p. 13 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 16. (4/21/1909)

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THE following desire continuous supplies of papers:

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Belle Waterman-Findlay, Junction City, Ore. Life and Health, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, and Instructor.

THE FAMOUS EVANGELIST'S NEW HYMN BOOK

GIPSY SMITH

Edition of HALLOWED HYMNS

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By I. ALLAN SANKEY

35c. a copy, postpaid. $25 per 100

Returnable Sample mailed to Pastors, etc.

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Colds

By G. H. Heald

Colds.—By G. H. Heald, M.D. A treatise on the causes, prevention, and cure of colds. White leatherette binding. 58 pages, 25c.

Address this office.

Sickness and Its Relief

By Maria L. Edwards

By Maria L. Edwards, M.D.

DOWN through the ages sickness and disease have ever been present with the human race. By many they have been looked upon as a sort of misfortune that has befallen the victim in punishment, perhaps, for some misdemeanor or possibly from no cause whatsoever; by others they are considered as a mistake of “blind Providence;” and by still others they are looked upon as the ruling of an all-wise Providence.

In the Scriptures we are assured that “the curse causeless shall not come.” Then with every sickness there is a definite cause somewhere to be found, just as surely as we have the unvarying truth that effect follows accurately a cause.

What is spoken of as “blind Providence” is the carrying out of natural laws, which never vary in their workings any more than the law of gravity forgets to act or the needle fails to turn to the pole. The term “blind” is applicable only to the human, finite mind which is too limited in its comprehension to fathom the workings of Providence.

Occasionally we are able to catch glimpses of nature’s effort to keep our bodies in health, and then it is quite easy to discern how we may assist in these efforts; and assisting nature is most assuredly a splendid policy to pursue. For examples:

In case of fever, the whole system seems to cry out for cold water, and we have learned to give water in abundance, both internal and external applications, instead of persistently withholding it as was done twenty or thirty years ago.

When the digestive organs are out of commission and the mouth and stomach filled with germs, as indicated by the coating on the tongue, and there is even repulsion at the thought of food, we have learned to give the stomach a complete or partial rest from food, instead of searching the neighborhood for some dainty morsel of jelly, jam, or cake with which to tempt the appetite. In fact, we have learned that no appetite is a very good indication that food could not be digested if taken, and would only poison the system by its fermentation and putrefaction.

When a person faints he falls prostrate to the floor, and we have learned that the horizontal position favors the return of blood to the head and that nature has done the best thing in thus placing the patient.

If a person is suffering with night sweats, nature is doing the best she can to eliminate the poisons in this way, and we have learned that it is wise to assist nature to rid the system of the poisons that are producing the night sweats rather than to use some means to check the sweats.

Again, pain, the terrible dread of the human family, is nature’s great danger signal, warning us that something is wrong and should be at once corrected. If we are wise we will diligently attempt to remove the cause of the pain instead of paralyzing the nerves that give warning by some convenient narcotic. This latter method is like covering the red light that has been set for a danger signal, or removing the clapper from a warning bell, or extinguishing the great lamp in the lighthouse on the rocks, and then foolishly declaring that the danger is all over because there is no signal to be discerned.

Much more might be said on the subject of attributing our troubles to “blind Providence,” but these points will illustrate many others.

When we contemplate the love and tenderness of God, even to the degree that we are figuratively spoken of as the “apple of His eye,” and assured that He does not afflict any willingly, we can only say that an all-wise Providence permits sickness to come to each and all in that He does not by special interference with the laws of cause and effect prevent the sickness in each individual case, the cause of which has sometime, somewhere been instigated by us or our parents. But with the permitting of His children to suffer the real effects of real causes often comes the greatest spiritual blessing, and the most substantial character building. How can this be true? Not that one must be a cripple or an invalid to be really good, but possibly when he is for a time held back from the usual activities of life, he has time to consider the question of cause and effect.

Then if the “curse causeless shall not come,” and we can not properly speak of “blind Providence,” it behooves us to become familiar with the causes of sickness and to study most carefully into the workings of Nature that we may intelligently cooperate with her in her efforts.

(Concluded next week.)

Timely Household Hints

By Martha

EVERY housekeeper should know the difference between a disinfectant and a deodorant, for while a disinfectant kills germs, a deodorant destroys odors, and has no power to kill germs. Sometimes the properties are combined. It is said that whitewash has both deodorizing and disinfecting powers.

A good way to treat a floor that is to be left uncovered through the summer, is to give the floor a coat of light paint, and when this is dry, fill all cracks and nail holes with putty, smoothing it even with a knife, and if the paint is used first it will keep the putty from falling out. Give the floor a second coat of paint of any desired color and after that is dry, paint a border around the edges of the room. If one has any artistic taste, a design can be outlined on this border with a small paint brush, using the same colored paint that covers the center of the room, and your rooms will be cool and sweet for the hot weather at small cost.

To make the window glass and mirrors shiningly clean, wash in borax water without soap. The borax should be used in the proportion of one tablespoonful to a gallon of water, and the glass will remain clean much longer than if washed with soap and water. The borax water will not injure the woodwork of the windows; in fact, there is nothing better for cleaning painted or unpainted woodwork than borax water.

A most satisfactory method of cleaning brass is to dampen a cloth with ammonia, rub it briskly over a piece of pumice soap, and then over the brass and it will shine like new.

Clean window-shades upon which fly-specks and dust have gathered by rubbing with ammonia and warm water.

If lace curtains are only slightly soiled, they can be freshened considerably by shaking them well to remove the dust, and then putting them to soak in gasoline and allowing them to remain for two hours. But the fluid should never be used in a room where there is a fire or light. No odor will remain after they have been hung in the air and sunshine. MARTHA.

School-Day Influences

By Sharlot M. Hall

THERE comes a period to all children, from ten to fifteen, when they begin to grow dimly aware of the mystery of life; to restlessly seek its solution, and to realize that the nursery story of the angel bringing little sister is not true. Their playmates drop bits of knowledge, and the mysterious silence preserved by mama only serves to whet their curiosity. Then come school-days and associations, and after a year or two the mother would be much surprised if she could just know what is being talked among her children and their playmates.

I do not wish to speak against our schools, but I know from my own experience that neither teacher nor mother can have any adequate idea of what goes on among the children during play hours. I often wonder how parents can be so blind, so careless of the little notes that pass from hand to hand, and the secrets told with elaborate precaution. Children from all sorts of homes meet and mingle freely, and the stories told and language used is a shock to a thoughtful mind.

Perhaps I have the advantage of inside knowledge, for I went, a shy, quiet girl, from

a lonely country ranch to a town school. The earnest intention to study medicine and make it my life work had given me considerable knowledge at a very early age, and to me the reproduction of life was a holy of holies. Absorbed in my studies, I did not join any class or set, and soon the girls laughed and joked and told their experiences before me as if I had been deaf or blind. They were all nice girls, from the best families; but the things I heard them tell made me resolve that no daughter of mine should ever leave her mother's care without the protection of knowledge.— Sharlot M. Hall.

Joys of Home

SWEET are the joys of home, And pure as sweet; for they Like dews of morn and evening come, To make and close the day.

The world hath its delights, And its delusions, too; But home to calmer bliss invites, More tranquil and more true.

— Anon.

BOOK NOTICES

“The ‘How’ Book.” By Marshall A. Hudson, founder and president of the World’s Baraca Bible Class Union; secretary of the Adult Bible Class Committee International Sunday School Association. 144 pages, with introduction by Charles G. Trumbull. Price 50 cents. The Sunday School Times Company, Philadelphia.

The full title of this book is “How to Reach Men, How to Hold Men, How to Teach Men, How to Win Men, How It Has Been Done.” It is a very practical assistant in soul-winning, written by a man who is devoting his life to this work, a man whose ambition is to see a million souls saved through his efforts. Each division of the book is filled with helpful, practical instruction and examples. Sabbath-school teachers and workers for souls in any capacity will find much that is helpful and inspiring in it.

“The Covenant of Salt.” Based on the Significance and Symbolism of Salt in Primitive Thought, by H. Clay Trumbull. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York.

The late Mr. Trumbull, for years the editor of The Sunday School Times, has presented some very striking, suggestive lessons in connection with the covenant of salt under the headings, The Characteristic of a Covenant, The Covenant of Salt, Bible References to the Rite, Meaning of Bread and Salt, Salt Representing Blood and Life, Salt and Sun-Life and Light, The Significance of Bread and Salt in Sacrifices, in Exorcism and Divination, Added Traces of the Rite, Savor of Life or of Death, etc. It has also a chapter on the Ten Commandments as a Covenant of Love with topical and Scriptural indexes.

“The Study of Stellar Evolution.” An account of some recent methods of astral physical research, by George Ellery Hale, formerly of the Department of Astronomy and Astral Physics, now Director of the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory. Price is $4.00, net. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

This is Volume 10 of the Decennial publication; second series of the university. It was planned as a handbook to the Yerkes Observatory, but many inquiries, and the removal of the author to Southern California, Mount Wilson, led to the plan of still further investigating, and the development of the present volume. The author has been assisted by other noted astronomical observers. It is a book which it seems to us every teacher of astronomy and many students would desire. The sun is considered as a typical star; large and small telescopes are compared; astronomical photography; the development of the reflecting telescope; elementary principles of spectral analysis; the phenomena of the sun’s surface. In addition to the vast amount of information that is given regarding the new processes used in the new astronomy, there is a magnificent collection of plates in the latter part of the volume, of stellar photographs—104 in number. These are almost as good as photographs themselves, printed on the finest kind of paper so as to show the photographs to the best advantage.

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Whisky and Consumption

In an address before the Mississippi Valley Medical Association, in Louisville, Ky., on October 15, Dr. T. D. Crothers, of Hartford, Conn., editor of the Journal of Inebriety, said:

“The so-called moderate use of spirits which diminishes the vitality and lowers the resisting power of nature is an active cause of consumption and typhoid fever and is accountable for over eighty per cent of all cases of pneumonia. In fact, there is no disease known and no surgical operation performed that is not influenced and made worse by spirits.

“The present efforts of laymen and societies to correct and prevent this evil as a moral one is a sad reflection on the stupidity of the medical profession.”

Our Little Friend

An Illustrated Paper for the Smaller Men and Women, for the Children and Little Ones

Instructive and entertaining, clean, wholesome, sensible. It is a character builder, a helper to father and mother. Our Little Friend would plant seed in the joyous life of the children in the Present, that it may bear blessed fruitage in the Harvest of the Future. Respect your child's individuality. Take the paper for him or her. Only 50 cents a year.

Address, OUR LITTLE FRIEND, Mountain View, Cal.

LIBERTY

THE OFFICIAL ORGAN OF

THE RELIGIOUS LIBERTY BUREAU

An illustrated, 48-page, quarterly magazine, published as an exponent and advocate of true religious liberty; defending Christianity and the rights of conscience; upholding the Bible as the infallible word of God; recognizing the church and state as ordained of Heaven for specific and distinct purposes, but vigorously protesting against the alliance of the church with the state in the attempt to advance religion and to promote the state.

Price 25 cents per year. Liberal terms to agents.

Address, LIBERTY, Takoma Park, D. C.

Furnished Rooms for Rent

For Rent, during summer months—Suite of rooms, furnished, near St. Helena Sanitarium. Roomy veranda, can be used for bed-room, if desired. Address Mrs. W. C. White, Sanitarium, Napa Co., Cal.

Life and Health

A PRACTICAL health journal, published with a view of meeting hygienic needs in every home; teaching how to care for the health and how to preserve life; prescribing simple home treatments to assist nature in throwing off diseases rather than adding more poison by using drugs or unnatural stimulants as remedies: teaching how to avoid disease as far as possible, how to manage in the home when sickness does come, and how to combat the disease by simple remedies which nature provides.

Send for sample copy and special rates to agents. Price 10 cents per copy or $1.00 per year.

Address, LIFE & HEALTH, Takoma Park, D. C.

Fire Destroys Southern Publishing Branch

A letter to this office from the (Fort Worth) Texas branch of the Southern Publishing Association brings the sad news that that city has been visited by a destructive fire, and the Southern Publishing branch is among the buildings that are burned. The only things saved were the bookkeeping records, neostyle, adding machine, and typewriter. The fire occurred during the time of quarterly-meeting service, April 3. We are glad to know that a large part of the stock was covered with insurance, and yet despite all these there is a heavy loss. The fire spread so rapidly that many people in the burned district barely escaped with clothing sufficient to wear, altho the fire occurred in the daytime. While the branch office was in a cement block, yet after the fire there could be seen but little difference between that and the wooden structures around.

The Race Question and Its Future

The race question is still a live question, discussed by papers and scientific men all over the country. President Taft seems to be inclined to let the South settle the race question itself. President Elliot in a recent interview advises against admixture of all kinds of races, even advises the Irish to keep themselves distinct from the Scotch, and the English to keep the races of continental Europe segregated. While early results may not be disastrous, it is contended that the ultimate effect will be the forming of entirely new races having no kinship with anything, and yet revealing the worst elements of the races which have entered into the mixture. Yet on the other hand there are those who contend that admixture of the races develops a stronger race, and welds into the new race the abilities of all the races, as in America, for instance, which is a hodgepodge of races. What a blessing it will be when God will have a people of one language and one race; the great type of which will be the Lord Jesus Christ! — a race that will not give way to another, but will endure forever.

We Never Find Happiness by Seeking for It

We never find happiness by seeking for it. It is only found in seeking to make others happy, in doing God’s will.

Please Send Your Name and Address

We have received a letter signed “M. J.” from Eureka, Cal., containing ten cents in postage stamps, evidently desiring an answer, but giving us no address. If the person will give us his name and address, we will reply to him we think satisfactorily. We reply to no anonymous communications.

Test the Bible’s Truth

Why not test the Bible if you question its truth? It promises great things, things which, if true, are eternally important. It gives promise not only of “the life which now is,” but of “that which is to come.” The test is simple. Listen to the words of the great Teacher: “If any man will to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God.” John 7:17. Again: “Taste, and see that the Lord is good.” These are tests which every soul may put to the proof.

Destructive April Gale

A fearful gale swept through the East April 7 and 8. Telegraph poles were blown down, wires broken, millions of property damaged, and hundreds of people injured and some lives lost. Twelve were reported dead in Mississippi; nine in Michigan, four in Kentucky, one each in New York and Indiana. Barges and boats were blown adrift on the lakes. In Wabash, Ind., two entire families were buried under the ruins of their homes. In Buffalo two ships were blown upon the beach. A score of canal-boats were badly injured by the rush of ice. In Ionia, Mich., a child was struck by lightning and killed.

Riot in the Missouri House Over Prohibition

Prohibition does not seem to have a very smooth time in Missouri. The St. Louis Republic of April 4 has the following head lines, and the account seems to justify the headings: “Riot in Missouri House, Started by Republicans in Prohibition Debate,” “General Fist Fight Follows Attempt of Majority to Prevent Exodus from the Chamber,” “Score Hurt in Melee at the Door,” “Minority Members Quit Floor to Beat Motion to Table Bill.” The Globe-Democrat heads its account thus: “Women Join Riot in Missouri House Over Prohibition,” “Clothing Torn, Representatives Hardesty, Hawkins and a Clerk Assaulted.” Clothing was torn, collars and ties were disarranged and fisticuffs were narrowly averted. Women of the W. C. T. U. “got somewhat mixed up in the throng.” The St. Louis Republic declares that blows were exchanged in the melee and more than one solon came out of the mix-up bearing marks of the scrimmage. An eye-witness writes us that he was in the gallery and the fight took place directly underneath. “It was a scene hardly to be described. It required an eye-witness to understand it. Many were hurt and were limping around afterward. It seemed as tho pandemonium reigned and bedlam was let loose.” Such scenes are truly disgraceful. Greater is he that controls his spirit, than he that takes a city.

Prohibition Election Results

Reports from Detroit under April 5 declare that twenty out of twenty-seven counties in Michigan voted dry. Over 500 saloon-keepers will be thrown out of business after May 1. Several of the counties went decidedly against prohibition. In the struggle in New York on April 6 every town from the city line on Long Island to Montauk Point was carried by the licensed interests. Even East Hampton, where it is said there has not been a barroom for more than a hundred years, was carried by the saloon interest by more than 100 majority. Southampton, Hempstead, Oyster Bay; all were expected to go dry, but were carried by the liquor interests. In the municipal elections in Nebraska the same day, despatches declare that the gains in the smaller towns were on the side of the prohibitionists. Prohibition was overwhelmingly defeated in Little Rock, Ark., and received a setback in Indianapolis, Ind. In Wisconsin about twenty towns voted wet while about fourteen voted dry. The Alabama State Prohibition law was the second time declared valid by the State Supreme Court.

Coffee-drinking in the United States.

The United States is the world’s largest consumer of coffee and cacao. She holds third rank among the importing nations in the importations of tea. On an average the annual importation of coffee, tea, and cacao is about $100,000,000, of which three fourths is coffee. The bulk of the coffee and cacao imported comes from other American countries; Asia supplies the tea. Brazil furnishes by far the largest amount of coffee, nearly eighty per cent. Other South American countries, Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies supply practically all the rest. In twenty years the importation of coffee to the United States had doubled. The per capita consumption now amounts to 10.04 pounds. The consumption of tea amounts to 1.07 pounds per capita. In ten years the importation of cacao has more than trebled, amounting in 1908 to 83,000,000 pounds. The increasing use of these stimulants can not fail to produce an army of nervous, irritated, and irritating men and women of the coming generation.

Designing Women.

An editorial in the Detroit News and Tribune, of March 21, referring to a certain church trial in Chicago, quotes a minister of prominence as saying that one of the trials of his career was to keep himself clear of the meshes of designing women, and even to avoid the appearance of evil. The Tribune intimates that emotional religion is “morally relaxing,” and again, that “the clergyman is the receptacle of all the religious vagaries that trouble the mind of women, and his counsel is in danger of becoming sympathy, and his sympathy of becoming carnal interest. On the other hand men who feel a softening of the religious element within them often seek out women for sympathy and this is dangerous. Prudent clergymen of course take care that they discriminate between symptoms in their fair penitents, and most of them require that a third person be near at hand when any really intimate conversation is desired.” These are principles that it is well worth while for any minister to take into consideration.

American Influence

The noted journalist, Wm. T. Stead, is quoted as saying that “nothing surprises me more in talking to the average educated American than his ignorance of the extent to which American ideas are transforming the world.” And then he names several examples of this in Bulgaria, in Turkey, in Rome; and he declares in conclusion that “Europe must be Americanized or Europe is lost.” But America will not save the world. The very life of God must come into all the nations, or all of them are lost. If America would hold to her original ideas she would be indeed a blessing to the world. The sad fact is that she is tending toward the Dark Ages.

Pacific Mail Steamer Indiana Wrecked

The Pacific Mail Steamer “Indiana” was wrecked on the shoals near Magdalena Bay off Lower California, April 4. The wreck will cost the company about $500,000. There is no hope of saving either the vessel or valuable cargo. The passengers were all saved by the United States Cruiser “California.”

True Protestantism and Church-State Union

The “Western Watchman” says that Protestantism stands for the worst form of the union of church and state. That is getting to be true of what is called modern Protestantism, but true Protestantism stands for no union of church and state whatever. That was one of the essentials in the Protest that was presented at the Diet of Spires by the German princes. It was a protest against the church and the priest over conscience, and of the union of church and state.