of the General Committee. Mr. Charles D. Reid, 255 Main Street, is Chairman of the Committee on Transportation. Mr. Clarence E. Blake, 11 Dartmouth Street, is Chairman of the Entertainment Committee. Rev. Newton M. Hall is Chairman of the Press and Printing Committee. Mr. Charles A. Royce is Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements.

Those desiring information will receive it by writing to a chairman of the proper committee given above.

Reduced fares amounting to one and one-third of the full fare have been arranged on the certificate plan. When purchasing a ticket a certificate must be received from the selling ticket agent and when presented at the Annual Meeting will secure the reduced rate in the return fare.

Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis, D.D., of New York, will preach the Annual Sermon Tuesday evening, October 23d. The program has been prepared to cover not only the reports of the work of the American Missionary Association but also to provide for the discussion of large and fundamental problems. Prominent clergymen and laymen of our own denomination will be present. There will also be represented on the platform societies and institutions working along the same line in cordial and hearty Christian sympathy. This will add greatly to the interest of the meeting and to the scope of discussions. Thus the Fifty-fourth Annual Meeting will present a platform and not an organ.

A band of Jubilee Singers from Fisk University, Tenn., will be present and add greatly to the sessions by their quaint and pathetic music. This is always an interesting feature of the American Missionary Association convention appreciated by all.

An industrial exhibit containing samples of the work in representative Association schools will present an object lesson of this work. This exhibit will be in the chapel of the First Congregational Church near by the place of meetings.

The most interesting feature of the meeting, however, will doubtless be the messages that come from the missionaries, a large number of whom will be present. These men and women are on the advanced line in this great movement for many races, including millions of peoples who especially need the influence and power of an intelligent Gospel. Among these missionaries will be representatives of different races. Porto Rico, the new field entered a year ago, will be represented by a missionary whose work has been especially valuable.

A special number of the Springfield Union will be issued containing a full verbatim report of the various sessions. This will be sent to ministers so as to reach them, if possible, Saturday morning, October 27th. Pastors desiring to present the work of this Association to their people will find this extra of great value.

In the scope of the discussions, the ability and variety of speakers, the interesting and accessible places of note in and around the city of meeting, and the great interest now taken in the problems which the American Missionary Association is seeking to solve, the Fifty-fourth Annual Meeting promises to be a large and even epoch-marking convention.

The death of President Erastus M. Cravath removes from the counsel and service of the American Missionary Association one of its most prominent and successful missionaries. Few men have so largely affected the life of the nation through educational lines as has President Cravath. After some years of service in the office of the Association he became President of Fisk University, and has brought that institution to the foremost rank in the intellectual and moral development of the Negroes of this country. An extended obituary notice is given on other pages of this magazine. Here, the writer, having had close personal association with President Cravath for many years, desires to bear his testimony with earnest and loving emphasis to the large and strong character of the man, and his single and unwavering purpose to accomplish the largest and best service possible for those to whom he gave his ministry in unstinted measure. No one can fill his place, for it was not only large but unique. He was a leader who came to the front in the most trying period in the history of the Negroes, and he led them with soundest judgment as well as heroic fortitude. These people have lost not only a friend, but a steady and strong guide.

The work of the American Missionary Association among the Chinese in America is illustrated in the financial statement of the American Board. Rev. Jee Gam, who has charge of the work among his fellow Chinamen in San Francisco, has just sent a check of one hundred dollars to the American Board for the North China Christian Relief Fund. This money was all contributed by members of the Chinese churches on the Pacific Slope. Other contributions are promised. No one can doubt that a large element in the evangelization of China must be the Chinese of America.

The Cumberland Valley Association of Congregational Churches met in Jellico, Tenn., September 14th. The churches of the association were generally represented. Churches of other denominations at Jellico welcomed the meeting of the association and cordially entertained the delegates. The increase in the population of Jellico and the surrounding districts has greatly emphasized the importance of our work in that region.

The Cumberland Plateau Association of Congregational Churches and Sunday schools met with the church at Grand View, Tenn., September 26-27th. The meeting was one of unusual interest. The work on the Plateau, as represented in the reports from the churches, was on the whole encouraging.

An interesting convention of colored men was held in Boston, August 23d-24th. This convention, known as the Negro Business Men's Conference, was a meeting of great importance and interest. Principal Booker T. Washington and other prominent colored men were present, and large attention was given to the consideration of the Negroes in the business world, their place and opportunities. The topics covered a large field bearing upon the self-support and business opportunities and responsibilities of the Negroes. The gathering was largely representative from different parts of the country, and the discussions were able and comprehensive. A permanent organization was formed to be known as a business league, the purpose of which is to promote and develop business methods and to create larger confidence on the part of the Negroes themselves in their own ability. As a whole the convention was very encouraging and hopeful.

Several friends have sent contributions to this office to help those who have suffered from the terrible storm in Galveston and the interior of Texas. These gifts have been forwarded to a missionary pastor near Galveston and will be wisely administered.

LE MOYNE NORMAL INSTITUTE.

The school bears the honored name of one who, in the long years of the anti-slavery agitation, was known as an uncompromising friend of human freedom. It stands, with its nearly thirty years of successful work, a most fitting memorial of his life and labors for humanity. A personal friend and an associate of Dr. Strieby