From the mines to the pulpit

Preface

At the earnest solicitations of my friends, also many editors and pastors with whom I have come in contact and to them related some of the trying experiences of my life, I present this book to the public.

I also wish to express my gratitude to all those who, when I was surrounded by discouragements and apparently insurmountable obstacles, by their encouragement and advice, buoyed and sustained me through all trials and conflicts with adverse circumstances.

It is sincerely hoped that the experiences here related may serve as an incentive to those whose educational advantages are limited, to persevere and by their own efforts attain that end without which life is a blank — knowledge of the world, of mankind, of Christ.

Rev. A. C. Hynd, Evangelist.

Contents

PAGE.

I. — My Birthplace, Wishaw 9

II.— My Father's Home 19

CHAPTER I. My Birthplace, Wishaw

I was born in the village of Wishaw, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Its location is twelve miles from the city of Glasgow and about forty from Edinburgh, the capital. It has for its water facilities, the river Clyde on the south side, somewhat over a mile and a half from the center of the town, part of the way having a gradual slope to its banks. On the north side runs the stream Cather; its distance from the edge of the town is about a third of a mile. The boys of the village and the neighboring hamlets were accustomed to use these waters in summer time for bathing purposes ; and they were often driven off by the lords through whose estates the streams flowed.

Wishaw had one main thoroughfare on which most of the business was done; leading from it were a few side streets of less importance. In my boyhood days the buildings were not of modern appearance. Here and there stood a house two stories high, and only one, that I can recall, of three stories. Among these were a

From the Mines to the Pulpit.

great many thatched cottages, in which the sparrows found shelter from the storm. Often, in the breeding season of the year, they annoyed the human inhabitants by the rapid multiplying and replenishing of their nests. The business men of the town carried but one line of goods. The hardware dealers attended to that sort of supplies, and the same distinction was shown in the grocery business and many others. The keepers of the apothecary shops were an exception; they at times tried their hand at pulling teeth, as dentistry in Wishaw, at that time, was unknown. In many cases, instead of pulling the tooth, they pulled the patient around the room.

The industries of the town were coal pits, iron works and brick fields, from which came dust and smoke, only to descend upon the product of the washer women and cause them to use language that would not be commendable in polite society- These industries gave employment to the villagers. In the brick fields, men and women worked side by side, the women trundling wheelbarrows and doing work that in this country is performed only by the sturdiest laborers. Strong and hardy the women grew, rivaling the men in strength, and often outdoing them in their day's work. I once saw a contest between two laborers, a man and a woman, as to which could wheel a barrow containing more bricks. The woman won, her opponent being no ordinary laborer, but a man noted for his strength. The contest was the result of a wager and was witnessed by hundreds of people. Not only did women work in

My Birthplace, Wishaw.

mills, factories, tile works and brick fields, but their unfortunate condition was that of working in the pits. The good book says, that woman is to be man's help meet, and so here we found her in the bowels of the earth, doing a man's work, pushing the little hutches (cars), here and there, from place to place. I have heard the old mothers speak of their experiences in the pits, how they helped their husbands to dig coal and draw the little cars in and out of the various headings, as horses do now-a-days. What a sight it must have been to see those strong, robust, sanguine Scotch lassies start to work, clad in the regalia of a miner ! Their dress consisted of heavy-laced, tacked shoes, with stockings knit by their old mothers, and of short petticoats resembling the modern bicycle skirt in length, so as not to interfere with their labor of pushing the cars. Their jackets were made of heavy cloth, cut like that of the jumper of the American workingman, and fitted with pockets, in which they carried nails for the repairing of the track. Their caps were made of strong cloth, fitting tight to the head, with a leather patch in front, on which the lamp hung, so as not to interfere with their hands while at work. What a fantastic parade it must have been to see them start out in the morning, with their lamps glimmering, winding their way here and there through the dells and glens, to their places of occupation. I fancy, from my experiences in explosions, of which I will speak later, that many a strong woman in the bloom of life, with brain capacity enough to have been a Frances Willard, a Deborah or a Lady Jane Grey, with

From the Mines to the Pulpit.

bright thoughts of the future, met her fate in one of those dreaded catastrophes so common to mining life, and her bones are now mouldered in that unprepared sepulchre.

In some of those old, thatched, low, one-story houses labored the old people, weaving as their mothers and grandmothers had done for generations and generations. In the evening, when all had returned from work, after supper, they gathered around the old peat or coal fire-place and told weird tales of ghosts and goblins. The little ones would gather around, and under the dim light of the miner's lamp or tallow candle, would crouch close together, with tingling ears and terror-stricken faces, but eager to hear more of the ghostly tales that they thoroughly believed to have been true. So superstitious were these little urchins that they could not be persuaded to go on an errand after dark, unless the good wife of the house stood at the door in full view to keep watch so as to be on hand to rescue them from some venturesome spirit or bogie man.

The principal building material of the town was hewed stone from quarries, which were worked by men expert in that trade. They chiseled these rocks from their natural beds, into the requisite shapes for building. Around the mouths of these quarries towered all sizes of cranes, having the appearance of a ship yard from a distance, which were used to hoist the rocks in loading the trucks. These trucks conveyed the product of the quarries to the places of building. The majority of the dwelling places were built in rows, having two stone or brick walls running parallel with the

My Birthplace, Wishaw.

street and being partitioned into single rooms by a solid, sound-proof wall. So strong were these houses that the mighty power of a western cyclone could have had no effect upon them. The beauty of Wishaw was marred not only by those stone quarries, but also by some of the old, abandoned coal pits which were close to its edge, endangering the lives of the playful boys and those who violated the laws of nature by keeping late hours. The town was completely encircled by the estates of lords and dukes, Lord Bulhaven's on one side and the Duke of Hamilton's running along one side of the river Clyde, and Colk Nest enclosing the rest of the boundary. Here we had our little town hemmed in by nobility and power. Every road leading from the town had to pass through these estates. The streets of Wishaw and the country roads were well paved and kept in good condition. Men were kept constantly employed in breaking stones which were stored in magazines to be used for repairs on these roads. The estates of the lords and dukes were protected by high stone walls and hawthorn hedges and other barriers. This will give an idea of the fortifications; starting from the foot of the main street of Wishaw and extending a mile, was a stone wall ten feet high. What an expense it must have been to erect such a structure, when the poor villagers needed bread. The walls were only part of the protection, for beyond this they had game-keepers employed, whose business it was to arrest all trespassers. If the poachers or fishermen were seen by the game-keepers on the banks of the streams, they often

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had to take a cold bath and swim to the opposite shore to escape their pursuers. What a contrast there was between the stately homes of the gentry and nobility and the miserable hovels of the village folks. The beautiful avenues led here and there through flowery gardens under cultivated shade trees of all kinds, which were kept up by men and women hired for that purpose. Some of the estates had foresters who transplanted trees, making cover for the well-protected game. At many of the gates were cottages, or lodges as they were called in those days, where men were stationed to admit the nobility only Some of the more benevolent ladies occasionally sent the crumbs as they fell from their tables, to the poor of the village, but to my knowledge, very little of such charity was shown. All possible seals were placed upon these estates, and unlucky the man who was caught shooting game of any kind. The lord of the manor not only owned his tenants, but the birds of the air and the fish in pond and brook. They were his and his alone. Not even could the tenants fish or shoot on the land for which they paid rent.

It might be of some interest to the reader for me to relate some of the amusements that were carried on in the village. Wishaw had her peculiar sports. The field in which all games were indulged in was located a short distance from the main street. It was large enough to allow two or three kinds of amusements to be carried on at the same time. At the extreme end of it stood the public school, where all children had the privilege of attending, providing their parents were able

My Birthplace, Wishaw

to pay the tuition. It was a large building, having around it an extensive play-ground, and near by its extreme end was Colk Nest estate. The children, even to the smallest of them, were taught by the rigid enforcement of the rules, that they must not trespass upon the territory of the nobility On the other side of this public park were two large artificial ponds or reservoirs, which had been used in an early day, probably to supply the town with water. At the entrance to this field was an ancient gate, where, upon entering on special days, people had to pay. It was at this gate that I first saw a colored man. What a sight that was to a boy who had been trained to believe in ghosts ! Never after that did I see another black man until I came to America. His business at the gate was to sell clay smoking-pipes, three for a penny There he came on those special days to take advantage of the crowds . There he stood among the white folks who were selling knick-knacks of every description to the people entering the fair grounds, with his black, woolly, uncombable hair and low-browed forehead, his flat nose as though it had been pushed back from its natural shape by a stunning blow at some previous time, his thick, rolling lips, a characteristic of his race, and a chin that had none of the symmetrical lines of beauty ; his eyes were as frightful to a superstitious boy as a panther's would be to a hunter. These fairs were the principal attraction to the surrounding country. Grants were given by the authorities, allowing all kinds of entertainments to be run on the grounds. It was here that my desire for pugilistic work was stimulated. On

From the Mines to the Pulpit.

the ground, at every suitable season of the year, sparring tents were in running order. A platform was erected at the tent door, large enough to accommodate three or four boxers to exhibit themselves to the crowd. Stretched across the stage was part of a hemp clothes-line, on which a dozen pairs of boxing gloves hung in full view. The entertainment inside was the sparring of the pugilists for a few minutes, after which the green boys from the country gave the onlookers the worth of their money, in seeing who could make the most blood fly. When the gong had sounded the pugilists would rush to the front of the tent to hold a bally-hoo in order to attract the people for the next performance. Such excitements were the food which the young miners received, and many a boy who had no good, moral influence over him, fell a victim to this pernicious sport. It was in this public field and at these fairs that the farmers hired their lads and lassies by the year. What a sight to see those red-faced, highland plowmen, dressed in a light tweed suit, with a broad Tarn o'Shanter bonnet and a proportional scarf large enough to make a plide for an Ayrshire lassie ! Pandemonium reigned supreme upon these fair grounds, with every conceivable delusion and vice to mislead the country folks who came only at these special times. The exigency of the noon hour brought forth a spectacular display to the eyes of the quiet observer. The luncheon customs were farcical. The stranger who strolled around the grounds during this interval was well rewarded for the money he had paid at the gate. Here and there stood little stands, on which

My Birthplace, Wishaw.

puddings, cakes and scones were displayed, and of which the lunchers bought freely. Those who did not sit on the grass, strolled around the ground, eating as they went, and waving their caps at the lassies of their acquaintance. When the shades of the evening came, especially on the closing day, the police were kept busy attending to those who had fallen by the wayside. There were other indulgences carried on in this public field, such as rounders, crickets, kites and football. Occasionally, Delaney, the great outdoor circus performer, with his trained horses, tumblers and clowns, would come to this place, and this extraordinary attraction drew people from all parts. The man who did this sleight-of-hand performance was believed by the boys to be a full partner with the devil.

Before leaving this public place of amusements, permit me to relate one more of the superlative attractions, which was carried out in this well-patronized field. Just inside the entrance gate, at the west end of the field, and by an old hawthorn hedge, stood a dilapidated building, which was the only theatre of the town. It looked more like a storage shed than a theatre ; its shape was like that of a telescope; its appearance to the crusader, if he had' been called upon to pass his opinion, would have been that it had been built in a country where lumber was scarce, and that the farmers, being relieved by law from keeping up fences, had taken the old, weather-beaten boards and built for themselves a theatre. The interior was not unlike the outside. The elevated seats, which rose gradually until they reached

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almost to the ceiling at the extreme end of the building were made of rough planks which had never seen a planing mill. Under the trestled seats was an open space, so that the boys, who had stolen their way through the outer shell of the building, had no trouble in finding a seat. It was in this old theatre that many a boy and girl planted the germs of moral decay, and began a life of dissipation and vice. Such were the amusements of my native town, Wishaw.

CHAPTER II. My Father's Home

I was born in one of the little, one-story, thatched cottages on the main street, near the west end cross. When memory began to be lasting to me, I could not have been over four years of age. At that time my parents were poor. They were classed among those who scarcely knew the comforts of the lowest order, and because of this condition and the lowly environments that poverty very often causes, the family received no education. However, previous to this time, our home had seen better days, but circumstances, over which we had no control, threw around it an atmosphere of poverty. It is said that there are three kinds of poor — providentially-made poor, man-made poor and self-made poor. The last of these was the cause of our condition. My father, unfortunately, in an early day was of dissipated habits, which brought the home to the state of which I speak. He had, at times, reformed in his ways and given the church his careful attention, but, like many others who had formed the terrible habit of drinking, he let it get the better of him and fell from grace.

Some years before my father's death he reformed permanently and lived a Christian life and did all within his power, by practice and teaching, to show his children the right path. How much better it might have been

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if he had obeyed the truth which reads, " Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth/' but, alas, he was among the millions that would willingly gather up the fragments of their wasted lives and cast them into the oblivion of the past. For two years prior to his death, he was unable to leave his home on account of sickness and was confined to his bed most of the time. The cause of his sickness and death was unknown to the most skillful physicians. Of this immediate period I have but a vague recollection. My father's physical appearance I cannot recall. I learned from my mother that he weighed something over two hundred pounds and was a man accomplished in many ways, especially in the use of reasoning faculties.

One of my recollections of father is of his taking me to a nearby pit where he was employed as overseer of the machinery The reason for his taking me there was to show me some small dogs which he kept in the engine house. During my visit he had to go down into the pit to attend to some of the pipes that conducted the water from the sump below to the surface. After seeing the dogs he took me on the cage (elevator) and signaled the engineer and the descent was made. About midway in the shaft, the cage stopped. Father placed me in a safe position and then stepped off the cage, out of sight. He kept speaking to me to relieve me of fear, but I cried bitterly. In a few minutes he finished the repairing and we made the ascent. I cannot remember any more of father until one day he patted me on the head and told mother, that he would never live to see me grow to be

BIRTHPLACE OF AUTHOR, MAIN STREET, WISHAW.

Born in part of cottage entered by door (x). The picture represents the

building in its modern state.

My Father's Home.

a man. He seemed to have an intuition of his early death and hoped that the younger members of the family would grow up in the Lord and be helpful to mother. For the two years before his death the family was supported by my two sisters, Mary and Jennie, who worked in the brick yard and earned about thirty cents a clay each. There were also three other grown members of the family who were married and needed all their little earnings to support themselves. The poverty and unhappiness of our home, and of my poor mother in particular, at this time, were great. Father needed a great deal of attention and was unable to wait upon himself to any extent. Mother cared for him day and night. When the end came, worn out with watching, she had fallen asleep, and he, too weak to arouse her, passed away in the quiet of the night, with no one at his bedside. Great was the grief of my poor mother, upon her awakening and finding him dead. When she looked upon his face and saw that his spirit had passed away, she uttered one loud, piercing scream, which brought the family hurriedly to the bedside. I was too young to realize the solemnity of death, but the event was so impressive that I can never forget it. I still remember the sorrowful faces, mother's tears, and the thronging of the neighbors into the death-chamber.

My eldest brother, who was then married, took charge of the funeral. He had been very reckless in his youthful days, and had indulged, to some extent, in keeping and fighting game-roosters, and many a day he had desecrated by this cruel sport. It was on one Sab-

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bath morning, while walking through a field, with a game-rooster under his arm, on his way to fight a challenged battle, that the spirit of God came upon him. The church bells were tolling for the worshiping people to assemble, and the chiming of the bells drove deep conviction into his heart. The remorse over his past life was so great that he turned and went back home. When he entered, mother said, "'James, what is the matter?" He stood speechless, leaning against the old fire-place. Without uttering a word he started to go out, but, upon reaching the door, stopped. Mother saw something was troubling him and said, "James, my boy, tell me what is wrong." He turned to her and said, "Mother, I am through with this way of living; kill all my game-roosters, I'm going to church today." What a joy to a mother to hear her wayward son utter such words! This act was the rising of the morning star of his life, and he kept in the orbit of righteousness until the day of his death. He did as he said — went to church and gave his heart to Christ. The minister of the church took great interest in him and taught him to read. He learned rapidly and in a short time began to do local preaching. He also rose to be overseer of some coal works, and finally gave his whole life to missionary and evangelistic work.

Just four days after father's death my youngest brother, a baby of tender age, died. It seemed as though mother must follow. So terrible was her grief that some time passed before she was able to attend to her household duties. The house in which father died was no

My Father's Home.

more desirable for the family to live in. Death increased our superstition and we moved to other quarters. Our new home contained but one room and in this very small apartment we, a family of six, lived. In it were two beds, built in an alcove in a solid wall. The resting places of the straw ticks were about three feet from the floor. Under these were home-made trundle beds which pushed in and out like a drawer. In these the smaller children slept. In front of these beds were sliding curtains to enclose the inmates when all had retired. It might be of some interest to the reader to describe the household furniture and customs of the home. The furniture consisted of a few, low, straightbacked, heavy-made chairs, with no artistic design that would appeal to the eye of the modern furniture-maker. In these small apartments there was but one table, which served for ironing, baking and eating. It was made to take up as small a space as possible so as to give room for the other furniture. In some of the more elevated homes there were chiffoniers, or chests-of-drawers, as they were called in the old country. They were valued as modern parlor suites are today. Taking the place of these in the poorer homes were boxes covered with muslin or paper to hide their crude appearance. In many of the homes, instead of chairs, benches were stretched across the room to accommodate the guests. In some of the dwellings hens roosted; holes were cut into the doors to give them full privilege of the house. Above the doors and on the roofs roosted pigeons, and if anything happened to disturb these birds during the

From the Mines to the Pulpit.

night, an uproar ensued and the sleep of the inmates was not peaceful. Our food consisted chiefly of mush and buttermilk, a healthy diet, but more than a trifle monotonous when taken too frequently. Each had his or her wooden bowl to eat out of. Seated on a wooden stool and in their own particular corner, they ate the described food, happy or miserable as the case might be. When we grew to a more dignified age we were permitted to sit at the table, a privilege long looked forward to. No table cover adorned the bare boards. The eatables were placed in the center of the table, and each person helped himself. The salt was placed in little heaps in front of each person, so each could dab his or her potato into it without having to pass it around. In my mother's home, when I was a little fellow, we had neither knives nor forks. The fingers were used to carry the food to the mouth. The floor of our home was of flag stones, such as are used for side-walks in the city In some of the tenement rows, asphalt took the place of stone.

I never saw a stove until I came to America. All bread was bought from bakers. The home-made baking consisted of scones and cakes. The cakes were hard, like sea biscuit, and of such length and breadth that the modern waiter could have used them for trays.

I can recall very well the customs of one home that was near us. The boys were miners. When all had returned from work in the evening, without washing themselves, they gathered around the table with clothes, face and hands as black as the coal they dug.

My Father's Home.

They began to eat from the table on which had been placed a barrel hoop to keep the potatoes from rolling off. I was not there through curiosity, but these people, knowing the poverty of our home, invited me to dine with them. As I watched these boys from time to time, having such privileges as I believed they had, I longed to be large enough to be a miner. Little did I know the life that I was coveting, and in after years found, to my entire satisfaction, that I had desired the wrong path.

In our new home mother met with many hardships. The wages of my two sisters who worked in the brick fields were not sufficient to support the family. The older ones, who were married, helped us as much as they could to alleviate our suffering. What a task it must have been for a mother who had been well provided for in her youthful days! I learned from mother, upon her visit to me in this country some years ago, that her people at one time kept a general store and had quite a large business. When she married she opened a little store but my father's dissipated life at that time was too much for the welfare of the shop. The enterprise failed, and with it all opportunities for future betterment. In the midst of all this poverty the lives of the family were endangered by a conflagration which took place at an old distillery near our house. In the stillness of the night there was a sudden alarm of fire, which awakened the inmates of the houses. When I awoke the flames were rolling over the skylight and it seemed as though the whole heavens were afire. I tumbled out of the trundle bed and tried to find my clothes, but in the

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confusion they were misplaced. Mother tried to find them but failed, so she wrapped a sheet around me and told me to run to my brother's. When I reached the street the policemen were hurrying the people from the neighborhood, crying that the large whiskey tanks were about to explode. What a pity that they did not, providing all lives could have been in safety. Much better to go that way than to take one poor drunkard to his grave. Up through the street I went with the others on our way to safety. When I reached my brother's home they provided me with clothes. I then went back to the fire and watched the old-fashioned fire engines throw water into the mass of flames. Great damage was done to the houses, but to my knowledge no lives were lost. In a few days all were back in their respective homes.

CHAPTER III. Life in the Poorhouse

After vainly struggling for some time, following the death of my father, my mother was forced to give up the hopeless task of trying to provide for her large family. She applied to the parish for help. The authorities refused her any assistance, telling her that the poorhouse was built for such as herself and little ones and that she could enter there at any time. The thought of her having to go to such a place almost drove her insane. Brave woman that she had been, to spend the rest of her life in the poorhouse, was too much for her to endure, and yet something had to be done for the support of her family. Her condition had a claim upon the township, but how to secure from it the much needed support she did not know. The thought of her going to such a place was not pleasant to my brothers and sisters who were married. They resolved that they would suffer great sacrifice before they would permit such a thing to happen.