The Lumberjack Sky Pilot

t the little group of Christians in the new town, where assistance was badly needed, for the place was in the heart of the logging district,

the pine forest beckoned to the logging companies and the Mississippi river offered an outlet for the logs. Bemidji could only be reached by following the rough trails through the

Blair, prior to his conversion, had been a lumberjack, and none of these things moved him. Wading the depths and fording the streams, he at last arrived at the hamlet on Lake Bemidji, and organized the work. Later a church was partly built by Mr. Blair, and occasional services were held. It was to take charge of this field that Mr. Higgins turned his steps to the north.

ture has done everything to make the place attractive and restful. Lake Bemidji and Lake Irving are inviting sheets of water with a shore line of nearly fifty miles. The great Father of Waters joins their crystal bodies, and at the point of meeting the little city of Bemidji is b

flourished and gamblers worked unmolested. It was known as one of the most shameless places in the state, and in those days seemingly lived up to its reputation. The police force was little more than a name, for the saloon men were "the powers that be." It was to the interest of the liquor

ot satisfied with what came to them, the runners of the saloons and dens went into the camps to drum up trade fo

er of the town. In one of the places a large number of negr

try to paint the early Bemidji." In justice to the moral element of the place we must add that there were always those who strove for better conditions, and th

f coma that was rapidly passing into death. Only two members could be found. A church building had been erected, but because of financial difficulties i

combined. The few houses obtainable were mostly rude shacks whose exteriors were covered with tar paper,

e, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Higgins, came to bless

uilding the cozy manse, while the membership grew with increasing steadiness. In connection with the church at Bemidji was a station at Farley, and during the third year a littl

gly well filled. In addition to these duties, however, he every winter gave his personal attention to nine camps and regularly visited three of them each week. The seven addresses a week, the miles

t of death. McDonald had met with a serious accident in the camps. The Sky Pilot and the teamster were well acquainted. McDonald's boyhood days were spent among the bonny hills of the homeland, in a quiet

tried to cheer the dying man, but

t to go. I'm nearing the landing with a hea

the grade, and now he was thinking of the unknown way

Will, but you will have to loo

nother team of leaders to he

he grade. Listen, Will, while I read you something." Taking out his pocket testament, he read the story of the prodigal, and how by the Father's help he made the g

ade and safely arrive at the heavenly landing. In the ward the other lumberjacks heard the prayer, and while the tears fell o

d and by the side sat the sister of charity with book and beads. The Sky Pilot knelt by

have made the grade without him. I needed his help, and he is str

made the grade," he whispered, and with a smile was gone. He had left the valley; the unfading green of heavenly plai

nd it is well that this should continue. The system of doctrine taught by it demands thorough preparation for the effort of Presbyterianism has ever

o the camps as an ordained minister rather than as a layman. There were many who felt that a layman could do the work as effectively as an ordained man, and some even claimed that a layman could do better work in such a field. Frank Higgins did not agree with the latter, and results have proven the correctness o

ge of these be obtained before the coveted "laying-on-of-hands" be granted. In the presence of his studies he saw the handicap in which he was placed through lack of scholastic training, and with the multitudinous demands of his large

ian ministry. The action of the Presbytery must not be misunderstood. The members saw the lack of training, the mental defects of the man, the rough exterior of the petitioner-for there was little about him to suggest the pulpit-and while they loved and admired the hearty, consecrated missionary, they hesitated to confer the rite of ordination upon him. They were men who knew the standards of the church and felt that, measured by the plumb-line of Presbyterian custom, he did not meet all its requirements. They wer

asked him, "What semi

a seminary,

ur college?

he replied. "I do not ask for ordination because I am qualified by the

discussion was held. For three hours the presbyters discussed his c

aside to the ministry. I know my insufficiencies; no man can know them better. I do not blame you for with-holding "the-laying-on-of-hands," but I was ordained of God long years ago to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, and although unsanctioned by man, I shall still preac

the Presbytery had hesitated, it has never regretted its final action. It has never ceased to rejoice in the labors of the dete

r. Higgins helped in the manual labor. One day while he was shingling the tower a boy brought him a letter requesting him to come to Winona Lake, Indiana, and consult with the Evangelistic Committee relative to the conditions in the logging camps. As a result of the c

ng the past seven years had already given him a knowledge of their winter conditions. Donning the clothes of a laboring man, he mounted a freight train and started on a long western trip of quiet investigation. In western North Dakota he labored for several days as a harvest hand, meeting many of the men he had preached to in

ception they would tender to a man who apparently belonged to the wanderers. The trip broadened his experience and gave an insight into the life of the nomads among whom he was shortly to take up permanent work. He saw the life as one who had lived

ks he left the pastorate to give himself wholly to the twenty thousand men of Minnesota

ANK-THE STREET SPRI