A short time ago it was announced in Boise, Idaho, that the Ralph E. Cuming's stock company would play “Nell Gwyn” at the Columbia Theater the following Sunday evening. This announcement made a great stir among the ministers of the city, and also the theater-going part of their congregations. It seemed quite likely that a good many pews would be empty on that Sunday evening; and there were doubtless a good many of the church-members who wanted to go both to the show and to their place of worship.
A letter was therefore addressed to Mr. Cumings, asking him to change the date to Monday evening, and also conveying a sly hint of opposition to him if he refused. Their request was granted. The ministers were then jubilant over their victory, and began to advise all to attend the theater Monday evening. One of the most prominent, stated to the editor of the Statesman: “We hope that he (Mr. Cumings) will be fully recompensed by the size of the house on Monday night for the trouble we have put him to. I shall make it a point to speak to my congregation about Mr. Cumings, and I trust that many of my people will make it a point to go to see his company on Monday night. I think we owe Mr. Cumings at least that much.” A letter signed by the three leading pastors was also published in the daily papers commending the action of the company, and wishing them success. The sequel to this is, that as Seattle was to be the next stopping-place of the company, most of the stage furniture was sent on there, so that the play was a great disappointment to the Boise people. It is not now thought that any great victory was won by the church people, as the play was termed by the papers a “howling farce.” The point of interest to the student of prophecy, however, is the tendency on the part of the churches to join hands with theater managers, if by so doing they can uphold the supposed sanctity of Sunday. All these things point out to us that we are in the time spoken of by the apostle in 2 Timothy 3, when men shall have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. Whenever the church has lost the power of the Gospel, it has sought by the power of the civil arm to attain to its ends. In the formation of the Papacy, it was demanded that shows and circuses be transferred to some other day than Sunday. We see the same influence working in the formation of the image. The keepers of the seventh day, God's holy Sabbath, do not need to resort to such means for its preservation. God will care for his own divine institution. W. F. MARTIN.
College Place, Wash.
News from Around the World
A VEIN of that rare mineral cadmium is reported to have been struck at Aspen, Colorado. The world's total production of this mineral amounts to only about two tons a year. The value of the discovery lies in the fact that cadmium has been found to be the best element for the storage of electricity; and if a sufficient quantity could be procured, the problem of the storage battery would be practically solved.
A DETACHMENT of native British West African troops have completed a successful campaign against the powerful slave-raiding emirs of Bida and Kontagora, in Northern Nigeria. The British defeated the emir of Kontagora after heavy fighting, and also captured the capitals of both Bida and Kontagora, where they released thousands of slaves. This campaign is thought to render powerless these emirs who have been a terror in that part of Africa for years.
PRESIDENT McKINLEY and party left Washington on the morning of April 29 for a trip thru the Southern and Western States. Enthusiastic demonstrations are reported along the route of the special train, and great preparations have been made for his reception and entertainment in the Western States. In Californian cities the striking feature of the display will be rose carnivals and floral decorations.
GENERAL ALEJANDRINO, who was looked upon by the Filipinos as the successor of Aguinaldo, surrendered unconditionally at Ararat, Pampanga, in the island of Luzon, on April 29. The Taft Commission is visiting different islands of the Philippine group, establishing local governments under American direction. In many places they have been met with considerable enthusiasm on the part of the natives.
THE House of Commons has agreed to all the budget resolutions except the export tax on coal. Opposition to the tax continues to be vehement. There is said to be a widespread disposition among coal operators to combat it with a strike. It was stated in the House of Commons that two days after Parliament sanctions the tax, there would not be a coal mine open in all Wales.
LOGGING contractors who have permission to take “dead and down” timber from the Chippewa Indian Reservation have been found guilty of illegal cutting of timber on the Indian land to the amount of 9,000,000 feet. Government inspectors have closed some of the logging camps, and according to reports the contractors have been compelled to pay $100,000 for the depredations.
THE Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo opens May 1, with nearly all its attractions complete. It is reported that a compromise has been effected in the matter of Sunday closing; that the exposition grounds will be open from 1 P.M. until 11 P.M. on Sunday, but that the Midway and all the amusement features will be closed from Saturday night until Monday morning.
THE Cuban delegation completed its labors in Washington on April 27, had final interviews with the President and Secretary of War, and left New York for Cuba on May 1. The delegation, before leaving Washington, made a special plea for trade concessions which would enable Cubans to dispose of their growing crops without loss for the present year.
IN accordance with an order from the Mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, all saloons are tightly closed from Saturday night till Monday morning. The Mayor is determined also to close all barber shops, ball games, and theaters, and even to stop the sale of newspapers on the street on Sunday. This stringent action is said to result from an agitation by the press.
ON the partly disabled steamer “New York,” which arrived at New York on April 29, was Count Colacichi, who is bringing from the Vatican the red hat to the new American Cardinal Martinelli. This member of the Noble Guard was met at the dock by the “Secretary of the Apostolic Delegation,” who escorted him and the red hat to Washington.
A MOVEMENT is on foot in Spain to put an end to bullfights. Those behind the movement are of the better class of the population; but the mass of the people are not ready for the change, and an attempt was made to mob a committee which had been appointed to the task of laying the proposition before the government.
A NEW central labor association was organized in Chicago on April 28, the principles of which are opposition to sympathetic strikes, and arbitration of disputes. The new organization is backed by fifteen of the eighteen strong trades in the building industry, representing about 15,000 workmen.
IT is reported that Chile has opened a pass into Argentina at every strategical point in the Andes. Argentina is much worried over this apparent hostile move on the part of Chile, and her minister has been instructed to question the Chilean Government in regard to the matter.
A NEW comet was discovered by astronomical observers at Queenstown on April 23. It is said to be the brightest that has appeared in 19 years. The comet has moved past the sun from southwest to northeast, and continues to move rapidly in that direction.
MANY lives are reported lost during a hurricane which recently visited the Fijian Islands. Ten coasting vessels were blown ashore by the gale, and the amount of the property loss is placed at $1,000,000.
A COURIER from Sunrise City, Alaska, reports that a snowslide has destroyed a portion of that town, and caused the death of 20 persons.
SOME of the street cars of Oakland, Cal., are now operated by electric power generated on the north fork of the Yuba River, 140 miles away.
JAPAN is now credited with having blocked the scheme of Russia to secure control of Manchuria. Notwithstanding Japan's diplomatic victory, however, Russia still remains in Manchuria. China has not signed the convention allowing Russia to do so; but this does not seem to have been necessary. The Boxers, robbers, and many of the disbanded soldiers of China are planning for another outbreak against foreigners and native Christians. Marauding bands are said to be even now ravaging the country in the vicinity of Pao-ting-Fu, and at Hoswu and Matu. A detachment of German troops have engaged the Chinese near the great wall, and report having defeated them with considerable loss. In the matter of the indemnity demands of the powers, there seems to be a settled determination not to reduce them to the figures suggested by the acting American minister. One thing seems to have been settled by the ministers, and that is that the troops will not be withdrawn until the matter of the indemnity is determined, and when this will be none can tell. There are renewed complaints of the cruelties of the German troops, especially when sent on punitive expeditions.
THE publication of English census returns shows a continual decrease in the population of agricultural towns, and a corresponding increase in the population of the larger cities and the manufacturing centers. This is in harmony with the general spirit of the times, which is a spirit of concentration in every line. The crowding of the cities adds to the poverty of the masses, increases the number of the people who are living off the productions of others, makes the struggle for existence harder, and the temptation to crime greater.
THE American Smelting and Refining Company, which is a trust, is seeking to gain control of all the silver-lead producing mines in the country. The course of procedure by which the trust intends to gain its ends is to charge such exorbitant rates for smelting and refining the ores that the small mine owners will have to sell out or go out of the business. There will not be enough left after the smelting and refining charges are paid to enable the miner to operate his mines.
EDWIN H. CONGER, United States minister to China, arrived in San Francisco from the Orient on April 25, accompanied by the members of his household. Mr. Conger, who was in Peking during the siege, takes a hopeful view of the settlement of the Chinese imbroglio, and exonerates the missionaries from the charge of looting. In spite of the minister's hopeful views, however, the settlement of the difficulty is not in sight.
THE Christian Herald, of New York City, has received the following telegram from Peking, China, signed by Li Hung Chang: “Very serious famine spreading over the whole province of Shansi. Over 11,000,000 population affected. Urgent relief necessary. Conditions warrant immediate appeal.” The Christian Herald has announced its intention of raising a fund to relieve the sufferers in this famine-stricken district.
THE physicians of Argentine are said to be testing a new serum for the cure of tuberculosis. An Argentine army surgeon who produced the serum has made a report on fifty cases of tuberculosis treated with it, and claims remarkable results, the serum effecting a cure in all cases except those so far advanced that the system was unable to rally from the effects of the disease.
A FINANCIAL panic prevails in portions of Japan. Over twenty banks have suspended payments at Osaka and in the southern and central provinces. The national bank of Japan has assisted them, but further trouble is apprehended.
REPORTS from Servia state that the Albanians are engaging in wholesale atrocities in Old Servia. In a recent encounter between Servians and Albanians, 17 persons were killed and many wounded.
THE President and Secretary of War have definitely determined the size of the regular army, which is to be increased to approximately 76,000 men, including the artillery corps of 18,000.
GOVERNOR ODELL, of New York, has signed the bill authorizing women taxpayers in villages and towns to vote on propositions to expend money for public purposes.
SEVENTEEN persons were killed and forty injured by a terrible explosion at Greisheim, Germany, on April 25, in a smokeless-powder factory.
MEXICO and Austria are arranging to resume diplomatic relations, which were broken off in 1867 over the shooting of Maximilian.
SINCE the opening of the great Beaumont oil well in Texas, January 10, 96 oil companies have been chartered in that State.
THE Canary Islands have been swept by a cyclone which killed 12 persons and did a great amount of damage to property.
THERE has been some skirmishing in South Africa during the week, but no engagements of consequence have been reported.
COMMON-LAW marriages in New York will not be recognized as legal after the beginning of the new year.
TURKISH troops are reported to have suffered defeat at the hands of Arab rebels in Yemen, Arabia.
THIS IS NOT THE DOOR.
By C. M. S.
As an illustration of the manner in which the politicians are gaining control of public utilities and binding men to their service, we quote the following from the Springfield Republican of April 5:—
“Edwin Burritt Smith, of Chicago, makes the point in an article in the April Atlantic that politicians in the large cities are beginning to use the semi-public corporations much as they have been accustomed to use the patronage of the city government. ‘As the merit system gains ground,’ in the State and municipality, he writes, ‘the bosses’ are more and more allowed to name the employees of the public service corporations.’ A Chicago newspaper, having asked Mr. Smith for illustrations of this practice, he is reported as saying: ‘It is well known that Alderman John Powers, for example, has placed many men on the West Side street-railway pay-rolls—men whom he would formerly have put in city service. In New York, a short time ago, I was told that it was almost impossible for a man to get on the surface or elevated roads unless he had political backing.’
‘The explanation of such proceedings manifestly is that the corporations are afraid that the politicians will blackmail them by adverse legislation if they do not open their pay-rolls to the politicians’ henchmen. How far the new spoils system has gone in its development it would be interesting to know.”
Thus the system of “boss rule” in politics, that sad commentary on present-day civilization, has become imbued with the doctrine of expansion, and is making its wicked, baleful influence felt outside of ordinary municipal affairs. As tho it were not enough that public offices, public trusts, could be used, and were being used, to carry out a system of virtual blackmail, the unfair and unrighteous system has entered a new field of activity to carry out its wicked, degrading work there.
In view of all that professional politics has done and is doing and is planning to do in such enterprises, how dishonoring to our Lord and Master to hold and proclaim that He is to come and set up His kingdom “thru the gateway of politics.” He who is looking for such a coming of Christ is looking in vain, and when the opening heavens reveal Him in His glory, such will not be able to “look up and lift up” their heads, and to declare, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Isa. 25:9. No; politics is not the door of salvation, or of the Saviour’s entry into His kingdom. It is not the hinge on which the door turns. Neither is it the latch which fastens the door. The door of salvation, which was opened by the Lord Himself, is open still, and His coming has nothing in common with the gateway of politics, or with the keepers of that gate. He is coming soon; but He is coming thru the gateway of heaven—coming to save His own, and to destroy utterly all the paraphernalia of unrighteousness, including the “gateway of politics.”
C. M. S.
THE PROCESS OF PUTTING ON THE “NEW MAN” PHYSICALLY.
By David Paulson
(Concluded.)*
Tonic Hydrotherapy.
THERE are many who enjoy taking hot baths because of the immediate pleasant sensation; but afterward they generally feel weak and relaxed. God’s plan is for man to do something that, altho it may not be so pleasant at the time, will have good after results. A cold bath may seem depressing while it is being applied, but it arouses every part of the system, and is a real physiological tonic. Who has not experienced the delightful sensation resulting from bathing the face in cold water on a hot summer day? If a cold application to one square foot of body surface is so agreeable, what might be the result if the entire seventeen square feet of skin was likewise treated? The brain is in close nervous communication with the face, and the pleasure received from bathing the face is simply the brain manifesting its appreciation. Every organ in the body has a similar territory on the skin, altho it may not always have the same power to express its thankfulness. When the skin over the liver is treated with an application of cold water, the liver enjoys it just as much as the brain does, altho it has no nerves which enable it to say, “Thank you.”
When the skin is treated to a short, vigorous application of cold water, made in such a way that a good reaction is secured, every organ of the body is lifted, for the time being at least, on to a higher plane. The stomach is prepared to produce more efficient gastric juice, the liver pours out better bile, and the nerve-centers are capable of originating brighter ideas and more harmonious impulses. When a man knows that he can have such a pleasant sensation by merely bathing his face in cold water, what right has he to ask God to give it to him just to save him the inconvenience of wetting his face? So when God has indicated to us how easily we may arouse a perfect storm of healthy impulses in every part of the body, what right have we to ask Him to give us such an abundant harvest just to save us the trouble of sowing for it? It is true that “no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Heb. 12: 11. This principle is just as true in physical things as in spiritual.
It is a blessing for the spiritual man to begin the day with prayer; it is likewise a blessing for the physical man to begin the day with a cold bath of some kind. The man who neglects to pray in the morning will have spiritual languor; while the man who neglects to begin his day with some thoro-going application of cold water can not possibly experience the degree of physical exhilaration that it is his privilege to enjoy.
It may be stated as a general principle that a person who is unaccustomed to taking cold treatments should begin with the water at a temperature somewhere near that of the skin, lowering it day by day as the body becomes used to the cold. Another way to secure this same graduation is to make the application to only a limited area of the body at a time drying this portion before proceeding to another. An admirable way to accomplish this is to wring a towel out of cold water, apply it to an arm, rub it vigorously and dry it; then take the other arm, then the limbs, chest, and back. In this way only a small portion of the body is called upon to react at a time, but the benefits arising from such an application are secured. After a time a sheet may be wrung out of the cold water and wrapped around the entire body for a moment; then dry quickly, and follow by vigorous friction. After this has been practised for a few weeks, a moderately cold full bath may be taken, the bather remaining in the water a few seconds and yet having the satisfaction of a prompt reaction, often before there is time to step out on the floor. The same power that gives a person ability to react from these cold applications enables him to react against the inroads of disease.
The best way to get accustomed to winter is not every time there is a “cold snap” to put on a lot of extra wraps to be worn more or less during the intervening warm days. Such a course weakens and debilitates the system, making it necessary to add additional wraps at the approach of the next cold weather. It is better to secure winter on the instalment plan by taking a small edition of it every day in some form of cold bath, allowing it to become a little colder each day, until finally a person can react from a very intense application of cold. Thus the body is naturally prepared for the winter.
Hot applications are serviceable to relieve immediate pain and remove internal congestion; but to arouse the healing forces of the body, cold is the treatment par excellence. If there is difficulty in securing a reaction from cold applications, it is very helpful to apply first a short application of heat in some form, as this will tend to promote a more vigorous reaction from the application of the cold, which should follow immediately.
Chicago, Ill. DAVID PAULSON, M. D.
“GOING TO RANSOM’S.”
By Velma C. Melville
“I’m going to Ransom’s, ma’am; Ransom is my son, my baby, you know, and lives in Topeka. I hain’t seen him in ten years. Ten years ain’t long to young folks, but a long spell to old ones. He used to come home every Christmas while his father lived, but when he was gone, ’nd the old home broke up, ’nd me gone to live at Sophy’s,—Sophy’s my grandchild as I raised from a baby, her mother, my only daughter, dyen when the little thing was a few weeks old,—then he didn’t feel the same, I s’pose, ’nd suddenly he made up his mind to go out west. He started unexpected with one o’ them excursions ’nd hadn’t time to come to see me; but he didn’t ’low on stayen but a short spell; but he married out there, married powerful well, they say, and just last spring came back to Topeka. He wrote me he was planen to spend Christmas with me, but something might happen ’nd I mustn’t set my heart on’t; but I have set my heart on’t, ’nd I’m just that hungry for a sight on him that I can’t run the risks, ’nd just told Sophy I’d undertake the trip ’nd have the joy of s’prisen him added. Sophy ’lowed as may be I’ll be the one to be ’sprised; maybe he’ll be ashamed of me ’nd his rich wife won’t welcome me; but I just told her she didn’t know Ransom, ’nd ez for his wife—well, if she loves Ransom as he deserves to be loved, she won’t be ashamed of his mother, if she is old-fashioned ’nd humbly. I don’t believe Ransom will think I’m humbly; he used to, when he was a little fellow, pat my cheeks and call me ‘pretty mammy;’” and my fellow-traveler turned up her withered, old rose-leaf of a face to mine, with the faded remains of what must once have been lovely violet eyes, full of tears. “You don’t think Ransom will be sorry I come, do you?”
“Impossible!” I cried earnestly, but my heart misgave me.
“Sophy said as she’d read a heap of such stories, and when young folks get rich and fashionable they’re sure to be ashamed of their folks that hain’t kept up; but I’ll risk Ransom. You see, I’ve got two other boys livin’ nigh Sophy’s, good, well-to-do farmers. Hiram says, ‘You go anyhow, mother; you allers set such store by the little un,’ ’nd Stanley says, ‘I reckon Rans hasn’t forgot as how he used to kick the covers off, when we three shavers had the big trundlebed, ’nd scramble out cryen, “Mammy, mammy,” and crawlen into your bed. He was allers his mammy’s boy.’ You see, he’s ten years younger than the twins—that’s Hiram and Stanley. Katie and little John come between. John died before he was a year old, ’nd my heart was nigh to break till Ransom come. All my children favored my side in looks but Ransom; he’s just the image of his father. I told him last time I see him he made me think I was young again, ’nd it was his father come a-courten.”
And then she drifted off into reminiscences of those halcyon days, as the train sped on.
We had met by merest accident, two women traveling alone, but in a few hours I seemed to have known her years.
It was when Topeka was called that she suddenly broke off, in her innocent garrulity, and it was the face of a half-frightened, half-delighted child that she turned on me,—
“Maybe I oughtn’t to have come.” She spoke in almost a whisper, and her little hands, knotted and worn with long years of toil, fluttered nervously in her lap.
“You have your son’s address?” I queried.
“Yes, right here in my bag, but I ain’t used to traveling, ’nd I’m mighty easy confused. Maybe I’d better have told him; maybe he ain’t home; maybe—” and then she gave a tremulous little laugh.
“Maybe I’m what Sophy’s little Ezra calls a ’fraid-coward.”
I helped her with her baggage, but when we stood on the crowded platform of the great depot, and I noted her bewilderment and felt the tremor of her hand on my arm, I took a sudden resolve; I would see her thru with her venture; my business could wait a little. If recompense were needed, it certainly was mine, for her relief and gratitude were simply touching.
I confess to being the more nervous of the two during the remainder of the journey, as she prattled of Ransom and the joyous surprise in waiting for him.
The street-car line ran right by the handsome brown stone-front whose number corresponded with the number on the letter in her bag, or rather, in my hand, for she handed it over to me with perfect confidence, and abandoned herself to being “looked after,” as she expressed it.
“Do you suppose this is Ransom’s house?” she queried in an awed whisper, as we waited on the steps of the elegant residence. “My little Ransom!” she added softly and fondly.
A smart maid answered my ring, and in reply to the query if Mr. Norman was in, said he was, and that the family were at luncheon.
She had the graciousness to invite us to be seated in the warm, beautiful reception hall, while on a blank card I scribbled the word “Mother.” “Hand that to Mr. Norman,” I said. Neither of us sat down; I think we were both too nervous. I studied a painting on a panel, to avoid seeing how my companion shook as she stood clasping and unclasping her hands and staring about her.
The view thro the broad, arched doorway on our right of the beautiful parlors beyond was like a glimpse of fairyland; a rose-tree at the foot of the broad staircase filled the air with perfume, and the light coming thro stained glass somewhere cast a warm, red glow over all.
How painful and pitiful was the small, plainly-robed figure in the midst, and yet the master of this house was her own baby, as she called him.11
At a footfall somewhere she uttered a little gasp. Portiers parted on our left, and I saw beyond a magnificent library and music-room, but my companion saw only the portly figure of a man—a man with a fine face, full of incredulity.
“Ransom!” The small figure tottered and fell, but she fell on her son’s breast.
“Mother! Well, if this isn’t a glorious surprise! God bless you!”
“There, didn’t I tell you you didn’t know Ransom!” she cried triumphantly, turning a beaming glance upon me.
“Oh, it wasn’t her; it was Sophy—” and then she broke down and cried like a child, and the great man held her and stroked the gray hair from which her bonnet had fallen, and whispered over and over again,—
“Mammy, mammy!” nor heeded for a time either my presence or that of the handsome, laughing woman who had rustled up behind him. For once virtue had its reward, if there was any virtue in my befriending the mother of Ransom Norman; for it was very pleasant for a stranger in a strange city to make one of the happy dinner-party that assembled about the Norman board on that day.
“I guess it’ll be Sophy that will be s’prised, after all,” the old lady chuckled, “when she reads my letter; but I needn’t have come, after all, for Ransom and her, ’nd the baby was all comen to spend Christmas; but I ain’t sorry I come, neither’s Ransom. I knew he’d be glad to see his old mammy.”—Velma C. Melville.
THE HAVEN OF REST.
By Fred T. Elkin
THERE'S a haven of rest from life's strain and distress;
There is blessed release from this world's weariness,
And whose hath faith to adventure the quest
Shall surely reach Jesus—the Haven of Rest.
From the wrath of the waters and lash of the wind,
A safe, love-locked harbor each frail bark may find;
And the weak strands of hope, often frayed in life's test,
Shall hold anchorage sure in the Haven of Rest.
From the reefs of Despair, where Death foams for its prey,
A flash-light, blood-red, guards the mariner's way;
And a voice thru the storm cries from Calvary's crest,
“This way to the Haven—the Haven of Rest!”
Then enter Christ's love, all ye weary and frail;
Cast your doubts overboard and bid faith fill each sail;
And the tempest shall cease at the Master's behest,
And permit to the Haven—the Haven of Rest.
Alamosa, Colo. FRED T. ELKIN.
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A SUNSHINY SAINT.
“Yes, she's just sunshine in any community she is in.” One woman was talking to another behind us as the car sped over the Arizona desert, with its cactus and sage brush.
“I knew her first when they lived in New Mexico, in a forlorn little settlement, where they had a very hard time, but where everybody loved her; and now they are in California. But it doesn’t matter where she is, she is always just the same. Her husband is a man who struggles with a very bad temper, and invariably looks on the dark side of things, so she has always had a heavy handicap at home. But it would surprise you to see how much she has changed her husband for the better in all these years, and how she smoothes over the quarrels he feels it necessary to have with his neighbors wherever he goes.”
“How about her children?” asked the other woman. “I hope they take after her.”
“There were two, but they are both dead. It was a life-sorrow that went deep, but she is so victoriously sunny that, except for the tender way in which she mothers all the young people that come in her way, you would never think how lonely she is for those who have gone. She turns everything into sweetness, you see. She is the best Christian I know, and the ‘joy of the Lord’ isn’t a figure of speech with her, as it is with most of us.”
That was all we heard, but it was something to be remembered long after the journey was ended. The brave soul that is like sunshine—we all have known such a one. The pity of it is that, while admiring such victorious cheerfulness, we feel no responsibility to cultivate it ourselves. We, too, can be “just sunshine” if we choose.—Forward.
Christ and the Theory of Evolution
“DR. DAVID J. BURRELL in a recent sermon objected to the unproved doctrine of evolution. He then very forcibly showed the impossibility of this doctrine being true in the case of our Lord, thus: ‘How can you account for the presence of Christ? They tell us we have come to be what we are thru evolution. From a bed of slime in the river there was first a mollusk, then a reptile, then a bird, then a beast, and then a man. This may account for you, and it may account for me. We may be willing to admit that we have descended from an ape, but here is the crux of the thing for Christians: How are we to account for this Man coming down thru the ages with no wrinkle on His brow, no sin in his soul? Would you say it was a miracle? No, no, my friends. The moment you call in the supernatural, the theory of evolution falls to the ground. You may be willing to call yourself a descendant of an ape, but I bid you stop when you say this of Christ.’”
WHAT COULD THE KING DO?
In the second century they brought a Christian before a king, who wanted him to recant and give up Christ and Christianity, but the man spurned the proposition. But the king said,—
“If you don’t do it, I will banish you.”
The man smiled and answered, “You can’t banish me from Christ, for He says He will never leave me nor forsake me.”
The king got angry, and said, “Well, I will confiscate your property and take it all from you.”
And the man replied, “My treasures are laid up on high; you can not get them.”
The king became still more angry, and said, “I will kill you.”
“Why,” the man answered, “I have been dead forty years; I have been dead with Christ, dead to the world, and my life is hid with Christ in God, and you can not touch it.”
“What are you going to do with such a fanatic?” the king said.—Selected.
PREVENTING SUFFOCATION BY SMOKE.
I WILL give some suggestions for the prevention of suffocation by smoke. A pillow-case, well saturated with water, and having a small hole torn in it to look thru, placed loosely over the head, will be found an admirable impromptu respirator in the densest smoke. I am indebted for the idea to Vice-Admiral Jerningham, who told me how, when he commanded the Cambridge training-ship at Plymouth, he made his first experiment with this pillow-case respirator. He had 12 lbs. of loose powder exploded in a confined part of the ship, which, altho. screened off with fearnaught, emitted so dense a smoke that those outside had to lie down on the deck. A common pillow-case, with a small eyehole, was placed over the head of a man, who, with the hose in his hand, went inside and remained ten minutes, when, to assure his friends outside of his safety, he sang a comic song.—Our Dumb Animals.
LOVING WITH ALL HIS STRENGTH.
A little boy declared that he loved his mother “with all his strength.” He was asked to explain what he meant by “with all his strength.” He said: “Well, I’ll tell you. You see we live on the fourth floor of this tenement, and there’s no elevator, and the coal is kept down in the basement. Mother is dreadfully busy all the time, and she isn’t very strong; so I see to it that the coal hod is never empty. I lug the coal up four flights of stairs, all by myself. And it is a pretty big hod. It takes all my strength to get it up there. Now, isn’t that loving my mother with all my strength?”
For Christ’s Sake
“FOR Christ’s sake” should be whispered in our heart at the hardest of our duties and along the darkest of our way.—Raleigh.
SANTA FE ROUTE
ONLY LINE WITH ITS OWN TRACKS FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO CHICAGO
THE CALIFORNIA LIMITED
The Santa Fe new and sumptuous train, through to Chicago in 75 hours. Leaves every morning at 9 o’clock.
OVERLAND EXPRESS, with through Palace and Tourist Sleepers, to Chicago, every evening at 8 o’clock.
BAKERSFIELD LOCAL leaves every morning at 7.20, and STOCKTON LOCAL every afternoon at 4.20, giving best service through the San Joaquin Valley.
PERSONALLY CONDUCTED Tourist Excursions every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, in Vestibuled Tourist Cars.
The service on these Personally-Conducted Excursions, is all that counts for comfort and convenience. Clean linen and bedding, the proper lavatory and toilet accommodations are provided. The aisles are carpeted and the windows double, to keep out the dust, and wide to allow an unobstructed view of the scenery en route. Full information regarding the Santa Fe Route, with handsome folder and correct map of the section through which it runs, may be had at the Company’s offices.
CALL OR WRITE
1118 BROADWAY, OAKLAND
641 MARKET ST., SAN FRANCISCO
VIRGINIA HOMES.
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Wanted: Salesmen or Ladies
WANTED—Salesmen or Ladies—Do you want to make more money? You can do it by working for the largest manufacturing company in our line, in the country. Salary guaranteed; expenses advanced weekly. Write Monarch Co., 608-46 Jackson St., Chicago, Ill.
