HAITI, the meaning of which in the native Indian language is “high mountainous land,” was discovered by Christopher Columbus on Dec. 6, 1492, and was the first place at which he landed on his second voyage in searching for India. Although at a comparatively short distance from its neighboring islands and the United States, it is little known. While the average West Indian traveler is well acquainted with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Jamaica, this island, of which the republic of San Domingo forms a part, is only known as “mysterious Haiti.”
It has an area of 10,294 square miles, and is very mountainous, with plains here and there from fifteen to seventy-five miles long. Across these plains roads which are just wide enough to allow a man and a small horse to walk on, wind amid beautiful scenery, while the traveler is greeted by the occasional sound of the voodoo drum.
We receive our mail from New York twice a month, and once a month from Europe. The Roman Catholic religion predominates, and is supported by the state, but voodooism and fetishism are practiced all through the island, and superstition reigns supreme.
Among Haiti’s 1,500,000 inhabitants the Protestant churches have apparently made little headway, but the Wesleyan, the Baptist, and the Anglican have several churches scattered through the island.
Our work was organized here in 1905. Considering the poor facilities of travel and the continual political revolutions, the truth is making good progress. The Lord is with his people and is watching over them.
The language spoken in the interior is Creole; along the coast cities it is mixed with French. We love the dear brethren in Haiti, and we know that the Lord has many more precious souls among them that must hear this message.
Elder W. Jay Tanner was the first superintendent of this field. Because of the illness of his wife, he had to leave after nearly six years of profitable work. After this, Haiti had no superintendent for one year and six months. When we arrived, in November, 1912, we found that our native brethren had done all in their power to keep up the work, and the Lord had blessed their efforts. During the past two years about one hundred and seventy-five have been baptized.
At the end of 1911 we had four churches and fifteen companies, with 187 members (estimated). At the end of 1913 we had eight churches and six companies, with 275 members, or a gain of four churches and one company and eighty-nine members. The tithe for the years 1910 and 1911 amounted to $933.08 (gold), or $5.55 a member; for 1912 and 1913 the amount was $1,719.93, or $6.88 a member, a gain of $786.85 in tithe, or an average gain of $1.33 a member.
We have only two native laborers in the field. At Port de Paix a good church of twenty members was raised up. Brother M. N. Isaac labored in Hinche, a city in the remote interior, where several other Protestant churches tried and failed. A company of believers has now been brought into the truth. At Fort Liberte we now have a little company started. The other churches have been strengthened, and a healthier condition prevails. But when we look at the map, we see that a great work is yet to be done. The southern part has not heard the living preacher of the third angel’s message.
When we arrived and saw the small force in this field, we at once decided to hold a canvassers’ institute. Four were trained for colporteur work, and many books and over ten thousand tracts have since been sold throughout three fourths of Haiti. Fourteen of “His Glorious Appearing” were sold in the palace of the president just before the last revolution broke out. There were twelve men and women selling the printed page when the last revolution came on, but since then they have not been able to work. While in 1910 and 1911 nothing could be reported, we have now sold $785 worth of books and tracts, and trust and pray that much of this gospel seed has fallen into good ground.
A remarkable growth has taken place in our Sabbath school department. In 1911 we had 8 schools, with 184 members, which paid a total contribution to missions of $10.39. We now have 14 schools, with 302 members, and the offerings amounted to $118.98. Add to this the sum of $25.24, the thirteenth Sabbath offering, and we have a total of $144.22 for missions, or a gain over the two previous years of 6 schools, 118 members, and $133.83 in offerings.
One young man of twenty-three has gone to our school in Huntsville, Ala., and is preparing for efficient work in the future.
We need more knowledge, more wisdom, more diligence, a more thorough organization, and, last but not least, more of the spirit of Jesus. We feel our weakness, our insufficiencies, and ask our brethren everywhere to pray for us, that the message may be quickly sent throughout Haiti.
Jamaica
By H. LOUIE MIGNOTT
H. LOUIE MIGNOTT
ST. MARY.—“The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.” Of a truth, our hearts were made glad when we realized that the time had come to organize the company of believers in the vicinity of Gayle into a church. On Sabbath morning, August 21, nine believers were buried with their Lord in baptism, and added to the company, while seven others are now awaiting the rite. The ordinances of the Lord’s house were for the first time celebrated by these believers.
In the evening we were greatly blessed by the presence of Elder Haysmer and Elder and Mrs. Boger. The brethren each gave a short and inspiring discourse, which was greatly enjoyed. The next day the believers assembled with the object of being organized into a13church. They numbered over forty.
After a most salutary talk by Elder Boger on the principles of organization, he and Elder Haysmer proceeded with the organizing of the church. Officers were elected, and other business attended to in an orderly manner. The name of this church is Grantsville.
At 11:30 A. M., the same day, the building was dedicated to the service of Jehovah. The dedicatory sermon was preached by the president of the union conference. The financial statement showed that the building cost $640.79.
At 7:30 P. M. a very large congregation listened with good attention to a lecture given by Brother Boger on the second advent of Jesus. He used the stereopticon to illustrate his theme. The people went away deeply impressed by the things which they had seen and heard. We hope to see many take their stand on the side of righteousness. “Fear not, . . . be glad and rejoice; for the Lord will do great things.”
If I Should Die —
By Milton C. Wilcox
MILTON C. WILCOX
IF I should die, as die men do,
Let not my friends make great display
Of funeral train and costly flowers,
But ’mid the violets and rue
Just lay me quietly away,
And lighter make the heavy hours.
Of long orations o’er the dead
Let there be none; it is not meet;
Just say, “He lived and longed to be
A blessing to the souls that tread
Life’s weary way with erring feet,
And if he failed, God knows, not
we.”
Just say, “The blundering, unskilled
hand
Thrust in the heartstrings of a friend,
Oft discord wrought, but did not
know,
For differently the work he planned;
With him it had another end,
But what was meant for balm
proved blow.
‘He erred and failed, yet hoped to reach
The perfect mark of God for man,
To see at last the Master’s face,
To practice what he tried to preach,
And be a part of God’s great plan,
And trust, trust only, in his grace.”
Tell all who come to look away
From man, who has no power to save,
But look to him, the only Friend,
And make not flesh their hope and stay,
Who, saint today, tomorrow knave,
But trust who stays unto the end.
Then leave me there ’mid moss and rue,
And say, “He trusted Christ his Lord;
And if Christ calls to death’s dark
shore,
’Tis fitting, for his Lord is true;
But if he calls to life’s reward,
The praise is his forevermore.”
So not for praise or generous plaud
Walk I the stressful path of strife,
Nor for the flowers or funeral train,
Nor for the things that worldlings laud,
But in the holier joy of life.
To tread the path of love and pain.
Visit to Battakland, Sumatra
By JOHN S. YATES
JOHN S. YATES
It has been my privilege to again visit Battakland. This time four men were baptized, the first Battak believers to be baptized in Sumatra. During this trip I distributed some two hundred papers, and took two orders for periodicals and nine orders for Bibles.
The work in that part of our field is singularly interesting. The government has not yet given us permission to establish a mission, hence we have no regular mission workers there. However, there are two young men, Brother Siregar (Battak) and Brother Shin (Chinese), who are teaching private schools. Both learned of the truth in Padang, and are now members of the Padang church. These brethren are spreading the message, and are entirely self-supporting. Opposers threaten them, and have succeeded in having Brother Siregar called a number of times before the government officials to answer for his faith. I talked to them about being persecuted, and they both said, “We do not fear what man can do to us.”
Brother Siregar had a list of twenty candidates for baptism. While perhaps the majority of these were keeping the Sabbath and had given up some of their bad habits, on examination only four seemed ready to unite with us. We promised the others that they might also be baptized when they are fully ready for this ordinance.
In one year the Battakland tithe has amounted to one hundred and seventy-five guilders, or over seventy dollars. This sounds good when we remember that the average wage is only about that much a year. One month Brother Siregar reported spending a little over six dollars on home missionary work.
The journey on the whole was a trying one, as I had to cover a distance of over seven hundred miles, by train, automobile, sado, horseback, and on foot.
All the country here is full of wild animals, and parts are infested with robbers. Though one travels alone in this country, he is not likely to get lonesome, for, besides the lofty mountains, with their smoking volcanoes to fascinate, and the dense jungles, with troops of monkeys to entertain, there are tea, coffee, and rubber plantations, spice groves, dashing mountain streams, waterfalls, lily ponds, curious birds and nests, together with a hundred other attractions.
Padang, Sumatra.
East China
By O. A. HALL
O. A. HALL
THE work in east China is making steady growth. In Shanghai twenty were baptized and united with the church in May, and another class is being instructed for baptism in the fall. We were sorry to lose Brother Stafford from our work in Kiang-su. We hope he will regain his health and be able to return to the field again. He has a splendid hold on the language, and if his place is filled in Kiang-su, he could open the work in the Kiang Province, which has not yet been entered. This province is right at our door, and should be entered. Brother Stafford has labored hard to build up the work in Kiang-su.
At the close of the general meeting, Brother Lillie, who was requiring a change of climate, moved with his family to Chifu, Shan-tung. The leading Chinese teacher from the school is assisting him during the three months' vacation. Three colporteurs were also sent from the Anhwei mission to take up work in Shan-tung. They are all doing excellent service. In the REVIEW of last week, Brother Lillie reported the opening of the work at Shan-tung. As a result of literature sold there last year, quite a number have already decided for the truth, and we hope to see them established in the message soon. Good reports come constantly from the stations in Anhwei. A large number will be ready for baptism there this fall.
During the month of December we plan to call our workers to Nanking for a workers' meeting and convention, and at the same time make a special effort to reach Nanking with the truth. We plan to move the headquarters of our East China Mission to Nanking this fall. We have secured a place that will accommodate our workers and several families that are recommended to attend the language school.
This summer we are spending a few weeks on the mountain. The past two years we remained in the valley, and as a result were not in very good health at the time of our fall meetings which follow the trying heat of summer. The weather on the mountain has been almost perfect, and we are all feeling much improved by the change.
Nazareth, India
By A. G. SIKHAMONI
A. G. SIKHAMONI
From the work done by our school the people around us have found out that we really take pains to give instruction mentally and morally to the little ones intrusted to our care. In consequence, there has been no lack of children to attend our school, though there are many schools round about. Hindu parents from long distances sent their children, hoping that they might get a sound moral education. In course of time the parents found out that their children came home in the evening imbued with the spirit of Christianity, and plied them with questions, to which they were unable to reply satisfactorily. Some children were removed from the school, as the parents feared they would become Christians. When force was used to compel some to worship their household gods, they resisted; and their behavior, and the sound reasons on which they took their stand, made the parents inquire into the truth.
It is not an easy matter for our Christian boys to answer the heathen who bring the questions which have been asked by heathen philosophers, and the questions are often referred to the teacher for solution. Recently one such question referred to me was whether prophecies in the Bible have been fulfilled. Oh, what a look came on their faces when they saw clearly that the predictions in Daniel have been and are being fulfilled.
As we daily teach them from the Book of Life, we watch and pray that the seed may fall on good ground, and bring forth precious fruit in due time.
Nazareth, South India.
Opening a Mission on the Island of Cebu
By Carlos Fattebert
CARLOS FATTEBERT, M. D.
We have been here on the island of Cebu one year. We are able to conduct services of a simple kind in the dialect. About one hundred persons have at different times attended our Sabbath school and preaching services. I have treated 274 patients, giving 1,265 treatments, to the value of $515 pay work and $140 charity work.
Our regular communicants are from sixteen to forty-three years of age. The oldest is a fisherman who obtained a Bible about ten years ago. He says: “I was then a bad man—drank, smoked, gambled; but when I began to read the Bible, I left all my vices, and have tried to do right. But I knew little of what the Bible really teaches until I began coming here.” He seems willing to do anything that the Bible commands.
Argao.
News From the Land of the Ideal
By J. Brierley
WHAT the world really needs is men who have news from the land of the ideal, who have God's life within them, who open afresh the springs of living water that quench the thirst of the soul. — J. Brierley.
Conducted by Mrs. I. H. Evans, Takoma Park, Washington, D. C
By Mrs. I. H. Evans; Miss Lora E. Clement
Assisted by Miss Lora E. Clement
Through the columns of this department, hints will be given on all matters pertaining to the home life. Short articles and letters are solicited from home makers, telling of their everyday experiences,—their joys and sorrows, their failures and successes.
The Children Away at School
By WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN
WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN
It is mail time in one of our academies. The girls are coming by twos and threes to the preceptress’s room, some laughing and chatting, some more sober and serious. Jane seems to be more happy with her one letter than Frances with three. But why does Ruth come so hesitatingly, and turn away with tears in her eyes? Slip your arm in hers, and go with her to her room. She will gradually tell you the whole story.
Day after day she has gone for some message from home. Days have lengthened into weeks, until one, two, three have passed. Yes, she knows they love her. Mother is ripping up her old dresses, trying to make new ones out of them, so they can save enough to keep Ruth in school till she obtains a suitable preparation for her life’s work. But there is not any news to tell from that quiet, secluded home, just the ordinary routine; so the mother punctuates her thoughts of the absent one with her stitches, and seldom puts them down on paper.
Your John is at college. He has earned his scholarship, is “making his way” through school. Father, you are justly proud of him. You think of him as you turn the furrows, or go about the chores all alone. And at the morning and evening hour of sacrifice, you pray for him,—pray that he may have good success, that he may grow in grace, that he may be kept in the hour of temptation. O, tell him so! You picture him preparing for the work that you yourself always longed to do. Tell him so! Write him the details of the farm life. It will make home nearer and dearer.
Open the secret heart-chamber door once in a while, and let the children know they are still cradled in your affections just as truly as when they were babes, and were cradled in your arms. We live in a time when, physically and morally, man has become weakened through the sins and errors of the centuries; when the youth are sorely tempted and tried, and need as never before the companionship of those who have battled and won.
Let us be comrades of our children from babyhood to full manhood and womanhood, so they will know they have our sympathy, and will naturally turn to us for counsel when perplexed. Let us take time to be all we may to them and for them. Such companionship brings an abundant reward here; and by and by, when we reach the homeland, the parents’ crown of rejoicing will be to say, “Behold I and the children which God hath given me.”
Portland, Oregon.
A Special Work for Women
By EDITH M. GRAHAM
EDITH M. GRAHAM
WHEN the work of taking the gospel to heathen lands became well established, it was found that it went very slowly. A man might acknowledge the truth of the new religion, but he was for some reason strangely slow to accept it. After some time it was found that the wife and mother stood in the way. Though in most cases the women were little better than slaves, they had an influence that hindered the men from accepting the gospel message. It was found necessary to enter the homes, and lead the wives and mothers to conversion in order to establish the Christian religion.
This is just as true of so-called Christian countries as it is of heathen lands. What the wives and mothers believe and live will have a great influence upon the lives and beliefs of the husbands and children. Therefore it is important that this message of present truth be taken into the homes. This is a work which women can do better than men. Wives and mothers can get nearer to the hearts of other wives and mothers than any one else can.
The first thing, then, for Seventh-day Adventist women to do is to live the truth in their own homes. They should make their homes as near like heaven as possible in a land where sin still remains. It will not need fine houses or elegant furniture to do this, but it will need the daily expression of the love of Jesus in every word and act of the wife and mother. It will mean a patience that never fails. It will require a constant dependence on the Lord for overcoming grace.
The next thing is to reach other homes and help them to become places of influence for good on the lives of all connected with them. Many desire to do this work, but do not know how to begin. Would it not be well for the wives and mothers to gather together for a short time each week to study how they can accomplish their special work? They could begin by studying all that has been said by the spirit of prophecy on the subject of the special work of women.
"The work that has been begun in helping our sisters feel their individual responsibility to God is a good and necessary work. Long has it been neglected. The Lord would have us ever urge the worth of the human soul upon those who do not understand its value. And when this work is laid out in clear, simple, definite lines, we may expect that the home duties, instead of being neglected, will be done much more intelligently.
"If we can arrange to have regular, organized companies instructed intelligently in regard to the part they should act as servants of the Master, our churches will have a vitality that they have long needed. The excellence of the soul that Christ died to save will be appreciated. Our sisters generally have a hard time with their increasing families and their unappreciated trials. I have so longed for women who could be educated to help our sisters rise from their discouragement and feel that they could do a work for the Lord. This will bring rays of sunshine into their own lives, which will be reflected into the lives of others. God will bless all who unite in this grand work."—"Testimonies for the Church," Vol. VI, page 114.
We are living in the days of the finishing of God's work, and to complete it calls for the cooperation of every woman as well as of every man and child. Women worked loyally with Jesus when he was on earth. It was to a woman that he first spoke after his resurrection. May we not, therefore, expect our women to rally unitedly to his work now, when it is so nearly finished? Many are doing so, but all are needed.
"They [women] can do in families a work that men cannot do, a work that reaches the inner life. They can come close to the hearts of those whom men cannot reach. Their labor is needed."—"Id., page 118."
“I Will Arise”
I WILL arise.
So far my feet have gone astray,
So thick do cares beset my way,
I should be bowed with grief today
Had I not still the power to say,
I will arise.
I will arise.
My spirit cannot know despair,
Nor life engulf me with its care;
For God is with me everywhere,
If I but breathe this simple prayer,
I will arise.
I will arise,
And, looking up, press onward still,
Forever striving to fulfill
God’s holy thought of me, until
His perfect strength shall gird my will.
I will arise.
—Selected.
Selfishness and Faith in Christ
By Ellen G. White
SELFISHNESS can no longer exist in the heart that is exercising faith in Christ than light and darkness can exist together.—Mrs. E. G. White.
Does Your Child Lie?
A NEIGHBOR of mine left her children of seven and nine alone in the house while she did the marketing. When she returned, and began to prepare dinner, she found that the gasoline stove refused to light. She thought the matter over for several minutes, and then, turning to the interested children, she quietly asked, “How much water did you put in?”
“Oh, about two dipperfuls!” they answered, readily.
If she had demanded, “What have you children done to this stove?” they would have answered as readily, “Nothing.”
Children should get in the habit of truth telling while young, we all agree. It is infinitely better to let a few childish misdemeanors go unnoticed, and get the truth about them. The children will outgrow mischievous naughtiness, but the habit of lying will cling like a bur to wool.
Somebody had gouged out the eyes of Dorothy’s doll. Mother strongly suspected Jan, but he said firmly, too firmly, “No, sir! I wouldn’t do such a thing.” The matter was dropped, but later in the day mother slipped to the floor by Jan’s side and whispered, “Jan, how did you do it?”
“Why,” said he, “I just took my thumb like this, an’ scrooged ’em out, easy!” Though it is true he had denied the deed in the first place, yet since he told the truth finally, and apparently of his own accord, it really tended to develop frankness; whereas, if he had been urged to tell the truth, to say right out that he was guilty, he would in all probability never have admitted it, and the imprint of the lie would be registered on his soul. We may sometimes ignore a spur-of-the-moment denial. Don’t press a point for your own satisfaction; give the child a chance to reconsider; for he is only learning to live, remember. Then bring things about so that he can tell you the truth easily and naturally.
I remember well one of my childhood’s lies. I had found a dollar in mother’s workbasket. It looked attractive to me, and I calmly took it. Then suddenly the money was missed. Had I taken it? I was asked. No, no, no, I had never seen it. I did not take it. I did not take it.
I do not know why they were sure I was guilty, but I can still hear my father say: “An untruthful child! What have I done or left undone to deserve this? She must tell us the truth. It is not the loss of the money, but that my daughter, my little daughter, should take what did not belong to her, and then lie about it.” My heart melted within me at this, and I could have confessed all if I had been given time and had been handled with tact; but, instead, I was whipped—first for telling the lie and then for taking the dollar. Then I could not tell, even though I had wanted to—my lips seemed glued together. To lie and steal had been bad enough, but to acknowledge it openly, and let them be sure of the depths of my wickedness, was beyond me. I slipped the money back one day, but I never, never told the truth about it.
A father whose half-grown son is wayward and the cause of much sorrow, said, in speaking of his early training: “When he was six, he told me a lie. I tried to teach him how dreadful a thing that was. I said to him: ‘I can see the word liar written across your forehead. You are branded with your sin. It will take a long, long time before you can wear it away. If you tell another lie, the brand will sink deeper until you may never lose it. Every one will know you are a liar.’” Although the father was speaking figuratively, the boy took it literally, and it must have struck him as being something of a “whopper” itself, after he grew a few years older. Today, although the lad is truthful, he and his father are far apart in spirit. That one lie was magnified into such a crime that the proportions of life were lost. Truthfulness may be achieved by saner methods. One should never call a child a liar, or bluntly accuse him of lying. The danger is that by doing so he be made one. Children are greatly influenced, as who is not, by what people think they are. Most of us live up, or down, to our reputations. . . .
Truth telling is one of the most essential lessons that the child has to learn. We see parents in every walk of life trying to inculcate a love for the truth, no matter how much they may differ in other things. We recognize that in every one of us it is a fundamental part of character. If a man’s word cannot be trusted, he is as nothing. If he is a liar, he becomes an outcast among men; he can hold no responsible position, command no respect. So the child must learn early how much depends on his telling the truth, and not only because lying is bad, as he can see for himself, but because truth telling is so beautiful, and we esteem so highly the person who is to be trusted in every word and deed.
—American Motherhood for September.
A Cure for Laziness
By Martha E. Warner
Front Porch Visits—No. 5
A Cure for Laziness
MARTHA E. WARNER
“There is beginning to be a real home in our house,” remarked Mrs. Bowen one day. “Harold is the only one of the children who rebels about helping. Today he positively refused to go to Mr. Showers for a bottle of cream. He is downright lazy.”
“He reminds me of Laurence when he first came to stay with us,” I said. “He was just an overgrown baby. He did not like to work, and he simply would not work. One morning at prayers we read, ‘If any would not work, neither should he eat.’ Laurence did not seem anxious to have that verse discussed. After breakfast, I asked him to go to grandpa’s and get an extra quart of milk. His excuses were numerous—it was too hot; he was busy; it was of no use for him to go, for he was not strong enough to bring home the quart of milk; couldn’t Paul go? etc. I told him that as Paul had been doing extra work, it would not be fair to ask him to do this errand. ‘But,’ I added, ‘it does not matter. I can get along, but I thought a custard for dinner would be nice.’”
“Oh, say, mamma,” said Laurence, “if you are going to make a custard, I guess I can go; but truly I cannot bring home a quart of milk!”
“Very well,” I replied, “get a pint, then. Only remember I should like a quart.”
“When he returned, he said, ‘Grandpa gave me a pint of milk, mamma, and I spilled a little when I came across the brook. Oh, but my arms do ache!’”
“Fortunately, I had milk left from breakfast to make a small custard, but at dinner time there was no custard for Laurence or me. When he asked me if I had forgotten his, I told him no, but I did not have milk enough to make a custard large enough for us all, so he and I would have to go without.”
“Poor Laurence! His eyes filled with tears, but he winked them back. The next day he came to me, saying, ‘Mamma, I’m real strong today. Don’t you want me to get you some milk?’”
“‘I could use more if I had it,’ I answered, ‘but it tires you so I do not wish to ask you to get any.’”
“‘But I am not tired,’ he said. ‘I want to go, and I wish you would not tell me how much to get.’”
“‘All right,’ I replied, ‘but it takes you so long to go I fear you will not return in time for me to use it this morning.’”
“‘You’ll see!’ was his answer. And before I realized that he had had time to go and return, he was standing at the door with two quarts.”
“‘There, mamma,’ he said, proudly, ‘never spilled a drop! What are you looking at me like that for, mamma?’”
“‘To see where that lazy boy is who went for milk yesterday. I cannot seem to find him,’ I said.”
“‘You never will,’ he replied; ‘he was drowned in the brook. Any time you want any help, you call on me.’”
“That was the beginning of the awakening of Laurence to the fact that he had a work to do in the house.”
“Well,” said Mrs. Bowen as she rose to go, “if I should do that, the neighbors would say I starved Harold.”
“You may expect some criticism,” I replied, “but if we ‘die daily,’ remarks of that kind will not hurt.”
Clintonville, Conn.
I Know
By Ann Devoore
My little baby lies along my arm,
And, looking at her there, the glad
tears press,
And, like a tidal wave of tenderness,
The years of love since I lay cradled
so—
Unfathomed love enfolding me from
harm—
Return and flood my life. For now
I know.—Ann Devoore.
Possibilities in a Busy Woman’s Life
WE often limit the possibilities of our lives in the belief that we have no time, money, or influence; but seemingly little things, which sometimes clear the air like an electric fan, are well worth while. A few of these “trifles” which we have noticed in the daily life of a busy woman we pass on, that they may prove helpful to others as they have to us. They are not new or remarkable, they do not need a bank account, an extra day, or a host of influential friends; but they are sermons without words:—
She had a nickel ready with which to pay the fare when she entered a crowded trolley.
On her way she picked a few flowers and left them at the door for a member of her Sabbath school class who had no garden.
She greeted her family at breakfast with a glad, “Good morning.”
She answered courteously the trying agent at her door, even if she did not care for his wares.
She lent the helpful book she had finished reading, with the expressed wish that it might help her friend also.
The sermon was an inspiration to her last Sabbath. She told her pastor of it, and her neighbor about it.
She invited to her home the stranger who had recently left home and come into her neighborhood.
She had a dainty and tasty dessert; she sent a little of it to an invalid.
She mailed the weekly religious paper to a lonely woman on a farm, first giving it a personal touch by marking certain articles.
She had a friend starting on a long journey, and she did not forget to send a steamer letter.
Her birthday book presented frequent opportunities for service.
A caller, criticizing adversely an acquaintance, was always met tactfully with a good point she had noticed.
She never failed to tell her friends the good words she had heard about them.
She planned a special dish as a surprise for any member of the family who was discouraged or overworked.
She was never so strenuous a housekeeper that she had no time to be a home maker.
Was she not indeed a follower of Him who “went about doing good”?— Selected.
The Pace That Kills
By Miriam Sharpless
How are we to account for the fact that nervous breakdowns have ceased to be exceptional in both sexes? Almost as frequently men are the victims of morbidness and melancholy as women; and when seized upon by the fiend whom old John Bunyan called Giant Despair, it is difficult to get his prey out of his clutches. Into the dungeon’s gloom they go, and there, perforce, they remain until health is restored. Neurasthenia is treated by specialists in various ways, though all unite in the endeavor to get the victim out of the individual obsession into the freedom and sunshine of the larger world.
The pace of life today is so rapid, and the demands made upon vitality are so tremendous, that overfatigue and overwork go hand in hand. “You do not wish me to become overtired,” said a patient to a physician. “You must avoid being tired,” was the physician’s reply. “You must stop before fatigue so much as touches you.”
Few women, however, are able to obey this prescription. Housekeeping is a complicated affair. Joy and grief alike make demands on our resources. Weariness of body and weariness of mind march with us because we have sometimes too little leisure and sometimes too little variety. A decided change of scene is a panacea for many ills.
If we may not cross the Atlantic, we may perhaps make a visit and rest awhile in a farmhouse twenty miles away. If we have lived too long in one part of the town, it may do us good to remove to another. Few of us sleep as much as we ought to, while we overlook the obvious fact that the quality of sleep is as important as the quantity. Chronic indigestion is the accompaniment and forerunner of nervous breakdown. To eat moderately, bathe daily, drink plenty of pure water, read entertaining books, drive out worry, and spend two hours in outdoor air would transform many a nervous invalid into a specimen of buoyant health.—Miriam Sharpless.
Children's Care of Books
By Caroline Stetson Allen
How can children best be taught to take good care of their books; that is, not to tear them, mark them unnecessarily, or in other ways maltreat them?
Surely one thing essential in teaching children to take proper care of books is to let them see, while they are still very little, that we love books well enough to treat them gently. The lesson isn't so thoroughly learned later.
Don't pick up the tossed-aside picture book at the end of the afternoon. Even if the bowl of bread and milk stands temptingly waiting, be sure to have Hilda herself smooth the ruffled leaves and put the book—not just anywhere, but in its own appointed niche.
I knew a little girl who was very careless about her own books until she became interested in making a small catalogue of them. She printed the names neatly (and alphabetically) in a pretty blank book with a fascinating Scotch plaid cover.
After the titles of the books were duly arranged, it was a glad task to get out one's crayons, or, if these weren't forthcoming, to beseech big sister for a few dabs at her paints. Then the names grew beautiful indeed! It followed quite as a matter of course that, having a catalogue as good as papa's (or probably better), the chubby volumes received the same care as his.—Caroline Stetson Allen, in Home Progress.
Headaches
By Ernest F. Robinson, M. D.
FIRST, it should be thoroughly understood that headache is a symptom, never a disease. It may be necessary to treat the headache itself, but it is always far more necessary to treat some other part of the system. Also bear in mind that headache is perhaps the most universal symptom we have to deal with; that is, some form of it is to be found with virtually all acute diseases and a great many of the chronic ones.
The most common cause of headache is eyestrain. Medicinal treatment may relieve such a headache, but nothing will cure it except intelligent attention to the eyes, which usually means properly fitted glasses.
Autotoxemia is the next most common cause. This may mean indiscretions in diet, too much food, or the wrong kinds of food; intestinal indigestion or fermentation, or both; or insufficient action of the liver or kidneys. “Sick headaches,” so-called, always belong in this class. These are often called bilious attacks. A better term is acidosis, since the system is filled with toxic acids, which cause the headache as well as many other symptoms. Cases in this class will usually be cured for the time being by a fast of from twenty-four to thirty-six hours, during which a thorough clearing of the bowels should take place. After that, it is exceedingly probable that the liver and the digestion, also the diet, will need attention.
Anemic headaches are caused by poor blood; blood which contains too little nutrition, too little iron, or the like. These are more pressure symptoms than real headaches. Arteriosclerosis, hardening of the arteries, is a common cause of headaches. One form of headache comes when the circulation is too weak, and still another form when it is too strong.
Stomach headaches are reflex headaches, caused by the irritation in the stomach. Here the best treatment would be an emetic, followed by an antacid and perhaps by a laxative.
Catarrh in the nose is often a cause of headache, especially of headache over the eyes. Heavy hats or a heavy head of hair may tend to cause headache.
It will be seen from this brief sketch that each headache is apt to be a different problem to deal with. Above all, let me warn readers, as I have so often before, not to use headache powders and pills except on the direct advice of a physician. They have their place in treatment, but they are distinctly dangerous remedies, more dangerous in some ways than the narcotics we make so many laws against. Virtually all such remedies contain either acetanilide or one of the preparations of salicylic acid; and while both of these drugs are very useful, they are both dangerous unless one knows thoroughly what to expect and how and when to give them. Besides this, the use of such remedies is very apt to lead to the neglect of the real causes of the headache.—Ernest F. Robinson, M. D.