Earlier text: The Commandments of God and the Faith of JesusAustralia.
By M. C. ISRAEL
In our last report, July 15, it was stated that seventeen meetings had been held at this place. We have now held in all forty-three meetings, and as the result of the labor thus far, forty-six have signed the covenant. Elder Corliss left here August 9 and is now in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, for the purpose of introducing the Third Angel's Message in that Colony. In order to defray the expenses of the meetings here, the plan was adopted of having one of the brethren stand at the door at the close of the service with a box and receive whatever the people were disposed to give for that purpose. These contributions, during the seven weeks' meeting, amounted to $190, enough to pay for hall rent, advertising, railroad fare to and from the place during our stay, and our board and lodging, with a few shillings over. We have sold in all $100 worth of publications and periodicals, besides getting quite a list of subscribers for the Echo. Since the meetings spoken of, regular Sabbath meetings have been kept up in a public hall, also a Sabbath-school. We have not been able to secure a suitable place to hold public meetings evenings, and on Sundays; but we have held Bible-readings nearly every evening at private residences, in different parts of the city, where from fifteen to twenty-five would be present. Last Sabbath the subject of baptism was presented, and on Sunday nine were baptized; others will soon follow and it is expected that a church and missionary society will soon be organized. The brother mentioned in the last report as having invited us to hold readings in the suburbs of this city, went to Majorca, forty miles further in the interior, two weeks ago, where he works on "night shifts" mining, and canvassing for "Thoughts" part of the day. He has taken fourteen orders for the book. He writes that a family of Wesleyans are interested in the truth and offer me a home with them if I will come and hold readings with them and their friends. If they accept the truth they will always be glad for having given the invitation. If it was ever more important at one time than another, that we should pray to the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest, now is that time. A school is very much needed here to educate laborers for the different parts of the work. Schools have been a very efficient means in America, for multiplying laborers, and there is no doubt but that the same kind would produce the same results here: so we shall pray and work for a school. The canvass for "Daniel and Revelation" is progressing, and new recruits are enlisting in the service. Brother Arnold has taken 1,230 orders, and something over two hundred have been taken by others. Brother Arnold has taken orders this week from several intelligent Chinese Christians. One who carries on a mission, subscribed for two copies, one for himself and one for his sister-in-law. Another subscribed for it, and talked considerably about the prophecies: the darkening of the sun and moon, and the falling of the stars. He said "when this come, then Christ, he come." It may be that these men may yet carry the message to their own country. We are all well and of good courage. We are glad to hear that Sister Burnham has arrived safely at the Mission. THE following notes on the lesson are taken bodily from the book, “Christ in the Gospels.” It tells the story of the women at the tomb, and the resurrection of Jesus, in the very words of all the four Gospels. In order fairly to understand the narrative thus woven together, first study carefully the following The figure ¹ in the text indicates that the portion following it has been taken from Matthew’s Gospel. In like manner the figures ² ³ ⁴ indicate the Gospel from which the portions following them are taken, ² indicating Mark, ³ Luke, and ⁴ John. The figure ⁵ indicates that the words following it are not found in any of the four Gospels, but have been either introduced or substituted. The chapter and verses given at the beginning of each section show what portions of each Gospel are incorporated in that section. The words in smaller type, in brackets, are those that are not incorporated in the text either 1st, to avoid redundancy, or 2d, because they do not coalesce with the words that are used in the text, or 3d, because they do not occur in the same relative position in the Gospel from which they came as they do in the other Evangelists, much care having been taken throughout the entire work to preserve the exact sequence of each narrative wherever possible. The figures ¹ ² ³ ⁴ which refer to the different Evangelists (as previously explained), when used within the brackets, only indicate from where the words in the small type are taken, the text proper not being influenced by them. WHAT did he say of himself, and what did his apostles say about him? We summarize the answer, as given in the Bible, by saying that, while conceding and always implying his humanity in the strictest sense, Christ, nevertheless, reported himself to mankind as coming down from Heaven, as coming from God the Father, as being in himself essentially divine, and as bearing with him the credentials, powers, and prerogatives of the God-head in the most absolute sense, and, hence, as God manifested in the flesh. The Jews so understood him, and on this ground charged him with blasphemy. He knew that he was so understood, and meant to be so understood. The apostles so understood him, and so preached him after his ascension into Heaven. Paul correctly stated their doctrine when he said—"For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." It is not by any means immaterial whether we accept or reject this view of Christ. The operation of our minds and hearts in respect to him will not and cannot be in the one case what it will be in the other. Christ to one who does not believe in his divinity, is not the Christ of whom Paul thought when preaching his gospel, or of whom John thought when he said that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," and that the "Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Any theory which reduces the dogma of Christ's divinity to less than its absolute truthfulness, makes him infinitely less than the Bible makes him, and, in effect, impeaches either his integrity or his knowledge. We do not overstate the truth in saying that Christ, as a teacher, made himself responsible for the doctrine of his own divinity. The apostles received the idea from him, and preached it to others upon his authority. To reject it is in thought essentially to change the Christian system.—Independent. If a man is faithful to the truth, truth will be faithful to him. He need have no fears. His success is a question of time.—Prof. Phelps. Lesson. V.—The Parable of the Rich Man, and Other Parables.
1. On a certain occasion what question was presented to Jesus by one of the company who had gathered around him? “And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.” Luke 12:13. 2. How did Jesus answer him? “And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?” Verse 14. 3. What warning did he then give to all? “And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness; for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” Verse 15. 4. Why should not men be too anxious to gain wealth? Same verse. 5. Who did Jesus then take as a subject of a parable? “And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully.” Verse 16. 6. What perplexed this man? “And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?” Verse 17. 7. What did he decide to do? “And he said, This will I do; I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.” Verse 18. 8. How did he congratulate himself upon his wealth and prosperity? “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” Verse 19. 9. Upon what was he evidently counting?—Upon many years to come. 10. How was he disappointed? “But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall these things be, which thou hast provided?” Verse 20. 11. What question does God ask the foolish rich man? Same verse. 12. What conclusion does Jesus draw from the parable? “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Verse 21. 13. How may such a man become rich toward God? “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven; and come and follow me.” Matt. 19:21. 14. What special instruction did Jesus give his disciples? “And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.” Luke 12:22. 15. Why is it not best to take too much thought for food and clothing? “The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.” Verse 23. 16. How does Jesus illustrate the care which God has over his children? “Consider the ravens; for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them; how much more are ye better than the fowls?” Verse 24. 17. What question did Jesus ask in order to show how vain is all our thought and anxiety without the help and providence of God? “And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?” Verse 25. 18. How did he set home this lesson? “If ye then be not able to do that which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?” Verse 26. 19. What did he next say for the purpose of inspiring implicit trust in God? “Consider the lilies how they grow; they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Verse 27. 20. By what question did he deepen the impression of the truth he had taught? “If then God so clothe the grass, which is to-day in the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?” Verse 28. 21. What direct admonition did he then give them? “And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.” Verse 29. 22. Why is it entirely safe to follow this precept? “For all these things do the nations of the world seek after; and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.” Verse 30. 23. What should be made the chief object in life? “But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Verse 31. 24. What assurance with reference to temporal wants is given to those who follow this precept? Same verse. 25. Why should the children of God dismiss all fear? “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Verse 32. 26. How may this happy state be secured? “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18. 27. Of what is love the fruit? “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.” Gal. 5:22. 28. How is the Spirit of God to be secured? “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Luke 11:13. Chinese Diet.
By Yung Phou Lee
WHEN I was at Lake View, in August, at the New England Assembly, and having a “real nice time” telling the children about China, one day I was accosted by a bright little girl who wished to know what people ate in China, and whether those dreadful stories about eating rats were true. I answered as well as a few words would serve me, but did not satisfy the curiosity of the eager inquirer. Later I devoted a half-hour to talking about the “Daily Food of the Chinese” to some forty boys and girls; and here I repeat the matter for the sake of others curious to learn the truth—trusting a little natural indignation and plain speaking may be excused me. Americans are fond of wonderful stories. Nothing pleases them more than to hear something revolting or strange about other people. Nations and races who resemble them are not worth attention. Hence travelers—knowing fellows, all of them—possibly find it profitable to startle them with accounts as marvelous as they are false. Not that these accounts are always wholly untrue, but that solitary instances and occurrences are magnified to represent habits and customs of a whole people. Belonging to this class of accounts are those relative to the use as food in China of certain animals. I find that many Americans believe that dog soup, cat fricassee, and rat a la mode are dishes to be found daily on every table in the empire. The fact is, that there are some peculiar people637 in China as elsewhere, credulous and superstitious; and some of these believe that the flesh of those animals I have mentioned possesses medicinal properties. For instance, some silly women believe that the flesh of rats restores the hair. Some believe that dog meat and also cat meat renew the blood, and quacks often prescribe it. Then it is also true that there are very poor people who have no money to buy proper food, and therefore subsist upon what they can get, rather than starve. But I have lived fifteen years of my life in China, and have had experience at public banquets, social dinners, and ordinary meals, and in company with all classes of people, but I have never seen cat, dog, or rat served in any form whatever. “What then do the Chinese eat?” Our gardens are prodigal of vegetables; our ponds, rivers, and lakes swarm with fish; our farm-yards are crowded with pigs, land fowls, ducks, and geese; our fields are gilded three times every year with ripening rice. In some sections of the empire wheat and barley are produced; but rice is our usual substitute for bread. These articles make up the every-day food of the people. But there are certain things unknown to your tables that are considered great delicacies by everybody, one of which is edible birds’ nests. Another is sharks’ fins. The Chinese keep very few cows, and it is true that beef is not esteemed as good as pork, and that many will not eat beef on account of religious scruples. Milk, butter, and cheese are almost unknown articles of diet. They think it is robbing the calves to take the milk from the cows.—Yung Phou Lee, in Wide Awake. “It is not work, but worry, that kills,” we say; and we say truly, so far. Work is labor in the direction of the one thing we have to do. Worry is distracting thought about other things than the one thing we are doing. . . . Devotedness intensifies work, while it excludes worry. If we could only be wholly devoted to our proper work in hand, we should never be hindered by that worry that accomplishes nothing, and that destroys much good. This is a truth that is so applicable to the ordinary work of the housekeeper, in her every-day home life, as it is in the realm of the commander of an army, or of the sovereign of an empire. Not many things, but one thing, should have the whole attention for the time being. Attention to the one thing is the “work” that brings good results without breaking down the worker. Distracting thought about the many things is the “worry” that destroys the worrier, even while hindering his present efficiency in labor. It was just at this point that there was the chief difference between Martha of Bethany and Mary of Bethany; albeit this is not the distinction which the commentators are accustomed to find in the record of these two sisters. Martha could seemingly never attend to one thing at a time to the forgetfulness of all things else. Mary could always give herself to the one thing of the hour, regardless of all other concerns. “Martha was distracted [‘cumbered’ our version gives it, but the Revision notes it in the margin as more literally ‘distracted,’ drawn two ways at once,] about much serving.” She was in a worry over the things that she could not do, as well as over those which she had to attend to. Her mind was always a divided mind, never at rest on one thing. Even the cooking of a dinner could not absorb her. She must run from the kitchen to the sitting-room, and concern herself over Mary’s inaction, and over the apparent lack of thoughtful sympathy on the part of Jesus. Had Mary been with her in the kitchen, Martha would have been likely to feel that somebody ought to look after their guest, and so to worry over his being left by himself. Not work, but worry, was what distracted Martha, and hindered her effective serving. . . . In addition to her one occupation for the hour, Martha must always worry herself over other things also. How different it was with Mary! When she sat and listened, she sat and listened—dinner or no dinner. When she gave herself to mourning, she forgot everything else. . . . Although Martha had left her to go out and meet Jesus, Mary could not stir from her attitude of grief until she was spoken to, and told that Jesus wished to see her. When she was moved to an act of loving devotedness, she lavishly poured out her unstinted treasures of affection, as if there were no other use of precious gifts than their bestowal on the then object of her devotedness. Mary always surrendered herself to the one thing she had to occupy her for the moment, with no worrying thought of anything outside of that occupation. And this distinction it is that Jesus seems to emphasize in his passing upon the characteristics of the sisters severally: “Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled [distracted with worry] about many things, but one thing [not many things, but one thing] is needful [and here is the difference between you and your sister]; for Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” In this declaration, it is plain that Jesus approves the method of Mary, and disapproves the method of Martha. It is also plain that Jesus gives Mary the higher place, because of her attention to “one thing,” while Martha fails of that singleness of attention through her worrying anxiety over “many things.” In other words, Mary represents singleness of endeavor; while Martha represents the distractions of worry—in a divided mind. Just here is where commentators generally, as representing human nature generally, are inclined to evade the plain teachings of this incident. Popular sympathy with those who worry while they work, as over against those who work without worry, is so wide-spread, that the feeling is well-nigh universal that Martha’s bustling, fussing, worrying way shows more practical efficiency than Mary’s quiet concentrated, absorbed devotedness; and while it is admitted that Jesus, who knew and loved both sisters well, gave Mary the precedence, the opinion seems to prevail that it must have been in a kind of theoretical, unpractical, sentimental sense that Jesus looked at this case as he did. Mary was a very good, weak sister, who could listen and pray, and look sweetly solemn all day long; but when it came to downright practical every-day living, Martha was worth a dozen Marys. That is the way the average reader looks at these two sisters. Good Dr. David Brown of Aberdeen (of Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown’s Commentary), for example, puts the case as many another has put it, before and since: “The one represents the contemplative, the other the active, style of Christian character. A church full of Marys would perhaps be as great an evil as a church full of Marthas. Both are needed, each to be the complement of the other.” Think of that! A church full of those whose traits Jesus commends would be as great an evil, “perhaps”—yes, perhaps; that is, if Jesus was mistaken in his judgment of the needs of his church in its practical mission on earth,—as a church full of those whose traits Jesus disapproves. Jesus says that only one thing—not “many things,” but only “one thing”—is needful; but our commentators say “both are needed,”—both the character that attends faithfully to one thing at a time, and the character that worries over a great many things also. And here is where the commentators differ so squarely with Jesus himself. It is not that Mary had accepted Jesus as her Lord and Saviour, while Martha had not; for both were his disciples; he loved them both; and the testimony of the one was the testimony of the other to his Messiahship. It is not that Jesus approves a life of inactive contemplation, and that he gives a lower place to zealous activity in his service; for we know that his example and all his teaching were contrary to this idea. But it is that Jesus commends that which all the experience of the human race shows to be a source of power,—singleness of aim, devotedness of purpose, concentration of energy, and an absence of worry over things that are for the moment outside of the realm of one’s personal duty. So far let all the world—especially let all who are of the Church here in this world—be like Mary, and let no woman, nor any child or man, be like Martha; even though Martha was loved and was forgiven, while she was what she was. One thing is better than many things, especially when the one thing is attended to in the absence of worry over all things else. And the truest practical efficiency is ever in devotion to one thing at a time—without worrying.—S. S. Times. LIVE for something, be not idle,
Look about thee for employ.
Sit not down to empty dreaming;
Labor is the sweetest joy.
Folded hands are ever weary,
Selfish hearts are never gay;
Life for thee hath many duties—
Active be, then, while you may. Scatter blessings in thy pathway,
Gentle words and cheering smiles,
Better are than gold or silver,
With their grief-dispelling wiles.
As a pleasant sunshine falleth
Ever on the grateful earth,
So let sympathy and kindness
Gladden well the darkened hearth. Hearts there are oppressed and weary,
Drop the tear of sympathy;
Whisper words of home and comfort,
Give, and thy reward shall be
Joy unto thy soul returning,
From the perfect Fountain-head;
Freely as thou freely givest
Shall the grateful light be shed.
—Sel. Anecdote of Mr. Gladstone.
By J. Rees
ABOUT forty years ago several haulers were employed in carrying pig iron from Brymbo to Queen’s Ferry. Among the number was one William Griffiths, who is still alive. This man, when going down Tinkersdale one day with his load of iron, was accosted by a stranger, who chatted very freely with him. Among other questions the stranger asked how much he got per ton for carrying the iron. “Six and sixpence,” said the carter. “What weight have you on the cart?” “About a ton and a half.” “And what do you pay for gates?” “Eighteen pence.” “How much does it cost to keep the mare?” “Thirteen shillings a week.” Presently they reached the foot of the Mill Hill. “How are you going to get up this hill?” asked the stranger. “Oh, I mun get me shuder and push up here.” “I’ll help you a bit,” said he, and at once put his shoulder to the cart, and pushed up the hill well. When they reached the top the hauler said, “You an’ me’s been as good as a chain horse.” “Well, well,” said the stranger, “I don’t know how the horse’s legs are, but mine ache very much indeed; I suppose you can manage now?” “Yes, thank you,” said the hauler, and, wishing him good-day, they separated. As soon as the stranger was gone, a tradesman asked Griffiths if he knew who had been helping him. “No,” said he, “he’s a perfect stranger to me.” “That was Mr. Gladstone,” said the tradesman. “Mr. Gladstone!” responded the hauler; “I dun know what he’ll think o’ me, then, for I never sir’d him, nor nothin’. I thought he was just some farmer.” —J. Rees. Don't Be too Positive.
By Sel.
Boys, don't be too certain. Remember that nothing is easier than to be mistaken; and if you permit yourself to be so very positive in your mistakes a great many times everybody will lose confidence in what you say. Never make a positive statement unless you know it is as you say. If you have any doubts, or if there is room for any, remove the possibility by examination before speaking, or speak cautiously. Don't be too certain. "John, where is the hammer?" "It is in the corn-crib." "No, it is not there; I have just been looking there." "Well, I know it is; I saw it there not half an hour ago." "If you saw it there, it must be there, of course; but suppose you go and fetch it." John goes to the corn-crib, and presently returns with a small axe in his hand. "Oh, it was the axe I saw; the handle was sticking out from a half-bushel measure; I thought it was the hammer." "But you said positively that you did see the hammer, not that you thought you saw it." There is a great difference between the two answers. Do not permit yourself to make a positive statement even about a small matter unless you are quite sure; for if you do you will find the habit growing upon you, and by-and-by you will begin to make loose replies to questions of great importance. Don't be too certain.—Sel. New Way to Make Gunpowder.
A FRENCH chemist has brought forward a new method of manufacturing gunpowder. The requisite quantity of sulphur is dissolved in sulphide of carbon, and this solution is then mixed with the carbon, which, instead of charcoal, as in other modes of powder making, is cotton or some other cellulose fiber, which is reduced to an impalpable powder. To this mixture is finally added the proper quantity of a saturated solution of saltpeter. The compound is now evaporated and the crystallization broken up, or it is evaporated in a vacuum. A very perfect incorporation of the several substances is thus secured.—Scientific Journal. “Buy the truth, and sell it not.”—Proverbs. Health and Temperance.
By Sel.
RABIES in dogs is attracting much attention of late, principally because of the researches of M. Pasteur, of Paris. Many erroneous ideas are prevalent as to the manifestation of rabies, which add greatly to the danger of the public. The following are some of these errors:— 1. That the disease is more prevalent in dog-days. There is little difference in months, but rather the most cases occur in spring. 2. That a mad dog dreads the water. He drinks freely at first, and readily plunges his nose in water at all stages of the disease, but cannot drink. He has been known to swim streams in his mad excursions. 3. That he refuses all food. His appetite is deranged, but he will greedily swallow almost anything that comes in his way. 4. That he runs with his tail between his legs, and saliva dribbling from his mouth. His tail is usually raised in paroxysms, and there is seldom any trickling from the mouth, until the later stages when the jaw is paralyzed. 5. That the disease is confined to dogs. Any animal is subject to it, if bitten by another rabid animal. Horses and cattle, sheep and goats, foxes and wolves, badgers and skunks, rabbits and fowls, all may have rabies, and all can communicate it to man. Any change of manner or custom in a dog should at once arouse suspicion, and he should be watched. The licking of cold objects, the swallowing of straw or paper, the tearing of clothes or furniture, the snapping at airy nothings, are all symptoms which should cause the dog to be confined. A peculiar hoarse, muffled howl is regarded by experts as characteristic of the disease. If the case be one of rabies, a few days will probably bring on a fit of mad fury, but before that comes every observant and intelligent owner will have placed his dog where he will have no power for mischief.—Sel. In the interlude to one of his lectures, Joseph Cook of Boston said some excellent things concerning the use of tobacco by minors; he also suggested a fact which ought to rest with great weight upon the mind of every man, when he considers his influence over the boys around him. Mr. Cook said:— “Can a good man with a cigar in his mouth talk effectively to a boy with a cigarette in his mouth?” “A hundred times, No! As to the tobacco nuisance, public opinion is rising in both intelligence and sternness. It is doing this under the progress of scientific investigation, and especially under the impulse of notice which has been turned lately upon diseases caused by tobacco. It is now very well ascertained that delirium tremens may be produced by excessive indulgence in narcotics. The facts known to the medical profession as to lip and tongue cancers caused by tobacco, are too horrible to be recited before a public assembly, especially over the grave of that great soldier whose death has made Mount McGregor a sacred height. “Our military and naval academies do not allow their pupils to use tobacco. Several colleges in the West prohibit the use of tobacco by their students. Germany has excellent laws forbidding the sale of tobacco to minors. Eighteen States in the American Union are now teaching children to abstain from alcoholics and narcotics; and my proposition is that the churches, both preachers and members, should rise at least to the secular level of the State Legislature on both these subjects.”—Light of Home. BUT who is most responsible for this stupid and wicked sanctioning of a demoralizing traffic? Let us see in the light of a further statement:— At a church temperance meeting lately in one of the largest churches of New York, a clergyman in high standing declared that wine was one of the good gifts of God, a considerate use of which was justified by the Bible, and the license law was the best means of regulating its use in the community. Are a mother’s tears and agony over the loss of her dear, and perhaps only son, brought about by the open licensed saloon, to be rebuked and silenced by a liveried servant of God, who preaches to a rich congregation in a large church? Is his exalted position to be any screen for his perversion of the Bible, and insensibility to the demands of poor, suffering humanity? Shall the wretchedness and misery, the debased manhood and degraded womanhood of our city slums, brought about by the sale of the poisonous liquid under the sanction of the churches of Christ, be sanctioned and tolerated by us because their example is a sufficient justification to relieve us from all personal responsibility? Who can describe the untold horrors of the liquor traffic in its desolating influence upon the homes of our country; its ravages on the health, property, and welfare of the people? Truly it is a vile and hideous incubus on every department of our social economy, and should be antagonized by all the power and influence we can bring to bear against it. Nobody denies the enormity of the evil of rum-selling; but who is responsible? That is a burning question.—Demorest’s Monthly. Not Food but Poison.
By Sel.
TOBACCO manifests no characteristics of a food. It is a rank vegetable poison. It cannot impart to the blood an atom of nutritive matter for building up the body. In those not accustomed to it, it produces faintness and horrible sickness, yet young men persevere in the use of it until they can endure it, and then until they love it. It produces various functional disturbances on the different organs of the body, causing irregular action of the heart, confusion of vision and sound. Another peril follows in the wake of this habit. It causes a thirst and depression which not unfrequently find relief in the wine cup, which first excites and then impairs self-reliance, and thus undermines the basis of truthfulness, of private and social enterprise, of manly courage and generosity. Moral cowardice, the chief reproach of our generation, has more to do with the tyranny of the poison-vice than with the despotism of social prejudices.—Sel. What Sunstroke Really Is
By Sel.
WHAT SUNSTROKE REALLY IS.—The full meaning of sunstroke is not included in that term. Heartstroke or insolation is a better word, and implies a further peril besides the downward glare of an unclouded sun. The concentrated heat of a close work-room, as well as the exposure incurred by some careless laborers in the open field, may lead to most serious consequences. The exhaustion of work also, particularly if clothing is heavy, is a predisposing condition which should not be lost sight of. Ventilation, regular nutrition, light clothing and, as far as possible, remission of the pressure of work are strongly indicated by certain conditions of the weather, and we therefore venture to impress their importance alike on employer and employed. Beer and other stimulants are hurtful rather than helpful, and the substitution of non-intoxicant cooling drinks for those beverages is a truly scientific and sanitary advance in public taste. Protection of the head is a subject which is now fairly-well understood. It should not be forgotten that the neck as well as the cranium requires to be covered.—Sel. —Earthquake shocks were felt in the Shetland Islands, Oct. 5. —Slight shocks of earthquake are still felt occasionally in South Carolina. —The peace of Europe is still threatened by the attitude of Russia toward Bulgaria. —It is stated that the war feeling in France against Germany is growing rapidly. —The Government printing office, at Washington, D. C., employs 2,500 men and women. —Yellow fever is said to be raging at Biloxi, Miss., eighty miles from New Orleans. —A child aged only thirteen years recently murdered three younger children in Central America. —Delhi, India, has recently been the scene of religious rioting between Hindoos and Mohammedans. —Captain James P. Arthur, the man who raised the first American flag in California, died recently near Boston. —The cholera is still making the most fearful ravages in Corea. In the Seoul district hundreds are dying daily. —The appeal of Ex-alderman Jaehne, of New York, has been decided against him and he must remain in prison. —A new colony has been formed east of the Jordan River in Palestine. The colonists are all citizens of Jerusalem. —A fire in Eastport, Me., last week, destroyed $800,000 worth of property, and 100 families are reported as homeless. —The sentence of the leaders of the late revolt in Madrid, has been commuted to life imprisonment in military prisons in Africa. —On the 8th inst., 8,000 employés in the Chicago packing houses went out on a strike against a return to the ten hour system. —A disastrous hurricane along the coast of Great Britain, last week, wrecked several vessels, and the reports sum up a loss of over seventy lives. —All the schools of Hanover, Germany—a city of about 150,000 inhabitants—have been closed because of an epidemic of scarlet fever and diphtheria. —A disastrous fire occurred at Salisbury, Md., on the night of the 17th inst. It nearly destroyed the town, the loss being roughly estimated at $1,000,000. —An American schooner, trading in a Russian port without the proper permit, was seized recently by a Russian man-of-war. The vessel and cargo were confiscated. —At Deadwood, D. T., Oct. 5, a spark from a tobacco pipe caused an explosion of giant powder by which four men were killed and some five or six others were injured. —An Anarchist plot to burn Vienna was recently discovered. The plot was directed from America and London, and was to have been executed by Viennese Anarchists. —Prosecutions are being pushed against the New York aldermen of 1884, and it is probable that several of them may be sent to Sing Sing. Even Jacob Sharp, who bribed them, may share the same fate. —The astonishing intelligence has been telegraphed from Europe to New York, and thence all over the United States, that “leading scientists” “all agree that at present earthquakes cannot be predicted!” —The “first rain” of the season visited the Pacific Coast on the morning of the 16th inst. It extended from Washington Territory to Monterey, Cal., the fall varying at different points from one-fourth to three-fourths of an inch. —An earthquake has destroyed every village on the island of Niapu in the South Pacific. The inhabitants escaped. The island is covered twenty feet deep with volcanic dust, and a new hill two hundred feet high has been formed. —Judge Gray, of Chicago, has overruled the motion for a new trial in the case of the eight convicted Anarchists. There is now little doubt that seven of them will be executed, while the eighth will go to prison for a term of twenty years. —A father and his three sons were suffocated in a coal mine in England some days since. One of the sons entered first, and failing to come out, another went in and did not return. Then the remaining son and finally the father ventured into the fatal mine. —Another Mormon bishop, William E. Bassett, has been arrested at Salt Lake City for “unlawful cohabitation,” and held in $1,500 bail. Bassett is the successor of Bishop Sharp, who was deposed because, when convicted on a similar charge, he pledged himself to obey the law. —On the 6th inst. the steamer La Mascotte exploded her boilers off Neely’s Landing, Mo. Eleven men were fearfully scalded; six of them fatally. The vessel took fire and burned to the water’s edge and a number of passengers were lost. The total number of lives lost was about twenty. —The last reports from the great storm along the gulf shore, which destroyed the village of Sabine Pass, Texas, and flooded the entire region known as Johnson’s Bayou and Taylor’s Bayou, estimate the loss of life at 250 persons, and the loss of property total, including live-stock, of which there were probably 10,000 head. —Several of the men concerned in the murder of Rev. Geo. C. Haddock, in Sioux City, Iowa, on the 30th of last August, have been arrested. One of them has made a confession stating that a party of men had arranged to give Haddock a whipping. They met him, and a brewer, by the name of Armsdorff, who attempted to thrash the preacher, was opposed, whereupon he drew a revolver and shot him. —The Democratic Federation of London has issued a manifesto in which it says: “The unemployed are certain to experience distress still more severe than that experienced in 1885. Honest workmen and their families are doomed to a hopeless struggle with starvation during the coming winter. The wealthy classes are responsible for the awful neglect of the poor. Our rulers could not but fear for themselves if they could see the misery which their selfish apathy inflicts upon the producers of wealth.”