THE Cincinnati Post recently made up a children's fresh-air party, and sent into the country, at its own expense for transportation, 1,390 children, ranging in years from 1 to 14. The entertainment in the country was furnished by the families into which the children were sent. The outing of two weeks was thoroughly enjoyed by the poor children of the city, and many of them came home much better clothed than when they went into the country, happier, and better off in every way. Such deeds are of quadruple benefit. They benefit the children, the families to which they go, the families to which the children belong, and those who send them. The missionary work done by those who entertain the children brings them into closer touch with the needs of humanity and closer to God.
British and Turkish Tensions at Koweit
British cruisers are concentrating in the Persian Gulf, and it is believed that trouble between England and Turkey is brewing at Koweit. Edhem Pasha, with 30,000 Turkish troops, is at Bassorah, near the Persian Gulf, with the apparent intention of seizing Koweit. A Turkish vessel which was preparing to land 500 troops at that place, was intercepted by a British cruiser on September 24, and the commander of the Turkish vessel informed that he could not land the men. The Turk persisted, and the English vessel cleared for action. The Turks then withdrew and reported the matter to the sultan.
European Powers Consider Action Against Turkey
The Courier du Soir, of Paris, which is usually well informed, states that one of the results of the recent conference between Emperor Nicholas and President Loubet during the czar’s visit to France, is the exchange of views between the powers of Europe with the object of arriving at an understanding with reference to united action against Turkey. Germany’s concurrence is said to be assured, tho some of the details are objectionable to the German prime minister. According to this journal, these details are now under consideration by the powers.
Boer Attack on Fort Italia
A FORCE of 1,500 Boers under General Botha attacked the British fort Italia on September 26, and left on the field 200 dead and 300 wounded or captured. The British lost 12 killed, 43 wounded, and 63 missing. Lord Kitchener is reported to be calling for more troops, requesting that only able-bodied men be sent. The attempt to induce the Imperial Yeomanry to re-enlist has not met with a hearty response from these men. The rigors of the campaign are such that but few care to enter again into the service.
Arctic Discoveries and the Flood
HENRY BRACKEN, an explorer who has spent several years in the Klondike country, returned recently from a journey far to the northeastward of Dawson, and reports that he found in the glaciers of those northern mountains innumerable carcasses of goats and mountain sheep which had long been frozen in the Arctic ice. Similar discoveries have been made at other places within the Arctic circle, especially in Siberia and the islands west of Greenland. Scientists are unable to account for the presence of these animals in that region, especially of those animals which were certainly inhabitants of the warmer zones. But they are simply a confirmation of the Word of God in the record of the flood. Whether they were swept into this region by the swirl of the waters, or whether, when the fountains of the great deep were broken up, the earth was so turned over as to bring a portion of the Torrid zone into the Arctic, man may never know; but that these discoveries indicate just such a catastrophe in the earth is certainly beyond dispute.
It is authoritatively stated that President Roosevelt favors such an increase of the navy as will make it equal with that of Russia or Germany, and possibly with that of France. According to Germany’s program for naval construction, her navy would be considerably ahead of that of the United States within a few years. The bureau chiefs are asking for large sums of money both for construction and repair of vessels, and also for additional coaling facilities. To carry the navy along for the next fiscal year, $9,000,000 will be required.
COMPANY C of the Ninth Infantry, consisting of 72 men, was almost entirely wiped out in an engagement in the island of Samar on September 28. The company was at breakfast when the attack was made. All the commissioned officers are reported killed, and nearly all of the few men who escaped were wounded. The survivors report that about 140 of the Filipinos were killed in the engagement.
THE special committee of Methodist ministers, appointed to investigate the report that drunkenness has been increased in the army by the abolishing of the canteen, made its report at a ministers’ meeting held in New York City on September 24. The report states that there has been no increase of drunkenness since the canteen was abolished, and that reports to the contrary are fabrications.
VIRGINIA’S Constitutional Convention has voted to amend the State’s Bill of Rights by omitting the guarantee of the liberty of the press and the freedom of speech. With what a full tide we are sweeping on toward a total denial of the great principles which made the United States a great nation. One by one they are being repudiated by men, by states, and by the nation.
THE native Indians at Nome, Alaska, are reported to be in a starving condition. They came to the coast to trade furs and ivory for supplies. As soon as they had been paid for what they had to sell, whisky peddlers went among them, stripping them of their money in exchange for liquor, and leaving them without resources.
A REPORT from Bennington, Vt., states that an English sloop which was sunk near Carver’s Falls, Lake Champlain, about the time of Burgoyne’s defeat, has been uncovered and broken up with dynamite. The captain’s chest was recovered, which contained 10,000 English sovereigns intended to pay off Burgoyne’s troops.
It is reported that on the night of September 29 an attempt was made to wreck the vault in which President McKinley’s body was deposited. An attack is alleged to have been made on the soldier standing guard above the tomb. Other soldiers came to his assistance, and the miscreants fled in the darkness.
COMMANDER SEATON SCHROEDER, who was appointed governor of the island of Guam, and who was recalled to this country recently to explain his seeming arbitrary rules, has been ordered to return to the island, the Navy Department deciding that his course was justified by the circumstances.
TWO Atlantic steamers of the Cunard line, the Lucania and Campania, communicated with each other for two hours in midocean, on September 24, by means of the wireless telegraph. The shortest distance over which they communicated was three miles, and the longest distance sixty-five miles.
REPORTS from Shansi province, China, indicate that terrible famine conditions prevail there. It is estimated that not less than 200,000 persons will have died of starvation before the next crops can be harvested. Rice is selling at many times its usual price, and famine fever is raging.
CONTRACTORS who have figured on the cost of repairing the fatal breaks in the Brooklyn bridge, report that it will require at least $1,000,000 to do the work properly. The engineers report that a blockade of cars on Brooklyn bridge now at any time is dangerous in the extreme.
MR. SETH LOW, president of Columbia University, New York, has resigned from that institution to become a candidate for mayor of New York City.
THE directors of the proposed St. Louis Exposition are planning to have representatives at the fair from all the savage tribes of the earth.
PRESIDENT MCKINLEY’S will was filed on September 27. It is reported that the estate left by the late president amounts to about $225,000.
A NEW YORK despatch announces that Spain is now placing large orders in the United States for railway material, both steam and electric, and for machinery for its gun factories. Nearly one thousand cars have been ordered from one American firm.
THE United States protected cruiser Cleveland was launched at the Bath Iron Works, Maine, on September 28. This is a vessel of 3,400 tons displacement. Her principal armament consists of 10 five-inch, rapid-fire guns and 8 six-pounders.
ONE of the questions that will be discussed at the coming Pan-American Congress in Mexico will be the establishment of an international arbitration tribunal to settle questions in dispute between republics of the Western Hemisphere.
EMMA GOLDMAN, the Anarchist lecturer, who was arrested as a supposed accomplice of the assassin Czolgosz, has been given her liberty, after two weeks’ incarceration at Chicago. There was no evidence connecting her with the crime.
PRACTICALLY the whole crew of the German cruiser Gazelle are reported to have mutinied recently at Dantzig. Some of the men threw overboard the breechblocks of the guns, rendering them for the time useless.
THE Turkish brigands who captured Miss Helen H. Stone recently while on one of her missionary tours, are reported to have taken their captive into Bulgaria, where they are still holding her for a large ransom.
THIRTEEN men lost their lives in a cloudburst which occurred in Presidio County, Texas, on September 25. The water swept with terrible velocity down a ravine in which the men were camped.
TELEGRAPHIC messages can now be sent into the Klondike country, the line having been completed on September 25. It is intended that this line shall connect with the American line to St. Michael.
THE expense incurred by France in the recent entertainment of the czar and czarina of Russia amounted to nearly $620,000.
THE Arbitration Committee of the Hague Peace Conference has definitely decided that it will not take the initiative in the matter of seeking to arbitrate the South African difficulty.
DURING the week beginning October 28 Leon F. Czolgosz, the assassin of President McKinley, will be punished by death in the Auburn State Prison. He will die in the electric chair.
ADMIRAL VALCAREL, of the Spanish Navy, recommends to the queen regent that in case the appropriations asked for by the navy can not be granted, the navy shall be abolished.
IT is reported that many persons will be compelled to winter in Nome this year, on account of the disabling of five of the steamers engaged in Alaskan traffic.
TWELVE men lost their lives in attempting to extinguish a fire in a coal mine at Nanaimo, B. C., on September 30, and a rescuing party narrowly escaped the same fate.
ONE of the principal copper mines of Butte, Montana, has been closed by the sliding of the earth, a phenomenon which is frequently experienced in that vicinity.
JUDGE J. M. WILSON, chief counsel for Admiral Schley in the court martial now in progress at Washington, died at his rooms in Washington on September 24.
ANOTHER shipload of Siberian reindeer has been imported into Alaska. The government now has nearly 4,000 of these animals in the Alaskan country.
THE Post Office Department is considering the idea of issuing a mourning stamp to commemorate the assassination of President McKinley.
GEORGIA is reported to have entered the ranks of those States which are contemplating or preparing for the disfranchisement of the negro.
BOSTON is threatened with a strike of the express drivers.
EXPRESSION
By Frederick Griggs
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”
KNOWLEDGE is of very little value unless one can give it expression or tell what he knows. Indeed, it may be questioned, and rightfully too, whether a child really knows a thing unless he can tell it. It certainly is not stating it too strongly to say that knowledge is greatly enhanced by a clear and concise statement of what is known. This statement tends at once to deepen the impression already made. Expression and impression are complements of each other. To recognize this, one has only to recall some argument in which, when he began to talk, he was not certain as to the tenability of the position which he was maintaining; but before he had discussed it very long, he was certain of the right of his position in the argument.
Now expression does not consist alone of oral and written language. While these modes may be considered as, perhaps, the most important, yet gesture, making and modeling, painting, drawing, and music have far more value than is ordinarily attached to them.
There are three methods of studying an object; namely, the study of the object itself, the study of the object by some means which partially symbolizes it, as pictures and objects illustrating it, or words having sounds imitating those made by the object; and third, the study of the object by symbols only, as hearing and reading language. These methods of studying an object, result in forming a mental picture or concept which is more or less complete.
Expression in the broadest sense is producing externally a thing which corresponds to the internal object or concept. There are two reasons for this expression: first, to make the mental picture clearer and more vivid; and second, to give this picture to others. It naturally follows that the clearer the concept, the more fully can it be given to others; and thus it becomes of more value to the individual possessing it, and to others.
Making is the most definite and thorough mode of expression. It involves the use of all senses, and is therefore of great value in the education of a child. The power to do, to work, and to accomplish an undertaking, is one of the most important in the character of an individual. This mode of expression, involving the use of all the senses as it does, is of great value in an ethical sense, tending to develop a strong character in giving an individual the power to accomplish an undertaking. This mode can be employed to great advantage in the study of nature. Throughout many subjects, the benefit derived from their study is greatly increased by having many pieces of apparatus made to be used in the study. Little children have a natural desire to make. This should never be repressed. Encourage it continually by assisting the child in a judicious manner in what he is making. Making is greatly hindered by the peculiar and various properties of the materials employed, such as stone, glass, iron, and wood. The difficulties in this direction are so great that most children lose their God-given power to make, because they can not overcome them. Here is where the help of the parent and teacher are necessary. A little assistance given at the right time and in the proper manner, will often turn the child in the direction of acquiring ability in this means of expression, and thus give him the active element of character.
Modeling is most closely related to making, differing largely and perhaps wholly in the matter of size. An object may be modeled many times larger or smaller than the object itself. It involves, however, the use of sand, clay, and other substances which are capable of being molded into definite shapes. The material used in modeling may be of such a character as to reduce the difficulties experienced in wood, iron, etc., though it often involves them. Here, as in making, however, the same difficulties exist in the formation of curved and plane surfaces. But modeling is of greater value in nature study than making, because it can be used in representing irregular forms, such as roots in botany, and surfaces as in geography. I have spoken of these two modes of expression thus fully because I regard them as particularly adapted to develop the love for work. Something is wrought out, accomplished, that the child can see and feel. The making of a snow-man shows the love of the child in the direction of making and modeling.
Drawing is a mode of expression which tends to give the child a good concept of form. Painting differs from it most largely in involving the idea of color. Form and color are involved in every object. We live in a world of beauty, and love for this beauty should be given the child. Give him the pencil, the paint and brush, and continually encourage him in using them. Water paints are very inexpensive. God has given us so much of beauty in the world, when He might have made it of one leaden color; and we can but honor this gift of His by learning to love and enjoy it. Great assistance can be given the little child even tho the parent or teacher feels, and perhaps is, very incompetent in this matter. Point out the varieties of form and color, and study with him as to their reproduction. By doing this, the Word of God in saying that children are a blessing will be proved; for a deeper love for God’s beautiful works can not but be felt by the instructor.
There yet remains of the modes of expression, oral and written language, and gesture. It is, perhaps, not necessary to speak of these farther than to call attention to their importance in nature study. Very much of the work which children ordinarily do in these modes of expression is meaningless to them, because it is not connected with their life experiences. They read selections, the meaning of which they do not understand. They declaim or recite selections of much the same character. As for using gesture in their reading work, that is a thing quite unthought of; and such gesture as is used, is used in recitation, and then only in an automatic manner. If the child is encouraged to tell what he has seen in nature, and when he comes to a proper age, to write about his observations, and not only encouraged but assisted, it follows naturally that gesture will result, and that it will be natural gesture. As these three modes of expression depend upon freedom, it is always wise not to correct so much that all spontaneity is repressed. Let the child tell his story in his own way, and let such suggestions as are necessary, be nearly always introduced incidentally. This can be done very easily, by asking some questions, or repeating what the child has said, in a way to introduce correctly the sentences that have been used improperly, and to give force to those parts of the story that are weak.
In articles which may follow, I desire to consider some of the various fields of nature study very briefly. Not simply from the point of instructing or entertaining in the articles themselves, but to assist in creating a love for the study of God’s works, so that these may be of permanent benefit in giving to the student an increased power to do a useful work. To accomplish this, I believe these principles to be of great assistance.
FREDERICK GRIGGS.
So. Lancaster, Mass.
RESPONSIBILITY OF MOTHERHOOD.
By Mary Wood-Allen
[An address delivered by Dr. Mary Wood-Allen, to thousands assembled in University Hall, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Sept. 15, during memorial services for President McKinley.]
I AM asked to speak at this time for the women of America. What special need have we to mourn in this national calamity? As citizens we weep; but why as women have we greater cause to mourn? We mourn not only the statesman, but for the man whose burdens of statecraft never caused him to forget the tender duties of home. We have read much of his devotion to his wife. Three years ago it was my privilege to spend an hour with President and Mrs. McKinley in the White House. There were not more than six persons present, so the occasion was quite informal, and we saw not merely President McKinley, the ruler of the nation, but the man,—genial, courteous, and charming, and ever most tenderly watchful of Mrs. McKinley, anticipating her every wish, and guarding her from any possible unpleasantness. We who saw it could well believe that after every absence from the White House, his first act on returning was to find Mrs. McKinley, and assure himself of her welfare.
His devotion to his mother was equally remarkable. To the end of her life, he was the thoughtful,11deferential son, even tho he stood on the pinnacle of earthly fame. The wife never displaced the mother. Each had her own place in his heart, where each reigned supreme. Surely wifehood and motherhood have been dignified by such devotion. Emerson says, “All the world loves a lover,” and surely all the world of womankind must love the man who proved that amid the trials and perplexities of national affairs, he could still be the lover, tender and true to the end of his days. To have given such a man to the world must place the mother beyond the noblest queen.
But while we glory in the motherhood that gives us the power to give to earth her heroes and her martyrs, we must not forget another mother who to-day must weep over the shame of having brought into life one whose name will remain through all time as a synonym of cowardice and crime. We do not know her. We have no means of learning whether it was the impress of her own murderous thought upon her child before he became a separate, visible entity, which made him capable of wielding the assassin’s weapon; but in studying the lives of the other assassins of our presidents, we can see indications that the mother’s influence upon the impressionable structures of the embryo were woven into the texture of their being, and eventuated in murderous deeds.
Here is an object-lesson before which we should pause in solemn contemplation. Mothers alone drink sorrow’s deepest dregs. No deeper grief could come into a life than that of knowing that one child has gone astray because we are untrue to the divinest impulses of motherhood. No joy can equal that of knowing that we have made it easy for our children to be true because we have been true.
But there is still another lesson for us to learn from the assassin’s deed. Where does lawlessness begin? We talk of the home as the foundation of national greatness. Do we remember that in the home also is often found the germ of national disruption? The uncontrolled child bids fair to be the uncontrollable man. The boy of two who kicks and strikes if he can not have his own way, has started toward the man who shoots on slight provocation. The boy who at six is beyond the control of his mother, at sixteen is quite likely to need confining in a prison cell because he defied the law of the State. Obedience to rightful authority is “the duty of the whole of life.” This obedience should be learned in the home; and the first teacher is the mother. Therefore it is not too much to say that upon the mother rests largely the responsibility of creating the type of national character. It is a help when the father is himself all that it is desirable that the children shall be; but many of our noblest men have grown up under the care and training of widowed mothers. In Lincoln’s case, it was a step-mother to whom he said he owed all that he was. Poverty and struggles can be used to develop sturdy qualities, while wealth may be the means of destroying endeavor. In many log cabins in our land have grown up boys who have become towers of national strength, because in those cabins were taught the lessons of obedience and true greatness; while in homes where every wish was gratified, the children have grown up weaklings because not trained to habits of self-control and strength of moral character.
What would our martyred president say to us with respect to the one who took his life? Not words of retaliation and revenge. There must be other remedy. Until a few days ago, these two families were ignorant of each other. Each is a part of the great web of humanity; and no home is safe till all are safe. Has not God put it within the power of woman to banish such evils from our land? The child is first committed to woman. It is first taught by mother; then by woman teacher, woman friend, sweetheart, and wife. There is no injustice but we are responsible.
If this dark tragedy shall teach the nation the value of parenthood, it will not have occurred in vain. May God grant us His healing power.
KNOW THE LORD.
By Mrs. M. H. McCarthy
[For all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest.—Heb. 8:11.]
O, GLORIOUS day, when all the earth
Shall bow before the Lord;
And every nation, tribe, and tongue
Shall take Him at His Word.
Then shall the angel choir again,
Sing with the stars above,
And all th’ enraptured universe
Shall praise Him for His love.
Wait patiently, my soul! O wait
In faith; for thou hast heard
How all the world will yet be moved,
And every island stirred.
The Lord hath spoken—’tis enough;
His law He will impart
To every mind that bears His seal,
And every willing heart.
And that sweet time draws on apace,
When all shall bless the name
Of Him who in the past, and now,
And ever is the same.
Haste, beauteous day! He comes, our Lord,
Comes in the clouds above;
Now let us worship Him in truth,
And holiness, and love.
Castroville, Cal. Mrs. M. H. McCARTHY.
PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.
Some ministers were once discussing how the command to “pray without ceasing” could be kept. One of them was appointed to write an essay upon it to be read at the next meeting. A servant who heard this exclaimed: “What! a whole month to tell the meaning of that text? It is one of the easiest and best texts in the Bible.” “Well, well,” said an old minister, “Let’s hear how you understand it. Can you pray all the time, Mary.” “O, yes, sir.” “What! when you have so many things to do?” “Why, sir, the more I have to do, the more I can pray.” “Indeed! Well, Mary, let us hear how that is, for most people think otherwise.” “Well, sir,” said the girl, “when I first open my eyes in the morning, I pray, Lord, open the eyes of my understanding; and while I am dressing, I pray that I may be clothed with the robe of righteousness; and when I wash me, I ask for the washing of regeneration; and as I begin to work, I pray that I may have strength equal to my day; when I begin to kindle up the fire, I pray that God’s work may revive in my soul; and as I sweep out the house, I pray that my heart may be cleansed from all its impurities; and while preparing and eating breakfast, I desire to be fed with the hidden manna and the sincere milk of the Word; and as I am busy with the little children, I look up to God as my Father, and pray that I may be His child; and so on through the day. Everything I do furnishes me with a thought for prayer.”—Anon.
A PILGRIM'S PRAYER.
By C. W. Keniston
Lo! As my days on earth grow less, and Christ is all to me,
O God of grace, my heart still turns in thankful praise to Thee;
While still the years of mortal life are rolling o'er my head,
In Thee I'm blessed while still I am unnumbered with the dead.
O Father, grant that should I miss some good apportioned me,
I may not ever grieve Thy love or turn away from Thee:
O grant that I Thy greatest gift, the love of Thy dear Son,
May ever hold in sacred trust till heaven's joys are won;
And help Thou me well to endure the vexing things of life,
That I may meekly bear the pain of scorn, and shun the strife:
That when some things seem all too hard for mortal man to bear,
I then may raise my eyes to One who'll banish every care.
O, guide my feet, and help Thou me to know Thy guiding hand,
Help me to know the path to go to gain the heavenly land;
Be Thou my guide, and ever stay close to my fainting side;
Be thou my strength until at length I shall with Thee abide.
Make me to know Thy gracious care, for me thy blood was shed;
Cause me to see when Heaven's gifts hang just above my head:
Grant me the heart and will to take that which Thou dost send me;
That I may give my life for those who have not learned of Thee.
Machias, Maine. C. W. KENISTON.
NATURE STUDY.
It has been proved that the surest way to keep young is to live out of doors, take an interest in growing things, study the stones and rocks, associate with the beautiful birds, and listen to nature’s thousand voices that speak of God. This secret of perpetual youth seems to have been discovered by the naturalists; for, however venerable they became, their fresh hearts kept their eyes from fading, and the lines from gathering on their faces, and made them proverbially young both in manner and in spirit.
Nature study is now the most popular branch taught in school, and its interest brightens faces and enlarges minds. Not only may one “go to the ant” and “be wise,” but insects, birds, and beasts are our great teachers. They are always furnishing us with useful patterns and ideas, and some of our most wonderful inventions have been merely copies from their feats of engineering.
There is no such thing as a lonely forest or field. The city’s activity is nothing compared with the life that is to be studied in nature’s quiet places, where each leaf is a separate study, for no two of the countless billions that clothe the trees are exactly alike.
The great musicians of the world have put into their finest compositions echoes of the lovely bird songs they have heard in their rambles, and the great artists have taken their fadeless colors from the numberless tints of the flowers. When we recall that there are fifty shades of red between crimson and scarlet, we are able to realize dimly that the study of color alone could keep one busy a lifetime. No one can be low-spirited who opens his eyes, mind, and heart to the pure world of nature. A high, earnest, happy look must be on his face, and happiness is beauty always.—Union Signal.
SUFFICIENCY
“Where’er the pathway lead, God gives to thee no helpless broken reed; But His own Hand, sufficient for thy need. So where He leads thee thou canst safely go; And in the blest hereafter thou shalt know Why, in His wisdom, He hath led thee so.”
Marvel of Nations
By Editor
We have purchased a set of plates of the above book and will publish an edition as soon as possible.
Prices will be
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CATALOG
By Editor
Our new catalog of publication is ready and will be mailed free to applicants.
The special illustrated booklet describing “Power for Witnessing” will also be sent free. Many of our friends tell us it is the most attractive piece of advertising matter we have ever published.
BIBLES
By Editor
We have decided to continue our special summer reduction in Bible prices until January one. A circular describing these Bibles and containing the special prices will be sent on application.
Miracles and Delusions
By A. O. Tait
By A. O. TAIT
An Excellent Work
A powerful array of scriptural predictions regarding latter-day delusions, counterfeits, spirit manifestations, etc., with a faithful presentation of God’s messages of warning regarding the same.
The search-light of truth is used to reveal many dangerous popular errors.
Will be thoroughly appreciated by truth-seekers everywhere. It will not arouse antagonism, as it appeals strongly to reason and presents evident truth, and attacks principles, not parties.
A clear-cut presentation of the principles of true “Christian science,” or the science of Christianity.
96 PAGES
Pamphlet form - - 15¢
Cloth - - - 50¢
PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING COMPANY - - Oakland, Cal.
