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| _____ January'7, 1928 -- -- . it hb le REV. F.C. STIFLER MEETS Sailing Second Class From Pales- 'tine to Smyrna Opens Many Avenues of Religious Thought SEER MANY INTERESTING FOLK This is the thirteenth article of the series by the Rev. Francis Carr Stifler, pastor of Wilmette Baptist church, telling of his recent tour of the Holy Land. In this article he describes the trip, second class, from | Palestine to Smyrna, in a most in- teresting way. ~ By Rev. Francis Carr Stifler 3 Aen the good ship Ang- : kor steamed out of the Bay of Acre and left Palestine behind, we had to adjust our- selves to a new mode of living and begin to think not so much in terms of Biblical lore as of classical antiquity. And as for me, I had to get acquainted with new people for the other seven of my party treated themselves to first class passage for the eleven days of this voyage while I remained in second class. One really does take a chance with second class on a French Mediterran- ean steamer, but my good fortune that kept me company throughout the entire journey did not fail me on the Angkor, For cabin mates I found I had three members of the Anglo- Catholic pilgrimage whose party made up almost half the bookings for the voyage. They had so many surplices, vestments and the like that the humble Baptist preacher with only sport clothes and a lounging robe was glad to find parking space on his cot and under it. Pilgrims are Interesting They were most interesting folk, these pilgrims. There was the Bishop of Milwaukee in charge of the Ameri- can contingent and the Bishop of Lewes shepherding the Britishers. The latter was far more companionable than my neighbor to the north. The English Bishop and TI had several good chats in which I learned that he had a brother in Chicago who was a Real Estate broker. But the member of the party with whom I became best ac- quainted was the Rev. S. C. Hughson. He is a Monk whose home is in a monastery up the Hudson near Peek- skill. He travels extensively in mis- sionary work. He dressed always in his flat hat and long black cassock. It was astonishing how much this ultra-high churchman belonging to that wing of Episcopalianism that claims Catholicity--how much he had in com- mon with one who has had all his training in the belief that there is no such thing as "the church," that there are only "churches" and that there is no authority reposing anywhere but in the revealed truth. Missionaries for Companions My table companions were not from the Anglo-Catholic Pilgrimmage. They were Christian workers of a very dif- ferent sort--a little group of Methodist Missionaries returning on furlough from Korea. There was Rev. S. J. Proctor of the United Church of Cana- da, his wife and three beautiful chil- dren. He proved a veritable gold mine of missionary information to me--also of travel lore. Then there were three charming young girls who had been out on short term teaching appoint- 3 The Pictures: Here is presented a picture of Smyrna, second city of Turkey, where frgihtful massacre of 1922 drove all Greeks and Christians out of city. Note the burned sec- tion. (top)--The tomb of Poylcarp (below)--Dr. Cass Arthur Reid, Dean of International College. Smy- rna (bottom). issionaries Cruise Mediterranean ments. Kansas homes. with the Presbyterians in China. What a jolly party we made three I sprung jokes as old as twenty years and got a Mean to thus take advantage of missionaries wasn't We had a clever little waiter who came to know our tastes and fought times each day at that table. rise almost every time. it? hard for food enough to satisfy us. The second class dining room is clean and the service is good, but the quanti- ty of food hardly measures up to an appetite regular and vigorous exercise. New Interest Created On the deck during those eleven days, I re-read the New Testament and found that it was very much more clear and real, and I may add that all my desk work since returning has been given a new interest because I have seen with my own eyes the sacred things of which the Scriptures speak. I also re-read a book I had made a part They were going back to their The party was com- plete with two more experienced wo- men workers, one of whom had been until the trouble two years ago, located stimulated by salt air and of my preparation, William T. Ellis' "Bible Lands of Today." Mrs. Ellis is America's outstanding Christian journalist. I would recom- mend this book to anyone who may have been stimulated by these little paragraphs of mine to further reading on the Bible Lands. Mr. Ellis and his wife and party are the only Americans who have visited all the places men- tioned in the Scriptures, and Mr. Ellis writes in a most fascinating style. The first stop on our cruise was at Smyrna. This is one of seven cities to dressed. Of the seven, three are now in ruins, and four are still thriving communities. Smyrna is the largest of the survivors, in fact it is Turkey's second city and first seaport. Even vet in our world that moves so fast one cannot hear the name "Smyrna" without recalling that frightful mas- sacre of September 1922 which drove the last Greek and Christian resident out of that city. Right through the heart of the town, we could see from the slope of Mt. Pagus whither we were driven, a solid square mile as yet unbuilt which had been the best sec- tion of the city in former days. When one reads the 3500 years of Smyrna's history, however, he comes to see that the tragedy of 1922 is just one of many. View Tomb of Polycarp As Bible students we were most in- terested in the tomb of Polycarp. It may easily be spotted even from the steamer's deck by its two conspicuous cypress trees half-way up the side of Mt. Pagus. Polycarp was the Bishop of Smyrna from 107 to 117 A.D. As a friend and pupil of the Apostle John he is the link between the Scriptures and the Early Fathers. He was mar- tyred there at Smyrna in 156 and these were his words as he faced the flames and was given his chance to recant, "Eighty-six years have I served Him and He hath done me no ill; how then can I blaspheme my King who hath saved me." 5 From Polycarp's tomb we drove on up the side of Mt. Pagus and quite outside the city to the International college. It is one of the six remark- able missionary establishments of American Congregationalism in the Near East, Tt comprises a main cam- pus of twenty acres and adjoining lands of about fifty acres. Besides the regular academic work there is instruc- tion in athletics, farming and the sci- ences. : Dean Talks of Turkey School was not in session when we visited it but Dean Cass Arthur Reid was at home and in his commodious living room he gave us an hour's talk on the history of Turkey's international relationships and the present prospects of the school that was most illuminat- ing. His story was absolutely impar- tial which is an unusual attitude for an Occidental to take with regard to Turkey. Almost every American takes which the Book of Revelation is ad- (Continued on Page 37)