THE following is an extract from a thrilling prohibition speech made by John B. Gough, on the Fourth of July last:—
I will tell you my idea of liquor traffic very briefly. God forgive me, I do not speak of it boastingly, for my sin is ever before me; seven years of my life was a dark blank. I know what the burning appetite for stimulant is; I know all about it, and I have sat by the dying bedside of drunkards; I have held their hands in mine; I have tried to lead them at the last gasp to the Saviour who never turned any away who came to him; and yet, in the light of my own experience and the experience of others that I have seen through my observation, I could say: Father in Heaven, if it be thy will that man shall suffer, whatever seemeth good in thy sight of temporal evil, impose it on me; take from me the friends of my old age; let the bread of affliction be given to me to eat; let the hut of poverty be my dwelling-place; let the wasting hand of disease be laid upon me; let me walk in the whirlwind, live in the storm; let the passing away of my welfare be like the flowing of a stream and the shouts of my enemies like rain on the waters; when I speak good let evil come on me—do all this, but save me, merciful God, save me from the bed of a drunkard! And yet, as I shall answer to thee in the day of judgment, I would rather be the veriest sot that ever reeled through your streets than I would be the man who sold him his liquor for a month.
I think it is the most awful business that a man can possibly engage in. There is no good in it. How much benefit is it to a town that a man shall start a saloon? I wish Mr. Bowen, when he gives the next grand entertainment, would invite some of the liquor-sellers of Connecticut to come here and show the benefits of their business to this people. Let them bring a few specimens of their work. They can't do it. The raw material is always worth more than the manufactured article, always. As a boy said: “I know So-and-so's saloon is finished.” “How do you know it!” “I saw a fellow coming out of it drunk.” A liquor-seller was very angry with a boy who, when he saw a drunken man had fallen down in front of a saloon, said: “Mister, your sign has fell down.”
I hate it because we have no redress. There is not a mother here that has any redress. There is not a wife here that has any redress. A woman went into a grog-shop—and I give you facts that I can prove—to plead with the liquor-seller not to give her husband any more liquor. He took a tumbler of dirty water and threw its contents in her face. She told her boy, and he thrashed that liquor-seller so he was on his back several days. Then the liquor-seller prosecuted the boy for assault and battery and got the damages. They tried to prosecute him for throwing water in the woman's face. They failed, because she was intruding on his premises. There is not a liquor-seller that can't sell your husband drink, and you may plead with him if you will. You talk about moral suasion. Make it your own case. A young man once said to me: “I believe in moral suasion. I believe we have no right to attack the men.” I told him a little fact that occurred, and asked him: “Suppose that was your mother that was kicked out of a rumshop when she came to plead with Mr. Leonard not to give her boy drink, and when he made her little boy nine or ten years old drunk and sent him home out of spite because she tried to prevent him selling liquor to her boy. What would you do?” He said: “I would shoot him as I would a woodchuck.” Said I: “I would not. I believe in the simple way. I believe in the annihilation of the traffic in intoxicating liquor; and the sooner we get rid of it the better.”
Liquor Undermines Neighboring Morals
AN equity suit has been brought in Philadelphia to compel an owner to cut down a tree whose roots were undermining an adjoining dwelling. Would not an equity suit be just as righteous against a man whose sale of liquor was “undermining” the moral character of his neighbor, the happiness of his wife, and the future prospects of his children? -Sel
A Bit of Experience in Cigar Smoking.
By H. L. Charles
"HERE comes a big boy; I guess he'll give us one." As Herbert Raymond looked up, he saw two ragged little fellows, a few paces in front of him, sitting on a stone by the roadside. The smaller one appeared to be about six years of age, and the other not more than two years older.
It was the smaller one who had spoken, and he evidently referred to Herbert as the "big boy."
"Say, won't you give us a match?" asked the larger boy, as Herbert drew near and stood before them.
"What do you want with a match?" asked Herbert.
"Want ter smoke," said the boy.
"What! such a little fellow as you are? Do you smoke?"
"You bet I do. I've smoked for more'n a year. But I'm not little. How old do you think I be?"
"Oh! about eight," said Herbert.
"Eight! I guess I be. I'm almost ten. But what do you think of this little feller, not more'n half as big as me? He smokes, and chews, too."
"What do you smoke?"
"Why, cigars, of course." And he stretched himself up, and thrust his hand deep among the patches of his ragged trousers. After fumbling about for a while, he drew forth three stubs of cigars, about an inch and a half long.
"You've been using them already, I see," said Herbert.
"No we hain't, either. That's what we want the lighters for."
"How did you get the stubs, then?" Herbert inquired.
"Oh! some fellers was passin' and throwed 'em at us; but the fire had so nigh gone out that we couldn't make 'em go."
"Let's share the cigars with him, if he'll furnish the matches," broke in the smaller boy.
"Of course we'll do that," said the other. "There'll be just one apiece."
"I am just as much obliged to you," said Herbert, "but I don't care for the cigar; and as for matches, I haven't any with me."
"Hain't got a match?"
"No."
"What dye do when yer want a smoke?"
"I don't smoke," said Herbert.
"What! a big feller like you don't smoke? What'll yer do wen yer a man?"
"Indeed, I don't smoke. Do you think I would be seen with a dirty cigar or pipe in my mouth? It is a filthy, useless habit at the best; and, if I were you, I would throw those old stubs away, and quit while able to do so."
"Yes, cigars are mean, dirty things," said the boy, "and we are tryin' to get some fire so we can burn these up. But here comes Dick Jones. He's the boy for us. He always carries matches, and he'll be glad to share with us."
At the mention of Dick Jones' name Herbert started quickly along, for he did not care for Dick to hear his lecture against cigars.
Dick had seen him on one occasion trying to smoke, and he might mention it here, and then they would have a good laugh at his expense.
True, Herbert had never smoked but twice in all his life; but as he walked along trying to associate the idea of the manliness of smoking with the scene he had just witnessed, he felt a keener sense of the ridiculousness of such a thought than ever before, and he felt heartily ashamed of himself for having been so foolish as to try to learn to smoke.
We will let him give an account of his experience with cigars in his own words, that other boys who have never tried them may catch a glimpse of the pleasure they afford.
"It was about six months ago when Dick Jones got me to try one of his cigars. Dick is two years older than I, and learned to smoke when a small boy. We had been over to Meadow Brook fishing for trout, and had sat down to rest a few minutes before starting for home. Dick drew out a case of cigars and asked me to try one. I refused to do so, when he lighted one, and began to smoke. He said they were very mild—wouldn't make a baby sick—and laughed at me for not being able to smoke. He continued to urge me till, at last, I lighted one and put it into my mouth."
"I can taste it in my mouth now, and it makes me sick whenever I think of it."
"I had not smoked more than a minute before I began to feel a strange sickness at the stomach, and my head seemed to have converted itself into a top, and set itself to spinning."
"As soon as I felt able, we started for home. The first thing we had to do was to cross the brook on a rather shaky log that lay across it. I got along very well until about two-thirds across, when the rocking of the log, the dancing of the water below, and the whirling of my head, were altogether too much for me, and down I went into the stream. The water was quite shallow, but it managed to get all over me, and made me just as wet as though it had been twice as deep. After considerable effort I succeeded in getting home, changed my clothes, ate a very light supper, and went to bed much earlier than usual. The next morning I felt as wise as Solomon on the subject of using tobacco."
"The next time I saw Dick he offered me another cigar, but I firmly refused. I told him that I had concluded to leave off smoking before the habit got too firmly fixed, and advised him to do the same."
"Still he gave me no peace. Every time I met him he would broach the subject, and insist that I must learn. He said it was boyish to give up in that way, that I ought to have the manliness to stick to it. He had promised to say nothing about my smoking affair, but he told one or two of his associates, and they joined with him in a laugh at me for my weakness."
"Some time after this one of the boys gave me a cigar, which he said I could smoke some time when I was alone, and then there would be no one to laugh at me. I thought this would be just the plan. Besides, this boy told me that the first cigar always made one sick, but that there was no difficulty in smoking the second one."
"It was on one Saturday morning, about a month after my first attempt, that I thought I would try it again. I thought I would smoke a few times, just to show the boys I could do it, and then I would quit."
"In the afternoon of this day there was to be an excursion to a lake about five miles distant. Our whole school was to go, and arrangements had been made for a grand time. I had a few chores to do during the morning, among which was the splitting of a few pieces of wood for starting the fires. Just before commencing this work, I lighted my cigar and puffed away as fast as I could. I had determined not to smoke very much, but thought I would do it as quickly as possible and have it over."
"Soon I began to feel dizzy, and throwing aside the cigar, I took the axe and commenced my task. I thought I could work off the ill feeling; but the harder I worked the more dizzy I got. Soon the wood-house seemed wrong side up, and the pieces of wood appeared to sway from side to side as though trying to evade my blows. My feet and the wood got badly mixed together, and my axe never would go where I aimed it. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my foot, and found that I had made a gash in it which nearly severed one of the toes. I managed to get into the house, and a surgeon was called to dress the wound."
"That day was the most miserable one I ever spent. The pain in my foot, the dizzy feeling in my head, and the disappointment in not being able to accompany my schoolmates on their excursion seemed enough to render my misery complete."
"I did not tell any one of the part the cigar had played in causing the accident. None of the boys know anything about it, and Dick still urges me to try a second cigar. He says unless I learn to smoke that all the boys will laugh at me, and say that I tried to learn but wasn't man enough."
"I can now see how much easier it would have been if I had firmly refused at the first. But I cannot undo the past. I can only so act in the future as to avoid getting into deeper trouble. I have decided to let them laugh all they please at my past experience in smoking, but shall furnish them with no more similar matter for sport. They may rest assured that my experience in using tobacco in any form is at an end."—H. L. Charles.
CHILDRENS' JOYS.
By Sarah Doudney
The children's world is full of sweet surprises;
Our common things are precious in their sight:
For them the stars shine, and the morning rises
To show new treasures of untold delight:—
A dance of bluebells in the shady places;
A crimson flush of sunset in the west;
The cobwebs, delicate as fairy laces;
The sudden finding of a wood-bird's nest.
Their hearts and lips are full of simple praises
To Him who made the earth divinely sweet;
They dwell among the buttercups and daisies,
And find His blessings strewn about their feet.
But we, worn out by days of toil and sorrow,
And sick of pleasures that are false and vain,
Would freely give our golden hoards to borrow
One little hour of childhood's bliss again.
Yet he who sees their joy, beholds our sadness;
And in the wisdom of a Father's love
He keeps the secret of the heavenly gladness;
Our sweet surprises wait for us above.
—Sarah Doudney, in Christian at Work.
Only Looked On.
THE music and the patriotic speeches were over with the day; but the boys gathered at evening around a bright bonfire in the street, laughing and chattering, adding fresh fuel and stirring it to a brighter blaze. The cheerful light—and perhaps the warmth also, for it was a cool night—attracted one unlike the others of the group. A barefooted, ragged boy drew near and hovered on the outer edge of the company for a few minutes, but presently made his way nearer to the fire and stood beside it in evident enjoyment.
Then the largest, roughest boy in the crowd suddenly discovered him.
"Hello, Tatters! where did you come from?"
The boy tried to draw back, but he was too late.
"Bare feet and such a cap as that! Well, you're too fine entirely. Don't you know that kind of a cap is better roasted?" and a quick blow sent the faded head-covering into the fire.
Its owner made a vain effort to recover it.
"That was mean, Jim," said one of the boys, faintly. The others said nothing, and one or two laughed.
The forlorn stranger drew back, escaped from the group and sat down on a door-step at a little distance, drawing his ragged sleeves across his eyes to wipe away the tears of anger and grief.
A pitying, indignant little face looked down upon him from an upper window, and a pair of childish eyes that had watched the scene grew tearful in sympathy, and then brightened with the hope of comforting. Lily hurried away and was back in a few minutes with an outgrown cap of her brother's, a package of sandwiches and cookies that she had coaxed in the kitchen, and a bright silver dollar of her own. She put the other articles into the cap, fastened a string to it, and lowered it softly toward the boy on the steps, dropping the end of the string as it reached him.
"Why, Lily, what are you doing?" asked a voice as she drew back.
Lily shook her bright hair and looked up at her brother.
"Doing what that speaker man said this morning. He said, 'Let some of your blessings fall into the lap of those who haven't so much;' and I did. It fell right straight into his lap, and I guess he didn't know whether it came from a window or from heaven, for he looked up real quick and queer and said, 'Thank you. Amen!' and then ran away."
Guy laughed, and Lily's face was reproachful.
"You were there by the bonfire all the time. O, Guy, I don't see how you could do it."
"Why, I didn't knock his cap off," said Guy. "It was Jim Gregg; he's a rough fellow always. I didn't do anything or say anything; and the other fellows didn't either."
"That was just the trouble," said his aunt, gravely. "I, too, watched the whole thing from the window, Guy; and if I were going to talk to American boys on a day like this, I should care far less about urging them to join this or that political party than about warning them against belonging to the great party in this world—those who only stand and look on. I believe they are responsible for the larger share of its evils. They do not help any good cause; they only look on and do nothing. They never hinder a wrong cause; they only watch it and say nothing. O, Guy, did you ever think how our Lord's parable makes the final condemnation rest, not upon actual transgression but upon omission? 'I was a stranger, sick and in prison, and ye did it not to me.' They only looked on and did nothing."—Morning Star.
News and Notes.
By Editor
The Postmaster-General is urging the establishment of a postal telegraph system.
France and China are yet unable to agree on terms regarding the occupation of Tonquin.
Fires on the mountains in the vicinity of Los Angeles have done great damage to bee ranches.
S. S. Montague, chief engineer of the Central Pacific Railroad, died suddenly near Shasta on Sept. 24.
The superintendent of the work on the Panama Ship Canal indicates that it will be completed in 1888.
Forty-eight of the fifty-two counties of Georgia have been carried by the advoctaes of local prohibition.
Governor Butler of Massachusetts has been re-nominated by both the Democratic and Greenback Conventions.
A negro woman was hanged on Sept. 24, at Richmond, Va., for complicity in the murder of her husband.
The proposed commercial treaty between the United States and Mexico is creating considerable jealousy in England, both in business and Government circles.
Near San Buenaventura, on the 24th ult., Peter Kohar shot his wife, though not fatally, and then killed himself. He was a native of Alsace, aged 45 years.
A young lawyer in Brooklyn, N. Y., died recently of nicotine poison from cigarette-smoking and tobacco-chewing. He had been addicted to the habit only nine months.
Senator Sharon, one of the principal mine owners in Nevada, gives the opinion that the silver mines of that State are about exhausted, especially the great Comstock Lode.
The widow of the late Dr. Glenn has offered her house for the use of the new cooking school to be established in this city by Miss Juliet Corson of New York.
A terrible hurricane is reported in the vicinity of the Bahama Islands last week, resulting in great damage to shipping and, so far as heard from, the loss of fifty-three lives.
General Sherman will turn over the command of the army to General Sheridan November 1, although his actual retirement from active service will not take effect until February.
There is newspaper complaint that at least two of the United States Supreme Court Judges are figuring for the Presidency, and making rulings and decisions with an eye to influence.
Last week a hail-storm swept over the Ohio Valley, from Carrollton to the vicinity of Lawrenceburg, covering the ground with hail to a depth of from two to four inches, and ruining all standing crops.
At Los Angeles, early in the morning of Sept. 25, a Southern Pacific railroad fireman named H. C. Amadon, was waylaid and killed while going from his train to his home. The murderer is as yet unknown.
A young Irishman named Feeney, supposed to be insane, fired two shots at Mr. Hoare, British Vice-Consul at New York, on the 25th ult. No damage was done. Feeney was arrested, and has been sent to an insane asylum.
The Dominion Government has disallowed the bill passed by the local Legislature of British Columbia permitting United States capitalists to construct a railroad through that province to connect the Canada Pacific with lines in this republic.
Great damage was done during the early part of last week, by fire raging in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Immense destruction of timber, fences, and pastures was the result, and only by the desperate efforts of organized parties was much other property saved.
On the 12th ult., a dreadful explosion took place in the rocket factory of the Woolwich (England) arsenal. Fortunately only two lives were lost, but a great amount of property was destroyed in the vicinity. Some projectiles were hurled a distance of five miles.
The Alta says: "So long as millions of dollars are annually sent out of the country in payment for Mediterranean raisins, figs, prunes, nuts, oranges, lemons, and olives, the fruit-growers in California can feel free from anxiety lest they overdo the business in those lines."
Last week, near this city, E. Moon struck Henry Fink and injured him so that he died a few days afterward. Fink had bought some wood from a man who owed Moon one dollar, and refused to satisfy the latter's demand for payment of the other man's debt; hence the assault.
Another explosion of the California Powder Company's works at Pinole Station, took place Sept. 29. The entire works and buildings were destroyed. The foreman of laborers was killed, and another white man seriously injured. Of forty-two Chinese laborers, only two were found alive after the explosion.
Justice Field, of the U. S. Supreme Court, has affirmed the decision of Judge Sawyer, that a Chinaman who is a native of the English colony of Hongkong is not, under the treaty, entitled to enter the United States any more than a native of the Chinese Empire. This just reverses a late Boston decision.
A young lady named Ada Atkinson, aged 15, whose family resides near Oxford, Indiana, was left alone at the residence one day last week. When her sister returned towards evening, Ada was found in the room dead, her throat cut, and her body covered with knife gashes. There was at last reports no clue to the murderer.
There is lively times in the vicinity of Tucson, A. T. A sheriff's posse of twenty-five men surrounded four "cowboys" and succeeded in killing one of them. Two escaped unhurt; the fourth was wounded, but made his way to the hills and could not be found. Another dispatch says fears are entertained for the safety of two officers who went in search of stage robbers.
About $50,000 worth of fashionable dress goods was seized by the New York Custom House officers last week, that had been smuggled by four lady passengers from Europe. The officers affirm that dressmakers from the large cities have been systematically defrauding the revenue for some time, and a special effort is now on foot to break up the business of smuggling in this line.
The regular equinoctial storm, which is every year a terror to navigators on the great lakes, was unusually severe this year. On the night of the 24th ult., the wind attained a velocity of fifty-five miles an hour at Buffalo. Several vessels were wrecked, and much property adjacent to the lake shore was destroyed. Also, on Lake Ontario the gale was fearful. Three vessels were driven ashore, one of them was foundered and all hands (seven persons) lost.
In North San Juan a Chinese father is carrying on the process of cramping his little daughter's feet, to make them conform to his notion of aristocracy, and complaint has been made to the District Attorney, who will speedily ascertain if there be any law in this country to try to prevent such cruelty. Speaking of the case, the Alta pertinently remarks: "According to the doctrines of the development philosophers, the feet of Chinese women, having been cramped out of shape for several hundred generations, ought to be naturally small and need no artificial treatment. Why is it not so? Here is a nut for evolutionists-'Christian' or otherwise-to crack at their leisure."
A drowned man named F. Wilkinson, picked up on the San Joaquin River; two men killed and several wounded by a boiler explosion at Albany, N. Y.; four men and a large number of cattle killed by a railroad collision near Shakopee, Minn.; two U. S. Marshals killed while attempting to arrest whisky peddlers in the Indian Territory; three negroes hanged at Chatham, Va., and one at Savannah, Georgia, for murder; a duel near Lancaster, Va., and probable death of one of the combatants; a negro woman burned alive in her son's house at Bloomington, Indiana; an attempted murder and suicide at New Orleans; the death of two Portuguese at Yreka, caused by the caving of a ditch; the suicide of Daniel Lewis at Linden, San Joaquin County; the shooting of a litigant by his opponent, in the Superior Court at Downieville; the finding of three men in a fishing dory off the New Brunswick coast, who had been out six days without food, and one of whom was sucking his own blood to quench his thirst; and the robbing of a train, by three men, of $15,000, near Peru, Indiana-form part of the news budget of one daily paper last Saturday.
Quite an extensive counterfeiting institution, just getting ready for operations in this city, was taken in by San Francisco police officers and detectives on the 25th ult. It consisted of a young man giving the name of S. F. Upson, about twenty-five years of age, a large iron stamping machine of 1,500 lbs. weight, two steel dies for five-dollar pieces, crucibles, punches, and considerable working material. It was the bringing of the peculiar-looking machine across the bay that led to a surveillance of the party in charge and particlar notice as to the destination of the article. The truck was followed until its load was deposited in the basement of a neat cottage in an aristocratic part of the city, where the future enterprise evidently was to have been conducted. The young man was "shadowed" to his room in San Francisco, where the remainder of the outfit was found. We have stringent laws against counterfeiting, but they do not effectually put a stop to the crime, and the query arises, what shall be done about it? We suggest a high license upon the business. This will at least shut off the "low dives," where they stoop to counterfeiting copper pennies, while the license tax from the "respectable" establishments, where golden eagles and hundred-dollar notes would be produced, would add immensely to the revenue of the Government.
Religious Notes
—The Salvation Army has been expelled from the Prefect of Savoy, France.
—Father Riordan, pastor of St. James' Parish (Catholic), Chicago, has been appointed Coadjutor Bishop of California.
—The tenth missionary journey of Mr. Geo. Muller of Bristol, England, was commenced Sept. 26, when they started for Madras, in order to spend six months in gospel itineracy throughout India.
—Mr. Pointet has instituted a Bible-carriage movement in France. In a suitable vehicle furnished with religious reading, he has traveled through ten departments of the republic, selling Bibles and tracts, and using his carriage for a pulpit when he finds opportunity to preach.
—One of the Chickasaw Indians proposed to the American Bible Society to pay half the cost of supplying the school children of his tribe with New Testaments if the society would pay the other half. The Bible Society accepted the offer and forwarded him a box of 500 Testaments, which he is now distributing.
—Sitting Bull, the famous Indian Chief, was to have been received into the Catholic Church at Fort Yates last week, but the ceremony had to be postponed because he could not decide which of his two wives to put away. The forms of the church forbid more than one wife to a communicant, and, although the great warrior received all the other tenets with "readiness of mind," this requirement has so far proved too much for him.
—The 400th anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther will occur November 10, but the citizens of Wittenberg, Germany, began the celebration on the 13th inst. It is reported that 50,000 visitors were present, including the Crown Prince and about 2,000 clergymen. The exercises began with religious services and a grand procession. Relics of Luther's day and work were on exhibition, and portraits of Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, Zwingle and other reformers adorned the walls of the hall where the services were held.
—The awakening of Japan to an imitation of American and English progress is not all in the interest of Christianity—not as much perhaps as it might be, if the "children of light" were as "wise in their generation" as the "children of this world." The infidels are said to be outdoing the Christians in the production of their standard works in the Japanese language. The works of leading infidel authors—Paine, Ingersoll, J. S. Mill, Draper, and Buckle—are all translated, and quite extensively circulated. And it must be remembered, that it is a much easier task to lodge error in the mind of a heathen, than it is to plant the truth in his heart.
—The average school-boy would not be apt to find much religion in an arithmetic; but the Spanish authorities have discovered it. Some Germans sent to Spain a book entitled "An Easy Method of Reading and Arithmetic." A few thousand of these, not long ago, were stopped in the Custom House, and so high a duty demanded on them that the owners refused to reclaim them. But the authorities decided that they were religious books, and as such could not be offered in public sale without the authority of the State Council, and this body decreed that they must be burned, because any book not written by Catholics must be against the State religion. Is it any wonder that Spain, once at the head, is now at the tail-end of nations in progress and influence?—Christian at Work.
Obituary.
CROSS.—Died, September 8, 1883, Brother Isaac Cross, aged 76 years, 10 months, and 22 days, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. W. M. Shearer, Sacramento, Cal. Brother Cross was for many years a member of the Baptist Church, and embraced "present truth" at the tent-meeting which was held in Sacramento six years ago. He has fallen asleep with a full confidence in the gospel hope of a resurrection from the dead. Funeral services were held in the Calvary Baptist Church by J. Q. A. Henry, who spoke highly of the Christian life of the deceased, using as a basis for his remarks, 2 Kings 4:26. "It is well with me." W. M. HEALEY.
LIVELY.—Fell asleep, in Oakland, Cal., September 24, 1883, Mary, daughter of R. P. Lively, aged 1 year and 21 days. Death has grievously afflicted this family of late, robbing it of three of its inmates within about 14 months. First, little six-year-old Edith was taken. About six months later, the mother, Sr. Annie Lively, fell asleep, leaving little Mary and brother in the care of their grandmother, Sr. Mary Carman. Now only little Frank and his father remain. The funeral was held from the house. Words of comfort and hope were spoken by the writer. J. D. RICE.
International Tract and Missionary Society.
THE International Tract and Missionary Society was organized Aug. 13, 1874. It has furnished health and religious publications to co-operative missions and individuals in every State and Territory in the United States, and to every civilized nation on the globe. During 1883 it placed in free public libraries in this country over 6,000 volumes of standard religious books at a cost of over $3,000, two-thirds of which was donated by other funds and the publishers. It has also placed valuable books in many libraries in England, and supplied reading-rooms with health and religious periodicals.
It has a free reading-room, No. 371, Third Avenue, New York City, where it will keep constantly on hand Health and Temperance publications to furnish co-operating missions and branch offices on the Atlantic Coast and in Europe. William J. Boynton, 200 East 27th Street, manager and city missionary.
It has also a free reading-room 316 Fremont Street, San Francisco, Cal., from which place all ships are visited which enter that harbor. Andrew Brorsen and H. C. Palmer, city missionaries.
Free reading-room at H Street, between Sixth and Seventh, East Portland, Oregon. Boston, Mass., J. R. Israel, residence Rowly, Mass. New Bedford, Mass., Mrs. Anna H. Bradford, residence Acushnet, Mass. The ship work at Liverpool, England, is under the charge of Geo. R. Drew, 40 Price Street, Birkenhead, Cheshire, Eng. Eld. A. A. John, 161 Willingham Street, Great Grimsby, Eng. At the above-mentioned places the public are cordially invited.
The society is sustained by the liberalities of friends of missions. Donations by draft or otherwise will be thankfully received and gratefully acknowledged by any of the above-mentioned agents, or Miss M. L. Huntly, Secretary South Lancaster, Mass., U. S. A.
S. N. HASKELL, President.
Oakland Post-Office.
By Editor
It is only because the SIGNS is not a local paper that we have omitted notice of the improved management of the Oakland Post-office. But with the changes which are about to take place in postal matters we now call attention to some things which all the residents in this city ought to understand.
There have been hitherto forty mail boxes in the city; thirty have just been put up, which is a great accommodation to the people. Mr. Dargie has made the greatest efforts, since his appointment, to have our citizens well served. But certain difficulties stand in his way which only the citizens themselves can remove. The P. O. Department rates the offices according to their sales of stamps, cards, and stamped envelopes. Many of the residents of Oakland do business in San Francisco, and purchase their stamps in that city. In this they are doing injustice to their home office by making it impossible to increase the service by carriers. The following items from an address just circulated show the importance of this matter:--
"Owing to its small and insignificant sales, Oakland, with a population double that of Sacramento, has a post-office which ranks lower than the Sacramento post-office.
"So far as the revenue of its post-office is concerned, considering population, Oakland stands on the official record at Washington as the poorest city in the United States. Not a single one stands so low!
"This is because the citizens of Oakland, not understanding the facts above presented, purchase their postage-stamps abroad, and other offices thereby get the credit of the business, which has to pass through the Oakland post-office, though without an adequate force to properly and regularly perform the same."
Heretofore it has been most convenient to send sums of less than one dollar in postage-stamps, and the SIGNS Office has received large quantities thus sent. Heretofore there will be no necessity for this, and now is the time to make a change.
On the first of October the letter-rate will be changed. Single postage on a letter will thereafter be two cents instead of three cents.
Postal notes are for sale at all post-offices. These are no safer, for large sums, than greenbacks; being made "payable to bearer," if lost they cannot be recovered. Therefore money orders are to be preferred. But for small sums they are convenient, and no more hazardous than stamps, as both are liable to be lost, and if lost neither can be recovered. But we request all those doing business with this office to
SEND NO MORE POSTAGE-STAMPS.
We much prefer to buy our stamps as we need them. As we use many of large denominations in our book sales, we can best meet our wants by purchasing at the post-office. This will be no inconvenience to our patrons, but will be a convenience to us, and enable us to do justice to the post-office of our own city.
The above was prepared for last week's paper, but was laid over by mistake.
A Demand Already Supplied.
By Editor
A Baptist clergyman has expressed a desire for a "Baptist Bible, with immersion written on every page and 'watered' with the paper." On this the Christian at Work suggests that each denomination should have its own peculiar Bible, and then, all of the 75,000 ministers of the country preach sermons synchronously on the text, "That they may be one as we are." It seems to us that there would be no more inconsistency in preaching from different Bibles than in teaching so many varying doctrines from one Bible.
As to a "Bible with immersion written on every page" (where that subject is alluded to), we believe the one in common use fills the bill; and we always supposed, judging from their teaching, that the Baptists held that opinion. We have never heard of any one, who had read the Bible in the absence of pedobaptist explanations, having any difficulty in seeing immersion written on its pages. On the contrary we have known many people who had read it under their tutorship who could not even then see baptism in any other light than the example of the Saviour—immersion. And we are of opinion that any set of teachers, acquainted with the original language, who would construe the Greek word baptizo, to mean "sprinkle," would not scruple to misconstrue its English synonym in the same way. As the substitution of sprinkling for immersion was made by order of the Roman Catholic Church rather than by authority of the Scriptures, it makes no difference, in its bearing upon the change, whether the word representing the ordinance be Greek or English. The Baptists have already a version of the New Testament (the Bible Union Version) which has "immersion written on every page," yet they themselves do not generally use it—having practically pronounced the verdict that it adds nothing to the common version in its teachings regarding the original and consequently the only mode of administering the ordinance of baptism.
General Conference and Camp-Meeting Notes
By Editor
A HEAVY rain visited Oakland the afternoon and evening of September 29. All nature looks refreshed. Our camp-meeting was held about the right time.
GENERAL CONFERENCE is appointed to convene November 8, at Battle Creek, Mich. The annual meetings of the several Associations in Battle Creek will be held in connection with it.
CHURCH quarterly meetings, October 6, 7. The regular time for Tract and Missionary quarterly meetings is one week later, October 13, 14. All these should be well attended. There should be vigilance all along the line now.
OF the Southern Indiana Camp-meeting, Eld. Lane says:—
"We did not expect to see a large turnout, as our brethren are few and scattered in Southern Indiana, but we were happily disappointed to meet one hundred and fifty Sabbath-keepers on the ground, fully fifty of whom have embraced the truth during the past summer."
This is a good note of progress. Indiana is a good field, in which we take a deep interest, having many acquaintances in the churches there. We are glad that her laborers are having so good success in the work of the truth.
Social Meetings—Queries.
By Editor
1. Is it advisable for the leader of a social or prayer-meeting to read a long chapter at the opening?
It is not advisable to read any chapter at all. A few verses for a lesson, presenting a single prominent idea of instruction or duty, is better than more. A few words concerning the thought in this lesson would be in place.
2. How much time is it allowable for a leader to spend in looking up his chapter and the hymns, after the brethren and sisters have come together?
Not a moment after the time to commence the meeting. The proper way is to have both the lesson and the opening hymn selected before coming to the meeting. Then commence on time; if all are not in, do not wait. Commencing promptly is the way to lead them to come promptly.
3. How many hymns should be sung in a social meeting?
Generally but one, and that at opening. To take time to look up a hymn, and then sing a long hymn after the first season of prayer, or at any time during the meeting, is a most effectual way to kill the meeting. A single verse, struck up at once, is best. Church members, and especially the leaders, should become familiar with good devotional hymns, and not be dependent on the book for a verse to sing at proper times in a social meeting.
It should be the prayerful study of a leader how to make the meetings profitable. To be so they must be spirited, alive. Cold, dull, formal meetings are a discouragement to the church.
4. How long should a social meeting continue?
Generally an hour is plenty long. Better fall short of that time than go beyond it. In a small company, if the meetings are properly carried on every one will have time to both speak and pray in one hour. If not properly led, if they are dull and tedious, an hour is too long. But under some circumstances it may be advisable to run beyond the hour; but not as a rule.
These questions have been some time on our table. We beg pardon for the delay. The answers are the result of long experience and careful observation.