p. 63 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 4. (11/28/1892)

SECULAR.

—A fire in Tokio, Japan, on the 13th inst., destroyed 600 houses.

—The loss by the great dock fire at Cardiff, Wales, on the 19th inst., is estimated at $325,000.

—A recent dispatch says that all the trades unions in Buenos Ayres have entered upon a strike.

—Heavy snowstorms are reported in portions of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Missouri.

—A commission has been appointed to negotiate with the Nez Percez Indians in Idaho for their surplus lands.

—Five employés in a brush factory in Marco, France, died last week with a mysterious illness resembling the plague.

—The Piedmont Springs Hotel, a suburban resort of this city of twenty years' standing, was destroyed by fire on the 17th inst.

—Two children named Beattie were burned to death last week, near Hiawatha, Kansas, by setting a straw stack on fire with matches.

—At Claribel Station, twelve miles from Modesto, Cal., on the 17th inst., a warehouse and 4,000 tons of wheat were burned. Loss, $110,000.

—The President has appointed Wm. Potter, of Pennsylvania, minister to Italy, and D. P. Thompson, of Oregon, minister to Turkey.

—Francois, the French Anarchist who is charged with having caused a disastrous explosion in a Paris restaurant, has been arrested in London.

—The International Monetary Conference, which is to assemble in Brussels on the 22d inst., is attracting the attention of the whole financial world.

—Eighteen thousand pounds of dynamite will be used by the government in a rain-producing experiment near San Antonio, Texas, the present week.

—Rev. J. B. Moffet, a Baptist pastor and Prohibition leader, of North Danville, Va., was shot by a political opponent about election time, and died on the 14th inst.

—The Government of France asks the Chamber of Deputies to pass a bill authorizing the suppression of Anarchist papers. The request is causing a sensational discussion.

—The number of Chicago saloon licenses has passed the 7,000 mark, and it is thought that during the World's Fair there will be between 9,000 and 10,000 saloons in full blast.

—A Hamburg, Germany, dispatch of the 17th inst. says: "The police of Altona have arrested twenty-eight Anarchists, of whom seven upon examination have been detained for prosecution."

—On the 6th inst. the convicts in the prison at Tarragona, Spain, overpowered the guards and broke out. The troops were summoned, but the convicts were not secured until nine had been killed and sixteen wounded.

—The little town of Redbud, Ill., was completely wrecked by a tornado on the 17th inst. Three persons were fatally and eleven others seriously injured. Houses, barns, fences, and orchards were all leveled to the ground.

—The St. Petersburg Novosti of the 17th inst. declares the necessity for an international agreement in order that a common stand may be taken against the scourge of cholera. It further states that the disease is increasing there.

—After a few weeks of stormy political times in Hawaii, a new ministry has been selected, that seems to stand the test of opposition, and when the last steamer left Honolulu for San Francisco, quiet reigned in the sunny little kingdom.

—On the 15th inst., eight cases of smallpox were discovered on one block in Brooklyn, N. Y. And in Chicago, on the same day, a young Swedish girl who had just arrived from the old country was found to be afflicted with the disease.

—It is publicly stated that the cotton manufacturers of Blackstone and the carpet corporation of Lowell, Mass., will advance wages on the 5th of December. The advance by the latter will be five per cent., that of the former is not yet announced.

—A disastrous prairie fire was started in Rock County, Nebraska, on the 20th inst. There was extensive destruction of property, and many persons had to seek safety in wells and caves, and other places where the fire could not reach them.

—A large tract of land near Stockton, Cal., has been purchased for a colony of negroes from Tennessee and Georgia, said to number 3,600. The first company passed through Ogden, Utah, on the 15th inst., en route to their new home, and others are soon to follow.

—At a Democratic ratification meeting, held at Mountain View, Ark., on the 16th inst., some fireworks stored in the building exploded, causing the death of four persons. Fifteen others were seriously injured, some of them fatally, and the building was badly wrecked.

—A special agent of the Census Bureau has been discharged for giving to the government false information regarding Bering Sea matters. It is claimed that his reports had been especially misleading in regard to affairs in dispute between the United States and Great Britain.

—A Rome dispatch tells of an exciting Socialist meeting in that city on the 16th inst. At the close of the meeting a procession marched through the streets singing political songs. Meeting a detachment of police, a fight ensued, in which four persons were seriously wounded.

—The Association for the Advancement of Women was in session in Memphis, Tenn., last week. In discussing the prospects, the statement was made that the Jews favored the movement, while the Lutherans opposed it, and the Catholics dampened the cause by neither favoring nor opposing.

—The Order of Railway Telegraphers announce that unless the Queen and Crescent and East Tennessee and Georgia Railways comply with their demand for an increase of wages equal to $7.00 a month for each man, there will be a general strike of the 1,800 operators employed by those roads.

—Officers of a steamer which arrived in New York, last week, from West Indian ports, report that the Government of Hayti is again called upon to contend with rebellion. This time it is the former supporters of the government that are aiding the cause of the noted revolutionist, Legitime, against his old associates.

—Late advices from Apia, Samoa, show that there is much disquiet in the group. Disturbances have occurred among the natives of the Tutuila Islands, arising from the claims of rival chiefs to the title of Mauga. Some fighting has occurred at Pago-Pago Bay, where the town was almost completely destroyed.

—The recent explosion of a dynamite bomb in Paris has stirred the Austrian police into renewed activity against Anarchists and Socialists. A large number of arrests of extremists have already been made in this city, Prague, and Gratz. The Berlin and London police are coöperating with the Viennese police in tracking the Anarchists.

—The Skagit River, Washington, is reported to be at flood height. The towns of Mount Vernon, Hamilton, Sedro, Fir, and Skagit City were all under water on the 20th inst. Great destruction of property all along the river is the result, bridges, wharfs, dams, etc., being damaged by floating logs and a rushing current. It is also reported that several lives were lost at Sedro.

—The Amalgamated Association at Homestead, Pa., has officially called off the great strike of the Carnegie iron workers. The strike has continued five months; has involved at times nearly 10,000 workmen; has caused a loss in wages of about $2,000,000, besides thirty-five lives, and an expense to the State of about $500,000. The loss to the Carnegie Company is not known.

—Count Tolstoi, in the Russian Gazette, calls attention to the continued miserable condition of the peasantry in Russia. He says famine again threatens the already afflicted districts. The rye harvest is as bad as it was in 1891 and oats are an utter failure. There is a complete dearth of material for fires, and the people are exhausted by last winter's misery. The outlook is as black as possible.

—The Board of Supervisors of San Benito County, Cal., have passed an ordinance closing the saloons of the county at 10 o'clock Saturday evening and not permitting them to open until 6 o'clock Monday morning. All entrances must be made of clear glass, affording an unobstructed view from the outside. The provisions are similar to those of the ordinance now in force at San Jose, but the penalties are more severe.

—At a meeting of the presidents of all seaboard trunk lines, doing business to the West, held in New York, last week, it was decided that the only way to prevent the demoralization of rates was to return to the old plan of pooling the business, pure and simple, as was done before the Interstate Commerce law made it illegal. It is no less illegal now, but the officers saw no other way out of the difficulty, and evidently resolved to take chances that the law will not be rigorously enforced against them.

—Spain and Portugal are "Christian nations," according to popular theory and popular jurisprudence; but their crowned heads enjoy the bullfight entertainment. The king and queen of Portugal recently paid a visit to the capital of Spain, and among the festivities in their honor was a bullfight. "The show was a great success and was thoroughly enjoyed," says a press dispatch, "and the king of Portugal in a moment of enthusiasm, threw his diamond scarf pin at the feet of the toreador."

—France is on the eve of a great sensation. The chief justice, M. Ricard, has ordered the prosecution of the administrators of the Panama Canal. The figures which serve as a basis for the prosecution show that out of 1,300,000,000 francs only 471,000,000 francs were used properly. The remainder disappeared. Some went to the newspapers, which received 20,000,000 francs, and some to the politicians, who received 8,000,000 francs. The contractors are to be prosecuted as accomplices, for they expended on the work only 7,000,000 francs out of 25,000,000 francs. It is now quite clear that the canal will never be completed as a French enterprise.

—The powder house of a firm of street contractors, located in the suburbs of San Francisco, was blown up on the 19th inst. with a dreadful shock, which was felt for miles around. One of the employees went to the house to get some giant powder to put in a blast hole that had been dug in a neighboring bank, and it is said he went in with a pipe in his mouth. He had just stepped inside when the explosion occurred, and, although the structure was entirely demolished, the man himself was thrown sixty feet away with but little injury. The buildings occupied by the grading camp were wrecked, together with two adjacent villages, and every house within three blocks was more or less damaged. The foreman and cook of the grading company were seriously injured, as also an old lady who lived in one of the wrecked cottages.

Bible Students' Library Publications

BIBLE ELECTION. By M. C. Wilcox. A brief presentation of God's plan and purpose concerning man, showing that the doctrine of election, or predestination, according to the Bible, is full of comfort and instruction. It throws new light on old controversies. Bible Students' Library, No. 67; 24 pp.; price 3 cents. Address Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal.

ANGELS; THEIR NATURE AND MINISTRY. Contains also some hints on the origin, history, and destiny of Satan as gleaned from the Scriptures. Bible Students' Library, No. 83. Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal. 140 pp.; 20 cents.

BIBLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS CONCERNING MAN. By Alonzo T. Jones. Bible Students' Library, No. 76. Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal. 16 pp.; 2 cents.

News and Notes.

By Editor

FOR THE WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 21.

RELIGIOUS.

—The General Missionary Committee of the Methodist Church has appropriated $1,310,000 for home and foreign work, besides $500,000 for women's home and foreign societies.

—A Rome dispatch of the 16th inst. says: "As soon as Mr. Cleveland's administration shall have been inaugurated in Washington, the Vatican will open negotiations for the establishment of a special United States Legation, and the reception at Washington of a Papal Nuncio."

—The leaders of the Salvation Army have called a convention of delegates from all the 1,100 Army posts in the United States and Canada, to meet in New York the present week. There are to be torchlight processions through the streets, and a noonday parade on Broadway.

—A conference of Roman Catholic archbishops of the United States is in session in New York City. A general discussion of the question of education is said to be the main point. At a reception in honor of Cardinal Gibbons and Archbishop Satolli, papal legate from Rome, President-elect Cleveland and Governor Flower, of New York, were present.

—The latest money-raising scheme for religious purposes is an entertainment called "living whist." It was recently played in the Grand Opera House, San Francisco, in aid of a Unitarian Church enterprise. Fifty-two persons represent a deck of cards, and are played by opponents on the same principle, the living cards dancing into position. The participants were dressed in costume, and "prominent society people" took an active part.

—As evidence that "there is no power in the Roman Catholic system of religion to elevate men above their natural condition," the Converted Catholic cites the fact that several of the leading pugilists are devout Catholics. The two at the head of the list, whose recent contest eclipsed even politics in popular interest, attended mass regularly while training for the fight, and the Boston representative is said to have put $50 in the collection plate the Sunday before entering the ring.

—The Jewish Exponent of a recent date contains this cutting comment: "There was a time when the synagogue authorities refused to give the Decalogue a place in the ritual lest the Pauline Christians, just coming into prominence, would hold this to be an indorsement of their teachings, and that so much constituted all of Judaism's laws and doctrines. Modern rabbis go beyond the backsliding Jews of that day, for they have no compunction even in making compromises with conflicting creeds."

The Keeley Gold Cure

By Editor

The Keeley Gold Cure.—Much has been said pro and con. during the last few months on the Keeley gold cure for drunkenness. By some Keeley is exalted as a saviour and benefactor of the race, and many men exploit their own once enslaved condition to appetite, in order to make clearer and more potent the "great good" Keeley has done. On the other hand, some of our best physicians, chemists, and medical journals denounce the proprietary cure as a humbug, some of the drugs in its composition as decidedly deleterious, and the effects of the "cure," if its use is long continued, upon some constitutions, at least, as worse than drunkenness. However that may be, we leave the chemists, the physicians, and this same Dr. Keeley to fight it out, and may the right win.

There is, however, another side to the question. A genuine benefactor, even if he thought it wise to preserve the compounding of his medicine a secret, would not put its price so high that but comparatively few of the poor miserables which it might benefit could secure it. If he were able, it would be in harmony with the gospel of Christ to administer to the needy freely. If he were not able, he should put it at the lowest possible cost consistent with Christian justice and mercy. By the way, we have just received a letter from a lady in Chicago, which we give for what it is worth, not holding ourselves responsible for the formulæ of the compound, nor for the prescription for the patient. Will some of our medical readers tell us what it is worth? The letter appears to be honest. It is as follows:—

MR. EDITOR: So much has been written regarding the Gold Cure for drunkenness that we all know of the great good accomplished. My husband, who was a wreck for years, took treatment at an institute over three years ago, and has no desire to taste liquor since, but it cost us over $60. I have a brother-in-law, a chemist, a slave to drink, but too poor to take treatment; he analyzed the medicine my husband brought home, and cured himself. Four of our acquaintances got the prescription and cured themselves. The following is the prescription: Electro-fied gold, 15 grains; muriate of ammonia, 7½ grains; comp. fluid extract of cinchona, 4 grains; fluid extract of coca, 1½ ounces; glycerine, 1½ ounces; nitrate of strychnia, 1 grain; distilled water, 1½ ounces. Take a teaspoonful every two hours when awake for two or three weeks. After the second or third day, there will be no desire for drink. Medicine to effect a cure will not cost over $3.50. I think every paper should help the poor by publishing this prescription. MRS. WM. CARTER. Chicago, Ill.

LET US GIVE THANKS.

By Editor

WILL our readers please note this fact, that on the twenty-fourth day of November, 1892, "in the land of the free and the home of the brave," while hymns of praise and thanksgiving, prayers, and sermons are sounding out from thousands of churches for the freedom granted us under the Stars and Stripes, there are fourteen good souls indicted as criminals under the laws of the commonwealth of Tennessee, against whom no charge can be brought save that of working quietly and to the disturbance of no one on the first day of the week after having rested on the Sabbath day according to the commandment? Four of these men have just finished a sentence for this same "crime," in the chain gang. These men are said to be, even by their prosecutors and persecutors, good citizens. They are said, by their first-day acquaintances, to be good neighbors and honorable men. The Constitution of the State of Tennessee is violated by their arrest and incarceration, but judges of the Supreme Court of the State and of the District Court of the United States have approved the law and confirmed the penalty. At the same time men who keep no sabbath, great corporations of various kinds, and parties of sport, "desecrate" Sunday unmolested by law. These men were put in jail, these men are now indicted, because they keep the Sabbath of the Lord. We do not wish to take from the fervor of a single prayer or song, but it is well to remember these facts.

Yet is there reason to be thankful November 24 and all days. Great blessings are enjoyed in this "land of liberty." God has given abundantly of the good things of earth, and kept from us war and pestilence. In most parts of the land he has given the privilege of worshiping him according to conscience, and Jesus Christ is Saviour over all, rich unto all who call upon him.

Are we complaining for the sake of our brethren in Tennessee?—Not at all. They have more blessing than those who placed them there. Says Jesus: "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." Matt. 5:11, 12.

Let all give thanks. Let our persecuted brethren give thanks. They have special reason. They have the word of God. They have the promise and presence of Christ.

"PREDICTION—INTERPRETATION—FULFILLMENT."

WE call the attention of the reader to the article with the above title found in the first pages of this issue. We have said again and again in the Signs of the Times that the very things which we see coming to pass relative to Sunday laws, and the religious persecution made possible by them, were predicted more than forty years ago. In fact, they were predicted by the Seer of Patmos eighteen centuries ago. Based upon his inspired prediction it was said more than twoscore years ago that the Sunday question would become the leading question, the Sunday would be legalized, and that persecution for conscience' sake would result because of this. This was said when there were no outward indications in the political atmosphere that such would ever be the case. It was said in the face of scornful silence, reproach, and ridicule. This week we give part of what was then said. The article is long, but the facts are of intense interest. We ask the reader to ponder them. Inspiration said eighteen centuries ago that the evil legislation and persecution were coming. Faith said more than twoscore years ago that they were coming in our generation. Sight says to-day that the beginning of that legislation, that persecution is here. Loyalty to God and love to our fellow-men bids us lift warning voice to all the world: Worship not the beast or his image or receive his mark. May God guide our readers; may they stand where God can guide them.

The Education of a Boy Murderer

THE newspapers tell of "a sweet-faced, blue-eyed boy whose locks of gold the wind of but eleven summers has tossed," living in Colorado, who in the beginning of this month murdered a man in cold blood, robbed him of watch and revolver, and then, with a smile of innocence, told his mother all about it. He did not seem to know that he had committed a crime. What must his education have been? How much does the thirst for human gore, called in modern parlance "love of athletics," have to do with such conscienceless education.

The Three Messages of Revelation 14

By Editor

SEVERAL calls have been made for articles on the three messages of Revelation 14. We have a series of articles on hand which will soon be published, and will present more fully than space would permit in this number the evidences that this country is symbolized by the two-horned beast of Revelation 13.

Man’s Sin and Saviour

By Editor

We are brought in the study of "Man's Sin and Saviour" this week to the ministration of the earthly priests. We hope our readers will put earnest study upon the subject. It will well repay it, and the Bible is full of it. In fact, the Bible was given to reveal man's sin and Saviour.

The Bread and the Wine

By Editor

We commend the article entitled "The Bread and the Wine," on page 57, to our church officers. There will be plenty of time to prepare this before our next quarterly meeting. It is just as well to be right in all these matters.

CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER.

By Editor

Editorial.—Notes and Comments—Election Is Over—Prediction—Interpretation—Fulfillment—Christ as a Citizen—Will It Be the Creed of the Future?... 49-51

Doctrinal.—The Dead Hand (poetry)—The Soul and the Resurrection—God's Forgiveness—Man's Sin and Saviour, No. 4 (The Ministration of the Earthly Priests)—The New Birth—The Spirit of Reverence in the Study of Prophecy... 52-54

Miscellaneous.—The Tuner and the Tuning (poetry)—Representing Christ to the World—"There Remaineth a Rest"—Who Was "Him"?—Envy—The Bread and the Wine—The Lord's Righteousness—His Eyes Blinded as Bad as Ananias'... 55-57

The Home Circle.—Thanksgiving at the Old Home (poetry)—Coronation—"Ye Have Done It unto Me" 58

Health and Temperance.—Wine, Fermented and Unfermented... 59

Mission Fields.—Opportunity (poetry)—Norfolk Island... 60

Our Work and Workers.—Our College in South Africa—Field Notes... 61

International S. S. Lesson.—The Apostolic Council (Lesson 11, December 11)... 62

News and Notes.—Religious—Secular... 63

Editorial.—Various Notes and Comments—The Keeley Cure—Let Us Give Thanks—"Prediction, Interpretation, Fulfillment"—Please Respond at Once... 64

Questions Awaiting Answers

By Editor

A LARGE number of questions on hand await answer. Will our queriests be patient?

PLEASE RESPOND AT ONCE.

By Editor

Our own Sabbath-school lessons will be printed in the SIGNS the coming year. The International Sunday-school lessons will be on different subjects, but we will print the Sunday-school lessons also, or notes upon them, if a sufficient number of our readers desire them. Please respond at once.

SCIENCE in the KITCHEN

By Mrs. E. E. Kellogg

By MRS. E. E. KELLOGG, A. M.,

Superintendent of the Sanitarium School of Cookery and of the Bay View Assembly School of Cookery, and Chairman of the World's Fair Committee on Food Supplies for Michigan.

A scientific treatise on food substances and their dietetic properties, together with a practical explanation of the principles of healthful cookery, and a large number of original, palatable and wholesome recipes. Agents wanted.

Address, PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO., Oakland, Cal.

USEFUL AND INTERESTING BOOKS

By Editor

FOR BOTH OLD AND NEW SUBSCRIBERS.

We will send the SIGNS one year with your choice of either one of the following books, postpaid, for $2.00:

PROPHETIC LIGHTS, by E. J. Waggoner, Prophecies of the Old and New Testaments, interpreted by the Bible and history. Paper bound, 180 pages, handsomely illustrated.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF FOREIGN MISSIONS of the Seventh-Day Adventists, with maps showing location of churches, etc., 294 pages, paper binding.

LIFE AND WORDS OF CHRIST, by C. Geikie, D. D. This is a cheap edition, contains over 800 pages, and is bound in cloth.

Every library ought to contain these interesting and instructive books.