"Is the Bible the Word of God?—Yes." By Rev. Thomas Duncan, D.D. The Neale Publishing Co., New York and Washington, D. C.
The object of this book is to set forth in a series of essays, first that the Bible is a gift from God; and secondly, that it demands a simplicity of worship and service which is not found in the tendency of ritualism at the present time. The writer holds, erroneously, we think, to the inspiration of the thought, instead of the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. The view that the books of the Bible are written in different styles is no indication that they were not inspired by the Spirit as to their words. God used the human material that He had; He played His music on the strings, or thru the cords, of the best instruments in His service. These, sounding differently, show the same Master Musician behind them all. Mr. Duncan shows that the holy Catholic Church does not apply to the Roman Catholic, but to the church of Jesus Christ wherever it may be found. He feels that the cathedral system is antagonistic to the best work in the Christian church, and in proportion as this system developed, strict discipline, zeal, self-sacrifice, and brotherly love ebbed away. The book is written from the standpoint of a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and is a plea for simplicity of doctrine and teaching. Many true Biblical believers would wish to go a great deal farther than Mr. Duncan goes, and yet we ought to welcome every voice that is pleading for simplicity and for the authority of the word of God.
"The Next Step in Evolution; the Present Step." By I. K. Funk, D.D., LL.D. Price, sixty cents. Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York and London.
This is the fourth edition and revision of a work written six years ago. It is an endeavor to harmonize the Bible with the author's ideas of evolution regarding the second coming of Christ. He says in his preface:
> "Christ's second coming should not be understood to be a literal, physical coming, but His reappearance in the spirit and characters of His followers and in the world at large. Thomas said to Christ: 'How can we know the way, since we know not whither Thou goest?' Christ replied, 'I am the way; no man cometh to the Father but in the way I come; he must be as I am and do as I do, and then he will find the Father and he will find Me. He who willingly serves others and is kind-hearted and is pure in heart, shall see God. And in the very nature of things, none other can.'"
This states clearly the character of the work. All the promises of the Scriptures concerning Christ's second coming, the analogies between the two advents, and the vicarious atonement of Christ as revealed in the word, are set aside as utterly unimportant. Beautiful sentiments, nicely expressed, are made to obscure truth. No one disputes that Christ desires to live in His followers. A part of His purpose in going away was that He might more effectively do this by His ever-present Spirit; that Christ living in them would be His witness to the world of the efficiency of His sacrifice and mediation; but these do not in any wise annul, set aside, or supersede the literal second coming of "this same Jesus." The little much-lauded book is an utter perversion of almost every Scriptural truth which it touches. The great half-truths only make the error the more potent for evil. We do not wonder that New Thoughtists, Higher Critics, Spiritists, Unitarians, Evolutionists, and skeptics generally laud this book. It can never satisfy the man who knows in his own experience the personal, spiritual Christ.
"Passing Protestantism and Coming Catholicism." By Rev. Newman Smyth, D.D. $1.00, net. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
This is a striking, thought-compelling title apart from its alliterative terms. Is Protestantism which changed the face of Europe in the sixteenth century and has affected the whole world since, or is Roman Catholicism itself, to pass away? Is Catholicism, which many Protestants have considered as dead, to be the coming religion? Dr. Smyth is a Congregational minister, and the author of several presumably orthodox Protestant works. Has he lost faith in Protestantism? The book is divided into three parts: "Passing Protestantism," "Mediating Modernism," and "Coming Catholicism." The author's thought is that Protestantism has accomplished its work, that it no longer has authority. Among Protestants religion "has lost authority in the family life." Rome's hold is much stronger on the family. Protestantism is losing influence over communities. She loses her children. Religious education is wanting, and there are other causes for weakness. In brief, his theory is that in Protestantism there is no hope for the world; but that Modernism will so affect and modify the doctrines and discipline and spirit of the Roman Church, that out of this movement there will come a rejuvenated, living Catholic Church which will unite both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Dr. Smyth expresses himself very lucidly and hopefully, but he who is versed in the "more sure word of prophecy" and in the lessons of history knows that union between Romanism and a decaying Protestantism is impossible, save to the utter destruction of the latter. The book is instructive as well as destructive.
"The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah." A new and critical translation, by Charles Rufus Brown, D.D. American Baptist Publication Society, 1630 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.
We have not read it thru, but the translation seems excellent, and the poetical parts are thrown into metrical form. If the translator had made less attempt to edit the work by his single, double, triple, broken lines, to mark off what he assumes comes from some other source, it would have been of more value. How does he know, or why should he even assume, for instance, that the line "Before His fierce anger" does not belong to verse 26 of chapter 4, and that the words are the words of Jeremiah? If they are quotations from other prophets, let the reader find it out; this book does not inform him. These many lines injure the typographical appearance and help no one.
"The Book of Job; or the Problem of Suffering." Prepared by the late William Rainey Harper. The American Institute of Sacred Literature, Hyde Park, Chicago.
This pamphlet is a section of the Outline Bible Study courses of the Institute, selected from the longer course on the work of the Old Testament Sages, which includes a study of the Book of Proverbs, the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and a general study of the relation of the work to the sages, to that of the priests and prophets and to the Messianic thought of the Old Testament. The fee of fifty cents paid for this material entitles the student to membership in the Institute for one year, with privilege of correspondence, question sheets, and certificate for his work if satisfactorily done. The study covers a period of three months. One will not always agree with the thought suggested in the questions, but the Institute outlines for the student a field of broad study which can but be beneficial.
"Between the Testaments." By the Rev. David Gregg, D.D., LL.D. Price, 75 cents, net. Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York.
This little volume is an abstract, or compendium, of the interbiblical history of the Jews, or for the period between Nehemiah and New Testament times. The work deals with the three great subjects: (1) The Jews of the Dispersion during the period between the Testaments; (2) The Jews of the homeland during that period; (3) The Old Testament Apocrypha, or the book of that period. Dr. Gregg has wrought for us a good work. There are minor errors; as, for instance, making the seventy weeks of Daniel 9 (490 years) extend from B.C. 458 to A.D. 39. But the work in general is a good bridge over the chasm of Biblical history.
"A Century of Bibles." Edited and compiled by a Sunday-school teacher. Griffith Rowland Press, Philadelphia.
This little booklet is dedicated to the Sunday-school teachers in the United States of America. It gives statistics as to the number of Bibles that have been published; has little chapters on, the one Book; the Bible above all things else; the Bible in History; Bible societies and the work which they have wrought; the number of languages in which the Bible has been translated; its circulation and its effect in the countries where it has been circulated. There is a chapter on rare copies of Bibles; the many editions; the various Bible publishers; its influence upon the legal profession; the Bible in literature; and a list of translations. We can not give the price, but it can not exceed fifty cents, may be less.
"The Bible as Good Reading." By Albert J. Beveridge. 94 pages; price probably about 50 cents. Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia.
This little book by Senator Beveridge starts with a story of two men on a vacation in the wilderness, with nothing to read. One suggests the Bible; the other thinks it dull. But they begin, and find it of thrilling interest. The unlettered guides are interested, and the whole book, considered as a human document, was of intense interest. He counts the short stories of the Bible the best to be found in any literature; and the practical common sense of the Bible excels all. It is well worth a half-hour's reading, and is full of helpful hints.
The Importance of Hygiene.
By J. R. Leadsworth, M.D.
By J. R. Leadsworth, M.D.
OF WHAT importance is the study of hygiene? It has not been many years since a practising physician and member of a board of health in a prominent American city defined the subject as meaning muddy or bad-smelling water. Now even the most unsophisticated school-boy knows that it is a subject that has to do with healthful surroundings and healthful food and drink. To-day the hygienic department sends its sanitary officer ahead of the explorer or the civil engineer, and the most miasmic country becomes habitable,—in some instances a home for the health-seeker. Dr. Metchinkoff, the French scientist, has truly said that while “therapeutics has gained most important victories, yet to hygiene belongs, without a doubt, the place of honor in modern medicine.”
Concrete Examples.
The island of Cuba was a hot-bed of yellow fever previous to American occupancy. But in sixteen months of rigid enforcement of sanitary laws, the island was thoroly rid of that dread disease.
Largely on account of the deadly effects of yellow fever and malaria on the canal zone, the French, after expending millions on the project, were compelled to abandon work. But with a well-organized department of hygiene in charge, and with power to enforce its measures, the most fatal diseases, malaria and yellow fever, diseases which decimated the working forces on the canal heretofore, are almost entirely eliminated from the category of diseases in that belt. In a recent report from Colonel Gorges, head of the health department, he stated that “among 6,000 Americans in the employ of the commission, including some 1,200 American women and children, the families of these employees, we have but little sickness of any kind, and their general appearance is fully as vigorous and robust as that of the same number of people in the United States.”
Notwithstanding the fact that discoveries in this line have robbed many diseases of their terrors, still the study of hygiene and immunity offers a wide field of research.
Tuberculosis.
Only a few years ago, tuberculosis was considered among the incurable diseases, and being once contracted by an individual, calculations were made as to whether it was quick consumption or the more chronic form. In either event, it was assumed that it would end fatally. To-day many persons are well and strong who, some years previous, gave unmistakable evidence of being afflicted with this loathsome disease. The most approved diagnostic method fails to show any remote effect of the disease left upon their system, and all this has come about, not by tuberculin injections, not by swallowing some mysterious compound, not by visiting some famous springs where healing comes without change of habits but in coming back to long-neglected, simple, hygienic living.
In a recent paper on this subject, Dr. Senn of Chicago gave expression to these significant words: “The clientele of the physicians is growing smaller and smaller, but their glory as humanitarians and scientists is rising and will reach the zenith after coming generations of more erudite physicians have conquered and laid at their feet the two worst enemies of mankind—tuberculosis and cancer. We are confident that tuberculosis in all its forms will soon be forced to retreat, as we know its microbic cause and are familiar with its methods of work. We have learned by long experience that the most formidable weapons in fighting this disease are not drugs but pure air, sunshine, and nutritious, easily-digested food.”
The Simple Life.
Many people get well by dropping business cares, and artificial life incident thereto, by going to Florida or to California, but the great mass of the afflicted have not the means with which to afford such luxuries. But quite a proportion of these last named have found that health may be found in the sunshine and air and earth that is so abundant around every home. And, usually, it is had just as freely when the same conditions are applied at home as are made use of in taking a vacation in California or Arizona.
Sir Frederick Treves, Court Physician, and one of the most eminent physicians and surgeons in England, recently gave utterance to some statements that seem incredible to one who has heretofore trusted in the mysterious power of drugs as against hygienic measures. He said he believed that “the time will come when hospitals for infectious diseases will be empty and not wanted. This is to be accomplished by hygiene. The mystery of the ancient doctor, his long words and extraordinary prescription, is passing away. The multitude of shelves of bottles which surround him is also passing away and being replaced by simple living, suitable diet and plenty of sun and fresh air.” Dr. Treves looks forward to the time “when people will leave off the extraordinary habit of taking medicine when they are sick and when it will be found as anomalous for persons to die of scarlet fever, typhoid, cholera, or diphtheria as for a man to die of a wolf’s bite in England.”
Headache and Diet.
A few years ago, it would have been looked upon as an excuse for ignorance to recommend hygienic precautions for the cure of headache. In a recent number of the London Lancet, Dr. Harris, writing at length upon the cause and treatment of periodical headache, devotes considerable space to the effect of diet upon the various forms of this frequent malady, and ends his article with the following significant paragraph: “Lastly, the effect of an open-air life has scarcely received sufficient prominence in the treatment of many forms of toxemic headache. Persons who are subject to chronic headaches should cultivate the habit of keeping their windows widely open, and the hardening process thus slowly applied will not only render the individual far less susceptible to catching ordinary colds, but his tendency to frequent headaches will often disappear, and from a listless valetudinarian with always something wrong with him, he will become brisk and healthy in mind and body.”
The Tapestry Weavers.
LET us learn a useful lesson,
No braver lesson can be,
From the ways of the tapestry weavers
On the other side of the sea,
Above their heads the pattern hangs,
They study it with care;
And as to and fro the shuttle leaps
Their eyes are fastened there.
They tell this curious thing besides
Of the patient, plodding weaver;
He works on the wrong side evermore,
But works for the right side ever;
It is only when the weaving stops,
And the web is loosed and turned,
That he sees his real handiwork,
That his marvelous skill is learned.
Ah, the sight of its delicate beauty;
It pays him for all the cost;
No rarer, daintier work than his
Was ever done by the frost.
Then the master bringeth him golden hire
And giveth him praise as well;
And how happy the heart of the weaver is
No tongue but his own can tell.
The years of man are the looms of God,
Let down from the place of the sun,
Wherein we all are weaving,
Till the mystic web is done;
Weaving blindly, but weaving surely,
Each for himself his fate,
We may not see how the right side looks,
We can only weave and wait.
But looking above for the pattern,
No weaver hath need to fear,
Only let him look clear into heaven,
The Perfect Pattern is there.
If he keep the face of the Saviour
Forever and always in sight,
His toil shall be sweeter than honey,
And his weaving sure to be right.
And when his task is ended,
And the web is turned and shown,
He shall hear the voice of the Master,
It shall say to him, “Well done!”
And the white-winged angels from heaven
To bear him thence shall come down,
And God shall give him for hire,
Not a golden coin, but a crown.
—Anon.
The Vegetarian Cook Book
THE boy who begins cigaret smoking before he is fifteen never enters the life of the business arena; when other boys take hold of the world's work, he is in the way of the sexton and the undertaker.—David Starr Jordan.
The Vegetarian Cook Book. By E. G. Fulton. Pacific Press Publishing Company, Mountain View, Cal. Price, 75 cents. For sale at the Vegetarian Cafe, Sixth Street, Portland, Ore.
This book contains over 200 pages of recipes for meatless dishes, not strictly vegetarian, however, as they include cheese, milk, and eggs. There are many recipes for fruit and vegetable salads which are of especial value at this season of the year. Following the salads and salad dressings are soups, including ten varieties of fruit soups. After this follow 48 pages of entrees, among which is a "New England Boiled Dinner" without meat. Nuts are freely used in these preparations, and there are several good ways given for the use of macaroni. Then come vegetable recipes, among which one notices "Creamed Chestnuts."
Beverages, desserts, and special methods for cooking eggs follow, with general directions and pertinent information of value to one in search of simple and healthful, yet appetizing foods.—Portland (Ore.) Evening Telegram.
Every teacher and parent, having a sincere desire to give the children under their care a well-balanced Christian education, will hail with joy the splendid instruction afforded them by this new school manual. The table of contents of itself is an inspiration, and we give it in full below:
Introduction.
Principles of Christian Education.
Proceedings of the General Conference Educational Convention.
School Organization and Management.
The Home School.
Courses of Study.
Text-Books.
The Bible.
History.
Nature Study.
Geography.
Physiology and Hygiene.
Manual or Industrial Training.
Arithmetic and Keeping Accounts.
English—Reading, Spelling, Language, and Composition.
Drills—Penmanship, Drawing, and Music.
Daily Program.
Books and School Library.
The chapter on Geography contains one section, "Mission Outlines of the World," which gives most valuable information regarding the work "in the regions beyond."
The chapters on "Physiology and Hygiene" and "Manual or Industrial Training" are alone worth the price of the book. You should have this Manual to study during the vacation, so as to be ready to take up your work more intelligently and successfully at the beginning of the new school year.
Order now of your state tract society, or Pacific Press Publishing Co., Mountain View, Cal.; 285 Salmon St., Portland, Ore.; 1109 E. 12th St., Kansas City, Mo.; Box 666, Regina, Sask., Canada.
Helpful for Spring Days.
By M. H.
If the housekeeper wants to keep her family in good health during the spring and summer months, she must look well to all the corners of the pantry, cellar, and outbuildings, and see that all decaying vegetables or fruits are cleared away and rubbish disposed of before the warm days of summer. There should be a judicious use of disinfectants. There is nothing better than lime to use in damp, moldy places, such as the cellar, and around garbage pails.
After cleaning the floors where carpets are used, fill the cracks and corners with spirits of turpentine, carbolic acid, or something else that is sure death to moths. Wash the window-glass with warm water to which a little kerosene oil has been added, without using soap, and wash outside blinds with clear water and a whisk-broom; rinse well, and stand in the shade to dry.
Your lace and muslin curtains will require very little rubbing if they are put to soak over night in warm soft water to which a small cup of kerosene oil has been added; then in the morning wash them thru a strong pearline suds, and they will require no boiling unless they have been allowed to become very soiled and yellow, and they will be beautifully white and clean.
In cleaning the kitchen sink, or where foul water is emptied, copperas dissolved in boiling water is a very cheap and effective deodorizer, one and one-half pounds of copperas dissolved in one gallon of water is about right.
If furniture is soiled and fly-specked, it can be made to look almost like new by washing a small portion at a time with warm suds, using a soft cloth, then use another soft, clean cloth, dipped in clear, cold water, to rinse off with, then a brisk rubbing with a soft piece of chamois will dry the wood and restore the high polish without marring the surface, but the washing, rinsing and drying must be done as quickly as possible. M. H.
Don't Smoke, Boys.
By Editor
THERE are plenty of good reasons, says an exchange, why boys should not contract the habit of smoking, and various ways of stating them. The editor saw a practical statement of that kind a few days ago, and he quotes it for what good it may do, in spite of the fact that it is not new. A man who had more time than the editor can spare made a calculation showing that three cigars a day, at a cost of ten cents each, for 45 years, say from age 20 to 65, would amount, at six per cent, compounded annually, to the snug little fortune of $18,100.14. Save the money, boys, and your health at the same time.
DATE OF EXPIRATION.
By Editor
THE Signs wrapper bears date of last issue due on your subscription. Unless renewed in advance, paper stops with expiration date.
If herewith is an order-blank, you will know you have overlooked sending renewal. You will not wish to miss a single issue. Back numbers often can not be furnished.
How a Little Girl Went to Africa
By Editor
How a Little Girl Went to Africa. By Leona M. Bicknell. The story of a trip to Africa, told by a little girl of eight or nine years. She writes first of the long voyage, of the great sea, and of the great cities she saw at stopping-places; then of the far-off country, of the queer little African children and their home life, of the Boer War, of the ostrich farms and the diamond mines, of the strange tropical fruits and flowers, etc. The book is also finely illustrated with some of the strange, queer African scenes. 172 pages. Cloth bound, $1.00. Address this office.
Bibles.—Remember that we are headquarters for anything in the Bible line. We shall be pleased to send you our catalog of Bible selections on application. Pacific Press Publishing Co., Mountain View, Cal.
Daniel and the Revelation. By Uriah Smith. Revised edition. A history of the rise and fall of nations, being an exposition, verse by verse, of the important prophecies of Daniel and John, comparing Scripture predictions with historical facts. It follows in the track of no other commentary; but, guided by the obvious rule that the Bible should be its own interpreter, it aims to arrive at the exact meaning of the sacred writers in harmony with the great plan of redemption as presented thruout the Scriptures. The author has devoted over thirty years to the study of the Bible, and believes that the prophecies of Daniel and John were written for our admonition, and that the subjects they unfold are the coming themes for the religious world, destined to engage the attention of all thoughtful minds. Over 900 pages, with illustrations, beautifully bound. Cloth, marbled edges, $2.75. Address this office.
BIBLE MOTTOES.
In order to raise a certain amount of money, we will for the next 30 days send 50 12 x 16 and 9 x 22 mottoes for only $3.25, or 100 for $6.00. Send now, as this advertisement will not appear again.
THE MCKEEN ART CO.
119 Pearl St.
Portland, Me.
Imported Beauties
Special 100 Bible Cards $3.00; 100 Heavy Paper Mottoes 12x16, $6.00; (27,000 sold in April and first half of May). We have four languages: English, German, Danish, and Swedish. The more you buy, the less they are. 15 for $1.00. Address with stamp.
HAMPTON ART COMPANY
Lock Box 257
Hampton, Iowa
Testimonies for the Church
Testimonies for the Church. By Mrs. E. G. White. Bound in eight volumes, of from 300 to 770 pages each, each volume containing a complete index of subjects. Volume 1 contains a brief sketch of the early life and Christian experience of the writer of the Testimonies, together with Testimonies Nos. 1 to 14. Volume 2 contains Testimonies Nos. 15 to 20. Volume 3 contains Testimonies Nos. 21 to 25. Volume 4 contains Testimonies Nos. 26 to 30. Volume 5 contains Testimonies Nos. 31 to 33. Volume 6 contains Testimony No. 34. Volume 7 contains Testimony No. 35, price, 75 cents. Volume 8 contains Testimony No. 36, price, 75 cents. Bound in cloth, per volume, $1.00; Full set, eight volumes, cloth, $7.50. Volumes 1 to 6 are obtainable in limp leather, with round corners, per volume, $1.50. Volumes 7 and 8 are also bound in limp leather, price each, $1.25.
Address this office.
Future Articles
By Editor
Future Articles.—We have two series of articles now on hand which we will present before our readers soon in addition to those which are now running. One of these is entitled "The Great Day of the Lord," a subject of infinite and thrilling interest. Perhaps no subject of the Bible is spoken of with more stirring language than that of this great period, described as being one of the most interesting and terrible the world shall ever know. There are two classes of views regarding this period, one is that during that time the world will be converted; swords beaten into plow-shares, and spears into pruning-hooks; that the whole world shall learn peace. Another is that during that time the world shall be desolate. These articles written by Elder M. H. Brown, five in number, will present just what the Bible has to say in regard to the character of that day, length of the day, the evidence at the beginning of the day, and the evidence at its close. These are very definitely set forth in the Scriptures, and we are sure that those who follow the articles in the SIGNS OF THE TIMES will be well repaid for the reading upon this great subject. Another series is from an old and devoted minister of God, one who has spent all his lifetime in saving souls. His articles will be upon "The Great Work of Conversion;" "Man's Condition and Need;" "Faith and Conviction;" "Turning from Sin; and the Power of the Will;" "Born Again;" "Baptism;" "Saved to Serve;" and "The Test of the Renewed Life." Surely these articles should be of interest to every soul, not only to those who desire salvation but to those who are Christians.
World Plagues.—The Independent of May 28 has an article on World Plagues. It notes from several recent instances how suspicious people are; that when a new disease breaks out, or some old disease takes new phases, how quickly it is reported. It also informs people that plagues still constitute serious danger for the world. We have heard much of how epidemic diseases, called plagues, devastated the civilized world every few hundred years, during the last twenty-five centuries. Ordinarily it might be presumed there would be very little danger of such a thing as the bubonic plague spreading in these days, but those who think so have no proper idea of the present situation. Fifteen years ago when the bubonic plague appeared in India, its victims were counted by the thousands. Since then, in spite of all that the British government has tried to do, the disease has continued to rage among the teeming populations of India, and has carried away literally millions of inhabitants. The article goes on to note that when it was supposedly conquered in various places, it would break out with renewed vehemence somewhere else, and over and over again it has gone back over its own tracks and claimed new victims where it had once been eradicated. There is even now no serious hope of eradicating the disease in the near future. It follows usually the track of commerce. It reached Hongkong, found its way into portions of China, then went to Manila and claimed its victims there, reached many ports of South Africa, then Alexandria in Egypt; next it was found in Lisbon, and Lisbon does not yet feel herself free from the danger. Two cases got as far as quarantine in New York some years ago, several in various places in South America, and then came San Francisco. The disease is carried by rats, and it is difficult to exterminate rats. The only hope of the world, The Independent says, is "there must be no break in its quarantine regulations; and the price of safety is eternal vigilance." Prof. Koch declares there are three places where bubonic plague is endemic: one of these is the hill country of India, another is in Arabia, probably not far from Mecca; and the third is German South Africa. In these centers the infectious material is kept constantly burning and every now and then the conflagration spreads. Science has done much in sanitary regulations for seaports, large cities, and nations in general, but unwholesome living, impoverished diet as well as too generous diet and gormandizing, makes a fertile field in which the disease germs grow. There is no doubt at all, looking at it from the world view-point, but what the earth is preparing for the plague mentioned in Revelation 16.
The Temperance number of the "Watchman" as published by the Southern Publishing Assn., Nashville, Tenn., has come to our table filled with excellent matter and decorated in blue. The first page has a blue ribbon, the old temperance badge, illuminated by waterfall, underneath which is the text, "I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." Some of the principal articles are, "Christianity against the Liquor Traffic," by Elder A. G. Daniells; "Is It Right?" by Mrs. L. M. N. Stevens, National President W. C. T. U.; "Beer Drinking," by Dr. D. H. Kress; "The W. C. T. U. and the Temperance Movement," by Mrs. Silena M. Holman, President Tennessee W. C. T. U.; "A Plea for Prohibition," by Mrs. E. G. White; "Bible Temperance," Geo. I. Butler; "Woman's Part in the Cause of Temperance," by Eva Miller Hankins; and other articles. There are illustrations, excellent poetry, and other decorations. The price is five cents a copy; in larger numbers at lesser prices. Address the Southern Publishing Assn., Nashville, Tenn. We hope it may have a good circulation.
A despatch from Des Moines, Iowa, in the San Francisco Bulletin states that our church in that city was partially destroyed by fire at an early hour in the morning of June 3. No injuries to persons or loss of life is reported in the church or in the sanitarium adjoining. Patients in the sanitarium, to the number of sixty, were removed; but it seems the sanitarium did not burn. The fire chief and his assistant were injured by a collision on their way to the fire. Our brethren have our sympathy in this calamity.
The Canadian-Australia liner "Manuka," which arrived at Victoria, B. C., June 3, brought news of the destruction of a pearling fleet of forty luggers in a typhoon off the coast of West Australia. Two hundred seventy lives were lost, the beach near Broome being strewn with wreckage and bodies. About twenty of the victims were white Australians, the others, Malays, Manila men, Japanese, and Kanakas.
"The Woman's Home Companion" for June publishes a two-page reproduction of one of the most remarkable photographs ever taken. It is a photograph of 500 photographs of President Roosevelt, taken in almost every state and territory of the Union, and showing him as cowboy, rough rider, governor, lecturing, on horse-back, etc., etc. The remarkable picture is well printed in the Companion.
Destructive floods in Montana, unequaled in the history of railroading in the Northwest, were reported June 2 to 4. Many cities on the eastern slope of the Rockies suffered severely, the light plants of Butte and other cities being flooded. Six lives were lost and much property destroyed, the railroads probably suffering the most.
A New Publication.
By Editor
It would seem as tho there are enough periodicals printed at the present time without adding another to the field. This is so true that nearly every new one which appears must needs meet the people with an apology. Most of the periodicals which are published at the present time are printed solely as money-making schemes, and the interesting things they contain and the information they disseminate, which many times is valuable, are for the sole purpose, however, of making the journal of interest to a large number of people, so that it will pay financially. A few journals have conviction behind them, and those who publish them feel that they must publish them because they contain things which are necessary for the people. That is true concerning the new periodical which is to be published by the Pacific Press, the first number of which will appear in August.
The name of the new publication is the
"SIGNS OF THE TIMES MONTHLY."
It has no apology to make, because it has a message to give. Its publishers believe that God has a great reform message to give to the world now; a reform which embraces every phase of Christianity, every activity of human life in which Christianity legitimately has part; but that the great center and core of this reform lies in the everlasting Gospel which includes all the work which has been wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ for fallen man, man's relationship to Him, and Christ's coming again in the clouds of heaven to gather His own.
It will present to the world the same truths as the weekly SIGNS OF THE TIMES, but it is not designed in any wise to affect the weekly, nor to limit its field as a Christian home newspaper. The special purpose for which the monthly will be used will be in the large cities of the country, to be sold by special agents. Of course it will have its regular constituency the same as any other periodical. The price of it will be one dollar a year, each number ten cents; each number dealing with some special phase of God's great Gospel message. But it will be largely sold by agents in the great, popular centers of the country.
The editor of the journal is Asa Oscar Tait.
The publishers greatly desire to correspond with those who wish to act as agents for the paper. Excellent terms will be given those who wish to work for it, and there is a good living in the liberal commission that is paid. Write to the business manager, Mr. C. H. Jones, Mountain View, Cal., for terms.