p. 16 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 22. (6/2/1909)

Tower at Fort Sam Houston,
San Antonio, Texas — Tower at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas

How to Use a Little Earth

A SPACE twenty by fifty feet may, under intensive culture, be made to yield fresh vegetables for a small family through half the year,” says Martha McCulloch-Williams in the Country Home Circle of The Circle magazine for March. “With forty feet by fifty, or fifty by one hundred, there can be a garden spelling riotous plenty.

“Have the spading done as early as possible, use thoroly rotted manure, and supplement it with some good commercial fertilizer, either broadcasted and raked in or put in hills or drills.

“It is a waste of seed, strength, and time to plant a garden in poor soil. The seed will come up, the spindling plants will be harder to work than if they were luxuriant, and the resultant crop will be mostly conspicuous by its absence. So, if it be impossible to do more, make small rich beds, four feet wide and as long as the manure holds out, and sow them crosswise with such things as radishes, lettuce, cress, parsley, beets, and onions. Make the rows a foot to eighteen inches apart, or sow the radishes broadcast. Lettuce also yields more for broadcast sowing. Pull out the thriftiest as soon as edible and leave the rest to grow. Radish tops make excellent greens, something better flavored than mustard. By sowing thickly you can have a great abundance of greens.

“Say the garden is forty by fifty feet, this is something what the planting of it should be: Dwarf early peas, medium early and late peas, beets, early and later; beans in succession, including bush limas; carrots, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers. Do not adventure upon corn unless it be sweet corn planted on the pea space as a second crop, to come in just before frost. Make an asparagus bed all across one end of the plot, setting two-year-old roots, and fertilizing the bed heavily in early summer just after cutting ceases.

“Peas are so hardy they may be planted before snow is past, provided, of course, the ground is right when they go in. Make it fine and light, cover the seed at least three inches deep, then tramp the earth over them, setting the feet so one track touches the other. A quart of seed will sow a hundred feet of drill the proper thickness. An ounce of beet seed will sow the same row length.

“Cultivate your garden with a wheel hoe or use the trowel and hand hoe — remembering Isaak Walton’s adjuration as to the bait worm: ‘Use him as tho you loved him.’ As one thing yields pull it up and plant something else.”

My Friend

By Flora E. Warren

By Flora E. Warren

He knew me e’er my eyes had seen the light, And gave me wondrous tokens at my birth; He watched my goings all the day and night, When first I trod the slippery paths of earth,— And, patient, sought to guide in childhood’s day My feet into a surer, lasting way.

When falsehood first had stained my lips, He knew; It grieved Him sore that it should ever be. He longed that all my words be pure and true, That I should ever know but purity. My first wrong thought and word was known to Him, And made His heart grow sad, His eye grow dim.

He kept near me through all the changing years, Marking my every look, and every thought. He kept me when in danger, calmed my fears; And gave me pardon, which His life had bought. His wondrous love — O how it won my heart! I prayed that He would nevermore depart.

And still His loving whispers I can hear; Oft when the day is done, and shades descend, My weary soul finds courage, rest and cheer In His “Lo, I am with you to the end,” My joys and sorrows I may safe confide In Him — my everlasting Friend and Guide.

And while I wait and watch for His return, To take me to His home among the blest, I pray that other hearts His love may learn, And in the Friend of sinners find sweet rest. For souls so dear to Him I watch and pray, That all may dwell with Him through endless day.

The Sabbath of the Lord

If men only knew the Sabbath of the Lord and what it means, if they only knew Jesus Christ and His power, they would never ask for Sabbath laws or Sunday laws. Nay, they would not want Sunday; they would be content with the Sabbath God made and which our Lord Jesus Christ kept.

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THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY

For complete information address SUNSET TRAVEL CLUB ROOM 16, FLOOD BLDG., San Francisco

Partner Wanted

In good blacksmith business. Must be a first-class smith and horseshoer. Adventist preferred. Address C. J. Swanson, Box 76, Riverton, Wyo.

Life and Health

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

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

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

LIBERTY

THE OFFICIAL ORGAN OF

THE RELIGIOUS LIBERTY BUREAU

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

Price 25 cents per year. Liberal terms to agents.

Address, LIBERTY, Takoma Park, D. C.

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 50 cents a year.

_Address, OUR LITTLE FRIEND, Mountain View, Cal._

Friend in the Kitchen.

This is an educational cook-book. Its object is to educate people away from flesh-eating by presenting to them a far better way. This “better way” consists of 400 thoroly tested recipes for the preparation of good, wholesome dishes, none of which include meat of any kind. The book gives the nutritive value of foods, time required to digest various foods, rules for dyspeptics, best food for infants, substitutes for meats, and, in fact, about everything a person wishing to reform his dietary needs to study. Durably bound in flexible cloth, 25c.; oilcloth, 50c. Address this office.

The Tariff.—

Our lawmakers at Washington are busy at the present time trying to draw a tariff bill by which to secure to the government a proper revenue. An effort has been made to have all parts of the country represented before the committees, and thus to secure legislation that would be satisfactory to all. Just how far everybody will be satisfied it is hard to say, but considerable criticism is being offered on one hand and the other.

No Paper Next Week

No Paper Next Week.—According to the schedule of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, fifty numbers make up a volume. One of the two numbers omitted will be the issue of June 9; the other will be near the close of the year. The readings for Our Bible Band are given for this week and next week.

A Spirit Photograph Confirmed

Readers of the series of articles by Professor Rine, on “The Spirit World and a Future Life,” will recall the account of the taking of a spirit photograph of a South African soldier. A letter from one of our readers states: “The Mr. Wessels referred to is my brother; the late Piet Botha, my uncle, mother’s brother. I saw the photograph myself. My brother took it.”

Christ’s Mission to Save Through Love

“If any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” These are the words of Jesus. His mission was to save. It still is to save. This should be the mission of His professed servants, to save in His way, not by force, but by love.

To the Uttermost.—

Jesus is able to save to the uttermost all who will come unto God by Him. He says so in His word. Heb. 7:25. There is no limit to His power to save. The lowest living man has not yet become dead, utterly corrupt physically. But Jesus is able to raise the dead, and did. This is His pledge of saving every sinful soul. However dark the sins, howsoever black the record of the past life, if you desire to be rid of it and become a new man or woman in Christ Jesus, go to Him. He will not turn you away. He will welcome you, heal you, save you, even to the uttermost, if you will let Him. Will you not?

The Practise Still Lives.

It is said that when a theological student asked Henry Ward Beecher what he did if his supply of thought happened to run out, the great preacher answered, “I holler.” The practise probably did not originate with Beecher; it certainly survived him. There are still “hollerers.” Moral: Do not speak without a message. When it is given, stop.

What Our Lord Said.

When James and John saw the Samaritans reject the coming of their Master, they wished to call fire from heaven and punish them, but our Lord rebuked them with these words: “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Luke 9:55, 56. This is His message to like-minded reformers to-day.

So God Calls Them.

Sometimes children in their ignorance utter blunders which are at least suggestions of great facts. For instance, a little girl in Great Totham, England, when asked to write about wild animals and the countries they inhabit, said: “Wild animals used to abound in England, but now they are mostly to be found in the Theological Gardens.” The “Theological Gardens” and hothouses and nurseries do turn out some fine specimens, it must be confessed, of wild beasts, which are wasting God’s heritage and despoiling His flock. See Eze. 34:17-21; Ps. 80:13; 2 Tim. 4:3, 4. Thank God there are yet those who are loyal to the word of God, even in the “Theological Gardens.”

Smallest Flying Machine Made.

Every month or two shows, some new development in the matter of flying machines. A number of monoplanes of various makes have made successful flights in France. One of these newer machines is described in the Scientific American of May 8 as so small that it can be transported on an automobile. It weighs about 300 pounds. Several excellent flights have been made lately, the best of these being at St. Cyr, on April 8, when M. Dumont flew one and one-half miles in a straight line, passing over telegraph wires, fences, etc. The machine has made other flights, and has proved easy of control. It is the smallest and one of the most successful monoplanes that have been produced.

Prizes for Aeroplanes.

A firm in Germany has recently offered a prize of $4,000 for an aeroplane flight of fifteen miles, starting from Frankfort. The West Hudson Aero Club, Arlington, N. J., in connection with its grand aeronautic demonstration in May, offered prizes aggregating $1,500. At Morris Park, on the 22d of May, the Aeronautic Society offered, besides cups and small prizes, the sum of $3,500 for various flights of air machines. A section of the National Aerial League of France offers $8,000 in prizes in June and July, and the London Daily Mail has recently offered prizes for flights to the amount of $60,000. All of this goes to show a very keen interest in the matter of aeroplanes, an interest that is worldwide, and that is producing some significant results. No one can tell how soon these machines will furnish important aid in time of war. The instruments of warfare are constantly growing more terrible.

Government Control

Government Control.—It is very evident that the American people are not at all disposed to give up their program of full and high government control of railroads and great corporations. The railways are public servants, charged with public functions, and subject to public control.

The Career of Peter Fenelon Collier

Peter Fenelon Collier, publisher of Collier’s Weekly and many books, died recently in New York City. He had advanced to wealth, altho his parents were so poor as to give him only the most ordinary education. He began at an early age to sell books from door to door. He made a decided success from the start. The energy and fearlessness of Collier’s Weekly have given it a leading position in the country.

Good Counsel

The following good advice comes to us in a little leaflet, and we pass it along: “Let no one for one single day omit private prayer and reading of the Scripture. The very neglect of these two most important things is the cause why many become cold and give up. Read the Scriptures whether you understand them or not, trusting in the Holy Spirit for light and direction. Pray, even tho you do not receive answer in your time and way. At times we do not feel much like attending to our devotions, and are tempted to neglect them, but this should never be done unless providentially hindered. Phil. 4:6; James 1:22; John 5:39; 1 Thess. 5:17.”

Public Playgrounds for City Children.

In many of the large cities of the United States the agitation for public playgrounds for children is strong. New York, Chicago, Buffalo, and other cities have conducted such playgrounds for several years. In New York Jacob Riis was the moving spirit in their establishment. In Buffalo the daily attendance at five playgrounds last year was 3,998. The good accomplished through these playgrounds, each of which is well equipped with all sorts of athletic appliances, can not be estimated. Each one is in charge of a director who is trained for the work.

Tobacco as Snake Poison.

A new method has come into use in India in order to get the perfect skin of the cobra. The snake-catcher gets the cobra alive, forces its mouth open, and introduces a small pinch of snuff. The effect is remarkable. Death of the snake is almost instantaneous and the skin is undamaged. It is a demonstration of the terrible activity of the poison of tobacco. It is strong enough to instantly poison a snake. The cobra can stand its own poison, but not the poison of the weed.

The New Life Magazine Reviewed

There has come to our table “The New Life Magazine,” said to be a “monthly periodical for all people.” It seems to us that this “new life” is based altogether too much upon human theory and human conceptions rather than upon simple faith in Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Its teachings seem too nebulous. To us the word of God, the Scriptures, the life of humility, the promises of our Lord Jesus Christ, the great eternal law of God which points out sin and approves of the gift of righteousness which our Lord Himself bestows, has far more of the new life in it than have the uncertain teachings of this magazine.

Jewish Women’s Organizations

“The Hebrew Standard,” one of our Jewish exchanges, devotes its issue of May 7 to Jewish women’s organizations, being the third annual number of this kind. It is a forty-page journal with cover in green and gold. There is a surprisingly large number of women’s organizations among the Jews of America, covering practically all phases of art and industry in which women are engaged. The Standard is the leading Jewish family paper of America, published at 87 Nassau St., New York City. The price of this issue is twenty-five cents.