VERY much has been said and is still being said in regard to the billion-dollar steel trust that was recently formed, largely thru the management of Mr. J. P. Morgan. Viewing this big combine of wealth from the purely economic standpoint, there are a great many opinions expressed concerning its outcome. But there is a prophetic side to it that has not been given much attention, and a few facts viewed from this standpoint will not be out of place here.
The New York papers state that it took Mr. Morgan forty days to make this big deal, which put practically all of the steel interests of this great country in one combine, under one management. For doing this business he received $12,500,000 in the stock of the new company, and the cash value of this stock the day he took it was $7,453,125. Hence his income for those forty days was at the rate of $186,328 a day.
Mr. Charles M. Schwab, a young man of thirty-eight, who has come up from a poor boy, gets the erstwhile kingly salary of $800,000 a year for managing this trust after it is formed.
In 1789 Congress fixed the salary of the President of the United States at $25,000 a year. It remained at this figure until 1873, when it was increased to $50,000. But such a salary as that of the President of the United States seems very small now compared with the almost million-dollar-a-year salary of Mr. Schwab. Twenty-five or thirty years ago a yearly salary of $50,000 seemed like a fairly good sum; yes, even ten or fifteen years ago it was considered a reasonably good salary, especially for a private citizen. But how wonderful have been the strides and how intense the rapidity with which a complete change has been accomplished! It begins to look as if the time was not far distant when some of the men who have the ability to manipulate finance will get salaries of a million. Indeed, it is even now stated that Mr. Schwab has demanded that his salary be raised to $1,000,000, and that it has been granted. Millionaires used to be rare enough to occasion general remark; what is the significance of the changes that make it possible for a man to get a million dollars a year as a salary, and for another man to make $7,500,000 in forty days? These things mean something, and you ought to know what it is.
In Paul's second letter to Timothy he has these words: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud.” 2 Tim. 3:1, 2. Here is something that the Word of inspiration tells us we are to “know.” A thing to be known is not something to be guessed at. That which He tells us we are to know is “that in the last days perilous times shall come.” The “last days” are to be days of peril. The Lord tells us to “know” this, and knowing it we should be prepared for it.
There is another thing that we are to “know,” as shown by the verse just quoted; that is, that the peril of these last days will be occasioned because of the fact that men “shall be lovers of their own selves” and “covetous.” We may try to gloss it over in any way we will, seeking to make it appear that this great accumulation of wealth is a good thing; but the Lord reveals the real facts in the case by showing that it comes from self-love and covetousness, and this develops into the most grasping greed. These accumulations of wealth are built up by a greed that cares nothing for the human, except to use him as a means of getting gain.9
These are the simple facts, and God says that they will make the “last days” “perilous.” Who can not see the perils that are coming up in every quarter of the globe because of this great rush and drive for wealth? The days that are ahead of us are full of perils beyond anything that we have ever seen or dreamed of. The Lord has told us to know these things, and we know them because we read it in His Word. The last days are here; and the perils of the last days are hanging as a dark shadow over the world.
God has bidden you to “know” these things. He has gone farther; for He has provided the very evidence by which you may be assured of them beyond the shadow of a doubt. And if you do not “know” them, upon you alone will rest the blame, and upon you alone will fall the eternal loss.
T.
DANGEROUS IMITATION.
By G.
Our Roman Catholic contemporary, the Catholic News, tells of a Methodist Church in Arcola, Ill., where an “Angelus” bell is rung every morning at 11 o’clock “as a signal for each member to cease his or her worldly labors and engage in prayer.” We rather think the Ave Maria, or “Angelus,” will have to be stricken out of that bit of news. Methodists may rightly—as why not?—ring a bell, stop work, and offer a prayer. But the “Hail Mary,” which Pope Urban instituted in his “Angelus” 800 years ago, is something which neither Methodists nor other Protestants have any use for. If, however, Roman Catholicism has any good thing which has escaped Protestantism heretofore, it will doubtless use it in due time, after submitting it to an evangelizing process.—Christian Work.
Prayer that is instigated by the ringing of a bell might as well add the “Hail Mary,” for it is of the same character. Prayer that is actuated solely by some stated reminder that it is time to pray because of a publicly-recognized routine, is but an empty formality—pagan, papal, Mohammedan formality. If anything good has escaped Protestantism—and no doubt Protestants have much to learn—it will not be found in Roman Catholicism, but in the Word of God. The old Protestant slogan was, “The Bible, and the Bible alone;” and the mere suggestion on the part of Protestants that Romanism is a possible source of some good which Protestants lack, is ominous. It is this disposition to look backward instead of forward, downward instead of upward, to the flesh instead of to the Spirit, for inspiration, that is leading Protestants to compromise with tradition and to imitate the formalities of Rome. These little imitations are extremely dangerous, for the reason that they indicate a conscious weakening, and a disposition to seek strength thru forms instead of thru faith in the Word of God. These imitations are also dangerous because it is possible, in the matter of erroneous principles, for an image to develop into all the power of the original. This is plainly taught in Revelation 13, and the signs of the times as plainly show that professed Protestantism, both in this country and in the Old World, is now passing thru this process. The Easter observances, which are becoming more and more conspicuous in Protestant churches, are an apt illustration of the tendency to mimic Roman ceremonial display. It would be well for Protestants to beware of “the little foxes that spoil the vines.” G.
The Pope's Interest in America
The pope has decided that his delegate to the United States, Mgr. Martinelli, shall remain in the United States until 1902, notwithstanding the fact that he has been elevated to the office of cardinal. This is said to be the first time that a cardinal has remained in charge of an “apostolic delegation,” the invariable practise having been to recall him within one month after his appointment. The papal secretary of state declares that this is because the pope desires to emphasize the extraordinary importance which he attaches to the maintenance of the best possible relations with the United States Government, and his special interest in the growing Catholic population of the republic. In view of the revolt in Catholic France against clericalism, the papal see is turning to the United States; and who can say that the United States has not, within the months past, given much reason for the growing hopes of the declining pontiff?
Protests Against the King’s Oath
Notice was given by the Irish leader in the House of Commons on March 17 that all attempts to increase the king’s civil list would be opposed until the government promised to alter the king’s anti-Catholic doctrine, known as the “no popery” oath. On Mr. Balfour announcing that it was proposed to appoint a committee to consider the matter, the Irish leader withdrew his opposition for the present. The committee to look into the matter was then appointed. Catholics all over the world have been making strenuous protests against the anti-Catholic oath of the king of England.
Tensions Among Foreign Troops in China
The situation of the forces of the powers in China is much like that of an open powder magazine with fires burning all around. The troops which marched together to the relief of the foreigners in Peking are now making demonstrations of hatred toward each other. English and Russian troops face each other over a little railroad embankment, each disputing the right of the other to be in the vicinity. In Tientsin the French and English soldiers have clashed on several occasions. French soldiers have run thru the English concessions crying, “Down with the English.” On this raid they attacked an English captain, who defended himself to the best of his ability until the arrival of a squad of Indian troops. The English troops then drove all the French soldiers out of the concession, and posted guards to prevent their re-entering it. Some of the English papers at home have been advocating war with Russia; but these have been warned by English officials that England is now in no position to make war on Russia. One of these officials declares that, “It is useless for our newspapers to use provocative language. They forget that we have a great army in South Africa, and that we have no other army, or the making of one, elsewhere. It is impossible to go to war with Russia. We must admit that this is no juncture to risk fresh quarrels. Our armaments are inefficient, and our fleet in the far East is so weak that its position would be perilous. It is a painful process for a nation to have its face slapped; but until the country compels the government to put our house in order, it is a humiliation unto which we must accustom ourselves.” If England’s army were not now tied up in South Africa, it is quite likely that the powers would have been at war before this. Russia is determined to control North China, and it certainly seems at the present time that there will be no combination of powers sufficiently vigorous to prevent her in this. The division of China seems inevitable.
Tolstoi and the State Church
The bitter folly and the wickedness of the doings of a State Church are well illustrated in the case of Count Tolstoi, who was recently excommunicated from the Greek Catholic Church, the State Church of Russia. Some months ago the officials of the church were forbidden to perform any funeral ceremonies in case of Tolstoi’s death. The report states that the action of the church was received by Tolstoi without complaint. His wife, however, has written a strong letter to the procurator and bishops protesting against the action. In this connection there is much food for thought in the following extract from the wife’s letter of protest: “As for this document causing the spiritual death of my husband, that is God’s concern, not man’s. The life of the soul, thank heaven, is not within the jurisdiction of the powers that be; but when I see this excommunication delivered by the church to which I belong, established by Christ in order to hallow the solemn acts of man’s life, birth, marriage, and death, whose mission is to proclaim the law of charity, the remission of sins and love of our enemies, whose duty for all is to pray for all, then I am at a loss to understand.” In speaking of the order that no funeral rites be performed by priests of the church at the burial of her husband, she refers to those who gave the orders as having proudly placed themselves at the head of the church, while breaking the law of love and humility and behaving like spiritual executioners. But that is the very thing that State Churches are supposed to do and have done for centuries. It was a proud day for the powers of darkness when the State and Church joined hands, and it will be another proud day for them when these two organizations shall join hands again in the countries where the Church and State shackles had been broken. The saddest part of the unholy transaction is that the tighter the church clings to the State, the weaker grows her hold on God.
The Pope Destroys His Arms
The following cablegram was received by the New York World from Rome, on March 6: “About 150,000 firearms, ancient and modern, are now being destroyed in a furnace specially constructed at the Vatican grounds. The bronze and copper fittings are melted down, while the steel swords and halberds are broken and sold as old iron. The only arms still retained for use at the Vatican are those of the Palatine Guards. Thus the pope signalizes his abandonment of all projects for regaining temporal power by force.” If the reason given for this act had been because Christ said, “My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight,” it would have seemed more like a compliance with the spirit of Christianity.
Rioting and Repression in Russia
SERIOUS rioting has been going on in different parts of Russia for several days. At St. Petersburg, on March 18, a large number of students and teachers engaged in a demonstration on the anniversary of the death of a young woman who had committed suicide in a fortress to escape persecution. The Cossacks and police charged the crowd with heavy whips, inflicting severe punishment, and about 800 of the demonstrators were arrested. The report states that faces were cut open by the whips of the Cossacks, and old women were almost crushed to death. Further disorders are expected, as the harsh treatment by the soldiers will not be likely to increase the love of the people for the government they were denouncing.
Benjamin Harrison’s Interment
The remains of Benjamin Harrison, who died at his home in Indianapolis, Indiana, on March 13, were interred in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, March 17, after having lain in state in the capitol building at that place.
Education and Freedom in the Philippines
By Editor
A NUMBER of the acts of the Philippine Commission have been reported by cable to the War Department. The commission provides for a general department of public instruction, with a central office at Manila. Schools are to be opened in every pueblo where practicable, and those already established are to be re-organized where necessary. The English language, as soon as practicable, shall be made the basis of all public instruction, and soldiers may be detailed as instructors until replaced by trained teachers. Authority is given the general superintendent to secure from the United States 1,000 teachers. The act provides that no teacher or other person “shall teach or criticize the doctrines of any church, religious sect, or denomination, nor shall attempt be made to influence the pupils for or against any church or religious sect in any public school.” It is provided, however, that it shall be lawful for the priest or minister of the pueblo where the school is situated to teach religion for one-half hour three times a week in the school building to pupils whose parents desire it. The act also provides for a normal school at Manila. We will expect the Filipinos now to be grateful for these civilizing arrangements. They would have been profoundly and truly grateful, had they been allowed to make the arrangements for themselves as free men. Education is good; but the Filipinos went to war with Spain for freedom; they fought America for freedom; and in spite of all pretensions and all claims of expediency, America has no valid excuse for creating subjects in a foreign land. She has broken away from her basic principles, and is following in the footsteps of the one-time Roman Republic.
British Naval Estimates
It is proposed according to the new British naval estimates to have 154,575 men available to man the fleet, of whom 118,625 should be on the active list, and 35,950 on the reserve list. The government will ask for $43,830,000 to be appropriated for the building of new war ships. One thing that is regarded as making the English fleet weak just now is the type of boiler in use throughout the fleet. It is proposed to have the entire fleet renovated, and a new type of boiler substituted for the old.
Japan and Russia Near War
OWING to Russia’s determined attitude in regard to Manchuria, relations between that country and Japan have become very much strained. A despatch from the Orient states that feeling in Japan is high, and that the majority of the Japanese are eager for war unless Russia comes forward with some proposition acceptable to Japan. One Japanese diplomat is quoted as saying, “Unless Russia makes some material concession to Japan, and that at once, I am afraid it will be impossible to avoid war.”
Rockefeller Iron Interests Join Steel Trust
It is reported that the Rockefeller iron interests have been included in the billion-dollar steel trust. The capital of that great concern already amounted to $1,154,000,000. It is estimated that the reported consolidation will add another $100,000,000 to the stock of the great combine.
American Troops Ordered to Manila
Orders have been given to General Chaffee, commanding the American troops in China, to leave for Manila with all his command except a legation guard as soon as possible. He is expected to be out of China with his force by the last of April.
Catholic Societies in Portugal
The controversy over the Catholic societies in Portugal still continues, and strong bodies are urging the king to suppress the orders and establish a national church with Portuguese priests under papal authority.
Russian Cities Placed Under Siege
The Russian Government has declared the cities of Odessa, Kieff, and Kharkoff in a state of siege, owing to the demonstrations promoted by the university students. Many arrests have been made.
General Green’s Lost Resting Place
The lost resting-place of Gen. Nathaniel Green, of Revolutionary fame, has been discovered in Savannah, Georgia. For 115 years the burial-place of General Green has been unknown.
Chinese and German Troops Clash at Suling Pass
An engagement took place recently between Chinese and German troops in Suling Pass, near Peking. The Chinese were outmaneuvered, and left 250 dead on the field.
Famine Reduces Central Provinces Population
ACCORDING to the census returns of India, which have just been issued, the population of the central provinces has decreased 1,100,000, due to the famine.
Twenty-Seventh Infantry Arrives in San Francisco
The United States transport Bufford arrived in San Francisco harbor on March 12, bringing the Twenty-seventh Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
Thirtieth Volunteer Infantry Arrives in San Francisco
THE United States transport Hancock arrived in San Francisco from Manila on March 13, having on board the Thirtieth Volunteer Infantry.
Cruiser New York Sent to Morocco
The cruiser New York is now on her way to Morocco to enforce certain claims of Americans against the government of Morocco.
Invalid Soldiers Arrive in San Francisco
The United States transport Kilpatrick arrived in San Francisco harbor on March 17, bringing 388 invalid soldiers.
Threatened Anthracite Coal Strike
OFFICIALS of the miners’ union are threatening another big strike in the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania.
Utah Polygamy Bill Vetoed
The bill recently passed by the Utah Legislature virtually legalizing polygamy has been vetoed by the governor.
Riot in Teheran Over Reforms
THE attempt of the Shah of Persia to institute certain reforms has led to another serious riot in Teheran.
A PLEA FOR OUR BOYS.
By Mrs. B. M. Clark
WHAT shall I say to awaken the sleeping fathers and mothers to the dangers that surround their boys?
Why do we make such a difference between our girls and our boys? Why do we shield and protect our girls from the surroundings of sin and vice, yet push our boys out into the very midst of every form of temptation? Is your girl's soul more precious to you than your boy's? “No! no!” I hear every mother exclaim. But would you allow your sixteen-year-old girl to go down street, and remain until 10, 11, and sometimes 12 o'clock at night? If you would not, you surely must think more of your girl than you do of your boy, or you do not realize what you are doing.
This is but one of many instances where we seem to put the salvation of our girls first. What would become of our girls if they had to face the world, and battle for a living, at as early an age as do our boys? I am speaking to the middle class of people; for the lower classes it is often share and share alike; boys and girls must bring in their help for the family good.
Of course the wealthier class do not have any such temptations. What excuse have they if their boys go wrong? They can educate them as highly as they choose. The boys do not have to battle for bread. They can procure books, games, innocent amusements of all kinds, to keep their boys at home if they will.
But our boys of the middle class must, in most instances, give up school and go to work at fifteen, or at the latest, sixteen or seventeen years of age. Think of it! so young! just at the age when sin seems so alluring; just when the boys need more protection perhaps than ever before; yet they must take their places on the world's great battle-field. It is a hand-to-hand struggle; they must compete with others older, and often—O, how often—with those hardened in sin. The strongest wins. Those who can not lie and cheat often go to the wall, or are trampled under foot. Into this turmoil, then, we send our boy—our baby he once was. Now he must take a man's part in the world.
How often have I heard the expression, “The younger a boy has to start out for himself, the better it is for him,” or, “It will make a man of him.” Is it manly to smoke, to chew, to drink, to play cards, to curse, to stand on street corners and make remarks on girls passing by? This is the education that the street is giving them; many of our boys acquire it, and you, mothers, know nothing of it; or, if you do, you perhaps give your boy a little lecture now and then, and tell him he ought not to do so. Would we be so easy if our girls had such habits? Yet mother, your boy will have to answer for his sins just as truly as your girl will for hers.
There are many fatherless boys who must work to help a widowed mother and provide for their own needs. Perhaps they must go out into the world, that sister's education may be finished. For that seems another weakness we have; the girls must be educated, whether or not the boys can do little more than read and write. All praise to these boys. They are the heroes of the world.
But, mothers, sisters, you have a duty to perform toward this son and brother, a duty that is imperative. You can make home a pleasant place—an oasis in the desert of the world, fresh and green with true love, and made fertile by the fountain of life. You can do more; you can pray. If he must go out into the world to meet its temptations, we can put him in God's hands. We must pray, and pray earnestly and believingly. It is no use to ask God to save your boy while a voice down in your heart whispers, “I am afraid it isn't much use; I fear he will be sure to sin.” God hears that whispered voice before he hears the prayer. Ask in faith, and in Christ's name; He will hear our request. For does He not promise that if we ask in faith, and in Christ's name, He will grant our request?
Some will say, “Yes, if it is best for us.” Stop! That may answer in some cases, for we often ask for things we ought not to have; but the salvation of our boy's soul is different. Think you God is so cruel and unjust as not to think it best for us that our boy's soul should be saved? What did Christ die for?—Your boy, my boy, every mother's boy; then what excuse can you offer if your boy is lost? No matter if he inherits bad habits or a depraved appetite from ancestors; that does not hinder you from praying in faith for him. The answer may be long in coming, for God sometimes tests our faith; but keep on; don't despair; pray on unceasingly, from the time your baby is first laid in your arms until you are ready to fall into your last sleep, and he perhaps is old and gray in sin. Pray on, I say; God never yet failed His children. He will save him if you do your part for your boy. Pray for your girl, too; but your boy needs it most. We don't doctor our healthy child, but our sick one; not because we don't love that child, but because he does not need the treatment as does the little puny one. If our boy's clothing was on fire, we would not throw water on our girl. We would just keep her out of danger, and spend every second of time putting out the flames of our boy's clothes.
Missionaries tell us that in some heathen lands boys are allowed to live, while girl children are slain to appease the gods. We do the opposite; we save our girls; we throw around them every protection we can think of; we shield them from every temptation possible; but often we take our boy on the brink of the great sea of life and virtually push him into the dark waters, where sharks are lurking for his life. What chance, then, is there for that boy? If he must go—if it is impossible to hold him back—then, O mothers, sisters, go with him—down to the very brink of the waves,—and when he steps bravely in among the dangers awaiting him, with his head held high, his shoulders squared against the buffeting of the waves, a courageous smile on his lips, do you fall on your knees, and stay there. You can not follow him, but there is One who can. You get weary and fall asleep; but there is “One who never slumbers or sleeps.” What a blessed assurance! Let it sink deep into your troubled heart, worrying mother, as you turn restlessly on your pillow, unable to sleep for wondering where your boy is at that moment. If you have done your part, go to sleep in peace. If not, get up from your bed and pray long and earnestly before you dare let sleep seal your eyelids this night.
For fear some mother may say, “O, it is easy to write these things; but if she had a son out in the world it would be different,” let me tell you, mothers, I have a son, an only son, my eldest of three children. He is just sixteen years old; yet he has for a year been out in the world, working for his bread. It is this fact that has made me realize what a sin we mothers are committing in the way we treat our boys. Experience has made me write this, nothing else. I am one of you; and for a long time I prayed, but could not hush that other voice; and even now it struggles for a hearing; but I will not listen. My boy is hundreds of miles away from me. But while he can get farther and farther away from the mother who loves him, he can not get away from the God who loves him so much more dearly than it is possible for me to love.
While I must sleep and can not send up during the night the almost hourly petition that I can during the day, there is his heavenly Father who never slumbers, watching over him; for I have asked Him to do so, and then fallen asleep almost instantly, knowing that God has sent His angels to keep charge over my boy. And altho he may sin, God will forgive him—will, in the end, save him—if I do not fail in my part. Let us keep this motto in our hearts: “Pray and wait in faith.”
And now I have sounded the alarm in your ears. Wake up, ye sleeping mothers! See where your boy is drifting. Will you do nothing to save him? Will you do nothing—not even pray? Will you see him go down, down, down, until he is lost eternally? Our boys must be saved, and nothing but earnest, faithful prayer can save them. I am praying for mine—pray for yours. God has said, where two or three are agreed as to one thing, and ask, it shall be given. There are two sisters and a mother agreed in this one boy's salvation, and I know he will be saved. Let us pray also for the boys who have no one else to pray for them. It is not necessary that we know them by name; but they are all known and loved by Him who gave His life for them.
I send forth this warning and appeal with a prayer that it may be the means of saving some boy's soul thru the prayers of mother and sister.
Emporia, Kansas. Mrs. B. M. CLARK.
A TWILIGHT STORY FOR GIRLS.
OUTSIDE it was raining heavily. Inside—well, inside the weather was threatening, to say the least. One of the nurses, going to the linen-room with an armful of fresh towels, shook her head sympathetically at another who was just going into the ward.
“I pity ourselves to-day,” she said.
“I know—it will be hard to keep the children bright,” the other answered.
A nurse was taking temperatures and marking the charts which hung at the head of each white bed. She stopped a moment, and looked down at one specially listless face pressed soberly against the pillow.
“Don’t you want some of the scrap-books to look over, Jennie?” she asked.
Jennie’s weak voice was utterly disinterested. “No,” she answered.
The nurse’s voice kept its brightness in spite of her discouragement.
“Then don’t you want me to bring you one of the puzzles? You could play with it nicely, there.”
“No, I don’t want any,” Jennie answered wearily.
A hand pulled at the nurse’s skirt and she turned quickly. The thin, pain-sharpened face of the girl in the next bed smiled up at her cheerfully.
“Don’t bother about Jennie; I guess I can make her do something,” she said in a low voice.
The nurse bent over her with a swift, caressing touch.
“Thank you, little assistant,” she said tenderly.
She went on about her work, but it did not seem so hard or so hopeless any more.
Maggie lay thinking for a few minutes. In the room outside, where the patients’ clothes were kept in a case full of pigeon-holes, was one bundle shabbier than the others; that was Maggie’s. In one of the beds were some queer, cruel-looking weights, which meant suffering far greater than most of the little invalids there could imagine, and they were11Maggie’s, too. Perhaps in all the long roomful, she had the fewest things to make her glad; but what of that? God teaches us how to make our happiness, if we will; God and Maggie together made hers.
She opened her eyes when the sharpest pain had passed, and called across to the next bed,—
“Jennie!”
“What is it?” Jennie asked listlessly.
“Jennie, let’s see those things; we haven’t for ever so long. You wanted to the other day, you know.”
“Well,” Jennie answered doubtfully, “you’ll have to begin, tho.”
“O, yes, I’ll begin! Well, then, I see some great red roses just as soft and dark as velvet; and they feel all cool when you touch them, and they smell—my, don’t they smell sweet!”
“I know somethin’ prettier than that,” Jennie answered. “It’s vi’lets—a lady gave me some once. They ain’t anythin’ like ’em, velvet nor nothin’ else. I ’most cried when they withered. That’s prettier than yours, Maggie Dulin!”
“But I see somethin’ else,” Maggie went on. “It’s a great green place, and the grass is all nice and thick under your feet, and it’s full of the beautifulest flowers—yellow and white, and all colors, and there ain’t no sign up to keep off the grass—you kin jest lay and roll in it all day long. And there’s birds in the trees, and you never heard nothin’ sing like them; and you kin see the sky, just miles of it, and you kin ’most taste the air, it’s so sweet.”
Round the ward word sped quickly, “Maggie’s seein’ things.” Children who could walk went to her corner; wheeled chairs rolled there; from some of the cots eager patients sent messages to her, and waited for hers back again. The dull day was forgotten, and the long room was crowded with visions. Flowers bloomed there, and birds sang, and happy girls went to parties, or cherished wonderful dolls. The gladness of the world was theirs, as God meant it to be, and all because one girl knew how to keep fresh in her life every bit of beauty she had seen.
The doctor smiled as he went his rounds.
“She’s as good medicine as the sunshine,” he said.
“Poor little thing!” the nurse answered, with a loving glance toward the corner.
The doctor corrected her: “It’s the heart that makes one rich or poor—rich little thing!” he said.
—Selected.
WHEN SHE WAS NEAR.
By Nixon Waterman
My mother's heart was honey,
And her kiss was sweetest balm,
And tho the world was full of storm,
Her lap was full of calm.
Her arms and breast were filled with rest,
Her smile was full of joy,
And life was dear when she was near,
And I a little boy.
The world is full of golden gifts,
And yet my spirit sighs
Between the gracious long agoes
And happy by and byes.
I am a-weary of the cares
That fill the lives of men;
I would I were a little child
Within those arms again;
For my mother's heart was honey,
And her kiss was sweetest balm,
And tho the world was full of storm,
Her lap was full of calm.
Her arms and breast were filled with rest,
Her smile was full of joy,
And life was dear when she was near,
And I a little boy.
—Nixon Waterman.
“THE GERM THEORY.”
The “germ theory” of disease seems to be in about the same condition as the evolution theory of man, according to the Medical Tribune, quoted by the Medical Brief and other medical journals. The former not long ago said:—
“Despite the zeal and even the fury with which the germ theory in this, its latest appearance, has been promulgated, there are missing links between it and the unequivocal facts. Its strongest foundations are only assumed. The notion that the atmosphere is forever swarming with germs of bacteria and other microbial products, ready to rush into wounds, into the lungs of every breathing thing, into our water and kneading-troughs, like the frogs of Egypt, and to enter the pores and thru the stoppers of glass bottles, is purely a guess without a solitary fact to sustain it, except such as are found in the interpretation of which the guess is taken as established fact. It is a plausible theory but unproven.”
“The harmlessness of the microbe may be fairly regarded as an established fact. Experimenters have separated the various micro-organisms from the medium in which they subsisted, and inoculated healthy persons with them, without thereby in any case inducing disease; while, on the other hand, others were inoculated with virus in which were no microbes, and diseases were the result. The actual fact appears to be that the malady and disorganization are first, and the micro-organism afterward. This is in analogy to other facts observed in the world of nature. If a tree falls in the forest and begins to decay, straightway there appears a multitude of creatures in great variety to devour it out of the way. So, too, when an animal dies, all manner of repulsive things will congregate about it as their prey. Yet we never reason upon the matter like the typical Irishman when viewing a decaying carcass; ‘Look at the poor creature and the maggots,’ cried he; ‘sure they killed it entirely.’”
ANCIENT AMERICAN CANALS.
The remains of a wonderful irrigation system long concealed have recently been uncovered in Arizona. Says the Mining and Scientific Press, of it:—
“During my last visit to Arizona, I saw in the Salt River Valley a sight that would strike a stranger as queer. A steam dredging-screw, such as is used in deepening rivers and harbors for navigation, was voyaging slowly and steadily thru a wide strip of arid desert. It was started landward from Salt River, and was excavating its own channel ahead, the river waters following and floating it as it advanced. But the work was not, in fact, the making of a new channel, but the digging out of an old one, the irrigating canal made by a civilized people that lived and flourished and departed before recorded American history began. That there was a time when this wide valley, now being again redeemed to man, was a garden of plenty, teeming with inhabitants, is shown by the extensive and regular system of broad canals leading from the river thru which water for irrigating was conveyed for centuries. With the drifting sands and earth, these canals are still plainly indicated on the face of the ground, and so skillfully were they planned and built that modern engineering science applied to irrigation can do no better than retrace their course and restore them. What race laid out the canals and built the towns whose ruins are strung along the valley is a question not yet settled by archæologists. Aztecs or Toltecs, or each in their turn, probably tarried here in their centuries long southward to the valley of Mexico, and the ruins may be of an older people than either of them.”
The “Hub” Cordially Approves the New Century
By THOS. H. H. KNIGHT
Girls' High School, Boston, Mass.
United Typewriter & Supplies Co., Boston, Mass. April 24, 1900.
Gentlemen: We have had ten of the New Century machines since last October, and thus far they have proved very satisfactory. They have required very little attention, and their special features make them attractive to the pupils.
Yours respectfully,
[SIGNED] THOS. H. H. KNIGHT
Instructor in Typewriting
UNITED TYPEWRITER AND SUPPLIES COMPANY
316 Broadway, New York
The PEDIGO
Patent Galvanized Iron WASHING MACHINE
Lately Improved. Up to date. It has a complete metal tub. Will never warp or sun-crack. Made of patent galvanized corrugated iron and weighs thirty pounds. It is an exact imitation of the rub-board. We guarantee this machine to wash entirely clean if the directions are followed. Over two thousand sold in Alameda County alone. The old wash-board and wash-tub, relics of barbarism, are things of the past with them.
For the convenience of our patrons who may wish to purchase one of these, we have arranged with the manufacturer to have all orders for the machine sent to this office, therefore any matters concerning this machine may be addressed to Signs of the Times,Oakland, Cal.
