BY REV. FRANK E. JENKINS.


I reached Little Rock, Arkansas, late one Saturday night and on Sunday
morning found my way to our church service. Arriving a few minutes late,
I found the service already begun. It was a fine looking audience and as
quiet and orderly as any New England congregation. The service was well
arranged and conducted in a very happy manner. The sermon was
thoughtful, earnest and inspiring. The pastor, Rev. Yancy B. Sims, is a
graduate of Talladega College and an honor to his Alma Mater. On Monday
I visited, with the pastor, several of the homes of the people. What a
contrast between these refined homes and the hut of the slave quarters
of twenty-five years ago! The ladies of this church had just finished a
silk block for a quilt which a home mission church in Washington
Territory is making from blocks made in each State in the Union, with
the hope of selling it to increase its fund for building a house of
worship. It was a beautiful block of rich material and the most delicate
workmanship. The faces of these ladies showed great delight in the
thought that they were helping others who needed help.

"Do the colored people vote here without opposition?" I asked of an
intelligent colored man. "Oh, yes!" he replied. "And are the votes
always counted?" "Yes, _except in a pinch!_" was the answer. This is
much better than in most places which I am called upon to visit.

From Little Rock I went to Paris, Texas. This growing city has a
population of about twelve thousand, five thousand of whom are colored.
Our pastor here is a graduate of Fisk University, as also is his wife.
The need of our church work in this city and in the State is two-fold,