Chapter 49—Across the Pacific
In his reports and addresses to the General Conference of 1891,
Elder S. N. Haskell made very earnest appeals for laborers to be sent to
distant lands that he had recently visited; and he was especially urgent
that provision be made for the establishment in Australia of a training
school for Christian workers. He was profoundly impressed with the
importance of having the young people in each great division of the
world, trained in their own land for service as colporteurs, teachers,
and preachers. He pleaded that teachers be chosen to open a school
in Australasia; and also that Mrs. Ellen G. White and her son, W. C.
White, spend some time in that field.
Action was taken by the Mission Board, immediately after the
Conference, inviting them to go in the autumn. This would bring them
to the new field of labor in Australia’s summer. The steamer sailing
in October was found to be overcrowded, and the departure from San
Francisco was delayed till the sailing of the Alameda, November 12.
Elder and Mrs. Geo. B. Starr, who had been selected to act a part in
the proposed Australian school, had gone in advance to the Hawaiian
Islands, where they spent seven busy weeks before the arrival of the
Alameda. The other members of the party were W. C. White, Mary A.
Davis, May Walling, Fannie Bolton, and Emily Campbell.
The Voyage
The weather during most of the twenty-five days of the voyage
was good.
[332]
At Honolulu the ship remained nineteen hours—and what enjoy-
able hours they were! Here the party were met by several of the
brethren and sisters, were shown the beauties of the place, and were
given a feast at the home of Sister Kerr. Meanwhile, notices were
circulated, and in the evening Mrs. White spoke to a large audience in
the hall of the Young Men’s Christian Association.
264