THE WORK AT BARNUM, MINNESOTA.
The new field to which Mr. Higgins went was a lumber town. Barnum,
Minnesota, had a population of less than four hundred, but the nearby
lumber camps added considerably to its business interests. The
Presbyterian Church at that place was weak, and when Presbytery sent
the young Canadian there to advance the cause of Christ, it also took
him under its care as a student for the ministry, and assigned studies
suited to his special case.
At Barnum, Frank Higgins first came into touch with the loggers of
Minnesota. On all sides were the camps crowded with men who felled the
forests during the winter, and in the spring floated the logs over lake
and river to the large sawmills farther south.
Shortly after he changed his residence to the lumber town, he went with
several friends across the country to where the river drivers were at
work on the Kettle River drive. It was spring. The ice-locked lakes and
rivers were once more open, and now the accumulated logs that had been
placed on the icy lakes and streams were floating with the current to
the city mills.
After several hours traveling through a rough and new country, parts
of which were cut over lands, scenically uninviting, the party arrived
at the point of the river where the men, who, in the parlance of the
loggers are called "riverpigs," were at work. In midstream the men were
sacking logs with peavey, or directing with pike pole. From log to log
the skillful drivers leaped, now riding on the huge timbers, now wading
in the shallows, or following the logs from the shore. It seemed an
easy thing to do, to ride the swift moving logs, but only a master can
keep his place on the unsteady, rolling steed.
In a bend of the river, below the place where the drivers were working,
the large flat-boat called the wannigan, was tied. The wannigan is
a floating bunkhouse, cookshed and store combined. In it the men
make their home during the drive. The supper hour was near when the
visitors arrived at Kettle River; the journey had been long, so the
disturbing blast of the cookee's horn was a welcome sound. In response
to the call the rivermen hastily made for shore, and headed for the
grassy place near the wannigan. The example of the workers was followed
by the visitors, who helped themselves to iron knives and forks, tin
spoons, cups and dishes. The wet drivers sat around the campfire and
ate with a heartiness that comes from a life spent in "God's own open
air."
The men lounged about the fire after the meal, and the topics of the
village and the happenings of the river were discussed. Just as the
sun was tossing back his lingering kisses at the sleepy forest and
ever wakeful river, the riverpigs requested Mr. Higgins to give them a
gospel service. It was a surprising request, coming from such a source,
for the river drivers looked and acted as if they cared not for these
things. The preacher had heard their fluent profanity as they directed
the logs, and when they asked for the gospel he could not veil his
surprise. But the request was in harmony with the hour. Nature was
worshiping. The solemn hush of the evening was upon tree and stream and
even the ceaseless babble of the river came only in whispers. Man felt
a desire to join in the Creator's praise, and where is there a better
sanctuary than in the cloistered halls of the greenwood, on the banks
of a crystal stream?
Taking a log for a platform, unaided by Bible or hymn book, Mr. Higgins
began the service. "Nearer My God to Thee" was the hymn, and the men
of the pickpole joined heartily in the song, "Jesus Lover of My Soul;"
they sang until it seemed that the sunset joined in the praise and
the trees of the field clapped their hands in timely melody. Over
the running river the tall pines caught up the music and bowed in
reverence, while the echoes answered back, "Oh, Receive My Soul at
Last."
With what supreme interest the men about the camp-fire listened to the
old, old story of Christ who loves the wanderer! The shades of night
fell low upon the darkening earth while the preacher spoke of The Light
of The World, and the men sat wrapped in thoughts of things they had
forgotten or never known. Recollections of the home tree came back to
some, and the sweet lullaby of a mother stole into minds long forgetful
of home and other days. At the spring of boyhood they drank again, and
the counsels of youth came with hallowed sweetness to the men seated in
the playing shadows of the dying fire.
Faces long strange to tears were furrowed. Wishes were born that later
became realities of good. Like a voice from another world came the
benediction to the group about the bright glowing embers. From across
the stream the echo floated back, and the "amen" of nature came like a
mother's tender prayer.
On the morrow when the visitors were returning, several of the rivermen
went to the preacher and spoke of the pleasure they had derived from
the service.
"We're away out here in the timber and it ain't often the church comes
our way," said one.
"If some preacher would come here once in a while, he could give us a
lift. The Lord knows we need it," added another.
"Can't you come and give us a turn?" they asked.
In response to the extended invitations, Mr. Higgins often went to the
drive on Kettle River. An appreciative audience was always waiting--an
audience that would gladden the heart of any minister who was anxious
to deliver God's message.
Prior to his visit to Kettle River, Mr. Higgins had never been on the
drive. Everything about the work was new to him, but he joined the
riverpigs on the stream, and added to their merriment by his unskilled
attempts at logdriving. Taking the long pickpole, the preacher mounted
the floating log, while every driver looked out of the tail of his eye
for the soon-coming moment when "his reverence" would descend to the
depths--"so far," said one of the men, "that he would draw down the log
with a suction." In the midst of their work the drivers shouted advice
and encouragement.
But a laugh does not deter a man like Frank Higgins. The love of the
forest and river was in his blood, and the strong body and determined
will welcomed the difficulties of the river. Even the discomforts of
a sudden bath did not cool his zeal. He believed that if these men
were to be his hearers he must know how to appreciate their labors,
and that appreciation could only be acquired by passing through
the intricacies of the calling. So skill came with practice, and a
knowledge of the drive after many sudden descents into the flowing
waters.
This was a part of the equipment for ministering--a strange
preparation--but men whose labors demand strength of limb and skill
of body are more likely to listen to him who can prove his physical
ability. In the estimation of some, manual labor may not preserve
the dignity of the cloth, but it adds to the dignity of the man. The
lumberjacks and rivermen have no admiration for him who is fearful of
hardship, or succumbs before the strenuous labor which they themselves
must daily perform. The pineries is no place for weaklings, nor the
drive for the fearful. Among these men physical prowess wins where
mental powers fail to get a hearing, but the combination of both,
backed by a strong desire to serve, is a combination sure of success.
"When you are in Barnum I want you men to remember me," said the
preacher to the drivers. "My home and church are open to you. You are
just as welcome as the people of the village."
Shortly after the above invitation the boys came to town. It was
Sunday, and the hour of the morning service. Three big rivermen entered
the church and took seats in the rear of the building. They were
dressed as the necessities of their vocation require, flannel shirts
resplendent in fighting colors, broad belts, and heavy spike-soled
boots. It was no small sensation their presence created. Barnum was a
lumber town, but although accustomed to the lumberjacks and drivers, it
had never seen them in church. The saloons were their known retreats.
Before beginning the service Mr. Higgins went down to the drivers and
bade them welcome.
"We thought we'd drop in and see if you'd make us as welcome in the
gospel shop as we made you in the bunkhouse," said the spokesman. "I
guess he has, Bill," he said, turning to his friend.
After that they came to the little church whenever they sundayed in
town. With the trio came others, for they knew they would be hospitably
received. This proved to the minister that the man who wants a larger
parish has only to remove the fence that encloses his present one.
As often as his pressing duties would allow it, the missionary followed
his new found flock. The distance was great to Kettle River, yet he
walked to the camp that service might be held on the bank of the
stream. From the memories of the men who heard and of him who preached,
the pleasure of those sunset gatherings will never be effaced. Kettle
River drive was more fruitful than preacher or logger dreamed.
Although Mr. Higgins grew to manhood in a timber country, yet he never
had visited a large lumbercamp until the winter following his residence
at Barnum. In his youth he had logged in the forests of Dufferin
County, Ontario, but the lumbering was on a small scale--it was only
the logging of farmers. Around Barnum, Minnesota, the camps were
operated by the lumber kings of the west. The winter's cut was counted
in millions of feet, not by hundreds or thousands.
In the fall of 1895 a delegation of lumberjacks came to the Sky
Pilot's home in Barnum and asked to be taken into the circle of his
ministration.
"We need you just as much as the camp of drivers you preached to in the
spring," they said, and they looked the part they professed.
Camp after camp petitioned for his services, and so the work grew until
all the logging camps around the village were receiving occasional
services from the unordained man who served the Presbyterian Mission
Church at Barnum. The field was large, white for a willing harvest, but
the laborers were few, few indeed--only one.
Mr. Higgins had recently married, and through the union encouragement
and effectiveness was given to his work in village and camp. In October
of 1895 Mr. Higgins was married to Miss Eva L. Lucas of Rockford,
Minnesota. Miss Lucas was an active church worker in her own town, and
after her marriage the bride often went with her husband to the filthy
camps and furnished music on the little portable organ. Her presence
was appreciated by the foresters, and with the lead of the organ the
music was bettered.
These were days of exacting labor and little pay. In his spare moments
Frank Higgins was trying to supplement the loss of university and
seminary training, and the midnight lamp glowed in the study as he
sought to prepare himself for ordination. There were sermons to
prepare, calls to make, the dead to bury, and a thousand unexpected
duties that are ever attendant on a village pastorate. But louder than
all the demands was the ever increasing Macedonian cry from the camps
for services and assistance. So much to be done and so little one could
do in comparison to the demand! Frank Higgins never asked for "flowery
beds of ease." His physical strength was unlimited, and he loved action
rather than repose. With the joy of a strong man he attacked his work
and found an increasing happiness in duty done. A few days after one of
his visits to the camps, two lumberjacks came to his door.
"We want you quick," they said, "we've brought one of the boys from the
camp to his homestead. He's asking for you. He's a very sick man."
In company with the woodsmen Mr. Higgins went through the forest to the
log cabin of the homesteader. The doctor had just arrived. Turning to
Mr. Higgins, the physician said:
"If we could get him to St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth there would be a
chance for him. He cannot obtain the necessary care here in his shack."
Mr. Higgins volunteered to accompany the sick man. They bundled the
patient snugly into a sleigh, drove to the depot, and in a short time
were in the hospital.
Only a few minutes passed before the physician in charge came to Mr.
Higgins and said:
"There is no chance for your friend's recovery. You had better break
the news to him, for he is beyond our help."
Gently, tenderly, the rough camp preacher told the dying man of his
condition and asked him to make preparation for the nearing end.
[Illustration: A SMALL CONGREGATION]
The lumberjack looked up at the weeping minister, and smilingly said:
"Thank God you came to the camp that night. I heard you preach of a
Savior, and all my being longed to know him. It was the first time in
twenty years I had heard the gospel. I was raised in a Christian
home, and that night all the lessons of childhood came back to me. When
the lanterns were put out, and the bunkhouse was silent, I got on my
knees and prayed the forgiving God to forgive the past, and make me a
better man. That night Jesus Christ brought his strong salvation to me,
and I was forgiven." He paused through weakness and was still, then
opening his eyes, now clouded with the mists of death, he looked at the
minister.
"Brother Higgins, go back to the camps and tell the boys of my Savior.
Go back and tell the old story to the lumberjacks. They need you worse
than the towns do. Tell them of Jesus who can make them live, go back
to the lonely camps." He ceased to speak. More feebly came the breath,
and soon the spirit returned to the God who gave it.
The minister was left with a problem greater than any he had yet
attempted to solve. In the corridors of the hospital he walked through
the long night, carrying a sense of duty and sacrifice he had never
known before. "Can it be possible that God wants me to take up this
work?" he asked. "Has God spoken his will through the dying man?"
Ambition rebelled against the sacrifice; fond wishes refused to be set
aside, but with every tempting prospect came the command of the dying
man, "Go back to the boys and carry the story of Jesus." It sounded
clearly. No man could misunderstand it. That night all his plans were
changed. Ambitions, such as come to all young men, were swept away.
The large pulpits of which he had dreamed were superseded by the log
or barrel which held the Bible in the camp services, and the future
audiences were men rough clothed, rough visaged, who dwelt not in homes
of opulence, but slept in the hay-filled bunks in the log camps. That
night in the hospital he consecrated himself to the service of God in
the logging camps.
He now began to look about the field in which his life work was to
be done. The extent of the field and the intensity of the need was
appalling. While there were Christian men in the camps, and many whose
lives were moral, yet these were few in comparison to the crowd who
wasted their lives as did the younger son in the parable.
Ordination was now his great desire, for he wished to go to the men as
one who could minister to all their spiritual needs. But ordination was
far off. The studies were not completed, and would not be for several
years.
The spring after his decision, he was surprised on entering his home to
find it filled with a crew of lumberjacks who were returning from the
camps.
"Mr. Higgins," began the spokesman, "We've dropped in today to tell you
how we've enjoyed the preaching in our camp. The boys want me to make
a spiel, but the saw is more in my line. You've treated us white, have
given us more advice than we've digested, and never asked to see the
color of our money. But this is no one-sided affair. The boys have all
chipped in, and here's your stake for service rendered." As he closed
he handed the minister a check for fifty-one dollars.
In all his work the missionary had not asked for financial assistance.
The boys at first thought he was preaching for "what there was in it,"
but when he asked not for money, they realized that love and devotion
was the impelling cause. "The lumberjack is no cheap skate," so they
gladly gave in return.
Through the benevolence of the woodsmen, Mr. Higgins saw a new
possibility. He was willing to give himself to the work, but it was
necessary that living and incidental expenses should be met. How to
finance the mission work was the question, but now he saw the boys
would pay a large part of the attendant expenses if some one would
organize the work. The barriers were being removed; the doors were
opening. Only, ordination had yet to be received.
The work at Barnum was followed by his taking charge of a church in New
Duluth, where the mill hands formed a large part of the population.
Acquaintance with the men and their work led to an interest in him,
and soon the church was on its feet. The same success that was seen at
Barnum followed the New Duluth work, and after a short period of labor
there, he was asked to take the Bemidji church. Here in the heart of
the logging district the real work of his life began, for as never
before he learned the ways of the lumberjack.