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Review and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 41.

PRAY — GIVE — GO
Earlier text: PRAY — GIVE — GO

The Sabbath and the Date Line

By C. F. MCVAGH

C. F. MCVAGH
The Seventh-day Adventist interpretation of the Bible with reference to Sabbath keeping requires that the seventh day of the week be identified beyond reasonable doubt.
Most persons are satisfied with the evidence of the Bible, together with the information furnished by the calendars in use throughout the world. However, in modern times we hear considerable about the date line, and some cannot understand how we can keep track of the days on a round world, especially as it is quite well known that ships crossing the Pacific Ocean change their reckoning at the one hundred and eightieth meridian, this meridian being commonly called the international date line, or perhaps more accurately, the nautical date line. The practice of the people on the islands and on the shores of the Pacific, according as they used American or Asiatic time, developed what may be called the historical date line.
With reference to the date line, I quote from Questions and Answers No. 8, pages 10 and 11, of Hydrographic Information, published under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy, Sept. 30, 1909:—
“In making voyages across the Pacific Ocean, it is the practice of those naval and maritime vessels whose reckoning is kept with reference to the meridian of Greenwich to change the date on arrival at the one hundred and eightieth meridian. . . . This meridian is considered from the viewpoint of navigators as the international date line. Closely associated with this, and sometimes called the international date line, is the line which separates those lands on the Pacific side of the world where the inhabitants keep the same date of the calendar as is kept by the people of North and South America, from the islands and other lands where the people keep the same date as is kept in Asiatic countries. . . . This dividing line coincides for long distances with the one hundred and eightieth meridian from Greenwich, and does not anywhere depart very much from this meridian, but in former generations the departures from the one hundred and eightieth meridian were very wide.”
This nautical international date line was agreed upon ad referendum by forty-one delegates representing twenty-six countries, in session at Washington, D. C., in October, 1884, and has been since quite generally accepted by navigators of the Pacific Ocean. The object of the quotation is to show that all the charted date lines in use today rest upon nothing more authoritative outwardly than human convenience. But we see the hand of God shaping the events, which, when the time came, influenced the decision of this local problem in harmony with the existing world reckoning. No one, I believe, will claim for the one hundred and eightieth meridian from Greenwich any scientific preference. It is simply chosen because Britain and her colonies and allies formed a dominant maritime power, and other countries adopted it in order to be in harmony with the majority. How did our present reckoning originate, and on what authority does it rest?
From the earliest time historically men have regarded the day as starting in the Pacific Ocean, because to the ancients that was as far east as they could go; therefore it was to them the place of the sunrising.
How does this affect the finding of the Bible seventh day of the week on a round world? Quite generally the question is raised by opposers of the seventh-day observance simply as a quibble, and without considering that if we cannot identify the seventh day on a round world it is equally impossible to identify Sunday, the first day. Luke 23: 56 and 24: 1 say that the Sabbath according to the commandment is the day just before the resurrection day; so as long as any one can find Sunday, his neighbor can observe the day just before it, and know that it is the Sabbath day.
The date-line controversy is of very modern origin. The necessity for it was never felt till men of all nations became globe-trotters, which cannot go back of the discovery of the west boundary of the Pacific Ocean. For nearly six thousand years the world got along without a date-line controversy, and, according to the Bible, in all generations some obeyed God with reference to the Sabbath. Acceptable Sabbath keeping, then, cannot depend upon the scientific location of the date line. Some will say that all that is required is the seventh part of time; and were it not for this stubborn little minority of seventh-day keepers, we might have peace and uniformity by all keeping Sunday.
Well, if God does not require the observance of a definite day, why did he at the time of the exodus from Egypt perform a threefold miracle every week for forty years, in order to identify and enforce a particular day? If the day given in the law at Sinai was not the true seventh day, and God is not particular which day we rest upon, then it certainly is impossible to find out from the Bible anything definite with reference to the will of God. Those who believe in the Bible need not go back of the sixteenth chapter of Exodus in their efforts to identify the definite day. God set the Jews right there. Then also Jesus by his practice and teaching identified, or at least indorsed, the reckoning of the Jews at the time of his first advent. And we have the united testimony of the Jews, supported by the agreement of all the rest of the nations of the earth, that there has been no variation in the order of the days of the week to the present time. The seeker after truth has all the evidence there is that the day we now commonly call Saturday is the seventh day of the week. It is reckoned so by all nations of mankind, and was accepted by the Lord while upon the earth:
Christians will surely admit that the Creator knew all the circumstances that sin would bring in, and also that the Sabbath command given in Eden to mankind would not require of man in any age that which is impossible. The week has been in common use from the earliest times to the present, and is in itself one of the best witnesses to the universal knowledge of the Sabbath; for there is nothing except the Sabbath institution to suggest the cycle of seven days.
Clearly, the first week as well as the first day began in Eden, and there was the true date line. After sin came in, God removed Eden from the earth, and the deluge so changed the surface that Peter says, in 2 Peter 3: 5-7, that the world that then was perished. And so on the world that now is, it is impossible to identify the location of Eden.
After the flood, man migrated eastward and westward from Central Asia, and in every age some obeyed the commands of God; but under the darkening influences of sin the knowledge of the rotundity of the earth was for a long time preserved only by the Bible prophets. After the discovery of America the two streams of migration met on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, and then followed this age of travel. Immediately the necessity of all beginning their reckoning at the same place suggested itself to the travelers.
God put it into their minds to adopt a plan that would permit the globe-trotters, as well as those who stay at home, to keep the Sabbath if they want to. All the circumstances indicate that the beginning be reckoned from such place in the uninhabited wastes of the Pacific as would produce the least local confusion. And it is quite possible yet that some international commission may make additional suggestions in order to bring the practice of the inhabitants of some of the islands into more complete uniformity with the whole world.
Under the gospel, man is only required to manifest obedience to the light available to his location and mentality. The difficulty today is not so much lack of knowledge of the days of the week as a woeful and almost universal unwillingness to obey the Bible as the word of God.
Many of us were taught that we kept Sunday in obedience to the fourth commandment, and doubtless remember the perplexity that came when we were shown that Sunday is not the seventh day. Most people who observe Sunday frankly acknowledge that it is another day, and they rest upon it for an altogether different reason from that given by the Bible in the fourth commandment.
So it has come about that a respectable minority, after diligent search, failing to find any command to rest on the resurrection day, have decided to obey the Bible and rest on the day which, according to all the evidence there is, is the identical one that God commanded. Their numbers are growing, and God has blessed this people and their work in all lands.
In the judgment such can say, I obeyed all the light that came to my attention. Such texts as Isa. 58: 1, 12, 13, and Rev. 14: 6-14, offer a Scriptural foundation for such a movement in preparation for the second advent of Christ. On the other hand, if when perplexed, one decides to ignore the evidence and to go with the majority for the sake of convenience, what answer can he give in the judgment? He cannot say he kept the day the Bible commanded, for the evidence was all to the contrary. Nor can he say that he manifested faith by walking in all the light he had. Would not the Judge be justified in saying, “Out of your own mouth are you condemned”?
In view of the rapidly fulfilling prophecies indicating that the hour of his judgment is come, it behooves all to think seriously of these things, according to the warning in Amos 4: 12: “And because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.”
Grand Rapids, Mich.

Almost Home

By MRS. E. M. PEEBLES

MRS. E. M. PEEBLES
“Long upon the mountains, weary, Have the scattered flock been torn; Dark the desert paths, and dreary; Grievous trials have they borne. Now the gathering call is sounding, Solemn in its warning voice; Union, faith, and love, abounding, Bid the little flock rejoice.”
THERE was once a father who with his little child was traveling over a hot, dusty, wearisome road. The child became weary, and begged to be allowed to rest; but night was coming on, and the journey must be completed before daylight was gone. The father, having anticipated such a situation, had reserved a few handfuls of cherries, one of which he now threw on the ground a little way in advance. The child, with an exclamation of pleasure, eagerly darted forward to secure it, when lo, another fell still farther on, and another, and yet another, until at last the long-looked-for haven of rest was reached, and the journey ended. The attention of the child had been diverted, and the journey which otherwise would have been tedious and painful, was completed in comparative pleasure.
It is thus that our Heavenly Father has been dealing with his weary way-worn children in these last times, because he knows our frame, and remembers that we are dust. He has led us carefully, step by step, permitting us to see only a little way in advance, lest we become weary and discouraged.
The date 1844 will always be recognized by every one who is intelligently looking for the coming of Jesus, as the most important date connected with the great world-wide advent movement now in progress. God’s people in all denominations had been led to expect that time would close that year. They sincerely believed it, and lived and acted accordingly; and a work was accomplished, prophetic in its nature, which could not otherwise have been done. There was a ring of certainty in the message that carried conviction to the hearers. God himself was leading out his people, and fitting them for deeper and greater experiences,—at least greater because of longer duration,—and he mercifully covered all the future except just as far as they were able to go. As in the story of the child, their attention was so firmly fastened upon the goal held before them that they were able to concentrate all their energy, and to do their best work without becoming confused by the contemplation of results and a long-drawn-out struggle with the powers of evil.
But their hopes were not realized; and they, tested and tried, saw the journey lengthening out before them. Many gave it up, but the faithful few began to gather up the rays of light, and started on again, fully expecting very soon to reach the end of the journey. That which had been as a pillar of fire before them, now became a light behind them to shine all along the path. God again wisely and mercifully covered the future, with its long stretch of painful journeying, lest they become discouraged; for had they known, they might have been more dilatory, and said, There is time enough. But with the thought ever uppermost that in a few years at most the Saviour would come, and that there was much to do and little time in which to do it, they toiled and sacrificed, denying themselves of what seem to many the necessities of life.
Flashes of light from the heavenly sanctuary often came to cheer their weary hearts and to brighten the journey. At last the long-expected “latter rain” began to fall, in the preaching of the doctrine of justification by faith, that precious old gem of truth which was the keynote of the Reformation, and was presented now in its new setting in connection with the Sabbath reform, and the third angel’s message of Rev. 14:12, and given in a special sense to prepare a people to meet their Saviour—a church “without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.”
Almost breathlessly we listened to hear again the words: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God.” “He that hath the Son hath life.” “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” The presence of Jesus in the heart kills the sin; the two cannot dwell together. He is the sure antidote for the poison. Then with a complete gospel to carry the message came, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. . . . and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” “Freely ye have received, freely give.”
And now what do we see? The last message of mercy the world will ever hear is encircling the globe, going to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, and the earth is being enlightened with its glory. We could not take it to the world until we had it in its fullness: “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus”—the faith that Jesus had, that kept him so closely connected with heaven that he lived a sinless life. Now we can point the lost to a crucified and risen Saviour, to be born again in the heart of every one of the saved. And we are almost home. We are nearing the haven of rest. “The mutterings of the coming storm” are no longer heard in the distance; they have become startlingly near, and will surely awaken all, who are not so drunk with the cares of life or the perplexity of riches that their ears are closed to all else.
A time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation has come upon our world. What does it mean when a grave forty miles long, with men placed three deep within, can contain only a small percentage of those slain in war; when numbers uncounted go down in accidents and earthquakes; when ten thousand children in Mexico, which joins our country on the south, are left homeless and starving; when countless numbers are made widows and orphans in Europe? It means to us that it is time to sever every tie that binds us to earth. It is time to transfer our treasures from earthly banks to the bank of heaven, to exchange our titles to a small portion of this old earth now reeling to destruction, for a title to one of those mansions our Saviour has gone to prepare for those who love him. It is time to “remember Lot’s wife.” How sad will be the awakening if we fail to realize now the times that are upon us, and to listen to the invitation, “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy door about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.”

Love, for the Brethren

By W. H. SAXBY

W. H. SAXBY
A LEADING brother in one of our city churches was just leaving the quarterly service as we were separating for the ordinance of humility. As I met him at the door and placed my hand on his shoulder, I said, “We cannot let you go.” He replied, and repeated it with growing emphasis, “It is all right between me and the Lord, but I have no use for two of the brethren present.”
These scriptures came with telling force to my mind: “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness.” 1 John 2:9. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar [and, still stronger, “is a murderer.” 1 John 3:15]: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” 1 John 4:20.
Just as we stand related to one another, we stand related to the Saviour. One is a true index to the other; “for the spirit we manifest toward our brethren, declares what is our spirit toward God.” See “The Desire of Ages,” page 505. The Master says, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
“It is all right between me and the Lord.” Yes, how true, “if we love one another, God dwelleth in us.” 1 John 4:12. Again it is written, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.” 1 John 3:14. Blessed assurance!
Sanitarium, Cal.

Ruling One’s Spirit

HE that ruleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh a city.

The Widest Sense of Sin

By JOSEF W. HALL

JOSEF W. HALL
“SIN is the transgression of the law,” as we so often hear. But transgression is rather the manifestation of sin, its outward appearance and demonstration. Perhaps this would appear more clear to us if it were placed in its true logical order, with the limited term preceding the one which comprehends it—the transgression of the law is sin.
Sin, in its widest sense, is a quality of soul which came into the race in an entirely unnatural way, but which, through the preestablished principle of heredity, became natural to the race. It is that quality of soul which habitually rebels against its Creator and Governor, even as faith, the opposite quality of soul, habitually looks up to and obeys him. “Because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be.”
But perhaps the most important fruit of this conception of sin is the emphasis it lays on the necessity of the new birth. We are born, in Adam, with this tendency to rebellion unconquerably in our lives. The only escape from it, and consequently from destruction by God as unrepenting rebels against his government, is the rebirth in Christ. When a man is born again, instead of innate sin is substituted innate faith, the gift of God, and that great factor which is man’s part in the plan of salvation. Instead of an inheritor of the spirit of rebellion, the man becomes, by virtue of his new birth as son of God, a child of obedience and salvation. This man, as long as he does not repudiate his adoption, is perfected and saved in the sight of God, although in the absolute sense he is still a sinner. He is in the process of sanctification, which is to be carried on through his faith and God’s Holy Spirit.
Takoma Park, D. C.

The New South Australian Headquarters

By W. W. FLETCHER

W. W. FLETCHER
The rapid growth of our cities is making it increasingly difficult to rent centrally situated offices for carrying forward our conference and tract society work. For years the South Australian Conference rented a cottage on Franklin Street, Adelaide, not far from the general post office. With the growth of the city the rent increased; and as the cottage was not particularly suitable in either style or location, a move was made, during the time Brother Cole was president of the conference, to Grote Street, the next street south from the general post office. There a very suitable two-story building was secured on a two years’ lease, at a weekly rental of thirty shillings. Besides providing office room, this building contained a large upstairs room, which was used for Sabbath and Sunday night meetings.
Soon a great theater was erected almost opposite, at a cost of about thirty-two thousand pounds. Other large buildings were built near by. As soon as the lease expired, the rent was raised to £2 a week, and soon after to £2 10s. Even at that rental no lease would be granted, evidently because a further increase of rent was intended.
Just at this time a block of land on Grote Street was brought to our notice, which seemed reasonable in price and suitable for erecting the buildings we needed. A general meeting of the Adelaide believers was called on the evening of Oct. 5, 1912, to consider the advisability of endeavoring to secure the land, and building a place for conference headquarters. The plan was unanimously approved by the believers present. When the proposition was submitted to the union conference committee, it was feared by the committee that too great an investment would be involved, and it was advised that a suburban property be purchased for the office work, and that the city church and mission meetings be held in rented halls. The South Australian brethren then gave up the idea of building on Grote Street.
Shortly afterwards the union conference treasurer, Brother P. H. Pretyman, visited Adelaide, to help us erect a building on suburban property. It was found that it would be difficult to secure a suitable property, and that the price would be eight or nine hundred pounds. After looking at the Grote Street block, Brother Pretyman advised us to take a suburban cottage temporarily, see what could be raised in gifts toward building in the city, and submit the plan again to the union conference.
When the South Australian believers were asked to subscribe funds for establishing our headquarters in the city, they responded most nobly. More than £600 was pledged. This was excellent for a conference of about four hundred members. At the union conference council in September, 1913, the plan was approved. The land was purchased, and the building was completed by October, 1914.
OUR NEW ADVENT HALL, IN ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA
OUR NEW ADVENT HALL, IN ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA

The Building

The land purchased has two frontages, each thirty feet—one on Grote Street on the south, and the other on the north. Almost all the land is covered by the building, which is of brick throughout, as required by the City Building Act. The front portion of the building is two stories high, covers the full width of the block (thirty feet), and is about twenty feet deep. Here are the office rooms. On the ground floor the treasurer’s room is on the east side (right side of accompanying picture). The tract society room is on the west (left of the picture). The front door opens into a passage six feet wide, which leads through to the meeting hall, on the ground floor behind the office building.
On the second floor is the committee room (two windows on the right), and two rooms for departmental secretaries. The committee room is sixteen feet by thirteen feet and six inches. The conference and tract society are thus provided with five light, airy office rooms, four of which face the south, a desirable aspect in the hot Adelaide summers.
The meeting hall is on the ground floor immediately behind the offices, and is fifty-six feet long and twenty-four feet wide. There is a sloping floor, falling about fifteen inches from the entrance toward the rostrum. A good cement baptistery has been built under the rostrum. The hall is well lighted from one side. While this is satisfactory as far as the light is concerned, it does not provide a draft of air through the hall such as there would be if there were windows on both sides. To overcome this difficulty two large electric fans have been installed, which are operated at very little cost.
The whole building is lighted with electricity. The offices are fitted with electric radiators, an economical substitute for fireplaces. The office rooms also have telephone intercommunication, which proves a great saving of the workers’ time.
The hall is plainly and neatly furnished, and will comfortably seat one hundred and seventy-five persons. The ceiling is high enough to allow for a balcony to be built if needed.
Behind the meeting hall there is a classroom or vestry (eleven by nine feet), and a stock and packing room for the tract society, of the same dimensions. This room is reached from the offices without entering the meeting hall, and also opens on the back street for the handling of bulk shipments. Altogether, the premises are proving a great boon to our conference, tract society, city mission, and church work. The building, having been designed to meet the needs of the cause, provides us with conveniences that we could never hope to secure by renting a place, even at a high rental.

The Location

The city of Adelaide is a mile square, and is surrounded by a broad belt of park lands, beyond which lie the suburbs. King William Street runs through the center of the city, due north and south. Wakefield Street from the east and Grote Street from the west, meet King William Street in the center of the city.
The Queen Victoria Statue stands at the center of Victoria Square. From that statue to our headquarters building is a walk of three or four minutes. The three streets mentioned are the broadest in the city, and were intended to become the leading business thoroughfares. By building on Grote Street we have the advantage of a central location without having to pay the prohibitive prices ruling for land in leading business streets.
Among all the believers there was the heartiest cooperation in this building enterprise, both in gifts and in active interest. We trust the outcome will be to the glory of God and the advancement of his cause.

The Work Among the Indians of Peru

By J. W. WESTPHAL

J. W. WESTPHAL
I VISITED the Lake Titicaca Indian Mission with Elder W. A. Spicer, more than three years ago, and it has been my privilege to visit it again recently. The progress made in various directions during these three years is striking.
Three years ago only the walls of the school building had been erected. The building has not only been completed, but has been enlarged to twice its original size, being now thirty-four by sixty-four feet. Two other buildings have been erected, each of four rooms, one of which is occupied by Brother F. A. Stahl, the superintendent of the mission. The other is intended for the teacher, with a spare room for visitors. The house occupied by Brother Stahl is floored with the boards from dry goods boxes purchased for the purpose, while the other has only an earth floor. Nearly one half of the school building is also floored with the boards from boxes ranging from one and a half to two and a half feet in length. None of these buildings are models of architecture, for Brother Stahl, a nurse, has been the designer and builder, with little material to do with; but they are regarded as fine buildings for many miles around. All material is imported, must be shipped over a mountain railway, and is very expensive. Brother Stahl is now fairly comfortably situated.
Brother B. Rojas, who had secured a teacher’s diploma from the government, went to the coast some time ago, having been obliged, on account of the illness of himself and wife, to leave the high altitudes. As he had taught only a few weeks, this was a sad disappointment to the Indians, as well as to the mission. However, Sister Stahl succeeded in getting the necessary permission, and is conducting a school of about one hundred pupils, assisted by two native Indians. This, together with the care of her family and her interest in the general work, is keeping her very busy. The students range in age from five to twenty-five years.
Brother Stahl has introduced an innovation in the prayer meetings among these brethren. Instead of holding it in the evening, as is our usual custom, the prayer meeting is held every Wednesday morning at seven o’clock. Ninety were present on the occasion of my visit, many of whom came two or three miles, and all were interested.
In the school prayer meeting and in other meetings, remarkable progress was noted in the singing. Many of the Indians have fine voices and musical talent. Unfortunately, the great majority cannot read, and cannot even speak the Spanish language. Nevertheless, they bring and always open their hymn books, and they do their best in singing the most familiar hymns.
On the Sabbath I addressed the largest congregation I have ever spoken to in South America. Besides children, there were present six hundred and fifty-three persons. The house was crowded, and nearly one hundred stood at the doors and windows listening. The benches lining the inside of the wall and the few others that they have, were filled, the box-board floor was closely seated, while back of this the rest were standing.
Long before the time for the service they were seen coming from every direction across the fields, like the spokes of a wheel, all headed for a common center. One brother came twenty-five miles. The size of the crowd made me think of our camp meetings in the States.
Brother Luciano Chambi, a full-blooded Indian of about twenty-two years of age, whom Brother Stahl has had in training for four years, was the interpreter. The brethren say he interprets well. He certainly does so readily and enthusiastically. The order was perfect, except as some brother tried to make clear a point to another.
The brethren had looked forward to this time as another baptismal occasion. Seventy-three presented themselves. Seventy-two were accepted, and one was asked to wait awhile. Among them were a number of Sister Stahl’s pupils. On account of lack of clothing and for other reasons, nearly a dozen others who desired baptism did not present themselves. To facilitate the examination, they were taken by groups. While waiting their turn, a mother and son were seen on their knees together, confessing to each other and making right the differences and difficulties that had existed between them. All seemed to be sincere and earnest.
On the school grounds are two springs, one strongly charged with sulphur, and the other of pure drinking water. Near the latter had been dug a baptismal font large enough for two to officiate at once. In this font Brother Stahl (the elder of the church) and I buried with Christ by baptism this large number of childlike aborigines of the American continent. They were afterwards voted into the church, and, arranged in two long lines, the right hand of fellowship was extended to them. The church now numbers three hundred and two—an even three hundred Indians, excluding Brother and Sister Stahl. There are many others who are interested, who, in fact, count themselves a part of us.
The visitor finds many things of interest among these simple people. Their earnings are small, about fifteen cents a day when employed for wages. Their tithes are therefore small, but one can but rejoice to see them bring their little amounts to the Lord. Most of the tithe comes in kind, the principal one being potatoes. During my visit a goodly number of sacks of small potatoes (potatoes here are nearly all small, such as are thrown aside in other countries) were brought in on the backs of donkeys and llamas. Before they can be sold to advantage, they must be made into chunos (frozen and dried and thus preserved), which can then be sold at a good price in the spring. The tithe for the last five months of last year was about $106, and the Sabbath school offerings were over $40. The visitor is provided with a present of eggs.
Three of our brethren were in prison in Puno, where I visited them. They had already been there four months, and had not yet had a trial. It is said that two of them had defended themselves against an officer, and disarmed him, when he without cause was taking their animals. The other was falsely accused by a priest of attacking him, when in reality it was the reverse. Thus these people still suffer persecution, though they have fewer difficulties than formerly.
This mission is having a far-reaching influence. Interests are springing up in many places, some of them at considerable distance. Luciano Chambi and another Indian brother are holding Sunday night meetings several miles away, where there is a good interest. At Chucuito, five miles distant, whence much of the persecution came against the brethren in the past,—a place that has been fanatically Catholic and that formerly supported two priests,—it is said that the only remaining priest has had to leave on account of lack of support, few now coming to mass.
Some of the students spoke to me about becoming missionaries. With a few years’ training in the school, a goodly number ought to go out to do a great work for their people. In the meantime we must have others to carry forward the work in this Indian field, and to enter the open doors before us. Men and women of strong faith, courage, determination, and patience, with a willingness to endure hardships, to forego conveniences, to do without many comforts, and to sacrifice social pleasures, are needed in this field. Brother and Sister Stahl are of good courage in their work, and their purpose is to dedicate their lives to the uplifting and saving of this people.

A Word From Central America

ELDER N. Z. TOWN has been making a tour recently through the Central American field, of which he sends a report that will appear soon in the REVIEW. In a private letter he says:—
“I crossed Honduras from north to south, mostly on mule back. Altogether I had eight and one-half days on a mule. I visited Honduras, Salvador, and Guatemala, and am hoping that my visit to these fields will result in getting some men into them with our books, not later than at the close of the schools next year.
“The book work in Cuba is making good progress. About twenty canvassers are on the list at present. During the first half of this year the orders taken amounted to $12,800 and the deliveries to over $7,200. One Cuban delivered over $1,200 worth in five months.
“I asked the brethren for a man to lead the colporteur work in Spanish Honduras, and they have given me two of the best they have. They will go at the close of the school term, about Jan. 1, 1916.
“I expect to sail tomorrow for San Juan, Porto Rico. After spending about two weeks there, I hope to land in New York some time between the fifteenth and the twentieth of August.”

Fighting Floods

“The public mind is so occupied with the great European war that but few, perhaps, have noticed the great loss of life due to unprecedented floods in two of the great provinces of China, Kwang-tung and Kwang-si. The loss of life in the floods is but slight compared with the probable death from the famine, which the destruction of the crops is sure to bring on these provinces. The Red Cross is appealing for funds. Some time ago, under the auspices of this society, a commission of American engineering experts was sent to China to investigate, and devise means for stopping such floods. This commission worked out a drainage plan involving an expenditure of about twenty million dollars. The Chinese government has approved the plan, but has been so far hindered from carrying it out because of the financial outlay involved.”

Conducted by Mrs. I. H. Evans, Takoma Park, Washington D. C

By Mrs. I. H. Evans; Miss Lora E. Clement

Assisted by Miss Lora E. Clement
Through the columns of this department, hints will be given on all matters pertaining to the home life. Short articles and letters are solicited from home makers, telling of their everyday experiences,—their joys and sorrows, their failures and successes.
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