A SPECIAL correspondent of the Catholic Mirror gives some interesting intelligence concerning Palestine, from which it would appear that the dreams of Jewish occupation, experienced by many enthusiasts, are not very near to realization. This correspondent says—
The Russians are systematically invading Galilee, their evident design being to extend their influence by means of the orthodox schools which they place at the disposal of the Greeks resident in the country. At Nazareth there is a largely-attended normal school directed by Greek instructors and managed under Russian discipline. The directors actually wear the Russian national costume, and the moral atmosphere of the place is thoroughly Russian. In cases where the Greek priests refuse outright to concede to the invading Russians their ancient schools, the latter erect them next door at their own expense. The fact that the Russians seem to have unlimited funds strengthens the impression that the czar’s government is behind them in their schemes of proselytization which are in line with the unswerving Moscovite policy of territorial expansion.
It is true that considerable effort is being put forth in the way of Jewish colonization. Associations having this end in view “have bought immense tracts of land near Mount Tabor, and have built a fine road up the mountain, so that it is now possible for the first time to make the ascent in a carriage.” It is also stated that “a similar combination has been formed near Magdala, to the north of Tiberias, and another near the city of Jaffa, where there are already many Jews.” But to this is added a serious obstacle. In order to offset this growing influence of the Jews, “The Turkish Government is considering giving free tracts of land to the nomad tribes. These aggressive people are relied upon to keep the Jews at arm’s length, and to prevent them from getting a foothold on the soil.”
The confusion of affairs national is indicated in a further expression of this correspondent, who seems9to be well posted in his subject. He says: “The Turkish Government, which scatters its protection and favors with a lavish hand upon the Russian and English schools, refuses all help and countenance to the French establishments.” Here is a reversal of former conditions. The cause of the Crimean war was a contention between the Russian and Roman churches for the custody of certain “holy” places at Jerusalem, and the Turkish Government sided with the Catholics. When the war came to actual blows, of course France came to the aid of Turkey—for Rome’s sake. England’s participation was solely political.
The Russian Church has ever since been determined to regain possession of these places, of which she claims to have been robbed, and the government is the sinew of the church, even to fanaticism. Perhaps nothing would so strain the friendly relations of France and Russia as another contest of the church for possession of the “holy” places in Palestine, altho France is not so bound by Roman interests as she was fifty years ago. As Turkey’s policy for sixty years has been to hold her place in Europe by means of jealousies among other nations and their distrust of one another, she will throw her influence and favors whichever way that policy seems to dictate in any emergency. But so long as Rome and Russia want control in Palestine, and Turkey desires to hold the balance of power, the chances for a Jewish kingdom there are decidedly small; for neither of these powers has any love for the Jew. The natural Jews were long ago put out of the list of nations forever. The next kingdom of Israel will be that of the spiritual seed, set up by the Lord at His coming. Eze. 21:25-27. G.
THE Pan-American Congress now in session in the city of Mexico is considering the establishment of an international court of arbitration for the nations of the Western Hemisphere, with definite sanctions for the enforcement of its decrees. The proposed treaty of arbitration specifies definitely the questions which shall be subjects of arbitration, and provides definite penalties in case of non-compliance with the awards of the court. These penalties are not to be the actual use of force against any power which does not abide by the decisions of the court; but according to the terms of the proposed treaty, the aggrieved nation and any others which may sympathize with it may terminate their treaties with the offending power before the proper date for their expiration; members of the offending power on the court of arbitration shall be erased therefrom, and if a majority of the nations signing the treaty approve, a note of censure may be addressed to the said power; in extreme cases the disapproving powers may suspend diplomatic relations with the recalcitrant government. There may be light and progress in this attempt to establish an international court of arbitration; but the provisions of this proposed treaty look very much like an international boycott against the power which refuses to be bound by the decisions of the court.
THE Interior Department has authorized its Indian agent in Oklahoma to compel the young Indians to marry. They are given the alternative of marrying or going to jail. About one-fifth of the marriageable young Indians of the two tribes occupying the reservations were unwilling to obey the orders of the agent, and were promptly thrown into jail. The desire for liberty is said to be causing them to relent and pick out wives from the maidens of their tribes. The Indian agent says that the reason for this is that marriage keeps the young Indians from going on the downward path, makes them work on their allotments, and quit dissipating; but it looks as though the nation was encouraging paternalism in government in thus interfering with one of the recognized rights of men. It may be the best thing for the Indian to marry; but it is questionable whether the government has a right to compel a man to do even those things that are for his good. When paternalism is permitted, there is no telling where it will end.
DIRECTOR GEORGE A. HALE, of the Yerkes Observatory, reports a continued movement in the nebula surrounding the new star in the constellation Perseus. He says: “As measurements have shown that the new star is inconceivably distant from us, the phenomena disclosed by the photographs is one of the most remarkable ever recorded—in fact, this is the first time that any motion has been detected in a nebula. The cloud-like matter of the nebula is shooting outward from the star at a velocity so great that the motion can be readily detected by means of photography.” It is well to remember that according to the law of the speed of light, this movement which is now noted took place some hundreds of years ago.
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT is reported to have raised a storm among the senators by announcing that no political pull will avail anything in the appointments to the post of brigadier-general. Senators have long been in the habit of asking for such appointments for their favorites in the army; but the President has declared that only fitness would prevail in the matter of such appointments.
ONE of the largest conventions in the history of the W. C. T. U. convened at Fort Worth, Texas, on November 15. Delegates were in attendance from all the States and Territories, and from Cuba, England, Switzerland, Mexico, and Hawaii. The amount of money pledged and collected at this meeting is said to be the largest ever realized at such a gathering. Resolutions were adopted denouncing every system of license or legal sanction of the liquor traffic, and opposing the sale, manufacture, or transportation of alcoholic liquors in any State or Territory within the jurisdiction of the United States.
THE London Daily News gives an exhaustive survey of the terrible conditions in the concentration camps into which the Boer families have been gathered, and calls this war policy a “wholesale destruction of human life.” Its arraignment of the concentration policy closes with these words: “The death-rate in the camps is incomparably worse than anything Africa or Asia can show. There is nothing to match it even in the mortality figures of the Indian famines, where cholera and other epidemics have to be contended with.” Statistics are produced in proof of this assertion.
FORTY missionaries of the Mormon Church have “invaded” the State of Colorado, and the clergymen of that State are preparing to offer a strenuous opposition. It seems to be the policy of the Mormon Church to secure a controlling influence in the mountain States, gradually extending its power until so many States are under its influence that it will be impossible to amend the Constitution in a way to abolish completely the practice of polygamy. They have already secured a powerful influence in many of these States.
THE city of Erzeroum, Asiatic Turkey, has been visited by fifty earthquake shocks within two weeks. Twenty persons have been killed and many buildings destroyed. The populace are camping in the fields. On November 17 an earthquake devastated the town of Cheviot, New Zealand, and many people were injured. A severe earthquake shock visited the southern and southwestern portions of Utah on November 14, doing much damage to buildings.
LORD PAUNCEFOTE and Secretary Hay have signed the new canal treaty, their signatures having been affixed to this document on November 18. The contents of the new treaty will not be made public until given to the Senate, but it is understood that this treaty takes the place of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, leaves the United States free to build the canal and control it, maintaining its neutrality in time of peace and closing it to its enemies in time of war.
AT Peking, on November 11, the officials of the Chinese Government were summoned to appear at the office of the Board of Rites to “rescue the sun,” which was suffering from a partial eclipse. A few foreigners were permitted to witness the ceremony, which consisted of prostrations, the burning of incense, and the beating of drums. As the sun was soon released from the eclipse, the celestials consider the ceremony efficacious.
THE German expedition exploring the site of ancient Babylon has discovered the throne-room of Nebuchadnezzar. On each side of the throne on the north side of the hall are richly colored architectural adornments, said to be of great value for the study of the history of art. The expedition has also discovered a large number of inscribed bricks, which prove to be letters, psalms, contracts, and dictionaries. The latter are considered of great importance.
THE mayor of Ottawa has been forced out of his office by a trick of his political opponents. He was induced by them to violate a certain ordinance. The violation carried with it the penalty of dismissal from office. The mayor had won the enmity of the police department by promising a reform in that department and attempting to carry it out. The department takes the credit for accomplishing the dismissal of the reform mayor.
A DISASTROUS storm swept over the British Isles on November 13 and 14, wrecking more than fifty vessels, in which at least 200 persons are believed to have lost their lives. One life-boat was swamped while trying to rescue the crew of a stranded vessel, and eleven of its own crew were drowned. One light ship was sunk by another vessel, and all its crew perished.
THE friends of Miss Ellen M. Stone are still negotiating with her captors for her release, and Secretary Eddy of the American legation is making strong representations to the Bulgarian Government in her behalf. Consul-General Dickinson at Constantinople has warned Bulgaria that the United States would hold her responsible for the life of Miss Stone.
A DISPATCH from Germany states that all signs indicate a winter of distress among the working men of Berlin. The authorities of that city estimate that there will be an army of 35,000 unemployed to be provided for in some way. This condition is due to the closing of large manufacturing plants where these workmen have been employed.
AFTER two months’ work a death-mask of President McKinley’s head and face has been finished. It is pronounced perfect. It will be on exhibition for a time at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
TWO minor engagements are reported from the Philippines during the week, one on Luzon and the other on the island of Samar.
THE great railway companies of the Northwest have united under one management, and the company proposes to take other roads into the combination. Governor Rogers of Washington and Governor Van Sant of Minnesota are both laying plans to block the progress of this gigantic railway trust.
ACCORDING to Lord Roberts, the progress of military science has been such that the present arms of the English cavalry—the saber and lance—are inadequate; and upon his recommendation the cavalry hereafter will be armed with a short rifle, and the bulk of the infantry will be mounted.
A REPORT from Japan states that the United States army transport Hancock ran aground in the Strait of Shimonoseki on November 15. This is the third American transport which has met with disaster in Japanese waters. The Hancock was floated off the bar on the following day.
THE Chinese Government is now giving its attention to the manufacture of Mauser rifles to supply its soldiery. About 15,000 completed weapons of this pattern have already been turned out at the principal Chinese arsenal, and it is the intention to continue and increase the output.
ADVICES from Japan state that the recent reported financial distress in that country was a misrepresentation of the actual conditions; that Japan is now prosperous, and is preparing for the rapid extension of railways and telegraph lines, and other public undertakings.
CHICAGO’S professional pall-bearers have organized a union. There are already unions of grave-diggers; and with cradles and coffins manufactured by a trust, it is next to impossible to get into or out of the world without passing through the hands of a labor or capital trust.
THE great Brooklyn Bridge is reported to be showing further signs of deterioration from the heavy traffic which passes over it. Steel girders and suspenders are either buckling or breaking near the place where the supporting cables were broken some months ago.
A REPORT from Washington states that all the savings of Admiral Schley have been spent on the court of inquiry. During the inquiry witnesses were brought from long distances, stenographers were employed, and clerks kept busy.
THE great Gathman gun, which was to fire aerial torpedoes containing 500 pounds of guncotton, has proved to be a failure. The gun fired the torpedo with safety, but the effect on the target was practically nothing.
THE steamer Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, which sailed from New York on November 19, carried as part of her cargo a shipment of gold amounting to $7,082,581, all but about one million of which will go to Paris.
EX-QUEEN LILIUOKALANI, of Hawaii, is again on her way to Washington for the purpose of having the government recognize her claim to the crown lands of Hawaii, whose value is said to be about $18,000,000.
THE Chinese court has arrived at Kai Fong Fu, capital of Ho-Nan, having left the people along its route half ruined by the contributions levied for entertainment, repairing of roads, and decorations.
TEN Japanese railroad laborers were killed in a wreck in Montana on November 18, and 28 are reported injured. The work train in which they were sleeping was telescoped by a freight train.
THERE are now 42,000 Boers held in British concentration camps in South Africa, and 11,000 have been killed or wounded. The British continue to take about 100 prisoners a week.
YALE’S finest student dormitory was practically ruined by fire on November 16. This building was known as the Hutchinson, and was erected a few years ago at a cost of $200,000.
THE Methodist Church has now raised about $13,000,000 of the $20,000,000 which it is proposed to raise before January 1, 1902, for the purpose of paying off all church debts.
THE French Government proposes to establish at Philadelphia an industrial college for the express purpose of teaching French students American industrial methods.
It is now proposed to connect the Black and Caspian seas by a canal navigable for ships of moderate draft. It will be 530 miles long, 84 feet wide, and 22 feet deep.
A PLAN is now on foot for the consolidation of all the great printing-press manufacturing establishments under one head, or trust, with a capitalization of $20,000,000.
THE Buffalo Exposition closed with a deficit of over $3,000,000. About the same time the city fair of Glasgow, Scotland, closed its gates, with a surplus of $400,000.
THE agitation in Japan against the Mormon missionaries continues, both on the part of the Japanese and the American and European residents.
THE financial department of the German Government will register a deficit for the present year of $35,000,000.
LAST year the government disposed of 15,562,796 acres of public land.
“I HEARD THE WARNING, BUT I HEEDED IT NOT.”
By Hart Hall
A True Story and Its Parallel.
From many years’ labor in the mines employed as a watchman on the day-shift, Perry Wilson was accustomed to the deathlike stillness of the deep shaft, and so the rumble of the mills, the crash of the coal as it fell from the trucks into the sieves, and from the sieves into the cars below, and the locomotive switching the heavily-loaded cars about, sounded strangely loud to him as he made his way, dinner-pail in hand, to the mouth of the great Peanut shaft in southern Illinois.
But as the huge iron cage, loaded with men, mules, and coal-trucks, descended into the depths, the noise above ground died away to a faint murmur, and finally was lost in the rattle of the trucks, as they were hauled away from the cage far into the mine, and side-tracked before the chambers where, two by two, the men labored.
The last crew of the day-shift had passed into the mine, and soon the night-shift, blackened and fatigued with their hard labor, came ambling roughly along toward the shaft, their hat-lamps flaring brightly in the draft. The mules followed dejectedly along, braying occasionally in hungry anticipation.
As the men passed the watchman and packed themselves into the cages, they attempted various pleasantries, such as, “Any breakfast left, Perry?” or, “Is the sun shinin’?” “How’s the fresh-air supply?” etc., and then the cage, creaking as it rubbed the races, would begin its ascent to the surface, while the alternate cage descended with its load of trucks.
Returning from his first beat through the shaft, Perry found a driver cursing and beating his mule, which was struggling frantically to pull a long string of trucks up an incline, slippery from the moisture dripping from the walls.
“Hadn’t I better help you up this grade?” the watchman inquired. “It’s pretty bad footing there for your jinny.”
“There’s a hull lot more water here this mornin’, for some cause or other,” growled the driver angrily. “The old mule don’t want to pull anything either.”
Perry took a position behind the last truck and pushed energetically, while the driver again belabored the mule. This time the car started, and the animal, encouraged at starting its load, soon had it where the grade was easier.
While pushing with all his might against the trucks, the watchman had felt a splash of water on his back; and after the trucks were started, he went back to the place, and holding his hat-lamp up, saw, to his alarm, a stream of water splashing down the side of the tunnel, and, as he looked, the slate and soil began to wash loose and fall, then a larger piece burst away, and before anything could be done, a flood of water was pouring through the opening and rushing rapidly along the shaft.
“Leave that mule and run for the cage!” the watchman shouted to the driver, now almost out of hearing. “The mine is flooding; I will warn the men!”
Catching up a pick, Perry, conscious of his peril, but resolved to do his duty, ran to the first chamber, and striking the plank door heavily three times (the signal of danger), rushed on to the next, shouting to the workmen as they ran out of the chambers, “Run, run for your lives to the air-shaft!”
On and on the brave man ran, into the intersecting tunnels, beating the alarm upon every door, while above the noise of the fleeing men’s footsteps he could hear the sullen roar of the advancing waters.
The mine was fully a mile long, and with his strength almost gone, and bruised from falling over the rough footing, and many times nearly cut off from escape by the rising water, sometimes having to hold his breath and run, or, more correctly, swim with his head under water as he passed a low-hanging section of the tunnel, he finally reached the narrow air-shaft, to find a hundred or more crazed men struggling with each other for the chance to climb the rickety old ladder, rotten and slimy from the dampness, and badly in need of repairs, which the carpenter had neglected because of the improbability of its being used.
Perry still clutched the pick, and waving it above his head, he beat his way through the crowd, and then standing at the foot of the ladder, he threatened death to every man who should attempt to force his way; and bidding the shortest men to go up first, he stood holding the ladder firmly with one hand until the last man had ascended; and then, and not until then, he drew himself out of the black, swirling water that had nearly reached his shoulders, climbed slowly to the surface, and fell over unconscious.
The men had not remained to see that he got out safely; but anxious to see what damage had been done, and to assure their friends and families of their own safety, they hurried away as fast as they got out; and not until the foreman, surrounded by the crowds of anxious workmen and villagers, began to call the roll of names, did they think of the man whose bravery and hardihood had saved them. Then hurrying back, they found him as he had fallen, still unconscious; and with hearts of self-reproach they carried him to tender care and skilful treatment.
Only one other man failed to answer the foreman’s roll-call. And the man who had worked with him in the mine stepped up, amid the excitement, to explain the reason.
They had been working away together with their picks when the watchman’s alarm had sounded on their door. He ran to the door to inquire what the matter was, but the only reply he received from the fleeing watchman was, “Run, run for your lives!”
“What do you suppose is the matter?” he asked his partner, who had remained at his pick.
“Surely there can’t be anything the matter with the mine; it’s perfectly safe; the watchman must be crazy, poor man.”
Again swinging his pick, the miner continued his work upon the wall of coal. But the other was uneasy, and quietly dropping his pick, he quickly followed the watchman. It is supposed that the unfortunate man hacked away at his work until the black, foamy water began swirling around his feet, and then attempted to escape. But the chambers were higher than the tunnels that led to them, so that the heavy coal cars might descend the easier; and thus, when the water covered the floor of the chamber, it completely filled the tunnels. Finding escape impossible, the man climbed to the highest part of the chamber, above the props and supports, and there, while awaiting his fate, wrote on a piece of shingle used in wedging, these words: “I heard the warning, but I heeded it not.”
And there they found him, months afterward, when the hole in the river-bed above had been repaired and the mine had been pumped dry.
This is a true story, and the parallel is plainly seen. We are down in the depths of the iniquity of the world, and we have received many warnings of impending destruction, not by flood, for the Lord has sealed His promise in the heavens that He will not again destroy the world with a flood. But the destruction is sure, and certain and soon. It has been foretold in the Scriptures for thousands of years. All the prophets have preached it, and we know by their prophecies that soon, in this age of the world, the destruction is to come; and we, the people of this time, are the ones who will see it come. It comes with the appearing in the heavens of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, with His angels, is revealed “in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thess. 1:8. He comes to gather His little flock,—the few who have looked and prayed for His coming.
The multitude of all ages has scoffed at this, and declared the faithful watchmen insane (Isa. 59:15, margin); and even to nominal Christians it is as a tale that is told, without interest—a sign of unbelief.
The poor man in the mine wrote, “I heard the warning, but I heeded it not.” How close a parallel this is to the ones who, the Scriptures tell us, shall cry in their awful despair as they see their lost condition, “The harvest [of God] is past, the summer [of His grace] is ended, and we are not saved.”
Shall we, dear reader, you and I, flee from the destruction that is to come by giving our hearts to God and becoming one of His “little flock” that He comes to save? or shall we stay down in the depths? Read what the Lord says in the last two verses of the 26th chapter of Isaiah: “Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” HART HALL.
Los Angeles, Cal.
THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI.
By George Cary Eggleston
[George Cary Eggleston, in Thrice-a-week World.]
How MANY know that there is no river system on earth which even distantly compares with that of the Mississippi and its tributaries?
The census tells us that these rivers, all flowing through one channel into the Gulf of Mexico, aggregate more than 100,000 miles in length. The Amazon, the Nile, the Ganges and all the rest of the great river systems on earth put together scarcely approach this magnificent showing.
Think of it! A steamboat leaving Pittsburg can visit twenty-three States without passing through any artificial channel. She can go up the Allegheny and Monongahela, the Big Sandy, the Kentucky, the Wabash, the Tennessee, and the Cumberland—clear into Alabama—before reaching the mouth of the Ohio.
Below Cairo she can traverse not only the Mississippi but the St. Francois, the Arkansas, the White, the Red, the Yazoo, the Tallahachee, the Yalobusha, the Ouachita, the great bayous, and all the tributaries of these streams.
Above Cairo lie the Upper Mississippi, the Illinois, the Missouri, the Yellowstone, the Platte, the Big Horn and a score of tributaries to all these. The suppositious steamboat can land at 1,050 towns and cities on her way.
These rivers drain an area of 1,683,303 square miles, occupied by a population of 24,298,332 in 1890.
The commerce of this great river system was carried on in 1889 by 7,453 vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 3,393,379 and a value of $15,535,005.
And so rich is that commerce that its annual gross earnings exceed the total value of the craft engaged in it by nearly a million dollars. It carries nearly eleven million passengers and nearly thirty-three million tons of freight per year.
And this is only one of the great river systems of our country—one of many that include such mighty systems as that of the Yukon, that of the Columbia,11that of the Colorado, and that of the Alabama at Tombigbee. It is worth while to remember also that the resources of this marvelous country are far less than half developed.
I CAN LOOK AHEAD.
By Thomas Robert Williamson
I CAN look ahead to the heavenly hills,
And think of that time to come,
When I'll leave the life below, with its ills,
And live at home.
I list for a note of that sea of song
Up-rolled from the trillions there,
And my soul, borne on through the years so long,
Flings off earth's care.
Earth's care that enwraps me as prone I lie
’Neath a rod of restless pain;
But I see hope's star in the bending sky,
And pray again.
O, the night is dark when the gloom rolls down,
And pain rules the whole world ’round,
And the fettered hours clank by with a moan;
Still I'm home bound.
To those hills of God and that glory song,
I'm holding my hungry gaze;
In that home, through the ages bright and long,
I'll spend my days.
THOMAS ROBERT WILLIAMSON.
SPLICING THE LADDER.
By T. L. Cuyler
ONE night the large and splendid Sailors’ Home in Liverpool was on fire, and a vast multitude of people gathered to witness the conflagration. The fury of the flames could not be checked. It was supposed that all the inmates had left the burning building. Presently, however, two poor fellows were seen stretching their arms from an upper window, and were shouting for help. What could be done to save them?
A stout marine from a man-of-war lying in the river, said, “Give me a long ladder, and I will try it.”
He mounted the ladder, but found it was too short to reach the window. “Pass me up a small ladder,” he shouted.
It was done. Even that did not reach to the arms stretched frantically out of the window. The brave marine was not to be balked. He lifted the short ladder up on his own shoulders, and holding on by a casement, he brought the upper rounds within reach of the two men, who were already scorched by the flames.
Out of the window they clambered, and creeping down over the short ladder and then over the sturdy marine, they reached the pavement amid the loud hurrahs of the multitude.
It was a noble deed and teaches a noble lesson. It teaches us that when we want to do good service to others, we must add our own length to the length of the ladder.
Harry Norton saw that his fellow-clerk, Warren Proctor, was becoming a hard smoker and a hard drinker, altho he was only sixteen years old. When he urged him to stop smoking and drinking, Warren replied,—
“Why you sometimes take a cigar and glass of wine yourself?”
“If you will sign a pledge never to smoke a cigar or touch a drop of liquor, I will do the same,” was the reply.
The bargain was made, and Harry saved his friend by adding the length of his own example to the length of the ladder.
A widow lady near me was suffering from sickness and poverty. Her daughter, a delicate, refined girl, said to herself, “My mother must be taken care of; I’ll advertise for a place as a servant girl.” She did so. A rich man saw the advertisement, and determining that the brave girl should not undertake that, he procured her a situation as secretary in an institution where she gets six hundred a year. An unselfish daughter thus brought relief to a suffering mother. She spliced the ladder with her own self-denying exertions.
It is a noble thing to be unselfish, and to give up gratifications for the sake of other people.
When the great Christian sage of old said, “It is right not to drink wine by which my weak brothers stumble,” he added the length of his own influence to the ladder for saving others from drunkenness.
I could tell of two Christian lads, well educated and refined, who go every Sabbath to a mission school in a dirty, degraded street, that they may encourage some poor ragged boys to go there too. Those two boys have the spirit of Jesus Christ. They are not selfish, and they mean that the poor ignorant lads shall climb up in the world over them.
That is the way to imitate the divine Master, who gave Himself that men might climb out of the folly and degradation of sin into heaven itself.—Dr. T. L. Cuyler.
The Name
By Editor
THE story under the above caption which appeared in the SIGNS recently has attracted so much attention that, even though an extra edition of the paper containing it was published, our stock is exhausted. It has been decided to issue it as Apples of Gold Library, No. 72, and will soon be ready.
THE price has not yet been decided upon, but will be announced later.
Fall of Babylon
ELDER R. C. PORTER has written a small work on the fall of Babylon which our readers will enjoy studying carefully. It is being set up and will be ready within about three weeks. An artist is now preparing an original illustration for the first page which will add to its attractiveness as a pamphlet for general circulation.
Testimony No. 34
HAVE you a copy of this latest Testimony? It certainly contains much that you can not afford to do without.
IT contains about 500 pages and costs only $1.00 post-paid, in cloth binding.
Alarm of War
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Nearly 100,000
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SIGNS OF THE TIMES
IS THE END NEAR
THE SECOND ADVENT
CAN WE KNOW
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11 West Twentieth St., New York City
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SCHEMING
By Mrs. W. C. Johnson
[Mrs. W. C. Johnson, in Christian Work.]
GIRLS, don't scheme. Train yourselves to be sincere in thought, word, and action. Scorn to plan or do anything small or mean. One of the finest and most desirable traits in a young girl's character is a fine sense of honor. Do not plot or scheme to another's disadvantage; let all your ways bear heaven's own light. Never allow yourselves to exaggerate, by the use of pretty adjectives, a simple fact beyond all recognition; nor insinuate by word, or tone, or look, to the disparagement of another.
Every girl should possess a noble ideal of true womanhood, and, as far as possible, prove the counterpart of it, doing nothing unlovely, unworthy, or unwomanly.
If our girls would cultivate more thoughtfulness, were more honest and true-hearted, modern society would not be so false and hollow, nor the sham it is represented to be even by those devotees who worship most at its shrine.
In the social circles of to-day we observe young men and women scheming for wealth, honor, position; and when once obtained, they plot and plan to stem the tide and ride upon the top wave of popularity.
Don't become a mere machine, grinding out plots for the management of meek people, or for your own aggrandizement.
Every fair daughter of Eve should possess a heart noble, pure, and innocent of any vain or idle scheming, so that in very truth it may be said of her, “The King's daughter is all glorious within.”
Advice on Fruit-Eating.
The curative value of fruit is becoming more and more insisted upon by those who make a study of dietetics. Grapes are recommended for the dyspeptic, the consumptive, the anemic, and for those with a tendency to gout and liver troubles. Plums, also, are said to be a cure for gouty and rheumatic tendencies. The acid fruits, especially lemons and oranges, are particularly good for stomach troubles and rheumatism.
It is not sufficient, say the advocates of the fruit cure, to eat a small quantity at breakfast or dinner. One should eat from two to eight pounds of grapes a day; or, if oranges are the curative agency, the number to be eaten in a day may vary from three to six.
“A healthy condition of the body depends upon a perfect balance of foods taken. There are many other factors entering into the question, but this feature must not be forgotten,” says The Syracuse Clinic. “Few people there are who can keep healthy without fruit.”
“‘How absurd!’ some one says, ‘to be told to eat fruit when everybody eats it.’ Yes, but how do you eat it? Do you take a definite amount of it, the same as you do of meat and potatoes, or do you eat it as you do candy?”
“If you suffer from an acute attack of indigestion after a dinner of soup, meats, pickles, sauces, salad, cakes, pastries with spices and condiments enough to blister the skin, to say nothing of the delicate lining of the stomach, pray do not aver that indigestion arises from the morsel of fruit taken at the end.”
“Be honest with your stomach for a month. Eat no more than you need of simple food, into which the true luxuries of nature, such as apples, oranges, pears, or other fruits shall enter. Try, if only as an interesting experiment, to eat sparingly of the cruder articles of diet, and more of those suited to your real needs, and see to it that fruit forms a part of each meal.”
“‘But there are so many kinds of fruit that I can not eat.’”
“There it is again. Because you can not eat seventeen kinds of food at one meal ending with fruit, it, of course, was the apple or the strawberries that did the harm.”
“‘But doesn’t fruit make the blood thin?’ It certainly does, and we are glad of it. Ask any doctor who has practised medicine for ten years with his eyes open, and he will tell you that the majority of grown-up folks have blood too thick.”
“The minerals and natural acids of the fruit are the very best conceivable remedies for this thickened condition of the blood. Fruit, then, becomes both a food and a medicine—a necessity and a most delightful luxury.”—New York Tribune.
New Explorations in the Comstock Lode
The deepest shaft in Colorado is that of the Geyser mine, at Silver Cliff, which penetrates the rock to a depth of 2,400 feet. But even that is a shallow puncture beside the one which goes down into the depths of the Comstock Lode, again active and productive. In that wonderful treasure-house, from which more than five hundred millions in value have been taken out, the new explorations are expected to reach a depth of 6,000 feet.
Childhood Shows the Man
THE childhood shows the man, as morning shows the day.—Milton.