Earlier text: A Unique QuestionBlantyre, Nyasaland, South Africa
By C. Robinson
I returned a while ago from visiting the out-schools at Malavi, Monekera, and the other villages in that direction, and although many of the boys are out working for their tax money, I was well pleased with the work done and with the good spirit in the schools. The best school has a Bible class of twenty-four, including the chief of the village. Being near to Mantandane, I paid Brother Konigmacher a visit, and we had a good time together. He and Sister Konigmacher are working diligently on the Portuguese language, and by the time we get permission, will be ready to enter that field. The Sabbath I was there Brother Konigmacher baptized twenty-four adults, so that now the Mantandane church numbers thirty-four, including Brother and Sister Konigmacher. There are also sixty-six persons still in the Bible classes in the Mantandane district, and all this shows the good work which has been done there. They are all well. Moses went with me on this trip, but not to Mantandane. He was a good help. We held meetings with the church-members at Malavi and at Monekera, and tried to get them to do more work for the Lord. Some of them have promised to make mission gardens, some will have mission fowls, and others have various plans for raising money for the work. I spoke to them about the “widow’s two mites,” and they agreed with me, better than I had hoped they would, that it is time the church in Nyasaland is beginning to help carry on the Lord’s work. I want all our teachers to take up the monthly collections in the villages just as we do at Malamulo, and also to teach their Bible-class members to make mission gardens to help the work. They will not raise much, but it will be a beginning and will help to make them stronger Christians. Malinki has begun work again, and for the present he is looking after the schools around Monekera and doing evangelistic work. Simon has only just returned from his trip around the schools in the other direction, and seems to have had a profitable time. I shall get him to report concerning his trip. As soon as I have things fixed up for the end of the month, one of us must visit the Chirono schools, as there is a famine in that section, and we fear that we shall have to close the schools down there. If we do, one of the best teachers should stay there to look after the Bible classes and the general interest. We shall have to send food down to him. We are busy staking out the new rubber field, and will put in as much as there is seed for. We have a boy gathering the seed as it falls from the large trees by the boys’ houses. South Carolina
By C. G. Manns
Since reporting last the new Sabbath-keepers of Charleston have opened a mission church-school, with Sister M. G. Mason as teacher. She began with three Monday, Feb. 17, 1913. The attendance has now increased to sixteen, and more are coming. We are going to work up a large school by next school year, by the Lord’s help. The writer spent a few days in Lincolnville, S. C., with a company of twelve or more. Six of these are waiting for baptism. On the twenty-first I went to Johnston, S. C., and spent five days with the church. We had a good Sabbath meeting, and the church asked me to preach the next week. To this request I agreed. The minister of the A. M. E. Church was present in our Sabbath meetings. He was so interested in the subject that he gave us the use of his church. We had a house full every night. Subjects concerning the Lord’s coming were taken up. There is a growing interest in time Johnston. The church there will sell one of its two lots, and use the money for putting up their building. We expect in a few days, with the Lord’s help, to begin the work of building the Johnston church. The writer will be in Columbia for the next ten days, attending a canvassers’ institute, and conducting a ten-night meeting. We are also planning for a strong tent effort in Charleston, S. C., to begin about April 15. Our tent company will have a membership of six. G. W. ANGLEBARGER
By G. W. Anglebarger
DENVER.— During the last six months the Lord has greatly blessed the work in Denver. Twenty-three earnest persons have been baptized and received into the Capitol Hill church since September, and many others are almost ready for baptism. Seventeen have united with the church by letter. Our Bible workers are busy, for at present we have over twenty interested readers. There are many more openings than we can fill. A Bible school is being conducted for the members of the church, so that they may be prepared to take hold with us in this great work. Upper Parana Mission
By J. Ernst
NOTWITHSTANDING the fact that for hundreds of years idolatry, vice, and immorality have prevailed, the gospel will demonstrate its reforming power in those who accept it here in Paraguay. It is a pleasure to see how those who have been liberated from the greatest darkness take a living, active interest in the propagation of the gospel. This contributes greatly to the progress of the work. Since the annual general meeting held in March, when Elder W. A. Spicer was with us, twenty have been baptized in Missiones Territory and the northern part of the province of Corrientes, and Elder L. A. Rojas reports the baptism of five at Villa Rica, Paraguay. Some of the latter have passed through very severe trials during the recent Paraguay revolution, but they have remained firm and faithful. Brother F. Taborda, a missionary licentiate, announces that several have begun to keep the Sabbath at Ignasu. At this place are the noted Ignasu Falls, said to rank among the first in the world. Thus the work is being extended, and often the calls are more than we can respond to. At the time of our annual meeting Brother da Silva entered the work in our field as a canvasser. Two from our mission united with him in this work. These have all had excellent success. A lack of workers is the only reason why the work has not progressed more rapidly. We are all of good courage in the work, and thank God that he has blessed our feeble efforts so greatly. ELDER L. F. TRUBEY reports the baptism of eleven persons at Enyart, Mo. NINE new members have been added to the Cleveland (N. C.) church during the last few weeks. ELDER H. H. VOTAW recently baptized five young persons in the Rangoon lakes. Others are studying the truth. As the result of a tent effort in Miami, Fla., twenty-three are keeping the Sabbath, and others are deeply interested in the truth. ELDER F. A. STAHL, of the Lake Titicaca Indian mission in Peru, baptized eighteen persons not long ago. Among these were several young persons. SIX adults have taken their stand for the truth at West Peru, Maine, and the workers there have organized a Sabbath-school with a membership of sixteen. THREE persons were recently baptized in Lajoya, N. Mex., by Elder Burt Bray. Elder H. L. Hoover writes of the baptism of four new believers at Tolar and three at Socorro. WRITING from Tinnevelli, British India, Brother C. E. Weaks says: “Yesterday we had a good meeting and baptismal service. Eighteen went forward in this ordinance.” THE German work in Oklahoma is onward. Since the last camp-meeting fifty-nine persons have been baptized, as reported by Elder A. A. Meyer. Six adults have recently accepted the truth at Alva. DR. RILEY RUSSELL, our medical missionary in Korea, during 1912 treated 5,126 patients, traveled 1,000 miles on horseback, baptized 92 persons, and two churches have been organized in his territory. A SABBATH-SCHOOL of eleven members has recently been organized at Quirindi, in New South Wales, and at Ourimbah the company has been organized into a church and Sabbath-school, and plans are being made to erect a church building. SEVEN persons in Salem, Oregon, have decided to obey the commandments of God. A new church has just been organized at Brownsboro, southern Oregon, with a membership of thirteen. Three others are awaiting baptism. Recently ten new believers were baptized at Milton. Items of Medical Progress in India
From the last number of the Eastern Tidings we gather the following items of news regarding the medical work in India:— “Our medical work, while meeting with hindrances, has made some advancement. For two years we have had no sanitarium. We had hoped that a sanitarium might be opened this year, but we now find that funds are not immediately available and that such an undertaking must be delayed. The treatment-rooms in Calcutta and Mussoorie have enjoyed a growing patronage and above all expenses, including rent and cost of operation, have cleared $1,500 the past year. We have now had sufficient experience in carrying on treatment-room work to feel reasonably assured that institutions of this sort, if provided with suitable appliances, located in a good section, and supplied with sufficient help, can be successfully operated in several of the large cities of India and Burma. This line of work is an excellent means of breaking down prejudice among both Europeans and Indians. It gives prestige to our work, and provides a means of coming in touch with people who would not attend our meeting halls and could not be induced to enter a sanitarium. “The Herald of Health continues to meet a want in the field. During the last year the magazine was enlarged and during the last biennial term the circulation increased from 1,500 to 3,500. We see no reason why its circulation should not again be doubled in the next two years. Perhaps the greatest work before us in medical lines is that for the poor away from hospitals provided by the government in European centers. Medical missionaries who have had probably the largest measure of success in India have found a wide area where the need of medical help is great and where the prestige of their work has told for the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. “Our dispensaries have given us entrance into the homes of the people; of this we are positively assured. The poor have been healed and lives have been saved. Our dispensary workers are doing more than ever before in teaching the gospel to those who come for treatment; this, it seems to us, is the most important and solemn responsibility that rests upon the missionary nurse. No number of treatments, however many, will win a soul to Christ except these are accompanied by the winning word of the gospel of truth. “There are two problems that concern us in our dispensary work. The first is that of adapting the principles of healthful living to teach the poor to live in conformity to health principles and to treat those who are sick. We should be the greatest medical missionaries in this country. Our health principles are surely needed in this lazar-house of need, and by the blessing of God they may be a growing and effective means in turning souls to Christ. “Medical work has been carried on at Gopalganj, East Bengal, our head station, and God has greatly blessed in the work, some remarkable cures having been effected. One poor woman had been afflicted for years with a disease that bent her double and forced her to crawl wherever she went. One day she crawled to the dispensary, where, after a few days’ treatment, she was able to stand, and finally went away walking, having fully regained her health. Sister Watson, with the aid of a native helper, has operated this dispensary for the last year. “Medical work is also an evangelical factor in the work at Karmatar. The village people, though very poor, gave this year toward the dispensary work about one hundred fifty rupees. This was a great encouragement to those who have labored to build up the medical work at this station, for these gifts showed very clearly that the work is being appreciated. “In Najibabad, Sisters B. A. Kurtz and M. B. Shryock have been laboring. Sister Kurtz had a working knowledge of the language when the work in Najibabad was started, and was at once able to minister both to the physical and spiritual needs of the dispensary and in the homes. Sister Shryock, after taking a year off for the study of language, is also able to conduct Bible studies among the women of the city. An average of twenty patients a day has been treated in the dispensary, some days there being ninety-six patients. A number of Bible studies and gospel talks have also been added to the day’s labors. About five rupees a month is received from patients for outside treatments. “The location of this station in its relation to our other work, the climate, and the attitude of the people is such that this year it was decided to buy land and erect a mission bungalow. This is being done, and will make for stronger and more fruitful work in coming years. A dispensary building in which the women, the oppressed, downtrodden sisters of India, may receive loving care in an effort to win their souls to Christ, is also a crying need of this city and district with thousands of Mohammedans and Hindus. “With the large population of educated Indians, both Hindus and Mohammedans, who are antagonistic to Christianity but are in sympathy with our health principles, our health work must always occupy a very unique place. Though we began to publish the Herald of Health but three years ago, we now have 2,800 regular subscribers, with monthly issues of 3,500. From correspondence with readers and by our canvassers we are greatly encouraged to believe that many will be directed to the special message for this time through the message of health which this journal contains. “The first day after our return ten women came. The second day we had a call from a rajah living about two miles distant. He with some European friends was hunting, and they had camped about eight miles from his home. One of the women of the party had jumped from the elephant while it was kneeling, and was injured internally. We found that it would be necessary for her to remain in bed two or three weeks, and have vigorous treatment and careful nursing. The rajah asked us if we could not take her home with us and care for her, but we had to tell him that we had no place to keep her, as we had no hospital. So the next day we took her to Bareilly, where she could be cared for. “Another day just as we were leaving the dispensary a patient suffering from a badly infected arm came in. After we had lanced and dressed it, he was greatly relieved and felt so grateful that he fell at our feet and began to bless us. We have been caring for him for several days, and he often remarks that we have saved his life. “To-day a little boy was brought to the dispensary on a bed. He was badly burned, and needed attention during the day, but as we had no suitable place we were compelled to put him on the dispensary veranda. “At another house was a young woman who also had been treated at the dispensary. She asked us to sing, and we had sung only one verse when a number of women from near-by homes came in. This young woman asked us if we would wait until she could make us some bread, but we told her no. She said, ‘I haven’t anything in the house to give you to eat,’ and insisted that we take money to buy some fruit from the bazaar. “Our medical work has so broken down prejudice in the station that as we walk along the street the women and children call to us to come in and sing and read to them. Yesterday we gained entrance in this way to six new homes where they want us to teach the Bible. In one of these homes there were fifteen women collected. The openings are more than we can fill.” IN a letter from W. C. Foreman, manager of the Tri-City Sanitarium, Moline, Ill., he states that the past year has been quite a prosperous one for that institution. The patronage has been good, and the building well filled all the time. Nearly six hundred patients have been cared for. Quite a portion of these have been surgical cases. The physicians of the city bring patients to the sanitarium for care, and a good reputation is being established. The feeling in the community could scarcely be better. As a result of the satisfactory services rendered, the local patronage has increased very materially during the year. The spiritual tone of the work has been quite satisfactory. Two young men have accepted the truth and joined the church during the year. The young people’s society, made up of workers in the institution, has shown quite a decided interest in spiritual work, and has put forth commendable efforts to help people outside the institution. Last year was the best one financially that the institution has ever had. The indebtedness was reduced somewhat, while quite a number of needed improvements were made and some necessary equipment secured. With the additional facilities and with a prosperous season for the coming year, the prospect is good for the institution. The Wabash Valley Sanitarium, at La Fayette, Ind., reports the past year as a very successful one, the latter part of the year showing an unusually heavy patronage. The work of the institution has been greatly blessed with most excellent results in behalf of the patients. A substantial reputation is being established. Medical Missionary Department
By L. A. Hansen
Conducted by the Medical Department of the General Conference L. A. HANSEN - - - - Assistant Secretary Religious Legislation in New York
THE following is a partial report of a public hearing before the State of New York Senate Codes Committee, Feb. 19, 1913, on Senate Bills Nos. 11 and 371, relative to vaudeville, and the exhibition of pictures, either moving or stationary, on the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday. Chairman of the committee and author of Bill No. 371, Senator Stephen J. Stilwell. Before many persons had been heard, the speakers were limited to five minutes each, and Senator Stilwell let it be known that he had introduced the bill by request, and that it had been drawn by Dr. Swartz of the Civic League, and Rev. O. R. Miller, editor of the Reform Bulletin, who were present and in charge of the representatives of the church interests appearing to urge the favorable consideration of the measures. They presented the reasons usually advanced for compulsory Sunday observance. Representatives of the theatrical and moving-picture interests appeared in opposition to the measures, and urged their educational value, and that if not permitted on Sunday many persons could never be benefited thereby. According to previous arrangement, after these parties had been heard, the chairman announced that there were those present who wished to be heard in opposition for other reasons than those previously offered. Elder W. H. Holden then spoke of the fundamental principles involved in the proposed legislation, of the attitude of Seventh-day Adventists, and he did not spare as he spoke of those bodies, especially Christians, who sought the aid of the civil power in securing Sabbath observance. He exceeded his time limit, and when the chairman reminded him of that fact the opposing clergymen applauded derisively, and were rebuked by the chairman. The experience of the next speaker was as follows:— “Chairman: What is your name?
“Speaker: J. E. Jayne.
“Chairman: Whom do you represent?
“Speaker: The New York Religious Liberty Association. “Chairman: If possible, Mr. Jayne, confine your remarks to five minutes. “Speaker: I shall be brief. I wish to refer to the Stilwell Bill No. 371 only. In explanation of this fact I will state that I hold no brief for vaudeville or moving-picture shows on any day. “Please note that on page two, lines three to five, are these words, ‘the presenting or in any manner displaying pictures or views, either moving or stationary.’” “We are not concerned with the intentions of the proponents of this bill, but we are concerned with the bill itself, because, if enacted, it is the law.” “We submit to you that should this bill become law and one of these good ministers who favor it should on Sunday hang up a picture of the apostle Paul and deliver a lecture on his missionary journeys, that good minister would thereby become a lawbreaker, a criminal.” “Chairman: I believe, Mr. Jayne, that they have stated that they wish to offer an amendment to this feature of the bill. I do not know as you were in when they mentioned this fact.” “Speaker: All right, Mr. Chairman, I should think they would!” “Again, Mr. Chairman, we invite your attention to page two, line eleven, and the ninth word, ‘misdemeanor.’” “By this provision certain conduct is constituted a misdemeanor on Sunday and wholly legitimate on Monday. Why is this? Is there any difference in the conduct itself?—Impossible, because the acts are identical in character. Of necessity, therefore, the difference is in the days, not in the acts, and in the days only. But wherein do Sunday and Monday differ? They can differ but in one particular, namely, some men regard Sunday as a holy day, sacred time, religious in character. That fact introduces religion into the proposed legislation. Such is improper. It is positively wrong. If the state can legislate concerning one religious act, as such, it may with equal justification legislate concerning every religious act, as such. Indeed, Mr. Chairman, one speaker to-day assured this committee that ‘fortunately, the State of New York has reenacted the entire Mosaic code.’ But that is folly. It is absolutely impossible for the State of New York to do so. The dear brother simply did not know what he was talking about; because the ten commandments are the law of God. They are moral. We must sharply differentiate between moral and civil, between sin and crime. That may be sin which is not crime.” “Speaker: God’s law, being moral, forbids evil thoughts as well as evil acts. The man who hates his brother is, according to God’s law, a murderer. But civil law can not deal with that man as a murderer until he translates his thought into an act and kills his brother. Why! even good ministers sometimes hate each other. What a spectacle it would be should the government treat them as murderers!” “It is the work of the church to teach the moral law of God, and to advance the spiritual kingdom of God, and to do that only; and in so doing it is very useful. But with that matter the state can have absolutely nothing to do.” “It is the business of the state to protect each, yes, even the weakest of its citizens, in the exercise of his inalienable rights; in his right to worship God, and in his right not to worship God, as his own conscience dictates; to protect its citizens in worshiping God, so long as they do not make that worship, or form of worship, a cloak under which to invade the equal rights of their fellows; to protect them in their right not to worship God, so long as they do not in that invade the equal rights of their fellows. Thus far may civil government go and no farther.” “A Senator: Mr. Jayne, do you think, then, that the law should permit the sale of liquor on Sunday?” “Speaker: No! nor on any other day.” “A Clergyman: Mr. Jayne, is the state not responsible for the enactment of moral laws?” “Speaker: No, certainly not. The state is powerless either to enact or to enforce moral laws.” “The Clergyman: Then, Mr. Jayne, how about the government of Israel? That government punished its subjects for gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. That government was a model for—” “Speaker: Hold on! brother, I am to answer that question, not yourself—that is, if it is the wish of this committee to have it answered.” “Mr. Chairman, do you wish me to answer that question?” “Chairman: Yes, go on; this is interesting.” “Speaker: Yes, there is something intensely interesting and peculiarly instructive in studying this legislation. The Hebrew government was a theocracy. God, through Moses, spoke to the people. God was the actual legislator, the real ruler.” “After the death of Moses this arrangement was continued through Joshua, the elders that outlived Joshua, and the judges until Samuel the prophet.” “Then the people said, Make us a king that we may be like the nations around us. This request displeased Samuel. He complained. God said to him, ‘They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not rule over them.’ This statement proves that until that date God had continued as the real ruler in Israel. Furthermore, he directed Samuel to grant them a king, and to tell them that if they would obey God he would continue with their kings as he had been with their judges. Under this arrangement God continued to be identified with the Hebrews. Often they did wrong. God rebuked them severely. He said, ‘Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins.’ Ye have limited the Holy One of Israel.” “Finally Zedekiah made a covenant with Babylon. God’s honor was involved in the keeping of that covenant. Zedekiah broke it. God told him he should die in Babylon—and he did.” “Then came a change. God would no longer endure the perversity of the Hebrew national government. Therefore, he called Nebuchadnezzar, the heathen king of Babylon, his servant, and gave everything under the heavens into his hands, that all nations should serve and obey him. However, in so doing, God made it plain that this arrangement was not to be permanent. Of that matter he said: ‘I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more.’ He did overturn it. Three overturnings are331 specified. Medo-Persia overturned Babylon, Grecia overturned Medo-Persia, Rome overturned Grecia. Now, mark God’s further declaration: ‘It shall be no more until,’—until, when?—‘until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.’ Then,—at that time when he shall come whose right it is,—and not until then, shall the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, who shall possess them forever.” “Therefore, my brother, from the destruction of that theocracy until the time of our Lord’s return it will be utterly impossible to establish a true theocracy upon this earth. God has said, ‘It shall be no more.’ Men have tried it. They have failed. The only thing they could do was to put themselves in the place of God and try to enact moral laws for him.” “Jesus understood this. His disciples did not. He found it necessary to both instruct and reprove them. He said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world, else would my servants fight.’ ‘Put up thy sword into the sheath.’ ‘The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.’ ‘The kingdom of God is within you.’” “Within the individual, and there only, can the kingdom of God be established. He into whose heart it has not entered is still an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, a stranger to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. It is the work of the church to establish that kingdom in the hearts of men, and there only. In so doing it is indeed beautiful. With such work the state of necessity can have nothing to do. It must absolutely confine itself to the task of so protecting each citizen that no subject may with impunity invade the equal rights of his fellow. That far it should go, but no farther. In framing our government our fathers recognized these principles. They wrote them into our constitutional law. They are the genius of American institutions.” “Mr. Chairman, our association is anxious that you shall jealously guard these principles and shall frame all legislation in accordance with them. They are valuable—far too precious to be forsaken. I thank you for your courtesy.” Elder L. T. Nicola followed and re-enforced the foregoing arguments with quotations from Drs. Barnes and Spurgeon, and other eminent authorities, both within and without the church. In rebuttal, Dr. Swartz, of the Civic League, devoted his entire attention to the latter propositions. He assured the committee that these men observed Saturday as a rival Sabbath to Sunday, and that that was the real reason for their attitude. He urged that the objection to religious legislation was unworthy of consideration, and stated that if we tried to interfere with the Mormons in their practise of polygamy they would plead that we were interfering with their religious liberty. At this juncture, Senator Roosevelt interrupted the speaker as follows:— “I take it, then, Mr. Swartz, that you think it is all right for these Mormons to have as many wives as they wish, just so they have but one wife on Sunday.” At this the entire room broke into uproarious laughter, and the hearing closed. The veneer was too thin. It would not conceal what was beneath it. A significant article, written in a sarcastic vein, but expressing rather forcibly an editorial view of this hearing, appeared in Pros and Cons, a weekly paper printed privately, circulating principally among senators and representatives and men who watch legislation. It prints the title and principal provisions of the various bills, comments upon matters of interest concerning them, and announces and reports public hearings. The article which bore the title, “The Smile Faded, the Grin Dried,” is here quoted entire:— “Yes, they did, until they looked like a last year’s bouquet and a lemon which has lain on the shelf for about a month. It came about in this way: Senator Stilwell, presiding at the hearing on the so-called ‘Stilwell bill,’ prohibiting vaudeville and other entertainments on Sunday, had denied parentage of the same, stating that he had introduced it at the request of Rev. O. R. Miller and Dr. Swartz. The moving-picture and theatrical men had voiced their opposition, and the clergymen had expressed their approval, and all had gone as usual, until Rev. J. E. Jayne and associates, representing the New York Religious Liberty Association, began to take a hand. It was then the Miller smile unhinged and the lemon grin burst open. What could be said worth hearing in addition to what had already been put forth? Theirs, by rights, should have been accepted as the ‘last word,’ and authoritative.” “However, the smiling pair held their peace, for previous experience had done certain things for them.” “But not so with a bewhiskered cleric from another part of the State, who first tried to applaud derisively, but was silenced, then interrupted with irrelevant questions, and wound up by demanding a full-page explanation. He found what he had been looking for, also a little more. Meeting the inquiring glances of his companions, he slowly and sadly shook his head. He had turned his question box upside down and found it empty! The clerical advocates of church and state united had been met upon their own ground and silenced. And by this time the unfolding smile and expansive grin had been folded up and laid aside for a needed rest.” State and Church
By William Warren Prescott
Reports, Notes, and Comments Pertaining to the Current History of Religious Freedom, and the Campaign "to Make America Catholic." Conducted by the Religious Liberty Association. W. W. PRESCOTT - - - - " SECRETARY Notes and clippings from the daily and weekly press — The senate of the State of Indiana has passed a bill providing for an obligatory medical examination as a condition of being lawfully married in that State. The certificate of health must be issued at least ten days before the marriage ceremony is performed. — Moving pictures have fallen under the condemnation of high medical authority. Dr. G. M. Gould, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, says they tire the eyes and the brain, and cause the evils that result from eye-strain, sick-headache, dizziness, upset stomach, lack of energy and appetite, sleeplessness, etc. — Twenty-eight foreign nations have already accepted invitations to participate in the Panama-Pacific exposition which will be held in 1915. — By the new antisaloon law in Illinois, which allows one saloon to every 500 inhabitants, 5,000 saloons have been closed in the city of Chicago alone. — More people were murdered last year in the comparatively small city of Atlanta, Ga., than in all England with her 50,000,000 people. Back of practically all this slaughter are firearms and liquor. — The Library of Congress is growing at the rate of 88,000 volumes a year. During the last twelve years its accessions have exceeded the total number of volumes accumulated during the entire preceding century. — Mr. Alvin B. Giles, treasurer of a motion-picture company, states that at the present time American people are spending $500,000 daily on moving-picture shows. Every day in the United States more than five million persons seek this source of entertainment. — Southern Italy is experiencing the severest winter in twenty years. Hard snow-storms with mercury several degrees below zero are almost unknown, yet Rome has experienced such a storm. At Messina the cold is severe, and Mt. Etna is said to be white with snow. There is much snow in Sicily and Calabria. — Hundreds of inhabitants of the province of Fu Kien, China, have been killed during the past week or two, while offering armed resistance to the government troops engaged in destroying poppy plants in order to put an end to the opium traffic, according to an official report from the governor of the province, which is confirmed by several missionaries. — Reports submitted to Postmaster-General Burleson show that approximately 50,000,000 parcel-post packages were handled throughout the postal service during the month of February, which is about 10,000,000 in excess of the number handled during the previous month. These figures are based on the amount of business done at the fifty largest post-offices, where about one half of the postal business of the United States is handled. — More than a million dollars' worth of automobiles have been stolen in New York in the past five years. The situation is becoming acute for the insurance companies, which have been obliged to pay the loss. These companies have hired private detective agencies for the apprehension of the thieves. It is said that 110 cars of an average value of $3,000 have been reported stolen this year, and less than half of these have been recovered. — Typewriters are now made for use in nearly 100 different languages, and they are sold the world over; but China has no typewriters that write its tongue, and probably never will have. The English alphabet has twenty-six letters. The typewriter produced for the Russian market is the largest made; but no typewriter could be made that could begin to be big enough for the Chinese language, which has no alphabet, but is represented by sign characters, of which there are about 50,000.