p. 13 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 13, No. 49. (12/22/1887)

Work for Every Willing Worker

By S. S. Times

IN every proper field of labor, there is more than work enough for all the workers; hence no man who is willing to work need be without his share in life's service. Yet there is not the same work for every workman; and it is for the Lord of the harvest to assign to every man his work. Here is where so many stumble, and stand idle. They have their own idea of the work for which they are suited, and they wait for an opening in that line. It may be that there is work for them carrying water to the harvesters, or scaring away the crows, while there is nothing for them to do in cradling or sheaf-binding. If a man is not wanted to superintend a Sabbath-school, and he is incompetent as a teacher, he may be of service to the entire school by assisting the librarian, or by keeping disorderly boys in check just outside the door. A good door-keeper is as valuable, in his sphere, as a good preacher is in his. In this field, as in others, the harvest truly is plenteous, and the laborers are few. Why so many persons say that there is nothing for them to do in their church is that they are unready to take hold of the work which is waiting for them, and they are waiting for work which will never be ready for them.—S. S. Times.

Do All Things Heartily

"AND whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Col. 3:23.

A SEALSKIN JACKET.

By Rose Terry Cooke

A STORY FOR GIRLS.

(Concluded.)

For a week the thought grew and grew in Nelly's mind, till it blossomed and bore fruit. She knew her father dealt at Cantrell's, so one day she stopped in there, and, in a very shamefaced way, selected a pair of sealskin gloves and had them charged to Mr. Ray.

She did not think then how and where she was to wear those gloves without being found out.

The next Sunday her father was away, gone to New York on business, and her mother had a bad headache. So Nelly drew on the pretty, soft gauntlets, as soon as she left the house, putting her kid gloves into her pocket, and she wore them again to make some calls on the following Saturday.

"You look real nice," said Sue Beers, turning her around like a dressed figure in a shop-window to inspect her. "Real nice; all but that old cashmere dress. I do wish you had a velvet skirt or even a silk. That dress is awfully shabby. It looks too mean for anything."

"I wish I had," sighed Nelly, cast down not only by the consciousness of her old dress, but also of the new gloves which she had gotten dishonestly.

Next Sunday both her father and mother went to church, and the seal gloves had to be left in her drawer. She had cold fingers, for she would not carry her plush muff, and the day was one of midwinter. Sue Beers whispered loudly, "Where's your seal gloves?" And Nelly hushed her with a start and a glance at her mother, who, however, had not heard the question.

It happened soon after that Ella Brown's father died, her only parent living, and she went into deep black. A bright idea struck Sue Beers. She hurried across to Nell's desk at recess and begged her to come with her into one of the unused recitation-rooms.

"O Nell!" she exclaimed, as soon as the door was shut, "I've been struck with a thought, as old Dr. Hodge says. Ella Brown's father is dead, you know, and I don't believe but what you could buy her blue velvet dress. It would look just lovely with your jacket and your hair."

"O Sue! you don't suppose she would sell it, do you?"

"She! I guess she would, quicker'n scat. She'd sell her head, if anybody wanted to buy such an empty shell."

"But I haven't got a bit of money, Sue, and I know father wouldn't any more buy it!"

"That's too bad. Haven't you got any kind of jewelry, though? She'd just as lieves wear any kind with black. She don't know any better."

Nell, too, was struck with a thought. Her one great treasure was a beautiful little watch that had belonged to her father's grandmother; a dainty thing no bigger than a large locket, with a cherub's head painted on the back, and set round with a row of tiny diamonds, too small to be very valuable, but bright as a circle of living sparks. Nelly's grandmother had left her this watch in her will. It was so precious she was not allowed to wear it; but last summer she had had a birthday party, and when the girls all went up into her room for their hats, as they went away, she had shown them this watch, of which she was very proud. Ella Brown was so charmed with it that she offered Nelly her own watch and her garnet pin and ear-rings in exchange for it on the spot; but Nelly would not listen to the proposal.

Now, however, she began to think it possible that Ella would give her the blue velvet dress for her watch, and the more she thought of it the more tempting the idea grew. After school she drew Sue Beers aside and said to her:—

"Sue, would you mind asking Ella if she would give me that velvet dress if I would give her my watch? Say give; for, of course, I'd rather tell that she gave it to me."

"Oh, I know she would!" exclaimed Sue. "She raved about that watch, and it is yours, isn't it? Your very, very own?"

"Why, of course, Grandma Gordon left it to me in her will, when I was a little baby."

Sue went over to Ella's and the silly, motherless girl was only too ready to give Nelly her dress in exchange for the beautiful watch she had so long coveted. The next Saturday a large box was left at Mr. Ray's door, just at twilight, and Nelly, who was on the watch, took it to her room, and appeared in the dress at her mother's chamber door the next morning, with her hat on and her jacket hanging over her arm.

"Look, mamma!" she said, "this was Ella Brown's dress before she went into mourning. She sent it to me. Isn't it awfully handsome?"

Mrs. Ray was astonished and displeased.

"It is much too valuable a thing for you to accept, Nelly. I am sure your father won't like it."

"O, mother dear! it's no use to Ella. Why shouldn't she give it away, if she wants to?"

Tears stood in Nelly's bright eyes, and she looked so lovely in the soft gentian-blue folds of the dress, her hair showing all its golden lights against the contrasting color, and her face glowing with pleasure, that her mother had not the heart or the courage to protest any more or forbid her to wear it, and her father, being in New York again on business, did not see the new dress until the next Sunday, as he only returned late Saturday night.

Nelly had dressed herself and slipped quietly off to Sunday-school while he was breakfasting, and was already in the pew arrayed in all her finery except the sealskin gloves, when he entered.

Mr. Ray looked at her with an expression of stern astonishment, and Nelly began to feel very miserable; but, of course, nothing could be said then and there. On the way home, however, Mr. Ray did speak, but not to Nelly.

"Amanda," said he, "how could you get Nelly such an expensive dress? I can't afford it, everybody knows as well as you do; and how do you think her finery looks beside my shabby coat and your plain bonnet? I wonder, by the way, that Anne should give you such a bare-looking hat."

"Oh! it had five lovely plumes on it, John; but I put them on Nelly's hat—it looked so shabby with her new jacket."

"A—h! and for the same reason you bought her that velvet dress?"

"Oh! no. I did not buy that at all. Ella Brown gave it to her. It was a new dress of hers, but her father died, you know, and she went into mourning, so she couldn't wear it."

"Then it must go back to Ella Brown. I cannot have Nelly wearing other people's finery, such as I can't afford to buy for her. You must do it up to-night, Amanda, and either you or I must take it back to-morrow."

"O John! I do hate to."

"Very well, then, I will."

Nothing was said to Nelly, who passed the rest of the day in anxious suspense. Mr. Ray never found serious fault with his children or punished them on Sunday—it was a day of peace in his household; but Nelly felt some impending event, and dreaded to have Monday arrive.

After she was at last asleep, Mrs. Ray went into her room and took down the velvet dress from her wardrobe. Behind it she saw a pair of new sealskin gloves, hanging on a lower peg. She had never seen them before, and thinking Anne had sent them with the coat she said to Mr. Ray, who had come upstairs:—

"I didn't know there were gloves sent with that coat, John."

"There were none," he said. "What do you mean?"

"Why, there are a pair hanging in Nelly's wardrobe, and I thought they must have come with the jacket."

Mr. Ray took the candle and soon brought back the gloves.

"Look here!" he said. "Here is Cantrell's stamp on the lining. What does this mean?"

Mrs. Ray did not know. They exchanged looks of painful apprehension, but said no more. Nothing could be done till morning.

Nelly was not allowed to go to school the next day; and very soon after breakfast Ella Brown was surprised to receive a call from Mr. Ray.

"Ella," said he, "I have brought back the dress you gave Nelly. It was very kind of you, but I do not like to have her wear anything so expensive."

"But I don't want it back. I won't have it! I can't wear it, and I want to keep the watch," she said, crossly.

"Watch! What watch?" he asked.

And then it all came out. Ella was angry and impertinent, and at last burst into tears; but Mr. Ray was firm, and she had to give him back Nelly's pretty bauble, and resume her own property.

Next he went to Cantrell's, and found Nelly had bought the gloves there and had them charged to him; and as they were but a little worn, they took them back at a heavy discount. Then Mr. Ray went to his office heart-sick about his child, yet resolved to give her the whole benefit of the lesson she so evidently needed.

He was a man of few words, and all he said to her that night was:—

"Nelly, do you remember I said to you that a sealskin jacket would cost you twice its price? It has cost much more. It made you so selfish that you were willing to strip your mother's bonnet to make yours prettier; so dishonest that you bought gloves without my leave, and had them charged to me; so untruthful that you gave your mother to understand that dress was a gift from Ella Brown, when you had really overpaid her for it. I shall not trust the watch in your hands till you prove your fitness for its possession; and as for the jacket, it is your Aunt Anne's.

She did not think I did you justice, because I said it would increase your love of dress, and lead you into trouble, when she wanted to lend it to you for the winter. I consented unwillingly to put you to the test. I feared, yet I hoped you could bear it, Eleanor, and you have entirely failed. The jacket has cost dearer things than money."

Nelly could not speak. She buried her face in her hands; she was candid enough to see fully and most painfully what she had done.

The lesson was not lost on her, hard as it was, and both her father and mother lived to be glad of Aunt Anne's experiment; but to this day Nelly has never again wished for a sealskin jacket.—Rose Terry Cooke.

The Home Circle.

By S. C. Allen

WHO OF US KNOW?

Who of us know The heart-aches of the men we meet Each day in passing on the busy street, The woes and cares that press them, Forebodings that distress them— Who of us know?

Who of us think Of how hot tears have traced the smiling cheek Of some we meet who would not dare to speak The pangs they feel, the burdens that they bear, Each hour that passes through the solemn year— Who of us think?

Who of us care To try and think and know their pain and grief, And help to bring to breaking hearts relief, To help to bear the burdens of their care By tender word and loving look and prayer— Who of us care? —S. C. Allen.

FRIED FOODS.

By Marion Harland

WHAT the spit is to the English cook, and the bain-marie to the French, the frying-pan is to the American. The Canadian lumberman slings his soup-pot over his pack; the British sportsman cuts a stick, trims it, and impales his game over or before the embers; our native who "roughs it" cares for no kitchen utensil beyond the culinary vade mecum of his grandmothers. In it he grills bacon, venison, and fish, makes gravy, fries flapjacks, and stews the maple sugar and water that is to drench them, boils water for tea, coffee, and shaving, and washes the dishes when what was prepared in it has been eaten.

The dietetic chord for the day is sounded at our national breakfast in fried chops, fried cutlets, fried eggs, fried ham or bacon, fried fish, fried fish-balls, fried potatoes, fried sausage, fried tripe, and fried beefsteak. The relative mirror is indicated in fried buckwheat or other griddle-cakes, fried mush or hominy, or, what some prefer to all these, fried bread. Luncheon and dinner maintain the theme in fried vegetables of all sorts, in fritters and pancakes, and, if supper be served, croquettes, fried oysters, and doughnuts "give the diapason closing full."

The reasons for the preference we display for this mode of cookery are neither various nor many. It is the easiest way of making ready raw material or "left-overs" for the table. The steady, slow simmer that from toughness brings forth tenderness; the steaming, roasting, boiling—to perfect which attention must be paid to degrees of heat, to basting and turning—require skill and time. Our middle-class women are overladen with work, and ambitious to accomplish what they consider as higher things than cookery. What can be hurried up is "put through" in what Americans (and no other people) call "less than no time." The frying-pan makes short work in unrighteousness of whatever is cast into its gaping maw. The housewife—with no conception of the valuable truth that cooking of the right sort will take care of itself, if once put properly in train, while she is busy with other matters—delays setting about it until the margin of time is reduced to a minimum.

The best writers on dietetics proscribe fried foods so unsparingly that even she whose chief aim in the day is to run through a given quantum of labor, might pause to read and ponder. The pernicious properties of hot grease and substances soaked in it are published in the market-place of medical and domestic journals. "As a broad rule," says Dr. Fothergill, "the harder the fat, the less digestible is it." When all that is volatile and soluble is driven out of it by rapid heating and cooking, and the ever nauseous touch of calcined grease is superadded, the digestive organs give over trying to assimilate it.

Yet our dear sisters continue to fry everything that can be fried; to grow sallow and spleeny; and to take patent medicines to patch up the coats of their stomachs.—Marion Harland, in Journal of Reconstructives.

THE DYNAMOGRAPH.

THE following interesting description of the dynamograph, an electric type-writer and automatic telegraph receiver, is from the Baltimore Sun, and will be interesting reading, especially to those who are more or less familiar with ordinary type-writers and telegraphic instruments:—

The dynamograph in appearance somewhat resembles an ordinary mechanical type-writer. It has a key-board, and the types are placed on steel bars, which play upon a common center, as is the case with the type-writer. The motive power used is electricity, by means of which evenness of action is assured. No matter how heavily or how lightly the keys are struck, the impression on the paper is the same. A remarkable feature of the invention used as a type-writer is that the carriage moves automatically both forward and backward. When the end of the line is reached, the carriage returns to the starting-point without the aid of the operator, and the paper bar moves one notch, so that all that is required of the operator is to depress the keys.

The most important field for the new invention is said to be in connection with the telegraph. It is said at the Patent Office that the instrument can be used both as a transmitter and receiver of intelligence over a single wire, no matter how great the distance may be. The receiving instrument does not require the attendance of an operator, but prints the dispatch automatically. The instruments at both ends of the line print the dispatch sent, and so a safe-guard against mistakes is provided. It is claimed that the electric type-writer will be valuable as a local aid to business, and offers many advantages over the telephone. One advantage claimed for it is that, no matter whether a person called up is at his place of business or not, the message can be printed through the medium of his type-writer, and will be there for perusal on his return. The dispatches printed are in letter form and not an endless tape.

This instrument, which has been christened the dynamograph, is considered by Patent Office officials to be one of the greatest inventions upon which patents have been issued. The electricians do not stint their praise, and are positive that the machine will greatly simplify business intercommunication.

The Meaning of Good Luck

BAD luck is simply a man with his hands in his pockets and a pipe in his mouth, looking on to see how it is coming out. Good luck is a man of pluck, with his sleeves rolled up and working to make it come out right.

Look Out for Mother

Look out for mother; she seldom looks out for herself.

Health and Temperance.

By India Methodist Watchman

APPETITE SLAVES.

THE man who loves tobacco, and uses it in a respectable way—if there may be said to be any respectable way, which we doubt—has an abnormal appetite. To abandon it wholly might seem to be one of the most difficult things of his life. But there is another man who loves intoxicating liquors, and his appetite sometimes brings grief to his friends, if not to himself. The man who uses tobacco has little or no sympathy with the man who uses liquors. He says, "I would not make a fool of myself, and that man ought to be ashamed of himself to allow his appetite to run away with him." But hold, my friend; that man's appetite does not run away with him more than yours with you. You are in the very same boat. In the estimation of many you are quite as silly. Your appetite is quite as abnormal and selfish, only he takes liquor and you take tobacco. Before God, the beam in your eye is about the same size as the beam in his eye. To some people you are equally filthy and disagreeable. But you call yourself a Christian, while he calls himself a sinner. Does God overlook your pious selfishness, and condemn the other because appetite does not take the same selfish turn that yours does?—India Methodist Watchman.

HOW TO BE A "NOBODY."

By Scientific American

It is easy to be nobody, and the Watchman tells how to do it: Go to the drinking-saloon to spend your leisure time. You need not drink much now, just a little beer or some other drink. In the meantime, play dominoes, checkers, or something else to kill time, so that you will be sure not to read any useful books. If you read anything, let it be the dime novel of the day. Thus go on keeping your stomach full and your head empty, and yourself playing time-killing games, and in a few years you will be a first-class nobody, unless you should turn out a drunkard or a professional gambler, either of which is worse than nobody. There are any number of young men hanging about saloons just ready to graduate and be nobodies.

LIVER AS FOOD.

THE California Scientific Press says: "We cannot too strongly denounce the use of liver and kidneys as food for man. These organs are constantly charged with the worn-out excrementitious matters of the system, the presence of which, when rightly understood, is disgustingly offensive to the taste. Their presence is evinced by the fact that these portions of an animal are always the parts first subject to decomposition. They make very good food for hens and dogs, but for man—never!"

Health Rules for Cold Weather

The Spaniards have a proverb that "the man who sits with his back to a draught sits with his face to his coffin." This is the time of year to remember health rules. Many a cold will be taken in churches. The people will walk to church in the warm sun of some of the autumn days wearing their overcoats. On entering the building, colder than the outside, having neither sun nor fire, they will remove their coats and sit down in a perspiration. The true method is to carry the coat on the arm, and put it on when entering a cold room and ceasing the exercise.—Selected.

Proper Storage of Fruit

The keeping of fruit requires a uniform, low temperature, just above the freezing point. Fruit, in ripening, gives off carbonic-acid gas, which is deleterious, hence fruit should not be stored in the house cellar, if it can be avoided. Where there is no other place for the fruit, then the ventilation of the cellar must be carefully looked to.

Winebibbers and Riotous Eaters

“BE not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh.” Prov. 23:20.

SECULAR.

—Copper has been discovered near Stamford, Vt. —Gold in paying quantities has been discovered in Wales. —War between Russia and Austria now seems not improbable. —A cyclone unroofed several buildings at Tucson, A. T., on the 12th inst. —Natural gas, in considerable quantities, has been struck at Santa Ana, Cal. —Twenty-two persons were drowned in the recent hurricane off the Orkney Islands. —Thirty counties in Missouri have, under the local option law, voted in favor of prohibition. —It is calculated that this year’s product of the Michigan iron mines will aggregate 4,700,000 tons. —The seed and oil mills at Duffield, England, were destroyed by fire a few days since. The loss is $750,000. —December 12, a large wholesale boot and shoe house in Chicago was burned, causing a loss of $250,000. —Governor Bodwell, of Maine, died suddenly on the morning of the 15th inst., of congestion of the lungs. —Harper, the wrecker of Fidelity Bank, Cincinnati, has been sentenced to ten years in the Ohio penitentiary. —At Winchester, Pa., December 16, five men were instantly killed by the explosion of a boiler, and three others were injured. —A law has been passed in Waldeck, Germany, forbidding the granting of a marriage license to a person addicted to the liquor habit. —The books of a single firm at Fresno, Cal., show that 4,000,000 pounds of dried fruit have been shipped from that place this season. —A farm-house near Wessington, Dakota, was burned on the night of the 10th inst. and seven out of a family of nine persons perished in the flames. —Another Kentucky feud culminated the other day in the killing of seven men, the wounding of several others, and the burning of a number of houses. —The California and Oregon Railway was completed on the 17th inst., and the entire trip from San Francisco, Cal., to Portland, Or., may now be made by rail. —Over 250 deaths from scarlet fever have occurred in Paterson, N. J., in little over one month. Gross negligence all around is alleged as the cause for the epidemic. —Fast trains on the Central and Union Pacific roads now make the run between Omaha and San Francisco in seventy hours—two days and twenty-two hours. —Joseph Houser (colored), recently appointed pension agent, was seized by a mob at Laforge, Mo., a few days since, and beaten until he was in a serious condition. —The contract for the new tunnel under Lake Michigan to be taken four miles out from shore for the new Chicago water works, has been let. The tunnel will cost a million dollars. —Under date of December 15, a general snow-storm, the heaviest in the memory of the oldest settlers, is reported throughout Western Texas. At Cisco and San Angelo the snow is six inches deep. —Owing largely to a disastrous fire which has closed the famous Hecla and Calumet copper mine, Lake Superior, for at least two years, there has been a large advance in the price of that metal. —Eight men were killed, and over forty were wounded in a riot that occurred during the recent election in Jamauive, in the State of Tamaulipas, Mexico. All of the ballot boxes were destroyed. —It is now known that the ship, Alfred Watts, which sailed from Philadelphia for Japan early in October, has been lost. The officers and crew numbered twenty-seven men, only two of whom escaped. —The Mexican Congress adjourned on the 15th inst. The most important measures passed were bills authorizing new loans of £10,500,000, and compulsory education in Federal districts and Territories. —A late London paper says: "Nearly 20,000 men will find employment for the next four years in the construction of the big canal that is immediately to be made for the passage of ocean ships between Liverpool and Manchester." —At Eufaula, Ala., the other day, two brothers, aged 18 and 20 years respectively, got drunk and murdered an older brother, aged 27. When the murderers found that their brother was dead, one whistled, and danced in his blood. —A mischievous boy in Portland, Or., lost his head in a cracker factory, a few days since, by putting it over the edge of an elevator in order to throw a cracker at someone below. When the elevator reached the second floor his head was cut off. —A bill has been introduced into the United States Senate to regulate immigration, and provide that any immigrant who shall come from a foreign port to any port within the United States, shall, before being permitted to land, exhibit a certificate from the United States Consul for the port of clearance of said vessel, stating that said immigrant is not a convict, pauper, idiot, or insane person, and that he is possessed of sufficient means to support himself for a period of six months. A bill has also been introduced authorizing the United States’ authorities to expel from the country any objectionable foreigner.

Obituary.

NEDRY.—Died of consumption, in San Francisco, Cal., December 8, 1887, Sarah A. Nedry, aged 48 years, 1 month, and 26 days. Sister Nedry had been a sufferer for fifteen years, but the comfort of the Christian’s hope has been her solace through it all. She embraced the truth in Elmore, Ohio, when Elder I. D. Van Horn held a tent-meeting there in 1869. She fell sweetly asleep in Jesus, and rests in hope. The services were conducted by the writer. A. T. J.

OTIS.—Died on Thursday, December 8, 1887, at her home in Petaluma, of pneumonia complicated with heart disease and general debility, Mary Jewell Otis, aged 79 years.

She had long cherished the hope that she should live to greet her Redeemer; and during her sickness she repeatedly expressed this desire; but seeing that it was not so to be she became reconciled to die. She took part in the Advent Movement of 1844; and accepted the Third Angel’s Message and light of the Sabbath under the instruction of Brother M. G. Kellogg, at Oakland, Cal., and was ready to welcome Brethren Loughborough and Bourdeau to Petaluma when they began the work on this coast, and it was in her house that they lodged at that time.

Elder E. R. Jones gave a very impressive discourse at the funeral, from Rev. 21:4, “There shall be no more death.” F. J. OTIS. (Review and Herald please copy.)

NELLIS.—Died, December 7, 1887, in St. Helena, Cal., of paralysis of the heart, Brother Sylvester Nellis, aged 62 years. Brother Nellis was a veteran of the Mexican war, and spent more than twenty years in Australia. He had been a member of the M. E. Church for more than thirty years.

During the tent-meeting held in Calistoga, in the summer of 1886, Brother Nellis accepted the present truth, and united with the Calistoga church at the time of its organization. Afterward, locating in St. Helena, he united by letter with the St. Helena church, of which he was a worthy member at the time of his death. During the brief time that he was connected with us he was constantly seeking for light, and his growth in the grace of God was very manifest. Because of his faithfulness and devotion he endeared himself to all.

His death was very sudden, with scarce a moment’s warning. At the close of a day’s work, he retired early, feeling as well as usual. Sometime between seven and eight o’clock in the evening, with arms folded upon his breast, and without any apparent struggle, his life ceased. We fully believe he sleeps in Jesus. He leaves a wife and two married children and other relatives to mourn their loss. Sermon by the writer to an attentive and sympathizing audience in the new church at Calistoga, from 1 Thess. 4:18. H. A. ST. JOHN.

News and Notes.

By Editor

RELIGIOUS.

—Eight millions of Indians in Mexico have never seen a copy of the word of God.

—There are 600 native newspapers in India, all of which, with the exception of about half a dozen, are bitterly opposed to Christianity.

—It is said that the Province of Honan, China, has a population of fifteen millions. Thus far, but one missionary has entered that field.

—It is estimated that there are over 700,000 Poles in the United States. They are almost universally Romanists, are very clannish, and can be reached only by a native ministry.

—The London Christian says that “the progress of Romanism in the Protestant Church of England is painfully indicated by the fact that praying and offering masses for the dead are greatly on the increase.”

—The English Church receives in tithes about $20,000,000 a year. Of this amount $5,000,000 is expended in schools, hospitals, church buildings, etc., and the remaining $15,000,000 goes to pay the salaries of the clergy.

—The anti-organites of the United Presbyterian Church held a convention a few days since in Xenia, Ohio, and resolved to withdraw from that communion, in case the General Assembly refuses to yield to their demands, and exclude instrumental music from their churches.

—Rev. Hugh O. Pentecost, of Newark, N. J., has resigned his position as pastor of the Bellevue Avenue Congregational Church. His prominence in the labor movement and candidacy for mayor on that ticket, and his utterances in regard to the Chicago anarchists, were the cause.

—In the village of Adrianople, the Roman Catholic Propaganda has been making such rapid progress among the adherents of the Greek Church that the Bulgarian Archbishop at Adrianople has taken alarm and addressed a complaint direct to the Czar. The Archbishop desires to have a restraint imposed upon the Roman Catholic missionaries.

—Since 1850, the population of the United States has increased 116 per cent.; Protestantism, 185 per cent.; Romanism, 294 per cent. Protestant ministers have increased 173 per cent.; Roman priests, 391 per cent.; Protestant churches have increased 125 per cent.; Romish churches, 447 per cent. In view of these facts, the question: “Does the increase of Romanism threaten the life of the republic?” is pertinent.

Appointments.

By J. P. Gardiner

NEBRASKA STATE MEETING.

The State meeting for Nebraska will be held at the mission rooms, 1505 E Street, Lincoln, January 11-18. We desire to have at this meeting a full report of labor from all parts of the State. All Tract Society officers, all our ministers, canvassers, and Bible-workers in the State are urgently requested to be present, as important plans will there be laid for future work.

Where it is convenient to do so, it would be well to bring bedding, as a large attendance is expected. Board and lodging-room will be furnished free.

J. P. GARDINER.

LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, MISSION.

By A. J. Cudney

THE Lincoln Mission will resume its work January 15, in connection with the State meeting and the special drill that follows.

We expect that the attendance will be much larger than ever before since the mission started. The Bible instruction and instruction in the canvassing work will be given free as in the past, and the board will be only $2.00 per week, and a little help in the house-work. The board is 25 cts. higher than last summer on account of the fuel being more expensive. If our brethren make liberal donations in the line of provisions, we can make the expenses still lighter.

In this connection we would suggest that boxes of provisions might be brought as baggage by those coming to the State meeting. It would be well for each church to work this matter up as soon as possible and have a good supply in readiness at that time. Potatoes might be shipped, in fair weather, in any quantities, but should be shipped early in the week, so they can be taken from the depot as early as Thursday.

In addition to the instruction in the Bible and canvassing work, there will be a chance for those who desire to receive instruction in book-keeping, especially such as will fit them to keep church records, secretaries' and librarians' books, etc., shorthand writing, music, grammar, etc. These studies will cost a trifling sum each week.

Those wishing to attend should write at once and state what studies will be taken, especially if shorthand is to be taken, as the text-books will have to be ordered from the East for this study.

Address, A. J. Cudney, 1505 E Street, Lincoln, Nebraska. NEB. CONF. COM.

Publishers' Department.

By Editor

RECEIPTS.

NOTICE.—The change of figures on the address labels will be in all cases a sufficient receipt for money sent for the paper. If these changes do not appear in due time, and if books ordered by mail are not received, please notify us. All other business is acknowledged below.

LONDON MISSION.—A friend $16.

CALIFORNIA CONFERENCE FUND.—Lemoore per L A Scott $2.50, Healdsburg per G W Petway $7, Luella Hail $6.

CALIFORNIA T. AND M. SOCIETY.—Dist No 2 Williams $3.25, Dist No 4 San Francisco $16.25, Dist No 6 Riverside $14, Dist No 3 Mrs A Misselt $15.

SEVERAL hundred subscriptions to the SIGNS expire during this month. Please renew at once so as to avoid losing any number of the paper. We will send the remaining numbers of this year free to all who subscribe now for 1888. The address label on your SIGNS shows the date to which your subscription is paid.

AGENTS WANTED

By Editor

To canvass for the Pacific Health Journal, a 32-page monthly magazine of hygiene and temperance; price, $1.00 per year, or with the premium book—"Practical Manual and Cooking Recipes"—$1.40 postpaid. Terms to agents and clubs sent on application. Address, Pacific Health Journal, 1059 Castro Street, Oakland, Cal.

TO LOCAL TRACT AND MISSIONARY SOCIETIES.

By Editor

MANY clubs of from 10 to 100 copies of the Signs expire in December and January. Please look at the address label on your package of papers this week, and if your subscription is about to run out please renew at once. Terms to clubs—sent to one name and address—$1.50 per copy.

The International Tract and Missionary Society, at its last annual session, indorsed the Signs of the Times by the following resolution:—

WHEREAS, The Signs of the Times is our pioneer missionary journal, and finds favor with the people, while it conveys to them the principles of the Third Angel's Message; therefore,

Resolved, That we recommend to State T. and M. Societies to take as large clubs as they can use to advantage, and that we urge all ministers, colporters, and the members of local missionary societies, to make constant and strenuous effort to place the paper in the hands of the people.

No pains will be spared on the part of both editors and business managers to keep the Signs of the Times up to the standard which it has already attained, and to make it even better than ever before. Their only aim is to make it an acceptable medium to convey present truth, and they ask the hearty co-operation of all lovers of the common cause, in giving it the circulation which its merits demand. Nothing more than this is desired; and this much is due, not to the paper, but to the cause of truth.

HEALDSBURG COLLEGE,

HEALDSBURG, CAL.

A MODEL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION,

ESTABLISHED IN 1882.

FIVE YEARS OF GREAT PROSPERITY BECAUSE FOUNDED ON SOUND PRINCIPLES. LABOR COMBINED WITH STUDY.

FOUR courses of instruction, classical, scientific, biblical, and normal; also preparatory instruction given in a primary and a grammar course.

Instruction thorough and practical, not only in the collegiate courses but especially so in the preparatory courses.

Discipline rigid, yet parental, combined with strong moral and religious influences.

Expenses moderate. The whole cost to the student for tuition, board, lodging, lights, washing,—all expenses except for books and clothes, from $16 to $22 per month of four weeks.

Spring term begins January 3, 1888. For descriptive catalogue and further information address the principal, W. C. GRAINGER, Healdsburg, Cal.

BATTLE CREEK COLLEGE,

BATTLE CREEK, MICH.

AN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.

FOUNDED IN 1874.

SPECIAL ADVANTAGES.

Six Departments of Instruction: namely, Collegiate, Theological, English, Preparatory, Manual Training, and Primary and Intermediate. A large faculty of competent teachers. Thorough instruction. A reading-room, and a well-selected library. Good school appliances, apparatus, and chemical laboratory. Healthful and desirable location. High standard of scholarship and morals, and good religious influences.

SPECIAL FEATURES.

Thorough and judicious discipline. Industrial training. Biblical instruction. A Missionary Department. Physical and moral training.

EXPENSES.

In price of board, room-rent, and tuition, this College presents as great inducements as any institution of learning in the land.

For catalogues or further information, address, BATTLE CREEK COLLEGE, Battle Creek, Mich.

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