Review and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 3. (1/13/1916)

Review and Herald

Jan 13, 1916

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 13, 1916

LIFE

By Margaret E. Sangster

Life is too brief Between the budding and the falling leaf, Between the seedtime and the golden sheaf, For hate and spite. We have no time for malice and for greed; Therefore, with love make beautiful the deed; Fast speeds the night.

Life is too swift Between the blossom and the white snow’s drift, Between the silence and the lark’s uplift, For bitter words. In kindness and in gentleness our speech Must carry messages of hope, and reach The sweetest chords.

Life is too great Between the infant’s and the man’s estate, Between the clashing of earth’s strife and fate, For petty things. Lo! we shall yet who creep with cumbered feet, Walk glorious over heaven’s golden street, Or soar on wings!

— Margaret E. Sangster.

Important Happenings of 1915

THE year 1915 will go down in history as one of the most eventful of all time. Marked changes have occurred, particularly in the political world. The conflict in Europe, which began eighteen months ago, raged with great intensity throughout the entire twelve months of 1915, and seems quite as far from settlement as it did one year ago.

The last year has marked several important changes in the battle fronts and in the participants engaged. The western line of battle has remained practically intact.. The central powers have pushed their conquest in the east, encompassing quite a wide range of territory. In the south, Serbia, with the aid which Bulgaria furnished the central powers, has been overrun, thus opening the way for supplies to be furnished Turkey in her defense of Constantinople against the combined land and naval attacks of England and France. Italy maintained her neutrality for a long time, but finally decided on the side of the Entente. At the present time eleven nations are engaged in the great conflict; namely, Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Serbia, Montenegro, and Japan against Germany, Austria, Turkey, and Bulgaria. At the present writing a great battle is raging on the western front between Russia and Germany, and a strong Teutonic drive is threatened against Egypt and the Suez.

The principal event in the Far East was the return of China to a monarchy. A republic was declared Feb. 12, 1912. On Dec. 11, 1915, Yuan Shi-kai who had been elected president of the republic, accepted the imperial crown offered him in accordance with the result of an election which was held to determine the form of government.

In Mexico, 1915 witnessed the practical victory of Carranza, head of the provisional government, over the Villa forces. The United States government gave recognition to Carranza. This example was followed by the South American republics and by a number of European powers. It is believed that this recognition will greatly facilitate the settlement of conditions in the Mexican Republic.

The holding of the Panama Pacific Exposition was an event of international interest, participated in by nearly all the countries of the world. The exposition was carried on for 288 days, with an aggregate attendance of 18,871,000. Over two million dollars' profit was realized by the managers.

Great progress was made during the year in the development of the long-distance telephone and the wireless telephone. President Wilson talked with President Moore of the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, the longest distance that the human voice has ever been carried by a metallic wire. A still more wonderful feat was achieved in the sending of a wireless telephone message from the Navy Department at Arlington, Va., to Eiffel Tower, Paris, France. The wireless operator at Honolulu picked up the message 4,800 miles from Arlington.

Notable gains were made during 1915 in the cause of prohibition. Nearly every country in the world was compelled to deal with the liquor traffic in a vigorous way. Excellent results followed the efforts of the Russian government in prohibiting the free use of intoxicants. France prohibited the sale of absinth, and there was a marked deepening of temperance sentiment in England. In this country seven new States entered the prohibition list with the beginning of 1916, making nineteen now committed to the cause of prohibition.

Last year was marked by many disasters. A great earthquake in Italy brought loss of life to 36,000 persons. More than 800 persons were drowned in the overturning of the “Eastland,” a river boat in Chicago. Three hundred were killed as a result of a storm in the Gulf States. The sinking of the “Lusitania” was only one of numerous horrors incident to the war.

The year 1915 marked the seven hundredth anniversary of the Magna Charta, the end of a century of peace between England and the United States, the development of the submarine and aeroplane in the use of war, and many other important events that might be cited, but the mention of which space forbids.

Altogether, 1915 was a year whose rosiest hues were overshadowed by the terrible cloud of war, more tragic, more pathetic, more terrible in its intensity and more awful in its bloody butchery, than any of the world's great conflicts.

ON January 1, Colorado closed all her saloons. The State supreme court decided that the prohibitory law lately enacted was sound, notwithstanding the contention of Denver and other cities that their special charters would exempt them from the law’s operation.

Note and Comment

Self-Denial Week for Methodists

THE general committee of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States, has issued a call to members of that church to observe a period of self-denial from April 13 to 23. This call is made not alone to increase the money in the mission treasury, but to afford a season for thoughtful devotion and earnest prayer. The following reasons are cited why this call should be observed:—

God speaks to us now by many distinct voices,—by the voice of war that becomes a wail and a moan; by the voice of an institutional and ceremonial religion, in Italy, Mexico, France, South America, and elsewhere, that too often becomes the voice of a hopeless atheism; by the voice of an amazing progress in Japan, and China, and Korea, and Africa, which becomes a clamor for guidance in the paths of God; by the voice of weighty mass movements in India, where thousands wait eagerly for the sacred rite of baptism; by the voice of orphanhood, which makes tender request to be gathered from homes destroyed by war into the care of spiritual parenthood under the leadership of Christ; by the voice of an overworked missionary force that covets reenforcement and relief; by the voice of trained and consecrated youth that pleads to go if only we will send; and by voices that speak to us from open doors on all continents and islands. This day is vocal with the varied calls of God; and he needs now a listening and a willing church.

For these reasons, and for others which might be cited, we as a people need to make every week a week of prayer and a week of self-denial. It will take all to buy the field of heavenly treasure. The service of God requires a constant sacrifice of service and missionary effort. Let us have during 1916 not alone one week of prayer and self-denial, but fifty-two weeks.

EDITORIALS

By G. B. T.

The Harvest

I RECENTLY read of a man who tried the experiment of raising a harvest from one little seed. He planted one kernel of corn, and it yielded two ears. The next year he planted the corn from these two ears, and as a result had nearly a bushel of shelled corn. Again he repeated the experiment, and was rewarded with an abundant harvest.

There is a great practical lesson in this. We are in the sowing time. We are planting seed daily; the harvest will not be fully seen till in eternity. What a great incentive to plant seeds of kindness, love, and divine truth to be multiplied as time goes on, and an abundant harvest gathered in the future. Now is the time to plant. It is always sad to see an aged man, who is tottering on the verge of the tomb, planting a shade tree or an orchard. Ere he can sit beneath the foliage and enjoy the shade, or gather the fruit, he will be slumbering in the tomb. He should have begun earlier in life to plant.

Today we can sow a seed of kindness. We can speak tenderly to those we meet. We can smile and be cheerful to those about us. We can visit the sick, and minister to the needy. We can search out those who have grown cold and lost their hope, and encourage them to take a new hold on divine realities. This is planting.

“Let us gather up the sunbeams, Lying all around our path; Let us keep the wheat and roses, Casting out the thorns and chaff; Let us find our sweetest comfort In the blessings of today, With a patient hand removing All the briers from the way.”

Today we can give of our means to advance the gospel. We can make sacrifices and bear crosses for Christ’s sake. If God has blessed us with abundance, we can give liberally to him. That which is given now will bring great returns, and will be multiplied manyfold.

All this is sowing. We shall reap in eternity, not in the coin of earth, but in souls. How unspeakably blessed it will be to see blood-washed souls in the kingdom, saved by faith in Christ, who through our labors have been led to him!

Today we can sow the gospel seed through the printed page. We can visit our neighbor who is working with a muck rake, and tell him of heaven, and the eternal realities there, and bid him look up and behold a crown of glory. We can scatter tracts and periodicals broadcast. We can sell and lend books. We know not which will prosper, whether this or that. But God will care for the results. The seed thus sown will be multiplied. When one soul comes to Jesus, he in turn brings others to the fold, and so the seed is multiplied more and more.

“When comes the king in royal might, To crush the wrong, and crown the right; When all the saints in glory meet, No more to die, no more to weep; When thrones are set and crowns are given, With all the rich reward of heaven, Oh, in that heavenly by and by, What’s done for God will never die!”

How blessed it is that what we do for God will live forever! We sow here; we reap in eternity. Our investment of time, money, or whatever it is, will bring eternal dividends in the kingdom of God. Let us sow faithfully the seeds of the word, that we may finally reap with joy.

G. B. T.

Beginning of the 2300 Years

By W. A. S.

The Prophecy of Daniel 8 — No. 3

Beginning of the 2300 Years

IN the angel’s explanation of the vision of Daniel 8, we must assuredly find the explanation of the prophetic period of 2300 years, which mark the opening of the judgment work in heaven, or the cleansing of the sanctuary; for the commission to the angel Gabriel was, “Make this man to understand the vision.” Dan. 8: 16.

The eighth chapter closes, however, with no explanation as to the beginning of this important measuring line of prophecy. The angel had explained the symbols representing Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome, and had dwelt upon the antichristian work of the apostasy that was to come. But the angel left the time of the prophetic period unexplained, save to say that it was “true,” and that it would be “for many days”—far in the future. Here he stopped, for Daniel fainted. In his spirit the prophet had been gazing upon the warfare of the great apostasy against God’s truth through the ages, and evidently it took all strength from him. Daniel closes the account of this vision of the eighth chapter with the words, “I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.” Verse 27.

But the angel had been commanded, “Make this man to understand the vision;” and soon after, as recorded in the next chapter,—possibly within a year,—Gabriel appeared to the prophet with the words:—

“O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. Therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.” Dan. 9: 22, 23.

Thereupon the angel began to deal with the matter of time prophecy, the very feature of the vision of Daniel 8 that he had not yet made Daniel to understand. Therefore the vision of the 2300 years must be the topic.

The Starting Point

First of all, the angel said that a shorter period was to be cut off, and allotted to the Jewish people, to reach to the coming of the promised Messiah and the filling up of the measure of Jerusalem’s transgressions. The angel’s own words are:—

“Seventy weeks [490 days prophetic time, 490 literal years] are determined [cut off, as the word means] upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and

prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.” Verse 24.

This 490-year period “cut off” was to cover the history of the people of Jerusalem until that city had filled out the measure of its transgression. The only prophetic period from which this 490 years can properly be said to be “cut off” is, assuredly, the longer period of 2300 years, which stretches far onward to “the time of the end.” The 490 years and the 2300 years, then, must begin at the same time.

It was the time period that the angel Gabriel was yet to explain; and he begins the explanation by showing that the first 490 years of it would reach to the days of the Messiah. Then he gives the event that marks the beginning of the 490 years, which event must necessarily mark the beginning of the 2300 years as well.

This is what he was commissioned to make Daniel “understand” when first the vision of the 2300 years was given. And now he tells him to “understand” it:—

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” Dan. 9: 25, 26.

The date of the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem is the date, therefore, from which the great prophetic measuring line runs—the first 490 years of it to reach to the time and work of the Messiah, at the first advent, the full 2300 years running on to mark the time when the judgment hour in heaven opens. Once the starting point is fixed, all the events of the long period must be seen following one another exactly scheduled to the time-table of divine prophecy.

Date of the Commencement to Restore Jerusalem

There were several commands issued concerning the restoration of Jerusalem after the Babylonish captivity. Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes Longimanus issued decrees. Which one answers to the language of the prophecy as “the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem”?

The decree of Artaxerxes was most comprehensive (Ezra 7), authorizing the full restoration of the civil and religious administration of Jerusalem and Judea. And Inspiration specifically sums up all the decrees as only completed in that of Artaxerxes, which thus constituted “the commandment:”—

“And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.” Ezra 6: 14.

According to this scripture, the full “going forth of the commandment to restore and to build,” dates from this decree of Artaxerxes. And this decree went forth “in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.” Ezra 7: 7, 8.

What year was this seventh year of Artaxerxes—a date so important to fix to a certainty?

The great chronological standard for the kings of the ancient empires is the canon, or historical rule, of Ptolemy. Ptolemy was a Greek historian, geographer, and astronomer, who lived in the temple of Serapis, near Alexandria, Egypt. From ancient records, he prepared a chronological table of the kings of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome (carrying the Roman list to his own time, which was the second century after Christ). Along with his list of kings and the years of their succession, Ptolemy compiled a record of ancient observations of eclipses. In such and such a year of a king, for instance, on a given day of the month, an eclipse of the sun or moon would be recorded. Astronomers have worked out these observations, and verified them. The learned Dr. William Hales said of Ptolemy’s canon:—

As to the authenticity of these copies of the canon, the strongest testimony is given by their exact agreement throughout with above twenty dates and computations of eclipses.—“Chronology,” Vol. I, page 450.

Thus, says James B. Lindsay, an English chronologist, “a foundation is laid for chronology sure as the stars.”

We thank God for this, as we desire to know if we may depend upon Ptolemy’s canon to help us fix to a certainty the seventh year of Artaxerxes. According to Ptolemy, Artaxerxes succeeded to the throne in the two hundred and eighty-fourth year of the canon. In modern reckoning, this two hundred and eighty-fourth year runs from Dec. 17, 465 B. C., to Dec. 17, 464 B. C. The canon does not tell at what part of the year a king succeeded to the throne; it only deals with whole years. The question is, to be exact, Did Artaxerxes come to the throne in December, 465 B. C., or at some time in the year 464 B. C.? At what season of the year did the king take the throne? Some historians, dealing with the matter roughly, date the succession from the year 465. But in dealing with divine prophecy, we require certainty upon which to base the reckoning of the seventh year of Artaxerxes, from which date the prophetic period runs.

And in God’s providence we do have certainty. Of all the kings of Assyria, Babylon, and Medo-Persia, in Ptolemy’s long list, there is but one concerning whose succession the Scriptures give us the very time of the year—and that one is Artaxerxes. The one case in which we need to know to a certainty the season of the year, in order to fix an important date in prophecy, is the one case in which Inspiration gives exactly the particulars. Who cannot see the hand of God in this?

The combined record of Neh. 1: 1; 2: 1; and Ezra 7: 7-9, proves that Artaxerxes came to the throne after midsummer (between August, the fifth month of the Jewish year, and November). The Bible gives one part of the record, and Ptolemy’s canon gives another part; and by the combined record we know that Artaxerxes came to the throne in the year 464 B. C.; and the seventh year of his reign was 457 B. C. This is the date fixed by other sources of reliable chronology also.

In the seventh year of Artaxerxes the commandment went forth to restore and to build Jerusalem, and this event fixes the beginning of the 2300 years, as also of the 490 years cut off from it upon the Jewish people.

That year, 457 B. C., therefore, is a date of profound importance. It stands like the golden milestone in the ancient Forum at Rome, from which ran out all the measurements of distance to the ends of the empire. From this date, 457 B. C., run out the golden threads of time prophecy that touch events in the earthly life and the heavenly ministry of Jesus that are of deepest eternal interest to all mankind today. W. A. S.

Forebodings for the Future

No human mind fully comprehends the terribleness of the great conflict which is now raging in the Eastern Hemisphere. For nearly eighteen months death and desolation, sorrow and sickness, famine and pestilence, have followed in the wake of a continually deepening conflict. Eleven nations, including five of the great powers of Europe, are engaged. Great regions of country have been desolated: homes have been broken up and destroyed; family ties have been severed, never again in this world to be united. Millions of men have been sent home as invalids, crippled and maimed for life. Millions of others have been buried like dogs in trenches and unmarked graves. And millions still along the line of battle face each other in a spirit of deadly antagonism.

Conservative estimates place the number of killed at four million. Fully as many more have been maimed for life or seriously wounded. Other millions are held in detention camps as prisoners of war. Altogether it is claimed that from twelve to fifteen millions of men have been put out of service since the

beginning of the conflict. Add to this number the twenty million more who are drawn up in battle array, the millions of others engaged in the manufacture of war munitions, and some conception is given of the large number of men withdrawn from peaceful pursuits to engage in the science of warfare.

The states of Europe have increased their national indebtedness to figures absolutely unprecedented in the history of the world. What will be the outcome? What does the future hold in store for the nations of men? After the education of long months of warfare, will the soldiers of Europe be content to settle down to peaceful pursuits, to lives of domestic tranquillity? Will they be content to go back to farm and workshop and labor for long years to come to pay off, by great burdens of taxation, the debts which have been incurred? Perhaps! But the future possibilities are ominous. Many times in the past, human nature, goaded to desperation under similar conditions, has been led to do dreadful things. The French Revolution was the outgrowth in part of similar conditions. Does revolution in the future wait on the terrible scenes which are being enacted today? After the war has spent its fury, and the nations of Europe have become utterly exhausted, and the terms of peace are finally arranged, will the nations of the Old World settle down to their old-time conservatism and soberness? or will every government then have to face conditions within its own borders even more threatening to its stability than the present international conflict?

These are considerations even now engaging the minds of thoughtful statesmen. The Los Angeles Times for November 9 represents Earl Loreburn as saying in the House of Lords that “he had been told two months ago that fifteen million men had been killed or disabled for life, and that multitudes had been added to this number since, and that if the conflict continued indefinitely, revolution or anarchy might follow in Europe.” This fear has been similarly expressed by others.

The resources of the future are being sacrificed for the needs of the present, and the future will demand compensation. The Independent of September 20 speaks of some of the possibilities of the future in these words:—

Perhaps

The great war is over; the peace pact signed. The grimed and wearied veterans are coming home.

The flags fly. The bands play. The monarch stands bareheaded on the palace balcony. Below the crowds cheer. They weep for joy. Glory to the fatherland! God save the king!

F. M. W

By F. M. W.

Then a thing epochal happens. First a murmur, then a rumble, then a roar, then—the Revolution.

We have surely reached momentous times in the history of this world. From the human standpoint the future looks dark. The apostles of peace may declare that the nations of men will learn such a lesson from this conflict that the peace of the world will be assured. We wish indeed that this might be so, but the history of the human race affords no such assurance. No such assurance is given in the Word of God. We cannot believe that the national animosities and hatreds which war engenders can ever serve the cause of permanent peace. Nations may fight till exhaustion ensues, but so long as individual hearts remain unchanged and national aspirations and ambitions continue unaltered, national prosperity will bring a renewal of the conflict.

The Scriptures of Truth clearly indicate that “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2 Tim. 3:13. They assure us that in the day of God’s wrath the nations will become angry (Rev. 11:18), and will make great preparations to take part in the last great conflict. Joel 3:9-16. Because of the distress among the nations and the perplexity which exists, together with the ominous conditions in the physical and political worlds, men’s hearts will fail them for fear, and for looking after the things that are coming on the earth. Luke 21:25, 26. Surely we are coming into evil days, and as conditions grow worse, we may naturally expect great unrest among the nations of earth, both internally and internationally.

It seems probable that the church at Rome will take advantage of this condition the same as she has done during many similar periods in the past, and the same as she is even now attempting to do, to proclaim herself the arbiter of international disputes, and advocate that the recognition of her authority is necessary to peace. When we read the seventeenth chapter of Revelation, we are forced to the conclusion that there will come a time in the days before us when the powers of earth shall “have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast;” when the Papacy shall again be exalted to her old-time glory and prestige; a time when she shall say, “I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.” Rev. 18:7. Deprived of her temporal support, the papal power of Rome has been in a state of widowhood for many years; but alliances with the powers of earth will again restore to her temporal prestige.

In her the nations of men will repose hope, but they will find that they are trusting to a broken reed, as did Israel of old when they went down into Egypt. Great Babylon will come into remembrance before God to receive the judgments which she has justly merited. “Therefore,” says the Word, “shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” Rev. 18:8. The nations of earth may declare a truce for a little time. We do not know how this will be. But if there shall come a cessation of hostilities, it will prove only a snare and a delusion to the peace prophets. It will be the lull before the final storm, the little breathing spell, the moment of preparation before the final Armageddon.

And there is danger, if this little time of peace does come, that it will prove a snare to some of the professed children of God. They will feel that they can still go on with this world’s trade and barter, missing the opportunity which heaven has afforded as a time to dispose of their property and use their means for the promulgation of the gospel.

But there is one great satisfaction, and that is that in the midst of the turmoil and strife which is now going forward, every child of God may find peace in his own soul. Says the Lord, “In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.” God’s hand is still on the lever. He is still watching over the affairs of this earth. Out of great tribulation will he bring his people at last. Let us recognize the meaning of the events taking place on the earth, and be admonished by them to find in Christ a rock of defense now, and a refuge throughout eternity.

F. M. W

The Aftermath of War

The tumult and the shouting dies. The armies disband. The soldiers return to their loved ones. Every home is a house of mourning. They try to pick up again the broken threads of peaceful industry. All is ruin.

They contemplate. Five million men killed. Ten million men crippled. Wives and daughters ravished. Children mutilated. Babies starved. Hundreds of cities burned. Thousands of farms laid waste. Thirty billion dollars of accumulated wealth consumed in smoke.

They counsel together. They cannot endure the desolation. They will not suffer the privation. Men fight harder to keep from sinking than to rise.

They go to the nobles and the rich. They ask for bread. They are given a stone. When in the annals of history has Privilege chosen to sacrifice itself for the common weal?

They turn to the governments. The governments listen. But what can the governments do? They have spent the substance of the living. They have spent the substance of those to come, even to the third and the fourth generation.

Hongkong and Canton

By R. C. Porter

AFTER arriving at Hongkong from Swatow, I learned that the steamer on which I was to take passage had gone into dry dock, so the time I desired to spend at the Swatow general meeting I was obliged to spend in awaiting the movements of my steamer. While waiting,

I divided the time between Hongkong and Canton.

Hongkong, being the chief British port in the Far East, naturally attracts an English-speaking class of Chinese who have come to the city to engage in business. This makes it an important place for a strong English work to be carried on in connection with the work for the Cantonese. There is great need of a good English-speaking worker to connect with the city work in Hongkong, taking the oversight of the work in the city, and devoting himself to the English work. With proper effort a strong English-speaking church might be developed in this city, which would be a strength in moral influence as well as a financial aid to the cause.

The committee of the South China Mission has arranged for Elder B. A. Meeker and his wife and Brother P. V. Thomas and his wife to attend the Cantonese language school the coming year. This has made it necessary for Brother and Sister A. L. Ham and Sister Wilbur to remove to Canton, Sister Wilbur to connect with the girls' training school and Brother Ham to oversee the school and city work in connection with the directorship of the Cantonese field. This leaves only Brother and Sister Mountain, who have come to take charge of the canvassing work and the tract society depository in South China, to supervise the Hongkong work until some one is provided for that field.

Going to Canton to advise with reference to the remodeling of the boys' school building in that city, we found that with a slight expense the building could be put in shape to meet the immediate demands of the school, but it will later need to be entirely remodeled if permanent school work is to be conducted in it.

There is an excellent outlook for the development of a good, strong boys' school, which will qualify many workers for service in the great Cantonese field who otherwise would never be able to do efficient work. The girls' school is developing splendidly. A bright, intelligent class of young women are in attendance, and the school is already filled to its capacity. Experience has taught our workers that their teaching and evangelical forces may be greatly augmented by local training schools, which will reach a large class of our young people who otherwise would not come in touch with our training school work.

On reaching the railway station for our return journey to Hongkong, we were informed that the river was rising, and that a bridge had just been washed out between Canton and Hongkong, which prevented the running of trains. We were obliged to make a hasty run to the steamer landing and return to Hongkong by steamer. The rise in the river continued until it reached a point eight feet higher than the floods of last year. This made it by far, the highest flood that has been known on the Canton River. Thousands of people are said to have lost their lives in Canton during this flood. The foreign section of the city was flooded to the depth of between five and six feet, while other portions were covered to a much greater depth.

Just following the terrible floods in South China came one of the worst typhoons known in the history of Shanghai. Vessels in the harbor were broken from their moorings and rushed over one another, the smaller boats being overridden and crushed by the larger ones. Many people were killed. Scores of telephone poles were blown down, trees were uprooted, and large buildings unroofed. These terrific floods and storms are fresh reminders that the coming of Christ is at hand. Our time to work is short. The opportunities before us are great. What is done must be done quickly. More facilities and missionaries are greatly needed for the speedy finishing of the work. R. C. PORTER.

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