p. 9 | The Earthquake Appeal

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 31, 1906

The Earthquake Appeal

An announcement has already been sent out through the columns of the REVIEW AND HERALD that on Sabbath, May 19, 1906, an opportunity would be given to our people in the United States to contribute to a fund for the relief of the Pacific Press Publishing Company of Mountain View, Cal., and other institutions located in San Francisco, upon which a great calamity has fallen. And indeed this is a great calamity, or at least it appears so to us, who can not always see deeply into God’s workings; though, from what we have already learned of God’s goodness and mercy, even when visiting heavy chastisements and afflictions upon us, we may confidently believe that, in his own good time and way, he will yet give to his people opportunities and blessings which will far outweigh the losses sustained from the great earthquake and fire.

A Fitting Appeal

It seems highly fitting at this time that such a call as this should be made:—

1. For many years the Pacific Press Publishing Company has stood as a strong, self-supporting light bearer of the third angel’s message. Many years ago Elders James White and J. N. Loughborough, and other stalwart pioneers of this cause, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and, foreseeing by faith the possibilities before a publishing house located on the Pacific Coast, they set to work to establish the Pacific Press, and laid its foundations deep in sacrifice and labor.

And now, while this institution, the second of our publishing houses, was in the midst of some of its heaviest financial struggles, a blow was permitted to fall upon it which certainly will appeal most eloquently to the sympathy and generosity of all who love the work which this institution represents.

2. About two years ago, in response to the Lord’s counsel that our large institutions move out of the cities, and seek country locations, the Pacific Press moved out by faith, and established its offices in Mountain View, a small town about forty miles southeast of San Francisco. This move was made at great expense and at a great sacrifice of the earnings of the institution. Two years of struggle, accompanied by considerable loss, much of which was the natural result of such a change, have passed since then, and the Pacific Press was, little by little, working up to a solid standing place, when suddenly out of the earth came this unexpected blow, which in a few seconds of time left the Pacific Press building very largely a wreck.

3. When this same blow fell upon the city of San Francisco and the adjacent towns, this great country, with its mighty resources, flew to their relief. In a few hours trains loaded with cooked food, clothing, tents, medical supplies, and nurses, were hurrying on their way from Los Angeles, Denver, Portland, Chicago, Boston, and, in fact, from nearly every great city in the United States. At Seattle a ship was quickly loaded with provisions, and with every blanket and tent that could be found in the city, and under steam and sail was rushed to the scenes of distress.

It was surely fitting for the prosperous wealthy people of a great country like this to fly thus to the rescue of a once great metropolis which lay in ruins and in ashes, while her four hundred thousand people were scattered, homeless and hungry, in the parks and on the surrounding hills.

When men of the world are moved with such generosity by the needs of a sister city, is it not even more fitting that the children of God should contribute of their abundance to the needs of these institutions which God has been using for many years as facilities for carrying the message to the world? God has blessed us with bountiful harvests for several years, and enabled many of his people to gather in an abundance to their storehouses. And now he opens before us a door of opportunity and privilege which enables us to contribute something from our abundance toward the relief of those in need.

4. We are not unmindful of the fact that, only a little more than one year ago, the General Conference was in serious financial distress, and a letter was written to the far West, to one of the members of the Conference Committee, setting forth the serious difficulties of the situation. One Sunday morning at chapel exercises, this letter was read in the Pacific Press chapel. From long training and practise in the art of giving, the employees of the Pacific Press had learned how to respond to such needs. Voluntarily from the company of workers came the proposition that a fund be started immediately at the Pacific Press office, and that these funds be forwarded immediately to the General Conference. And, further, it was proposed that this movement be extended to all parts of the United States, and that the gifts gathered should be sent in the hands of the delegates to the General Conference as a “surprise party” for that occasion.

By quick movements the resolution was carried into effect, and many thousands of dollars were carried to the General Conference by the delegates. The One Hundred Thousand Dollar Fund was quickly made up, until it beautifully overflowed with the generous gifts. Now the Pacific Press is in need. The chapel where this generous movement started is badly shattered, and will it not be highly fitting for God’s people to send them a generous gift?

The Extent of the Loss

This has already been set before you in various articles in The Signs of the Times, the REVIEW AND HERALD, and the State and union conference papers. At first, estimates could not be accurately given. And even now it is impossible to give the extent of damage, particularly in San Francisco, where the destruction was so complete, and where conditions are such as to make it difficult to secure reliable information.

But the leading brethren of the Pacific Union Conference and the Pacific Press Publishing Company have studied the situation carefully, and a conservative estimate places the loss to the Pacific Press at twenty thousand dollars, to the San Francisco branch enterprises of the St. Helena Sanitarium, thirteen thousand dollars. There were losses to other enterprises, which can not be well estimated.

But with the destruction of certain buildings, important business connections have been swept away, making it quite impossible to calculate the losses which will accrue through delays in the work, and the efforts to re-establish it upon a working basis.

A Distribution of Funds

As these losses can not be definitely given, it has been suggested that all funds collected on this occasion be sent to the General Conference Treasury, through the proper channels, and that the Executive Committee of the Pacific Union Conference be asked to appropriate the money to the Pacific Press and to other institutions in proportion as their losses and most urgent needs may appear. It is probable that this course will be pursued in the distribution of these funds.

An Appeal From the Pacific Coast

At the time of this disaster the majority of the members of the Pacific Union Conference were in southern California. Realizing the pressing need of the suffering institutions in the north, they held a council at which Brother and Sister White were present, and they decided to call a meeting in Mountain View on Wednesday, May 2, at which time they would draw up a formal appeal to the General Conference and to the Seventh-day Adventists in the United States, asking that liberal donations be sent to these institutions. This appeal was to be signed by Brother and Sister White and by the members of the Pacific Union Conference.

As the mails from the West are very slow during these days of excitement and congested traffic, the appeal has not yet reached the General Conference office, and it is necessary to send out this reading for May 19 immediately, in order that it may reach all our churches in the

United States. If the appeal arrives before this goes to the press, it will be inserted. If not, it will be published in the REVIEW AND HERALD as soon as it is received. Although we may not be able to insert this appeal here in its proper place, our brethren will be glad to know that this request for help is based upon a council of the leading workers on the Pacific Coast, including Brother and Sister White.

Cash and Pledges

That portion of the donations which can be sent immediately to the General Conference will be of the greatest service; but doubtless there will be many who will listen to this reading who have not come prepared to give as liberal cash donations as they would wish. Will all such kindly make pledges of their gifts, and pay them later at their convenience?

The Gift of Service

Much more than a gift in money is needed at this important time. This catastrophe has aroused the people of the United States as nothing else has ever done. Men on every hand are inquiring, What do these things mean? What is coming next? Many are wholly ignorant of the signs of our times, and the things which are rapidly to follow in the closing scenes of this drama. But God has revealed their meaning unto us, and in this knowledge we hold a sacred responsibility, one which we can not fail to discharge except at the peril of our souls. The people must be made aware of the calamities that are coming upon the earth, and God will use his own people for carrying the message.

In the midst of the appalling scenes of the great earthquake and fire, the Earthquake Special of The Signs of the Times was prepared. It is a thrilling number, calculated to do a work which has never been done by any other issue of our pioneer paper. Already God’s people are springing to the work, and hundreds of thousands are being ordered and sold. Never was there a greater opportunity given to us to spring to the front and do a valiant and splendid work for God. Let us do it with all our hearts.

A Personal Consecration

During the earthquake experience and the days immediately following, the people of San Francisco and its vicinity seemed to be divided into three very distinct classes. There were men of wealth and great business ability, whose fortunes had been suddenly swept away. These were men of the world, who saw in the rebuilding of San Francisco the possibility of re-establishing themselves again in business, and of rebuilding their lost fortunes. These men have united in creating a courageous sentiment after the manner of the world, and their words, as expressed in their resolutions and as reported in the public press, grate harshly upon the ears of those who know the meaning of such calamities. They say, “Let us arise and build a city which shall be the pride of the whole earth, a city as safe from fire as the bottom of the sea, a city which will not burn until the caves of the ocean burst forth into flames. In future we will build with steel frames anchored deep to the solid rock, and with stones laced into the frames, so that earthquakes can not shake them down.” These are determined business men, and they know that this spirit will, to some degree, revive the people, and invite capital from the East to assist them in rebuilding the city.

But their words seem to be almost in defiance of the power of God. How little they know of what is coming upon the earth. How little they know of the time when even the bottom of the sea will not be safe from fire, and of that day when the caves of ocean will burst forth into flames.

There is another class, paralyzed and almost speechless with fear. They had no hope in God, and were unprepared when the shock came. And when the earth trembled beneath their feet, they were unacquainted with any refuge in which they could anchor. During the first day after the earthquake, twenty-seven such persons were taken to the insane asylum, and many others were confined at home, raving maniacs, hysterical, or prostrated with fear.

During the two weeks following the principal shock there have been thirty-nine lesser earthquakes, and many of these people have been kept in a constant state of wild excitement and terror. They have slept in tents, under the hedges, in sheds, on the verandas, and the future seems to hold for them neither hope nor consolation.

There is a third class,—and we are thankful to God that many of our own dear people are among them,—who, during the scenes of distress, have been angels of mercy, and have reaped from the experience that which will be an everlasting blessing to them. Men and women who, by past faithfulness, had worked into the nerve and fiber of their beings a Christian experience, were able during those hours of trouble to cast their anchor by prayer within the veil, and find a power which upheld them. And these children of God, who aforetime had gone from house to house, laboring for the salvation of the lost, were now able to mingle among them, calm in their confidence, and minister to their needs.

Lessons for To-Day

Like all other calamities of this kind, the terrible events which have occurred on the Pacific Coast should teach us many precious lessons. When the great shock came, there was no time for preparation. That which before had been solid earth was vibrating as though in the hands of a demon. There was no time for thought, and hardly time for a word of prayer. Men who had been unused to pray were wholly unable in the trying hour to find anchorage above.

When Daniel was brought to the supreme test of his life in Babylon, and was forbidden to pray, it was said that he went to his chamber as “aforetime.” It was the “aforetime” which gave him his strength and power with God, and enabled him to stand unhurt amid the lions. When the crisis comes, there is no time for preparation. Happy is the man in such an hour who has made the Lord his daily refuge and his strength. Read the ninety-first psalm, and see how beautifully this lesson is taught. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High”—that is, he who lives there from day to day; he who has a steady, strong experience, so constant that that experience may be called his dwelling-place. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Such an experience enables one to recognize God, and put away boasting. It enables him to trust in God, and put away fear. And when others are crying to God for mercy, and are needing the help of men, they are able to minister temporal comforts and the consolation of God’s grace. This is the work and ability of God’s children.

Preparation for such work should not be put off. To-day is the accepted time. No one can tell when or where the next earthquake will come. One of the great astronomers of the West after the earthquake wrote a brief bulletin on the bulletin-board outside of the observatory, stating the most commonly accepted scientific explanations of an earthquake. People blocked the street in front of the observatory, and insisted upon learning from the astronomer when the next earthquake would come. In response he erased the bulletin on the board, and wrote the following: “The man in the street knows just as much as I do of the cause of earthquakes, and when the next one will come.”

The previous great earthquake in this country was in Charleston, S. C., on the opposite coast. The next one may come in Washington, Chicago, or Kansas City. It may come just where you are. If so, will it find you unprepared? The work of the earthquake is the work of a few seconds. The preparation for it must be “aforetime.” May the Lord help his people to get ready for what is coming upon the earth.

There have been more earthquakes during the past generation than during the previous history of the world. These are signs that the Lord of glory is soon coming. By earthquakes he is admonishing men to flee from sin, and turn to him. They are his voice of admonition to sinners,—yes, and to his people as well. They admonish us to separate from everything that binds to earth, and set our affections upon those things which can not be shaken.

The Cause of Earthquakes

Astronomers give various reasons and theories as explanations of these great phenomena, but none of them will stand when brought to the test by God’s Word. In Second Peter, third chapter, verses three to eight, and in Patriarchs and Prophets, the first four pages of the chapter entitled, “After the Flood,” we are taught the origin and meaning of these things. In the beginning there were waters stored in the earth, and when the wickedness of the earth became great,

and the Lord would destroy it by a flood, the waters from the earth burst forth and united with the waters that fell from the heavens, and the earth was deluged and destroyed. In like manner the Lord has stored within the earth coal, oil, and lime and magnesia, and many other fuels and combustible elements as agents for the next great destruction of the earth; so that when the time comes for all things to be destroyed the second time, the fires from within the earth will burst forth, and, joining with the fires that fall from heaven, the earth will be melted, and the works that are therein will be burned up. And now, as we approach the end, the fires increase, and the old earth upon the verge of destruction, shakes and groans, and emits fire and smoke as warnings to the world that the crisis of all things is rapidly approaching. Therefore when these things begin to come to pass, we should look up, and lift up our heads, for our redemption draweth nigh.

And we who know the meaning of these things, should be able to tell an inquiring world the blessed message of salvation. Through the tender mercies of our God we are still spared. We have time to prepare for the things that are coming upon the earth, and finally to meet our Lord in peace. Let us be strong, and quit ourselves like men. Let us give of our means to help those that are in need. Let us spring to the work of warning our neighbors and friends. Let us renew our consecration by putting away all sin, and by severing the ties that bind us to the fleeting things of earth which can be shaken and destroyed so quickly. Let us all join in earnest prayer that God may bless our afflicted brethren in the West, and make this experience a source of strength to them, and to the cause of God throughout all the world.