Your ShelfYour Projects

Review and Herald, Vol. 80, No. 16.

Publishers’ Page
Earlier text: Drunkenness Among Women

Lessons of Providence

God teaches men by his providence. Happy is he who learns the lessons which God designs to teach. But, alas! how slow is fallen human nature to learn.
All that we have is the Lord's. We are only stewards of the gracious gifts of God. We ourselves are not our own. Our being is of his bounty; and, besides this, after we had forfeited life, we were bought with a price. By sin we lost all claim to life and all its blessings. But these have been purchased by the blood of Christ; therefore we owe all to the favor of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Then it is, as the apostle says, our reasonable service not only to hold the gifts of Providence as stewards, but to present our persons a living sacrifice. All that we have should be held upon the altar, ready to be used in the cause of God—the benevolent work of human salvation.
But when the cause of God calls for means, we are apt to say, We would like to help, but we can not spare the means. We see no way that we can spare five or ten dollars, and meet the calls and just demands against us. But Providence, perhaps, soon demonstrates to us that we can spare ten times as much. Lightnings, tornadoes, and hail may burn or demolish our buildings, destroy our crops in the field, or our beasts. Sickness in our families may hold us from our labor, and bring additional expenses. Other calamities may befall us. In such ways we may be taught that we can spare hundreds, instead of tens. Still we may live and lack none of the blessings that are needful for us.
The design of God's adverse providences is to teach us benevolence and liberality. Those are happy who learn the lesson and heed the instruction. But sad is the case of those upon whom it has the contrary effect.—By the late Elder R. F. Cottrell.

In the Morning

The morning is the time of preparation. Each fresh morning brings the opportunity for a fresh start. How the morning opens largely determines not only the character of the day’s work, but also its end. The coming of morning furnishes the outlook for the day. Nor is this all. The light of morning is peculiarly exact. It is cold and penetrating. The love that can stand the light of morning is a love indeed. Evening is always more or less fevered. The lengthening shadows, the artificial light, and a score of other things lend enchantment to many things that the morning shows up in all their reality. Many things that appear valued and precious in the evening can not stand the cold stare of the morning light.
One thing, however, is perennially the same. The “loving-kindness of God” is suited to all lights and all seasons. It can check the fevered scenes of evening, and flush with rosy warmth the cold gray of dawn. It is the loving-kindness of One to whom the darkness and the light are both alike. It is the ministering care of a shepherd who neither slumbers nor sleeps.
“Well begun is half done,” says the proverb, and a morning that awakens within us a consciousness of the divine loving-kindness is a fitting start for any day. Its warm love can transform the hardest duty, and its assurance of a kindness born of love and sustained by love makes every burden light. This assurance transforms all work into a service for our Beloved, and love ever makes work light, and even pain a joy.
So real and lasting is the loving-kindness of our God, that no morning dawns without it. It “prevents” the night watches, and the trusting soul can say, “When I awake, I am still with thee.” Doubt in this matter is an impossibility for the thoughtful heart. The very fact that morning comes proves the loving-kindness of God. We can neither bring it to pass nor hasten its coming. Each recurring day is a gift of God, telling us in no uncertain tones that he loves us with an everlasting love.
Let each recurring day, then, find us wrapped around with the loving-kindness of God. Let us gird it about our loins, let us bind it as frontlets between our eyes. Let us bind it as sandals on our feet, for this alone makes walking safe and easy.—Selected.

Remember God’s Benefits

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

Idle Words

WORDS are things of little cost, Quickly spoken, quickly lost; We forget them, but they stand Witnesses at God's right hand, And their testimony bear For us, or against us, there.
O, how often ours have been Idle words, and words of sin; Words of anger, scorn, or pride, Or deceit, our faults to hide; Envious tales, or strife unkind, Leaving bitter thoughts behind!
Grant us, Lord, from day to day, Strength to watch, and grace to pray; May our lips, from sin kept free, Love to speak and sing of thee; Till in heaven we learn to raise Hymns of everlasting praise.
— Selected.

The Value of Exercise

A. M. WINEGAR-SIMPSON, M. D.
Few people really appreciate how much they might accomplish for themselves by exercise. Most people think they get sufficient exercise while doing their work. When speaking to women especially about exercise, they say, “I do my housework.” While this is good as far as it goes, there are muscles that are scarcely brought into play. If you should tie your arm up so it could not be used, the muscles would after a time become useless, weak, and flabby.
The reason for using the strength-test machine is to ascertain the strength of the various muscles of the body, in order that we may know what parts are weak, and prescribe exercise accordingly. With many people the arm and leg muscles are strong, and the back and abdominal muscles weak; other muscles may be weak, each case being influenced more or less by the manner of life and occupation. The dynamometer reveals the weak parts, and the plan of the exercise should be to develop these weak parts.
Some patients become discouraged because they lose flesh. It is not of great importance if a person does not gain in flesh. You have your ordinary weight, and keep to that usually from year to year. You may lose a little in summer and gain a little in winter, but a gain in flesh is not an indication that you are actually making progress in your case, neither is a loss of flesh necessarily an indication that you are losing. You might gain fifteen pounds in flesh, and yet the strength not be any greater than before. There are very few who will not gain in strength after taking systematic exercise. A man often gains more rapidly in strength than a woman, because his muscles are already better developed; but even in women we have seen a gain of one thousand pounds of strength in a month’s time. If you gain that many pounds, you are making an actual gain.
Patients come to the sanitarium and take treatments, such as massage, for the muscles. These are all passive exercises, and somebody else is doing the work. When you go to an institution and have to pay for all you get, it may seem too bad to have to work your way, but it is the only way to receive a benefit. You can not have some one do it for you. Massage is good for one who can not take exercise; but exercise taken in the gymnasium or outdoors is far more beneficial than any passive exercise.
In some cases, of course, walking would be impossible. It is best to use care in beginning a course of exercise, especially in cases of heart trouble. In dealing with such cases it would be impossible to give gymnasium exercises, but there are special exercises for persons with serious heart trouble. We begin by letting the patient lift one arm above the head, and then lower it. That is all for one day. The next day the other arm may be raised, and the following day the two arms may be raised. This may seem a very simple exercise, but some patients can not do more than this. Then they begin to exercise the lower extremities, and after a time the heart and other parts of the body begin to gain strength from the exercise. It is a wonder how much can be accomplished for such patients by working carefully and gradually. There are very few patients who come to us who are not able to take exercise of some kind. Patients can take exercise in their wheel-chairs, or even in bed if necessary.
When the abdominal muscles are weak, or there is bowel or stomach trouble, and where the exercises have to begin in bed, it is well to use the arms in some exercise that will cause the abdominal muscles to contract, gradually increasing every day, until the muscles are strengthened. After a severe illness a person has to learn to walk again. So it is with the muscles that have not been used for some time. If patients would take exercise that way, they would be surprised how quickly they would be up and walking.
Many of our troubles may be relieved by systematic exercise, and many cases of lung disease may be avoided, or even cured when begun in time, by systematic exercise. This has been demonstrated in some cases where persons have had tuberculosis. They have devoted themselves to exercise out in the open air, breathing full and deep. I know a gentleman who four years ago was pronounced incurable with tuberculosis, and the physician thought he could not live more than six or eight months. The physician told him that his case was really incurable, and that if he had any business arrangement to make, he had better attend to it at once. This seemed to stimulate him to action. He said he was not ready to die. He went to his home in the country, and began working in the field, taking all the exercise possible; and in two years from that time he was well and strong, with no lung trouble whatever. It was the determination that he put into his efforts to get well that brought about this good result. Many persons in his condition would have given up in despair.
There is another reason for taking exercise, aside from gaining strength, and that is to increase the circulation over the whole body, so that the broken-down tissues may be eliminated from the body. So we see that exercise increases the circulation, develops the muscles, and causes the poisons of the system to be thrown off.
Women, particularly, never take exercise enough. They usually do not take other than walking, and the difficulty with the majority is that they walk so lazily and leisurely that they are not benefited. It is not enough to walk out around the grounds. If you walk for exercise, you must walk fast and hard enough to feel that you are getting a little tired, and then it will do you good.
When you are out for exercise, walk erect. One purpose of the gymnasium is to teach you correct habits of standing and walking. Do not let the abdomen protrude, but keep it well back, head and chest well up. If you do not cultivate this position, you will find that the exercises are accomplishing little or nothing.
When you are out for exercise, walk vigorously, and take deep breaths of air, so you can feel it in every part of the lungs. When you do this, the walk will do you good.
A short time ago we had two patients here treating for obesity, and they were practically on the same treatment. One went into it as if she meant business, and walked vigorously, and lost flesh. The other patient did not have ambition enough to go at it as the first one, but walked back and forth leisurely, and hardly raised a perspiration. The first lost twenty pounds, while the other did not lose more than two pounds. The difference was that one put force and vigor into the exercise, and the other walked about in a leisurely sort of way; so when you take exercise, take it vigorously. If you are not able to take all the exercise at once, take the breathing exercises, and then rest a little while. Then take a little more exercise, and rest again.
Our purpose in taking a test of the patient’s strength is that we may know how much exercise he can take. It is well to know where he is the weakest, then he can take exercise for that part, and thus gain in strength. There are some patients whom I would not advise to go into the gymnasium, and some of thesesame patients would not be able to take the strength test.
Daily exercise is just as important as treatment or diet, and you will find, when you follow it out, that you will gain much more rapidly than without exercise. You should walk out every day. While you are taking your walk, you are accomplishing two things,—getting the exercise, and at the same time taking in deep, full breaths of fresh air. When you go out alone, you perhaps are not able to accomplish so much, because you are thinking about something else, and almost forget to breathe.
Breathing exercises are very important. You should use the lower part of the lungs when breathing, as well as the upper part. Many women breathe only with the upper part of the chest, because their clothing is so constructed that it will not allow the free movements of the chest. Many of the physiologies make the statement that in man the respiration is abdominal, while in woman it is costal. If we observe a child, we shall see that it breathes correctly. Boys and girls breathe alike until the girl is about thirteen or fourteen years of age. If they breathe alike up to that time, what has happened to bring about the change?—It is simply that at this time the girl’s clothing is made to constrict the body, and it interferes with the respiration. If you should put the same kind of clothing on a boy, he would breathe the same as the girl does. It is correct to breathe with the abdomen. We should breathe with the whole chest, and then we are breathing in the natural way.

Increase of Inebriety Among Women

No greater problem faces people than how to arrest the alarming increase of inebriety among women. We can not be blind to the fact that England stands in the unenviable position of being almost the only nation that has a drunken womanhood.
Woman has been specially associated hitherto in England with the sale of intoxicants, and the fact that her presence is to be found in every drink-shop has caused the safeguards that surround her in other countries to be set aside; but the hour has come when more people have begun to think, and it is to this arrest of thought that I believe we owe the legislation that has been granted to us during the last few years.
Some time ago short penal sentences were the only means by which habitual drunkenness was dealt with. It was looked upon wholly as a moral crime, and men had ceased to remember that from a moral crime it passed into a physical failing, that the habitual drunkard was utterly unable to resist the craving he had created when he came face to face with temptation, and that consequently when the term of imprisonment was over, the wretched inebriate went back to his former life as certainly as he was turned once more upon the world.
It was in order to meet this great evil that the farm colony at Duxhurst was started; but since that day, now nearly eight years ago, the eyes of many have been opened. The habitual inebriate act has been several times amended, and this year we have at last arrived at the point where the drunkard is no longer free to ruin his own life and the lives of those who belong to him, but his personal liberty is sacrificed for the benefit of humanity at large. The great question comes, however, What are we to do with inebriates? And this is where the homes at Duxhurst have, I believe, been a pioneer work.
Our farm home consists of a colony village, built on the slopes of the hills of Surrey. Far up the road in its own grounds is the manor house, which has been opened as a sanitarium for ladies. The most important feature of the scheme is the arrangement for the recognition of the individual among the patients. Each little cottage contains from seven to ten inhabitants, and a nurse sister who superintends the small family.
We long ago realized that to deal with large bodies of people suffering from one disease—a disease both mental and moral—was to court failure. The influence of thought would be far too strong to overcome, and it was impossible to contemplate housing so many people together who were likely to harm one another.
Part of the success of the scheme has unquestionably been due to this system of dividing the colony into these small sections, where normal home life can be maintained, and where each individual feels herself of importance in her own small circle.
The cottages are simply furnished with just such utensils as every self-respecting laborer ought to have at home,—clean, dainty, and pretty,—and the women take immense pride in what they call “our little homes.”
The occupation that is given to them is almost entirely out of doors, for we have realized that we are combating an evil which is not only moral, but which is physical also, and that therefore it is absolutely necessary to give them an antidote for the poison which has destroyed their lives. Nothing better can be found than the wholesome outdoor work on the lawns, among the flower beds, in the vegetable garden, and in the forcing houses; and the way in which the women who have come to us utter wrecks are built up, the manner in which they regain their youth, proves the theory.
Early tomatoes and cucumbers are grown for the market, under the superintendence of a lady gardener from Swanley. All the vegetables for the colony are grown by the women themselves, and I think that we shall be able to prove that gardening is not only a healthful occupation, but a good opening for the industries of women.
We have had most encouraging cases, we have also had some bitter disappointments; but I may safely say that when the women leave us, it is sometimes impossible to believe that they are the same who came to us twelve months before, and parting with the patients is so sorrowful a scene that we realize, at any rate, that happiness has come to them during their stay with us.
When we met together at Easter time to celebrate the resurrection festival, many women who had left asked leave to come back. In one instance a woman was to come with her husband, another was to bring two or three of her children, and the eagerness with which they desired to be with us showed that their residence with us had been something more to them than mere hospital treatment; it had brought them an understanding of the happiness of being cared for, and the realization of home.
Individual dealing with women, the influence of individual character, individual happiness, and individual thought must in the end tell for nothing but good.
The women that come to us are the wives of artisans who earn small wages,—women who perhaps have not been taken before a magistrate, but whose homes are desolate enough through drink; servants who have lost their characters, and consequently their situation; young women who, on account of hard work and late hours in shops and other places of business, have begun to drink, and are ruining their lives at the outset.
All these come to us voluntarily, stay a year, and put themselves of their own free will under restraint; and the letters we get from husbands and brothers, fathers, mothers, and sisters are heart-rending. Their willingness to pay all that they can toward the maintenance of the inmate, and their eagerness to cure those who are bringing wretchedness and degradation into their lives, show us daily the necessity of such a home.
In one year we refused three thousand cases; and since we opened, we have been obliged to deny over ten thousand women admittance, for want of room. It is, however, cheering to know that our medical man gives it as his experience that sixty-five per cent of our cases are standing well to-day.—Lady Henry Somerset, in Chicago Sunday Tribune.

How to Sweep an Invalid's Room

WE all know how untidy a sick room becomes, and how annoying the dust of the sweeping is to the patient. “To remedy this,” said a trained and capable nurse recently, “I put a little ammonia in a pail of warm water, and, with my mop wrung as dry as possible, go all over the carpet first. This takes up all the dust, and much of the loose dirt. A broom will take what is too large to adhere to the mop, and raise no dust. With my dust cloth well sprinkled I go over the furniture, and the room is fairly clean.”—Doctor’s Magazine.

Heed God’s High Commands

“HUMANITY stands all around thee, And holds its waiting, weary hands; And God with richest gifts has crowned thee, Go forth to heed his high commands. Go, let his love thy footsteps lead; No day without its crowning deed.”

Openings in Mexico

A. G. BODWELL
HAVING received a large number of letters from our brethren and sisters in the States, inquiring about Mexico, I will give a brief sketch of a portion of the country through which I passed on my trip through the southern part of the republic.
Beginning at Oaxaca, in the State of Oaxaca, and traveling south to Tehuantepec, the country is quite mountainous until the town of Tequistlan is reached, which is about forty miles from Tehuantepec. But scattered all through the mountains are towns, the natives of which speak the Spanish and the Zapoteca (Indian) language. A great deal of mining is carried on in these mountains, and farming on the hillsides and along the banks of the creeks. But there are not any large tracts of tillable land. Stock is also raised.
Between Tequistlan and Tehuantepec the country is quite level, and in some places very sandy. For several miles before reaching the latter place the plantations are very beautiful, abounding in tropical fruits.
The town of Tequistlan would be a good place for some one to locate. Many of the people are liberal, and seem to be open to conviction. Tehuantepec would also be an excellent place. But I shall probably have something to say about it in another article.
Leaving Tehuantepec, and traveling south to Tonala, there is a beautiful strip of country between the Sierra Madre Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. I should judge that it is between twenty and thirty miles wide, in some places wider, in others narrower. At some points the land is covered with timber. At others there are large tracts of prairie, with timber on the creeks and rivers. The people in most of these towns speak the Spanish and the Zapoteca. As a rule they seem liberal, and the power of the Catholic Church is broken to a certain extent. This strip of country is well adapted to farming and stock-raising, and land can be bought for one dollar an acre, Mexican money.
Between Tonala and Tapachula is a country that has wonderful resources, which as yet have not been developed. Passing through this section, one crosses rivers and creeks every few miles, which come rushing down from the mountains with sufficient force to run almost any kind of machinery. These usually have rock bottoms, and the water is clear and cold. The forests produce mahogany and cedar, and many other kinds of timber, the names of which I do not know.
1471. American Indian Trapper in Chiapas, Mex.
1471. American Indian Trapper in Chiapas, Mex.
In some places I saw the largest trees I have ever seen, with the exception of the big trees of California.
The land is well adapted to stock-raising and farming. A German living near Mapastepec told me that he could raise three crops a year without irrigating. The tropical fruits also do well in this section. There are also some large forests of date-palms. There are many tigers, monkeys, parrots, large reptiles, and other animals of the tropics. Just before reaching Tapachula, I traveled through a somewhat level country. The land was black and sandy. There were good wagon roads, and barbed-wire fence.
A railroad is nearly finished to Tonala, and is to be extended to Tapachula. This will open up all the country, and raise the price of land. In this part of Mexico transportation is not difficult, the land being near the coast; and the new railroad will connect Mexico City with Guatemala. So there will be transportation both by water and by rail.
The district of Comitan, on the other side of the Sierra Mountains from Tapachula, is also a very desirable place for families to locate. While the opportunities for making money may not be so great as on the other side of the mountains, on account of transportation being more difficult, the climate is delightful, and the soil quite rich, being of a black, waxy nature. The country is thickly settled, and land can be bought very cheaply. In or near the towns of Comitan, Pinola, Tuxtla, Gutierrez, and San Cristobal would be excellent situations in which families could settle and do self-supporting missionary work. Through this section horses, cattle, and sheep are raised. Corn, cotton, oats, wheat, barley, vegetables, and fruits are also produced.
Any persons who are thinking of coming to Mexico ought first to know that this is the place where the Lord wants them. Then one or two of the company ought to come and select a place. They should then make an application to the government under the colonization act, giving the number expecting to come, their names, age, nationality, etc., also a list of the articles they wish to bring. If the application is approved by the government, it will notify the custom-house officials to let the party, with all of their freight, pass without having to pay duty. Under this act a person can bring furniture, wearing apparel, machinery, food, horses, cattle, mules, and almost anything needed, free of duty. He is also exempted from all taxes, except stamp and revenue, for ten years.

Port Simpson, British Columbia

O. E. DAVIS
PORT SIMPSON is the most northerly town of British Columbia immediately on the seacoast. It is about seven hundred miles north of Vancouver, British Columbia, and has a population of eight hundred, about forty of whom are white people; the rest are Indians of the Semallia nation. This nation and the Haida of Queen Charlotte Island are the most clever of all the nations of the coast. The Haidas are distinguished for their sculptural ability, while the Semallias are noted for their musical talent.
The large timbers of only one of the old-fashioned structures remain as a witness to the advancement that has been made in civilization and in the style of building in the last forty years. The old-style house was from thirty to forty feet wide and from sixty to eighty feet long. Large posts two or three feet through were set in the ground, and were eight or ten feet high. On top of these were placed immense timbers, while small logs and slabs split from cedar formed the roof and sides. In the center of the roof a large square opening was left to admit light, and for the smoke to escape from the log fire that was in the center of the building, there being no floors or partitions, only one door, and no windows. In these structures several families lived, usually relatives or of the same tribe. Later these buildings were replacedwith smaller structures of about the same style, to accommodate each family; these were made from smaller timbers and boards split from cedar logs. Many of this style still remain, but the principal portion of the town to-day consists of houses of modern architecture.
The custom of erecting totem-poles was long ago abandoned, but many of these poles still remain in the village, some of which were erected on the bodies of slaves taken from other nations. Also many tombstones are to be seen at the doors of the natives as memorials of departed ones. The deceased having been interred in the burying ground, the stone was placed at the house; but this practice is now discontinued.
The old heathen “potlatch,” so called in the Chinook jargon, meaning giving away of goods or money, accompanied with great feasting and the working of magic and trickery, was abandoned in Port Simpson many years ago, and only the feasting is practiced. Many times at the potlatch hundreds of dollars’ worth of furs, blankets, etc., were committed to the flames, the object being to convey to the minds of the spectators the impression that the chief or person so doing was so wealthy that money and goods were of no value; however, the goods were mostly furnished by his tribe.
In dress the Semallias are tasteful, considering their former customs, many now adopting some of the late fashions.
When the Hudson Bay Trading Company first established their post at Fort Simpson (later called Port Simpson), in the year 1831, they cleared about three acres of land, around which were built double barracks, the outer one being from four to six feet high, and the inner one from ten to twelve feet high, with a watch-house at each corner, and a sentinel on watch both night and day; also a squad of forty armed men was constantly employed by the company. At present only a small portion of the old barracks remains as a witness of those perilous days.
In early years Port Simpson had a population of more than seven thousand Indians, but it now has less than eight hundred. The great decrease in the population is due to two causes,—the smallpox epidemic about 1850, which swept away hundreds of the inhabitants, and the frequent wars between different nations, as well as tribal outbreaks in each nation. While talking with a native who had seen many years of heathenism, he told me that scarcely a night used to pass without one or more persons being shot in some dispute, but that the cruel and bloody struggle among this people ceased many years ago, and now the country is blessed with peace and quietness; also many have become Christianized by the various denominations that have started missions along the coast. Yet many of the old heathen customs are still practiced by some of the so-called Christians. The younger portion of the population have more or less desire to develop their mental faculties, and many are earnest adherents of the religion they have been taught.
As before stated, the white population of Port Simpson numbers about forty, twenty of whom are engaged directly or indirectly in missionary work. The Methodists have twelve workers, the Church of England has three workers, the Salvation Army has two, and the Adventists have one. Notwithstanding the thirty-five years of teaching from other denominations, together with the present large force of workers who oppose the truth, also the natural disposition of the native to shun the stranger, there has been much more accomplished than I had hoped for in so short a time. Four of the Indians have taken their stand for the Sabbath, and I think that several others will soon do so. We hope to see marked advancement of the message among this people in another winter’s work. We are now entering the fishing season, in which they scatter to various portions of the coast for fishing.
As yet there is but one worker in British Columbia laboring for the Indians. Are there not others who will come and help in this work? God is no respecter of persons. He does not look on complexion, features, or mental ability, but upon the sincere desire of the heart. He gave his Son not only for the comely and learned, but for the uncomely and ignorant as well. Let us make no discriminations in our efforts to labor for all. I am of good courage in the service of the Master. Will some of the readers of this article please send me English tracts and Signs of the Times to be used among this people?

Forward in the Sudan

A FEW weeks ago the daily papers printed in large type: “British at Lake Chad. How the Union Jack Was Hoisted. Capture of the Mallam Gibrella. Reception of Our Troops in Bornu.” A dozen officers, a medical staff, and a number of non-commissioned officers led the expedition, whose work lasted nearly six months, and resulted in the suppression of the most notorious slave-raider in the region (Mallam Gibrella), and the deliverance to thousands of people from the tyranny of his rule; the establishment of a chain of posts between the Niger and Lake Chad. The people were not only friendly, but overjoyed at their arrival. On all sides there was the greatest rejoicing at the capture of the Mallam. In some cases, as the latter rode through the villages beside the captors, the whole population turned out and cheered.
Among semi-Moslem, semi-heathen, wholly non-Christian people, what does this cheering for the white man mean? — Simply that in the greatest, darkest, most suffering of all lands ruled by Islam, Islam can rule no longer. The hand of God is taking it away. As a governing force the power of Islam here is broken. As a spiritual force it remains. God waits for that other conquering army, the soldiers of the cross, to enter and occupy this land.
Alas! that greater army sends no such expedition, stands for the most part idly, ignoring its Leader’s command! Mr. J. D. Aitken, of Lokoja, at the junction of the Niger and Benue, writes:—
“Are not the fields here already white unto harvest? At present they are open to us. The people hate Mohammedanism, because thousands of their friends and villages have been enslaved under its direct law. If, however, we do not quickly step in, from constant intercourse with Mohammedans under English rule, they will soon forget their old wrongs, they will embrace the religion of the false prophet, and be no longer open to us as now. When I came out in 1898, there were few Mohammedans to be seen below Iddah. Now they are everywhere, excepting below Abo, and at the present rate of progress there will scarcely be a heathen village on the river banks by 1910. Then we shall begin to talk of Mohammedan missions to these people, and any one who has worked in both heathen and Mohammedan towns knows what such a work means.”
No mission has worked at Ibi, none have ever gone to the Bautchi hills, none to Bornu, none since the dawn of the Christian era anywhere near Lake Chad. Beyond Lokoja but one station in all Northern Nigeria (Gierku, near Zaria) is occupied. Three men of the Church Missionary Society laboring here represent the entire force of the whole Christian church working among 25,000,000 souls in Northern Nigeria only, and among 50,000,000 to 80,000,000, reckoning the whole sweep of the Sudan across to the few and far-off points of light on the Upper Nile.
The Sudan Pioneer Mission has been formed to begin work up the Benue River, where at present no mission exists, aiming at the inland mountainous country of Adamawa, south of Lake Chad, as the most healthy part of the Western Sudan known. The headwaters of the Benue flow from this region, whose highest elevation is from eight thousand to nine thousand feet, and whose capital, Yola, possesses a British resident.
Convinced that it can not be according to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ that from fifty to eighty millions in the Sudan should be left without the gospel, we send forth in his name this statement, seeking for fellow laborers, to pray, go, give, help, send.—Selected.

Korea’s Growing Bible Class

SEVEN years ago in Korea a winter training-class of native Christians, numbering thirty, was organized for the study of the Bible preparatory to active Christian service. During the last winter this class numbered six hundred men.

How Much Are We Sacrificing

It is estimated that the population of our world is 1,500,000,000, one billion being non-Christian, and only 150,000,000 Protestant. Annually Protestants are giving to foreign missions fifteen million dollars to support a missionary force of 14,200 and 54,000 native assistants. How much are we sacrificing to give these people the last message of mercy?
Continue reading: The General Conference