p. 13 | Review and Herald, Vol. 88, No. 51. (12/21/1911)

Earlier text: The Photograph and the Press

General Conference Committee Actions

By William Ambrose Spicer

Some actions of the General Conference Committee at the time of the autumn council relating to the distribution of workers were not listed in the reports of that council, time being required to communicate with the persons concerned. A further report can now be made, and will be of general interest. We include also actions taken by the General Conference Committee since the council.

The following appointments or transfers have been recommended:—

Walter S. Mead and his wife, of the Foreign Mission Seminary, to India, for the English school at Mussoorie, or for mission station work, as the necessities may require.

Miss Rachel Jones, of the Foreign Mission Seminary, who has been engaged during the summer in Bible work with the Northern New England Conference, to India, to engage in Bible work in connection with the evangelistic effort in the cities, or in village dispensary work, as the needs may require.

W. L. Burgan, of Baltimore, appointed secretary of the Press Bureau of the General Conference, with headquarters in the General Conference Office building in Washington.

W. L. Burgan, secretary of the Press Bureau, to attend the winter union conference sessions in the North, to give instruction in press work, and to report proceedings of the sessions in the public press.

Elder C. B. Haynes, of Baltimore, to attend union conference sessions in the South, to give instruction in press work, and to report the sessions.

Elder N. H. Pool and his wife, of Indiana, to the West Indies, in response to the call for an evangelist in the island of Trinidad, just off the coast of Venezuela.

C. F. Innis, of Colorado, to the Foreign Mission Seminary, under provisional appointment for the book work in Spanish-speaking fields, Brother Innis having formerly been in Central America.

Elder J. Z. Walker and his wife, of the Foreign Mission Seminary, to go forward to the French-speaking republic of Haiti, in the West Indies, early in 1912, to take the superintendency of the work in that field.

Charles Degering and his wife, of the North Pacific Union, to the West Caribbean Conference, headquarters in Panama, to act as secretary and treasurer of the conference.

E. R. Allen and his wife, of the Foreign Mission Seminary, to the Canadian Union, in response to the call for Brother Allen to act as field agent in the book work.

Elder H. S. Prener, formerly of South America, recently returned on account of Sister Prener’s health, recommended to the German work in Baltimore, Chesapeake Conference.

Elder George M. Brown and his wife, of North Carolina, to Cuba.

Departmental Committees

Changes and additions were made in the advisory committees of General Conference departments. The following were added to the committees:—

Publishing Department: G. C. Haskin

(Pacific Press), J. W. Westphal (South American Union).

Religious Liberty Department: I. H. Evans (China), H. A. Weaver (Michigan), M. N. Campbell (Iowa), W. F. Martin (North Pacific), J. L. McEllany (Washington, D. C.), William Guthrie (Canada).

Young People’s Department: H. M. Hiatt (Southeastern Union), J. L. Shaw (India), E. E. Farnsworth (Southwestern Union), M. M. Hare (Atlantic Union).

German Department Advisory Committee: H. F. Graf (Cleveland), B. E. Miller (New York City).

Other Recommendations

That in response to the suggestion of the Sabbath-school Department, the treasurer be authorized to designate some special enterprise to be made the object of the Sabbath-school mission gifts on one Sabbath of each quarter.

That the treasurer be authorized to send forward further remittances from the $300,000 Fund, as follows:—

To India, to build a printing-office and supply other needs, $10,000.

To Mexico, in behalf of the Mexican printing plant, $1,000.

To Argentina, South America, for institutional work, $4,000.

To Brazil, for institutional work, doubtless the equipment of their printing plant for the better circulation of literature throughout that great Portuguese-speaking country, $2,000.

To the West African Mission, for fitting up treatment rooms, such an amount as may be necessary up to $500.

The following action was taken regarding means for enabling the two union conferences in South America to be of mutual help and strength to each other, now that the conferences and missions in Brazil are organized into the new Brazilian Union Conference:—

“Voted, That we recommend that in order to strengthen the work in the two unions in South America and make them mutually helpful to each other, we advise the president of the Brazilian Union to attend, if possible, the biennial union sessions of the South American Union Conference, and that similarly we recommend the president of the South American Union to attend the Brazilian Union sessions.”

Other recommendations made regarding exchanges and transfers of laborers in the North American Division are still awaiting further consultation and correspondence.

W. A. SPICER, Secretary.

Note and Comment

Danger in Meat-Eating

NONE too much has been said of the dangers attending the indiscriminate use of flesh foods. It is exceedingly difficult for the ordinary purchaser to determine the character of the food which he purchases from the market. We do not believe that flesh taken even from animals in a normal, healthy condition is man's natural food, nor that upon which he should subsist. It surely formed no part of the original dietary given to the human race, and when God called his people out of Egypt, it did not form a part of the bill of fare which he provided for them in the wilderness, and was allowed only in consequence of their murmuring and complaining.

The abnormal conditions which sin has entailed have served to engender disease in the brute creation as well as in the human family. These diseased conditions are apparent on every side. The finest herds are often found infected with tuberculosis, and slaughtered by the order of the State authorities. From a Pennsylvania paper just come to hand, we extract the following:—

The herd of dairy cows of —— near ——, condemned recently as being affected by tuberculosis, were shipped to Philadelphia, and on Wednesday they were slaughtered. The post-mortem showed that all ten of the cows were affected by the disease, four of them so much so that their carcasses could only be used for tankage. The others were only slightly affected, and their carcasses were passed as fit for food.

With what satisfaction can one turn away from a dietary involving such risks to the one made up of heaven's choicest bounties as found in vegetables, grains, fruits, and nuts! One may partake of these foods in their natural state without fear of infection, and with the assurance that they contain all necessary strength-giving elements.

Elopements and Divorces

THAT the divorce evil is a growing menace to society, must be apparent to every observer. Closely connected with this great evil, indeed in many instances the contributing cause, is that of elopement or “runaway matches.” There is a rapidly lessening regard these days for the marriage relation. Speaking of runaway matches, the Christian Advocate of November 2, says:—

Statistics compiled from the records of the District Supreme Court at Washington, D. C., show that forty per cent of all divorces in that city are the result of runaway matches, and that thirty per cent result from marriages where one of the contracting parties was under twenty-one years of age. Eighty per cent of the divorce suits have been filed by women, and less than ten per cent of the couples who seek the courts are parents. There is one divorce suit in the District to every four marriage licenses. It is also a most remarkable fact that less than ten per cent of the couples who seek the courts are parents.

Marriage in these days is often entered into hastily and unadvisedly. The motives are caprice and pleasure rather than love and sober judgment, and yet this is one of the most solemn relationships in our lives. It is one thing to associate with another for a day, a week, or a month, with the full knowledge that the association can be terminated at pleasure. It is quite another thing, however, to link one’s destiny with another by that indissoluble tie. Then whatever comes through the weeks and months and years, the union holds. Such unions should be entered into only after the most serious consideration and prayer, and those who enter into such kind of relationships should carefully determine beforehand whether they are suitable to each other, and if they are taking a step upon which the blessing of Heaven may be expected to rest.

Fifteen Million Theatergoers

According to the report of the New York State Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the moving-picture show has created fifteen million new theatergoers in the United States during the last year. By far the large majority of these are children. This report describes the deplorable influence which many of the exhibitions have on the morals of children as revealed in connection with the workings of some of the New York City courts. Thirty-two men who conducted places of this kind, and admitted children to them contrary to law, have been convicted and sent to prison. The United Presbyterian of Nov. 23, 1911, to which we are indebted for this information, adds, “All over the country these pest-spreading agencies are doing their work.”

It is to be deplored that in too many instances these agencies of evil are patronized and supported and even defended by Christian people. This is done, we are forced to conclude, because these people are not cognizant of the real evil influences which attend these exhibitions. As to the character of the influence that they exert upon our young men and women, and our boys and girls, ignorance can no longer be a virtue on the part of the guardians of the flock. Parents and Christian teachers instead of condoning these evils, should be among the first to raise against them a cry of warning, in an effort to save the youth from their pernicious influence.

Temperance Campaign in Australia

THE temperance campaign is on in Australia, and a late number of the Australasian Signs of the Times comes out as a splendid and effective document in favor of the principles of temperance and the prohibition of the liquor traffic.

South China—the Open Doors

By George Harlow

GEORGE HARLOW

For the last few months south China has been in great unrest. The people are continually looking for something to happen, but just what that something is they do not know. This gives us a wonderful opportunity to speak of the second coming of Christ, and to let them know that just before the Master comes, people will be in exactly this state of mind.

We thought at first that the revolutionary unrest would be a great hindrance to the progress of the work, because for awhile the selling of literature was prohibited under severe penalties. In one instance, a colporteur of another mission was taken without trial and beheaded; but our work has not suffered. Our boys stopped selling for a few days, but have renewed their work with as great vigor as before; and since the people are looking for something with revolutionary ideas, they buy any paper or tract that can be had. So the work goes on.

Brother Bach writes from Pakhoi: “The work here has made decided progress, as the church was awakened to its duty of helping the mission as far as it can. In our last monthly meeting our church-members decided to help the church next year, and offered fifty-two dollars. This is a noble gift toward the expense of the work here if we consider the hard times the people are in. Three more have accepted the truth. We now have seventy-three who keep the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and who are looking for the soon return of our Lord.” If you could have been with me at Pakhoi and seen the dire poverty of some of these people, fifty-two dollars would look much larger than it sounds.

Brother Bach sent an earnest appeal for another worker, but for lack of funds we did not feel free to grant his request; we hope ere many months roll by to be able to send another evangelist to him.

The workers at every station are reporting decided progress in the work. The only thing we lack, it seems to me, is sufficient funds to keep up with the work as it advances. If ever John 4:35 was true, I believe it is true to-day in China. Every day several come to me asking to know the truth, and nearly every day I find plenty of opportunities to hold Bible readings with as many as I have time for.

Our schools are both laboring under very trying conditions. The buildings were not built for school purposes, and are anything but what make a school pleasant. But still our boys and girls cling to their work. Most all our boys are earning their way through school by selling our periodicals. We certainly long for the time to come when we can have better quarters; but we have confidence that our people in the home land are pulling hard for us, so we patiently wait for what the Lord will send us.

Canton.

West Africa

By D. C. BABCOCK

D. C. BABCOCK

The workers in this field have passed through some severe experiences during the present year. On the third of January Brother W. H. Lewis's little girl was taken ill with an attack of black-water fever, and a few days later Mrs. Lewis was taken severely ill with the same disease. She was unable to be up again for nearly five months. On the eighteenth of January, Sister T. M. French, as a result of the same disease, was laid away to await the coming Saviour. This was a severe experience for the work on the Gold Coast. Owing to overwork, and the sad experience he was called to go through, Elder French was greatly reduced in vitality, and was advised to return home to regain his health. This left the Gold Coast in a helpless situation, and Brother C. E. F. Thompson was advised to drop the work at Bonthe Sherbro, and go to the Gold Coast to take up the work that Brother French was compelled to lay down.

I am glad to say, however, that the message is gaining ground again on that part of the West Coast, and each mail brings encouraging reports from Brother Thompson.

Owing to needed rest, and an invitation to attend the General Conference Committee Council in Germany, the writer and family left the field early in June, and paid a short visit to the Canary Islands, with a view to establishing a recuperating-station for our West African workers when they need rest from the work and trying climate.

Shortly after we reached Germany, we received word from Sierra Leone that Sister F. S. Bolton was sick.

After a short stay in Germany and England, and having received generous treatment at the Caterham Sanitarium, we returned to our field of labor, only to find three of our foreign workers sick. Brother and Sister Bolton were hardly able to care for each other. When I looked into their pale faces, my heart sank. Silently I asked my Father to help; he never fails.

Mrs. Lewis was again taken down with the black-water fever, so we removed

both families to Freetown. It seemed for some time that it would be almost impossible for Mrs. Lewis ever to recover her health. For more than a month a hard battle was fought, but victory came.

Again we appeal to our dear people for help to equip treatment-rooms, and for a doctor and nurses. We have been greatly encouraged lately by letters from the Mission Board stating that nurses would soon be on their way to this needy field. We are very thankful for this encouraging word, but we need more help. We need an experienced physician, able to advise and direct in severe tropical diseases. I quote from a recent letter received from Dr. A. B. Olsen: “Surely it is high time that you get suitable sanitarium bath-rooms for treatment at a very early date, also a doctor if that could be managed. Personally, I feel that we ought to have medical missionaries connected with all our missions throughout the world; I mean qualified doctors imbued with the missionary spirit, and supported by competent nurses to look after the natives as well as the foreign workers, and I hope that that day will speedily come.”

If any place on earth is in need of such aid, surely it is West Africa. We have a suitable building located on one of the healthiest spots that can be found, but we need the means to equip it.

I wish to express our gratitude on behalf of those who have been greatly benefited by the earnest efforts of the young people's society which has raised money to provide homes, and to pipe water from the mountain to the homes. This has already brought some relief. The schoolboys are also putting up a suitable living place, and the wagon factory is doing a good work in providing means for this building.

The prospect for the work before us is encouraging. There is a good missionary spirit among the churches, and each one is seeking for a life in harmony with God's requirements. Since my last report, fifteen have been baptized, and new faces are seen in our Sabbath meetings. The school work is advancing, and we are sending our young men into the needy fields. By the time this article is read in the REVIEW, we hope to have a new station opened about one hundred fifty miles in the hinterland, among the Timme tribe. Our courage is good.

Sierra Leone.

Mayor Gaynor to the Clergy

MAYOR GAYNOR, of New York, raises the question as to how much good ministers of the gospel are really doing. They have been preaching for thousands of years, and the wholesome influence of their godly lives in the community he thinks is to be commended; but he wonders if the professed representatives of the Lord really represent the spirit and character of their meek and lowly Teacher, Christ Jesus. In the Literary Digest of Dec. 2, 1911, he says:—

Do you reach out among the unfortunate and the lowly and those that want to be lifted up? Or are your churches so finely aisled and cushioned and carpeted that a man like that will stand at the door, and be afraid to go in? Who are you? Does the great heart of Jesus throb in you — the one who took all the lowly by the hand and said, Come unto me, and I will help you? You must answer that question for yourselves. When I go to the churches, one quarter filled, here in this town, and look at the fine pews and carpets and cushions and the absence of anybody who has on his hand the sign of toil, I begin to wonder whether all this is not tending to a failure after all. We can be little coteries unto ourselves, and think we are good, and try to be good; but is the heart of Jesus among us after all? In the last analysis of everything, we have to answer that question.

Mushy Sentimentality

This is the term which the Nation of Nov. 30, 1911, uses in speaking of the “kind letters” and “expressions of interest and sympathy” which have been showered upon a recent criminal sent to the electric chair:—

Mushy sentimentality, of which this case has furnished a somewhat extreme illustration, is a more serious element in our national life than most people realize. In the matter of homicide itself, we have no doubt that it constitutes one of the chief reasons of our country’s most unenviable preeminence. . . . Yet the most serious consequence of this shallow sentimentality is not to be found in its immediate effects upon action in specific cases. More deplorable is its inevitable weakening of profound instincts that have their root in ages of human experience — of real and effective sentiments in regard to crime. More than in police and juries and judges, society finds its protection from crime in the instinctive association of it with feelings of abhorrence, and with the stigma of universal disgrace. To be a thief is to be not only punished, but despised and shunned; to be a murderer is not only to subject one’s self to the danger of death, but to be detested and cast out by all men. Children no sooner learn the meanings of the words than they acquire along with them those sentiments of abhorrence which, far more than any calculation of chances, make the very thought of the commission of these crimes impossible to the vast majority of mankind. To trifle with this inherited defense — not merely of society against evil-doers, but, what is even more important, of individuals against temptation to evil — is no light matter.

General Meetings in Austria and Spain

By L. R. CONRADI

L. R. CONRADI

FROM September 12 to 28, the writer visited Vienna, Paris, and Barcelona. Our meeting in Vienna was held first. Brethren J. G. Oblander, J. F. Huenergardt, and the writer were present to assist in the meetings. The growing work of Austria was represented by fifty delegates, and a large attendance of our brethren in general. The membership has increased during the last twelve months from 188 to 372. The tithe has been nearly tripled. In spite of the many difficulties that our work incurs, and the great restrictions, the message steadily advances.

From Jan. 1, 1912, this important field will be divided into three different fields: Bohemia, with a population of nearly 7,000,000; Moravia-Silesia, with nearly 3,000,000 inhabitants; and the remainder, including the rest of Austria outside of Galicia, will contain about 10,000,000 people. The membership is quite evenly divided among the three fields. Here, as elsewhere, the great lack is workers; and here especially we must have native workers, on account of the restrictions.

All we could give to these large divisions was fifteen gospel workers, and each division has only one minister, the superintendent. Brother Reihlen was ordained to the ministry. Over $400 was voted for the mission fields beyond. We surely ought to remember Austria in our prayers, that the Lord may send forth more laborers into this needy field. The accompanying illustration shows a number of our Austrian members in front of the Vienna city hall.

At the French capital, I spent several days with Brethren L. P. Tieche and E. Robert in counsel. From here Brother Tieche and I proceeded to Barcelona. There were constant rumors of revolution in Spain, but, thank the Lord, when we reached the place, somewhat late, we found convened the largest meeting we ever had in Spain, and an excellent spirit prevailing. Of our ninety members, something like sixty had come together, and all our workers were present. Brother John Brown and Brethren W. G. and Frank Bond did all they could to instruct the workers and to encourage them. Brother E. Borle had been here for some time to investigate again the possibilities of our printing Spanish literature in this city, or its suburbs. Barcelona is a city of half a million, and is a most important seaport, having the best of connections with every part of the world. All publications which are shipped into Spain are subject not only to high duties, but also to a very severe press censorship, so that it is almost impossible for canvassing work to be carried on if it is dependent upon publications from without.

Our six Spanish canvassers in the field had thus far sold mostly our papers and tracts; but when Brother Brown came, he at once took up the work with big books, and found the prospects as promising in Spain as they are in Mexico. One of the first orders he took was secured from the governor.

We are sadly in need of some large books, printed in the country itself. But all can readily see that if we print these books only for Spain, we shall have to print small editions, and the books will be necessarily expensive. But if we can cooperate with our brethren in other Spanish-speaking fields and print larger editions of some of the books, they, as well as we, will reap the benefits.

When we take into consideration that Spain alone has a population of 19,000,000,—nearly equal to the Spanish population of South America,—we can at once see the importance of doing all we can to put the work in this hardest of all Spanish-speaking countries upon the most favorable basis. The highest of all considerations is not the employment of our people, nor the growth of business; it is the salvation of souls; and with this in view there is but one thing to do,—to commence the publishing work in Spain. The more countries shut themselves in by high tariffs to protect their own trade in the ever-increasing competition, the more they look down upon anything that comes from without. The difficulty of selling our books in Catholic countries is greatly increased where these publications must be imported.

The Spanish field had twenty-four additions during the first half of 1911. It will soon have its first one hundred members, and the canvassing force must be strengthened. We enjoyed this meeting with our Spanish people very much, and we are sure that brighter prospects are before the field.

Pardon, Peace, and Power

By John Francis Olmstead

JOHN FRANCIS OLMSTEAD

Do you e’er feel the threatening clouds That harrow hearts of men, Which cast a shade of doubt and gloom Before us now and then? Then turn, O turn to God above In every trying hour! And he will give us freely here His pardon, peace, and power.

When battles rage in conflicts sore Which try the hearts of all, Some then will flee, and some will fight, And some will wounded fall. But if nobility of soul E’er prompts in sun or shower, We need not fear, for God will give His pardon, peace, and power.

When we the doubts and battles face Which chase and threaten here The mighty throngs of helpless men, Who flee when danger’s near, Just lift the heart, and look to him Who keeps us every hour, And we shall ever, ever feel His pardon, peace, and power.

Columbus, Ohio.

Decision, and Lack of It

By Della Thompson Lutes

One of the most deplorable traits of character that any person can possibly possess, and one that brings annoyance and exceeding discomfort upon both himself and everybody with whom he has any dealings, is a lack of decision, the inability to give a decided, definite answer.

No man can ever make a success in business life and not be able to make decisions. To decide quickly and definitely, to weigh carefully but swiftly, to trust one's own judgment and act upon it, are qualities which are absolutely necessary for success in business life.

Equally true is this of success in the home life. Most unsatisfactory and discordant is that home where the woman at the head of it is of indecisive, wavering, vacillating character. Ask her what she is going to do to-day, and she replies, “O, I don't know. I haven't decided yet.” Ask her if she will go for a drive at three o'clock and she says, “O, I don't know. I couldn't tell till after dinner.” Ask her what train she is going to take for a proposed visit, and she will tell you she does not know—yet. Perhaps she will get the eleven thirty, and perhaps the two ten. Possibly not till five eight. Pleasant experience for the friend she is going to visit, isn't it? But we have all had that kind of guest. “I'll get the eleven thirty if I can get around,” she writes, “but if not, I'll come on the two ten. If I miss that, I'll come at seven forty sure.” We've driven to three trains in one day, got two special meals for her, and had her put off coming until the next day!

Ask her to come over and spend the evening. “I'm sure I can't tell,” she will say, at ten o'clock in the morning. “I don't know for sure just what I'll do. If I can come, I'll be there by quarter past eight; if I'm not there by that time, don't wait for me.” We stay at home and wait for her until too late to make any other arrangements, and she does not come after all.

Children are annoyed to the point of irritation, and exasperated to anger by the indecision of their mothers.

“Mother, may I go over to Jennie Brown's this afternoon? She wants me.” “O, I don't know. Don't begin at eight o'clock in the morning to ask me what you can do in the afternoon.” “But, mother, I want to know. I want to tell Jennie. She's waiting.” “Tell her I'll see when afternoon comes.” “But, mother—” the child begins to whimper, already excited and anxious. “Now, don't begin to cry. If you cry, you'll not go anyway.” “Well, mother, may I go if I'm good? I'll be good if I may go.” “Be good anyway, and stop teasing. Perhaps you may go, and perhaps you may not. Maybe I'll go over to Aunt Lucy's, and if I do, you'll go with me.” “But I don't want to go to Aunt Lucy's, mother. I want to go to Jennie's. She's got a new doll buggy. Can't I go to Jennie's anyway?” “I tell you I don't know. Now you stop teasing and run away, or I'll say, ‘No, you can't.’”

Fearful lest her mother's vacillating mind should take a sudden negative decision, the child turns away, depressed, perhaps sullen, unable to make her own decision, and with the example of a most deplorable habit before her.

Women who are making housekeeping, home-making, and motherhood their profession have great need of being able to make decisions quickly and with decision. A woman should know when she gets up in the morning just what she is going to do that day, and whether she is going to have any leisure or not. If she is, she ought to be able to decide just how she wants to use it. If she is going on a visit, she ought to make up her mind in the very beginning what train she is going on, and how long she is going to stay, the latter, of course, subject to the convenience of her hosts. She should give this information to the friends she is to visit, and then stick to it.

It is far easier to work if one is working toward a definite point. If there is any doubt about being able to accept an invitation for an evening, it would be better to refuse, and give your friends the privilege of arranging their affairs otherwise, than to keep them in a state of expectancy.

If a child asks a question, give him a definite answer if possible; and don't say “no” when you can say “yes.”

When you go into a store to buy something, have your mind made up what you want, ask for it, and decide upon it one way or another. Don't stand around, fingering things and asking the clerk if he thinks they will wash well. Ten to one he does not know, and anyway it is his business to sell, not to advise. A pretty safe rule is, if you are in doubt as to whether you want a thing, do not buy. Of course, if you wish to spend two or three hours just looking about the shop to see what they have, there is no particular harm in it so long as you do not make the clerks pull down a lot of things, and then do not buy.

I have seen women go to every store in town to buy something, and then go back to the first store, and buy the first article they looked at. It isn't wise if you're buying a hat or a suit or some other thing that you need to be particular about, to walk into a store and buy the first thing you are shown. But it is wise to know what you want before you go; what color and what style and how much you mean to pay; then tell the clerk what you want, and waste no time looking at lavender when you want gray.

Women do waste so much time. And time is such a precious possession. Look ahead! No matter whether you are twenty or forty, the years are not enough in which to do all the things you want to do. Think of all the books to read, pictures to look at, music to learn, lands to see, people to know that are worth knowing.

Make up your mind definitely and quickly over each thing as it comes along, get it out of the way, and tackle something else. Don't waste time going over and over the same ground.

Be dependable. You yourself know persons of whom you say, “Well, I'd ask Mildred to do that, but you never can depend on her. She seldom makes up her mind, and when she does, she changes it.” I don't believe in never changing my mind. Sometimes it is far better to alter a faulty decision than to stick to it. But if you say you will do a thing on which other people are depending, try to do it. Don't say you'll do things unless you are reasonably sure you can. To be dependable is one of the most valuable qualities of character.

Plan your work. Systematize it. Then keep at it according to schedule. You can accomplish more in that way. I do not mean, make yourself a slave to it, nor allow washing the supper dishes to interfere with your accepting an invitation

to drive. But I do mean, lay out your day's work to the best advantage, and then turn it off until it is all done, with some leisure left.

It is useless and foolish to say in the morning that you “don't know whether you can get two hours' time in the afternoon or not” for something besides work. You know perfectly well, as a general thing, just what work there is to be done during the day, and after you have had a few weeks' experience, you ought to know how long it takes to do each task. All you need is decisive thought, manner, and action.

Begin to-day, if you never have before, to put decision into what you think, say, and do. Not only in big things, such as buying a farm or a hat, but in the little things about the house. A character without decision is like an empty sack, depending upon some outside force to keep it upright.—Della Thompson Lutes, editor American Motherhood.

Treatment of a Cold in the Head

By G. H. HEALD

G. H. HEALD, M. D.

It is not necessary to describe symptoms, except to remind the reader that the time to begin treatment is when the nostrils first feel dry and stuffy, before the nose begins to “run.”

The old-fashioned purge by castor-oil is an excellent beginning, though the full enema may accomplish much good. The next treatment should be a cabinet bath. The apparatus may be improvised from the following articles: A chair, with a blanket, or other protection on the seat and down the front; under the chair a pan of boiling water over an alcohol-stove; in front of the chair a pail of hot water; a large double blanket; a cloth wrung out of cold water; an attendant to give the treatment. The bed should be convenient.

The patient, in nightshirt, should sit in the chair with his feet in the pail of hot water. The blanket should be formed into a kind of tent around the patient (leaving his head out), chair, and pail, and so arranged that more hot water may be added to the pail as the patient can bear it. The treatment should be continued until free perspiration is induced. Meantime the cold cloth should be kept on the patient’s head, and wrung out of cold water as often as it warms up. More hot water should be added to the pail until it is as hot as can be borne.

When free perspiration is established, the patient, after his feet have been thoroughly dried, may stand, and with the blanket wrapped close around him, get into bed and remain there for twenty-four hours if practicable. If the treatment is begun early and faithfully followed, it will abort any ordinary cold. Unfortunately few attempt to “break up” a cold until it is too late.

At the beginning a spray of an alkaline antiseptic solution (tablets on sale at drug stores) or of salt or baking-soda, a teaspoonful to a pint of water, is good as a cleansing agent. Later a spray of albolene or liquid vaseline containing five per cent each of camphor and menthol, is bland and soothing.

One should be careful not to blow the nose violently, as this is apt to force mucus up into the Eustachian tubes, and cause middle-ear trouble and permanent deafness.

It should never be forgotten that “cold in the head” may be the beginning of some serious contagious diseases, like measles. A child with cold in the head should invariably be removed from school; for in any case the trouble is infectious.

Censoriousness

It is not our privilege to sit in judgment upon our fellow human beings. We have not the power to do it either intelligently or without some personal bias. We can form opinions that are of practical value concerning our relations to them, or their relations to society. A bank cashier must consider a man’s character as well as his business ability. We must constantly be more or less consciously making decisions based upon our acquaintance with the character of others, though that acquaintance is always superficial and imperfect. Juries have the responsibility of deciding whether men and women are guilty of certain crimes. But none of us knows any man’s standing before the omniscient Judge of all, who is also the loving Father of all. Censoriousness is one of the most common of sins, and is most severely condemned by Christ, who has said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” It is easier for us to see the mote that is in our brother’s eye than to consider the beam that is in our own eye. We do not know enough of any human life and of the secrets of any human heart to pronounce an infallible judgment. To know any man thoroughly we would have to know all his ancestors and his good or evil inheritance from them, all his circumstances, his mental infirmities, the fire of his passions, the strength or weakness of his will, and all his environment, in the broadest sense of that word. Especially would we need to know perfectly the spiritual history of his heart, its moral conflicts and agonies.

“What’s done we partly may compute, But know not what’s resisted.”

And if our knowledge of all the heredity, the environment, the deeds, and the hearts of others were perfect instead of being very imperfect, not one of us is without some personal bias, however unconscious of it he may be. The censorious consider not the beam that is in their own eye. The spectroscope can tell us of the metals in a remote star, but it is impossible for us to obtain an exact and complete analysis of any human character. It was not the man who thanked God that he was not as other men who was commended by Christ, but the one who smote himself on the breast, saying, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”—Selected.

Continue reading: A Swarm of Bees