Anonymous Communications and Mission News
By Editor
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, please take note, pays no attention to anonymous communications. It has not time. We do not ask the name for publication, for all matters of such nature are private unless the writer wishes it published; but we ask it as an evidence of good faith. An awful disaster causing the death of twenty-four, fatally injuring twenty, and seriously hurting twenty others, occurred in the Standard Steel Company's mills in Butler, Pa., October 6. A great pot of molten metal engulfed them. The features of the majority of those who are alive are mutilated beyond recognition. A letter from Sister Emma T. Anderson, treasurer of our China Mission Board, dated Canton, August 12, encloses a letter from T. F. McCrea, the corresponding secretary and treasurer of the North Kiangsu-Anhuei Famine Relief Committee, as a receipt for $100 for gold sent by the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, given by our friends in different parts of the field. Mr. McCrea states that all danger of famine is over, or in other words, that the harvest of June was very good and they hope that the crop in the fall will also bring relief, but there were many thousands who had nothing left. Still they hope that the balance which they have on hand which has been given by friends in America can be used to help those who are in so much need. He says: "We feel that a great work has been done for the advance of Christianity thru this work. Nearly two million silver dollars have been contributed by the foreigners, and the Chinese have been greatly impressed by this generosity. We trust that a great ingathering may result. Please extend our thanks to Mr. Wilcox and the readers of his paper for their generous contributions. Thanking you for your kindness in this work, I am yours sincerely, T. F. McCrea." At Rest.—Our hearts were made sad to receive, the evening of October 28, the sad telegram from Oakland: "William Saunders died very suddenly this afternoon of heart disease." So short a time was it since we welcomed him here at our dedication. At that time he was feeling well and strong, tho some remarked his unnatural pallor. He was born in Newport, Wales, March 26, 1821, and was therefore at the time of his death living on borrowed time by over six and one-half years beyond the age of threescore and ten allotted to man. He was brought to America by his parents when an infant of one year, returned the next year to England, and ten years afterward came again to America. He learned the printer's trade, and was connected with the publishing work all his life; at first as a printer making his way to the Pacific Coast, afterward for several years as proprietor and publisher of the Woodland (Cal.) Democrat; for the last twenty years an employee of the Pacific Press, much of the time as director and vice-president, or representing the branch offices in London or San Francisco. For the last two years he had relinquished more and more detailed labor. He saw much of the country's progress, having crossed the continent many times since "the days of gold," and the Atlantic thirteen times. He saw the growth of California from 1850 to the present, and had an active part in its progress. He was an old-time, dignified, honorable Christian gentleman, of a type rare in these days. He leaves an aged wife with whom he had been united fifty-five years, and three daughters, who mourn sincerely and deeply their great loss. His end came suddenly and peacefully. He was spared what was to him always sad, saying good-by; especially the agony of leaving alone his wife and youngest daughter. There was no struggle nor pain. He was lying down for a little rest, and his heart ceased to beat. That was all; and he fell asleep in Jesus. Two of the Pacific Press Board were deputed to represent the institution at the funeral, and beautiful floral emblems were sent by both the employees and the board. Our sincere sympathy goes out to the aged widow and the bereaved daughters, especially she who has so faithfully stood by father and mother. May God bless them abundantly. Bishop Potter, of New York, has been criticized greatly because he stated that The Hague Conference "is only a poet's dream. Until the last day of earth there will be armies and there will be wars." Now why in the world Bishop Potter should be criticized for this, is more than we can understand. Any one who believes God's word reads over and over again in words far more emphatic than the bishop's even that there will be war, and that the very culmination of the age before Christ's coming will be the battle of Armageddon. It is not a matter as to whether one desires peace or not, or believes there ought to be peace; doubtless the bishop believes it and longs in his heart that the world might come to that condition; but he sees that conditions in the world are such that there can be no such outgrowth. One only needs to read God's word to know what the issue of the age will be, and yet there will be souls that will be saved out of the turmoil of war by the Prince of Peace when He comes. A Mrs. Shepard, of Los Angeles, would certainly have made a devoted Egyptian worshiper of the cult of the dog. A despatch from Denver, dated October 9, states that she has devoted thousands of dollars in an effort to save the life of a maltese poodle. Her final effort to save the dog's life was in chartering a special train at Los Angeles and making a record trip across the continent in an effort to reach a well-known cat and dog hospital in New York, accompanied by her own maid, a maid for the dog, and a veterinary surgeon. And yet the dog died. After the dog's death, it was encased in a five-hundred-dollar casket and interred in the cat and dog cemetery at Hartsdale, where a costly monument will be erected over its grave. What a great blessing it would be if some of that money could be spent for some of the needy children of earth. The dog would probably have enjoyed it just as well. Regular Atlantic wireless service opened October 17. In all the previous elaborate tests they were completely successful in every instance. The space covered is two thousand miles, between Clifden, Ireland, and Port Morien, Nova Scotia. The commercial rate for wireless messages will be ten cents a word, and the press rate five cents a word. The "Australasian Union Conference Record" of September 2, gives an account of a brutal assault upon one of our laborers in Australia, Brother J. L. Hindson, not on account of religious views, however, but for the purpose of robbery. He was beaten to unconsciousness and robbed of about fifty dollars in gold and his watch, and left for dead. In a semi-unconscious condition he made his way home and was given the best of care by the sanitarium people. Earnest prayers were put forth for his recovery and Sister Hindson writes us under date of September 3 that he is in a fair way to recovery and making marvelous progress toward health. For this we certainly are glad and rejoice with them that his life is spared. The New York "World" in a despatch from Berlin, under date of August 31, gives an account of the imprisonment of a Seventh-day Adventist by the name of Muegge because he will not do military service on Sabbath. Several times he has been courtmartialed and imprisoned. One churchman has spoken on the subject and he feels that either the man or the government should give way, and he thinks it ought to be the man, and yet he confesses that the man is simply standing for what Protestantism stood,—the rights of conscience,—and suggests that the government could employ him in some other way. We hope that this brother will be of good courage. Every act of devotion in this way is a sermon in favor of God's truth. A despatch from Pittsburg, September 16, states that more than a score of the ministers of Pittsburg have gone into the life insurance business, making more money they say than they did while within the church. One of them, who probably represents the rest, declared that he does not quit from choice but from necessity; it is not a question of money either, but of higher cost of living. No salary has been offered him which would justify his accepting it. He hopes some time to unite with the ministry again. The greatest life insurance in the world is the Gospel. If there were more of it preached there would probably be more devoted support in the church for those who preach it. Tobacco.—In the year 1810 only two states reported the value of their tobacco output, Pennsylvania $410,910 and Virginia $469,000. In 1840 out of thirty states, twenty-eight reported the total value of the tobacco products as $5,819,568. In 1850 this output increased to more than $13,000,000 and in 1905 to $331,000,000. This of course is on the gross value and not on the retail value of the manufactured product. What a blessing it would be if the land were used to produce necessaries of life and the money expended could be turned into the great needs of homes. The Kongo.—A letter from the Kongo Reform Association declares that still from that wretched district comes the pitiful wail for deliverance, from Leopold's miserable slaves. While the nations delay to intervene, the merciless rubber regime goes on, and the Kongo natives suffer and die. There is little hope that Belgian annexation, unless supervised by the powers, will be more than a nominal change, for the terms now under discussion still leave the Kongo in Leopold's hands. The address of the association is Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass. "Life and Health."—The October number was greatly enlarged and improved. A new department, called "The Home Acre," will be introduced. Every number will be a special number, such as a Tobacco Number, a Don't-Worry Number, Temperance, etc. Good illustrations will be used, and good contributors are secured. The price of the journal will be increased to ten cents for single copies. It certainly is worth it. Address, Life and Health, Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. A decided effort is being made in Kansas City to introduce an opening wedge to a full Sunday law by closing the theaters on Sunday. Reports of this will be given later on.