p. 16 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 37, No. 30. (8/2/1910)

Earlier text: A Campaign for Intolerance

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Progress in China

By F. E. Stafford

I. Our Work in Shanghai

SHANGHAI, the New York of China, is without doubt the most cosmopolitan of any city in the world. Here may be found representatives of nearly every nation in Europe, Asia, and America engaged in business, side by side with the dark-skinned Indians, the yellow, slant-eyed Chinamen, and the little brown men from Japan.

A half hour's walk along the "Bund" (as the main street is called) will serve to show a person the most remarkable contrasts of people, costumes, and buildings.

The tall, stalwart Seik policemen with their heads wrapped in red and yellow turbans, guard every street corner, and do not hesitate to use their clubs on the Chinese coolies who swarm along the roads with their bamboo baskets, wheelbarrows, and rickshaws, in close proximity to the modern electric street-cars and swiftly speeding automobiles.

A View on the Shanghai Bund. Note the well-paved street, and also the wheelbarrow load of baggage.

A Custom-House on the Bund, Shanghai. All passengers from foreign parts land at the jetty just opposite this building.

The fashionably dressed rich English lords and ladies come dashing down the street with their beautiful carriages and spirited horses, passing en route the ancient Chinese ox-cart and water-buffalo, and running down without a thought the poor cripples and beggars who lie by the wayside clothed in rags, asking for a few cash pieces with which to buy food.

In the busy markets the rough be-whiskered Russian brushes his shoulders against the Japanese and Korean, while the Philippino, Jew, Spaniard, Portuguese, and French and German meet together on equal terms.

Leaving the beautiful modern brick and stone five-story and six-story buildings, such as the Astor House, the Palace Hotel, the German Club, the custom-house, and the consulate buildings, one has only a walk of half a mile to find himself in the original Chinese city of Shanghai, in an atmosphere as different as night is from day.

Here dark, narrow, dirty alleys and small one-story shops prevail everywhere; and here business is carried on much the same way as it was one thousand years ago. To get into the city it is necessary to go through a winding passage in the wall. At every turn of the way there are heavy iron gates, and some of the ancient spears and battle-axes which the guards used are still there. Thus did the Chinese fortify themselves against their enemies. Every city in China of any importance has the same kind of wall around it. They average from twenty-five to forty feet high and about fifteen or twenty feet thick, being much wider at the gates to allow for a passage of several turns. They usually have four gates, and these are called after the four directions of the compass.

On top of the wall can still be seen many of the old cannons. I am sending a picture of one on which the date 1843 can be clearly seen.

This one is British make, and was no doubt placed there when Shanghai was first opened, as a treaty port, to foreign trade, which was one of the conditions of the first treaty between China and Great Britain, which was called the treaty of Nanking, and was signed August 29, 1842.

Cannon on the great wall of China. This is not only common as regards the great wall, but they may be seen on walls around the city of Shanghai.

At the time of the Tai-ping Rebellion against the imperial government, in 1850-64, the whole eastern part of China was captured by the Tai-pings, with the exception of Shanghai; and here the European troops in garrison mounted the wall, and with these same guns repulsed the attacks, and thus saved this city from the terrible devastation which all the surrounding country suffered.

Much has been said about the open door of China, and I believe it could be truthfully said that Shanghai is that open door. Situated at the center of the east coast of China, almost at the mouth of the Yang-tse River, with good natural waterways and excellent docking facilities for landing and shipping, it is recognized at once as the key to Western Asia; and in a few years, with the opening of the railroads now proposed to Peking, Szechuen, and Canton, it is destined to become the greatest shipping center and base of supplies for all the Orient.

It is indeed fitting that a place like this should have been chosen for the headquarters of our work in this field.

All out-coming missionaries must stop here before going to their stations in the interior; and it is right that they should find here a comfortable place where they can secure rest after their long sea voyage, and receive courage and instruction before facing the privations and hardships of the inland stations.

There are many articles of necessity which can not be bought in China; and as our missionaries have orders of freight coming out continually, it is well that we have a representative here who can see these orders through the custom-house and get them transshipped properly, thus avoiding many mistakes which would happen if left to disinterested parties.

All mail and money-orders reach Shanghai first; and as the banking facilities are good here, it is possible to handle the trouble

some exchange in a way that would be impossible in an interior city.

All these advantages and many more were recognized by our brethren when two years ago they moved our small printing-office from the interior to Shanghai, and established the mission headquarters here.

F. E. STAFFORD.

They're Going Fast

By Editor

But 28,900 copies of that most excellent August number of the SIGNS MONTHLY remain. If you wish 10, 25, 50, 100, or more, you'd better order at once. We will not run a second edition.

Protestant Degeneration

Astronomy: The Moon

Hell: Where Is It?

These are the titles of but three of the several articles. You want to know more about these very things, don't you?

No increase in price. $1 a year as heretofore, or $2.25 including the weekly Signs.

5 to 40 copies, 5c each 50 or more, 4c each

Order through your tract society

Signs of the Times, Mountain View, Cal.

Our Work and Workers

By Editor

EIGHT souls recently went forward in baptism at Memphis, Tenn.

Two have been converted to present truth at Milledgeville, Ky.

JUNE 25, eleven were baptized in Dumont Lake, near Monterey, Mich.

SISTER T. C. COLTRIN reports three new Sabbath-keepers at Sherman, Miss.

IN May, four natives were baptized at the Maranatha Mission, South Africa.

FOUR were baptized as a result of Brother C. H. Bates's work at Sallisaw, Okla.

As a result of the efforts of local workers at Clay City, Ind., four souls were recently baptized.

As a result of work among the Scandinavians of Denmark, Neb., Brother H. Hansen baptized two souls into the truth.

BROTHER L. BENTON reports three additional signers of the covenant at Portales Springs, N. M., since the last report.

BROTHER H. E. GIDDINGS baptized seven souls with the Lord, July 2, at Amarillo, Texas. Four were adults.

A SABBATH-SCHOOL has been organized at St. Elmo, Ill. It is the first result of a series of evangelistic meetings there.

THE site for a church building has been secured by our colored brethren of Kansas City, Mo. The building itself will be erected before winter.

SEVEN persons were baptized during the young people's convention which was held at the close of the school year at Beechwood Academy, Indiana.

SEVEN members were baptized into the Italian church, New York, July 2. On the same day six Scandinavians also were baptized, as well as five Germans, in New York.

THE Senior number of The Educational Messenger for 1910 has come to hand. It is a well-printed publication of sixty pages, and well represents the ideal of a student journal.

THE pastors of Persia, Iowa, dismissed their meetings one Sunday night that their audiences might attend the sermon of one of our workers, on "The Second Coming of Christ."

IN May Brother W. H. Anderson of Africa delivered a stirring address on missions in America. He called for no gifts, yet two brethren came forward and gave about $1,300 to open up two out stations in South Africa.

THE sixth annual announcement of the Meadowglade Industrial Academy, Manor, Wash., is a neatly printed pamphlet of twenty-eight pages. This institution was founded in 1903. Eighty students attended the past year. The announcement may be obtained of J. B. Clymer, principal.

ALL mail designed for the Cumberland Conference should be addressed to Anna Kimlin, 1217 Duncan Ave., Chattanooga, Tenn., instead of Minnie Hildebrand, Graysville, Tenn. The president, P. G. Stanley, especially requests that all should make note of this, not only in the change of secretary, but of office address as well.

LIBERTY

By Editor

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.

Life and Health

By Editor

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.

Wanted

FOR missionary work, magazines, tracts, etc., of Seventh-day Adventist literature. Address Belle Waterman-Findley, Prescott, Ariz.

MAGAZINES, tracts, etc., of Seventh-day Adventist literature in both English and Jewish languages wanted for missionary work by J. A. Kimmel, 250 Strickland St., Athens, Ga.

Wanted

NURSES.—We want to correspond with two young ladies about twenty years of age with reference to taking up the nurses' course in our hospital. Must be S. D. A. and come well recommended. Address Dr. Dail's Maternity Hospital, 1814 Beech St., San Diego, Cal.

A good location for man and wife. Treatment-rooms in Marshfield, Oregon, for sale. Cheap if taken before September 1. Full information may be had by addressing Mrs. L. M. Bliven, Box 369, Marshfield, Ore.

Following books wanted.—"Empires of Prophecy" and "Ecclesiastical Empire," by A. T. Jones. Any one having these books and wishing to dispose of them please address A. L. Whitaker, R. F. D. 1, Box 17, San Fernando, Cal.

Our Little Friend

By Editor

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 60 cents a year.

Address, OUR LITTLE FRIEND Mountain View, Cal.

The Brewers’ Year Book

By Editor

We have received from the United States Brewers' Association the Brewers' Year Book for 1910. It presents for its chief argument in favor of the brewers' work the tax rates paid into the various treasuries, the fact that prohibition does not prohibit, and the unsatisfactory condition of legislation along prohibition lines. And yet no thinking person can read its statistics without believing that if no beer were drunk men could afford to pay very much larger revenue to the government in various forms than they are paying at present and still be a long way ahead, and that government would be far less expensive if the crimes which come by drink were eliminated. Prohibition laws are unsatisfactory, it is true; and so are all laws against crime, because men are criminals. Murder is prohibited, stealing is prohibited, highway robbery is prohibited, yet there are many murders and many highway robberies and many things stolen. Should we therefore repeal the laws? or should we endeavor to educate the people so they would see the necessity of these laws? The liquor problem is a hard one. We do not always agree with the methods that are used by those who are endeavoring to terminate it, and yet we do not wonder that men use even the extremest kind of measures when they take into consideration the awful evil that it is.

The Brewers' Association is a wealthy company. There are millions upon millions pouring into the treasury of those who wholesale and retail the drink that kills every day. How much better it would be for the country and for humanity if that money were turned to proper clothing for the family, proper food, decent furniture, homes, and surroundings!

Bible Versions Used

By Editor

Our authority is the Bible, the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. When the Common ("King James" or "Authorized") Version or the American Standard Revised Version is used, the version will not generally be designated in reference. Any Bible quotation in this paper, therefore, differing from the Common Version, unless otherwise indicated, will be almost invariably from the American Standard edition of the Revised Bible, copyright 1901, by Thomas Nelson & Sons.

For further particulars, subscription rates, etc., see page 15.

Lost Sermons and Preaching Decadence

By Editor

The "Homiletic Review" tells of a preacher in Minnesota who lost his accumulated sermons of twenty years, by shipping them on the railway, and now he wants the railway to pay for them. The Review hopes he "will be able to collect—all they are worth," and questions whether his congregation ought not to be willing to share damages with the railroad, in the expectations of getting original, fresh sermons. The customary use of the "barrel" the Review considers.—Is it alone in this?—"is a nearly infallible sign of decadence in preaching."

Man's Sin and Saviour

By Editor

We again call attention to the series, "Man's Sin and Saviour." The great topic is of infinite importance, and is too a great battleground between faith and infidelity. Read the series to the end.

Out of Babylon to Zion

Read the article "Out of Babylon to Zion."

The prophecy of Zechariah and the lesson of his times are present truth to-day.

The Hopelessness of Peace.—

There are many noble souls working for peace in this world, and they present many plans by which it could come about; but it will not come in that way. For instance, Dr. C. H. Parkhurst declares that if some great power like the United States or England would set the pace in a movement toward disarmament, all the other powers would probably follow suit; and yet the same writer tells us that each power is arming against some power or other that has not the slightest desire or intention of attacking it. The simple fact is, the world is war mad. The secret of it may be found in Jeremiah 25, in which we are told that all the nations of the earth are drinking of the wine of wrath, and as the result, will come the battle of Armageddon. Yet we have other voices declaring that the nations are moving steadily and surely toward universal peace. This cry also is a subject of prophecy. The divine Word tells us that "many nations" and "many people" will predict just what men are saying now respecting peace, but we are also told that the cry is a false cry.

Theosophy's Christ Versus the Bible Christ

When Theosophists tell you that they believe in Christ Jesus, they mean the Theosophist Jesus, not the Bible One. They will select various texts and passages which they will tell you they believe, but they will reject many more. They will tell you that the Old Testament reveals to us one kind of God, but the New Testament reveals another. Such belief is purely subjective, negative. The word "theosophy" is compounded from two words meaning "God-wisdom," but the cult itself is based on that wisdom of men which is foolishness with God, and which would make void His word of salvation in Christ Jesus.

A Great Journal

A Great Journal.—The Scientific American has rounded out its 102d volume since its establishment in 1845, and begins, with all its best and pristine vigor, volume 103. For the purpose for which the paper is published, there is none that excels. In fact there is none that equals it; conservative, reliable, interesting, and informing. One can not even sketch through a number without learning something. Every young man interested in any wise in mechanics or mechanical science or physics ought to be a reader of the Scientific American. It is issued weekly, splendidly illustrated, published at 361 Broadway, New York; price, $3.00 a year.

Working Without Appreciation

Is your work appreciated by the human? — Thank God, give to Him the glory, and labor on. If to you comes not one token of appreciation from those you serve, still toil on, work on, watch on, pray on. The Master knows. You are working for Him. He oftentimes shows His appreciation by lading you with still heavier burdens. But every burden He lays upon your shoulders is a promise of His strength.

Higher Criticism and Interpretation

By Editor

A clear, incisive article on "Higher Criticism and Interpretation" will be printed next week. This will be followed by "The Harvest of Higher Criticism," "Higher Criticism and the Church," and the series will close with "The Bible as the Word of God."

Truth and the Word of God

Neither florid rhetoric nor nicely rounded periods are evidence of truth. "Thy Word"—God’s Word—“is truth.” Men may pile up facts of history concerning certain theories; but do they fit the Word?

The Life of the Bible as a Book

"The Life of the Bible as a Book," by Lorinda Munson Bryant, is a little pamphlet of sixteen pages with cover. The author has endeavored to put in a very condensed form the result of years of study. It is a fairly good treatment, for one so brief, of the Bible, its manuscripts, their compilation, showing that the Bible that we have is well authenticated and one upon which we can depend.

Sunday as Sabbath

By Editor

A little pamphlet has come to us entitled "Sunday as Sabbath," third edition, revised by Albert D. Rust, Sr., price not given. It covers fairly well, in its forty-eight pages, the Sabbath and the rival sabbath—Sunday. Its special object is to show that Sunday has no claims to the Sabbath, and that it has been antagonistic to the Sabbath of the Lord all the way through the ages.

British Opium Imports Into China

There was an excess of British opium entering China in 1909 above the limit agreed upon by Great Britain. According to the treaty, the importation of Indian opium was to decrease one tenth each year. It is probable that a new treaty will be arranged.

Predicted War Between America and Japan

A Japanese wrote an article in the Osaka Mainichi in which he declared that war between America and Japan was certain. He says it is a pity that some Japanese continually tell us that Nippon would never fight the United States.

Monorail Car Accident

The first trip of the new monorail car with passengers met with an accident. With forty-seven on board, the track gave way when the car was going forty-five miles an hour around a sharp curve. A score were injured, three or four seriously.

Gigantic Dinosaurs Excavated in Utah

Three perfect specimens of gigantic sauropod dinosauria have been excavated from the rocks of Utah this past year.

Paris Seaport Expansion

Plans are in progress in Paris to enlarge the seaport facilities. It is estimated that the enlargements will increase the traffic from the present yearly 1,000,000 tons to about 3,000,000 tons.

Russia Encourages Japanese Study

The study of the Japanese language is being encouraged by the Russian Government. Russian students desiring to visit Japan are given free-tickets to the flowery kingdom.

Chile Orders 32,000-Ton Vessel

Chile has arranged with an English shipbuilder for the construction of a 32,000-ton vessel to cost $15,000,000.

England Sends Warships East

It is reported that England intends to send an additional number of war-vessels to Eastern waters.