The Universal Peace Union, through its president, Mr. Love, sent a letter to Sagasta and the queen regent of Spain just as the war between the United States and that country was about to begin. In the interests of peace and humanity Mr. Love asked Spain to make still further concessions, and incidentally stated that the sentiment of the United States was against the war.
The Peace Union has its headquarters in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, and the city council of that place is considering a proposition which demands that the Union vacate its present quarters. A despatch says that the resolution to be introduced “denounces the unpatriotic, un-American, and disgraceful expressions of opinion.”
It is not in our province to discuss either the patriotism or the unpatriotism of this Peace Union document. But there are one or two good lessons that may be drawn from this occurrence. The Peace Union no doubt had good intentions in writing the letter to Spain, even if it did blunder in the form of expressing those intentions. And now, if we are on the threshold of the millennium of peace so popularly talked about, how is it that the good intentions of a peace society man are so severely snubbed? Suppose he did blunder; the instincts of peace would prompt one to overlook his error and bid him not be discouraged but try again.
The mistake lies in supposing that we are approaching an age of peace, when in reality the whole world was never given so much to war. And the war spirit is growing stronger and stronger. “The battle of that great day” lies just ahead of us, and how awful are the preparations now going on!
It might be well in passing to suggest to the Peace Union that they are working on wrong methods if they desire to really secure peace. Their purpose of maintaining peace is one of the most laudable, and we wish that we might have hopes of their success. But how can we have such hopes of them when they are working almost wholly among politicians, and consequently along political lines?
The ambitions of politicians always have and always will be a serious menace to peace. And that order of things will grow worse and worse, as we are so rapidly approaching the end of time. Hence the one thing to do is to link ourselves purely and wholly with the Prince of Peace Himself, and assist Him in saving as many as possible from this wrecking world. All who throw aside personal ambitions, and become pure and true lovers of peace, will sooner or later find that Satan has banished peace from this world except as men get it from the Lord of life.
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. T.
A REASON FOR PAPAL SOLICITUDE.
By Editor
The papers and press despatches have reported that the pope is well-nigh prostrated because of the present war with Spain, and that he greatly grieved because of the slaughter of the Spanish soldiers in the battle of Manila.
That all this loss of life is a cause of sorrow to every true lover of humanity goes without saying; but we have never noted that the Vatican expressed itself grief-stricken or prostrated over the thousands of pitiful deaths from famine and fever in Cuba, nearly all of whom were presumably Catholic.
But a brief sketch of a few years of past history will help our readers to see a great cause of papal solicitude. This sketch is happily furnished in the May number of the Review of Reviews. After referring to the anxiety of the financiers over the war, the Review of Reviews turns to the distribution of the Spanish debt, and says:—
“In the early part of the present century, the property of the church in Spain had so accumulated that it might be said almost without exaggeration that the ecclesiastical establishment had absorbed the wealth of the country. Whereas there are now perhaps 35,000 priests and monks in Spain, there were in 1820 not less than 150,000 of these Spanish clergymen, not to mention the thousands of nuns (of these are now only about 15,000). Clericalism has played a very large part in the struggle of dynasties, factions, and parties in Spain throughout the entire century. The success of a particular dynastic faction in 1835 meant the defeat of the clerical party; and this was followed by sweeping confiscatory decrees [by which church property was confiscated to the government], which led to a protracted quarrel between the Vatican and the Spanish Government. This quarrel was kept up for nearly a quarter of a century, and was finally compromised in 1859 by a new concordat between the Spanish Government and the pope, in accordance with which a large amount of church property was sold off, and there was issued to the church several hundred millions of dollars of interest-bearing Spanish bonds. This huge block of securities held by the Roman Catholic Church to-day must of necessity make that ecclesiastical organization especially anxious for the maintenance of Spanish credit. A war with the United States means Spanish bankruptcy almost beyond a peradventure; and it is hard to see how the holdings of Spanish bonds by the Catholic Church could be protected in the general break-up of Madrid finances. The particular plan by which the church came into possession of the chief part of the Spanish internal debt was arranged with the Vatican itself, and it would be strange indeed if the Vatican should not now, in this critical time, have felt very keenly its responsibility for doing everything in its power to protect what it had been able forty years ago to save out of the far greater possessions formerly held by the church in Spain. All this was reasonable enough.”
Yes, it was reasonable enough that the pope should desire to save the property, but why not let his solicitude stand on the proper basis? It is reasonable to believe that he will do all he can to secure the church, tho Spain should fall; and it will be a wonder indeed if Spain does fall if pressure is not brought to bear upon the United States Government to secure in some way Spain’s debt to the church. This war means more than a mere civil conflict. It is well to watch events from the prophetic heights of God’s Word.
THE WINNING OF MARGARET.
[In three parts.]
Part Two.
“We are very glad to welcome you to our home,” said Mrs. Donaldson, after she had introduced the missionaries to the family, and all were comfortably seated. “My old mother is especially interested in the subject of the coming of the Lord.”
“I am indeed glad to see the servants of the King,” said Grandma. “I hope ye ha’ a message to bear to us in regard to Christ’s second coming. I see ye ha’ brought your Bible with you. Please tell us, do you think there will be a millennium before the coming of the Lord?”
The missionary said: “The word ‘millennium’ means a thousand years, and it has been understood by some that there would be a thousand years of peace on the earth. But let us act like true Protestants, and try all beliefs by the Bible, and the Bible alone. The Lord says, ‘If they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.’ Grandma is familiar with the Scripture; I will ask her to read an answer to the question, What will be the state of society just before the coming of Jesus? Turn to 2 Tim. 3:1–5.”
Grandma read: “‘This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.’ This certainly does not look as if the millennium precedes the coming of Jesus.”
“‘But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be,’ read the missionary. “These are the words of our Lord Himself as to the condition of society.”
“O, but you can prove anything by the Bible, by taking isolated passages!” said Mr. McClaren. “Pray, sir, does not the Bible plainly state that this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world before the coming of Christ?”
“Please turn to the passage in Matt. 24:14, and read it, Mr. McClaren.”
“‘This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come,’” read Mr. McClaren.
“It is to be preached for a witness; but that is not the same as saying that all the world will be converted. The world will be left without an excuse, because God will give to every kindred, nation, and tongue the opportunity to make sure of eternal life. There will be people gathered from all nations to swell the Saviour’s praises throughout eternity.”
“But your views of the millennium are certainly out of harmony with the teachings of the great religionists of the age. Does not the Word of God say, ‘Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession’?”
“Yes, Mr. McClaren, and it tells in the next verse that they are given for sure destruction. Turn to the second psalm. You have quoted the eighth verse; I will ask you to read the ninth.”
“‘Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel,’” read Mr. McClaren. “Yes, but there are other passages that throw a different light upon this subject. There is a statement in Micah that plainly says that the whole world is to be brought into a state of peace and righteousness.”
“Let us turn to the passage,” said the missionary. “It is found in the fourth chapter. Mr. McClaren, will you read from the first to the fourth verse?”
“‘But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow into it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.’”
“There, didn’t I tell you that the nations were going to settle their difficulties by arbitration, and that Tennyson’s dream was coming true? The nations are not to learn war any more,” said Bertha. “Now, Ralph, what do you have to say to that?”
“Let us hear what the missionary has to say to that. He is the controversialist on this occasion.”
“Not so,” said the missionary. “The controversy is between the opinions and traditions of men and the Word of God.”
“Let us hear the plain Word of God,” said Mrs. Donaldson.
“Let us study this prophecy a little more carefully. I would ask you to answer this question, Who is responsible for the saying that the nations will not learn war any more, God or the people? Please read the beginning of the second verse.”
Ralph looked over Mr. McClaren’s Bible and read, “‘And many nations shall come, and say.’ It is the people who say these things,” said Ralph.
“Yes, you have the Word of God for that. The prophet hears what the nations will be saying in the last days. I would like to ask you if you have heard anything of this import? Is not the very fact that men are proclaiming that there will be a thousand years of peace, that the difficulties between nations will be settled by arbitration, that we will beat these murderous war weapons into implements of industry, a proof that Micah heard aright the sayings of men in the last days?” asked the missionary.
“It looks very clear,” said Ralph. “But this is new light to me.”
“Is there any testimony yet more positive?” asked Margaret eagerly.
“There is,” said the missionary. “Let us read what the Lord says at the time when the nations are talking of peace while preparing for war. Grandma, will you read Joel 3, from the ninth to the fourteenth verses?”
“‘Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles: Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up; beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about; thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision; for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.’”
“That is plain enough,” said Mrs. Donaldson. “It is proof that when men talk of peace, and prepare for war, war will certainly come. The Lord has told us just what to expect,—that farming implements will be turned to the uses of war, rather than we shall beat our swords into plowshares, and our spears into pruning-hooks.”
“The testimony of the whole Bible falls into harmony as we take this view of the state of society just before Christ’s coming,” said the missionary. “Paul says, ‘When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.’”
“Well, at any rate, we are to know nothing of the day of Christ’s coming. It is plainly stated that it is to come as a thief in the night,” said Mr. McClaren.
“O, I would rather know something about it, if it is really to come!” cried Bertha. “It seems to me it would be awful to wake up in the night and face the terrors of that awful glory without a warning. Why, Noah preached a long time, a hundred and twenty years, didn’t he, to warn the people of the coming flood? and didn’t Jonah go to warn the Ninevites? Surely God will let us know something about this day of doom. Why, it will be the most awful day that ever broke upon the world! It will be the day that will eternally decide the fate of earth’s teeming millions. ‘O, I should think that a merciful God would let us know something about it!’”
“And so He will,” said grandma. “Listen, I’ve been reading down in the chapter. ‘But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light.’”
“Surely Paul describes two classes in this10chapter. There is a class who will be overtaken as a thief in the night; but may God grant that we escape from this class and all become children of the light,” said Mrs. Donaldson.
(Concluded next week.)
THE TONE OF VOICE.
It is not so much what you say,
As the manner in which you say it;
It is not so much the language you use,
As the tone in which you convey it.
“Come here!” I sharply said,
And the baby cowered and wept;
“Come here!” I cooed, and he looked and smiled,
And straight to my lap he crept.
The words may be mild and fair,
And the tones may pierce like a dart;
The words may be soft as the summer air,
And the tones may break the heart.
For words but come from the mind,
And grow by study and art;
But the tones leap forth from the inner self,
And reveal the state of the heart.
Whether you know it or not,
Whether you mean or care,
Gentleness, kindness, love, and hate,
Envy, and anger are there.
Then would you quarrels avoid,
And in peace and love rejoice,
Keep anger not only out of your words,
But keep it out of your voice.
—Anonymous.
CLEANLINESS OF HABIT.
ALL life issues in habits. They are in constant process of formation. If left to themselves, they inevitably bring one into bondage. If directed, regulated, mastered by Christian self-discipline, they constitute life’s glory and strength. Gentle speech, courteous manners, pure thought, refined taste, cultured appetites, regulated tempers, and all spiritual graces, may become habits, yea, and in the child of God must become habitual and thus abiding. To cultivate or permit unchaste thought or evil appetite, is to transform one’s own being into a prison-house, and to bequeath to one’s self a perdition of measureless wo.
The body, created as the temple of the Holy Ghost, must never be surrendered to the imperious power of narcotics. The tobacco habit, the drink habit, and similar enthralments, are beneath the dignity of an immortal spirit, yea, are beneath even the worthiness of a healthy animal. The brute creation never comes under the sway of such unnatural habits. Only the perversion of the soul results in such physical and moral degradation. A true gentleman would not usher a refined lady into a smoking-room. She would deem such treatment an insult. But are not many professed Christians less courteous to the Holy Spirit? They invite His incoming to bodies saturated with offensive narcotics, and seem not to know why He refuses to enter and abide.
Thought also becomes habitual. What tyranny can surpass that of unholy desires and imaginations? What joy equals that of the pure in heart? Habits are formed chiefly in early life. They determine character and destiny. We may make them what we will,—friends, helpers, safeguards, blessings eternal. We acquire them, they ultimately hold us.—N. Y. Observer.
THE CORAL ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC.
By E. C. Chapman
In the warm waters of the central Pacific lie several groups of low coral islands; indeed, the ocean in many parts is fairly speckled with the product of the persevering little workmen who build with their skeletons beautiful specimens of coral architecture for our admiration, and also construct mighty islands, and reefs innumerable, in which are stored millions of tons of lime. Many of the low islands are shaped somewhat like a horseshoe with a lagoon inclosed; others are but reefs of irregular form, upon which drift and dirt have accumulated sufficient to maintain a meager growth of vegetation.
The Tuamotu Islands of the French possessions of Eastern Polynesia rank first in importance among the groups of the lagoon-encircling islands of the Pacific. Their principal wealth lies in the pearl-fishing industry of the surrounding coasts. Large quantities of these valuable shells are annually gathered by divers in the Tuamotus, and shipped to Europe. The population of the group is less than 5,000.
The term Micronesia has often been applied to the region of the Pacific which embraces the Gilbert, Marshall, Caroline, and Ladrone Islands. These four groups are mostly of the low coral order, and are inhabited by a mixed race that are supposed to be derived from both Papuan and Polynesian blood. The Gilbert Islands have fallen under the protection of England, while Germany was awarded by the arbitration of the pope the Marshall Islands, with their 15,000 natives. The less fortunate Caroline and Ladrone Islands fell, by “right11of discovery and gift of the pope” under the cruel rule of Spain, which has destroyed many of the natives, driven off their Christian missionaries, and enforced the papal religion. The fall of Spain in the Philippines will no doubt mean equal freedom for these groups which lie between Hawaii and Manila. Is not this the providential opening of a door that was closed to Gospel workers? We believe so.
The most elevated point of land in the Gilbert group is not more than twenty feet above the level of the sea, and there are but a few inches of soil spread over the coral foundation of the islands, from which the trees of the group maintain an existence. The coconut and pandanus palm are about the only trees found upon this class of islands, and, aside from the fruit of these, the natives have little variety to tempt their appetites, with the exception of the taro, which is carefully cultivated in many places. The lagoons which open out to the sea furnish a very fine region for the native fishermen to obtain in quiet their oft-desired meal of fish. About these lagoons is the favorite region for the cultivation of taro.
With hands and feet accustomed to the rough bark, the natives are able to ascend the coconut trees like monkeys. The nuts are husked on the sharp end of a stick or iron which is driven into the ground.
Glimpse of a coral garden of the great deep. A snap shot at low tide.
Tho the Gilbert Islands are comparatively unattractive regions, there is no place in Micronesia or Polynesia where the shores are more densely populated than those of the above-named groups. The island of Taputeouea, of the Gilbert Archipelago, is thirty miles long, and it is doubtful if there is a spear of grass upon the whole island; it is also destitute of all underbrush. The coconuts and pandanus are scattered thinly over the island, and aside from those and the taro there is nothing upon which an animal can subsist; yet this island contained at last reports a population estimated at seven or eight thousand. These places have been a favorite haunt for the slave-dealer and labor vessel, and the natives have accordingly endured their share of suffering from these wicked men, who have removed large numbers of the people to various islands and distant countries. There are several hundred of these islanders living upon Tahiti, who congregate in villages by themselves by the seashore, and depend mostly upon fishing for a livelihood. Their language much resembles the Tahitian, and most of their habits are similar to those of the natives of the southern groups of Polynesia. The Gilbert islanders are prone to pierce holes in their ears, which are enlarged until the lobe of the ear is sometimes stretched down nearly to the shoulder. They are accustomed to run naked upon their native shores, and are, like most of the other islanders, given up to evil, tho they are not an especially treacherous or blood-thirsty race. They are lazy, and indisposed to hand labor, and if the stomach be full, are satisfied to live in the most primitive style under a hut of coconut limbs.
It is estimated that the total population of the Gilbert group amounts to about 25,000 natives, which is nearly half that of the region known as Micronesia.
“The Marshall islanders boldly go 300 and even 500 miles to other groups, guiding themselves by the stars. Captain Gillett, of the Morning Star, once found a company of these natives in a canoe beating their way home 300 miles against a head wind, and gave them a compass, and taught them how to direct their course by it; but one of them pointed to an old man with a great shaggy head of hair, and said, ‘His head all same compass.’”
“The religion of the Micronesians, if it may be called a religion, is spiritism. They have no idols, no temples, no priests. They do obeisance to certain trees, rocks, or coral slabs, into which they suppose spirits have entered; and they are very particular in the care of the bodies of their deceased friends, whose spirits they will conciliate. With this view the Gilbert islanders formerly kept the dead bodies of their people, anointed with oil and covered with mats, many weeks, and sometimes over a year, and after they were decayed away, carried their skulls as charms—a custom that illustrated the unclean and revolting horrors of nearly all pagan religions.”—Islands of the Pacific, p. 320.
The natives of Micronesia, Tuamotu, and other low islands of Polynesia, have some of them received help from the missionaries, tho the vast majority of them are a needy and degraded class to-day. The American and Hawaiian board of foreign missions has put forth many a noble effort for the evangelization of these natives. The Rev. H. Bingham lived for seventeen years upon one of these desolate islands of the Gilbert group, where there was naught to break the monotony of isolation but the yell of the savages and the roar of the waves. As a result of this consecrated labor, the Gilbert islanders now have the Bible in their own tongue, and it is to be hoped that many of them will shine as bright stars in Mr. Bingham’s crown, through all eternity. Upon other islands of Micronesia similar devotion was exhibited by missionary pioneers.
The London Missionary Society’s fine vessel, the John Williams, regularly calls at the various stations of that society among the isolated coral islands of the South Pacific. There remains much yet to be done for these poor souls.
E. C. CHAPMAN.
Oakland, Cal.
PRESERVING EGGS.
The following method is vouched for by the Money Maker, a poultry journal, published in New Concord, Ohio; it declares that fresh eggs preserved by this method keep fresh for a year or more. It is certainly inexpensive:—
“We give below the experience of Mr. O’Neal in preserving eggs by the Algretta method. Mr. O’Neal says:—
‘Jan. 1, 1893, I preserved ten dozen eggs to see if they would keep fresh; I kept them till July, and could not tell them from fresh eggs. I then preserved $100 worth (1,428 dozen), which sold in winter for 28 cents a dozen; after deducting $14.24 for preservatives, I had $385.60 left, which I invested in July, ’94, buying 5,500 dozen at 7 cents, and sold them in the winter at 29 cents, which, after deducting $53.40 for preservatives, left me $1,541.60, with which I bought 22,023 dozen in ’95, at 7 cents, and sold them at 28 cents, leaving me, after paying $216 for preservatives, $5,950.44, with which I bought 85,006 dozen, in ’96, at 7 cents a dozen, and sold them at 27 cents; after paying $827 for preservatives, and $200 for barrels to keep the eggs in, I had $21,924.62, made from an investment of $100 only three years before. The first two years I worked at my trade every day, and bought and sold my eggs in the evening. I was not able to put up eggs last year, and, being broken in health, I am going to Ireland this month to end my days at my old home.
“I will now give you complete directions for preserving eggs by the Algretta method.
“Take 36 gallons of water, put in it 18 pounds unslaked white lime, and 6 pounds salt, stir it several times for a day, then let settle and draw off all that is clear; then take 4 ounces Per Algretta, 8 ounces baking soda, 8 ounces cream tartar, 8 ounces salt-peter, and 8 ounces borax; dissolve them in two gallons boiling water, and put into your clear lime water; this will cover 300 dozen eggs. It costs about one cent a dozen to preserve them. The Per Algretta keeps the eggs fresh and fresh looking; some druggists do not have it in stock, but can get it for you, as all wholesalers have it.
“You can buy eggs in summer from country merchants for 7 cents, and have them shipped to you. Start with $10, and by reinvesting it every year, in five years you will have over $5,000. Is not this worth trying? Put up a few eggs right away, so next summer when eggs are cheap, you will have confidence to preserve all you can. I have started four friends in this business, and they are all doing as well as I did. Truly yours, JOHN O’NEAL.
“Mr. O’Neal’s experience is certainly encouraging, and we can see no reason why any one that will try, can not do as well.”
A sister writes the formula as follows: 36 gallons of water, 6 pounds of salt, four ounces Per Algretta, dissolved in two gallons boiling water, making in all 38 gallons of the solution. Cover the eggs with this solution till you are ready to sell them.
We give these recipes, both of which are claimed to be tested, for what they are worth. Nothing is said as to the way in which the eggs are to be placed, whether on the end or side, or any particular position.
OLD SHOES.
How much a man is like old shoes!
For instance, both a soul may lose,
Both have been tanned, both are made tight
By cobblers, both get left and right;
Both need a mate to be complete,
And both are made to go on feet;
They both need heeling, oft are sold,
And both in time turn all to mold.
With shoes the last is first; with men
The first shall be the last; and when
The shoes wear out, they are mended new.
When men wear out, they're men-dead, too.
They both are trod upon, and both
Will tread on others, nothing loath;
Both have their ties, and both incline,
When polished, in the world to shine,
And both peg out—and would you choose
To be a man or be his shoes?
—Anon.
WHICH DO YOU?
By W. W. Wheeler
“Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Eph. 6:4. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.” Ps. 103:13. So reads the Word of God.
Fathers, did it ever occur to you that some of you have so far neglected to live out the first scripture that it is almost impossible for your children to grasp the mercy and long-suffering of God as revealed in the second scripture?
As you stop to think of it, is it not so? Well, don’t serve Satan one moment longer by sitting still and mourning about it, till you are an eyesore to yourself and every one else; but let the Word of God, given in the first scripture, convert you, now, into a true father. Then will your children more truly know God’s care and love for them, and your prayers for them will probably be effectual, because accompanied by true faith,—that faith which works prove to be alive. Can not mothers also profit by God’s instruction on this point?
W. W. WHEELER.
Waddington, Cal.
Domestic Life and Religious Ideals
By Mrs. C. E. Wooley
OUR religious and patriotic ideals are closely interwoven with our domestic life. As the home is, so will the Church and State be.—Mrs. C. E. Wooley.
“AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?”
By Julia Loomis
Long ages since, a sinful man
Addressed these taunting words
To Him who searches every heart,
And every act records.
He thought to hide his cruel deed,
His innocence proclaim,
By proving that his brother had
On him no rightful claim.
How many in these later times
Are saying by their ways,
“Am I my brother’s keeper, Lord?
Can I prolong his days?”
Awake, my brother! Look abroad!
There is no time to spare.
The poor do die for lack of bread;
The sick, for want of care,
Dying without one ray of hope.
O, hasten! quickly haste!
Too late! too late! may haunt thy days,
If thou a moment waste.
Think not, my brothers, to escape;
The Lord has surely said,
The blood of him you fail to warn
Will be upon thy head.
The times demand our patient toil;
Not one may be excused;
The talents God bestowed on all,
Were given to be used.
O, let us not presume to think
That we may idle be,
While there’s a soul on earth to help,
Or be from sin set free!
Mrs. Julia Loomis.
Nipomo, Cal.
REPORT OF HELPING HAND AND MEDICAL MISSION.
By S. N. Curtiss
Not much has been said of late in the SIGNS in regard to the Mission, but we trust that no one will think it has been because nothing is being accomplished. The work of the Mission is going on daily, and not a day passes that something of special importance does not occur, or at least it would be thought of special interest if it could be seen by those not connected with the Mission work; but to the workers these things become matters of daily occurrence, and tho all are considered of importance, extraordinary things become common in their frequency and so excite no special comment.
Quite a large number who have attended services at the Mission have, of late, enlisted in the army, and gone to Manila with the troops. Others who came into the Mission several weeks ago, when it was first opened, and were given meals or a bed, now come in and pay for these accommodations and tell how much they appreciate what was done for them.
Altho the work has started off so auspiciously, a large amount of means is still necessary to carry it on, and contributions of clothing, provisions, and cash are still needed.
We hope that quite a number of our readers in the farming districts of California will remember the Mission, and will plant for it beans, peas, potatoes, etc. Some five or six hundred pounds of beans are now used every month, besides large amounts of potatoes, dried fruit, rolled wheat, etc.
The following is a report of the work done at the Mission from March 28 to April 30 inclusive:—
Sermons preached ................. 32
Bible-readings given in chapel .......... 110
Persons requesting prayers .............. 136
Persons professing Christ ............... 22
Men furnished employment for one or more days . 787
Garments distributed ................... 161
Persons using laundry .................. 171
Medical treatments given ............... 281
Garments fumigated ..................... 3,975
Baths given ............................ 821
Beds occupied one night ................ 2,165
Penny lunches served ................... 27,661
Amount of cash donations received since last report, $39.65. S. N. CURTISS, Secretary and Treasurer.
“THE DOOR OF HOPE FOR HOMELESS WOMEN.”
By S. N. Curtiss
This is the name which has been adopted for the home for needy women and girls recently established in the suburbs of Oakland.
Within the last few days the Seventh-day Adventist Churches of Oakland and San Francisco have donated the furnishings for this home, and the furniture and bedding are now being purchased and12gotten in, and we are sure that the open door of this new mission will prove indeed a “door of hope” to many a needy, homeless, helpless, sinsick woman.
While the SIGNS is backing this Door of Hope Mission financially, the thousands of readers of this paper are invited to have a share in this grand work of uplifting fallen humanity. Contributions of cash may be forwarded to the undersigned, care SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal., and acknowledgment will be promptly made. S. N. CURTISS, Secretary and Treasurer.
Niagara Vapor Baths
We Are the Original Manufacturers of Portable Vapor Baths.
We have during the last ten years supplied thousands of our Baths to physicians, hospitals, sanitariums, etc., and we are now for the first time advertising them direct to the general public.
In Buying a Vapor Bath
Get one with a steel frame that stands on the floor. If a manufacturer does not show you a cut, you may take it for granted that his “steel frame” is a wire hoop that rests on the shoulders of the bather.
Get one that is covered with proper material. Insist on seeing a sample of material before ordering.
Get one with a thermometer attachment. Don’t go it blind. A bath that is too hot or not hot enough will be of no benefit to you.
Get one that you can return and have your money back, if not satisfactory in every way.
Send for sample of material and interesting booklet that will tell you all about Vapor Baths.
Price of Niagara Baths, $5.00
Jones & Co.Manufacturers
DEPARTMENT K. T.
Niagara Falls, N. Y.
When you write, please mention the SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
