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Review and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 32.

The Use of Suffering
Earlier text: Biblical Teaching about Visions and Their Perpetuation in the Church

The Deceitfulness of Dosing

By Mrs. I. H. E.

There seems to be an inborn desire in the various members of the big human family, no matter of what age or race, to put their faith in remedies that can be taken from a spoon or a bottle or a box. Even babies have been known to show a fondness for the medicine bottle,—provided the concoction is not too full of bitter. “Only so he can take it from a spoon, he likes it,” said one young mother of her little son.
At a banquet of physicians held in Portland a few years ago, one of the guests told a story—on himself, as he jokingly explained. But the attitude of mind that it illustrates is, unfortunately, no joke. The physician in question was called to a poor home in the slums of the city to attend an ailing baby. Examination proved that the child needed only to be bathed and kept clean and have proper and sufficient food. As the mother was poor, he did what doctors are not in the habit of doing,—handed her two dollars, and instructed her to buy milk with it for the baby, giving careful directions as to the place and quantity. A day or two later he met an older sister of the babe, and asked how it was getting along. “Oh, he’s all right!” was the reply; “ma took the money you gave her, and got a real doctor!”
The campaign of education that has been waged in recent years against what has been well called “the great American fraud,” has done much to weaken that blind confidence in labels that made so many millionaires in the closing decades of the preceding century. But not America alone, and not only the present age, has shown a willingness, almost an eagerness, to be victimized after this fashion. Even a casual study of the various panaceas that have been foisted on a world in which health would seem to be an almost unnatural condition, is sufficient to convince us that people really like to be humbugged.
James I of England, whose famous “Counterblast” against tobacco shows him to have been observing and thoughtful, believed in the power of a certain “elixir” to render him ailment-proof. A certain Duke of Burgundy paid ten thousand florins for the formula of a balsam warranted to make his memory “transcendently good”—with what results it is not hard to surmise. And Mary Granville Delany, who lived in the eighteenth century, and has left six volumes of her autobiography and letters, gave this advice to a friend:—
“Does Mary cough in the night? Two or three snails boiled in her barley water, or tea water, or whatever she drinks, might be of great service to her; taken in time, they have done wonderful cures. She must know nothing of it. They give no manner of taste. I should imagine that six or eight boiled in a quart of water, and strained off and put into a bottle, would be a very good way, adding a spoonful or two of that to every liquid she takes. They must be fresh done every two or three days; otherwise they grow too thick.”
We shudder as we read of the nauseous and horrible mixtures compounded by the native Chinese physician, whose idea seems to be “that almost anything disgusting is good to be used as a medicine;” yet at their worst they hardly surpass the old wives’ remedies in England two hundred years ago. Then millepedes were recommended as an “excellent medicine that might be of use to the eyes;” powdered wood lice were taken in wine for the asthma (and there have been many other remedies as nonsensical since then for this stubborn ailment); and various other bugs, with spiders’ webs, ants and their eggs, etc., were used for fever, ague, and other ills.

Dangerous “Cures”

Coming down to our own times, we find the nauseous and revolting giving way to a new set of “cures,” often based on drugs that are in themselves deadly poisons, flavored with various herbs, diluted with sugar sirup, and preserved with alcohol. Such habit-forming drugs as opium and cocaine have had a large place in the patent medicine business, though fortunately their use has been somewhat restricted recently. The long list of coal-tar derivatives, of which acetanilide is one of the best known, has formed the basis for numbers of deadly headache powders and other remedies.
Few diseases and apparently few conditions known to medical science are beyond the skill of the patent medicine miracle workers, according to their printed promises. Cancer cures, consumption cures, catarrh cures, constipation cures, cures for dropsy and epilepsy and paralysis, cures for locomotor ataxia and rheumatism and gout, remedies to restore youth to the aged, sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and even to turn black persons white and make kinky hair straight, have been (and many of them still are) widely exploited in this country. It seems incredible that one single remedy, no matter how daring its advertisers, should pretend to cure “asthma, biliousness, headaches, colds, catarrh, and grip (dose: powder every four hours during the day for a week), diarrhea, hay fever, insomnia, influenza, neuralgia, seasickness, and sciatica;” yet this is what, according to Samuel Hopkins Adams, one well-known headache powder claims for itself.
In the light of the widely disseminated information on such remedies as soothing sirups, headache powders, catarrh cures, tonics and sedatives, “beautifiers” and “removers,” it seems strange that so many should be found who still spend their money for that which not only fails to fulfil its glowing promise, but often does positive harm. Yet in this very year the people of the United States will place from seventy-five to one hundred million dollars in the tills of the patent medicine fakers.

A “Soothing Sirup” Victim

The list of those who have paid for their blind trust in patent medicines with their lives is a long one, well attested, and very convincing to any one who will take the pains to look into the matter. A priceless toll to gullibility—when human lives are the price; but how much more pitiful when the ranks of the victims are recruited from helpless infancy! It is distressing to realize that, in the face of repeated warnings, many mothers still resort to soothing sirups, more often than not, if all the truth were told, to gain a few hours’ “quiet” for themselves.
In a recent number of Good Housekeeping, Dr. Harvey W. Wiley describes the death of a little victim of home dosing, thus:—
“In Portage, Pa., on the sixteenth of last August [1915], at three in the afternoon, a three-months-old baby was given a dose of soothing sirup (one-half teaspoonful, according to the directions on the label). About five-thirty o’clock it was taken to drive by the parents. At six o’clock the baby was dead, and the coroner rendered a verdict that she came to her death from ‘respiratory failure due to an overdose or continued use of a morphine-containing soothing sirup.’”
“It is not for me to say which of the two causes assigned by the coroner was the active cause of death. A young child is always in danger when it has put into its stomach so dangerous a drug as morphine. Even if the infant were under his personal observation, the physician would hesitate to administer it. The label says:—
“‘This bottle contains five per cent of alcohol, one tenth of a grain of morphine sulphate to each fluid ounce, oil of anise seed, caraway, coriander, jalap, senna, sugar sirup. . . . For a child under one month old, six to ten drops; three months old, half a teaspoonful; six months old and upward, a teaspoonful three or four times a day. For diarrhea repeat the above dose every two hours, until the character of the discharge is changed for the better. . . .’”
“The mother in this case had been giving the half-teaspoonful dose since the child was about two weeks old; it had one dose the night before its death. Sometimes it was dosed twice a day, sometimes not for four or five days, but in three months two and one-half bottles had been given. Read the label, with its counsel to ‘repeat,’ and see if there is anything to warn a mother that such dosage might be fatal. The label describing its contents carried no warning with it; the ingredients named were but mystic terms to the uninitiated. . . . What wonder that a woman with no special training or knowledge on the subject should have been cajoled into gradually doping the child to death by such alluring and misleading promises and labeling, albeit there is nothing that our present laws could touch, as the label is literally correct, and the curative claims in the circular are for the most part vague.”
Dr. Wiley concludes: “There are just two things to be said about soothing sirups: either they do not ‘soothe,’ and you are burdening the delicate stomach of the infant with a mixture of useless drugs and undesirable cathartics; or, if they do soothe, they may produce a sleep that knows no waking, or undermine the physical and moral fiber of the child in a most insidious way. How long are we, with our much-vaunted protective laws, to permit such an utterly indefensible traffic as this?”
“In the case of the little Portage girl, the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Pharmaceutic Examining Board of the State found the matter to be without their jurisdiction; there had been no misbranding, and, therefore, no legal crime was committed. The baby is dead. Whose fault is it? In a civilized community such a thing should be impossible.”
It is good advice, and it cannot be too often repeated: When you or the members of your family are sick enough to require help, call a physician. All the mistakes of all the doctors weigh very lightly in the balance over against the results of self-dosing. MRS. I. H. E.

The Doctor’s Story

By Will Carleton

DEACON ROGERS, he came to me; “Wife is a-going to die,” said he. “Doctors great and doctors small Haven’t improved her any at all. Physic and blisters, powder and pills, And nothing sure but the doctors’ bills! Twenty women, with remedies new, Bother my wife the whole day through. Sweet as honey, or bitter as gall, Poor old woman, she takes ’em all; Sour or sweet, whatever they choose, Poor old woman, she daren’t refuse. So she pleases whoe’er may call, And Death is suited the best of all. Physic and blister, powder and pill— Bound to conquer, and sure to kill!”
Mrs. Rogers lay in her bed, Bandaged and blistered from foot to head. Blistered and bandaged from head to toe, Mrs. Rogers was very low. Bottle and saucer, spoon and cup, On the table stood bravely up. Physics of high and low degree; Calomel, catnip, boneset tea,— Everything a body could bear, Excepting light and water and air. I opened the blinds; the day was bright, And God gave Mrs. Rogers some light. I opened the windows; the day was fair, And God gave Mrs. Rogers some air. Bottles and blisters, powders and pills, Catnip, boneset, sirups, and squills, Drugs and medicines, high and low, I threw them as far as I could throw.
“What are you doing?” my patient cried; “Frightening Death,” I coolly replied.
DEACON ROGERS, he came to me; “Wife is a-gettin’ her health,” said he. “I really think she will worry through; She scolds me just as she used to do. All the people have poohed and slurred— All the neighbors have had their word; ’Twere better to perish,’ some of ’em say, ‘Than be cured in such an irregular way.”
“Your wife,” said I, “had God’s good care, And his remedies—light and water and air. All of the doctors, beyond a doubt, Couldn’t have cured Mrs. Rogers without.”
The deacon smiled and bowed his head; “Then your bill is nothing,” he said. —Will Carleton.

Home Life

By Mrs. J. H. Evans; Miss Lora E. Clement

Conducted by Mrs. J. H. Evans, Takoma Park, Washington D. C.
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.

Mystery, the Essential

THE entire superstructure of fraud in medicine has for its foundations secrecy and mystery. Take away these elements, and that gigantic monument to human credulity—the patent medicine business—crumbles. Hence the frantic efforts of those who have built fortunes through the exploitation of nostrums in opposing every movement that would permit the public to know the drugs it is taking in patent medicines.
A forgotten chapter in quackery is related by the Journal of the American Medical Association:—
About a hundred and fifty years ago Mrs. Stephens in England claimed to have discovered a cure for “gravel and stone in the bladder and kidneys.” So skilfully did she call her wares that she deluded ignorant and educated alike into a belief in her discovery. Dr. David Hartley, physician and philosopher, collected and published reports of one hundred and fifty cases—his own among them—showing the value of Mrs. Stephens’s “cure.”
Convinced that Mrs. Stephens had discovered a boon to suffering humanity, many urged her to make public the secret of her formula. Quack-like, she refused but—also quack-like—she offered to give up the formula for five thousand pounds ($25,000). Attempts were made to raise this amount by public subscription, but without success. In spite of the fact that many contributed to this fund, only about thirteen hundred pounds was raised.
Parliament was then petitioned to make a grant, which in due time, it did. Mrs. Stephens got her five thousand pounds, and the public got her formula. The latter was published in the London Gazette. The “cure” consisted of eggshells, snails (shells and all), hips and haws, ash-keys, swine cress, and various other vegetables, all burned to a cinder, and the ash mixed with camomile flowers and fennel and other vegetables.
But, alas! now that the public knew what was in Mrs. Stephens’s nostrum, it would have none of it. The cure fell into disrepute, and finally went the way of all such frauds, into oblivion. Dr. Hartley died of the disease of which he believed Mrs. Stephens had cured him. —Christian Endeavor World.

The Baby

A BABY'S hair is built of sun, A baby's eyes of sea; A baby's drowsy mouth is made Of mystery.
A baby's ears are made to hear Sweet words and true; A baby's hands are built to hold A heart or two.
A baby's rosy face is built Of restless sun and shade; But oh, a baby's heart! Who knows How hearts are made?
— Selected.

A Christian Home

By A. E. Kittredge

A CHRISTIAN home! What a power it is to the child when he is far away in the cold, tempting world, and voices of sin are filling his ears, and his feet stand on slippery places! — A. E. Kittredge.

Cats Carried the Diphtheria

The relationship between the diseases of men and of animals has been as much neglected in this country as it has been studied in the tropics. For this reason we are profoundly ignorant of the rôle which animals play—if they play any rôle at all—in the dissemination of epidemics.
Special interest attaches, therefore, to a communication to the National Medical Journal, which describes how an outbreak of diphtheria in an orphanage was traced back to some cats in the building. Sixty-nine cases of diphtheria out of a total of seventy-one came, it was found, from the boys’ house. After many investigations and precautions such factors in the production of the disease as sanitary defects, contaminated water supply, and food, were eliminated. Realizing that there must be a carrier of the bacillus, the physician in charge decided to turn his attention to the cats, and took swabs from all their throats. On bacteriological examination it was found that the four cats from the boys’ side of the orphanage were suffering from diphtheria; the four cats from the girls’ side although showing other microorganisms in profusion, did not prove to have the true diphtheria bacillus. The cats were destroyed, and after that only ten more cases of diphtheria occurred. They occurred within a few days, showing that they had already become infected when the cats were destroyed. There have been no cases since. This tends to show that cats are, or can be, carriers of diphtheria.—Washington Post.

The Virginia Camp Meeting

By GEO. F. ENOCH.

An interesting camp meeting, which closed with the divine blessing, was held in Richmond, Va., May 25 to June 4. Thunderstorms interfered with the first part of the meeting, but by Wednesday the clouds cleared away. The attendance from the city was very encouraging, and the interest increased right up to the close, so that it was decided to hold a tent effort after the camp meeting.
The conference business was transacted harmoniously. Elder W. C. Moffett was reelected president.
The meeting seemed small, the Sabbath school numbering but 125, and many of these were living in the city of Richmond. The distance from Richmond to that portion of Virginia where many of our churches are, made it seem impossible for many of the brethren and sisters to attend. The inspiration and help that these general meetings give grow in importance as our work develops and the end draws near, and those who missed the blessing of this year’s meeting, missed more than money can ever bring them.
The blessings of the week culminated in the outpouring of the Spirit on the last Sabbath. Almost the entire congregation came forward at the close of an earnest appeal by Elder B. G. Wilkinson, and all received a new experience. In the afternoon Brother L. O. Gordon was ordained to the gospel ministry. He has been working as a licentiate for several years in this conference, and has given full proof of his ministry by the success in soul-winning that the Lord has given him. An interesting item of this ordination service was the large number of young men and women who came forward at the time of the ordination prayer, and consecrated their lives solemnly to the finishing of the work of the Lord in the earth, wherever he may call them.
Dr. D. H. Kress spent several days of earnest labor at the camp, and was joined by Mrs. Kress on Wednesday. Their practical instruction was timely and well received. Elder Wilkinson was present several days, also Elder W. T. Knox. Prof. C. S. Longacre preached to large congregations from the city the first and last Sundays of the meeting. Elder A. E. Serns, of Seattle, Wash., arrived during the meeting, but a serious illness made it impossible for him to preach more than once.
Sunday morning the writer presented the need of the foreign missions. The open doors in the regions beyond, the urgency of the present hour, and the solemnity of the general situation moved the hearts of practically the entire congregation to respond, and $1,325 was pledged for missions, which, with the large Sabbath school offering, made more than $1,500, and but $100 was conditional on the sale of property. This was by far the largest unconditioned offering ever given in Virginia. It was decided to carry the plea of the regions beyond to the individual churches, and also to raise $500 for the Washington College.
The prospects are bright that Virginia will come out ahead on the Twenty-cent-a-week Fund this year. One interesting item was that the Sabbath school offering was about $170 the last Sabbath, or more than $100 in excess of the offering on both Sabbaths last year. This offering was a hearty response to an appeal made by Elder Wilkinson. It seems clear that if proper efforts are put forth, our people will meet their quota of the Twenty-cent-a-week Fund largely in the Sabbath school.
Virginia has set the pace for the Columbia Union Conference. We believe that this is evidence that great things are in store for us this camp meeting season if we keep near to the Lord. “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”
GEO. F. ENOCH.

The Iowa Camp Meeting

By Arthur G. Daniells

The camp meeting held in Nevada, Iowa, May 25 to June 5, was one of unusual interest in many respects. Well-planned efforts had been made in Iowa to secure a large attendance, and these efforts were fully rewarded. More than one thousand people were camped on the ground. Some of the friends spent a portion of the time at the meeting, and then returned to their homes in order to enable others to attend. It was stated by some that this was the best and largest camp meeting ever held in Iowa.
The natural conditions attending the meeting were good. The surroundings were delightful, and the weather was ideal. A splendid spirit prevailed throughout the entire meeting.
Personally, it gave me great pleasure to attend a camp meeting in my home State. I met a large number of brethren and sisters I had known from boyhood, and found them of good courage.
Never have I been at a camp meeting where the people were more faithful in attending all the services—the early morning devotional meetings, the conference sessions, the public preaching services, and the departmental meetings. Nearly the entire camp rallied to all these meetings. This is right; people should go to camp meeting to attend the services, and thus get the greatest returns.
A pleasing feature of the gathering was the old timers' meeting, at which all who were over fifty years of age and had been twenty-five years or more in the truth, were seated on the platform. The size of the company was a surprise, there being more than one hundred and twenty-five of them. All were given the privilege of testifying of their love for the message and of their courage in the Lord. There were also many messages to be read from old friends unable to be present. Iowa has sent out a large number of workers and other faithful members who have scattered into various parts of the world.
The attendance at the Sabbath school the first Sabbath was 996, with an offering of $275.75. There were 1,175 present the last Sabbath, with an offering of $325.46, making a total of $601.21 given by the Sabbath school to missions at the two sessions.
More than $3,000 in cash and pledges was raised for missions in a single meeting. Over $800 was raised to pay for the large pavilion and camp expenses; a total of more than $10,000 in cash and pledges for various departments of home and foreign work was given during the meeting.
The young people's meetings were excellent, with a splendid attendance at the two regular daily services. Profs. C. L. Benson and M. B. Van Kirk, Elder S. A. Oberg, and Brother G. W. White led in this division. Scores of young people gave their hearts to the Lord in these services. Meetings for the children were held in tents especially provided for them and appropriately decorated. These meetings also were well attended.
The music and singing were well directed and well rendered, adding greatly to the interest of the services.
Splendid interest was shown in the meetings on home missionary work. The presence and enthusiasm of Elder S. A. Ruskjer, the union home missionary secretary, added to the helpfulness of these meetings. A good work was done in the distribution of reading matter, and in giving out invitations to the camp meeting.
Brother E. M. Oberg, field secretary of the Northern Union, gave good service in behalf of the book work, holding daily meetings. A goodly number of colporteurs are planning to engage in this work during the summer.
Besides the General Conference and union workers already mentioned, there were present Elders Chas. Thompson, W. H. Edwards, P. E. Broderson, G. E. Nord, William Guthrie, and J. S. Hart.
Fifty persons were baptized during the time of the meeting. The renewal of courage and consecration was testified to by hundreds. The meeting was a blessing to many more.
A. G. DANIELLS.

The Colporteur Work in Alabama

By A. L. Miller

THE colporteur work in Alabama is settling down on a firmer basis. In the past many, if out of a job, thought there was one thing they could do until some other work was offered them—they could canvass.
All such make two mistakes. First, they think any one can canvass with but little or no preparation. Secondly, they fail to recognize the colporteur work as a life work, but simply look upon it as a stepping-stone to another field of labor. This view of the work places in the field a transient class of laborers, a class that will always fail to see the real place this branch of the work occupies in the message, and consequently they cannot enter heart and soul into the selling of books.
We are pleased to see the idea of making the colporteur work a life work, getting hold of the people, but especially of the colporteurs. This purpose seemed to take possession of the corps of workers at our late institute. This institute was held at Brother C. G. Leitzman's school, near Red Level, February 29 to March 8. Thirteen prospective canvassers and two magazine workers were in regular attendance. All but two remained throughout the session. Brother J. W. Davis, the union field secretary, and Brother M. L. Wilson, the local field secretary, were the chief instructors in the principles of book work. Brother O. R. Godsmark, secretary and treasurer of the tract society, was present to get acquainted with the men and talk with them about finances, ordering, etc. Elder J. F. Wright held the evening services, which were well attended by those not of our faith. The writer gave the daily Bible instruction to the workers.
At different times during the institute the Lord came near, and tears of repentance and joy flowed freely. Every one felt confident that God had called him to this work, and expressed a determination to remain faithful to the call. We expect this year to be our best year in the book work.
A. L. MILLER.

The Bible Year

Assignment for July 2 to 8

Isaiah—the Man

Isaiah, whose name in Hebrew means “Jehovah’s salvation,” was one of the most distinguished of the Hebrew prophets. He prophesied during the reigns of four kings, beginning his work “in the year that King Uzziah died,” and continuing it during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. The time covered by his active work is variously estimated. One authority places it from 750 B. C. to 695 B. C.—about fifty-five years. He was married and had two sons.
The prophet “seems to have lived and prophesied wholly at Jerusalem, and disappears from history after the accounts contained in chapter 39. A tradition among the Talmudists and Fathers relates that he was sawn asunder during the reign of Manasseh; and this tradition is embodied in an apocryphal book called ‘The Ascension of Isaiah;’ but it seems to rest on no certain grounds.” Reference to the prophet’s martyrdom is supposed to be made in Heb. 11:37.
“Isaiah is appropriately named ‘the evangelical prophet,’ and the Fathers called his book ‘The Gospel According to St. Isaiah.’ In it the wonderful person of Immanuel,—‘God with us,’—his beneficent life, his atoning death, and his triumphant and everlasting kingdom are minutely foretold. The simplicity, purity, sweetness, and sublimity of Isaiah, and the fulness of his predictions respecting the Messiah, give him the pre-eminence among the Hebrew prophets and poets.”
The vision of this prophet “is not restricted to his own nation and his own times, but he regards all nations and all times. ‘Nowhere can we find the promise of the Messiah more clearly announced; nowhere is the kingdom of the Messiah depicted in colors more lifelike and abiding. His prophecies form, as it were, a bridge between the old covenant and the new.’”

Isaiah—the Book

This, the first of the prophetical books, is one of the most wonderful books ever given to mankind. The style is exalted and majestic, and certain passages are noted for their dignity and beauty. The ode of triumph in chapter 14 (verses 3-23) is said to be “one of the most poetical in all literature.”
Bible commentators have made many outlines for the study of this book. The following, by Amos R. Wells, may be found helpful:— “Chapters 1 to 6, Israel’s sins; 7 to 12, ‘the book of Immanuel;’ 13 to 23, prophecies against the nations; 24 to 35, the coming overthrow of evil; 36 to 39, Hezekiah’s triumph; 40 to 48, God and idols; 49 to 58, the coming Messiah; 59 to 66, a new heaven and a new earth.”
Another commentator names the following divisions of the book:—
“The first twelve chapters refer to the kingdom of Judah; then follow chapters 13 to 23, directed against foreign nations, except chapter 22 against Jerusalem. In chapters 24 to 35 the prophet appears to look forward in prophetic vision to the times of the exile and of the Messiah. Chapters 36 to 39 give a historical account of Sennacherib’s invasion, and of the advice given by Isaiah to Hezekiah. The remainder of the book, chapters 40 to 66, contains a series of oracles referring to future times of temporal exile and deliverance, and expanding into glorious views of the spiritual deliverance to be wrought by the Messiah.”

A Prayer for Light Answered

By W. G. McKEEN

THE SUMMER that I was seventeen years of age was spent canvassing in company with Brother C. M. Snow in the State of Maine. One day an old lady met me at the door in answer to my ring. I had some difficulty in getting in, as she was sure she could not afford to buy a book. In my description of the book I repeated 2 Peter 1:19. The lady said, “I have read that chapter for three mornings and have prayed to God for light upon it.” I explained the scripture to her, and answered some questions which she propounded to me. It was light upon the prophecies that she needed to give her an understanding of what was meant by the words, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy.” Before leaving I obtained her order and a cordial invitation to come again soon, as she wished to ask me more questions. The result was that I spent many hours with her in a study of the Scriptures, and as the truth was presented she readily accepted it. Before I left the place to go to camp meeting, she was fully established in the truth. She paid tithe and made offerings and was faithful until the time of her death, which occurred a few years later. This woman was a cousin of J. N. Andrews, our first missionary to a foreign country, and she often spoke of him as cousin John.
W. G. McKEEN.

A Santal Student Still Interested

By W. A. Barlow

A SHORT time ago I received a post card from one of our old boarding school students, a Santal who made good progress while in our school, both at Simultala and at Babumohal. He was anxious to be baptized and work as a teacher in our mission, but the influence of his heathen wife and family caused him to put it off.
He now writes to me for literature. He has started a school in the tea gardens in Darjeeling, northern India, and invites me to visit him. I have posted two parcels of our literature to this young man, with some Santali schoolbooks and hymn books, which we compiled and had printed at our Watchman Press when it was at Karmatar, under the direction of our beloved Brother J. C. Little, now asleep in Christ.
There are thousands of Santali immigrants around Darjeeling, working in the tea gardens, and it may be God is calling us there through one of our old schoolboys, to give the closing message to these precious souls who are sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. Pray, brethren, for these aboriginal tribes of India. W. A. BARLOW.

South Texas

By J. A. Leland

THE work among the Mexicans in the South Texas Conference is prospering. Two Mexican churches have already been organized this year, with a membership of forty-three. Many of these came to us directly from Catholicism, and in the same locality are fifteen candidates awaiting baptism. In several other places there are small groups of believers, and some waiting to be baptized. From every quarter come calls for help, and we are not able to answer them all. Pray that we may be faithful in doing our work for this needy people.
J. A. LELAND.

U. S. ANDERSON

By U. S. Anderson

Michigan

DECATUR.—Last summer I held a series of meetings in this place, the location of one of our oldest churches. At one time there was a flourishing company here, but many of its members moved away, and only three, I think, were left, and no regular services were held in the church building.
Now we have a church of fifteen members, organized May 28. The building has been repaired, and at our preaching services there is a good attendance of those not of our faith. Recently four were baptized. Pray for our success.

U. S. ANDERSON

Field Notes

SEVERAL were baptized at Cheyenne, Wyo., recently.
THE baptism of four persons at Homestead, Okla., is reported.
FIVE new believers have received baptism at Great Falls, Mont.
ELDER G. P. GAEDE reports the baptism of six persons in Milwaukee, Wis.
A SABBATH school of eleven members has been organized at Merriman, Nebr.
EIGHTEEN new members were received into the Oshawa church (eastern Canada) on a recent Sabbath.
EIGHT students of Hazel Academy, in the Tennessee River Conference, were baptized at the close of school.
ELDER W. S. HOLBROOK reports the organization of a Nevada Mission church, with a membership of twenty-five.
FOUR persons have just been baptized by Elder U. S. Anderson, at Decatur, in the West Michigan Conference.
A SERIES of meetings conducted by Elder D. H. Hanson has just closed in Eagle River, Alaska. Six accepted the truth, and they have a Sabbath school of eleven members.

Missionary Volunteer Department

M. E. KERN - - Secretary
MATILDA ERICKSON - - Assistant Secretary
MRS. I. H. EVANS - - Office Secretary
MEADE MACGUIRE
C. L. BENSON - - Field Secretaries
J. F. SIMON

Washington Missionary College

By J. L. Shaw

The second year of the College since its reorganization, came to an end May 22. An earnest spirit prevailed throughout the year. The enrolment numbered 276, sixty-three more than the previous year. Of these, 151 were classified as academic and 125 as college students. Twenty-one were graduated from the College course, four from the medical evangelistic, and seven from the academic. Twenty-seven students were definitely appointed to mission fields, and all will soon be on their way. Twelve answered the call to China; others go to Japan, India, Malaysia, South America, and other fields. The last Friday evening a farewell service was held to bid Godspeed to those going to foreign fields. It was inspiring to see so many young men and women on the platform, saying farewell to their school associates, expressing their confidence in God, their appreciation of the opportunities of the College, and their willingness and desire to answer the call to the regions beyond.
Owing to the need of more room in practically all departments of the College, plans have been set in operation to raise funds for the enlargement of the institution. The Columbia Union Conference has undertaken to raise $25,000; the Atlantic, $12,500; and the Southern and Southeastern Unions, $2,250 each. Elder G. F. Enoch is giving his efforts at the present time to raising funds in the Columbia Union Conference, and about $20,000 has already been pledged. The plans include the building of an assembly hall for chapel, with classrooms connected; the enlarging of at least one of the present dormitories; and the development of such industries as may seem advisable. The erection of no buildings will be undertaken until money is well in hand, and indebtedness will be neither expected nor permitted. With these improvements added, the school will stand at still greater advantage as a college and a place of training of workers for home and foreign fields.
Some improvements have been made during the past two years: $1,500 has been spent in equipment for the science department, and $2,500 in building and tools for teaching woodwork; the dining hall has been altered; several hundred dollars’ worth of furniture has been purchased; 1,000 volumes have been added to the library; nearly $1,000 has been added in equipment of printing office; and an automobile and two pianos have been purchased. Aside from these and other improvements and a considerable number of repairs, the debt of the College has been reduced during the two years to the amount of $20,000, $10,000 of which came from the surplus of the Twenty-cent-a-week Fund of the Columbia Union Conference, and the rest from the receipts of the school.
The training of evangelistic workers have has been emphasized. The continuous and insistent calls, both from the growing work in our Eastern cities and in the mission fields, for well-trained evangelists and Bible workers, has caused the College to make prominent this line of education. An experienced minister has given his time the past year to training young men for the ministry. In addition to class work, practical field work has been done. An effort was conducted in Washington, and several accepted the truth. A lady Bible worker has also given her time to training young women for Bible work. During the latter part of the year the Bible workers’ class has given from twenty to thirty Bible readings a week.
It would be unfair not to mention the spiritual benefits and activities of the College, though we are unable to express them in figures. A spiritual atmosphere has pervaded the school, many young people have dedicated their lives to God. A large number of Bible readings have been given. Many books and papers have been sold in Washington and its suburbs. Hall meetings have been held, and some have embraced the truth.
The spring week of prayer was an occasion of deep spiritual uplift. A general turning to the Lord of both teachers and students was manifest. While no sensational evidences were present, what was much better, a determined move to put away sin and stand for right and principle was present. For this and many other mercies we feel deeply grateful. Though failures and mistakes have been made, yet notwithstanding all, a step forward has been made, and the outlook for the school was never more encouraging.
The writer withdraws from the institution, thankful for the large number of young people who have pressed into the school to get a better preparation for the Master’s service, for the inspiration their lives have been, and for those who have gone from the College halls to fields of service at home and abroad. May God abundantly bless the board and faculty and students of the Washington Missionary College. J. L. SHAW.
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