p. 16 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 34. (7/2/1894)

News and Notes.

By Editor

FOR THE WEEK ENDING JUNE 25.

RELIGIOUS.

—When Methodist ministers come to discussing in their meetings (as they did recently at Pacific Grove) the question, "Is Methodism Adapted to the Times?" they need not be surprised if other people question its adaptability.

—This was Benjamin Franklin's idea of church support: "When a religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself. When it cannot support itself, and God does not care to support it, so its professors are obliged to call for help from the civil power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one."

—The gospel car Emanuel, conducted by Rev. E. G. Wheeler for the Baptist Publication Society, is now sidetracked in this city, and daily services are being held. The society is operating two of these missionary cars, and is so well satisfied with the results that two more are being constructed.

—The Supreme Court of Alabama has decided in the case of a Roman Catholic who died leaving $2,000 to be used for masses for his soul, that the bequest is void because there was no living beneficiary of the trust endeavored to be created, the soul not being an entity in contemplation of the law.

—The presbytery of Olympia, Wash., has passed sentence upon Rev. M. G. Mann, Indian missionary, that he be "suspended from the ministry for six months and solemnly reprimanded by the presbytery." The charge was imperiling the influence and good name of Rev. Pamment, his successor as missionary at the Puyallup Indian Reservation.

—A late encyclical letter of the pope is attracting attention from the fact that it is addressed to "all princes and peoples," instead of the usual address to "the archbishops and bishops." But this new style of address will be more common erelong, as the papal surveillance of "princes and peoples" gradually comes to be more and more generally recognized.

—This is what a "newly elected sabbath [Sunday] committee," composed of professed Christians, we suppose, is planning in Warren, Pa. It "intends to canvass the entire city and publish the names of all who refuse to sign a similar agreement [to close their shops on Sunday]; and, in case of persistent refusal to close on sabbath [Sunday], will prosecute." This may compel some to close on that day, but will it be likely to make them think more of Sunday Christianity?

—It is said that the pilgrims to Lourdes, France, from Brooklyn, N. Y., are much pleased by the announcement that Rev. Mother Catherine Aurelie, founder of the order of the Sisters of the Precious Blood, will come from St. Hyacinthe, Canada, to see them start on the 18th of July. In Canada Mother Catherine is regarded as a saint with veritable stigmata. The pilgrims have engaged one entire steamer, and the overflow will take a later boat. The first party will wait for the second at Paris, and all proceed together to Lourdes.

SECULAR.

—The Southern peninsula of Greece is said to be again disturbed by earthquakes.

—During a storm near Coffeyville, Tenn., on the 23d inst. two men were killed by lightning.

—The rebellion in Samoa is still alive, and King Malietoa's government seems unable to master the rebels.

—A fire in the factory district on Tabernacle Street, London, on the 21st inst. destroyed $1,000,000 worth of property.

—The Hungarian House of Magnates has at last passed the Civil Marriage Bill, to the great chagrin of the church party.

—Press dispatches announce a destructive flood at Wichita, Kansas, occasioned by the overflow of the Arkansas River.

—The California Prohibitionist says that "twenty-six per cent. of the actual area of the United States is under prohibitory laws."

—The Cambridge University has conferred the title of LL.D. upon Captain F. T. Mahan, of the United States cruiser Chicago.

—An explosion in a coal mine in Glamorgan County, Wales, on the 22d inst., caused the death of eighty miners, and the injury of many others.

—The president of a national bank in Miles City, Mont., has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment for misapplying the funds of the bank.

—It is stated that, in addition to the labor troubles which have long kept the district of Cripple Creek, Colo., in turmoil, the country is now infested by caterpillars.

—On the 21st inst. a cyclone struck the vicinity of Boonville, Mo., and caused great damage to property. Hail and a rainfall of nearly four inches accompanied the storm.

—In 1881 a murderer named Hunt was sent to a California State prison for life. About two months ago he was pardoned by the governor, and now is in jail again for robbery.

—The Midwinter Fair will formally and officially close on the Fourth of July, but some portions will linger a while longer, and the charge for admission will be reduced to twenty-five cents.

—The officers of the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad Company have proposed to locate the general offices of the company at Parsons, Kansas, if the citizens will give a bonus of $25,000.

—A storm in Brazil, Ind., on the 24th inst. blew down the fire tower, and hurled the bell upon the city hall, which was also almost entirely wrecked. Other buildings were also greatly damaged.

—Advices from Mindanao, the largest of the Philippine Islands, state that a battle between Musselmen and Spanish troops, on the 9th inst., was won by the Spaniards, their opponents losing 100 killed.

—The province of Pontevedra, Spain, is greatly disturbed by opposition of the peasantry to the payment of taxes. Several collisions with police have been reported, and in one instance three peasants were killed.

—Japan has begun active operations against Corea, having landed 10,000 troops, 15,000 being stationed at Seoul, the capital. Russia and China will probably be heard from soon, as these powers, as well as Japan, have long been jealously and covetously eyeing the Corean peninsula.

—The coopers in the stock yard packing houses at Chicago are on a strike, and it is feared that packers will have to lie off for want of barrels. Three months ago they submitted to a cut of wages, thinking it was only temporary. Now they have struck for a restoration of the old rates.

—Senator Wilson has introduced a resolution in the Senate urging a treaty with Great Britain to the effect that for the next twenty-five years all disputes which cannot be diplomatically adjusted be referred to arbitrators. The movement receives encouragement by leading men in England.

—Rev. B. B. Swartzbar, a colored minister native of Morocco, was arrested at Cincinnati, last week, on a warrant from Chattanooga, Ga., charging him with murder. A few minutes after his arrest he managed to cut his throat, and is expected to die. He had once acted as interpreter for David Livingstone in Africa.

—On account of the washing of the Missouri River floods, the Santa Fe Railroad has been obliged to abandon its track between St. Joseph, Mo., and East Atchison. For one trip a train was run on the Rock Island track, when it was decided that it was also unsafe. At East Atchison fifty houses have been moved or torn down.

—A distressing story comes from Chilcat, Alaska, relative to witchcraft practiced by the Indians. An Indian sorceress starved a woman to death, keeping her tied up in a tent for seven days. The woman was believed to be a witch. Several other cases are reported. The Indian doctor is lodged in jail at Sitka, charged with murder.

—The temperance people of Haverhill, Mass., have decided to freeze out the saloons of that town by running an opposition saloon, and putting liquors down to actual cost. When the others have been compelled to stop, they will stop. So long as the contest lasts the drinkers with small means will have a holiday, and the probability is that the "temperance" saloon will get tired first.

—Great Britain has been obliged to back out and relinquish her claim to the strip of Kongo territory recently ceded by Belgium. France and Germany would not submit to the advantage thus given to Britain in Africa, deeming the acquisition a menace to their respective interests. It is something new for Great Britain to be obliged to yield a point in the matter of colonization schemes.

—Several towns in Nebraska and Iowa, including Omaha, Lincoln, and Sioux City, report a severe windstorm on the 20th inst. In the former city the flying dust rendered the atmosphere as dark as night, and much damage was done to trees. At Sioux City the storm was accompanied by hail, and several buildings were unroofed and otherwise damaged. Flying debris made it unsafe to be out.

—Mr. C. C. Alvord, of Denver, Colo., has received word from St. Petersburg that his son, Rev. L. C. Alvord, is in that city insane, his fancy being that he has a mission to protect the czar. Mr. White, the American Minister, telegraphed the fact to Secretary of State Gresham, who forwarded the dispatch to Governor Waite at Denver. The friends of the unfortunate man supposed that he was in San Diego, Cal.

—In Lisbon a city regulation requiring bakers to deposit a guarantee that they would sell bread of proper weight has caused trouble. A strike, including 6,000 bakers, was the result. On the 22d inst. their encampment was surrounded, and they were compelled to go to work under police supervision. Many of them afterwards escaped and crossed the river. A number of Spanish strikers were to be expelled from Portugal.

—A bill is being considered in the New Jersey Legislature limiting to $1,000,000 the amount that a man can devise in his will, all of his estate exceeding that amount to go to the State. Mr. Watson, who introduced the bill, argues that the institutions of the country are endangered by colossal fortunes in the hands of individuals. He claims that all fortunes of more than $1,000,000 have been accumulated by some improper means.

—News from Sitka states that a warrant is being issued for the arrest of a Russian priest located near Oonalaska for abduction. The Alaska papers say that some six weeks ago he performed a marriage ceremony and afterward refused to allow the bride to accompany her husband, saying that his command was inspired from heaven. This action came near precipitating a riot. The husband rallied a few friends and threatened the priest with bodily injury if his wife was not released. He got his bride and went to Sitka for the warrant.

—President Carnot, of France, was stabbed to death by an Italian Anarchist at Lyons, on the 24th inst. The president was visiting Lyons on the occasion of the national exhibition, and, after a banquet in his honor, was proceeding to the theater in a carriage. The streets were thronged, and, as he stood up waving his hand in response to the salutes of the people, the assassin sprang upon the carriage step and drove a knife into his breast. The wounded president survived about three hours. The assassin is a young man of 22 years, and refused to give any reason for the deed until brought to trial. It was with difficulty the police prevented the lynching of the prisoner.

—A desperate state of affairs is said to exist at Punxsutawney and Walston, Pa., where, on the 21st inst., the Huns and Italians were running things in their own way and driving off the English-speaking miners and their families. At Spillman, Ohio, on the same day, fourteen families of union miners were evicted, and their places filled by sixty Southern negroes. The evicted men were paid for their gardens, and treated to several kegs of beer. Miners at Star City, Ind., resumed work, but were again forced to stop by a delegation of strikers. At Pana, Ill., the great strike has been declared off, but most of the local strikers will have to seek work elsewhere, as their places have been taken by strangers. At Springfield, Ill., a large meeting of miners decided that all who resumed work should pay 12½ per cent. of their wages to the organization for the support of those out of work.

—The complicated troubles at Cripple Creek, Colo., seem to have stirred up the demon of revenge in that whole region. Press dispatches announce that at Colorado Springs, on the night of the 22d inst., Adjutant General Tarsney, of the State militia, was called from his bed at a hotel, and carried off by masked men. After being abused in a shameful manner, he was tarred and feathered and compelled to walk fourteen miles to Roswell, with threats of death if he ever appeared in Colorado Springs or Cripple Creek again. He was accused of the murder of the deputy sheriffs killed in collision with the State troops at Cripple Creek, although he was not in command of the troops and was many miles away from the scene. The outrage is condemned by law-abiding citizens throughout the State. The governor has offered $1,000 reward, and private parties and societies have also offered rewards, for the conviction of the men who committed the cowardly deed.

—Last week mention was made of the terrible plague at Hongkong, China. We have since received the Hongkong Telegraph of May 16, from which we learn that Canton was also severely afflicted, the disease having been raging for about three months, the death rate being estimated at an average of 200 per day. At times it reached 500 per day. The plague was also spreading into the country, and the neighboring city of Fatshan. To appease the wrath of the "josses," who have thus visited the city with their vengeance, various means are resorted to. Priests lead long processions and parade the streets, chanting their incantations and sprinkling "holy water" on all sides. Men and boys parade with a huge mask representing the head of a lion or dragon, making all manner of gyrations to the sound of drums and gongs. The plague has been greatly enhanced by poor drainage, filth, and excessive drought, it being difficult for the masses of the poor to obtain fresh water. In Hongkong it was hoped that the disease would be confined to the densely populated Chinese portion of the city, where it originated; but the Telegraph noted that this hope had been dispelled by an unexpected death right in the center of the European quarter.

SUNDAY LAWS OF THE STATES AND TERRITORIES

By Editor

A comprehensive collection of laws and decisions regarding Sunday observance, especially useful as a compendium of information. Paper covers, 25 cents. Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal.

DANISH AND SWEDISH EARLY WRITINGS

Plain at $1.00, red edge at $1.25. For sale by the Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal. Please call the attention of the S. D. A. brethren and sisters of those nationalities to this book printed in their language.

In the Stocks for Conscience' Sake

By Editor

On another page will be found an article on "In the Stocks for Conscience' Sake." The men were sentenced to be placed in the stocks in default of paying the fine. But the stocks will have to be made, we understand, as they have never been used in Australia. Not that there have not been Sunday workers in plenty, but this is not a matter of Sunday work, it is of Sabbath keeping. The Firth brothers are prosecuted because they keep the Sabbath. We will see now if Australia will carry out the wicked law to its logical conclusion. And will it prosecute those who do not "apply themselves" "in the dutyes of piety and true religion publiquely and privately"?

The Fourth of July.—

By Editor

The great national holiday is upon us. Cannon will roar, the drum and fife will be heard, bands will play the well-known patriotic airs, spread-eagle orators will vie with the cannon in thundering noise, rockets will shoot, fireworks flame, and the firecracker and small boy will be prominently ubiquitous. The day will be one grand outburst of patriotism, some will call it. But it is safe to say that those who make the most noise will know the least of what patriotism means. The following answer, given by the newsboys to a writer in the Minneapolis Tribune, illustrates what a great deal of this patriotism means. The following is what was said of the origin and significance of the day:—

"It's because George Washington beat in some war." [The information of this boy stopped at this point, and he was unable to say what war it was, or who George was.]

"Washington discovered America 'bout a hundred years ago on the Fourth of July, and that's the reason why we shoot firecrackers."

"The Fourth of July is to have fireworks and have a good time."

"There was a war once, and the Americans beat. They have firecrackers because they sound like war."

"The Fourth of July is the day that the Americans moved into the United States."

"They have a good time on the Fourth of July because the shops all shut up, and nobody works."

"General Grant fought the battle of Bunker Hill on the Fourth of July."

"We shoot firecrackers on the Fourth 'cause the p'leece let us, and there's almost always a circus in town."

The day once meant "liberty," political and religious liberty, "a church without a pope and a State without a king." But those things are cherished by the mass of the politicians now, not as principles, but as sentiments. The wheels of progress have been turned backward in our fair land; there is a blot upon her escutcheon; Liberty weeps, while some of her best sons are persecuted for conscience' sake. We are glad of what freedom remains; we appreciate the liberty and blessing which has come to the race through this favored land; but woe be to that land when it turns its back upon the lessons of the past, and follows blindly those leaders who seek the self-interest of the moment, or who are led by a hierarchy to ruin both Church and State by effecting their union. The Fourth of July ought to be a day of serious thought for every lover of true liberty, in view of the fact that almost every principle which made this nation great has been repudiated by our rulers.

CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER.

By Editor

Editorial.—Notes and Comments—The Purpose of Christ's Priesthood—Is It Consistent?—Sin—Sunday "Desecration" and Calamity—Characteristic of Sunday Argument...........................................................................529, 530, 544

General Articles.—Our Freedom (verse)—Duty of the Rich Man to His Neighbor—The Catholic Church of the Nicene Era—"In the Stocks" for Conscience' Sake—The Curse of Sin upon the Earth—Will You Not Come?—A Loud Cry (part one)—Christian Education (concluded)—Important Temperance Testimony—Fragments—The Word of God...........................................................................531-537

Home and Health.—The Core of the House (verse)—Beauty out of Ugliness—A Prison under the Sea—The Sin of Fretting—A Queen Washing Windows...........................................................................537, 538

Mission Fields.—Plowed Under (verse)—The Burmans of Tavoy—An Englishwoman Goes Alone to Afghanistan—Christianity in Madagascar...........................................................................538, 539

Our Work and Workers.—I Would Follow (verse)—Among the Natives—People Who Are Not Soul Winners—A Lesson in Art—Field Notes...........................................................................540, 541

International S. S. Lessons.—Visit of the Wise Men (Lesson 3, Sunday, July 15, 1894)—Dependence on God (Lesson 2, Sabbath, July 14, 1894)...........................................................................541, 542

News and Notes.—Religious.—Secular...........................................................................543

The Veil on the Heart.

The veil on the face of Moses prevented ancient Israel from seeing the glory of God. The veil on the heart, spiritual blindness, prevented them from seeing Christ. That people who then rejected Christ, the Son of God, the Lord of the Sabbath, are now rejecting the Sabbath of Jehovah as a tradition of man, and turning to the pagan Sunday as an institution of God. The Rochester (N. Y.) Democrat and Chronicle, of June 3, in reporting a sermon by Rev. Dr. Hirsch, rabbi of Temple Sinai, in speaking in Temple Berith Kodesh, of which Rabbi Landsberg is minister, said:

"We Jews are gradually abandoning old superstitious ideas, and conforming our practices to the modern conceptions of science and thought. The sentiment which has prevailed for so many centuries of holding our religious exercises on a modern Saturday is fast passing away. The new form is rapidly dawning, and soon the Jewish services will be held on a Sunday, as all other denominations hold them. This must come; it will come. The practice which has been so tenaciously held of conducting our worship on a Saturday is a superstition that has clung with more than ordinary power wherever Jews have assembled to pay homage to the all-powerful God. But God can be worshiped any day, and as Sunday is the most acceptable time in view of the national customs which exist, it should be the day on which the services are held."

True it is, "he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth." Rabbi Hirsch may call it what he will, but the fact is that such action on the part of the Jews is turning from the rock of God's word to the worship of the beast. Yes, it will come; all apostate powers will worship the beast. Rev. 13:3, 4. But every true Jew who holds to the Sabbath of the word of God, will in the last great conflict acknowledge Him who is its Lord.

Xt, Xtian, and Xmas

By Editor

The following, from the Christian Advocate, of New York, we heartily indorse:—

"To show to what an abyss of irreverence persons may sink in abbreviating the names of Christ, we have the authority of one of the connectional officers of the church for the statement that a short time ago a letter arrived from one of our ministers containing this passage: 'The young man must be called to preach the gospel of J. C.' The information was sent to us as illustrating the note of last week, entitled '"Xt," "Xtian," and "Xmas."' Is this right?

'No; when I blush, be this my shame, That I no more revere His name.'"

Sunday-Law Reform in Pittsburg

By Editor

SOMEHOW the wonderful moral influence of Sunday-law reformers, which has centered around Pittsburg, Pa., for the last three years or more, is not as effectual as its friends might hope for. The Christian Statesman, published in that city, in its issue of June 16 says:—

“Pittsburg's first 'Sunday concert,' in Schenly Park, was given last sabbath evening. The Monday morning papers report an attendance of 40,000. Pittsburg under its present administration is rapidly moving to the front in the matter of sabbath desecration.”

We suggest to our friend the Statesman that it would better move away. Pittsburg is worse now than when it went there, that is, measured by the Statesman's standard.

The American Patriot

By Editor

THE American Patriot is a new weekly paper, published at 1170 Market Street, San Francisco, at $1.50 per year. It starts out with a gratifying subscription list of over 3,000 subscribers, and promises to double its size to eight folio pages when a subscription of 5,000 is reached, eventually hoping to grow into a daily. It advocates a policy along the A. P. A. lines, and stands for American rule as against all foreign domination in matters political or religious. Its motto is, "Equality to all; special privileges to none." This is good; and we shall expect it to demonstrate this principle in the matter of Sunday laws.

Article Title and Typographical Corrections

By Editor

THE article on the early apostasy of the Christian church, by Elder I. E. Kimball, in this number, is "The Catholic Church of the Nicene Era." They should all be read. The article in the issue of May 28 by a typographical error called "mortal and venial sin" "moral and venial sin." The mistake occurs in the last paragraph in the article but one, on page 453. In the tenth line of the same paragraph the comma should be omitted after "ourselves."

Prospects for Christian Church Union

By Editor

It does not look much like an organic union of Christian churches in the near future if we may judge by the action of the assembly of the Presbyterian Church South. That body declined to appoint a committee to confer with a committee appointed by the northern assembly on the subject of organic union. If two churches of the same creed cannot unite, or even confer with a view to union, what hope is there of the union of others?

Adventist Jailed for Sunday Gardening

By Editor

The Examiner of June 24 has the following, which is most decidedly to the point:—

"Down in Maryland an Adventist preacher whose conscience and creed dictated that he should observe Saturday as a day of rest, has been put in jail for working in his garden Sunday. Maryland, it seems necessary to remark, is one of the United States, and the present date is A.D. 1894."

The Curse of Sin upon the Earth

By Editor

Do NOT neglect to read the series of articles now running in the SIGNS from the pen of Elder Wm. Covert, on the earth as the home of the people of God. The title of the one in this present issue is "The Curse of Sin upon the Earth."

Christian Education

By Editor

THE address on "Christian Education," by Professor Prescott, closes with this number. We hope that all who have not read it will do so. Especially ought parents and youth to be interested.