ministry and for the next four years rendered faithful service as the
assistant of his pastor in Christ Church. Few that heard him would have
suspected his blindness. His remarkable memory enabled him in conducting
the Service to use the Bible and the Liturgy as though he could see. In
the library he could go to the shelves and place his hands upon the
books that he needed. His reader then supplied him with the material
needed for study.

In 1893 he took temporary charge of St. John's Church in Christopher
Street.

In the Fall of 1893 he accepted a call to St. Matthew's Church in
Augusta, Georgia. His retirement in 1896 to take charge of a mission
among the cotton mill operatives of Columbia, S. C., was deeply
regretted not only by his congregation but by the entire city.

Thus far his ministry, however useful it had been, was only a
preparation for the remarkable work he was called upon to do in South
Carolina and adjoining states. The mountain whites who had been drawn
into the cotton mill work of the South were illiterate and but ill
prepared for their new conditions.

[illustration: "Charles E. Weltner, D.D."]

With the help of his devoted wife, a night school was established.
Additional schools became necessary. The Columbia Board of Education
became interested and supplied the teachers while the mill company
provided for the equipment. Mrs. Weltner helped the girls by creating an
interest in good housekeeping and in beautifying the homes and their
surroundings.