A FEW months more than six years ago the whole civilized world was shocked and stood aghast for a short time because of the awful destruction wrought in San Francisco by earthquake and by the fire that followed. All the great business district and much of the residence portion of one of the great cities of earth was first terribly shaken and then reduced to ashes. Following this destruction in the great metropolis of the Pacific there have been numerous other disasters of appalling magnitude. They have scattered themselves through South America, Mexico, the West Indies, Southern Europe, Alaska, and other parts of the earth, as well as on the sea. These calamities
that are coming with such marked frequency have made it quite a common thing for a newspaper or magazine to have an article at the beginning of the year setting forth the damage done by the unusual disasters of the year before.
Already this year is making a big record. There have been, among others, great upheavals and volcanic actions in Alaska; the great earthquake of a few days ago that shook Turkey and much adjoining territory; and then the tornadoes and other storms and disturbances that have spread destruction in divers places. In one or two instances whole villages have been practically wiped off the map.
But perhaps the worst of the tornadoes is the one that visited Regina, in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, on Sunday evening, June 30. From a brochure entitled "Regina Before and After Cyclone, June 30, 1912," and published by P. T. Evans and K. L. Fenney, Regina, we gather the facts that follow, and select the photographs on this and the next page that so vividly portray to the eye the destruction that was wrought. Their pamphlet as a whole is striking and full of interest, and it is well worth while for any one to get it for permanent preservation.
The storm struck the city at about 5 P.M., and did all its destructive work in about three minutes time. The damaged section was three blocks wide and about twelve blocks long. Thirty persons were killed, 200 were injured, and 2,500 were rendered homeless. Five hundred buildings were wrecked and damaged, and the property loss is estimated at $4,000,000. The following paragraphs quoted from Evans and Fenney tell something of the courage and generosity that fill the people of the stricken city:
"Eighteen hours after the cyclone had completed its work, thousands of men were at work clearing the debris and repairing such buildings as could be repaired. Many buildings, completely demolished, are being rebuilt. There is still plenty to be done, but with the large army of workmen now employed on the task, it is only a matter of a few months until outward trace of the cyclone will have passed.
"The city has under consideration a plan for the relief of the homeless by rebuilding their homes on long-time loans."
Perhaps one of the saddest things in the way of the destruction of buildings was that of the large Metropolitan Methodist Church. It was said to have been one of the finest church buildings in the West, and was completed some eighteen months ago at a cost of over $100,000. It is so badly wrecked that it will have to be rebuilt from the ground up.
Regina has made the most rapid growth, during the past five years, of any city in Canada. It is a great railroad center, and has immense warehouses in which to store the wheat and other grain that is produced in such great abundance in that section. The prosperity of the surrounding farms may be understood best by observing that Regina makes the claim of being the largest distributor of agricultural implements, not merely in Canada, but in the world. The city is also noted for its splendid parliament buildings, its fine residential streets and homes, for its banks, its municipally owned street-railway; and plans were already completed on May 1 for the erection of some seven million dollars worth of buildings this year.
But right into the midst of this great material prosperity and growth came the awful disaster of June 30. And in view of the fact that these storms and the great upheavals of the earth are becoming so frequent and so destructive, we find people on every hand asking for the meaning of it all. Scientific men are making exhaustive and expensive research to ascertain if possible the cause of increasing earthquake, volcano, and disastrous storm. Various theories are advanced, but no theory presents a workable plan by which the destructive forces of nature may be permanently calmed. There is one authority, however, that states more than a mere theory in the case. This authority tells its story so in harmony with the actual facts and conditions as we see them on every hand, that we can not resist the conviction that it is speaking in a masterly way the exact truth. A few lines from this authority read:
"Then said He unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. . . . And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." Luke 21: 10, 11, 25-28.
When the One who uttered the foregoing words had concluded His Sermon on the Mount, it was stated of Him that "He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." Matt. 7: 29. And we present His words, not as a theory, but as authority in this matter. Observe that He tells us of signs that will appear in sun, moon, and stars. There will be great earthquakes, and they11will be in divers places; there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven; upon the earth there will be distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves will be roaring; and all this mighty and disastrous commotion will be of such a character that men's hearts will be failing them for fear as they are looking after those things that are coming on the earth. Finally, as the great climax to this disturbance, the powers of heaven shall be shaken. "And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."
Metropolitan Methodist Church as wrecked by the tornado
Another of the various scriptures that may be read on this subject is the following:
"And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Rev. 6: 12-17.
Students of prophecy to the extent of a great host believe that we are now living in the time when the sixth seal has been opened, and we are even now passing into the shadows of the sublimely awful and supernaturally striking scenes and terrors that are to mark the very closing agonies of this world's struggle in sin. You will say that such a thought terrifies you, and that you do not want to hear anything about it. But trying to shut your ears and eyes to the evidence will not stop the progress of fulfilling prophecy. He whose voice commands the worlds in their sweeping orbits has spoken, and His words will be literally fulfilled.
But we need not be filled with terrors at the thought of what is coming on the earth. For did not the Master say in one of the foregoing texts, "When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh"? Luke 21: 28. And then we have the following beautiful promises in the psalm that applies so strikingly right in this time:
"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." Ps. 91: 1-10.
When the noisome pestilence is stalking through the land; when there is the terror by night and the arrow by day; when destruction is wasting at noonday, and a thousand are falling at the side and ten thousand at the right hand,—even then it is said, "Thou shalt not be afraid," for you are resting "under the shadow of the Almighty," and "surely He shall deliver thee."
The individual who knows the meaning of these things, and who is standing with his Lord, will have his heart thrilled, and thrilled, and thrilled, with indescribable joys, as he sees the evidence heaped upon evidence showing that soon he will see his Master coming in the clouded robes of glory and attended by the shining throng of all the angelic host. At the same time, this same individual will be urging home the evidence of the Master's coming upon every mind and heart that he can reach. And the only tinge of sadness that crosses his track is occasioned by the fact that so many will persist in scoffing at the insurmountable evidence that shows that the end of all things is at hand. He is saddened at the thought that men will continue to scoff till their probation closes, and then they will fulfil the Scripture in calling for the rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of Him who sits on the great white throne.
Where will we be standing when the climax is reached and the great day is here? T.
The work of the tornado on Cornwall Street, Regina
