Page 221 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (3)_Neat

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MRS. JAMES CANTINE

With the death of Mrs. Cantine at Stone Ridge, New
York, on August 30, 1927, one of the links with the early
history of the Arabian Mission was broken. In January,
1900, only eleven years after Dr. Cantine had made his
first journey out to unknown Arabia “to spy out the land,”
the Arabian Mission sent a stirring call for reinforcements
to the homeland. A year later, after fruitless expectation,
the same call was sounded and it was urged that two single • t-
ladies be sent out, as the Mission had come to feel that it
was feasible now for them to live and work in that far
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country. The first single lady to respond to the appeal was
Miss Elizabeth De Pree, who sailed for the field in 1902. V
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Possessed of rare natural qualities for the work, she had the
added advantage (if nurses’ training which stood her in good •I
stead in the early years, when there was such palpable
need of medical attention with so few resources to meet
"v*l
the need. 4
In these days, when the work of the Arabian Mission
has grown to such splendid proportions, it is a little hard to m
capture the picture of those early years of uncertainty, fear
of the unknown, and danger of sudden disease and death, . 1
which came to several of the pioneers. Yet our blood
quickens within us as we think of this fine venture of faith
of a young woman leaving her home to cast her lot in a %
land like Arabia, strange, inhospitable, inhabited by fierce M2
fanatical followers of the prophet Mohammed, untutored in
the ways of civilization but taught to hate the Christian and .y
despise unveiled womanhood. • »
In 1904 Dr. James Cantine married Miss De Pree, and
for twenty-three years they shared in planning and working
for the Arabs, living in turn in all stations of the Mission
and finally sitting together at the opening meeting of the •SI
new United Mission in Mesopotamia in April, 1924. Her ■>
natural ability, her peculiar equipment for service, her sweet
patience, her poise of spirit and the devotion with which she i
applied herself to her missionary service and to the support
of her husband in his responsible leadership in the work of
the Mission, will be held in grateful remembrance for many
years to come.
The funeral service of Mrs. Cantine was held at Stone . ft
Ridge, the home of her husband and the birthplace of the
Arabian Mission, on September 2, 1927. The Reverend*
C. Van Tul, pastor of the Stone Ridge Church, 1\ U.
•Hi
Seeley, pastor of the Fair Street Church, Kingston, and
W. I. Chamberlain, Corresponding Secretary of the Board
of Foreign Missions, participated in the service. Mrs.
Cantine was laid away in the old cemetery at Stone Ridge
in the beautiful Wallkill Valley and amid the sweet and
tender associations of the Arabian Mission.