p. 312 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 3, No. 39. (10/11/1877)

Alcohol—What is it?

The chemist describes alcohol as a liquid technically known as hydrated oxide of ethyl, containing two atoms of carbon, six of hydrogen, and one of oxygen, and represented by the formula, C₂H₆O. It is colorless, when pure, and very inflammable, burning with a pale blue flame. It belongs to the same class of chemical compounds with naphtha, turpentine, benzine, fusel oil, kerosene, and burning fluid. It is seldom found pure, usually containing from five to fifty per cent of water, besides various impurities, chief among which is fusel oil, another variety of alcohol.

ORIGIN OF ALCOHOL.

The Creator never made alcohol. No plant upon the face of the earth produces it. No bubbling spring affords it. It is one of the products of vegetable decomposition and decay. The process of making it is termed fermentation. Thus, the fermentation of wine and beer, the working of cider, and the “raising” of bread are familiar illustrations of the production of alcohol.

Wine is made by fermenting the juice of grapes or raisins. By means of distillation the alcohol may be separated from the wine, and is then known as brandy.

Beer is made from barley and hops. The barley is first steeped for some hours at a moderate heat, and is then allowed to germinate. After germination has been in progress for a few days, the starch contained in the grain is converted into sugar, which is then fermented with hops and yeast, by which means the sugar is converted into alcohol. The dark colored liquor resulting from the process is made up of water, alcohol, and various impurities, together with a poisonous substance called lupulin, derived from the hops.

Whisky is made by the fermentation of any kind of grain, potatoes, turnips, or any other vegetable containing starch.

Rum is made by fermenting cheap molasses.

Cider is the fermented juice of the apple. It contains alcohol as soon as it has become in any degree “hard.”

In Tartary, an alcoholic drink called koumiss is made by fermenting milk.

A kind of wine is made in many tropical countries from the fermented juice of the palm tree.

Honey wine, a fermented solution of honey, is used in Abyssinia.

Each country has its peculiar intoxicating beverages, which are all alike in the one particular of containing alcohol.

WHAT IS FERMENTATION?

Fermentation is one of the stages of vegetable decomposition. It is the putrefaction or death of the vegetable product undergoing the change. Alcohol is produced as a result of decay. The process is excited and maintained by certain microscopic plants or animals, the germs of which are always present in the air ready to develop into active life when favorable conditions of warmth and moisture are supplied. Through the action of these minute bodies, sugar or starch is decomposed into alcohol, carbonic acid, and water.

The following table shows the proportion of alcohol found in various drinks:—

	Per cent.		Per cent.
Small beer,	1 to 3	Whisky,	40
Cider,	5	Brandy,	50
Wine,	7 to 20	Proof spirit,	50
Ale,	10 to 20	Rum,	58

Nearly all liquors contain other poisons, to which some of their deleterious properties are attributable. Thus, beer and ale often contain tobacco, COCCULUS INDICUS, and green vitriol. Brandy and whisky contain fusel oil and tannic acid. Immense quantities of wine are made artificially, by diluting alcohol, and flavoring and coloring it in such a way as to deceive the most expert.

Alcohol is very extensively used by physicians. A very large class of medicines is largely composed of it.

COMPOSITION OF BITTERS.

Besides the large class of alcoholic liquors which are distinctly recognized as such, there is another class of compounds of which alcohol is the chief constituent, but which are commonly sold under the alluring titles of bitters, tonics, restoratives, etc. Some of them even claim to be free from alcohol while containing it in notable quantities. The following table shows the amount of alcohol in some of these filthy mixtures:—

	Per cent.
Richardson’s Bitters,	59
Hostetter’s Stomach Bitters,	42
Plantation Bitters,	30
Puritan Bitters,	25
Quaker Bitters,	23
Temperance Bitters,	17
Vinegar Bitters,	7½
Pierce’s Bitters,	6¾

The foregoing table was prepared from the official report of the State assayer of Rhode Island. The chief point of difference between these various alcoholic compounds is in the different proportions of alcohol which they contain.

It will be observed that one of the “bitters” noticed above, Richardson’s, contains more alcohol than the strongest rum. “Temperance Bitters” is more than one-sixth alcohol; and “Vinegar Bitters,” the manufacturers of which publish a temperance almanac, to advertise it, and claim that it is absolutely free from alcohol—contains more alcohol than small beer, hard cider, or light wine. These bitters, with scores of others, have an immense sale, thousands making habitual use of them who profess to be total abstainers. Several of them are kept on the counters of the bar-keeper as regularly as “Holland Gin,” “Jamaica Rum,” or “Old Rye.”

SECULAR NEWS.

—Jules Simon is seriously ill.

—It is claimed that the State of Texas has 1,750,000 inhabitants.

—A disease has broken out among the cattle in Solano county.

—The total of the national debt, less cash in the treasury, is $2,051,587,254.

—A colored teachers' association has been formed in Raleigh, North Carolina.

—The Pacific Mail Ship Company has discharged all Chinese employees, except on the Chinese line.

—The business part of Wyoming, Iowa, has recently been destroyed by fire. Loss, $30,000; uninsured.

—Baltimore is constructing a tunnel seven miles long and twelve feet in diameter, in its endeavor to get a supply of pure water.

—A telegram has been received at Madrid from Singapore (South Africa), announcing the defeat of two thousand insurgents by Spanish troops.

—The Pioneer Land and Loan Bank of San Francisco suspended Monday morning, owing depositors $850,000.

—There are seventy-eight children at the Vallejo Orphans' Home now, which is said to be the largest number ever in the institution.

—President Lincoln's monument at Springfield, Illinois, is nearly completed. The groups of statuary are being lifted to their places.

—During the past year the United States sold 105,000,000 yards of cotton goods abroad, ten times more than was exported the year before.

—An attempt is being made to open communication with the interior of Ecuador by way of the River Putumayo, or Ica, leading into the Amazon.

—San Francisco has 42 letter carriers whose delivery of mail matter for the month of July was 319,706 letters, 106,650 local letters and 183,479 newspapers, etc.

—Russia is said to produce annually 1,606,000,000 bushels of wheat, Germany 742,500,000, France 687,500,000, Austria 550,000,000, the United States 1,881,760,925 bushels.

—Gen. Miles and Nez Perce Joseph had a fight on Snake river, September 30. The result was twenty-three soldiers killed and forty-four wounded, and seventeen Indians killed and forty wounded.

—A dispatch has been received from Mr. Stanley, the African explorer, dated Embomma, in Congo, West Coast of Africa, August 10, in which he says that he has completely navigated the Lualaba, and succeeded in proving it to be identical with the Congo.

—There are twenty-seven cases of yellow fever at Port Royal, twenty-one whites and six blacks. The population is ninety-four whites and one hundred and thirty-seven blacks. The Mayor telegraphs, “We are suffering for medicines, nurses, and provisions.”

—October 3, Professor Henry of the Smithsonian Institute received the following cablegram: “A comet was discovered by Temple at Florence Italy, October 2. Right ascension, 23 hours 51 seconds; declination, south 10 degrees and 19 minutes; daily motion, 9 minutes toward the southward. The comet has a small bright tail.”

—It is stated that on September 11th and 12th, very heavy rains occurred at various places throughout Arizona; a heavy thunder storm and cloud-burst took place on the Colorado Desert on the line of the railway near Pilot Knob; four inches of snow fell at Eureka, Nevada; and heavy rains fell in Oregon and other portions of the Pacific coast.

—W. H. Vanderbilt, President of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad, issued a general order to officers and employees, notifying them that an advance of 5 per cent upon the compensation of all the employees of the company affected by the July reduction of 10 per cent, and whose pay amounts to less than $2,000 per annum, will be made on and after November 1.

—October 5, the western abutment to the great iron bridge that spans the Missouri at Atchison, Kansas, caved into the river with a terrible crash, carrying the entire 15-foot wall and about 75 feet of the embankment, and a huge mass of the heavy masonry and thousands of cubic yards of earthwork. The office and bridge approach was hurled into the Missouri river. The bridge men say the damage will be repaired in thirty days.

—The total number of blind persons now living is estimated at over two and a quarter millions. The proportion of blind persons to the entire population of the United States is 1 to 1,900 or 20,041 in a population of 38,115,641. In British North America, 1 to 1,692. In Mexico, 1 to 1,500. In the West Indies, 1 to 616. In Central and South America, 1 to 800. In Australia and Polynesia, 1 to 800. In Europe, 1 to 1,094. In Asia, 1 to 431. In Africa, 1 to 300.

—Two hundred and fifty-eight patients were admitted to the Napa Insane Asylum within the past year, as follows: From San Francisco, 180; Alameda county, 30; Los Angeles, 14; Napa, 16; Sacramento, 8; Colusa, 10. The institution, with its present accommodations, is now full—so, also, is the Stockton Asylum—but extra room can be had, by finishing the upper floor, for some two hundred more patients. The officers of the Napa Asylum suggest the building of almshouses, to accommodate many who are now sent to the insane asylum who really are not fit subjects for that charity.

Importance of Correct Breathing.

HUMAN life and health are so dependent upon the air taken into the system through the medium of the lungs, and a healthy state of these organs, that information upon this subject is always interesting and appropriate.

Notwithstanding the excellent works extant, the breathing of many persons is so imperfect as to be the superinducing cause of their various ailments. Who, for instance, traces the bad feelings with which he is constantly annoyed, to lack of full and deep inspiration? Who traces the extreme nervousness and depression of the mind, almost bordering at times on desperation and insanity, to this cause? And yet the evidence is conclusive that there is no more prolific cause of dyspepsia, liver derangement, constipation, extreme physical languor with mental and nervous depression, resulting in the distortion of the spinal column, flattening of the abdomen, and rigidity of the entire muscular system, with cold extremities.

It is not enough that we are constantly surrounded by the air both out of doors and in our houses. If we do not introduce a sufficient quantity into our system, disease is the inevitable consequence.

The free and easy expansion of the chest is obviously indispensable to the full play and dilation of the lungs; whatever impedes it either in dress or in position is prejudicial to health, and on the other hand, whatever favors the free expansion of the chest equally promotes the healthy fulfillment of the respiratory functions.

Stays, corsets, and tight waistbands operate most injuriously, by compressing the thoracic cavity, and impeding the due dilatation of the lungs, and in many instances they give rise to consumption. I have seen one case in which the liver was actually indented by the excessive pressure, and long continued bad health, and ultimate death was the result.

Dr. Herbst, of Gottingen, has lately been performing some curious experiments in relation to the quantity of air that is breathed. Now, a person of any understanding will appreciate from them the comfort of full and unrestrained breathing. Dr. Herbst says that a middle-sized man, twenty years old, after a natural expiration, or emission of air, inspired or took in eighty cubic inches when dressed, and one hundred and sixty when his tight dress was loosened. After a full dilatation of the chest, he inhaled one hundred and twenty-six inches when dressed, and one hundred and eighty-six when undressed.

Another young man, aged twenty-one, after a natural expiration, took in fifty when dressed, and ninety-six when undressed. Had Dr. Herbst made his observations on some of the ladies who carry the use of corsets to extremes, we apprehend he would have obtained results of a nature really alarming.—Health and Home.

BIRDS AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES.—

Can birds scent the cholera and yellow fever infection in the air? Certain well authenticated facts render it not improbable that they can. Recent European journals state that at Munich, where several cases of cholera have occurred, the rooks and crows, which before flew about the steeples and through the trees of the public promenades, have all emigrated; and the same thing happened during the cholera seasons of 1836 and 1854.

According to Sir. Samuel W. Baker, the same phenomenon occurred at Mauritius, where the martins, which exist in immense numbers the year round, wholly disappeared during the prevalence of the cholera. It is stated that during the prevalence of yellow fever at Memphis and Shreveport the absence of the birds was similarly noticed.

RELIGIOUS NEWS AND NOTES.

—November 22, is to be the general Thanksgiving Day throughout the dominion.

—The English Roman Catholic bishops are about to revise the Douay version of the Bible.

—There are twenty-nine Protestant pastors in Spain, and six Protestant churches in Madrid.

—Diphtheria is so prevalent at Salisbury Mills village, N. Y., that both week-day and Sunday schools have been closed.

—The Junior Class of the Yale Theological School this term will be the largest, with the exception of one, in its history.

—Father John McElroy, the oldest Roman Catholic priest in this country, died in Frederick, Md., September 12, aged ninety-five.

—Over a quarter of the population of Rondout, N. Y., have signed the temperance pledge. This would make not less than 6,000.

—The oldest American missionary in China is now the Rev. Dr. A. P. Hopper, of the Presbyterian mission at Canton, who went out in 1844.

—An exchange states that the Mormons are receiving converts from abroad; over 2,000 have landed in New York recently, bound for Salt Lake.

—It is stated that there are forty-three Protestant churches in San Francisco, and of the 100,000 American population only about 15,000 attend church.

—The present number of Mohammedans is reckoned at 100,000,000, and has hitherto been untouched by any energetic or systematic Christian effort.

—There are 373 churches in Rome, of which 355 are Catholic, 14 Protestant and 4 Jewish. There is one Protestant church to every 20,000 of the population.

—The American Baptist Home Mission Society announces its intention to open a new school at Natchez, Miss., for the education of colored preachers and teachers.

—The Southern Methodists have in Virginia 93,000 members, and the Northern and Protestant Methodists swell the number to considerably over 100,000. The Episcopalians number 12,647, the Baptists 63,187, and the Presbyterians 21,712.

—New Jewish synagogues have been consecrated within the past year in London, Bath, England; Waadt, Switzerland; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Linz, Austria; Bremen, Heilbrun, Germany; Ancona, Bologna, Italy; New York, Springfield and Petersburg, United States.

—In a recent massacre of Christians at Eski Saghra, by the Bashi-Bazouks, and the destruction of their property, over thirty churches and five hundred schools and colleges were burned. The district is one of the richest in that part of Turkey, and contained a large proportion of Christian inhabitants.

—The Methodist Episcopal church, through its Missionary, Church Extension, and Freedmen’s Aid Societies, has expended, chiefly for the colored people, $2,101,757. They have in the South thirteen institutions for higher education, with twenty-six professors, 1,500 pupils, and a property valued at $320,000. Sixty thousand colored children are now annually taught by the teachers sent out from schools and colleges.

BUSINESS DEPARTMENT.

“Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully,” (margin, negligently). Jer. 48:10.

Received for the Signs.

$2.00 EACH. S Stubblefield 4-42, Sally Dunton 4-32, N Grant 5-11, Wm Gifford 4-42.

$1.50 EACH. Mrs R Morton 4-39, Betsey Reed 4-38, T L Mitchell 4-39, J M Pace 4-39, C O Whitman 4-39, C W Porter 4-39, E J Moore 4-39, D Newcomb 5-1, Fred W Gant 4-39, Henry J Neher 4-39, Geo Wilson 4-39.

$1.00 EACH. W G Myers (8 copies) 3-39, E A Curtis 4-7, J O M Redmon 4-23.

75 CTS EACH. Mrs B F Moses 4-15, E H Hill 4-15, A McIntosh 4-15, Joseph Williams 4-15, James Neher 4-15, H B Crouse 4-15, C M Powers 4-15.

50 CTS EACH. John Church 4-37, W H Dickerson 4-9, Mrs Mary Hartwell 4-9, J W Heath 4-5.

MISCELLANEOUS. Mrs L Knight $3.00 6-1, Edwin M Glazier (2 copies) 9-25, Henry W Casey 4.00 6-1.

California Conference Fund.

Lone Oak church $17.25, Fairview church 100.70.

California Tent Fund.

Received at Southern camp-meeting $14.50, Oakland church 42.50.

Received on Account.

J L Wood $34.20, New England T and M Society 3.00, Illinois T and M Society 95.18, Vermont T and M Society 35.00, Cal T and M Society 196.80.

North Pacific Mission.

By General Conference Committee

To the friends of the cause in Oregon and Washington Territory.

DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: By the advice of the General Conference Committee Elder J. N. Loughborough now comes to assist Elder Van Horn in organizing a Conference, and in helping otherwise as may be thought best. As this will mark an important era in your mission, we wish to call your attention to some facts in connection with it.

Some four years since, at your urgent request, we sent you our dear Brother Van Horn, one of our best laborers, though his help was greatly needed in other fields. The General Conference, at a cost of $476, sent with him a good new tent, and have since contributed to the support of that mission $1,338. It also paid the entire expense of Elder Waggoner's trip to your mission. We state these facts as substantial evidence of the deep interest we feel in the success of the work there.

We do rejoice in the good degree of success which God has given to the cause among you. We trust that this may not only continue, but greatly increase in the future. To secure this, there must be much labor and sacrifice on your part. From the very rise of this message, the work has been one of great self-sacrifice and continued hard labor. Where this has been lacking, the cause has soon withered, for God has not blessed it. Hence we feel anxious that you shall from the beginning start right in this work.

In the Eastern States, times are hard and money is very scarce. The work of this message is rapidly spreading on every side, much faster than men and means come in to meet the increasing calls. Several new missions have been started during the past year; others must be started soon; new institutions are required, larger buildings must be erected, and all the old ones kept running.

In view of these facts, we think that your mission should henceforth be self-sustaining. If all will do their duty, and sacrifice for the support of the work as the old friends of the cause elsewhere have done and are still doing, there need be no lack of means to support the mission. Not only should the ministers be sustained in the field, but the T. and M. work should be taken hold of more extensively than it has been. A thorough organization should be effected, and every one who truly loves the cause should unite in the work. Every effort should be made to encourage proper men to enter the field as laborers. Little will be done unless you have ministers to carry on the work.

But we would call your attention particularly to your duty to help support the Signs of the Times and the Signs Office. The whole design in establishing that Office, and that paper, was to spread the truth and help the cause on the Pacific coast. The friends in the East have done nobly in building up that Press. But now their duty is elsewhere. The Signs must be sustained by those on the Pacific coast, of which your mission is an important part. We recommend that you not only take the Signs and make great efforts to circulate it through the T. and M. Society, but that the more able brethren should take stock in the Pacific Association.

But all these things Elder Loughborough will fully set before you in his labors among you. He is not only a faithful man, but he has had a long experience in the work. Hence we hope you will receive him heartily, and be ready to co-operate with him in building up the cause in your midst.

GENERAL CONFERENCE COMMITTEE.

North Saltum, Denmark.

By John G. Matteson

ABOUT two hundred people attended our meeting in this place on Tuesday. Another school-teacher brought up some objections to our views. Among other things he tried to prove that the commandments of God are too grievous to be kept, and not only that, but that they are so grievous that speaking of them must not be tolerated.

We referred to the testimony of the beloved apostle John: “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous.” Why should we teach or regard the commandments of God, if we do not strive to live them out as well as we, by the grace of God, are able to do? Therefore our Saviour also says in regard to the commandments , that “whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5:19.

He then said that the Pharisees have burdened the Sabbath with thirty-nine ordinances, and if it should now be burdened with three times as many, it could not be borne. We answered that it was our aim to rid the Sabbath of the provisions of man, and it would be well if the above-mentioned and all other human ordinances and customs could be separated from the worship of God, and we could conform ourselves to the plain word of God.

The sermon which was given after that, on the subject of the Cross, made a deep impression upon the people. Most of them are willing to hear, and acknowledge the authority of the word of God.

On the Sabbath we met in Alstrup, and Sunday afternoon about two hundred were assembled in Svendstrup, five miles from Alstrup. I am now at this place, on my way to Holstebro and Fano. I have appointed meetings again in Saltum in two weeks, and will then continue to labor in this vicinity. I have been promised a hall situated in a very favorable place, and hope, through the blessing of God, to be able to push the work forward.

We hold all our meetings in the daytime, and I think we can continue to do so the whole winter in the country. This is much better than holding evening meetings. The leading men in society second our efforts, and the Baptists are also drawing nearer to us and are very friendly. JOHN G. MATTESON.

Southern California Business.

By James White; C. C. Burnett

A BUSINESS meeting was called in connection with the southern California camp-meeting, September 30. Elder J. N. Loughborough acted as chairman, and C. C. Burnett was chosen secretary.

It was moved, seconded, and carried by vote, that means be raised to clear the $83 missionary debt of district No. 2. Brethren M. J. Church and R. F. Eagle circulated subscription papers, and in fifteen minutes obtained pledges for $106.50, all of which was paid down, except $9.00.

It was voted that the overplus of $23.50 be applied toward the indebtedness on the purchase of the two 50-ft. tents.

By the request of the audience, Brethren Healey and Eagle were appointed as a committee to prepare resolutions for action at an adjourned meeting. This second session was held October 1, when the committee presented the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:—

Whereas, God in his kind providence moved our brethren in the northern part of the State to send us the present truth, therefore:—

Resolved, that we heartily thank Him, and are determined by his grace to walk in the light of the truth.

Resolved, That we are grateful for the effort made by our brethren to send us the third angel's message, and we desire to do what we can, financially and otherwise, to support the cause.

Resolved, That we endorse the resolutions passed at the Yountville camp-meeting, relating to the general cause.

Resolved, That we ask the State Conference to send us more help, as soon as the exigencies of the work will permit.

Resolved, That we thank Mr. G. W. Sterling for his kindness in permitting us to use a portion of his land for our camp-meeting.

Resolved, That we extend our thanks to the citizens of Lemoore and vicinity for their good deportment while attending our meeting, and we are especially under obligations to Heinlin Bro’s, and J. J. Mack & Co., merchants of Lemoore, for favors.

Resolved, That we feel grateful to the newspaper publishers of Visalia and Fresno, for inserting notices, etc.

Resolved, That the foregoing resolutions be furnished to the SIGNS OF THE TIMES for publication.

J. N. Loughborough, President. C. C. Burnett, Secretary.

The Truth Spreading.

By John Norton Loughborough

In whatever direction we look we see tokens of the onward march of the Lord's truth. In different parts of the United States scores and hundreds are embracing the message, and it gladdens our hearts to read how the way opens before the Lord's servants in foreign lands. We should all pray earnestly for our foreign missionaries, and should do what we can to assist them in their mission with our means. At the same time we may do much for those of other nations who are in our own land. Of the four-score and upwards who took their stand with us in the two California camp-meetings just passed, about one-fifth were of foreign birth; among these were Germans, French, Danes, Swedes, and Italians. Notwithstanding these have been born in different climes and trained with divers habits, they are all becoming one under the influence of the truths taught by the Seventh-day Adventists. It is indeed gratifying to observe the readiness with which candid foreigners accept and carry out the truth as its clear evidence comes before their minds. The question is not so much with them how they can escape the force of the truth, but “What is truth that we may obey it?”

We are of good cheer at what we see here in California. Last Sabbath was a good day in Oakland. The quarterly meeting of the church was an interesting occasion. Eight new ones united with us in covenant to obey the Lord, and three were disfellowshiped who had given up keeping the Sabbath several months since. All that is now lacking to rapidly extend the truth on this coast is for every one to lift at his post of duty, and do all in his power to extend the work. If we thus labor the God of Israel will help and his cause spread mightily. May it be so. J. N. L.

Fresno County, Cal.

By W. M. Healey

I HAVE been preaching in this county since the southern camp-meeting. Have given five discourses in the new colony east of Fresno, where we have awakened some interest to be followed up by our T. and M. workers.

We also attended the quarterly meeting of the Fairview church, where we had a blessed season. This church has a membership of about sixty, nearly all of whom were present and took part in all the ordinances. We assembled at half past nine in the morning and all became so deeply interested in the meeting that before we were scarcely aware of it, it was half past one in the afternoon. The sentiments of all present were love and union. And resolutions were made to rise above weaknesses and walk nearer the Lord, his grace assisting. Several acknowledged mistakes and errors they had made in the past and asked to be forgiven. The Spirit of the Lord was with us, and we wept tears of gratitude as we thought of what God had done for us. There were few, if any, dry eyes in that congregation, and several wept aloud as they saw some who have been quite inactive in the past come forward and resolve to take a higher stand. Some remarked that this was the best meeting they had ever had. May they so live that God will continue to bless them. For he gives us all the blessings we live for. W. M. HEALEY.

October 7, 1877.

An Important Mission.

By W. N. G.

On Tuesday of this week Elder J. N. Loughborough left San Francisco on the steamer Geo. W. Elder, for a visit to Oregon and Washington Territory. As has been previously announced, there is to be a general meeting of all the Seventh-day Adventists in Western Oregon held at Salem, the coming Sabbath and First-day, at which Elder L. is to be present. Then he is announced to preach in Portland, October 20 and 21. From there he goes to Walla Walla, W. T., where a general meeting of all the Seventh-day Adventists of Oregon and Washington Territory is to be held, October 25–29, for the purpose of organizing the North Pacific Conference. This will comprise the principal part of the Territory now known as the North Pacific Mission, and is a most important field. Much hard pioneer labor has been done in that region by Elders Van Horn, Waggoner and others, and it is about time to look for a good supply of fruit from the seed sown by these faithful ministers. We look with deep interest upon the visit of Elder Loughborough to the north, and the move of organizing a Conference. We know great and good results will come if our people accompany the move with their earnest prayers. Let all the readers of the Signs, especially those upon the Pacific coast, for the next four weeks, make earnest special prayers for God's blessing upon Elder Loughborough and his labors in the North Pacific Mission. He goes to that people with the approval and commendation of the General Conference; he goes with a heart burning with zeal for the cause of the Master; and if to these should be added the earnest, faithful prayers of the saints, we may surely expect to hear glorious news from that field. W. N. G.

Quitman, Georgia.

ELDER C. O. TAYLOR writes that new places, in which to speak the truth, are continually opening. He says: “In filling my appointment here, to my surprise some time before the hour for service the house was well filled, and when meeting commenced every seat was occupied, and some were outside. Some came ten miles to the meeting. If our brethren could see with what eagerness they reached out, and even crowded to get an old back number of the Review or Signs, they would send more. Reading matter is doing much in the South in calling the attention of the people to the message. Sixty or seventy families are reading the Signs; and hundreds have read the Review, and are learning for the first time, that there is such a people as Seventh-day Adventists. All Adventists have been classed together. They have not been known as separate bodies.”

North Pacific Conference.

By I. D. Van Horn

There will be a general meeting of all the Seventh-day Adventists of Oregon and Washington Territory, at Walla Walla, October 25–29, 1877, for the purpose of organizing a Conference, and transacting other business necessary for the promotion of the cause of present truth. Elder J. N. Loughborough will preside over this meeting.

Each company of Sabbath-keepers are requested to select delegates to represent them in person if possible. If not, be sure to send letters to the place of meeting. Each company of twenty members or less, should select one delegate, and one additional delegate for every fifteen members over the first twenty.

I. D. VAN HORN.

State Quarterly Meeting.

By J. E. White

ACCORDING to the plan adopted by the General Conference, the next State Quarterly Meeting of the Cal. T. and M. Society will be held at Oakland, Sabbath and First day, October 20 and 21, 1877. It is hoped that every director will attend if possible. An invitation is extended to all officers and members, as plans for future operations will be discussed which will be of benefit and interest to all.

J. E. WHITE, Vice-President.

Sabbath-School Organization.

By J. E. White

In accordance with the resolution passed at the Yountville camp-meeting, the organization of the Sabbath-schools of California will be considered at the State Quarterly Meeting to be held at Oakland, October 20 and 21. It is hoped that the superintendents and officers throughout the State will endeavor to be present. J. E. WHITE, Sec. Cal. State Conf.

District Quarterly Meetings.

By John Norton Loughborough

All of the district quarterly meetings in the eight districts of California are to be held this quarter on Sabbath and First-day, October 13 and 14, as follows:—

District No. 1, at Santa Rosa.

District No. 2, at Fairview, Fresno county.

District No. 3, at Napa, Napa county.

District No. 4, at San Pasqual, San Diego county.

District No. 5, at Woodland, Yolo county.

District No. 6, at Brother Himstreet’s, Tehama county.

District No. 7, at Oakland.

District No. 8, at San Francisco.

J. N. Loughborough, President.

Appointment.

ELDER W. M. HEALEY will meet with the Woodland church in their district quarterly meeting October 13 and 14.