on the bank of the river containing two acres for Rs. 400. In it he found a part of the ruined wall of the old fortress, containing 100 cubic yards of hewn stone, which he dug up and used for the foundation of his bungalow. The erection of this
198 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL bungalow at the expense of the Mission was authorized by the Foreign Missions Committee on the condition that as much of the ground as needed should be secured as mission property.^ After having passed the matriculation examination at the Government College, James, in 1880, assisted Ratnam in the school work at Rajahmundry. Lizzie, J. WiUiam's sister, taught the infant class. In August, 1880, three girls attending the school were placed in homes of native Christians as boarders; two, Annamma and Maria, being supported by the Ladies' Sewing Society of St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia, and the third, Susan, by the Sunday school class of the same church, taught by Miss Susan E. Monroe. Mrs. Carlson succeeded Mrs. Schmidt as the teacher of the sewing class which met daily on the verandah of the Carlson bungalow. After his return from Vizagapatam, Carlson took charge of the mission school, which was conducted in the schoolrooms of St. Paul's Church.
The sixth foreign missionary of the General Council, the first who had been born and educated in the United States, reached India in 1880. Horace G. B. Artman was born at Zionsville, Upper Milford township, Lehigh County, Pa., September 23, 1857. His parents moved to Philadelphia when he was a boy, and became members of St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church on Spring Garden Street, in which he grew up and was confirmed by the Rev. J. A. Kunkleman, D. D. After having been graduated from the High School in Philadelphia, he entered the Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 1876. At the close of his senior year he received and accepted the call of the 1 In the minutes of the Committee, January 26, 1880, we find the following resolution: "Resolved, That Missionary Schmidt shall build a house as the property of the Mission. It shall, if at all possible, be erected on mission property. Moreover, it should not be expensively built, but similar to other missionaries' houses." In the minutes of the Committee, May 31, 1880, we find the following: "Resolved, That Brother Schmidt be authorized to build a house in Schmidt's garden, that this house be built at our expense and be our property, that the ground on which it is built and the surrounding lot be purchased by us, and that only after this is the case shall the building be begun. As far as the Committee can determine at present, Schmidt is to occupy this house; yet we cannot bind ourselves in this matter, because our plans concerning the Mission are liable to change."
PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 1 99 Foreign Missions Committee. He was ordained at the meeting of the Pennsylvania Ministerium held at Lancaster on May 26, 1880. He married Miss Lizzie M. Vaux, also a member of St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia, on the evening of June 8, 1880. He was solemnly commissioned in that church on June 13th, the Rev. A. Spaeth, D. D., chairman of the Foreign Missions Committee, delivering the commission. The Rev. Mr. Artman kneeled at the altar and the hands of the officers of the Com- mittee and of Dr. Laird were laid upon him, each reciting an appropriate passage of Holy Scripture. Mr. and Mrs. Artman sailed from New York on July 7th, spent a few months in Europe at their own expense, and reached Madras on Oc- tober 8th. Carlson, in the "Dove of Peace," met them at Coconada on October 17th. At Rajahmundry Mrs. Carlson met them at the landing place accompanied by the teachers and pupils of the mission school, who welcomed them with hymns of praise and gladness and escorted them to their bungalow.
"It was with great joy and deepest feelings of gratitude," wrote Artman, "that we wended our way to St. Paul's Church on our first Sabbath morning in Rajahmundry. Our St. Paul's Church has been very wisely, substantially, and even beautifully built. It has a large, airy audience-room, with a handsome pulpit, reading-desk, altar and chancel-rail of dark wood, and beautiful hanging and wall lamps for the evening services. The walls of the church inside and outside are as white as snow. The steeple contains a bell, and from its summit a good view of the surrounding country can be ob- tained. It would fill our dear mission friends in America with joy, if they could assemble with the native Christians in this comfortable building. Benches are placed along one side, which are used by the missionaries, native pastors, European visitors, and a few of the male Christians. The Telugu con- gregation always sits cross-legged on the mat, that being their usual manner of sitting, in the following order: First, the little girls, then the boys, then the women, and lastly the men. The people present quite a picturesque appearance in their clean, white or gaily colored clothes, jackets and turbans.
200 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL We were deeply impressed with the neatness and order among the Christians, young and old. There are about fifty children and forty adults who attend the services every Sunday morning at 8 o'clock, and in the afternoon at 4. The singing is very hearty and spirited, and is entirely congregational. Everyone joins heartily in the responses of the hturgy. Dur- ing the entire service, which generally lasts one hour, close attention and reverence are maintained. Almost every Sunday some heathen come into the church or stand at the open doors and windows to see and to Hsten. They cannot fail to be impressed with the great difference between their shallow, meaningless idol-worship and our solemn services in the house of the Lord."
Both Mr. and Mrs. Artman at once commenced the study of Telugu. On November 21st they took charge of a Sunday school of Eurasian children, which had been started by Miss Elizabeth Reade on the verandah of her home, but which, as soon as the Artmans took charge of it, met in St. Paul's Church. Under their efiicient management it soon had sixty pupils and seven teachers enrolled. Miss Annie Bilderbeck, who served as the organist at the English services, rendered them valuable aid in this Sunday school. The number baptized in the Mission during the year 1880 was 124, making 536 since 1869. The adult communicants at the close of the year numbered 216. In the Rajahmundry school there were 36 boys and 37 girls. The boarding boys numbered 16, the boarding girls 13. The Sunday schools, one in Telugu and one in Enghsh, enrolled 46 boys and 53 girls, taught by twelve teachers. Eleven native Christian teachers were employed in as many village schools in the dis- tricts.
The expenditures in India rose to a total of $7558.23 in 1880, including Rs. 6784, or $2917.23,' for general expenses, $3550 for the salaries of the missionaries, and $1091 for Poulsen's travelhng expenses on furlough.
On the removal of the Rev. William Ashmead Schaefifer to Chicago, in September, 1880, his father, the Rev. C. W.
*The value of a rupee had fallen to about 43 cents.
PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 201 Schaeffer, D.D., Professor at the Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, who was chosen to take his son's place as a member of the Foreign Missions Committee, became the editor of "The Foreign Missionary," which then had about 4000 subscribers. The "Missionsbote" had increased the number of its subscribers to 13,500, and reported a surplus of $987.27 at the close of the year.
One of the evidences of an increased interest in the Church at home was the organization, in 1880, of a student's mis- sionary society at the Evangehcal Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, under the name of "The Father Heyer Missionary Society," which from the first devoted itself primarily to the study and support of foreign missions. Having put a temporary thatch of river-grass on the new bungalow, "Riverdale," the Rev. Mr. Schmidt and his wife, with their daughter, Dagmar, on January 30, 1881, moved into several rooms which they had furnished, and the Artmans took possession of the house in the church-compound, formerly occupied by the Schmidts.
During January and a part of February the Rev. Mr. Carl- son and his wife used the "Dove of Peace" for an extended tour of the villages in the delta in which Christians resided. Carlson baptized twenty-nine adults and children on this tour. He complained of having attacks of headache almost every day, and returned in rather bad health.
In March Schmidt took Artman in the "Dove of Peace" on the latter's first mission tour through the canals of the delta. The latter's description gives an excellent idea of the manner in which these tours are usually conducted:
"After stocking the mission-boat with provisions and other necessaries sufficient for a number of days, we set sail from Rajahmundry on February 21st. The passengers besides myself were Rev. and Mrs. Schmidt and their httle daughter, Dagmar, Rev. N. Paulus, Jeremiah, the colporteur, Jacob, the cook, and his assistant. Zachariah was at the helm and with the help of four boatmen attended to the navigation of the boat. We soon entered the system of canals which spread
202 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL like a network over the delta of the Godavery, and moved along steadily in a southeasterly direction, sometimes using the boat's sail and, when there was no wind, being pulled along by the boatmen who ran along the tow-path, or being propelled by means of long bamboo poles in the hands of the men. We sailed on steadily for the first three days without making any long stops, in order to reach the most distant villages before the canal would be closed. . . . Now and then we would pass a village, which always presented a hvely scene—women coming with jars or chatties to carry water to their homes, balancing them gracefully on their heads; washermen beating away lustily at their clothes; here and there a Brahmin carefully and piously attending to his cere- monial ablutions.
"The vegetation along the bank was very beautiful, con- sisting of large mango orchards with their partly colored leaves and blossoms, stately palmyras and graceful cocoanuts, while the banks of the canals throughout were lined with valuable shade trees. When the brightness of the sun would not let us enjoy the outside world, we spent our time in conversing, writing, reading or studying. In the cool of the evening it was extremely pleasant to sit on the top of the boat in the bright moonlight or to take a little run on the canal-bank for exercise. On the evening of the second day we came very near to the mouth of the Godavery, so that we could plainly hear the waves of the Bay of Bengal breaking on the shore; and a herd of dolphins which had strayed in from the sea passed our boat.
"On Wednesday evening, February 23d, we anchored at a distance of about three miles from Mahadevipatnam, which was the farthest point we expected to reach. Tuesday Brother Schmidt and I took our breakfast alone and made an early start to walk to Mahadevipatnam. We took with us Rev. N. Paulus, Jeremiah, Prakasam, the teacher of the village, Luke and Samuel, the latter also a native of the village and father of the newly baptized Susie Monroe. We had to cross three streams on the way. Our men carried us over the first one, almost letting me drop into the water. The second one we crossed on a loose raft of bamboo sticks, being pushed by a
PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 203 man wading in the water. The third creek we crossed on a palmyra log. It was not an easy operation, because the log was round and very slippery. When we arrived at the village at last, at about 9 o'clock, we were rewarded by the edifying service which we had with the Christians, about twenty in number, in the village schoolroom. Many heathen also came to hear. After preaching to a number of high-caste men, we started on our way back to the boat. In the evening we visited Kummadavelli—a walk of four miles. This is a new village, there being as yet only one man and his family baptized. . . . In order that no time might be wasted, the boat was taken to Bhimawaram during the night. This is a very large village, but we have, as yet, baptized none of its people. We started on our way to Taderu at about half-past six, walking through Bhimawaram and then through rice-stubble fields, a distance of more than four miles. Taderu is another new village with only six Christians, all of whom had been baptized a few days before we came to the village. We returned to the boat and went a short distance up the canal to Annakoderu. At about 4 o'clock we started on our walk from the canal to the village. This is, without doubt, one of the most promising and prosper- ous villages we have, because Stephen, the teacher, is a very energetic and active Christian worker. In about three years forty have been baptized, and many more are ready. During the devotional meeting the school children and the congrega- tion sang some hymns with great spirit, being accompanied on a drum and cymbals by the teacher and another Christian."
There follows a description of visits to Agartipalem, Palkole, Jagganathpuram and Vodali. Artman then con- tinues: "This morning, March 3d, we arrived at Velpur, which serves as headquarters for Rev. N. Paulus and the teachers and sub-agents belonging to the villages of his district. For the accommodation of the native pastor and his family a large and roomy house has been built, one portion of which is used as a place of worship by the congregation and as the village schoolhouse. . . . Government has given us a grant of land along the canal-bank and most of the Christians of Velpur have built themselves houses adjoining that of their
204 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL pastor, thus forming a little colony of their own. Most of the inhabitants of the town are Sudras. In the evening we went out into the village and preached and sang hymns at three different places. Crowds came to Ksten each time. Under the wide-spreading branches of a huge tamarind tree in the village the message of salvation had often been proclaimed by Father Heyer and other missionaries, and here also the oldest Christians of Velpur were baptized. It is undoubtedly the largest tree I have ever seen. In walking aroand it I took twenty-six steps."
Carlson continued to show signs of failing health, and it was decided to have him live at Samulkot, which is slightly cooler than Rajahmundry. He moved thither on May 4, 1 88 1, and occupied the old bungalow which Long had built, half-way between Samulkot and Peddapur. He made an attempt to do some mission work, holding Telugu services with his servants and some of the townsfolk. While on a tour to Coconada after a sunstroke, he developed insanity, in September, 1881, and was taken to an asylum m Mad- ras, where on March 29, 1882, he died at the early age of thirty-six years, seven months and thirteen days. Concern- ing the character of his co-laborer Poulsen wrote: "He was a faithful servant of God, a zealous and hard-working mis- sionary, a dear brother and fellow-worker. It is but fair to his memory, fair to his relatives and friends, as well as to his supporters as a missionary, that one who has seen him at work out there, should bear witness that he was a most faith- ful, zealous and self-denying laborer. From all that I can gather it was his zeal which gave him the blow—exposing himself too much to the dangerous heat." Immediately after the interment of the body of her husband in the Lutheran cemetery in Madras Mrs. Carlson returned to the United States.
Artman took charge of the educational work, for which he proved himself to be eminently fitted, and under him it rose to a comparatively high plane of efficiency.^
' In the place of Lizzie, who died of consumption in March, 1881, her younger sister, J. Lorah, was appointed; in the place of P. V. Ratnam, who was trans- g^^' -i^^^
DYING HINDU HOLDING A COWS TAIL
This is a superstitious ceremony frequently ;vpracticed in India. It is done in the hope of having the soul after athe ' death of the body pass over into a happy future- state. —
A HIGH CASTE HINDU WOMAN
Note tlie many ornaments which she wears, one appearing even in her nose.
PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 205
In the boys' boarding department Artman introduced strict discipline, against which some rebelled and were expelled. The boarding boys attended a meeting for prayer every morning at 6 o'clock in St. Paul's Church. After school hours, from 4 to 5 in the afternoon, they worked in the mis- sionaries' gardens or made themselves useful in some other way. At 8 o'clock in the evening they and the boarding girls attended evening prayers on the verandah of Artman's bungalow. The boarding boys and girls did their own cooking, taking turns, two by two, each day. J. Henry, one of the oldest and most trustworthy Christians, who was a warden in the district jail, assisted in the oversight of the boys.
In June, 1881, a separate girls' boarding house was opened in a house back of Artman's bungalow, and N. Deborah, a Christian widow, was placed in charge as matron. Thirteen girls were cared for in this way. Besides their school work, they spent one or two hours a day in sewing under Mrs. Artman's instruction.
A new door of opportunity was opened for mission work in August, 1881, when the district munsiff, Narasimham, admitted Mrs. Schmidt and Mrs. Artman to his home for the purpose of instructing his wife and daughter. Mrs. Artman described their first zenana visit as follows: "WTien Mrs. Schmidt and I reached the residence of the munsiff we found five women there besides the munsiff's wife and daughter. After talking with them for a while it was easy to see that they only wished to be taught certain accomplishments. They ob- jected to plain sewing and did not care for Telugu. They were anxious to learn English and fancy-work, and even hinted about our teaching them music. We thought it better that ferred to the newly established caste girls' school, M. Alfred was appointed. M. Amelia was made teacher of the second division of the first class, and J. William became the headmaster of the school. In August, 1881, 36 boys and 37 girls attended. English grammar, reading, penmanship and translations were introduced in addition to the branches taught in Telugu. The first hour every Monday morning was devoted to a review of the sermon of the previous day. On Saturday morning two hours, from 7 to 9, were set aside to drill the children in singing hymns committed to memory, and an explanation of the hymns learned was given by the teacher. The regular instruction each day was given from 7 to 11 in the morning with fifteen minutes recess, and from 2 to 4 in the afternoon with ten minutes recess.
2o6 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL they should learn Telugu first and that those who could read it might begin English. "^ After opening with the Lord's Prayer Mrs. Schmidt taught Bible history in Telugu and assigned a Scripture text to be memorized. Then Mrs. Artman taught English, and finally both gave instruction in needlework. Two afternoons a week were devoted to this first zenana class of caste women. In 1881 the translation of a Church Book in Telugu was made and printed. It included a modified form of the Chief Service of the General Council's Church Book, together with the Communion Service, the Old Evening Service, The Litany and the Tables of Gospels and Epistles. The orders for Holy Baptism and Marriage were taken from the Lueneberg Ordnung as translated by the Hermannsburg missionaries; the orders for Confirmation and Burial, from the Liturgy of the Pennsylvania Minlsterium. The book formed a small i2mo volume and was dedicated to the Rev. F. W. Geissenhainer, who before his death had provided for the cost of its publication. On December 26, 1881, a Conference of missionaries and native agents was held at Rajahmundry. "When Father Heyer was here in India," wrote Artman, "he established the practice of holding a Conference of all the mission agents on the day after Christmas. The custom was kept up pretty regularly until the last few years. This year seemed to portend such great things for our Mission that both Brother Schmidt and I thought it necessary that these Conferences should be resumed and regularly conducted hereafter. We accordingly called the Conference to meet on Monday morn- ing, December 26, 1881." Schmidt was elected President, Artman, Enghsh Secretary, and J. William, Telugu Secretary. Artman, by the appointment of The Foreign Missions Com- mittee, in January, 1880, was the Treasurer of the Mission.
Besides the foreign missionaries the two native pastors and fifteen native agents were present at the Conference. Com- plaint having been entered against some of the village teachers, C. James was appointed Inspector of Schools. He was to visit The native women, even of the high castes, were formerly not only not allowed, but were forbidden, to learn to read their own vernacular.
PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 207 each school at least twice every year and hold semi-annual examinations.^
To encourage self-support the Conference resolved that each agent drawing a salary should pay at least one "dub" (f cent) for each rupee (40 cents) of salary received each month. Those who received no salary were to make a yearly contribu- tion of money or grain at the harvest time. An offering was to be taken every Sunday in St. Paul's Church, Rajahmundry, by passing around a basket or bag, so as to give every one an opportunity to contribute something.^
In a review of the year (1881), Schmidt reported that 170 persons had been baptized, and that six new villages had been occupied, one of which was Tallapudi. The number of native workers had risen to 23 at the close of the year. The total expenditure in India for the year amounted to $6503.07, of which $3300 were for missionaries' salaries.
Progress was made in every direction during the year 1882. Especially in the department of education a marked advance over former years was made.
Early in January, 1882, the Caste Girls' school building in the Riverdale compound was finished at a cost of $200. The day after the formal opening the teachers assigned for this special work came but found no pupils. Then Schmidt and P. V. Ratnam, who had been made headmaster, canvassed the neighborhood to solicit pupils. Four were secured in this way, and the number gradually rose to sixty enrolled pupils,
1 The following rules, drawn up by Father Heyer in his time, were adopted: I. The village teachers must attend to their schools faithfully five days in the week, and spend Sunday and any other day of the week available in preaching in their own and neighboring villages. 2. The village teachers are allowed to have one month's leave every year. If they take more than a month their pay will be lessened according to the number of days absent. 3. A series of Gospel lessons for the year 1882, one lesson for each month, to be used as texts for sermons, was agreed upon. 4. It was resolved that each village teacher should write a short sermon every month upon a Gospel lesson for that month and also a paper upon a subject to be assigned by the Inspector of Schools, who was to examine the papers and report on them to the officers of the Conference. 5. No children were to be admitted to the boarding schools without the written application of an ordained native pastor and the Inspector of Schools. 2 Other resolutions passed by the Conference were: that Sunday schools should be organized in every village, and that a Christian "satram"—an inn or rest-house—should be built at Rajahmundry, the funds to be gathered among the native Christians.
208 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL with an average daily attendance of twenty. Mrs. Schmidt acted as the supervisor of this branch of work and taught sewing in the school. The brighter pupils soon learned to read and write Telugu.
Poulsen, after having spent a year and nine months on fur- lough, returned to India, leaving Copenhagen on December 5, 1 88 1. Three of his children were left in Denmark, and the fourth was taken to India. The Foreign Missions Committee had assigned Poulsen to Samulkot, and directly after reaching Rajahmundry on January 9, 1881, he moved to that town. He succeeded in employing a number of teachers who had previously served at MasuUpatam. Lakshmiah was ap- pointed catechist; Amelia, his wife, teacher at Peddapur; David, teacher at Rajagopalem; and Francis, teacher at Katlamur. In October Poulsen baptized his first convert at Samulkot. Gudaparti, Ragampet and Gorinta were also occupied before the close of the year. Nine adults and three children were baptized during the year in the new district. In seven village schools 38 boys and 5 girls, and in six night schools 49 pupils were enrolled. No schoolhouses were built, but in one or two places the school met on the verandah of a temple. Services were conducted in Telugu every Sunday at the missionary's bungalow, the teachers and Christians coming from the several villages to attend them. Sixteen communed on the Sunday before Christmas.
Two young ministers, the Revs. E. Pohl and H. Bothmann, graduates of the newly estabhshed Mission Institute at Breklum, Schleswig-Holstein, arrived at Rajahmundry in March, 1882. They were the first foreign missionaries sent out by the Schleswig-Holstein Missionary Society to India. They were bound for Bastar, a tributary kingdom, several hundred miles to the north of Rajahmundry, which had been chosen by their Society as its field on the recommenda- tion of our missionaries, who offered to assist them in the estabhshment of a Mission. They started from Rajahmundry on March 15th, accompanied by Schmidt, Artman, Mr. Heelis, a Plymouth Brethren missionary of Narsapur, and a number of native assistants and servants. The journey
PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 209 led at first up the Godavery River and its tributary, the Saveri, as far as they could take their boat, then across the country to Jugdalpur, the capital of Bastar. Here, on the banks of the Indravaddi, they had hoped to locate the first station. The Rajah received them with protestations of welcome and promises of assistance, but his real attitude was one of hostility, as they soon learned. Several of the party were ill with fever, Mr. Heelis for a while being at death's door. The Rajah refused to provide bearers for their luggage. SuppHes of food and material for a mission house, paid for in advance, were withheld. A plot to massacre the whole party of whites was discovered. The Rohillas, a robber-band, who brought intelligence of this dastardly plot, helped the mis- sionaries to get bearers, and during the night before the day set for the massacre the whole party fled to Koraput in the province of Jeypur, seventy miles away. Mr. Heelis was carried all the way on an improvised stretcher. There Pohl and Bothmann were left to begin their Mission. The return of the others to Rajahmundry proved to be extremely diffi- cult. When they reached the lowlands the heat became in- tolerable. Once Heehs, Artman and several of the servants were so prostrated that they lapsed into delirium. When at last Rajahmundry was reached, the missionaries were ac- tually reduced to a pitiful condition of weakness and illness and it was some time before they were able to resume their work.^
The Madras Auxiliary Bible Society estabhshed a Bible Depot at Rajahmundry in 1882, placing it in charge of Schmidt, who engaged colporteurs for Rajahmundry and Samulkot. The school at Rajahmundry made rapid progress under Artman. At the beginning of the year 1882 he graded the school into three departments: an Upper Department with four grades, a Lower Department with four grades, and a ' In their isolated hill-station Missionaries Pohl and Bothmann suffered from fever and privation. Weak and emaciated, they left the place and sought medical attention at Madras. In April, 1883, they again visited Rajahmundry, and then bravely went back to their mission field, locating their station at Salur. After the missionaries had reported their experience and treatment in Bastar, the English Government sent an expedition to Jugdalpur and deposed the Rajah.
210 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Primary or Sand-writing Department. After his return from Jeypur in July, he added a Senior Department of two grades, for the benefit of the married men who wished to prepare themselves for work as teachers. Although this arrangement for an abbreviated course of training was continued for only a few years, and the hope of the missionaries really centered on the young men who were regularly trained, it is, nevertheless, true that some of the best agents the Mis- sion ever had, were secured through this temporary arrangement. In September, 1882, five teachers besides Artman, 120 enrolled pupils and an average attendance of 100 in the school were reported.
By the end of the year a new boarding house for boys had been completed at a cost of $200. The front rooms were occupied as a residence and book-store by T. Barnabas, book- binder and sexton of the church. The younger students occupied the rest of the building, while the old boarding house was used for the accommodation of the older students. Three or four families were lodged in a separate building, an old shed, divided into rooms by large bamboo mats.
"This year again," wrote Artman, "loud calls are made upon us for a mission school for higher castes with higher classes, like the Noble School in Masulipatam, the High School in Guntur, the Mission School in Narsapur, in Amalapur and other places. We can hardly resist the calls. We are, however, trying to await patiently the guidance of Providence, and even if we should deem it necessary and advisable to begin this work, we would not allow it to interfere with the Government School, nor would we be able to undertake more than two higher classes." Artman was really attempting single handed to undertake this higher education, for he met fifteen or more Brahmin boys every day for an hour's instruction in English and rehgion.
At the Mission Conference on December 26, 1882, the former officers were re-elected. Artman reported Rs. 16 received for the satram, but not a single pice^ for self-support. Collections, however, had been taken every Sunday in St.
1 The pice is one-fourth of an anna, or one-half a cent.
PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 211 Paul's Church, which amounted during the year to Rs. 41.2.9. This was regarded as encouraging. James reported that he had visited all of the village schools twice during the year, that the teachers had written their sermons and papers, and that 200 children were attending the mission schools. Seven new teachers, graduates of the Rajahmundry Training School, were given employment and admitted as members of the Conference.^ Schmidt advocated the employment of teachers in the district from which they came, and only in villages in which there were at least ten Christian families. The Conference, however, finally decided to distribute them as evenly as possible in all the districts. For the sake of better order and records a book was to be kept in each village, in which the teachers were to record all important events and the results of examinations.
After the Conference the missionaries met as a Ministerium and among other things decided on a revision of the Catechism. The total number of baptisms during 1882 was reported to have been 262, of which 160 had been performed by Pastor N. Paulus in the Velpur district. Three new members were added to the Foreign Missions Committee by the General Council in 1881, namely, the Revs. R. F. Weidner and F. W. Weiskotten of Philadelphia, and Mr. B. Lilja. In November, 1881, the Rev. William Ashmead Schaeffer who had returned to Eastern Pennsylvania, was again made a member of the Committee, and was elected associate editor of "The Foreign Missionary" in the place of Dr. B. M. Schmucker, resigned. The Rev. Mr. Weiskotten was elected an associate editor of the "Missionsbote," which had a surplus of $800.
At the meeting of the General Council in 1882 the Rev. C. G. Fischer of Germantown, Pa'., who had been acting as business agent for the Board's newspapers since October, 1881, was elected a member of the Committee to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of the Rev. Mr. Weidner.
^ Four—N. Isaac, T. Samuel Joseph, B. John and J. John Henry—had been trained in the school since their childhood; three—G. Cornelius, R. Johannu and B. David Appayyah—had been students in the school for only six months