Sunday Bill Killed by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Mar 6, 1907

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 10.

Sunday Bill Killed

By Editor

In an explosion of gas in a coal mine at Las Esperanzas, Mexico, February 18, of the 105 Japanese and Mexican employees, between sixty and eighty were killed.

Sunday Bill Killed.

According to the Portland (Ore.) Journal of the 15th ultimo, the Kay Sunday Rest Bill was indefinitely postponed by the Senate. Even the gentleman who introduced it, by request, Senator Kay, could not support it. There are one or two pending in that State, we believe.

The American Bible Society, thru its agent, Dr. John R. Hykes, at Shanghai, China, tells us that the Boxer trouble is not a thing of the past, that there are Boxer companies in various parts of China, which have their meetings, rites, ceremonies, etc. These Boxers are armed with knives and spears, and are prepared to kill foreigners. One can imagine that a well-matured plan of this kind would result in a fearful massacre of missionaries if there is a general society of this kind thruout China. Missionaries in various parts are always in danger, and we would appeal to our readers to keep them before the Lord in prayer, for His protection is worth more than armies.

Butte and Helena, Mont., are experiencing considerable difficulty with striking workmen. February 18 all the members of the Typographical Union in Butte and Anaconda refused to arbitrate with the publishers, who must accede to their terms if work is resumed. In Helena, the street-car, electric light, and telephone services are all disorganized, many of the employees, including the telephone girls, walking out, and with no indications of a settlement.

Running at a speed of a mile a minute, a train of electric cars on the New York Central met with a fearful accident February 16, in Bronx borough of Greater New York. The train of five coaches was crowded to its full capacity, and when a misplaced rail was encountered on a sharp curve, the cars were overturned, dragged over a hundred feet, and the passengers ground in the wreck. Most of the twenty-five killed were women. One hundred or more were injured.

In the Washington Legislature, a bill has been introduced to repeal the Sunday-closing laws so that they will apply only to liquor saloons. Its enforcement took altogether too broad a type to suit the liberal officials up there. How they will come out with it remains to be seen.

Every man who conducts himself as a good citizen is accountable alone to God for his religious faith, and should be protected in worshiping God according to the dictates of his own conscience.—George Washington.

Every one knows that New York is wicked, and yet Rev. Dr. Madison C. Peters tells us that it is away beyond any conception of which the public generally knows. He declares that a "lewd Parisian play is more at home in New York than in the French capital," right in the face of what some liberal men are teaching at the present time, that the theater is all right and is becoming elevated, etc. We will not place upon our pages the words of the doctor, they are among the things of which the apostle declares, "It is a shame even to speak of those things that are done of them in secret," and we may add, openly; and yet these low theaters are, as he truly declares, to the public taste. They are just what the public makes them. If the people did not want them, they would not flock to them in such mad crowds. But they show that they want just such foulness, and to the theater men there is money in it.

The First Falsehood Still in Vogue.

A clipping sent us from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, of January 13, tells of some new views of a London preacher, said to be pastor of the City Temple, an unworthy successor of the late Joseph Parker, concerning Bible logic and truth. It is a sort of a modified Buddhism that Dr. Campbell teaches, holding that there is no real distinction between humanity and the Deity. Jesus is a perfect Example, but "every man is a potential Jesus Christ," or rather a man evolves Christ. He is a manifestation of "that side of the nature of God from which all humanity has come forth." He first states that the new theory, of course, holds to the immortality of the soul; but the Bible student can easily see that this is only another development of the first lie, "Ye shall not surely die;" "ye shall be as God." This new religion holds to both phases of the falsehood.

The "back-to-the-land" idea has proved wonderfully successful in Philadelphia and other cities, also in parts of England, where poor people have been given the privilege of using vacant lots for gardening purposes, the seed and tools being also furnished for the start. For eight years the work has been carried on, and in that time more than four thousand families have been assisted. The project has been successful financially, and the value both to those helped and the community in improved health and moral tone, increased comforts for wives and children, increased happiness for all, can not be estimated.

Redwood in the San Francisco Fire.

Shortly after the San Francisco fire, we were told by an eastern scientific journal, usually considered the very best authority, that the fire was much worse because so many of the structures were built of redwood. Doubtless the fire was worse because of the many wooden structures, but the idea of the eastern paper was that the redwood burned so much more readily than ordinary wood would have burned. To show the mistaken idea of the report in the paper referred to, the Redwood Association of California has issued a large pamphlet in which it shows the non-inflammability of redwood, and how the fire was stopped at a number of different points, when if the buildings had been of pine it would in all probability have swept clear thru to the end of the city. This publication gives some fine illustrations of the San Francisco fire, its work, and where it was checked at different points. The booklet may be obtained by addressing the secretary, A. B. Wilcox, 433 Monadnock Building, San Francisco.

A pamphlet has come to us entitled, "Recent Researches in the Japanese Slave Trade in California," written by Elizabeth Andrew and Katherine Bushnell. These women have been working for years to prevent, just as far as they can by their disclosures of the awful conditions existing in various lands, the degradation of women to the lusts of men. The Japanese women are peculiarly susceptible to the designs of wicked men. Up to the time of the earthquake last April, they tell us, there were no Japanese prostitutes in Oakland, with its population of nearly one hundred thousand. That population is now said to have nearly doubled, and there are more than 125 Japanese women of the character noted above, and a hundred more expected shortly. They tell of the fearful conditions there. Those who may wish to learn more of these conditions and give encouragement to these noble women, can write them at Oakland, General Delivery.

One of the most interesting general expositions held in this country will be the Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition, commemorating America's three-hundredth anniversary. It will be an elaborate naval, military, historical, educational, and industrial celebration. The grounds cover more than 400 acres, with two miles of water-front, facing the greatest waterway in the world, making the naval features peculiarly attractive. The military and naval pageant, according to the plans, will be the greatest ever witnessed. War vessels from the navies of all foreign nations are expected to participate, and on the international military encampment detachments of troops from other countries will unite with the United States in a series of maneuvers, parades, etc.

The passenger department of the Southern Pacific has issued a pamphlet showing the remarkable rejuvenation of the San Francisco hotels, and to meet the many rumors that there is inadequate hotel accommodation in that city. It also shows that the prices are very moderate, as compared with other cities thruout the country. Forty-nine hotels are listed, containing from twelve to six hundred rooms, with many apartment houses. It can be obtained by addressing Mr. Chas. S. Fee, Passenger Traffic Manager, Southern Pacific Co., San Francisco.

Professor Jamieson, of Pentwater, Mich., is issuing a publication that he calls a "Series of Science English," or reading by sound, in which he contends that the only way to make reforms in spelling is to go right at the very root of it. Those who wish to investigate the matter can write him as above. We feel, however, that his system is altogether too radical, and that it will go begging.

"Save the Boys," a monthly journal devoted to the purpose intimated in the title, published at Minneapolis, Minn., has suspended publication for lack of support. The editor had put forth noble effort.