Earlier text: The CommentaryTHAT veteran temperance worker, Rev. Dr. Cuyler, of Brooklyn, gives an account of a visit to Portland, Me., made last summer, from which we extract a small portion showing the devices to which liquor men resort in order to make it appear that legislation against the business is all a failure. It argues a weak cause when such means are employed to give it strength. Doctor Cuyler says:— “Last summer I went to Maine. I remember the time when my beloved old friend, General Dow—who a few days ago reached his eighty-first birthday—and myself rode through the streets of that beautiful city in which he rode as a conqueror. He said, ‘My friend Cuyler, there is not an open dram-shop to-day in Portland; both distilleries are down.’ That was thirty-four years ago. The world has been disputing again and again: ‘Is the law a failure or a success in Portland?’ The first night I was in Portland last August, I went down into the most suspicious and ill-conditioned streets about the docks. I kept my eyes open sharply and looked into every suspicious place, and I came back without having found a solitary establishment in which strong drink was visible. There were lots of bottles marked ‘brandy’ and ‘gin,’ and several such very intelligible mottoes, but every one was colored water. Do you suppose any one of those men would have been fool enough to have bottles marked in that way if he intended to sell intoxicating liquors? I saw several of those bottles afterwards at the sheriff’s headquarters, and they were colored water put up for their own purposes, part of the argument being that strangers and verdant visitors such as myself might go away and say, ‘Why, the thing is as public and transparent as it is in New York.’”—Sabbath Recorder. It is well established that cholera and typhoid fever are very frequently, and perhaps usually, transmitted through the medium of infected water or articles of food, and especially milk. Fortunately we have a simple means at hand for disinfecting such infected fluids. This consists in the application of heat. The boiling temperature maintained for half an hour kills all known disease germs. So far as the germs of cholera, yellow fever, and diphtheria are concerned, there is good reason to believe that a temperature considerably below the boiling point of water will destroy them. But in order to keep on the safe side, it is best not to trust anything short of the boiling point (212 degrees F.) when the object is to disinfect food or drink which is open to the suspicion of containing the germs of any infectious disease. During the prevalence of an epidemic of cholera, it is well to boil all water for drinking purposes. After boiling, the water may be filtered to remove sediment, and then cooled if desired. A sheet of filtering paper such as druggists use, and a funnel, furnishes the best means for filtering water on a small scale. A fresh sheet of paper is to be used each day.—Sel. WEALTH does not necessarily bring happiness. “Wm. H. Vanderbilt, the dead millionaire, used to say, when surrounded by his princely magnificence, that the happiest days of his life were those spent at the plow in his father’s truck patch on Staten Island.” —The annexation of Burmah to Great Britain has been confirmed by Parliament. —On the 27th inst., 63 tons of silk, valued at $1,500,000, was received in New York, from Japan. —The McCormick Reaper Works at Chicago closed recently, throwing 1,400 men out of employment. —On the 21st inst., there was a fire in Wilmington, Del., which destroyed property to the value of $1,500,000. —Mining experts sent out by the Argentine Republic report that the newly discovered gold fields of Patagonia are fully equal to those of Brazil, California, and Australia. —A horseshoe has been invented that comes on and off like a man's shoe. A rim at the bottom and a buckle at the back hold it in place. A pad protects the bottom of the hoof. —The curious fact is developed by the Broadway, New York, railroad investigation, that while the company expended only $160,000 in building the road, legal advice cost them $349,000. —Greece has finally submitted to the demand of the European powers in reference to disarmament; but she is preparing a protest stating that she only yields to the force of circumstances. —Worthless certificates for lands in Texas have been sold quite extensively in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and other places, and many people are being swindled by them. —The severely cold weather in Georgia and Florida last January, while it caused much damage to fruit and fruit trees, also destroyed worms and insects injurious to fruit and crops, and so loosened the soil as to promise unusual productiveness. —Dispatches from New York, Buffalo, Boston, Washington, Baltimore, and other places in the East, report a furious blizzard along the Atlantic Coast on the 26th inst. Houses were unroofed, telegraph poles broken down, and much other damage was done. —When the recent ice gorge in the Mississippi River gave way, there was a fleet of 68 boats at Carroll's Island, which had cost the Government $250,000. These boats were swept from their moorings, and many of them sunk. It is believed that the loss will not be less than $200,000. —An unseaworthy foreign steamer has been employed by Postmaster-General Vilas to carry the mails between New York, and the West Indies and portions of South America. And now the news comes that the vessel has been wrecked, with the loss of the cargo, the mails, and six of the crew. —Mr. Chamberlain, President of the Local Government Board, stated to a deputation of the unemployed workingmen of London that he was opposed to emigration as a means of relief, unless distress for want of employment has become chronic. He thought the colonies would not welcome so large a number of workingmen, as their presence would cheapen the labor market. He is in favor of finding employment for them at home. —The Chinese Consul at New York is reported as saying that American missionaries and merchants are well treated in China and protected by the Government; but if Chinamen are driven out of America, he can see no reason why Americans should not be driven out of China, and he thinks measures of this kind will be taken by the Government. If nothing is done to protect Chinamen, the commerce between the two countries, amounting to $80,000,000 annually, will be destroyed. —Forty-one Chinamen employed in the woolen mills of Oregon City, Oregon, were driven out by a company of from 30 to 50 white men, February 22. Two men who publicly avowed themselves the leaders of the movement have been arrested under a statute passed in 1874 to cover kuklux outrages. The warrant was sworn out by a Chinese contractor. On the 25th inst., masked men assaulted the Chinese laborers on several ranches near Wheatland, Cal. Some buildings were burned, and other acts of violence were committed. In contrast with this comes a protest from the fruit-raisers of Vacaville and vicinity, who cultivate 5,551 acres of land in the vicinity of Vacaville. These fruit-raisers state that the probable value of their crop is between $400,000 and $500,000; and should the Chinamen be driven out, there are no laborers that could be depended upon to meet the demands of this industry, and serious loss would result. The protest is also signed by many of the leading business men and citizens of Vacaville.143 —The commission appointed by Mr. Childers, the Home Secretary, to investigate the recent riots in London, severely censure the course of the chief of the police force, and his resignation has been accepted. —Prince Bismarck hopes to secure to the German Government an added revenue of $50,000,000 if his spirit-monopoly bill becomes a law. By the terms of the bill, raw brandy remains in the hands of private persons; but the State has the control of imported spirits, the rectifying of spirits and their manufacture into alcoholic drinks, and the sale of brandy in every form. The Mother and Her Children.
By Christian Observer
I AM sadly conscious that thousands of mothers are so overburdened that the actual demands of life from day to day consume all their time and strength. But "of two evils choose the less," and which would you call the less, an unpolished stove or an untaught boy? Dirty windows, or a child whose confidence you have failed to gain? Cobwebs in the corner, or a son over whose soul a crust has formed so strong that you despair of melting it with your hot tears and your fervent prayers? I have seen a woman who was absolutely ignorant of her children's habits of thought, who never felt that she could spare a half-hour to read or talk with them; I have seen this woman spend ten minutes in ironing a sheet (there were six in the washing), one hour in fluting the ruffles and arranging the puffs of her little girl's "sweet white suit," thirty minutes in polishing tins that were already bright and clean, and forty minutes in frosting and decorating a cake for tea because "company was expected." When the mother, a good, orthodox Christian, shall appear before the great white throne, to be judged for "the deeds done in the body," and to give in her report of the Master's treasures placed in her care, will there be questions and answers like these? "Where are the boys and girls I gave thee?"
Answer.—"Lord, I was busy keeping my house clean and in order, and my children wandered away!" "Where wert thou while thy sons and daughters were learning lessons of dishonesty, malice, and impurity?"
Ans.—"Lord, I was polishing furniture, ruffling dresses, and making beautiful rugs." "What hast thou to show for thy works?"
Ans.—"The tidiest house, Lord, and the best starching and ironing in all our neighborhood." Oh, these children! these children! These restless, eager boys and girls whom we love more than our lives! Shall we devote our time and strength to that which perisheth, while the rich garden of our child's soul lies neglected with foul weeds choking out all worthy and beautiful growths? Shall we exalt the incidentals of life to the rank of a purpose, to the shutting out of that work whose results reach beyond the stars? Fleeting, O mother, are the days of childhood! Speckless windows, snowy linen, the consciousness that everything about the house is faultlessly bright and clean, will be a poor comfort in that day wherein we shall discover that our poor boys' feet have chosen the path that shall take him out of the way to all eternity. —Three young men from Turkey are students in the Andover Theological Seminary. —The cost of the cathedral erected at Garden City, L. I., by the widow of A. T. Stewart, is estimated at $1,500,000. —The Church of England Temperance Society now has 700,000 members, and large numbers who have been in favor of the moderate use of stimulants are taking the total-abstinence pledge. —Several of the infidel organs of free-thought in France have disappeared, while those devoted to the advocacy of evangelical truth have greatly multiplied. This indicates improvement in French public opinion. —Plans have been forwarded from Chicago for the new Cathedral about to be erected in San Francisco by Archbishop Riordan. The cathedral will cost $250,000, and will be the finest church edifice on the Pacific Coast. —According to the Indian Witness, the headmaster of a Government school in India has so far disregarded the religious restrictions placed upon such schools by the Government as to permit a missionary to address the scholars on the ten commandments and on Christ as the end of the law. We are glad that missionaries in India are old-fashioned enough to believe in, and preach, the decalogue. —In Germany, the Sunday question is attracting a great deal of attention. "A conference of soap-boilers, leather-dressers, molders, porcelain and glass makers, cigar makers, engravers, and butchers, was recently held in Berlin under the auspices of the Government, and a resolution adopted condemning Sunday work." Bismarck opposes the movement; but the friends of Sunday observance have succeeded in getting the matter referred to a special commission, which is "collecting information from all parts of the German Empire, as to the nature, extent, and incidence of Sunday labor." —The Salvation Army is in trouble. General Booth describes the year 1884-5 as having been "one protracted, heavy struggle with persecutions, afflictions, and trials of every kind, not the least of which has been the desperate effort made to utterly destroy our public reputation, while from the Army's earliest days it has had a ceaseless, wearying fight with financial difficulties." The severest persecutions of the past year were encountered in Switzerland; but even in this land of liberty, the Salvationists have not wholly escaped. In eleven different States their meetings have been suppressed by law, and fifty arrests have been made. —According to a report that comes directly from Rome, Archbishop Gibbons of Baltimore is this month to be made a cardinal. The Independent sees nothing inconsistent in American Protestants "taking a certain pride in the prompt recognition which the holy see has given to the American branch of the church of Rome." The Catholic Church, it says, "is here among us, a powerful factor in our religious and social life, and it is here to stay; and it is better to welcome its liberal ideas than to fight it indiscriminately and uncompromisingly." We may gain some idea of the strength of the Romish element in American society from the fact that the new cardinal will be the honorary head of a church of 12 archbishops, 62 bishops, 7,296 priests, and a Catholic population of 7,000,000. Have Americans any reason to rejoice in the growing strength and influence of the Catholic Church? —Spain has abolished the privileges of the Jesuits and the religious schools in that country, and has restored to the State the supervision of education. "Spain, the most abject and submissive vassal of the pope, has again learned that it is not safe to confide the training of its youth to intriguing Jesuits, and dares to resist and reject their control." The United States of Colombia also has seen the expediency of checking Jesuitical influence. The President of that republic has issued a proclamation in which he says that it is the duty of the Government to impede the ingress of persons who constitute a pernicious element, and prove an obstacle to the liberty and progress of the country. This "pernicious element" is composed of Roman Catholic priests of other nationalities, who breed disorder in the republic; and the President orders that such priests shall, on the discovery of their designs, be expelled from the country. The God-Sent.
By Intelligencer
WHEN the Lord commanded Gideon to go and save Israel from the hand of the Midianites, Gideon said, "Wherewith shall I save Israel? behold my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." And the Lord said, "Have I not sent thee? Surely I will be with thee." Here is a lesson to the humble poor in the church of Christ, to those who count themselves the least in the Father's house. They are sometimes tempted, on this ground, to beg off from doing some specified work for the Lord, as Gideon did. If all such could be persuaded to look away from and above themselves, unto Him who says, "Have I not sent thee?" and go to work, how precious to them would be the promise, realized in their own experience, "Surely I will be with thee," and what defeats the Midianites would suffer! "THE toil of a brute tends to brutalize, while work that demands thought, character, and skill is a means of endowing the worker as well as of adding to his possessions. He not only has but he is more every day." "THE Nature and Tendency of Modern Spiritualism," by Elder J. H. Waggoner, is a live book, on a live subject, and should be read by everybody. The author has carefully studied the subject, and has given such copious extracts from a large library of Spiritualist publications as to fully condemn them, in their teachings and in their practices, by their own testimony. It is also shown from the prophetic scriptures that Spiritualism is one of the most impressive signs of the times. 184 pp. Price, 20 cents. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. THIS is a brief but comprehensive argument on the solemn and important subject of the Spirit of God, its offices and manifestations to the end of the Christian age. Its chapters embrace the following heads: The Holy Spirit of Promise; The Power from on High; Circumcision of the Heart; The Unity of the Faith; The Law and the Testimony; Try the Spirits; The Great Commission; Gifts in the Reformation; In the Present Century; Spirit of Prophecy Restored. These are subjects of vital importance to all, and especially to those who are looking for the return of their Lord. By Elder J. H. Waggoner. 144 pp. Price, 15 cents. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. Oakland.—House of worship, northeast corner of Clay and Thirteenth Streets. Sabbath-school every Sabbath at 9:30 A. M. Preaching at 11:30. 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 A. M. Classes in the English, German, and Scandinavian languages. Prayer and missionary meeting every Wednesday evening at 7:45. Mission Reading-rooms at the church. THE AMERICAN SENTINEL.
By Editor
AN EIGHT-PAGE MONTHLY JOURNAL,
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By Eld. J. H. Waggoner
A REFUTATION OF THE DOCTRINE.
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STIMME DER WAHRHEIT, Battle Creek, Mich. A tract of 24 pages, which fully answers this question, and shows how Sunday displaced the Bible Sabbath. Extracts given from Catholic writers. Price, 3 cts. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. HEALTH and TEMPERANCE PUBLICATIONS.
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By Charles C. Ramsey
AN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION OF INCREASING POPULARITY.
This school is located at South Lancaster, Worcester County, Mass., thirty-five miles from Boston, and was founded in 1882. It is prosperous because operated on correct educational principles. Thorough instruction is given in all the common branches, and those of the usual high-school and academic courses. There is also a well-sustained Biblical Department. 1. A judicious discipline for the development of moral character. It is a safe place for the young. 2. Methods of teaching that aim at mental culture of a high type. 3. Instruction and practice in various kinds of manual labor and the use of tools. 4. Astonishingly low expenses. Fourteen dollars per school month pays all expense of tuition, board, lodging, washing, lights, fuel, etc. For catalogue or further information address,
CHAS. C. RAMSEY, A. M., Principal. EARLY WRITINGS OF MRS. WHITE.
By Editor
Comprising "Experience and Views" and "Spiritual Gifts, Volume One," bound in one volume. This makes a neat and attractive book of nearly 200 pages, and should be read by old and young. The matter and the style in which it is presented are so interesting that no one who has read one chapter will forego the pleasure and profit of reading the remainder. Price, 75 cents. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. Increase of Crime.
By Editor
SINCE our personal knowledge of California, no other year has opened with such a fearful list of high crimes as the present. And we notice that a large number of the worst crimes are committed by criminals who have been pardoned for similar offenses by the Governor. This abuse of the pardoning power is fast making our criminal courts a farce; for there is little use to spend time and money to convict, when the execution of the sentence is so often prevented by the act of the Governor. We hope the laws may be so changed that convicted villains cannot be turned loose to prey upon society. Their pardon emboldens them in their future career of crime. The spirit of lawlessness and of disregard of rights is almost all-prevailing; and we fear for the future, for to-day California rests under the disgrace of having a muzzled press. The "freedom of the press" has been our national boast,—a boast which the great State of California can no longer make. Christ Our Life.
By Editor
"A REPLY to Rev. J. H. Brookes, D. D., on 'Annihilation,'" has been sent to us by the author, Professor J. H. Pettengell. The pamphlet is a rejoinder to an attack by Dr. Brookes on Professor Pettengell's work, "The Life Everlasting," and clearly shows both the absurdity and the wickedness of the position which would rob Christ of his chief title, that of Life-giver. In closing, Professor Pettengell thus clearly and vigorously states the point at issue, and the position taken by those who oppose the claims of Christ:— "I am not specially anxious to defend myself or my writings from false representation. It is for the truth that I am concerned. I would be glad, if possible, to ignore all personal considerations, and all matters of mere opinion on doubtful points, and all side issues, and hold you to the real central question in dispute, viz.: Where do we get the eternal life for which we hope? Is it the gift of God through Jesus Christ, and only to be received by a new birth, as the Scriptures so emphatically, and in so many ways declare, or is it the natural inheritance of all men by birth from Adam, who forfeited it for himself and his posterity, as we are explicitly told? Does eternal life mean simply purity and happiness engrafted upon an immortality which is common to all men, or does it mean the divine life of the eternal God communicated to man in regeneration? Does death mean a state of miserable separation of immortal sinners from God, or does it mean the loss of life itself, which only is actual death? These, or rather this, is the real question between us. The Bible, not tradition, not philosophy, not sentiment, not Plato, not Satan, must be our authority in this matter; and to this I appeal. If you can find any authority in God's word which justifies you in disputing the claim of our Lord to be our only source of eternal life, and which sustains your abominable doctrine of endless sin and misery, a doctrine which reflects so terribly upon the justice, goodness, and mercy of our heavenly Father, which is so at war with every instinct of humanity, you ought to be able to produce it. If you and those of your school had any solid ground under your feet, any satisfying confidence of the strength of your position, you would not, I am sure, seek to avoid and to evade the main question, and try to beguile those who look to you for instruction into these various by-paths that lead away from it; nor would you waste your strength in petty skirmishing, in discussing irrelevant topics, in making false issues, in setting up men of straw only to knock them down, in misrepresentations and unworthy flings, and in expressions of contempt for those who differ from you only in their supreme loyalty to the word of God." The Oakland Tribune says:—
"Nothing is too sacred for the corrupt hands of public thieves in this age of irreverence and low-grade morals. What the next generation will be, with the loose and irreligious training of the young, is a subject sad to contemplate." A secular paper may talk in that manner, and no one will find any fault; but let a religious paper quote the third chapter of Second Timothy: "In the last days perilous times shall come; because men shall be lovers of their own selves;" and "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse," and apply it to the present generation, and these same secular papers will cry out "fanaticism." Men are already "despisers of those that are good;" and if the earth were allowed to stand in its present condition for another generation, good men, if any existed, would not be tolerated by the men of that generation. "But the end of all things is at hand." "Is THERE any mention in the Bible of where there were three months of time lost that there was no account of? If so, where is it? G. A." No; such a thing is a self-evident impossibility. We can hardly conceive of mention being made of a thing of which there is no account; and if there was anywhere a record of a time when three months were lost, that record would in itself be proof that no time had been lost. As a matter of fact, the only time "lost" since creation has been that which people have squandered in worse than useless occupations, and in vain efforts to evade the plain truths of God's word. WE are glad to see that a few journals dare to speak in plain terms against this terrible evil that is threatening our country. It is a foreign product that ought never to be allowed to take root in the United States. The Golden Gate says:— "In England boycotting is to become a penal offense, and so it should be in every country where attempt is made to practice it. It is the meanest kind of tyranny; and if allowed to go unchecked will find its way into politics, when its devilish spirit will bring a terror to the country, beside which despotism would be a blessing." As a matter of fact, boycotting is the worst kind of despotism. It is more to be dreaded than any absolute monarchy, because it may have a hundred heads. And because it is so despicable in its nature, we hope that no one who calls himself a Christian will be deceived or badgered into giving it the slightest sympathy or encouragement. "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." Boycotting, socialism, and nihilism are all branches of a single stock, and that is, supreme selfishness and contempt for law. An Abominable, Foolish Fashion.
By Editor
WHAT is it that merits such strong language? Nothing less than the fashion which is quite prevalent, of using birds as hat decorations. Not content with a few feathers, nor even with a wing, which, we have been informed, is torn from a living bird, fashion has decreed that a whole bird must be worn. A correspondent of the Congregationalist writes to that paper as follows:— "A week or two since I received a letter from a lady, a stranger to me, begging to know whether something could not be done to prevent the destruction of song birds for millinery purposes. She had been reading a newspaper article upon the subject, which, as she said, had filled her eyes with tears and her heart with anguish. A few days afterwards the January number of the Auk reached me, and in that I found some extremely vigorous remarks upon the same theme. The magazine is a strictly scientific one, into which goes nothing popular or sentimental; but the editor writes, in his own way, quite as strongly as my feminine correspondent, not hesitating at such adjectives as 'terrible' and 'appalling.' And to-day comes a circular from a committee of the American Ornithologists' Union, in the same strain. The Christian women [Heaven save the mark] of the United States, it appears, have so encouraged (or demanded) the killing of our native birds for use in decorating(?) hats and bonnets that the men of science, who are thought to be none too tender-hearted themselves, have felt obliged to interpose, lest certain species should be absolutely exterminated." Could those who adopt this fashion know how they are regarded, they would certainly abandon it, unless their sensibilities have become so blunted by continued concentration on themselves, and by blindly following cruel fashion, that they are incapable of appreciating honest scorn. We sincerely wish that a stop may be put to this foolish and wicked fashion; but have not much hope, for "fashion" is as inexorable in its demands as it is senseless. "THE seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in IT thou shalt not do any work." Payment in Advance for Papers
By Editor
We send no papers from this office without pay in advance, unless by special arrangement. When persons receive copies without ordering them, they are sent by other parties, and we can give no information in regard to them. Persons thus receiving copies of the SIGNS are not indebted to the office, and will not be called upon for pay. Please read the papers and hand them to your friends to read. Notes on Published Poetry
By Editor
To T. W. S., Eustis, Fla.—The poetry, "Which Loved Best?" was published in the SIGNS, Vol. 6, page 365. Do not think we ever published the other piece, though we have seen it. Inconsistency in Sunday Books
By Editor
THERE is at present going through the SIGNS a review of a five-hundred-dollar-prize book on the Sunday question. As our readers have doubtless already concluded, its title should be "Inconsistency." But now comes the announcement that one A. E. Waffle, M. A., has written a book on "The Lord's Day" which has taken a thousand-dollar premium which was offered for "the best book" on that subject. Judging from the past, we should suppose this to be at least twice as inconsistent as the one written by Mr. Elliott. We imagine that it would be a good book to use in showing people that the Sunday sabbath has no shadow of support in the Bible.