The English Government has commissioned Lionel Decle, a former French subject, to conduct an exploring expedition from Cape Town, South Africa, to the navigable waters of the Nile, with the assurance that he will be met at Uganda. This is the beginning of an all-British highway from Cape Town to Cairo......The Mad Mullah, who, with 6,000 men, has been threatening to pass the Swat frontier, in India, crossed the Swat River on November 27, and fighting has occurred between his followers and the Indo-British forces......Reports from the Orient state that seven Japanese spies have been captured at Port Arthur by the Russians, and shot. The Japanese are said to be preparing to resist Russian aggression in Corea, and they are reported to be landing troops in the hermit kingdom. ......Italy is alarmed over the report that Emperor Menelek is marching on Boru-Mieda with 100,000 men armed with rifles, and a large train of artillery. His destination is supposed to be the Bhar-el-Ghazal basin, where he will force a definite boundary settlement......Russia is preparing on a large scale the movement of her troops into Manchuria, China. By the coming spring she will have 50,000 troops in Port Arthur, and she is preparing barracks for 15,000 at Talien-Wan. Soon after these troops are placed we may look for the beginning of China’s partition......The British Government has decided to grant relief to the sufferers from the recent hurricane in the British West Indies. The Mansion House fund which has been raised for this purpose, amounting to about $200,000, is regarded as wholly inadequate......The British steamer Southern Cross, conveying the Borchgrevink Antarctic exploring expedition, was spoken by another British ship near Tasmania, on November 20......Bands of rebels have crossed into Uruguay from Brazil and are marching toward Montevideo, the capital. Troops have been despatched to disperse the invaders......The Italian Government has sent an ultimatum to the sultan of Morocco on the subject of the ill-treatment of Italian subjects. The sultan is given one week in which to reply......The Government of Chile has announced its intention to issue no more paper money.
The German Government has decided to explore the fishing beds of the Arctic Ocean, and a war ship with 300 scientists on board has been ordered into the Northern sea......The Government of Spain, fearing a Carlist revolt, is now attempting in a systematic way to prejudice the people against Don Carlos. It is reported that the success of the latter in obtaining means from France and England has disconcerted the rulers......Official statistics show that German cattle everywhere are suffering from tuberculosis and other diseases. In some localities seventy-five per cent. of cattle are suffering from tuberculosis, and the general average is forty per cent......The United States navy landed marines at Tien-tsin, China, on November 26, and these were taken up the river in launches to Peking to guard the American legation there. This action was taken after the other principal foreign nations had landed guards for their legations......A proposition now before the American and Canadian commissioners in regard to the Bering Sea fisheries involves the purchase by the United States of the Canadians’ fishery rights in those waters......France has decided to prohibit the importation of American plants, trees, and shrubs, and to inspect thoroughly all fruit from this country, both fresh and dried, for the purpose of preventing the introduction of the San Jose scale......The rebellion in Salvador against the government has been quelled, according to reports.
Domestic.
The battle-ships Oregon and Iowa sailed from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 23, on their voyage around the horn to Honolulu and the Philippines. They are to coal at Montevideo......A recent report of the director of the Mint at Washington shows that the amount of gold in the world at the present time is $660,457,000, and that the amount of this metal in coin has increased over forty per cent. within the last five years......The annual report of the Secretary of the Interior shows that there are 16,255,000 persons attending schools of all kinds in the United States, and recommends an appropriation of $65,000 for the education of children in Alaska......The annual report of the Postmaster-General shows an increase of over $6,000,000 in the business done by the post-offices of the country during the last fiscal year......The Secretary of the Navy has submitted his annual report, which deals largely with the work of the navy during the war, and recommends the building at once of fifteen formidable war vessels, three of which are to be battle-ships of the largest size, carrying the most powerful armament, and twelve to be cruisers varying from 2,500 tons to 12,000 tons.
The mayor of New York has directed the Board of Public Improvements to begin work upon a third bridge across the East River, the structure to cost $15,000,000......The strike among cotton-mill operatives at Augusta, Ga., now affects 6,000 workers......A device has been invented by Prof. Henry A. Rowland, of Johns Hopkins University, by which eight messages can be sent over one telegraph wire at the same time, four in each direction......The battle-ship Wisconsin was launched at San Francisco, Cal., on November 26. She is the largest vessel ever built on the Pacific Coast, her length being 368 feet, her breadth 72 feet, draft 23 feet, maximum displacement, 12,325 tons. This vessel will carry four thirteen-inch guns in her main battery, each of which will throw half a ton of steel at every discharge. She will also carry fourteen six-inch rapid-fire guns, sixteen six-pounder rapid-fire guns, four one-pounders, two Colt guns, two field guns, and four torpedo tubes. Her contract speed is to be sixteen knots per hour.
Casualties and Calamities.
Advices from Yokohama dated November 23, state that there has been severe street fighting between the political parties at Seoul, capital of Corea. On one side twenty-three persons were killed. The Japanese Government has been asked to send troops to preserve order. The reform party is said to be gaining ground, and the emperor has expressed his determination to institute reforms......The powder mill at Lamote, Mo., was blown up on November 23, resulting in the death of six men and wounding of several others......A severe storm swept the coasts of England and Ireland on November 26, wrecking many fishing boats and causing the loss of many lives. The storm was accompanied by a heavy fall of snow throughout the British Isles......One of the worst storms in many years visited the New England States and coast on November 26 and 27. Over one hundred vessels of all descriptions were driven ashore, and a large proportion of them are total wrecks. Seventy lives are known to have been lost. On land the storm was accompanied by a high wind and a heavy fall of snow, seriously impeding traffic of all kinds......On November 28 the river steamer T. C. Walker, plying upon the Sacramento River, was wrecked by the bursting of a steam drum. The explosion caused the death of the captain and his wife and five15others, while fourteen of the passengers and crew were more or less severely injured......The steamer Portland, plying between Boston and Portland, foundered off Cape Cod in the great gale which swept the New England States on November 27. Of the 117 persons on board, including passengers and crew, not one is known to have reached the shore alive. Many bodies have been washed upon the beach, and wreckage is strewn along the shore for miles. As these columns close, the steamer Gate City, a Savannah liner, is also believed to have foundered, with all on board.
The Peace Commission.
At the joint session of the American and Spanish commissioners at Paris on November 28, the Spanish representatives formally agreed to the demands of the United States. These demands include the cession to the United States of the islands of Porto Rico, Guam in the Ladrone Islands, and the whole of the Philippine Islands, which takes in the Visayas and Sulu groups, and the renouncing of Spanish sovereignty over the island of Cuba. In lieu of all claims for indemnity in the matter of taking over the Philippines, the United States agrees to pay to Spain $20,000,000. All counter propositions made by the Spaniards having been rejected by the Americans, and Spain having received discouraging answers from all the powers of Europe in regard to the matter of interference in her behalf, she feared the loss of the Canary and Caroline Islands if she broke off the peace negotiations. All European powers except England accuse America of extreme harshness in her treatment of her fallen foe.
Cuba.
Orders have been given to the army corps stationed at Augusta, Georgia, to proceed to Cuba, occupying the central provinces, which are to be evacuated by the Spanish on December 3......The first American troops to enter Havana landed on November 25, and marched, with colors flying, to their quarters......A native Cuban has been appointed mayor of Santiago......General Blanco has resigned as Captain-General of Cuba, in favor of General Castellanos. The usual ceremonies were dispensed with.
GENUINE OXFORD BIBLES
A NEW EDITION
The Oxford people have just published an improved edition of their incomparable Bible. It is called the
“OXFORD WORKERS’ BIBLE”
It contains References, Concordance, Subject Index, Tables, Dictionary of Proper Names, Maps, etc.; in fact all the necessary Helps, and yet it is much thinner than the regular Teachers’ Edition.
We have bought a full stock of these Bibles, and they please a larger proportion of our customers than any other edition we have ever handled.
The prices as given below are based on the size of type and quality of bindings, the contents of the whole series being exactly alike.
The Aleutian and Arabian Morocco and the Egyptian Seal bindings look very well, but are not as durable as the Alaska Seal and Persian Morocco. If, however, you want the best book made, buy the genuine Levant Morocco, as found on No. 04120x, No. 04265, No. 04265x, No. 04450x, No. 04585x, and No. 04485x. If not found satisfactory, any of these books may be returned, and we will exchange or refund the money.
Here is the list:—
No. 04000 - 04010
Your name will be stamped in gold free on any Bible costing more than $2.50. For 25c extra it will be stamped on the cheaper styles.
PEARL TYPE. Size, 5⅜×3⅜ inches
No. 04010 Aleutian Morocco, linen lined, $1.50
No. 04009 Arabian Morocco, leather lined to edge, $1.85
RUBY TYPE. SIZE, 5⅝×4 inches
No. 04110 Aleutian Morocco, linen lined, $1.75
No. 04109 Arabian Morocco, leather lined to edge, $2.25
No. 04114 Persian Levant, leather lined to edge, silk sewed, $2.50
The Signs of the Times
DOUBLE NUMBER—36 PAGES
ONE MILLION COPIES
READY DECEMBER 10
This Quarter-Centennial Edition will give a panoramic view of the important events of the last twenty-five years and will be a veritable mine of information, brimful of Gospel truths. Interesting and striking facts will be given on the . . . .
Military and Naval Power of To-day
Political and Ecclesiastical Changes in Europe
Church and State Union in the United States
Development of the Money Power
Astronomy—Recent Discoveries
Wonderful Inventions
God’s Witnesses in Stone
Progress in Medical Science
The Last Reformation
And many other interesting subjects
This issue will be beautifully illustrated by zinc etchings and half tone engravings. The cover design is to be printed in three or more colors, thus making a very attractive paper.
PRICE OF THIS SPECIAL DOUBLE NUMBER, 10 CENTS PER COPY
Regular subscription price, one year, 52 numbers including this special issue, $1.00. Six months, 50 cents
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
Buried Cities Recovered
Actual Size. 6½ x 9 inches
In selecting your holiday books, do not overlook this personal account of Research and Discovery in Palestine by a member of the American Geographical Society.
It is not a scientific treatise on geographical subjects, but is designed for the home circle. It will greatly assist in impressing Bible stories upon the mind of the young.
Contains 600 pages and 200 illustrations, and is beautifully bound in cloth.
Special Holiday Price, $1.50 prepaid
Pacific Press Publishing Co.
OAKLAND, CAL.
39 BOND STREETNew York City
18 WEST FIFTH STREETKansas City, Mo.
MISSIONARY BIOGRAPHIES . . . .
THE FOLLOWING VOLUMES WILL ENCOURAGE A SPIRIT OF SELF-SACRIFICE IN YOUR YOUTH AND CHILDREN, AND WILL ASSIST IN MAKING YOUR MISSIONARY MEETINGS MORE INTERESTING.
PRICES, 75c EACH, OR $8.00 PER SET OF 12 VOLUMES
Griffith John, Founder of the Hankow Mission, Central China.
Robert Moffat, the Missionary Hero of Kuruman.
James Chalmers, Missionary and Explorer of Raratonga and New Guinea.
William Carey, the Shoemaker who became a Missionary.
Robert Morrison, the Pioneer of Chinese Missions.
Bishop Patteson, the Martyr of Melanesia.
Samuel Crowther, the Slave Boy who became Bishop of the Niger.
Thomas J. Comber, Missionary Pioneer to the Congo.
Missionary Ladies in Foreign Lands.
John Williams, the Martyr Missionary to Polynesia.
David Brainerd, the Apostle to the North American Indians.
David Livingstone.
GOOD CLOTH BINDINGS
Pacific Press Publishing Co.
OAKLAND, CAL.
39 BOND STREET
New York City
18 WEST FIFTH STREET
Kansas City, Mo.
ROMAN CANDLES
100-page monthly magazine on the lives of poverty. One copy, 10 cents. One year, $1.00.
Address, “Roman Candles,” San Francisco, Cal.
When you write, please mention the SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
Immortality Only through Christ.
When men contend that man is an immortal being, they logically assume that he can not die. This assumption carries with it the conclusion that Christ, when He became a man, could not die, and therefore did not. Then if He did not die, He did not make an atonement for sin; for “the wages of sin is death.” 1 John 3:4. Now this is just what the enemy of souls would like to have men believe, and this is the reason he has so persistently instilled into the minds of men the false idea that they are immortal. He overcame Eve with that falsehood, “Thou shalt not surely die,” and has found it a capital snare ever since for those who do not have implicit faith in the plain Word of God. But man is not immortal (Job 4:17; 1 Cor. 15:22, 53, 54; 1 Tim. 6:15, 16); for “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Eze. 18:4, 20), and “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). And Jesus Christ did die (Acts 3:14, 15; 1 Cor. 15:3; Heb. 2:9, 14), and He did make an atonement for sin (Rom. 5:6-12, 18, 19). “To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.” Acts 10:43.
Unordered Copies of the Signs
By Editor
We send no papers from this office to individuals without pay in advance.
When persons receive copies without ordering them, they are sent by other parties, and we can give no information in regard to them. Persons thus receiving copies of the “Signs” are not indebted to the office, and will not be called upon to pay for them. Please read the papers you may receive, and hand them to your friends to read.
Notice of the Quarter-Centennial Issue
By Editor
Our thanks are due to the editor of the Winters (Cal.) Express for the extended and excellent notice he gives of our forthcoming quarter-centennial issue.
A Worthwhile Quarter-Centennial Issue
By Editor
There are more than one dozen articles in our quarter-centennial issue which will be worth more than the price of the paper. But you will get them all for only ten cents.
In Our Coming Volume
By Editor
In our coming volume we shall endeavor to maintain a Bible-reading department. Short Bible-readings are always acceptable. But they must be short including the Bible text.
Health and Hygiene in the Home
By Editor
Much more attention will be given to health and hygiene in the Home department in the year to come. We shall secure short, practical articles which will make the SIGNS a paper to be desired by every prudent, practical housewife.
The Quarter-Centennial Issue
By Editor
If our quarter-centennial issue were put in book form and set in small pica type, with the illustrations which the paper will contain, it would sell for one dollar. But the same matter in the form of the paper will cost but a dime.
Christian Endeavor
Christian Endeavor is the name of a handsome gasoline launch recently dedicated to ship missionary work on San Francisco Bay. It is designed for visiting incoming vessels, as soon as possible after their arrival, to warn the crews against places where they would be likely to fall into temptation; also to point them to respectable places for association and lodging. The object is commendable, and the little boat is well fitted for the work.
The Cost of Congressional Campaigns
According to the New York World, one candidate for Congress in that State swears that he spent $6,610 in his campaign just closed; another spent $6,971; another spent $7,500; and another spent $3,000. These figures do not include the sums spent in securing nominations. In his two years’ term of office the New York congressman draws only $10,000 in salary. There is something seriously wrong with the politics of the republic when official positions have to be bought with money.
Our S. S. Lessons.
By Editor
Next week we begin a new series of lessons in both our Sabbath-school and Sunday-school departments. Our Sabbath-school lessons will be on the wonderful life of Christ as based on the Gospel of Matthew, supplemented by the other Gospels. It is needless to say that these lessons will be of thrilling interest, not only to the attendant at Sabbath-school, but every Bible student. We shall endeavor to make them as helpful as our space will permit.
In the Sunday-school lessons we shall study, the first six months, lessons from the Gospel of John, gleaning from eighteen of its twenty-one chapters. In the last six months we shall have studies in the Old Testament, from the books of Hosea, Daniel, Ezekiel, Ezra, Haggai, Zechariah, Esther, Nehemiah, and Malachi. These lessons from the post-exilic books are rich in experience applicable to our time. In both series the Revised Version text will be printed, thus enabling those who have not the Revised Version to consult it in the SIGNS.
Quarter-Centennial Edition of the Signs
By Editor
Please notice without fail our advertisement of the quarter-centennial edition of the SIGNS, on page 15. While the retail price is ten cents a copy, where five or more orders, accompanied by the cash, are sent at one time, the paper will be mailed free of postage to whatever address or addresses you may give, at five cents a copy. Many of the friends of this paper are ordering the quarter-centennial number in lots ranging from five to five thousand copies, with a view of sending them to their friends, and either giving them away or selling them among their neighbors. Are you planning to have a part in this good work? If not, why?
Songs by Elder A. F. Ballenger
The poem by Elder A. F. Ballenger, on page 4 of this paper, is published by permission from the author. The words of the poem are set to music, and form an inspiring song for those who believe that God is beginning to do His mighty work in the earth—a work that will exceed the manifestations of power at Pentecost. Elder Ballenger has prepared other songs also, as follows: “The Prisoner,” “What Has Papa Done?” “An Angel Passed By,” and “That Sweet Voice.” The author of these songs is a devoted evangelist, and the money he gets from their sale is used in helping the poor. Send him 70 cents, to 60 Manchester Street, Battle Creek, Mich., and get the entire lot.
ARMAGEDDON
RUSSIA is massing an army of 50,000 preparatory to entering the province of Manchuria, China; Japan is preparing to oppose Russia in Corea; Menelek, with 100,000 men, is marching toward Bhar-el-Ghazal, to force Italy and France to a definite boundary settlement; Mad Mullah, leader of a rebel faction in India, has crossed the Swat River and engaged the Indo-British forces; and the rebellions in China are still unsuppressed.
The foregoing represent open hostilities in different parts of the world. And in addition to these it must be acknowledged that every other nation on the face of the earth has the task on her hands of seeking to avert war, while she is at the same time straining every resource to prepare for an inevitable struggle at arms.
The Bible plainly tells of the evil spirits that will gather the nations of all the earth to the great battle of Armageddon. And it should be a subject for deep reflection as to whether we are not even now living in the actual presence of this momentous work.
It has long been the boast that this is the great age of Christian civilization, and that wars would soon be a relic of the more barbarous times of the past; but this boasting has all been human. God’s Word has held out no hope that this present evil world would ever become too good to take up arms. But, on the contrary, it has said that there shall be “wars and rumors of wars,” and, furthermore, that the very last days will be especially distinguished by the great tumult of angry strife.
And the fact should not be lost sight of that the nations that are making the most colossal preparations for war are the very ones that claim the highest and most perfect “Christian civilization.” But, seeing the inconsistency between their boasts of Christianity and the war spirit that prevails, the pretext is given that all the fighting now by these great civilized powers is in the “cause of humanity.” And no doubt when the world’s armies march to the great battle-field of Armageddon, they will be so deluded by the evil spirits that they will have inscribed on their banners, “We are doing it all in the cause of humanity.”
Industrial Work in Schools.
We are glad to see coming in more and more the true idea that the education of the young includes education in manual or physical lines as well as mental. Teach the boys a trade or a vocation, as well as language, mathematics, and philosophy. Teach the girls to sew, to cook, to keep house, as well as to write essays and to play the organ. Among the coming industrial schools of California one worthy of note is Healdsburg College, in Healdsburg, a central town in the productive Russian River valley. For some years they have done some farming and fruit-raising, some printing, furniture-making, and considerable tent-making, from small 7x9 tents to large ovals 8x12.5. There are no better tent-makers on the coast. They have recently added another industry, that of broom-making. Before us as we write lies a neat whisk broom made by the College Broom Factory. It is well and neatly made, a good, strong, serviceable broom. They make now, we understand, brooms of all sorts and grades, from the small brush for clothing to the finest house broom, stable broom, etc. Price lists may be obtained by addressing the business manager, H. F. Courter, College, Healdsburg, Cal. May the college prosper in its new enterprise.
Examining Ourselves by God’s Word
During all of the association of Christ with His disciples on earth, the disciples were so filled with the idea that the Messiah was to reign in Jerusalem as a temporal king that they could not understand the Scriptures that He was seeking to unfold to their minds. Prejudices and opinions that had not been subjected to the test of the Word of God shut them completely away from the great truths that the Master was striving to impart. After His crucifixion and resurrection some of these false notions had been removed, and it is said, “Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures.” Luke 24:45. Pride of opinion and the preconceived notions of false training have kept many minds in the dark. We all freely admit this, and apply it to each other or to those who have lived in the past; but does it apply to any of us as individuals right now? Each one will need to examine himself by the light of God’s Word and Spirit and then make answer to himself and God alone.
There Is a Degree of Deep Solemnity in the Thought
There is a degree of deep solemnity in the thought that we are now living in the very days when the great armies of all the nations of earth are being marshaled for Armageddon. Some will see this and escape the calamity, but why will not all see anything that is so plain? God commissioned the prophets to write the most ringing warnings for the men of this generation. But still they rush headlong, in the face of every divine admonition. With whom will the blame finally rest if you form a part of the world’s ruins? Surely the Lord has done all in His power to warn you of the danger and save you from it.
