ON a very warm day in early summer I happened to be standing near a chicken-coop in a back yard, when I noticed the head of a very gray and grizzled rat thrust from a neighboring rat-hole, and concluded to watch the movements of the veteran. After a careful survey of the surroundings, our old rodent seemed to be satisfied that all was right, and made a cautious exit from the home retreat. A fresh pan of water had been recently placed before the chicken-coop, and the water looked a friendly invitation to the old rat, which immediately started toward it.
The rat had not reached the pan before five half-grown young ones rushed ahead and tried to be first at the water. The old rat thereupon immediately made a leap like a kangaroo, and was at the head of the dish in advance of the foremost of her litter. Then ensued a most remarkable occurrence. The mother raised herself on her haunches, and bit and scratched at her offspring so severely, whenever they attempted to reach the water, that they all finally scudded away, evidently much astonished and frightened at the strange and unaccountable behavior of their mother. When the little ones were at a safe distance, the reasons for her extraordinary behavior began to be revealed at once in the one intelligent action of the old mother rat.
She wet her whiskers in the water, looked suspiciously about her, then very cautiously and carefully took a dainty little sip of the liquid. She tasted it as tentatively and critically as a professional tea taster, and when she was satisfied that it contained no poisons or deleterious matter, she gave a couple of squeaks, which quickly brought her young and thirsty brood to her side, and all fearlessly drank to their fill. Now this old mother rat was experienced, and had evidently learned her lesson in that school thoroughly, and so she would not allow her young and untaught litter to taste water which might have contained rat poison or what not, until she had satisfied herself that the liquid was harmless. Does not this look very like reason?—American Naturalist.
A TREE PRODUCES COFFEE SACKS.
A NOTABLE tree is the antiaris saccidora, or sack tree of Western India, the inner bark of which forms a very good material for sacking, and also for cordage. It often attains a height of one hundred feet, with a diameter of six. The native method of making sacks of this material is very simple. Usually a tree about one foot in diameter is chosen, and from this a section of the length desired for the sack is cut. The log is steeped for some time in water, in order to soften the bark, and is then beaten all round with clubs. In this way the outer bark is removed, and the inner detached from the wood and rendered soft and pliable. Next it is folded over on itself at one end, after the manner of skinning a squirrel, and so turned inside out. All that is now required to complete the sack is that one of the ends be sewed up, which is readily done. But a sack may be made without stitch or seam. This is done by arresting the process of skinning some two or three inches above the farther end of the log, and then sawing off the latter at that point. The sack has then a solid wooden bottom. These sacks are extensively used in Western India and Ceylon, and serve their purpose very well. The same material is sometimes349employed in the manufacture of clothing, and for paper making. To prepare it for the former purpose, the bark is stripped off in pieces, which are then thoroughly soaked and beaten out, till the texture becomes white and rough like fur. It is then cut according to the required shapes, and stitched together.—Secular.
The Home Circle.
“HE LEADETH ME.”
“In pastures green?”—Not always; sometimes he
Who knoweth best, in kindness leadeth me
In weary ways, where heavy shadows be;
Out of the sunshine, warm, and soft, and bright,
Out of the sunshine into darkest night,
I oft would faint with sorrow and affright,
Only for this,—I know he holds my hand;
So whether led in green or desert land,
I trust, although I may not understand.
“And by still waters?”—No, not always so;
Ofttimes the heavy tempests round me blow,
And o’er my soul the waves and billows go.
But when the storm beats loudest, and I cry
Aloud for help, the Master standeth by,
And whispers to my soul, “Lo, it is I.”
Above the tempest wild I hear him say,
“Beyond this darkness lies the perfect day;
In every path of thine I lead the way.”
So where he leads me I can safely go;
And in the blest hereafter I shall know
Why, in his wisdom, he hath led me so.
—N. E. Journal of Education.
AMONG THE GHILZAIS.
By Thomas Stevens
BEFORE a good many of the tents there stood a rude tripod, consisting of three poles tied together near the top. Suspended to these were goat-skin churns, which were operated by two women jerking them smartly back and forth. The art of making such butter as we are accustomed to seems to be unknown among these people; but they obtain from their goat milk a tasteless substitute, called mus-cal, which represents the fatty properties of the milk. Another production obtained from it is mast, a thick, tartish preparation, which, with bread, forms the staple food of the Ghilzais; in taste and consistency this mast somewhat resembles clabbered milk. A very palatable and sustaining article of food for using on the march is prepared by making mast up into dumpling-like balls and drying them in the sun. Bushels of these portable articles of food were spread out to dry on the drooping roofs of the tents and on cloths on the ground.
By another process is made a very wholesome and refreshing drink called doke. In taste and appearance doke is closely allied to buttermilk, but by some peculiar process is endowed with properties that keep it fresh and wholesome for an indefinite period of time. A Ghilzais starting for a long journey across the desert takes on his camel a goat-skin full of this doke and a liberal quantity of the sun-dried mast balls. Half a bushel of the latter and a skinful of the former provide him with wholesome and appetizing food and drink for a week’s journey.—Thomas Stevens, in New York World.
FOOD FROM PRIME SOURCES.
THE food which is most enjoyed is the food we call bread and fruit. In my long medical career, extending over forty years, I have rarely known an instance in which a child has not preferred fruit to animal food. I have been many times called upon to treat children for stomachic disorders induced by pressing upon them animal to the exclusion of fruit diet, and have seen the best results occur from the practice of reverting to the use of fruit in the dietary. I say it without the least prejudice, as a lesson learned from simple experience, that the most natural diet for the young, after the natural milk diet, is fruit and whole-meal bread, with milk and water for drink. The desire for this same mode of sustenance is often continued into after years, as if the resort to flesh were a forced and artificial feeding, which required long and persistent habit to establish as a permanency, as a part of the system of every-day life.
How strongly this preference for fruit over animal food prevails is shown by the simple fact of the retention of those foods in the mouth. Fruit is retained to be tasted and relished. Animal food, to use a common phrase, is "bolted." There is a natural desire to retain the delicious fruit for full mastication; there is no such desire, except in the trained gormand, for the retention of animal substance. One further fact which I have observed—and that too often to discard it, as a fact of great moment—is that when a person of mature years has for a time given up voluntarily the use of animal food in favor of vegetable, the sense of repugnance to animal food is soon so markedly developed that it is overcome with the utmost difficulty. Neither is this a mere fancy or fad peculiar to sensitive men or over-sentimental women. I have been surprised to see it manifested in men who are the very reverse of sentimental, and who were, in fact, quite ashamed to admit themselves guilty of any such weakness. I have heard those who have gone over from a mixed diet of animal and vegetable food to a pure vegetable diet, speak of feeling low under the new system, and declare that they must needs give it up in consequence, but I have found even these (without exception) declare that they infinitely preferred the simpler, purer, and as it seemed to them, more natural, food plucked from the prime source of food, untainted by its passage through another animal body.—Longman's Magazine.
The World’s Oldest Rose Bush
It is said that the oldest rose bush in the world of which there is authentic record, grows in a church-yard, and against the old church at Heldersheim, Germany. Eight hundred years ago, so the records say, Bishop Hepilo caused a trellis to be built on which it was supported. To-day the main stem is thicker than a man's body.
Obedience and Command
HE who obeys with modesty appears worthy of some day or other being allowed to command.
Health and Temperance.
SHALL IT BE DONE?
SHALL the opportunity to put a State into the Union of States, constitutionally and forever protected from the deadliest and most subtle foe to all that is dearest and most sacred to all men who love righteousness and purity, be allowed to pass, and not return again for years to come?
In the galaxy of States, South Dakota may be made the polar star of constitutional prohibition. To all the States, and to all the tribes and all the clans of temperance, we make our appeal. We make it in the language of Deborah to the tribes and clans of Israel, and we say: "Up! this! this and no other is the day."
The Philistines of rum will soon fill all the plain. It is the plan and purpose of these hordes of rum, who would keep us in bondage to their trade, to concentrate their forces upon us; to pour in their treasure, to overwhelm us by the magnitude of their efforts. Not a State in the Union, not a den of infamy, not a place of vileness, will refuse to respond.
Shall not every State, and every church, and every society in like manner, in support of a cause, in contrast so infinitely noble, so measurelessly grand and high, come to the help of South Dakota? But why especially to the help of South Dakota? The reason is obvious. Here, of all places, the promise of success for the friends of temperance, and the friends of God and man, is brightest.
Therefore, the rum power will do its best. Therefore, we must do our best. South Dakota will do its best, or perhaps not its best, for no State has ever yet done this. But, when all is considered, South Dakota will do better than ever yet any State did. She will stretch every nerve, bend every energy, and, according to her ability, pour out her money. Already the money is coming, from counties and cities, towns and hamlets, churches and societies.
We request that pastors of all churches take collections for our aid on Sunday, June 30. All individuals who feel inclined to assist in carrying on this great work in securing the admission into the Union of the first State coming in as a prohibition State, will forward any amount to be devoted to this purpose, to Hon. F. H. Hagerty, treasurer of the Non-Partisan Constitutional Prohibition Organization, Aberdeen, Dakota.
V. V. BARNES, Yankton, Pres.
W. F. T. BUSHNELL, Huron, Sec.
A NEW DISINFECTANT.
EXPERIMENTS are believed to show that aseptol, or orthopenot-sulphate, is destined to take the place of carbolic acid as a disinfectant and antiseptic. It is a syrupy, brown fluid of aromatic odor, and soluble in alcohol, glycerine, and water, and is not irritating in as strong as ten per cent. solutions. As an antiseptic it is said to equal carbolic acid, while possessing also the advantage of pleasanter odor, more solubility, etc.—Chicago Herald.
The Purity of Wine
Miss Kate Field advocates the use of California wine, but Mr. Charles A. Wetmore, who was formerly at the head of the Viticultural Commission of California, and is therefore eminently qualified to judge, states his opinion that not more than one gallon of wine or whisky out of a hundred in Sacramento or any other city is pure, and that retailers keep the poorest wines made, "which are the vilest decoctions imaginable."—Christian Advocate.
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Military Fitness
In Switzerland seventy per cent. of the young men are said to be unfitted, by the use of alcohol and tobacco, for the military service required by the Government, and upon examination have been rejected on account of this impairment of their physical condition.
The Planet Mars
It is only about once in fifteen years that Mars comes as near as 36,000,000 miles. Its orbit is so eccentric that the interval between it and the orbit of the earth varies all the way from 36,000,000 miles to 61,000,000; and it is only now and then that, as the two planets circle round in their respective tracks, the passing point is where the tracks come nearest. The last instance of a very close approach was in 1877; the next will be in 1892. Mars is much smaller than the earth, its diameter being only about 4,200 miles. Its bulk, therefore, is only about one-seventh, and its surface about three-tenths of the earth's.—Selected.
AROUND THE WORLD.
A RESIDENT of London last June sent two postal cards round the world, one on the 6th to Vancouver via the Canadian packet and trans-Atlantic route, and the other two days later, to Hongkong via Brindisi and the Suez Canal, with the request that they might be sent on to the original sender, the first via Yokohama, Hongkong, etc., and the second via San Francisco and New York, which was done. One traveled eastward and the other westward, the object being to ascertain the quickest mail route around the world. The result has been that the eastward card (or second dispatched) returned on August 17, after an unprecedentedly quick passage of seventy days, while the other (or westward card) was not received in London till September 17, a month later, after 103 days' journey. The postmarks on the cards show that the eastward card was able to complete its journey with barely any stoppage at all. Allowing for stoppages, the actual time taken by the westward card in going round the world is reduced to 66 days' traveling. The estimated mileage that each card traveled was about 22,100 miles, the cost being 3¾d. eastward and 3d. westward. A third postal card was also sent from Dover on June 22 to Shanghai, via St. Petersburg, Kalgan, Pekin, and Hongkong, thence home via the United States, thus crossing the Russian and Chinese Empires. This card reached home after a journey of 89 days, at the cost of 2¾d. only. A similar journey by two cards going eastward and westward, which were dispatched from Sweden about ten years ago, occupied 116 and 117 days respectively.—Christian at Work.
News and Notes.
By Editor
RELIGIOUS.
—On Tagu Landang and Sijauw, the southernmost islands of the Saugir and Talaut groups northeast of Celebes, the number of Christians has increased from 15 in 1870 to 6,000 in 1886, and now includes a fifth of the population. One hundred and fifty-two persons were baptized in 1886, and 450 in 1887.
—There are about 1,000 Chinamen connected with the Congregational Churches of California and Oregon. They contribute about $2,500 for home mission work, and have organized a foreign missionary society, and with $1,400 as a starter, have sent two missionaries, one a Chinaman, back to China to do work there.
—Rev. John Jasper, the famous colored preacher, who advocates that "de sun do move," has just closed a remarkable series of meetings in Richmond, Va. Two hundred converts were baptized in the James River, at that place recently. It is estimated that ten thousand persons witnessed the service, which continued two hours.
—"We have much reason," says the Evangelist, "to believe that it is a matter of widespread regret that the contemplated union between the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches in Japan, which was expected to take place last January, was for a time postponed. Of course this delay may in the end have its advantages. But notwithstanding this, it has been a disappointment to many."
—The statistics of the Roman Catholic Church in this country show that there are about one-fifth of the nation belonging to that branch of Christianity. The Catholic hierarchy has existed on our shores just one hundred years. The chancellors of the various dioceses furnish figures which show that of the 12,000,000 who acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope, New England and the Middle States have 5,822,831, the Western States 5,117,565, and the Southern States 1,215,576.
—The religieuses called Presentation nuns are the only cloistered order of the Catholic Church on the Pacific Coast. It is a rule of their society to never go outside the convent walls after their reception of the black veil. Nuns with relatives living in the same city have been refused even the presence of their mothers while in their dying hours. There is now a convent in San Francisco in which are several inmates who have not been outside the institution for twenty years. Archbishop Riordan is thinking of changing this custom and making it possible for the nuns of this class to visit the sick and poor like the other orders.
—The Mid-Continent says: "Much interest has been taken in the movement for union between the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches in Japan. The missions of the Northern and Southern churches are already united. An agreement among themselves was reached last November, but the Congregationalists were restrained from action by formal objection of their brethren in this country. This opposition came especially from the American Board of Missions, into whose treasury thousands of dollars from Presbyterians have been poured annually for many years. The subject is to be taken up again in Japan this month, with some modifications of the proposed plan of union. It seems highly probable that the union will be accomplished."
—The Rev. John Liggins states in his great work on "Foreign Missions" that in Madagascar, where, as late as 1857, nearly 2,000 people were put to death for adhering to the Christian faith, there are 1,200 churches and 71,586 communicants. The native churches during the past ten years have given nearly $1,000,000 for the spread of the gospel. No nation, with perhaps the exception of the Japanese, has made so much progress and has shown so much vigor for development in Christianity and civilization as the people of Madagascar during the last twenty years. The societies laboring there, in the order of the number of their missionaries and converts, are the London Missionary Society, the Norwegian Missionary Society, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and the English Friends' Mission.
—Of religious instruction in the public schools the Journal of Education says: "In Belgium religious teaching is usually given at the commencement or at the end of school hours, but children are excused if parents request it. In Austria the religious teaching is under the supervision of the church; in Bavaria it is a part of the curriculum, and is given by the parish priest. In Holland the school-house may be used by the priests only out of school hours. In Hungary arrangements are made for every denomination to provide some religious instruction in the schools. In Norway the Lutheran religion is taught. In Prussia religious instruction is compulsory. In Saxony the master teaches the Protestant religion, the priest also teaching, where the pupils are Catholics. Religion is taught in Sweden, but pupils are excused upon the request of parents. In Wurtemberg one-third of the school time is given to religious instruction."
SECULAR.
—The Senate of Connecticut has concurred in the House bill providing for secret ballots at elections in the future.
—No reduction in fare is to be made to those attending the National Educational Association, which convenes at Louisville, Ky., this month.
—One hundred arrests have been made in connection with the recent rioting in Belgrade, Servia. Ex-Premier Garashanine is among the number.
—The monument in Haymarket Square, Chicago, in memory of the police who were killed in the famous Anarchist riot in 1886 was unveiled May 29.
—The terrible famine in North China has become so widespread and of such a severe nature that cannibalism has been added to the other horrors of the situation.
—Perrin, the man who fired a blank cartridge at President Carnot on the eve of the opening of the Paris exhibition, has been sentenced to four months' imprisonment.
—The largest first payment ever granted to a pension claimant was awarded to Philip Flood, of the Ohio Infantry, on the 29th ult. The amount of arrears in his case is $15,289.
—An English syndicate has just completed the purchase of 320,000 acres of yellow-pine land, with saw-mills and other accessories in Florida and Alabama. The price paid was $1,500,000.
—Terrible volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are reported as having recently occurred on the island of Oshima, one of the Japan group. More than half the houses are said to be destroyed.
—The Viceroyship of Ireland has been tendered to the Earl of Zetland, who has accepted it. A deputation of Unionists have presented a petition to Salisbury asking that the Viceroyship be abolished.
—The coroner's jury in the case of Irving Bishop, the mind reader, has decided that death was the result of coma, and not of the autopsy performed by the physicians. The doctors have been discharged.
—A posse of officers made a raid on a gang of counterfeiters in the neighborhood of Versailles, Ill., recently. Counterfeiting tools and bogus coin were found in abundance, beside a large quantity of illicit whisky. One of the gang has turned State's evidence, and interesting developments are expected.
—News received from the Haytian Minister confirm the triumph of the forces of Hippolyte. Legitime has abdicated, and the war is virtually at an end in Hayti. A new election is to be immediately ordered embodying non-interference of foreign powers with domestic affairs in Hayti. Hippolyte has agreed not to be a candidate for the Presidency.
—The trustees of Sacramento, Cal., have set apart a plot of ground in the city cemetery for the remains of Colonel William S. Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton, the statesman. The remains now lie in a remote lot in the cemetery, but will soon be re-interred, and a fitting monument will be placed over them. Hamilton served with honor in the Mexican war.
THE GRANDEST BOOK
By Editor
ON THE
GRANDEST SUBJECT!
And Within the Reach of All.
We have just issued a special "TOURISTS' EDITION" of our grand book entitled,
"IN THE HEART OF THE SIERRAS"
[YO SEMITE. "Its meaning is, according to the very best authorities, a large, or full-grown, grizzly bear; and is pronounced Yo-Sem-i-tee."]—In the Heart of the Sierras, page 38.
The Yo Semite Valley
AND BIG TREE GROVES OF CALIFORNIA.
The most authentic and most intensely interesting description of this wonderful region ever written.
It is the same size page and contains everything that our elegant Subscription Edition does, except the artotype plates. It is printed on a fine quality of thinner paper, bound in flexible cloth binding, and makes a beautiful book. It contains nearly 500 pages of text and
OVER ONE HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS
and portrays by aid of the artist's genius and the author's facile pen the lofty mountains and charming valleys; the placid lakes and thundering cataracts of the world-renowned Yo Semite. The mission of this work is to make the best possible representation of the marvelous scenery and sublime natural wonders of this unique region.
PRICE, $1.50 PER COPY.
Read what Others Say of it:
"Many books have been written about the glorious and wondrous story of the Sierras. But it seems to me that this scholarly and venerable pioneer, who was publishing an illustrated magazine devoted largely to the themes he celebrates, when many of the younger authors were still at their nurse's knee, is the one man who is entitled to his culture, his fine tastes, and, above all, his long and wonderful experience, to write the one great and responsible authority about the Heart of the Sierras."—JOAQUIN MILLER, the Noted Author and Correspondent.
"The illustrations, the text, the whole atmosphere of the volume, are worthy of their great subject, the Yo Semite—and what could I say more?"—REV. JOSEPH COOK, of Boston.
"It is a truthful, interesting, and instructive work."—GALEN CLARK, Yo Semite Valley. (For sixteen years the Valley's Guardian.)
"As might have been expected, Mr. Hutchings' story of the Valley that he knows and loves so well, is no cold description, but reads with all the charms of a romance."—San Francisco Hotel Gazette.
"Those who have not seen Yo Semite cannot do better, short of going to the Valley, than by purchasing Mr. Hutchings' handsome volume."—The Sacramento Record-Union.
In order to place this valuable book—the only one of the kind—within the reach of everybody, we offer this edition at the exceedingly low price of $1.50 per copy, post-paid. Send on your orders quick, while the edition lasts.
PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO., Oakland, Cal.
Or 43 Bond Street, New York.
Appointments.
By H. A. St. John
NOTICE TO DISTRICT NO. 4.
THE Lord willing, Brother Frank Brown, your Tract and Missionary director, will meet the following appointments:—
JOLON, Monday evening, June 10.
SOLEDAD, Tuesday evening, June 11.
GILROY, Wednesday evening, June 12.
HOLLISTER, Thursday evening, June 13.
SAN JOSE, Sabbath and Sunday, June 15, 16.
As Brother Brown can spend but one week on this his first tour through his district, he desires to see as many of the friends of the cause as possible at each place, in order to get well acquainted with the field. He will be found at the following places:—
Soledad, A. W. McPhie's; Gilroy, Mrs. H. Huntley's; Hollister, Mrs. M. Herrington's; Jolon and San Jose, at the regular places of meeting. Turn out, brethren, and get acquainted with your director.
H. A. ST. JOHN.
Publishers' Department.
By Editor
THEY RECOMMEND IT TO THEIR READERS.
"THE HISTORY OF THE SABBATH," by Rev. J. N. Andrews, late missionary at Basel, Switzerland, editor of Les Signes Des Temps, etc., 8vo., pp. 348, price $2.00, Pacific Press Publishing Co., Oakland, Cal.
This is one of the most valuable productions of our day, being the result of ten years' study and research of one of the best scholars of the age. The subject of the Sabbath and Sabbath observance is taking a deeper hold upon the thought and intelligence of this day; what is needed is light, and light drawn from historical sources. This work fills that need, supplying from history the information needed and elucidating many obscure points. The subjects treated are,
PART I, BIBLE HISTORY.—1. The Institution of the Sabbath. 2. The Sabbath Committed to the Hebrews. 3. The Fourth Commandment. 4. The Feasts, New Moons, and Sabbath of the Hebrews. 5. The Sabbath from David to Nehemiah. 6. From Nehemiah to Christ. 7. From Christ to the End of the Ministry of His Apostles.
PART II, SECULAR HISTORY.—1. Her First Witness for Sunday. 2. Origin of the First-day Observance. 3. Sunday during the Dark Ages. 4. English Sabbath-keepers. 5. The Sabbath in America. These are the principal chapters, and give to some extent the scope of the work. We recommend this work to our readers.—Methodist Advocate, Fort Wayne, Ind., May, 1889.
THE TEACHERS' OUTLOOK.
By Editor
Published by the Teachers' Publishing Company, Des Moines, Iowa. A monthly magazine for teachers and pupils that proposes to supplement other school journals rather than to occupy the same field. It will seek to provide an OUTLOOK upon affairs of life and facts in science and nature which illustrate and test theories; to stimulate thought and give the teacher's mind a fresh source of inspiration.
A review of current events, civil and industrial problems, inventors, discoveries, etc., will be an important feature of the magazine, and a complete review of current literature will also be given by competent critics.
Another, and very important, feature of the magazine will be that all teachers and students are invited to join its circle of writers, out of which it proposes to draw its corps of future contributors. On this point it has some original plans of mutual helpfulness to carry out; aid to give writers in introducing them to the public, and suggestions to those who need practice and training in the expression of thought that will be helpful. Send 50 cts. for magazine eight months. Agents wanted.
WEST SHORE RAILROAD
N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R. Co. Lessee.
The Picturesque Route for Business and Pleasure Travel.
"SUMMER EXCURSIONS," a handsomely illustrated book, giving description of the Hudson River, Catskill Mountains, and other New York State resorts, will be mailed on receipt of five cents in postage stamps.
For tourist books, time-tables and information regarding West Shore Railroad, call on, or address,
H. B. JAGOE, Gen. Eastern Pass'r Agt., 363 Broadway, or C. E. LAMFERT, Gen. Pass'r Agt., 5 Vanderbilt Ave., N.Y.
Destructive Floods and Storms
It would seem that the past week or two have been almost without a precedent in the way of destructive floods and storms, the effects of which have been felt more or less in all parts of the world. During the latter part of May, a terrific hurricane swept over New South Wales, Australia, accompanied by the heaviest rainfall ever known there, causing much damage to property, and some loss of life. Devastating floods were reported from Austria, France, and other portions of Europe about the same time. Heavy rain and hail-storms in some parts of Mexico destroyed a great deal of stock, and many persons were drowned. Severe storms throughout China have also caused immense damage both to life and property. In the United States heavy snow-falls have damaged growing crops in Michigan; West Virginia and Kansas have suffered from disastrous cyclones and tornadoes, while Missouri, Nebraska, Illinois, and portions of other States have incurred much loss on account of unprecedented rainfall, doing great injury to the country.
All these disasters, however, sink into insignificance compared with the terrible story that comes from Pennsylvania. The news seemed almost too horrible to be true, but later dispatches have confirmed the matter, and the details are simply heart-rending. Near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, covering what was formerly the site of Conemaugh Lake, up among the Alleghany Mountains, lies a large artificial reservoir, the largest in America, extending over thousands of acres, and formed by an immense dam over 100 feet high, which has been extended across the valley, here something like 1,000 feet wide. The extraordinary rains of the two days preceding resulted in so increasing the volume of all the streams emptying into the reservoir that the dam could no longer withstand the pressure, and in the afternoon of May 31 the entire structure gave way, allowing the raging mass of water to sweep unchecked downward through the narrow valley, carrying death and destruction in its mad onward course to the towns and cities miles away.
South Fork, Mineral Point, Woodvale, and Conemaugh, were successively swept away by the angry flood. Then came the beautiful city of Johnstown, with its busy thousands, all unthinking of the terrible fate so soon to befall them. Here alone it is estimated that 1,500 people lost their lives; 1,000 houses were swept away in a twinkling, and as the great mass of floating débris lodged against the massive railroad viaduct at the lower end of the city, a second dam was thus formed and in a few minutes the water was 35 feet deep all over the plain covered but a moment before with human habitations. Two heavily loaded passenger trains, which had been delayed by the rain, were washed away, and many passengers lost. To add to the horror, the mass of buildings crowded against the viaduct to the height of 50 feet, caught fire, and it is estimated that at least 500 persons perished in the flames. The whole occurrence simply beggars description, and the loss of life has been terrible. Incredible as it may seem, it is stated that the whole number of lives lost by the calamity is not less than 8,000, while some fear that even a higher figure will be reached. The loss of property will be many million dollars.
Truly it would seem that the events connected with the time of the end, as foretold by the Saviour, are coming upon the world, and that we have reached the time when there is already upon the earth "distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." Luke 21:25, 26. Surely, the time of our redemption draweth nigh.
CAMP-MEETINGS FOR 1889.
By Editor
It is announced by the General Conference Committee that the camp-meetings this year will begin on Tuesday evening and close the following Tuesday morning. Those marked with the star (*) in the following list, will be preceded by a workers' meeting. The committee states that where workers' meetings are to be held, and they are not thus marked, notice should be given at once. The list, which is subject to change, is as follows:—
*Minnesota, Minneapolis, June 11-18
*New York, Rome, “ 11-18
Wisconsin, Mauston, “ 18-25
Dakota, Madison, June 25 to July 2
Michigan (Northern), Wexford, “ 25 to “ 2
Georgia, July 31 to Aug. 6
North Carolina, Aug. 6-13
Virginia, “ 13-20
Michigan (Southwestern), “ 13-20
*Ohio, Mount Vernon, “ 13-20
*Missouri (general), “ 13-20
California, Ferndale, Humboldt Co., “ 15-22
Arkansas, Rogers, “ 20-27
Maine, “ 20-27
Tennessee, “ 20-27
West Virginia, “ 20-27
*Michigan (general), Aug. 27 to Sept. 3
Texas, “ 27 to “ 3
Vermont, “ 27 to “ 3
California, San Diego, “ 29 to “ 9
Colorado, Sept. 3-10
Canada, “ 3-10
Nebraska, “ 10-17
Illinois, “ 17-24
Indiana, Sept. 24 to Oct. 1
*California (general), Oakland, “ 25 to “ 7
Appeal for Constitutional Prohibition
By Editor
WE desire to call special attention to the appeal from the non-Partisan Constitutional Prohibition Organization of South Dakota, published on page 349 of this paper. We trust that it will be carefully considered, and that every reader of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES will do his whole duty in helping to secure constitutional prohibition for this new State.
An Accident Returning from Church
ON a recent Sunday a young man in this city had one of his feet crushed while attempting to leave one of the local trains. It might be supposed at first thought that this circumstance would furnish an argument for some of our zealous Sunday advocates, but perhaps its force may be destroyed by the fact that the young man was returning from church at the time of the accident.
The Writings of the Church Fathers
The Congregationalist gives rather a unique reason why modern scholars should familiarize themselves with the writings of the so-called church Fathers, namely, "that they may see how frail they were, and may observe the gross defects developed almost at once when the original congregationalism of the early church became subverted by human ambitions in a very different and a very human system."
And that is about the only benefit to be derived from the study of their productions. As Dr. Clarke says, there is not a "heresy that has disgraced the Romish Church that has not challenged them as its abettors," and there certainly is not a truth which cannot be proven much more clearly and directly without their testimony than with it. There can, therefore, be no good reason for studying their writings, except the one given by the Congregationalist.
The Fathers and Sunday Doctrine
ANIMADVERTING upon Mr. Parnell's unfortunate departure from the truth in the House of Commons some years since, the Congregationalist says:—
“Mr. Parnell is accounted a Protestant, but we regret to see that he is reported unblushingly to have avowed that, in a certain memorable instance, he modeled his conduct on the Jesuitical maxim that ‘the end justifies the means.’ That wicked notion is indeed older than the Jesuits. In the fourth century Chrysostom shaped his action by it, and stoutly defended it. . . . And, with him, Origen and Jerome explain Gal. 2:13, etc., as an instance of its use by Paul for the purpose of persuading the Jewish Christians of the unneed of circumcision. There is more moral ozone in the atmosphere of our day, which long since toned up the general standard of veracity to a plane of purity of motive and utterance kindred to that of the New Testament itself, and far surpassing the defective and effete standard of the early Christian Fathers.”
Yet some are wont to go to the writings of these same Fathers to prove important Christian doctrines. Indeed, they are almost the sole reliance of the champions of the Sunday sabbath. But the standard of the Fathers was worse than effete; it was wicked, and no one knows it so well as those who are most familiar with their writings. Will the Congregationalist be consistent and hold only that which can be proved by the Scriptures?
