Earlier text: The MissionaryThe Seventh Day the Lord's Day.
(Lesson 19.—Sabbath, August 28.) 1. WHERE were the children of Israel forty-five days after they left Egypt?
"And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt." Ex. 16:1. 3. What did the Lord there promise to give them?
"Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no." Ex. 16:4. 4. In so doing, concerning what did he design to prove them?—He designed to prove them to see whether they would walk in his law or not. 5. How often were they to gather the food?—"Every day." 6. Did this include the Sabbath also?
"Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none." Ex. 16:26. 7. If they gathered more than they needed, what was the result?
"And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank; and Moses was wroth with them." Ex. 16:19, 20. 8. How then were the people provided with food on the Sabbath?
"And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily." "And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord; bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade; and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein." Ex. 16:5, 22-24. 9. How long was this kept up?
"And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan." Ex. 16:35. 10. By thus miraculously providing food for the people, and by a miracle preserving it over the Sabbath, when none fell, what did the Lord indicate?—He showed how highly he regarded his Sabbath. 11. What else was also proved?—That the Sabbath was not any seventh part of time, but the seventh day of the week, and that only. 12. Is there a day that belongs specially to the Lord?
"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet." Rev. 1:10. 13. To what day does the Lord apply the title "my holy day"?
"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words." Isa. 58:13. 14. And which day is the Sabbath?
"But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates." Ex. 20:10. 15. Then which day is the Lord's day?—Since the Lord claims the Sabbath as his "holy day," and "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord," it necessarily follows that the seventh day is the Lord's day. 16. What honor should be given to Christ?
"For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son;" that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him." John 5:22, 23. 17. How does God tell us to honor him? Isa. 58:13. 18. Then can we honor Christ as we ought, if we do not keep the Sabbath?—Certainly not. 19. Since the Sabbath is the memorial of creation, why should we keep it in honor of Christ, the same as in honor of the Father?
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds." Heb. 1:1, 2.
"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for him; and he is before all things, and by him all things consist." Col. 1:16, 17. 20. If Christ made the worlds, how many days did he work in the beginning?
"For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. 20:11. 21. On what day must he also have rested?
"And God blessed the seventh day; and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." Gen. 2:3.
"For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works." Heb. 4:4. 22. As a consequence, of what does Christ declare himself to be Lord?
"Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Mark 2:28. 23. Then when we say that the seventh day is the Lord's day, to whom do we refer by the word "Lord"?—To both the Father and the Son. See John 1:1-3.
Note the following points made above: 1. The Sabbath is the memorial of God's creative power. 2. It is "the Lord's day." 3. Jesus Christ is Lord, and is one with the Father. 4. It was by the Son that the worlds were made. 5. Therefore we are told that the Son should receive equal honor with the Father. 6. And since we are told to honor God by keeping his holy day, the Sabbath (compare Isa. 58:13 and Ex. 20:8-11), it follows (7) that we cannot honor Christ as we honor the Father, without keeping the Sabbath. The withdrawal of Judas was a relief to all present. The Saviour's face lighted immediately, and the oppressive shadow was lifted from the disciples, as they saw the peace of Heaven return to the pale, worn countenance of their Lord. Jesus had much to say to his beloved disciples that he did not wish to say in the presence of the multitude, who could not understand the sacred truths he was about to unfold. Even the disciples could not fully understand them till after the resurrection should have taken place. Jesus Comforts His Disciples
Looking upon his faithful followers, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him." He then informed them of his approaching separation from them. The ardent Peter could not rest while the matter remained in uncertainty. He inquired, "Lord, whither goest thou?" Jesus answered, "Whither I go thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterward." But Peter's interest was intensely roused, and he urged Jesus to explain his full meaning, saying, "Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake." Jesus answered sorrowfully, "Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice." Then, looking with pitying love upon his little flock, so soon to be left without a shepherd, he sought to draw their minds from the perplexity into which his statements had thrown them, and said tenderly, "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." Words of Comfort in the Upper Chamber
WITH the deepest interest Jesus poured forth the burden of his soul in words of comfort, of counsel and prayer, which would ever remain imprinted on the minds and hearts of his disciples. These words from the lips of the Saviour, traced by the inspired John in chapters fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen, were repeated again and again by the disciples to stay their sinking hearts in their great disappointment and trial. Not until after the resurrection, however, were the words spoken upon this memorable occasion fully understood and appreciated. But the truths uttered by the Redeemer in that upper chamber have spread from the testimony of the disciples over all lands, and will live through all ages to comfort the hearts of the desponding, and give peace and hope to thousands who believe. The Miser's Reform.
By Mary A. Dennison
YES; I came pretty near wrecking body and soul both, and I'll tell you how. Losing wife and child while I was still a young man broke me down. For a time I didn't care whether I lived or died; but I still kept on with my business, and presently I found myself beginning to love money. It became the greatest pleasure of my existence to count up my gains, and add dollar to dollar. The house I had furnished so prettily for Marie, and in which she had taken such pride, left to itself began to show signs of neglect. For a time I retained the old housekeeper to brighten up things and keep them tidy; but that luxury cost too much, and I dismissed her. Then, not liking to see the pretty things that had been so dear to Marie go to decay through dust and neglect, I had them carried up to the great garret that extended the whole length of the house. I did feel for a time very unhappy when they were all banished, and I was left with the bare boards and two or three chairs; but I consoled myself by the reflection that some day I would have them all back again. I turned the once cheerful room in which I had spent so many pleasant hours with my wife and little one into a sort of second office, and there I slept, ate my scanty meals, and did much of my work. It was a sordid, sorry life. I denied myself every comfort, almost, but that of fire in the dead of winter. That I would have, and of the best hickory, no matter what it cost. I could do without meats and delicacies, books and comforts of many sorts; but a fire, that was the one link that bound me to the instincts of my kind. I grew shabby, seedy, lean, and ugly. To gather gold, to count it, to gloat over its accumulation, and that for its own worshiped sake, became the ruling passion of my life. Not houses and lands, and friends that might have been bought, but gold, gold, gold! For this I slaved, neglected my kind, and denied God. I shall never forget Tuesday, the 13th day of January, Anno Domini, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven. That is the way I have written it down in my day-book. Imagine me going to my solitary house, in the lower part of the great city of New York, hemmed in by warehouses. I say, imagine me shivering in my thin coat, buttoned over a pocket-book as plethoric as I was lean, entering the unpainted and cobwebbed front door and walking through the large hall, solacing myself with the thought that I should soon be comfortable in front of a blazing fire, and finding, as I opened the door to my own den, a great red flame upon the hearth, and cowering over it, the thin, almost skeleton form of a child. Shall I ever forget the look of the great, dark eyes she turned upon me, eyes that seemed to my excited fancy to light up the very corners of the room. "Oh, the fire is so good," she said. "What do you mean? Who are you? How did you get here?" I asked sternly. "I crawled in through the bars down into the cellar. I guess I staid there all night. Oh, it was so dark and cold! But I'm used to that now. Then I found the cellar door, and it was open, and so I came here, and there was coals on the hearth, and I made a fire." If the child had not been pretty, I am sorry to be compelled to say, pretty in spite of the grime, the rags, and marks of hard living, and perhaps brutal treatment, or if she had come there in any other fashion, at the door as a mendicant, or even been sent there by any friend, I should have expelled her on the instant; but she had thrown herself upon my bounty—the fire lit up the dark eyes that somehow made me think of those of my own little pet,—she had stood her ground without flinching,—she had prepared an agreeable surprise by making the fire, for I was very cold, and she did not seem in the least afraid of me. "Where do you belong?" I asked. "I don't belong anywhere." "Well, who takes care of you? With whom do you live?" "I don't live with anybody. I haven't any home. Mother died and father died long ago, and I am all alone by myself." Her words and manner touched me, but avarice was tugging at my heart. I grudged this poor mite the little food she would require. "Well you've got warm now; I can't keep you any longer; there is the way to the door," I said. She rose up, holding the rags of her shawl together, and then I saw that her arms and chest were bare; for her dress was a summer one, probably some gossamer thing that had been given her. She looked at me pleadingly, and for the life of me I could think of nothing but the eyes of my dear child. It rushed over me as I followed her to the door: "Fancy if this were your own little Kitty," and my heart began to beat furiously. As I opened the door a cold wind blew in that chilled me to the core, and the child looked pitifully up to me again. I couldn't stand it, and led her back to the fire. She staid that night, and was quite ready the next morning to go out and beg; but the good angel who stood at my side the night before prompted me again. "Do you think you could do anything to pay for your keeping?" I asked her. "Oh!" and her hands came together, "I'll clean up everything, and do just what you tell me. I'm so tired of being cold and hungry!" "Then stay," I said. That day I had something to think of besides gain. I shut up my office earlier, pulled my hat over my eyes, and went across the city to the shop of a German Jew, and there I bought what I thought the child needed, ready made. It cost a good many twinges; the soul of the miser was almost rent in twain. By the time I reached my own door, I had called myself a fool at least twenty times, and fully expected to find the child gone off with everything she could lay her hands on. But, no; there was the fire blazing, the hearth swept up, the floor washed, and the room, even with its scant furniture, so homelike and attractive that my heart began to throb with human pulses again. The girl had washed, made herself as tidy as possible with her scant opportunities, and looked really beautiful in the glow of the evening fire. That night she sat beside me, dressed in the warm and comfortable garments, and I quite forgot to look over my accounts. I could do nothing but look at her. One night I came home, and was surprised at the appearance of my room. A handsome rug lay before the fire, and four faded crimson chairs and a rocker brought back the old-time sense of comfort. A little table decked with a white cloth held the old fashioned chinaware which my wife had prized. At first I looked round, almost expecting to see her. But no, there stood Ally, as she had called herself, smiling and blushing, yet half afraid at my hasty exclamation. "You won't be angry with me, will you? But all the things were up-stairs; and they looked so sad and lonesome, just as I used to feel, that I thought I'd bring some of them down-stairs. Now don't they make the room look beautiful? And oh, I found this, but I didn't dare to play with it." As she spoke she brought from another part of the room a little broken, faded-faced doll. That was too much for me; my little child with its brown tresses and blue eyes came to me in the person of the waif who had brought order and symmetry and love into my desolate home, and from that moment I said, "She shall be mine, and I will never part from her, but will be to her a father indeed." Then I awoke from the lethargy that had bound my soul so long. I became a new man. Together we sang and worked and prattled, like two children. I ceased to think that she had ever been a stranger, and her thoughtful, womanly little ways were a constant delight to me. By degrees my home brightened more and more. The cobwebs disappeared from doors and windows; in their stead came fresh new paint and house plants. All the books were brought down from the garret, with their old racks, and nailed to the wall where my wife herself had planned for them to be placed. Every night after my work I came home to a well-ordered dinner, for the child seemed to take naturally to all the mysteries of cooking, and after that I spent two happy hours in teaching her with books and slate and pencil. I was myself again. I had something to live for, something to look forward to. My old friends recognized me, and the world took on new beauty, for I saw it out of fresh young eyes, and felt it throb in a grateful heart. Now, in place of the rusty lock, the spent candle, and the greed for counting money in a den thick with dirt, through whose windows the glaring sun itself looks dim—in place of the discomforts of cold and niggard meals, I sit in my pleasant, gas-lighted room, filled with the perfume of flowers. Am I weary? my Alice reads to me. Am I sorrowful? she sits down at the piano and plays the sweet melodies of love, the songs of long ago. The gray hairs are shining on my temples; but, thank God, the rust and the canker have faded out of my heart.—Mary A. Dennison. MUSKETS for the interior of Africa are still made in Birmingham, with the flint-lock and priming-pan of a century ago, and for this reason, that, while powder can be made and flints collected in the very midst of the desert sands of the Soudan or the Sahara, it would be a work of risk or of impossibility to import percussion caps or cartridges adapted to central-fire or hammerless guns; and, on similar grounds, the long barrel retains its supremacy as a weapon of offense in those regions to the present day. When the trader from Tripoli visits Valetta, he493may be seen carefully measuring the lengthy tubes which are exhibited in the gunsmith's show-cases, in order that he may find a weapon of sufficient caliber for the coarse and slack shooting powder he is compelled to use.—Blackwood's Magazine. The Home Circle.
By Emma Burt
"Oh, mother, look! I've found a butterfly
Hanging upon a leaf. Do tell me why
There was no butter? Oh, do see its wings-
I never, never saw such pretty things-
All streaked and striped with blue and brown and gold,
Where is its house when all the days are cold?"
"Yes, yes," she said, in absent accents mild,
"I'm hurried, child!" "Last night my dolly quite forgot her prayers;
And when she thought you had gone down stairs,
Then dolly was afraid, an' so I said:
'Just don't you mind, but say 'em in the bed,
Because I think God is just as near.'
When dolls are 'fraid do you s'pose he can hear?"
The mother spoke from out the ruffles piled:
"I'm hurried, child!" The mother now has leisure infinite;
She sits with folded hands, and face as white
As winter. In her heart is winter's chill.
She sits at leisure, questioning God's will.
"My child has ceased to breathe, and all is night!
Is Heaven so dark that thou dost grudge my light?
O life! O God! I must discover why
The time drags by." O mothers sweet, if cares must ever fall,
Pray do not make them stones to build a wall
Between thee and thine own; and miss thy right
To blessedness, so swift to take its flight!
While answering baby questions you are
But entertaining angels unaware;
The richest gifts are gathered by the way
For darkest day.
—Emma Burt, in Michigan Farmer. Poisonous Serpents.
By Editor
THE Missionary Herald for June says: "Twenty-two thousand lives are lost annually in India through the bite of venomous serpents and by wild beasts. Officials are seeking a remedy for this loss, thus far without avail. While commending such efforts, Mr. Howland, of Ceylon, pertinently asks: 'What complete remedy can there be until the belief of the cobra-worshiping Hindu is changed?' Serpents will live so long as men reverence them, and so long as they live they will bite. What India needs to save her from this fearful loss of life is a new religious faith. And yet there are those who tell us that the faith they have is good enough for them. One would think it sufficient answer to this assertion to point to the more than twenty regiments of men dying annually, the victims of a senseless superstition." Perhaps thousands who read this item will shudder, and say that they are glad that they do not live in India; and probably never give a thought to the twelve-fold worse curse which afflicts our own Christian (?) land. India had, at the last census, a population of 241,120,525; the death rate from venomous serpents and wild beasts is, therefore, about one to each 12,000 inhabitants. But in the United States, with a population of only 60,000,000, the victims of intoxicating liquors annually number 60,000; about twelve times as many as are annually destroyed in India by beasts and serpents. What are our officials going to do about it? What some of them are doing is shown by the following from a daily of recent date:— "Some time ago the Circuit Court of the United States in Iowa decided that breweries in existence when the prohibition law was passed could not be stopped without compensation to their owners; and now we hear of another ruling by the same Court, that drinking saloons are likewise entitled to protection. They are property which cannot be rendered useless without compensation." Can India or any other mother-land show a worse state of affairs? Health and Temperance.
By Editor
A Free Advertisement for "The Bacchus."
If a paper entitled "The Murderer's Journal" should present itself and state that it comes "to fill a long-felt want;" that these are times demanding the greatest personal liberty, and that the "associated murderers" desire to lay before the great American people the necessity of adopting the most scientific methods of killing people, as well as the necessity of murdering a stated number of people each month, the result would be that considerable interest might be taken in the matter. Even the religious journals would consider the subject in carefully prepared editorials; sermons would be preached; public meetings held; the people would arise in their might, and the "associated murderers" would find themselves enjoying their personal liberty in a space measuring about 7x4 feet. If a druggist accidentally gives out morphine instead of quinine, and the patient dies, there is an immense amount of newspaper talk, lawyer's talk, and damage suits; but the same druggist can sell whisky, vile with belladonna, opium, stramonium, or cocculus indicus, to a man for whose crazy actions or even deed of murder following, no one but the drinker is held responsible. "The Bacchus Publishing Co.,"—that sounds well, doesn't it? Bonfort's Wine and Spirit Circular says concerning this new journal:— "BACCHUS.—A particularly lively new member has just taken its place in the ranks of trade journalism. Bacchus yclept, and profusely illustrated, it proclaims its intention 'to wage war against shams of all descriptions, whether political, social, theological, national, State, or local.' The illustrations are very good, the letter press admirable, and the editorial work ably done. We have no doubt that the paper will be a very valuable reinforcement to the little army that is fighting the formidable hosts of prohibition." We particularly admire the modesty of this editor—"the little army" vs. "the formidable hosts of prohibition!" Poor little innocent dears, what a pity they have to be annoyed.—Union Signal. THE following facts gleaned from the Atlanta Constitution, relative to a single city, will give some idea of the magnitude of the tobacco business in the United States:— The town of Durham, N. C., has now 5,000 inhabitants, and the majority are in the tobacco business. I visited immense establishments, and was bewildered at the extent of the business. There are now in Durham 10,000,000 pounds of leaf tobacco awaiting manufacture, and it comes in every day by the train load from all the surrounding country. The tobacco manufacturers of Durham pay to the railroads over $1,000,000 a year for incoming freights. They have over two thousand operatives, more than half of whom are girls. I saw five hundred girls in one factory. They were all sitting at little desks, making cigarettes. They make 750,000 cigarettes in one day in the Duke factory. Just think of it! Nearly a million! and all to be burned up into smoke and ashes. Tobacco is very low now because of the overproduction of last year, and the Durham manufactory has bought very largely at very low figures. I was shown a pile of 150,000 pounds that cost only 2½ cents a pound; but it was very common indeed. Nevertheless it is worked up and flavored with a little New England rum, and sells very well. Great Damage from Damp Linen.
DAMP linen is sufficient to account for frequent colds, consumption, and premature death of a whole family; and where the mischief, having not taken that direction, is developed in the form of a rheumatism, which when once set in from that cause, is generally incurable. All body linen, shortly before putting on, should be made dry by a good fire. Those who have experienced no signal evidence of the mischief of damp linen are apt to be careless on the subject; but the carelessness will inevitably entail its punishment, which is likely to accumulate insidiously until it is too late.—Hall's Journal of Health. Firemen of Ye Olden Time.
THE following extract from McMaster's "History of the United States" is going the rounds of the Press at present:— "The law then required every householder to be a fireman. His name might not appear on the rolls of any of the fire companies; he might not help to drag through the streets the lumbering tank which served as a fire engine, but he must at least have in his hall, pantry, or beneath the stairs, or hanging up behind the shop door, four leathern buckets inscribed with his name, and a huge bag of canvas or of duck. Then, if he were aroused at the dead of night by the cry of fire and the clanging of every church bell in the town, he seized his buckets and his bag, and while his wife put a lighted candle in the window to illuminate the street, set off for the fire. The smoke or the flame was his guide, for the custom of fixing the place of the fire by a number of strokes on a bell had not yet come in. When at last he arrived at the scene he found there no idle spectators. Each one was busy. Some hurried into the building and filled their sacks with such movable goods as came nearest to hand. Some joined the line that stretched away to the water, and helped to pass the bucket to those who stood by the flames. Others took post in a second line, down which the empty pails were hastened to the pump. The house would often be half consumed when the shouting made known that the engine had come. It was merely a pump mounted over a tank. Into the tank the water from the buckets was poured and pumped thence by the efforts of a dozen men. "No such thing as a suction hose was seen in Philadelphia till the year 1794. A year later one was made which became the wonder of the city. The length was 160 feet; the material was canvas, and, to guard against decay, was carefully steeped in brine. The fire buckets, it was now thought, should be larger, and a motion to that effect was made in the common council. But when it was known that the new buckets, if ordered, must hold ten quarts, the people protested. Ten quarts would weigh twenty pounds, and the buckets five pounds more. This was too much, for, as everybody knew, the lines at a fire were often made up of boys and lads not used to passing heavy weights. Eight quarts was enough. Much could also be accomplished by cutting the city into fire wards and giving a different color to the buckets of each ward. They could then be quietly sorted when the fire was put out. At New London five fire wardens took charge of the engines, all of whom aided in putting out fires. To disobey a warden's order was to incur a fine of one pound. If a good leathern bucket was not kept hanging in some convenient place in the house, and shown to the warden when he called, six shillings a month was exacted as punishment. At New York, however, it was long before the buckets gave way to the hose. There, if a householder were old or feeble or rich and not disposed to quit a warm bed to carry his buckets to the fire, he was expected, at least, to send them by his servant or slave. When the flames had been extinguished, the buckets were left in the street to be sought out and brought home again by their owners." FLOATING bricks are made of a very light silicious earth, clay being sometimes added to bind the material together. They can be made so light that they will float on water, while their strength equals that of ordinary bricks. SELECT the sunniest room in the house. There is life and healing in the solar ray, even if its light, which is only a part of the ray, is excluded. We all feel instantly, on entering a room on which the sunlight never directly falls, a chill and an absence of something essential to cheer and brightness. Observation shows that in hospitals more patients die in shady than in the sunny wards; and in cities, disease is more fatal on the shady side of the street than on its opposite. Prohibition and Compensation
By Lever
The saloonists in Iowa and Kansas have changed their tune. A few months ago they were shouting lustily: "Prohibition don't prohibit!" Now they are demanding just as loudly: "Give us compensation for ruining our business!" If prohibition does not prohibit, how can it ruin the rum traffic? Cleansing Drains and Impure Places
Drain pipes and places that are sour or impure may be cleansed with lime water or carbolic acid or chloride of lime. —The Jordan has been bridged at Jericho. —Samuel J. Tilden died at his home, Greystone, New York, Aug. 4. —There are still 1,800 Cherokee Indians in Western North Carolina. —The aggregate population of Brooklyn and New York is nearly 2,300,000. —A child died recently at Fremont, Neb., of glanders contracted from a horse. —Prince Alexander has prohibited the circulation of Russian coin in Bulgaria. —A fire at Cincinnati, August 8, destroyed property to the value of $100,000. —There was some further rioting at Belfast on the 6th inst. The police were compelled to fire on the crowd, and seven persons were seriously injured. —The United States consumes over thirty million dollars’ worth of tin annually. —Six members of a yachting party were drowned in Lake Huron a few days since. —An explosion of coal gas, at Cardiff, Wales, August 5, fatally injured six men. —It is said that Japan, with a total population of 37,000,000, has less than 10,000 paupers. —August 6, a fire destroyed the entire business portion of the town of Mancelona, Mich. —A man committed suicide at San Rafael, Cal., a few days since, by swallowing six feet of bale rope. —Parliament reassembled August 5, and Sir Arthur Wellesly Peel, Liberal, was elected speaker. —President Cleveland has signed the Oleomargarine Bill. It will take effect in ninety days from its passage. —Belfast has again been the scene of Orange rioting. It is evident that Protestant is not a synonym of Christian. —The War Department has issued orders for the immediate establishment of a new fort in Northwestern Utah. —The police of Brussels have received a number of placards advocating anarchy and the establishment of the commune. —A Reading, Penn., judge has decided that shaving is a necessity, and that it is legal on any day of the week, Sunday included. —The National Grand Army Reunion was held in San Francisco, August 3. The number of visitors from the East was very large. —August 3, A. P. Williams, of San Francisco, was elected United States Senator for the unexpired term of General Miller, deceased. —August 3, one and one-half inches of snow fell on Mount Washington, N. H., and the thermometer registered 28°—four below freezing. —The cholera is virulent in Bartel, Italy. One hundred and thirty-two new cases and forty-two deaths were reported there on the 7th inst. —Thirteen divorces in three hours were granted in Minneapolis the other day, and even Chicago calls upon the Judge to pause and reflect. —Another cyclone visited Kansas, on the 5th inst., doing a great deal of damage. In the town of Hartland twenty houses were demolished. —A detachment of the United States Geological Survey is engaged in taking soundings of Crater Lake, Or. The greatest depth yet found is 1,959 feet. —Samuel J. Tilden bequeathed to the city of New York his residence in Gramercy Park, together with his fine library. The property is valued at $1,100,000. —The aggregate of the appropriations made by this Congress amounts to $365,000,000, which is $45,000,000 more than the appropriations made by the preceding Congress. —Under the postal telegraph system in England—management by the Government—the number of messages sent annually has increased from 9,000,000 in 1870 to 34,000,000 in 1885. —It is now thought that Geronimo, with about twenty followers, has gone over into the State of Chihuahua, and the rest of the renegades are making their way back to the reservation. —The torpedo cruiser Destruction was launched July 29 at Glasgow. She was built for the Spanish Government, and it is claimed that she will be able to overtake and destroy any similar vessel afloat. —It is now openly charged that the recent order of the Post-master General admitting liquids to the United States mails in direct violation of the law as passed by Congress, is in the interest of liquor dealers who wish to use the mails to send liquor into Iowa. —The most destructive grain fire of the season occurred in San Benito County, Cal., August 5. It burned over an area of at least 10,000 acres. Several barns were destroyed, and at least 400 settings of grain, with hundreds of acres of standing grain. The loss is very heavy. —Congress adjourned August 5, after having been in session nearly eight months. During that period there were introduced in both Houses 13,202 measures—bills, and joint resolutions. Of this number only 1,101 passed both Houses, and 113 of these were vetoed by the President. —A Norwegian vessel from Aspinwall arrived at Ship Island, Gulf of Mexico, a few days since, with yellow fever aboard. Six of the crew had died. —A Methodist minister was shot and instantly killed at Sioux City, Iowa, a few days since. The murdered man had rendered himself obnoxious to the liquor interests, and though there is no clue to the perpetrator of the crime, there is no doubt that it was a result of the war on the saloons. —It is stated that upon unloading a British steamer which arrived at Philadelphia a week or two ago, it was found that about one-half the cargo of 2,200 tons of sugar was a fluid mass of syrup instead of sugar in bags as it had been shipped from India. The sugar had been melted by heat, and the syrup was eight feet deep in the hold of the vessel, which had come through the Suez Canal. —The Parnellites have decided to give the Government time to prepare a new Home Rule bill, but will demand a measure for the suspension of evictions. Owing to the fall in prices, numerous tenants in Ireland are in arrears and are unable to pay their rents. If the introduction of an Irish bill be postponed until spring, the landlords will in all likelihood resort to wholesale evictions unless restrained from doing so. —A recent London dispatch says: “The labor troubles in Holland are much more serious than is generally known. Dutch capitalists are seeking investments abroad. Probably the disturbances are reflections of those which have already afflicted Belgium. They are instigated by anarchists and socialists who flock to the low countries from all over Europe, attracted by the comparatively liberal laws. Then they stir the working people to revolt.” —A recent London dispatch says: “Affairs in Burmah are, and have been, ever since the British occupation, in a condition of political discord and social confusion. In consequence of this the British Government in India has decided to intrust the supreme command in Burmah to Major-General Sir Herbert Macpherson, commander-in-chief in Madras. Five thousand troops will be sent into the country as soon as the cold season commences, to scour the country and drive out and subdue the insurgents, and 1,000 additional police will be sent to India to maintain order.” OAKLAND.—House of worship, northeast corner of Clay and Thirteenth Streets. Sabbath-school every Sabbath at 9:30 A. M. Preaching at 11. Prayer and missionary meeting every Tuesday evening at 7:30. Seats free. SAN FRANCISCO.—House of worship, 914 Laguna Street, between McAllister and Tyler. Sabbath-school every Sabbath at 9:45, and preaching at 11 A. M.; also preaching every Sunday evening at 7:30. Classes in the English, German, and Scandinavian languages. Prayer and missionary meeting every Wednesday evening at 7:45. Mission Reading-rooms at the church. EAST PORTLAND (Or.)—House of worship on G Street, between Tenth and Eleventh. Sabbath-school every Sabbath (Saturday), followed by services. Preaching or Bible-reading Sunday evening. Prayer-meeting Wednesday evening. The public is cordially invited. Free public reading-room, corner of L and Fifth Streets. Massachusetts Camp Meeting.
By D. A. Robinson
Our people in this conference have decided to hold their annual camp-meeting this year in the city of New Bedford, Mass. The meeting will open Friday, Aug. 20, and hold over two Sundays, closing Aug. 30. Any readers of the SIGNS who would be interested to attend such a meeting will find a hearty welcome at this gathering. All those who come to the city on railroads can take the horse cars at the depot and ride directly to the camp ground. We cannot now speak definitely of reduced fare on the railroads but we shall probably be able to do as in past years,—issue free return to those who come to the meeting on the cars. Any who desire to rent tents can do so at a reasonable price by addressing at once, E. P. Farnsworth, South Lancaster, Mass. It is expected that the president of the General Conference, Elder Geo. I. Butler, will be present, also Elder S. N. Haskell, who has spent a year in Australia and New Zealand, with other efficient help. Those desiring to examine our publications will find a full assortment at the book stand on the camp ground. D. A. ROBINSON.