( ACROSS THE CONTINENT Pr@«eliiit§ fit® G@sp®l f rom @a A u tom o b ile j B l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l ...Ill... ..................................... in......mini f’P HE teaching force of the Bible Insti- tute of Los Angeles has been greatly ! By W. H. PIKE
Wyke, Mrs. Pike and my two daughters, Miriam and Ruth, and no sickness that hindered any from traveling. No auto trou ble excepting a sticking clutch one day. In fact, nothing to mar the journey but a few mosquito bites and some invisible chiggers. During these two months we slept in the open air every night, except when holding meetings in cities or towns, cooked our own meals in the mountains and desert, never laid awake a, night through fear of man or beast. What a wonderful God is He who keepeth our “going out and our com ing in.” Also it speaks well for the peo ple of our country, that one may camp almost* in any part with perfect safety. Never had anything stolen from our auto or persons; were treated with the utmost kindness on the entire trip; never paid over 45 cents for gasoline but once, and that was in the desert, where we gave 70 cents a gallon for live gallons; but this was exceptional. In the same place .we bought a milk-pailful of delicious grapes for 30 cents, and a mammoth watermelon for 10 cents that you would have paid 60 cents for in the east. We crossed over the highest pass in the Rockies, called Monarch Pass, 11,400 feet above sea level. Also picked wild straw berries, September 2, at an altitude of 11,000 feet, and they were of an. excellent flavor. The scenery up this pass is beyond description. A narrow dugout road leads up the mountain side, ever winding and rewinding in and out of one ravine after another, passing by dozens of places as attractive as the “Garden of the Gods” at Manitou. When you reach the top you walk up from the road about one hundred feet more, if your heart will permit, and there bursts upon your vision a grand, awe inspiring panorama of mountain scenery. You are standing above the tree-line and are looking upon the earth which has been thrown up by the Creator into all sorts of massive shapes. Here amid this grandeur we built a little fire and cooked our din ner. One might think that we would' feel almost forsaken at this height, amid these snow-capped mastodons, but not so, for
strengthened byi adding to it Rev. William H. Pike, for many years déan of the Prac tical Bible Training School, Binghamton^ N. Y. When Mr. Pike decided to accept ; the invitation of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles to become a teacher here, he felt that the best way to get to Los Angeles was to take his wife and children, and two helpers (who were also going to the Insti tute to study) across the continent in an automobile, preaching the Gospel as they went. Mr. Pike’s account of the journey is here given in the form of a letter, fol lowing his arrival in Los Angeles! We might add that it was a more stir ring journey and far more time was given to preaching and personal work than ap pears from the letter. Mr. Pike preached and held conferences in many places, and had a notable meeting in the great Moody Tabernacle in Chicago, which holds 5000 people and where meetings have been held every night for about two years : Dear Friends:—So many of you were interested in our auto preaching tour across the continent that we feel you should know something about it. We left Binghamton, N. Y., July 13, and arrived in Los Angeles September' 15. We traveled 4870 miles, through thirteen different States, holding in all forty-three meetings, and distributing hundreds of gospel tracts. One of the amusing things along the way was the different greetings we re ceived. When we entered Ohio the general word of greeting from men and boys along the road was “Hi.” When we came into Missouri it was “Howdy?” and when we came into Colorado and Nevada it was, “How are you, pard?” Think of it, during all these days of travel not one accident happened to any of the party, which consisted of Mr. and Mrs.
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