The University of California is doing an excellent thing in the new journal which it has started, called “The University of California Journal of Agriculture.” It will give a soil survey of California’s farming resources, and the maps that it will furnish will be on a scale of four miles to the inch. The soil series will be indicated, and accompanying reports will describe the soil—natural conditions, good and bad features, best treatment and use, etc. This certainly ought to be appreciated by the farmers.
Dress Fads and the High Cost of Living
A professor in the Chicago University has come forward with the theory that the dress fads among women are the cause for the high cost of living. Possibly that has something to do with it. It may be properly considered as one among the many causes that have combined to make the cost of living high. There is no one thing alone that can be singled out and charged with having produced high prices. A multitude of things have entered into it.
His Previous Engagement
By Susan M. Griffith
COME on and go down to the Albert to the play to-night, Stuart," said Ellis Pratt, as he and Stuart Holmes were walking home from high school together. “There's something unusual on the boards—something of the wild, woolly West sort,—Indians, and trappers, and all that kind of thing. They say it's simply immense. Jud Emerson was telling me about it—said I wouldn't miss it if I had half-sense. All the boys are going. Gallery seats only a dollar. Come on.”
“Can't, Ellis; sorry to disoblige you and the boys, but I have a previous engagement.”
“O, foolishness! What is it?”
“An evening with a lady I esteem very highly. Just wait—or don't wait, just as you like. I have an errand at the Palace.”
“I'll wait,” said Ellis, watching his friend as he disappeared behind the glass doors of the beautiful emporium and stopped before the confectionery counter. “Humph!” he murmured inwardly, “Stuart Holmes must be stuck on somebody, sure. Buying a dandy box of the best bonbons. Whew! This is an all-round good joke on Stuart. I'll go for him when he comes out.”
He “went for” him accordingly, and, instead of the confusion and blushes which he expected, was met with an easy, good-natured laugh. “You don't know what you are talking about, boy,” said Stuart, greatly amused. “My evening engagement is with my mother at home, and this box of candy is for her and no other. It is her birthday.”
“Your mother!” echoed Ellis, incredulously. “See here, Stuart Holmes! Suppose you talk sense!”
“What do you call sense?” asked Stuart, unlatching the gate which led to his pretty home. “Isn't showing your appreciation for the best mother in the world, and the loveliest lady you know, a manifestation of good sense? I know one thing, Ellis, and it makes me ashamed—boys don't pay half the attention to their mothers they ought, and nothing pleases them so much, either, as to have their boys spend an evening with them. This thing of treating your mother as your cook and housemaid, and racing the streets for company and enjoyment, is rude and mean, in my estimation; and I've found out that mothers, as a rule, are the finest friends and best company a fellow can cultivate. Good night; hope you and the boys will enjoy your wild, woolly West show.”
Ellis just nodded in reply. The fact is, Stuart had put an entirely new thought into this thoughtless boy's head. He wondered if mothers really did want the company of their boys. Some way he had imbibed the notion that they liked to get them out of the house and out of the way; that they considered them a necessary evil, and, at times, a regular nuisance. Hadn't he often heard Mrs. Fields fussing at Robert, and objecting to everything the boy wanted to do? But then, Mrs. Fields was nothing like his mother, or Mrs. Holmes, or—O, well, mothers in general, for he mentally counted over the homes he was well acquainted with, and the kindly mothers who made those homes happy and comfortable, and arrived at the conclusion that Stuart was right.
A flush of shame burned his cheek as he remembered how he had always taken his mother's and even his sisters' love and care as a matter of course, and had never once thought of giving them any return. He had spent his time where he liked, never telling them where he was going, and had often refused his escort rudely, thereby depriving them of a possible entertainment.
As he let himself softly into the hall, the sitting-room door being ajar, he heard some conversation between his mother and older sister. Milly was saying: “If only Ellis would consult our pleasure and go with us sometimes, it would be so nice! Now, here is this missionary from Japan with all those lovely stereopticon views, going to give the very finest lecture ever heard on the subject, and we can't go because we have no gentleman to go with us.”
“I shouldn't worry very much about the going,” replied her mother, “if only the boy would stay at home with us sometimes. I feel dreadfully uneasy about where he spends his evenings; I wish we could hit upon some plan that would make Ellis appreciate his home more.” And the mother sighed—a great big sigh that liked to have broken the heart of the listening boy.
He did not wait to hear more, but, slipping out as softly as he had entered, he hurried down to Prang's bookstore, where tickets were being sold for the missionary lecture at twenty-five cents for adults and fifteen for children. He bought four, for he had a little sister of ten years, and started for home at a rapid pace. On the way he met Price Decker. “Say,” said the latter, “be sure and be on hand for the show, Ellis. We fellows are all going to meet at the Eighth Street drugstore and go together. Going to have the time of our lives. The tickets are selling like mad. Got yours yet?”
Ellis flushed. What would Price say if he could tell him what he had really done? He hesitated a moment. Then a feeling of shame and scorn over his unmanly cowardice forced him to confession. “Why, no, Price,” he said. “You see, I have changed my mind. I found my dollar would a little more than buy four tickets for the missionary lecture, and my mother and sisters want to go, and—well, the fact is, I had a talk with Stuart Holmes, and I find I owe my folks a great deal, and it is about time I began payment.”
He looked for Price to laugh, perhaps sneer a little, but he didn't. “I remember the superintendent of our Sunday-school saying something about that,” he said, “and he urged us all to go to it. I wish I hadn't bought my ticket to the show, and I'd go along with you, and take my mother and the kids. They kind of hinted they'd like to go. I'll sell it if I can.”
It seems that he could and did, for the first person Ellis saw when he entered the lecture room was Price with his folks smiling and happy. Smiling happily himself, he murmured: “I'm mighty glad Stuart Holmes told me of his ‘previous engagement.’ I think I'll form a permanent engagement with my folks after this. I didn't know they were such all-around good company. Guess I'm just beginning to get acquainted.”—Susan M. Griffith, in “Christian Observer.”
Rat-Proof Buildings
THE recent elemental catastrophes — the cyclones in the Middle West, and the floods in that vast region watered by the Ohio — have destroyed many hundreds of buildings. Here, out of misfortune, much good should come. A timely appeal for the rat-proofing of dwellings and other buildings at present existing, under construction, or in contemplation, comes from the United States Public Health Service. Those about to erect a new building or repair an old one, whether of frame, brick, rock, concrete, or other construction, may learn from a recent bulletin issued from Washington what sanitary and economic benefits are to be derived from permanent rat-proofing; and measures to such ends should be demanded by prospective owners as a part of building contracts. The rat is far too prolific to be exterminated by such agencies as traps, poisons, gases, and the like. These may reduce the numbers of the rodents; but if there is food within reach, the surviving rats will have more to eat proportionally, and procreation will be stimulated the more. Rat extermination can be effective only by cutting off the rats' food supply. The bulletin contains all necessary information to this end, so far as relates to buildings. Those already erected can be rat-proofed by the closure of all natural or accidental openings; by being remodeled with material impervious to rats; by the removal of structures which will give refuge to rats; and by the protection or removal of foods which rats will eat.— Journal of the American Medical Association.
I Could Do It, but She Might Fall
In the Life of Faith (London) we find an illustration which most beautifully sets forth the true idea of denying oneself for the good of others. The incident is thus given: “Two little lads out in the country were going through the woods with their little sister. They came to a tree which had been placed across a little brook of running water. The boys were attracted by this offer of an adventure. One urged the other to walk across the stream on the tree. ‘Come on, it’s quite easy,’ he called. But the other, holding his little sister by the hand tightly, said, ‘I could do it all right, but she might fall.’ Sometimes we are tempted to do things which would not bring us to a downfall, but are nevertheless risky for others to indulge in. Can we not abstain from the alluring thing in the spirit of this lad, saying, ‘I could do it all right, but he—some young disciple—might fall?’”
Honesty and the Appearance of Sanctity
“THE more honesty a man has, the less he affects the air of a saint.”
For the last six months of 1913
By Editor
One of the chief features of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES will be a series of twenty-four elaborate Bible readings. We have given Bible readings in the past, but they have invariably been short, in the necessity of the case; but in the six months to come they will be much more elaborate, set in larger type, broken up by subheads, illustrated. They will stand out so strong and clear as to invite reading. They will be amplified by notes which make clear the scriptures.
THE SUBJECTS ARE AS FOLLOWS
1. The Holy Scriptures. Their Inspiration; Their Sufficiency.
2. The More Sure Word of Prophecy. Its Purpose for the Latter Days; A Sign of the True God; Examples of Bible Prophecy.
3. The Coming of the Just One. His Coming Is Personal; His Coming Is Literal; His Coming Will Be Visible; We May Know When His Coming Is Near; There Shall Be Signs.
4. What Christ’s Coming Means. He Comes in Great Glory and Majesty; The Effect of That Glory; The Effect of His Coming, upon the Sleeping Righteous and the Living Righteous.
5. Signs of the Times. Wealth, Labor, and Capital, with striking statistics and tables.
6. Present-Day Conditions Minutely Foretold. Great Spiritual Declension Predicted; Knowledge to Be Increased; A Cry of Peace and Safety; Signs in the Heavens; Last-Day Scoffers; Crime and Injustice; etc.
7. Object-Lessons of God’s Mercy. Types, Shadows, Symbols.
8. Our Great High Priest. The Fulfilment of the Types and Shadows and Symbols; His Ministration in the Heavenly Sanctuary.
9. The Two Thousand Three Hundred Days. Their Beginning; Their Ending; What They Mean.
10. The Law of Jehovah. Immutable and Eternal.
11. The Everlasting Gospel. What Is the Gospel? The Relation of the Law to the Gospel.
12. The Everlasting Covenant. Created in Christ Jesus; Freedom of Choice and Faith; Father of the Faithful; Establishing the Covenant; the Old Covenant; What the New Covenant Does for Man.
13. God’s Message for To-Day. The Hour of His Judgment; Conditions in the Religious World; God’s Desire Concerning Babylon; The Healing Message; An Impending Judgment; True Worship.
14. The Great Threefold Message. Babylon; What Is the Beast? Worship True and False; What the Rejection of God’s Message Means.
15. The Sabbath — The Day — The Duty. The Sabbath Law; Questions on the Law; Memorial and Sign; Jesus and the Sabbath; The First Day of the Week; The Lord’s Day; Teaching of the Apostles.
16. The Change of the Sabbath. Fulfilled in Christ’s Teaching and Example; Prophecies of Crime; Confession to the Prediction.
17. Man in Life and Death. Dissolution of Man Result of Sin; Man’s Condition in Death; Eternal Life by Faith; The Two Resurrections.
18. Modern Spiritualism.
19. The End of Sin. The Result of Being Identified with Sin — The Second Death.
20. Religious Liberty. How Only Men Are Saved; Equality of Man; The Difference of Sphere in the Religious and the Civil Domain.
21. The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast. The Seal of God’s Law; The Distinctive Characteristic of the True God; The Memorial of His Creative Power; The Sign of His Redeeming, Sanctifying Power; A Last-Day Reformation.
22. The Great Day of the Lord. Character of That Day; A Warning Message; The Beginning of the Day; The Events of Christ’s Coming; The Earth Desolated and Satan Bound; The Close of the Thousand Years; Destruction of Sin and Sinners; The Triumph of Righteousness.
23. The Outpouring of the Spirit. The Early and the Latter Rain.
24. The Gifts of the Spirit. The Gift to All; Spiritual Gifts; Purpose and Object.
There will be, in connection with these Bible readings, articles on the various subjects, notes which will take up some of the objections connected with these various topics.
In addition to this, the editors have in hand three articles on the nature of man, which involve the explanation of that puzzling parable, the rich man and Lazarus.
Also a large number of articles on the second coming of our Lord and the signs of the times; articles on the Scriptures and the importance of Scripture; articles on various phases of prophecy, prophecies not generally discussed, but which are important; articles on atonement and salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, man’s generation, degeneration, and regeneration.
A series of articles entitled “A Sevenfold Sign of the Times,” a great prophecy which pertains to our own days and our own times, a prophecy of this generation.
Our “Question Corner,” of course, will continue as now, in answering the many questions on all kinds of Bible and historically religious subjects.
Our editorial columns will be always filled.
The Outlook will chronicle and point the meaning of the great events which are taking place all over the world, will show the bearing and breadth of God’s message for this time.
Our Missions department will bring before the readers the conditions and demands in the most needy fields of the world. In this Missions department there is given the fullest summary of the work that is being done all over the world.
We have promises from some of our best writers for articles in the Home department, and from Dr. Thomason and Dr. Evans-Stewart.
It has been true ever, we believe, that the performance of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES has been more than its promises. We are determined that it shall be in the six months to come.
We shall so present God’s great message for this time that we are sure we can heartily, consistently, and confidently ask the cooperation of our readers throughout the great field.
Five or more to one person, each . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
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Immortality
We would recommend as a brief help in study of the immortality question, “Is Man Immortal?” Apples of Gold Library, No. 86. Single copy, 2 cents, post-paid; $1.00 a hundred. This office.
Those who are making an investigation of the Bible teaching on immortality should secure the tract “Thoughts for the Candid,” Bible Students’ Library, 47. Single copy, post-paid, 2 cents; 50 cents a hundred. This office.
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Leaflets for Religious Liberty Education
You can acquaint yourself thoroly with the principles of Liberty, and assist in educating others by liberal use of the Religious Liberty Leaflet Series. It contains the following numbers. (Send two cents extra for postage with order for less than ten cents worth.)
No. Per hundred
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2. Sunday Laws .................... .50
3. The Logic of Sabbath Legislation .... .50
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5. Civil Government and the Church ..... .25
6. Religious Liberty ................. .75
7. Church’s Greatest Need To-Day ...... .25
8. Church Federation ................ .75
9. Limit of Civil Authority .......... .25
10. A Vital Question ................. .50
11. What Are Works of Charity and Necessity? ................. .25
12. Backward States .................. .50
13. Alexander Campbell on Moral Societies. 1.50
14. William Lloyd Garrison’s Protest Against Sunday Laws .......... .50
15. Sunday Mail Reports .............. .75
16. Why Sunday Laws Are Wrong ........ .50
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The Gospel Message for To-Day
An outline of the messages presented in the Revelation, and especially the one mentioned in the fourteenth chapter, is clearly given in Bible Students' Library, No. 188, “The Gospel Message for To-Day.” Price for single copy, post-paid, 2 cents; $1.00 a hundred. This office.
Curing Tuberculosis.
Dr. Friedmann’s serum for the cure of consumption has been much discussed during recent months. Some are endeavoring to discredit it, particularly because of the fact that the claim is made that he is trying to commercialize it. But in discussing the matter Professor Stoerck, who is considered a leading pathologist in Europe, has given expression to a few facts that should be kept prominent. After saying quite a good deal in regard to the fact that Dr. Friedmann has refused, up to the present time, to give out the secret of his serum, and after offering a number of conjectures as to what that serum might be, the professor says:
“The cure of consumption is purely a question of money, except in rare cases of malicious infection. If taken in hand at an early stage, there is a certainty of complete cure. The first prescription is for the patient to breathe pure air, without dust or wind, in a climate without sudden changes, moving little, and taking nourishing food. Life on board ship is preferable to all else.”
“Great hopes are entertained of Veleminsky’s tubercalomucin, which has had brilliant result with consumptive cows, doubling their weight and milk production in a few months.
“Tuberculosis of the throat and bones probably can be cured by sun and light. By bringing the treatment within the sphere of the indigent classes, the government could reasonably reduce this scourge, which causes more deaths than all other diseases together.”
Pure air and pure food, under proper conditions, is a sure cure for tuberculosis—so affirms the professor, and the world is coming to understand that his affirmation is correct; and since pure air and pure food and proper conditions will cure consumption, a better thing still is for us to live in the pure air and to have pure food and to make our conditions and surroundings as wholesome as possible, so that we may not contract tuberculosis. Our leading scientists and physicians are urging these matters, and we wish to join in giving their sentiments as wide a circulation as possible.
Striking Children
The school children in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, have conducted a strike that had all the characteristics of the strikes of the grown-ups. They had their parades which tied up the traffic and necessitated a call for the police reserves. They had the inflammatory banners denouncing an obnoxious superintendent, and in every way behaved as tho they were a juvenile branch of the I. W. W.
In New York also 1,500 school children have struck in one of the high schools. On May 9 they won a recognition of their cause, and promises of consideration of their grievances. The students wrecked the basement of the dining-room as a protest against the poor ventilation and the quality of the fare. They said also that they were dissatisfied with the same old songs sung every day, and wanted livelier music. We have had thousands of incidents of this character during recent years among the grown-ups, but the contagion seems to be spreading very rapidly to the children and young men and women.
The New York World suggests that in the olden days a little vigorous spanking would have prevented such a demonstration of school children. But the World further adds that “that kind of interference would nowadays be ‘unfair,’ and any attempt at parental control would doubtless result in an application to the nearest children’s court for an injunction.” Paul’s second letter to Timothy, the third chapter, specifies quite a large number of things that will make the last days perilous, and among them is that of disobedience to parents. The general lawlessness of this age has spread to the children; and what will be the condition if time lasts long enough for these children to assume their place in the active management of the affairs of the world?
A correspondent sends us a Septuagint translation of Isa. 65:20 by Pagnini, in 1844, and requests its publication. It may be of interest to some of our readers. We therefore give it: “There shall be no more carried out thence for burial an infant of days, or a young man, or an old man who hath not filled his time, for a man of an hundred years old shall be a youth.”
The Perils of Speed and Excitement
The despatches every day are filled with accounts of deaths and injuries that are coming through all sorts of accidents. There are accidents with automobiles, accidents with motorcycles, accidents with air-ships, accidents on railroad and steamship, and so on through to the end of the list. One of the sad things about these accidents is that many of them occur among parties of pleasure. Another sad thing is that many of them could be avoided if it were not for the craze for speed and excitement that seems to possess the people of this age. It is far better to go a little slower and a little more safely, and live a long and happy and useful life, than it is to drive so fast and to come so prematurely to an abrupt end.
Helpful Tracts and an Address
There have come to our table two little tracts,—one “Words of Truth Series,” No. 52, published by the Review and Herald Publishing Assn., Washington, D. C., on Spiritualism—8 pages—the author of which is Francis M. Wilcox, the editor of the Review and Herald. Such little tracts as these will be very helpful to place in the hands of those who are desirous of understanding the truth. Also an address, ‘The Work of the Medical Missionary,’—20 pages,—delivered to the sixth graduating class of the Washington Sanitarium Training School for Nurses, by Francis M. Wilcox. It can be obtained by addressing the Medical Department of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Nurses who are engaged in the work of the Lord in any way will find herein principles that are excellent.
Geological Map Engravers Wanted
In furnishing the splendidly engraved geological maps, the United States government are not able to find all the engravers that they would like to use. They say that they desire to correspond with competent map engravers. They will pay wages ranging from $3.00 a day when actually employed to $1,600 a year. No regular examination is required, but samples of work properly authenticated must be submitted. Address the Chief Engineer of the Geological Survey, Washington, D. C.
Maine Monument Dedication
A beautiful monument in memory of the men aboard the battle-ship Maine when she went down in Havana Bay fifteen years ago, has been erected at the entrance to Central Park, New York, and will be dedicated on Decoration Day, May 30, to the booming salute fired by the Atlantic squadron, which will be anchored in the Hudson River. The monument has been erected by means of public and voluntary subscriptions.
Direct Election of U.S. Senators
The constitutional amendment for the direct election of United States senators has been adopted, and one of the early official acts of Secretary Bryan will be to make the proclamation. Thirty-five states have already certified the ratification of the amendment, and they are only waiting for South Dakota to complete the requirements of the law.
California Criminal Records Clearinghouse
The California senate has passed a bill appropriating $10,000 for the establishment of a clearing-house for criminals, and a place to keep records of crime. Chiefs of police and sheriffs throughout the state will contribute to these records.
Record U.S. Mineral Output in 1912
The report of the United States Geological Survey shows that the output of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, fluor-spar, anthracite, and other mineral products, for 1912, was the largest in the history of the nation.
