Page:Men of Mark in America vol 1.djvu/336

246 Crafts is deeply interested in the effort to check the opium traffic which curses China.

Doctor Crafts is the author of thirty-three books. Among them are: "Through the Eye to the Heart," "The Sabbath for Man," 1884; "Successful Men of Today"; "Practical Christian Sociology," 1885. He has written for many religious journals, especially on subjects connected with Sunday-school work. In 1905 he is preparing three books, "That Boy and Girl of Yours" ; "Real Twentieth Century Folks," and "Ecce Rex Vester, or the Kingship of Christ in Nature, Scripture, History and Reforms."

Though a member of some fraternal societies, he is inclined "to think secret orders inadvisable where free speech prevails." He votes "With the Republican party when possible, and at other times with the prohibitionists." He is not fettered by denominational barriers but works gladly with all who are interested in reform measures. The Bible, biography and the English poets are his favorite reading. From early boyhood he expected to preach and to be an editor. A suggestion received before he was twelve, "to live so as to make the world better for having lived in it," became "a thought of power for him." His father, his teachers and a "school parliament" of only six boys, were "quickeners of his thinking powers." "Most of my day dreams have been fulfilled in outline though not in fullness," he says; and adds that "courageous adherence to an unpopular but important cause is the best gymnasium for developing strong character." As a reformer he shows a list of 409 distinct reforms, local, national and international for which he has worked, 125 of which have become acts of government in five continents.

He was married to Miss Sarah Jane Timanus, May, 1874.