Through the winter months of 1900--in the Southern Hemisphere that means May, June, and July--Ellen White was becoming more and more certain that she must soon go back to the United States. Conditions developing in connection with the work of the church in America, revealed to her in visions of the night, led to growing concern. The burden pressed heavily upon her heart. She could not forget that in January she had been shown a rather unusual outbreak of fanaticism at a camp meeting in America. She was deeply concerned over the increasing imbalance coming into the medical work, fostered by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg in Chicago. Of her plans to leave Australia, she wrote:
Things have not been moving in right lines, and I must, in the fear of God, bear my testimony personally to those who are in danger of swaying the work disproportionately in the so-called medical missionary lines (Letter 123, 1900).
Critical situations had developed in Battle Creek, adding to her anxiety. At first she talked of leaving Australia in November. She did not see how she could close up her work before that. But by all means she felt she should attend the General Conference session scheduled for the coming February.
When she proposed to her son William that she must return to the United States, it was hard for him to grasp. How could it be? The Avondale school was just getting well under way. Construction on the Avondale Health Retreat at the front corner of the school land, across the road from the church, was just recently completed, and that enterprise was developing nicely. Land had been purchased for a sanitarium in Wahroonga, a suburb of Sydney, and building plans were under way.
And then there was her book on which they were pressing hard. Willie, at his request, had been relieved of administrative responsibilities in Australia and from his membership on the General Conference Committee. Both he and his mother felt that he should give unbroken attention to assisting her in publishing her books. How could they pull up stakes and leave all this and reestablish themselves in the United States?
Progress At Cooranbong
Soon after meeting the target date for the opening of the college in April 1897, Ellen White initiated another project of equal importance. As winter gave way to spring and the end of the first school year at Avondale was in sight, she entertained one growing concern--the need of a church building. Could one be built by the close of the school year, now only seven weeks away? Such an accomplishment would crown this year that marked a new start in Christian education.
As the number of students had increased, and the staff had grown, and the families living in the community had increased, it had become increasingly evident that there was no suitable place for meeting. For a while they had met in the loft above the sawmill, but that became a place for storage. Just before school opened, a limited space on the second story over the kitchen and dining room became available, but this soon proved to be too limited.
"I am fully decided," exclaimed Ellen White, "that we must have a meetinghouse" (Letter 70, 1897). On Wednesday morning, August 11, W.L.H. Baker and A. G. Daniells, the presidents of the two leading conferences, were on the campus to counsel with Ellen White and others concerning school matters and the coming camp meetings. Word had just been received at Cooranbong of the discovery of an accounting error in Melbourne. Eleven hundred pounds ($5,280) on deposit for the school--£600 ($2,880) from the Wessels family and £500 ($2,400) from the General Conference (Letter 177, 1897)--had just been discovered. Construction of a dormitory for the men could now be undertaken, and £100 ($480) was allotted toward a church building. In reporting the interview, Ellen White wrote: "We feel the need of a church very much" (Manuscript 175, 1897).
Careful consideration was given to the location and size of the proposed meetinghouse. Guidance in these particulars was given to Mrs. White in the "visions of the night":
I received instruction to speak to the people, and tell them that we are not to leave the house of the Lord until the last consideration.... I was instructed that our place of worship should be of easy access, and that the most precious portion of the land should be selected as a place on which to build for God (Letter 56, 1897).
There was need for haste, for they wanted to dedicate the building not later than the close of school.
The New Church At Avondale Is Dedicated
There were many visitors at Cooranbong for the church dedication and for the closing exercises of the school on Sunday evening, October 17. Sunday was a beautiful day, and in the afternoon all gathered in the church for the service of dedication. In a letter Ellen White described it:
Every seat was occupied, and some were standing at the door. Between two and three hundred were present. Quite a number came from Melbourne and also from Sydney, and from the neighborhood, far and nigh.
Elder Haskell gave the dedicatory discourse. Seated on the platform where the pulpit stands were Elders Daniells, Farnsworth, Haskell, Hughes, Wilson, Robinson, and your mother, whom they insisted should make the dedicatory prayer. Herbert Lacey conducted the singing, and everything passed off in the very best order. We felt indeed that the Lord Jesus was in our midst as we presented our chapel to God and supplicated that His blessing should constantly rest upon it (Letter 162, 1897).
The Bible Echo, in reporting the dedication, described the building as situated on the school land near the Maitland Road and three quarters of a mile (one kilometer) from the school buildings, built of wood, well constructed, neatly painted, and presenting a very nice appearance.
The land for the church was donated by the school. The building itself cost only about £550 ($2,640) and is capable of accommodating 450 persons. And one of the best features connected with the whole enterprise is that it was dedicated free from debt, every penny's expense having been provided for beforehand. So there was no collection called for on this occasion to clear the church from debt (The Bible Echo, November 8, 1897).
One feature of the developing enterprises at Cooranbong was the determination to avoid debt, even though the work was at times slowed, and all concerned had to sacrifice and deprive themselves of ordinary comforts and needs. Earlier in the year Ellen White had commented:
There is no necessity for our meetinghouses to continue year after year in debt. If every member of the church will do his duty, practicing self-denial and self-sacrifice for the Lord Jesus, whose purchased possession he is, that His church may be free from debt, he will do honor to God (Letter 52, 1897).
The last paragraph of the November 8 Bible Echo report of the dedication significantly declared:
In conclusion, it should be stated that the erection of this building at this early stage of the school enterprise is mainly due to the faith and energy of Pastor S. N. Haskell and Mrs. E. G. White, and the rich blessings of God on their efforts. But for them, the building would perhaps not have been built for some time yet. With but £100 ($480) in sight, they moved out by faith and began to build, and the results are as already stated.
But of special significance to Ellen White was the fact that in this new start in Christian education, not only was it a success, but was, as she observed, "the best school in every respect that we have ever seen, outside our people, or among Seventh-day Adventists" (Letter 101, 1897).
Twenty of the students have been baptized, and some came to the school who had an experimental knowledge of what it means to be Christians; but not one student leaves the school but gives evidence of now knowing what it means to be children of God (Letter 162, 1897).
College Hall Dedicated
Thursday, April 13, 1899, was a day to be remembered. College Hall was finished and ready for use. The first meeting of the day was held in the morning at 6:00. Ellen White explains why:
This early hour was chosen as appropriate to accommodate those who had worked with decided interest on the building. There was assembled the entire company of students and principal, preceptor and teachers. W. C. White and Brethren Palmer and Hughes spoke. I then spoke to the students and all present thirty minutes. At the close of the exercises there was the dedicatory prayer (Manuscript 185, 1899).
The more formal dedication took place in the afternoon. Mrs. White reported in a letter to S. N. Haskell:
The room was decorated and festooned by flowers from our gardens, and beautiful tree ferns, some of which were placed before the entrance of the building. W. C. White spoke well. Brethren Palmer and Hughes followed. Herbert Lacey then addressed the people.... He spoke well(Letter 70, 1899).
The Publishing House
When Seventh-day Adventists began activities in Australia in the winter of 1885, publishing work was begun almost at once. With borrowed type and equipment the type for the first numbers of the Bible Echo and Signs of the Times was set in the bedroom occupied by one of the workers. The form of set type was taken by a handcart to a nearby printer, where it was run on the press. As soon as they could purchase a press and small engine, quarters were rented. Four years later land was bought on Best Street in North Fitzroy and a building erected to house the emerging Echo Publishing Company and to provide a meeting hall on the second floor. Commercial work was taken in to supply work to justify the sophisticated equipment needed to produce denominational publications. After printing in a commendable manner a pamphlet for the governor of Victoria, the Echo Publishing Company was officially appointed "Publishers to His Excellency Lord Brassey, KCB." This gave the house standing and enhanced business. From one person employed in 1885 the work grew until in 1899 there were 83 employees. This gave it the third position among Adventist publishers, following the Review and Herald, which employed 275, and the Pacific Press, with 150 workers (UCR, July 19, 1899).
With an establishment standing first among the publishing houses operated outside of North America, the Echo Publishing Company was indeed "of age."
Return Voyage: Tales For The Grandchildren
W. C. White took care of travel negotiations with the Union Steamship Company in Sydney and found that comfortable arrangements for the voyage back to the United States could be made on the S.S. Moana, which would sail from Sydney on Wednesday, August 29, 1990. Ellen White would have her four women assistants with her--Sara McEnterfer, Marian Davis, Sarah Peck, and Maggie Hare. The W. C. White family numbered seven--he and his wife, May; his two older daughters by his first marriage, 18-year-old Ella and 13-year-old Mabel; the twins, 4 years old; and Baby Grace, nearly 3 months old. Three other friends made up the traveling party--15 in all.
Before them was a 7,200-mile (11,520-kilometer), 23-day journey across the Pacific. Willie had been successful in securing the most comfortable room on the Moana for his mother, the bridal stateroom in the first-class section toward the stern of the ship. The tickets had cost $160 each for Ellen White and Sara McEnterfer. The rest of the party traveled second class. Willie reported that they had been successful in securing the four best rooms in that section, with tickets costing $70 each.
With anticipation and a little excitement they boarded the Moana in Sydney shortly after noon on Wednesday, August 29. Mrs. White was pleased with her room. "I have a wide bed," she wrote in her diary, "as I have at home. Sara has her berth opposite mine" (Manuscript 96, 1900).
The journey would be broken by three stops--New Zealand, Samoa, and the Hawaiian Islands. All augured well. Ellen White was reported to be a good sailor, and she suffered only a touch of seasickness the first night out. Willie reported that they were soon on good terms with the stewards: "We feel as much at home as if we had lived with them for six months" (15 WCW, p. 861). The first 1,280-mile (2,048-kilometer) leg of the journey was almost due east to Auckland, New Zealand. Thursday and Friday were sunny days, and as the sun was setting behind them on Friday evening, they hunted up all the songbooks they could find and gathered for a little sing. They were pleased that about a dozen passengers joined them.
They found the food on the ship well prepared and appetizing, but to be certain of having a dietary to their liking they had brought some of their own food, particularly oranges and tangerines, zwieback, canned fruit, and canned grape juice. This greatly broadened their selection of menu choices. One favorite dish turned out to be fruit toast, made by pouring fresh hot water and then grape juice over zwieback. For their evening meal popular items were fresh fruit and crackers.
First Stop: New Zealand
On Sunday morning, their fourth day out, the Moana was steaming down the east coast of New Zealand, past Great Barrier Island and into Auckland harbor. At 10:30 the ship dropped anchor opposite the quarantine station. Some of the sailors rowed over in a small boat, leaving the passengers in suspense about the possibility of going ashore. Willie was disappointed because he had hoped to see some of his friends from Auckland. "Here we lie," he wrote. "We cannot go ashore, and thus far no one has come to speak to us. It is a big lot of humbug, this quarantine business" (Ibid.).
Finally George Teasdale, with Brethren Mountain and Nash and a few others, came out in a rowboat, but could not board. The White party found that by leaning over the rail they could converse with the folk in the rowboat. Willie Floding, a young man bound for Battle Creek to take the medical course, came on board at Auckland. The travelers were shocked to learn of the death of Mrs.
F. L. Sharp, the wife of the treasurer and business manager of the developing Sydney Sanitarium, following major surgery. Willie and his mother sent messages of consolation back with the workers.
Ellen White spent as much time as possible in a steamer chair on deck, writing letters, mostly to friends left behind in Australia. She was fascinated and refreshed by the sea and the fresh salt air. From girlhood days she had loved the ocean. One day she wrote, "We now have a full view of the ever-changing, restless, beautiful sea" (Letter 164, 1900). And at another time, "I am up on deck writing, and enjoying the fresh air.... This morning my soul is filled with praise and thanksgiving to God" (Manuscript 96, 1900).
She spent many pleasant hours paging through the autograph album given her during the farewell service at Cooranbong. So did the Willie White family on the deck below, as day by day they read a few pages. These albums, gold embossed and bound in bright royal-blue velvet with gold-edged leaves, are now on display in the White Estate office at the General Conference headquarters. They still convey nostalgia and warmth. Visitors who read them feel drawn to those for whom they were so lovingly and carefully prepared. There was a section for every day of the voyage, and each section was introduced by an exquisite little watercolor painting, the Moana itself often appearing in the picture.
The Stop In Samoa
The autograph album page designed for Sabbath, September 8, shows the Moana lying placidly in the harbor at Apia, largest of the Samoan islands. The artist's prediction came close to the fact. The ship arrived at 7:00 Friday morning. It would have been Sabbath morning if they had not just crossed the date line, thus adding an extra day.
As the anchor dropped, the White party spotted its welcoming commit-tee--a large green boat powered by singing Samoans (15 WCW, p. 868). They were directed by Prof. D. D. Lake, who supervised the Samoan Mission. One by one members of the White party were helped down the rope ladder into the boat, and even 72-year-old Ellen White climbed down. One giant Samoan took Baby Grace in his arms and stood right on the point of the bow, much to the discomfiture of her mother, May, who had an innate fear of water. She could easily imagine those big bare feet slipping off the slick wood.
Even the smaller boat could not go all the way in to shore, so two of the men crossed arms to make a chair for Ellen White and carried her to the beach. May White was told to put her arms around the neck of the one who carried Grace, and Ellen White had a good laugh over the strange sight of this grown woman in her full skirts clinging to the bronzed back of a Samoan as he carried her and her baby ashore.
Two carriages were waiting to convey members of the party who were not up to walking the mile (two kilometers) to mission headquarters. The rest of the group enjoyed the little jaunt. Oh, how good the home-cooked breakfast tasted! While most of the party went sightseeing, Ellen White and Willie stayed behind with Professor Lake to discuss the possibilities of reopening the sanitarium that had been forced to close when Dr. F. E. Braucht left for New Zealand (Ibid.).
The sightseers returned just as the interview was completed. After having prayer together, they collected the many baskets of fruit that had been gathered for them. There were bananas in abundance, mangoes, papayas, and oranges. Everybody then headed for the boat, except Mabel. One of the women had wanted to return early, so Mabel had volunteered to drive her to the dock with the horse and buggy. On the drive back to the mission she became lost. She could not ask her way, for the only words in Samoan she knew were "How do you do?" It was nearly time for the boat to leave. Just as the situation seemed almost hopeless, along came Willie Floding. He had worked on the island and knew his way around. Together they quickly found the ship.
Calm seas continued as they plowed their way north and east on the next leg of the journey--2,260 miles (3,616 kilometers) to Honolulu. Midway they would cross the equator and again be in the Northern Hemisphere. It was a pleasant week of travel. Ella, unable to restrain the desire to teach, had organized a little school for the twins, and soon other children joined. She even recruited Leonard Paap, one of the party, to teach the older children. The sunrise on Monday morning was outstanding. Ellen White wrote, "The sunrise was glorious. The whole sea was a river of yellow gold. We have on this journey a placid sea" (Manuscript 96, 1900).
The Stop In Honolulu
Friday morning, September 14, at 8:00, after a very hot night, the Moana reached Honolulu. Elder Baxter Howe, in charge of the work of the church there, welcomed the travelers and took them to Mrs. Kerr's, where the whole party enjoyed an early lunch. The Kerrs were an affluent family. Mr. Kerr, a businessman, was not a member of the church, but his wife, a generous-hearted and outgoing woman, had been a member for several years. Mrs. White had been entertained royally at their home on her trip to Australia nine years before.
The hours in Honolulu would be limited, so the party made a brief visit to the church, where both Ellen White and Willie addressed the people. Then they visited the Chinese school operated by W. E. Howell. By 6:00 that evening they were back on the boat, which soon was on its way eastward to San Francisco.
Nearing America: An Encouraging Promise
As they neared the California arrival time, late Thursday night, Mrs. White felt she could hardly endure the expected partying that traditionally marks the final day of a voyage. Willie came to her and said, "We are nearing the last night of the trip, when we shall have more noise than ever before; but I am praying for a storm" (Manuscript 29, 1901). So am I, his mother replied.
That Wednesday evening, still dreading the next day's carousal, Ellen White found a little anteroom and lay down. She fell asleep, but soon was awakened by a voice speaking to her. As she gained consciousness, she knew what it meant. "The room was filled with a sweet fragrance, as of beautiful flowers." Then she fell asleep once more and was awakened in the same way. Of it she wrote:
Words were spoken to me, assuring me that the Lord would protect me, that He had a work for me to do. Comfort, encouragement, and direction were given to me, and I was greatly blessed (Ibid.).
Part of the message that came to her at the time was an assurance that put her mind at rest on one particular point. This was the question of where she should make her home in America. In earlier years they had lived in Battle Creek, Michigan, as her husband led the church and managed the Review and Herald Publishing House. Then they had lived in Oakland, California, as James White started the Signs of the Times. After her husband's death, Ellen had lived in a home in Healdsburg, California, only a few blocks from the college. This home she still owned. Just before leaving for Australia she had lived in Battle Creek again. And now where should she settle? The question had concerned her from the time she planned to leave Australia.
The vision given to her that Wednesday evening during the last week of the journey set her mind at rest. She wrote of this, "The Lord revealed Himself to me ... and comforted me, assuring me that He had a refuge prepared for me, where I would have quiet and rest" (Letter 163, 1900).
What a comfort it was to know that God already had something in mind for her! How she wished she might know just what or where it was.
Through The Golden Gate
Now they came to Thursday, the last full day of the trip. They would enter San Francisco Bay that night. The day was sunny and bright, but the sea was so rough the sailors could hardly keep their balance on deck. Most of the passengers remained in their berths. There was no trip-ending party. Ellen White lay in bed all day, fearful even to turn over. And then just before the Moana slipped through the Golden Gate, the sea suddenly quieted. It was 10:00. The ship could not dock until daylight, so the anchor was cast.
Through the long night hours the ship swung lazily at anchor in San Francisco Bay. The White party no doubt expected that with the coming of daylight the Moana would move into one of the Union Steamship Company piers, and that soon friends and fellow workers on the wharf would be welcoming them back to the United States. But such was not the case. Immigration officials, highly conscious of germs, required the Sydney passengers, even though they had been on the ship for nearly a month, to proceed by tugboat to a quarantine station on Angel Island, where their belongings and trunks could be fumigated. That whole weary Friday was spent going through these formalities.
Finally, by early evening, the contents of the trunks and suitcases having been properly fumigated and repacked, the party was taken by tugboat to San Francisco. They arrived at 8:00 and were met by G. A. Irwin, president of the General Conference; C. H. Jones, manager of the Pacific Press; and J. O. Corliss, pastor of the San Francisco church. The traveling party soon dispersed. Elder Jones, a longtime friend and acquaintance, took Ellen White and some of her helpers to his home in Oakland. Others stayed with friends in San Francisco. W. C. and May White, with the twins and Baby Grace, were entertained by the Corlisses at their home in Fruitvale, an Oakland suburb. That night Elder Irwin sent a telegram to Battle Creek that carried the good news of the arrival of the party. It was published on the back page of the next issue of the Review. It read, "San Francisco, Cal., September 21, 1900.--Sister White and party arrived this morning in good condition." The editor commented that this would be "good news to thousands." And it was.