In an undiscovered country—so it seemed to us—we came to a smooth and sandy strip of shore and landed safely. But a few paces from the lightly breaking ripples was the forest—and such a forest! There were huge trees, looking centuries old, swathed in thick blankets of moss, and the very moss gray with age. Impenetrable depths of shadow overhead, impenetrable depths of litter under foot. Log had fallen upon log crosswise and at every conceivable angle. Out of the fruitful dust of these deposed monarchs of the forest sprang a numerous progeny—lusty claimants, every one of them—their foliage feathery and of the most delicate green, being fed only by the thin sunshine that sifts through the dense canopy, supported far aloft by the majestic columns that clustered about us. Under foot the russet moss was of astonishing depth and softness, but one walks with care upon it, for the foot breaks through the thick matting that has in many cases spread from log to log, hiding treacherous traps beneath. The ferns luxuriate in this sylvan paradise, and many a shrub, new to us, bore flowers that blushed unseen until we made our unexpected and perhaps unwelcome appearance.—Charles Warren Stoddard, in S. F. Chronicle.
Health and Temperance.
Hereditary Diseases.
It is not difficult for well people to injure their health. Many well people could be sick if they did just as the sick people do; and many sick people would recover if they would do what well people do. Persons inherit from their parents various types of weakness and disease, and they often also inherit stubbornness, indifference, self-sufficiency, and unteachableness; and that by doing the same things that their parents did, refusing counsel, despising reproof, and sticking to old ways, they suffer the same diseases which they suffered. A little hereditary common sense and a willingness to be instructed and directed, would do away with many of the hereditary diseases of the present day. Persons make themselves sick by gluttony, imprudence, and by bad methods of eating, drinking, and dressing; and after having afflicted themselves with innumerable pains and miseries, seem to solace themselves with the thought that their parents suffered just as they did, and that their infirmities are “hereditary” and therefore unavoidable.
The children of consumptive parents are quite likely to have consumption, provided they do just as their consumptive parents did, but if they have sense enough to take counsel from other parents who are not consumptive, they will be quite likely to escape the scourge. And if persons, instead of sitting down contented under their miseries and saying, “This disease was inherited, as it was always in my family,” would sit down and think, “What did my father and mother do to bring this disease upon themselves and me?” and having found the answer to this question, would learn to avoid these evils and errors, we should hear much less about hereditary diseases, and many people who are groping their way along the paths of pain and misery which their parents trod, would turn their faces toward life and health, and conclude to live their own lives as wisely and as well as possible, and avoid the hereditary miseries which vexed their parents and which vex other people who do as their parents did.—Safeguard.
Packing the Lungs with Air.
DEEP breathing and holding of the breath is an item of importance. Persons of weak vitality find an uninterrupted succession of deep and rapid respirations so distressing that they are discouraged from persevering in the exercise. Let such persons take into the lungs as much air as they can at a breath and hold it as long as they can; they will find a grateful sense of relief in the whole abdominal region. Practice will increase the capacity of the lungs and the ability to hold the breath.
After a time the art of packing the lungs may be learned. This is done by taking and holding the long breath and then forcing more air down the trachea by swallows of air. The operation may be described by that of a fish's mouth in water. To those who have never learned, it will be surprising to what an extent the lungs may be packed. Caution at first is needful, but later practice will warrant large use of the treatment. The whole thoracic and abdominal cavities will receive immediate benefit, and continuance, and temperance in eating, good air and right exercise, will bring welcome improvement.—Herald of Health.
Warm Work.
INVESTIGATION shows that the limit of temperature at which men can work depends upon the length of their exposure, the amount of exertion they put forth, their condition, and the nature of the atmosphere, particularly as to its degrees of moisture. It is stated that men have been employed on railways at one hundred and four degrees; in mines, under very favorable conditions, at one hundred and twenty-five degrees; and are said to work occasionally in the stoke hole of tropical steamers at one hundred and fifty-six degrees.
Professor Dubois is reported to have estimated that a temperature of one hundred and twenty-two degrees can be endured when the air is as dry as possible, but that even one hundred and four degrees is likely to be fatal in an atmosphere saturated with moisture. It is also considered certain that men cannot become accustomed to stand for any considerable time a higher temperature than from one hundred and forty-five degrees to one hundred and sixty-five degrees, even when they keep perfectly still and are in quite pure air.—Sel.
Warning Against Wine
“Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,”
The Dangers of Tobacco
THE use of tobacco shortens life. Its direct tendency is to defile, emaciate, enfeeble, and undermine the whole man. Dr. Shaw specifies over eighty diseases which may be traced to this as a cause. German physicians, also, state that of the deaths in Germany of young men from the age of eighteen to twenty-five, more than half are from tobacco. Tobacco is a deceiver. “I did not realize its power,” said a doctor of divinity, “till I gave it up;” and thousands thus emancipated have confessed its subtle influence.—Sel.
News and Notes.
SECULAR.
—The Porte has given notice that Turkey accepts Alexander’s abdication.
—At Bath, Me., 550 shipbuilders have struck on account of a cut in wages.
—Lightning caused a $250,000 fire at Chippewa Falls, Wis., on the 16th inst.
—The deaths from cholera in Seoul, Corea, now average about five hundred daily.
—Another slight shock of earthquake was felt at Charleston on the morning of September 15.
—Two bakers were each fined 10 shillings and costs, in London, recently for baking bread on Sunday.
—On the 16th inst. a terrible storm swept over Southeastern Michigan, doing a great deal of damage to property.
—The bark Lizzie Croter reached Boston from Matanzas, Cuba, September 12, having lost five of her crew from yellow fever.
—The Philadelphia Ledger of September 3 says that there was frost in parts of New York and Pennsylvania the day before.
—Cholera is dying out in Yokohama, Japan, but is still raging in Tokio and vicinity. The total number of cases up to August 23, was 59,087; deaths 37,544.
—The main shaft of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company was the scene of an extensive cave-in on the 13th inst. Several miners lost their lives.
—Fifteen thousand dollars will be paid by the Government for each design which is accepted for the two armored vessels which it is proposed to build.
—September 13 the French authorities at Havre seized eleven English fishing-boats for infringing international maritime and fisheries laws in the channel.
—The Albert bridge, spanning the Lagan River, at Belfast, collapsed on the 15th inst. Twenty persons were thrown into the river, four of whom were drowned.
—A suspension bridge over the Ostrawitza River, in Moravia, collapsed on the 15th inst., while a squadron of ulans were riding across. Several lives were lost.
—The Sultan is insisting on the withdrawal of all British forces from Egypt. In the demand Turkey is being openly encouraged by France, and secretly by Russia.
—Damage to the amount of $1,000,000 was recently done in Paris and its environs by a hailstorm. The Bois de Vincennes resembles a forest riddled by cannon-balls.
—Minneapolis, Minn., is said to be turning out more than 25,000 barrels of flour a day, or enough to supply the three largest standing armies of Europe with bread.
—Cholera is said to be gaining ground in Austria. The people distrust the doctors and conceal their sick as long as possible. The doctors are frequently stoned in the streets.
—The Viceroy of Canton, China, has announced a compulsory loan of about $3,000,000 to be taken by wealthy persons. Many threaten resistance, but all will have to subscribe.
—Twelve persons were killed and seven seriously wounded by a railroad collision near Silver Creek, N. Y., on the 14th inst. The train was an excursion train from Ashtabula, Ohio.
—The Labrador fisheries are an entire failure. The catch this year will not pay the cost of transportation and supplies. There is said to be great destitution among thousands of people who are dependent upon these fisheries.
—El Coyote, the noted Mexican bandit leader, who for three years has been causing the authorities of that country as much trouble as Geronimo caused this country, has at last been killed.
—One-third of the native police of Hongkong have been detected in taking bribes from gambling-house keepers. So it seems that Hongkong is not so very far behind some of our large American cities after all.
—On the 13th inst. a yacht propelled by electricity made a trip from Dover to Calais and return in eight hours and six minutes actual running time. Her accumulators were charged only once for the whole trip.
—On the night of the 12th inst. a small cyclone swept down upon New York doing considerable damage to telegraph poles, small sailing craft, etc. The same storm did some damage in Connecticut. No lives were lost.
—A late London dispatch says: “Great excitement has been created at Chatham by the unexpected receipt of urgent orders from the Admiralty to expedite the completion of the men-of-war. This is regarded as indicating possible continental complications.”
—A band of about 200 robbers near Canton, China, a few days since, defeated a body of 500 troops sent to capture them, killing and wounding a large number. In Mexico such an occurrence would be called a “revolution,” and the robbers would be known as “revolutionists.”
—Lord Randolph Churchill proposes to reform the English civil service. The abuses are said to be high salaries, short hours, excessive staffs, extravagant pensions, imperfect supervision over accounts, antiquated methods of business, and general incompetence and mismanagement.
—Sargent Brainard, one of the six survivors of the late Greely expedition, proposes to return to the Arctic regions in 1890. The expedition will have for its sole object the exploration of Hayes’s Sound, and bringing back of the original records and the scientific collection of specimens abandoned by the Greely party at Fort Conger.
—A pitiful story of the condition of working people in Belgium is told by a delegate to the International Trades Union recently in session at Paris. He says that miners work for 38 cents a day, and that some of them toil 500 feet below the surface of the ground for as little as 20 cents a day. Even these small wages are not always paid in cash, some of the employers paying their hands in flour and other necessaries, and trading in these supplies.
—The gale which struck Galveston last month passed over the island of St. Vincent, in the West Indies, on the 16th, having laid waste the whole southern part of the island. Thousands of valuable trees were destroyed, particularly the nutmegs and the bread-fruit trees. Five churches and mission-houses were blown down, besides three hundred houses, with many more seriously damaged. Five persons were killed and thirty injured. One thousand five hundred persons were reported destitute.
Obituary.
By W. R. Young
YOUNG.—Died at Orange, Los Angeles County, Cal., September 5, 1886, of inflammation of the bowels, my beloved mother, Eliza Young, aged 65 years, 9 months, and 25 days.
The subject of this notice was born near Albany, N. Y., in 1820, and some years later removed with her parents to Chautauqua County in that State, where she was converted and joined the Presbyterian Church. A little later in life, owing to a removal to Ohio, she became a member of the M. E. Church, in which communion she remained more than thirty-two years. She then embraced the Sabbath through reading “Life Sketches,” and in July, 1872, was baptized and united with the Seventh-day Adventist Church at Healdsburg, Cal.
Her faith in present truth grew brighter and brighter till her death; and she often declared in her last sickness that she was perfectly reconciled to God, and was ready either to live or die, according to his will. Her life was ever that of a consistent Christian; and though at times she was a great sufferer, both in her last and in previous sickness, she always manifested great patience and resignation. She leaves a husband, three sons, two daughters-in-law, and nine grandchildren who mourn their loss.
Funeral services were conducted in the Presbyterian church, by Rev. Alexander Parker.
W. R. YOUNG.
Appointments.
OAKLAND.—House of worship, northeast corner of Clay and Thirteenth Streets. Sabbath-school every Sabbath at 9:30 A. M. Preaching at 11. Prayer and missionary meeting every Tuesday evening at 7:30. Seats free.
SAN FRANCISCO.—House of worship, 914 Laguna Street, between McAllister and Tyler. Sabbath-school every Sabbath at 9:45, and preaching at 11 A. M.; also preaching every Sunday evening at 7:30. Classes in the English, German, and Scandinavian languages. Prayer and missionary meeting every Wednesday evening at 7:45. Mission Reading-rooms at the church.
EAST PORTLAND (Or.)—House of worship on G Street, between Tenth and Eleventh. Sabbath-school every Sabbath (Saturday), followed by services. Preaching or Bible-reading Sunday evening. Prayer-meeting Wednesday evening. The public is cordially invited. Free public reading-room, corner of L and Fifth Streets.
California T. and M. Society.
By Anna L. Ingels
THE sixteenth annual session of the California Tract and Missionary Society will be held in connection with the camp-meeting, at Woodland, October 6-19, 1886. It is especially desired that the societies throughout the State shall be well represented at this meeting. Our president, Elder S. N. Haskell, will be with us. Special instruction will be given in the different phases of the work and new plans considered. Instruction will be given to the librarians, and to facilitate this work we would request all to bring their books—with them to the meeting. ANNA L. INGELS, Secretary.
California Conference.
By Conference Committee
THE fifteenth annual session of the California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists will be held in connection with the State camp-meeting, to be held in Woodland, October 6-19, 1886.
Delegates should be elected in good season, according to the following ratio: Every church is entitled to one delegate without regard to the number of members, and one additional delegate for every ten members. Ministers holding credentials are delegates at large without election, and are the proper representatives of unorganized companies. Churches should elect as delegates good, reliable persons, and, as far as possible, those who will be present during the entire meeting. All delegates will please report to the secretary, E. A. Chapman, immediately after their arrival upon the camp-ground.
Church clerks are requested to bring their church books with them to the meeting.
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE.
California State Sabbath-School Association.
By C. H. Jones
The ninth annual session of the California State Sabbath-school Association, for the election of officers and the transaction of other business, will be held in connection with the camp-meeting, at Woodland, October 6–19, 1886. Aside from the regular routine business, special instruction will be given in the different branches of S. S. work, and we hope that every school in the Conference will be represented. Come prepared to take an active part, and not only to get good but to do good. Advance steps ought to be taken and we trust that at this meeting plans may be devised which will make this branch of the work much more efficient and profitable.
If you are in doubt or perplexity in regard to any point in the lessons or in the management of your school, bring your questions and help will be given.
Special lessons have been prepared for those studying books Nos. 1 to 7, and they will be given out on the camp-ground. Those studying the lessons found in the Instructor will recite the regular lesson for October 9 and 16. Copies can be obtained on the ground.
The State Secretary will be present from the beginning to the close of the meeting, and will be pleased to answer questions, or give instruction in regard to keeping the records, and in other branches of the work. All who can should bring their record books with them for examination. We want to become intelligent workers.
We hope that all will come up to this important meeting praying for a blessing, and with a desire and determination to gain all the instruction possible, so as to be better qualified to engage in the work in the future.
C. H. JONES, President.
Publishers' Department.
STATE TRACT SOCIETIES, AGENTS, AND BOOK DEPOSITORIES.
Australia—International Tract Society, Bible Echo Office, Rae and Scott Sts., North Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia.
British Guiana.—Joseph R. Braithwaite, 152 Church St., Georgetown, and Thos. E. Amsterdam, 10 Church St., New Amsterdam, B. G., S. A.
California Tract Society—1067 Castro St., Oakland, Cal.
Canada Tract Society—South Stukely, P. Q.
Colorado Tract Society—Cor. 31st and Champa Sts., Denver, Colo.
Dakota Tract Society—Vilas, Miner Co., Dak.
District of Columbia.—International Tract Society, 1831 Vermont Avenue, N. W., Washington, D. C.
All of the above Agencies are authorized to receive subscriptions to the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, American Sentinel, and Pacific Health Journal and Temperance Advocate. Catalogues of our books, pamphlets, and tracts, in English and the various foreign languages, can be obtained from them. Write to the agency nearest you.
RECEIPTS.
CALIFORNIA CONFERENCE FUND.—Petaluma $78.40, Mrs. Fulton $1.50, Mrs. N. E. De Yoe $2.50.
CALIFORNIA CITY MISSIONS.—Erasmus Banta $50, Mrs. M. L. Wilkinson $25.
THE AMERICAN SENTINEL.
By Editor
AN EIGHT-PAGE MONTHLY JOURNAL, devoted to the defense of American Institutions, the preservation of the United States Constitution as it is, so far as regards religion or religious tests, and the
Maintenance of Human Rights,
Both civil and religious. It will ever be uncompromisingly opposed to anything tending toward a union of Church and State, either in name or in fact.
TERMS.
Single Copy, : : : : : 50 cents.
To foreign countries, single subscription, post-paid, 2s.
Address, American Sentinel, 1059 Castro St., Oakland, Cal.
NEW SABBATH-SCHOOL SONG BOOK,
JOYFUL GREETING,
Contains 216 pages, or over 40 pages more than the ordinary S. S. song book. It is
THE LARGEST BOOK EVER SOLD FOR THE MONEY.
The book is neatly gotten up, printed on good paper, and substantially bound.
Notwithstanding the fact that this book is so much larger than other popular S. S. song books, it will be furnished at the usual prices—50 cts. per copy postpaid; $6.60 per dozen, by freight or express. If to be sent by mail at dozen rates add five cents per copy for postage.
All orders west of the Rocky Mountains should be addressed to
PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.
General Agents for Pacific States and Territories.
MATTER AND SPIRIT;
By Dudley Marvin Canright
OR,
THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN THOUGHT.
By Eld. D. M. Canright.
A PHILOSOPHICAL argument on an important theme, indicated by its title. 66 pp. Price, 10 cents.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
A Comprehensive Book.
“THE ATONEMENT: an examination of a remedial system in the light of nature and revelation.” This is the title of a book of 368 pages, by Elder J. H. Waggoner.
It would be impossible to find a subject of greater importance, of grander scope, or of more thrilling interest to every human being, than the Atonement. This fact is acknowledged by all Christians, however much they may differ in regard to other doctrines, or in their theories of this. In fact, the Atonement is the gospel. This being the case, a book on that subject, treating it in a candid manner, from a scriptural standpoint, should be hailed with joy by all lovers of truth.
This book is a critical and exhaustive treatise on the plan of salvation as revealed in the Scriptures, showing its harmony with the principles of justice and mercy, its consistency with reason, and its final results as affecting the destiny of the human race. We think that we run no risk in saying that it is by far the most complete work yet published on the subject. It is complete, because it considers the Atonement in all its bearings, tracing out all the doctrines which spring from it; and since everything depends on the Atonement, the book is in reality a compendium of Christian doctrine—a Christian system.
A THIRTY-TWO PAGE BI-MONTHLY, devoted to the dissemination of true temperance principles and instruction in the art of preserving health. It is emphatically
A JOURNAL FOR THE PEOPLE,
Containing what everybody wants to know, and is thoroughly practical. Its range of subjects is unlimited, embracing everything that in any way affects the health. Its articles being short and pointed, it is specially adapted to farmers, mechanics, and house-keepers, who have but little leisure for reading. It is just the journal that every family needs, and may be read with profit by every member.