DIETETIC DIFFICULTIES DUE TO THE SIN-CURSED CONDITION OF THE EARTH.
Before sin cursed this earth, undoubtedly grains and fruits were ripening at all seasons of the year; hence grains could always be secured while in the milky, or sugar, stage, in which condition they are ready to be acted upon at once by the digestive fluids of the body, thus requiring no cooking whatever. The earth must also have been covered with luscious fruits, while now in many sections of the country there is a scarcity of fruit. To-day, in many parts of the earth, nuts are also scarce, and are little used as food. Thus man has been compelled largely to live upon the carbohydrates as they are found in the dry, ripe grains; that is, in the “starch stage,” or insoluble form. If we can not get our carbohydrates (starch) naturally in a soluble form, in which form the Creator undoubtedly intended that we should eat them, we ought, by artificial means, to bring the starch as near as possible to the soluble stage. But it is extremely difficult to get people to recognize the necessity of properly cooking starch. They will endure untold privations in order to get to the Klondike regions, to fill their pockets with gold; but they are unwilling to go even an extra block to find a restaurant where the starch is perhaps cooked a little more thoroughly than in the one just across the street.
THE STEPLADDER FROM STARCH TO SUGAR.
There are more than two dozen different stages through which the carbohydrates pass in the transition from the insoluble to the soluble form, or from raw starch to maltose, or fruit sugar. If this change from insoluble starch to soluble sugar can to any great extent be effected by proper cooking, then it is certainly of great importance that the proper cooking of starches be carefully considered and fully understood. In fact, starch is the only food element that is to any great extent improved or made more digestible by cooking. Many forms of the proteids are just as easily digested when raw as when cooked. The same is true of fats. And yet modern cookbooks give almost their entire attention to the cooking of proteids and fats, scarcely making mention of the proper preparation of starch. The question of starch-cooking is of great importance, not only because of the fact that it is the only food element that is benefited to any great extent by the cooking process, but also because of the fact that three fourths of our daily rations consist of starch. The average person who subsists upon natural foods eats about twenty ounces of solid food each day,—that is, his daily food, minus the water it contains, would weigh twenty ounces,—sixteen ounces of which consists of starch (carbohydrates), about three ounces of proteids, and a little more than one ounce of fat. So it can be seen at a glance that three fourths of all our food is made up of starch; and it is this food element that either furnishes a large share of our heat and energy, or becomes, if improperly cooked, the cause of a large share of our digestive troubles.
DIFFERENT FORMS OF COOKING.
Kettle-Cooking.—As ordinarily cooked, cereals or grains,—oatmeal, mushes, etc.,—the breakfast foods, advertised as being so prepared that they may be “cooked in from five to fifty minutes,” are examples of kettle-cooking, but it is impossible by even prolonged cooking, properly to cook starch at the kettle-cooking temperature of 212°. By kettle-cooking is meant cooking by moist heat, boiling in such a utensil as a double-boiler, etc. Such cooking simply changes the starch into a paste. If a little oatmeal that has been thus cooked is rubbed between the hands, it will be found to have a characteristic sticky and pasty feeling. The inside of improperly baked bread—bread from which the moisture has not been driven by sufficient baking—is another example of this form of cooking. This half-baked bread can be made into balls, which will rebound almost as successfully as a rubber ball, when thrown against the floor or tossed against the wall.
Oven-Cooking.—An example of oven-cooking is a slice of thoroughly baked bread. The inside of this bread, when pressed in the hand, instead of making paste bullets, will form crumbs.
Roast-Cooking.—In roast-cooking the starch has been subjected for a sufficient length of time to a degree of heat above three hundred degrees Fahrenheit (the degrees of the ordinary thermometer). Of this we have beautiful examples in thoroughly toasted zwieback, browned rice, toasted crackers, granose, crystal wheat, mush that has been kettle-cooked, and then cut into thin slices, and baked in the oven until it is browned all the way through.
If we wish to add to our sorrows on earth, we can eat starch that is simply kettle-cooked. If we wish to eat the starch in a better condition, we can take it in the form of the oven-cooked, but it is the best and most healthful when roasted or thoroughly toasted. By toasting we have changed, or digested, the starch as far as heat is able to transform it; it is now changed to dextrin. As soon as the saliva comes in contact with it, it will be instantly changed into sugar. The ladder that reaches from the lowly earth of raw starch to the vaulted skies of digested starch is made up of the following steps: (1) Raw starch; (2) kettle-cooked starch; (3) oven-cooked starch; (4) toasted starch; (5) sun-cooked starch; and (6) chemically digested starch.
FERMENTATION, OR HOW MUSH-EATING PAVES THE WAY FOR MEAT-EATING.
In Isa. 55:2 we are told to “eat ye that which is good.” Here we have the whole diet question in a nutshell. Most persons eat that which tastes good to a perverted appetite. But is it not possible by some means to convert a perverted taste into one that is normal? Then421that which tastes good is quite likely to be good for the health, as well as pleasant to the palate. Poorly cooked grains are responsible for a large share of the dyspepsia and indigestion from which multitudes are suffering. The constant eating of grains, breakfast foods, and oatmeal that are cooked just enough to be partly; and bread so doughy that it can easily be made into dough balls, is sure, sooner or later, to produce disorders of digestion. Starch thus cooked is not only almost indigestible, but it is perfectly fermentable.
In stomachs subject to fermentation, such products as acetic acid, formic acid, and butyric acid are being formed. These acids have been shown by scientific research to be more destructive to the liver and its healthy action than even alcohol itself. Dr. Boix, of France, added these fermentation products to the bran upon which he was feeding rabbits, and after a certain length of time he killed the rabbits, and found that their livers had become diseased; in fact, serious changes had taken place in different parts of their bodies. What took place in the rabbits under these experiments is precisely what takes place in the bodies of thousands of persons who are living upon oatmeal, grains, and mushes, in which the starch is so slightly cooked that it is little easier of digestion than when perfectly raw. At the same time this slight cooking renders the starch much more liable to fermentation.
The object of food is to furnish nourishment to the blood, that it may be carried to various parts of the body to heal or build up the tissues. The blood is the life, and healing is simply getting more life. When God heals us, it is through the avenue of the blood. Hence, any food substance that produces pure blood is to that extent healing to the man. On the other hand, anything tending to render the blood impure is productive of disease. One of the quickest ways of getting disease is to get impure blood. One of the most satisfactory ways of getting well is to get good blood. By eating only proper food, we can assist in the production of healthy blood. But how often the blood, which was intended for the nourishment and repair of the tissues of the body, becomes an active agent in producing disease! Instead of being a messenger of life to the body, it becomes the messenger of death.
If we put something into our systems that will poison the blood and render it impure, God will allow it to destroy us; for he has said that “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” It is our privilege to be used by the Lord to present to a dying world the principles of healthful diet and the intelligent use of water. And thus, with the glorious gospel in our hearts, we may bring healing to both soul and body. There is one great divine law running through all divine healing with which it is our privilege to come into harmony. Then we may be agents of God for the uplifting of man and the betterment of his fallen condition. Civilized people are generally living in such a way that they can reap nothing but disease. We may be the conservators of the health of the people by telling them of their errors, and teaching them better habits of living.
INDIRECT RESULTS OF FERMENTATION IN THE STOMACH.
The various gases that are formed in the stomach as a result of fermentation have a tendency to produce dilatation and distention of that organ. It is possible to take a spiral spring and pull it up so far that it will not bound back; and if the stomach is stretched too much day after day, its muscles after a time cease to contract. Such a stomach is crippled; in fact, often dislocated; and a dislocated stomach is a more serious thing than a dislocated shoulder.
A man with a disabled stomach, who attempts to live upon improperly cooked food, goes through life half anaesthetised, on account of the poisons produced by undigested food. Such a person is unable to appreciate the beautiful harmonies of creation, or fully to enjoy the pleasure of life. It is such conditions as these that are productive of a large share of family quarrels, church trials, and the troubles of society in general. Many persons are apparently half-cooked, all ready to go off at the least touch of the trigger. Such a condition of the nervous system is created largely at the dinner table. Life to a man with such a stomach begins to be intolerable, and he gradually learns that in proportion as he substitutes meat for grains he does not have a sour stomach and other troubles due directly or indirectly to the eating of insufficiently cooked starch.
Next week the question of mush-eating and its relation to meat-eating will be considered further.
Copyrighted, 1900, by David Paulson and W. S. Sadler.
ROME IN THE PHILIPPINES.
New York Times, June 15, 1900.
A far from incredible theory as to the authorship of the seditious leaflets recently distributed among the native population of Manila, is suggested by certain passages in a long article printed by the New Orleans Picayune. Most of the article is devoted to an enthusiastic description of the energy and success with which Archbishop Chapelle is performing the duties of apostolic delegate to the islands; but incidentally the writer partly quotes and partly paraphrases a sermon recently delivered in the Dominican monastery by Archbishop Nozaleda, the eminent prelate who, just before Admiral Dewey reached Manila, issued a proclamation applying to Americans all the denunciatory adjectives contained in a particularly large vocabulary, and assuring the defenders of the city that they would find the destruction of the approaching fleet a task as easy as it would be holy.
Since then Archbishop Nozaleda has probably changed his mind about the fighting ability of American sailors, but he apparently retains all his old ideas in regard to American morals and ambitions. At any rate, in the sermon mentioned he bitterly lamented the political changes going on in the Philippine capital, and declared that the religious orders had been made the objects of a silent but stubborn war by those who are bringing the changes to pass.
In urging the perpetuation of ecclesiastical institutions, educational and other, he said that there was never a time when they were more needed “to check the progress of an impious crusade which has been begun with alarming vigor against the Catholic Church,” and at great length expatiated on the wickedness of yielding in the slightest degree to the new and abhorrent influences which the change of rule had brought upon the islands.
It was all quite in harmony with the sentiments and advice contained in the anonymous leaflets, and Archbishop Chapelle, who was present, and who is an American of the present day, must have listened with emotions strangely complex.
Preserving Song Birds and Bumblebees
ISAAC W. BROWN, who traveled for a number of years for B. P. Hutchinson, the Chicago wheat king, has undertaken to educate the people of his State concerning the necessity of preserving song birds and bumblebees. He says: “Unless we foster the birds and bees that God has sent us for the main purpose of protecting the crop that the farmers plant, we shall not only lose our prestige, but inside of ten years our lands will become as arid as the alkali plains.”
QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE PRIESTHOOD.
By C. H. Keslake
C. H. KESLAKE.
When we study the qualifications of Christ for the priesthood, we approach a subject that contains the very sweetness of the gospel truth. Many persons are content with a knowledge of the fact that Christ is high priest, but never stop to consider the ground of his being such. Or if they vouchsafe any reason at all, they say it is because he is the Son of God. Of course this is true, but that of itself is not the reason. I would not for an instant detract one iota from Christ’s glory as the Son of God, but the Scriptures make very prominent the fact that he is high priest by virtue of his being the Son of man. “There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” 1 Tim. 2: 5. “But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.” Heb. 7: 24.
Jesus, as high priest, must be a man — a man among men, born with the infirmities and weaknesses to which man is heir, and yet be without sin. And so we read, “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” Heb. 2: 17.
In order for Christ to become all this, it was necessary that he should be “made of a woman, made under the law.” Gal. 4: 4. And so we read, “Forasmuch then as the children are made partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same [flesh and blood]; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Heb. 2: 14.
Nothing short of taking our flesh and blood would suffice. For him to take the nature of angels would not have sufficed. There is a vast difference between men and angels, and Christ did not come to save angels, else he would have taken their nature. “But he took on him the seed of Abraham.” Heb. 2: 16.
It was because Christ did this, and took upon him the infirmities of man, with all man’s liabilities, that he could become our high priest. “Compassed with infirmities,” refraining from using his divine power, and emptying himself, so that of himself he was as weak as the weakest of mankind, so weak that he confessed that “I can of mine own self do nothing” (John 5: 30), he must be tempted in all points “like as we are,” and yet be without sin. In human flesh — sinful flesh — as a man, Christ must live a perfect life of self-surrender to God, so that God could work in him both to do and to will of his good pleasure. Thus it is written: “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” Heb. 5: 8, 9. And again, “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”
For years it was a source of perplexity to the writer to know how or in what way Christ, who never committed a single sin, could be made perfect. But when the solution came, the truth shone into his soul as a glorious stream of light from the very throne of God.
There is at least one thing concerning which all mankind are born into the world on terms of perfect equality; and that one point is character. Whatsoever else some may have at birth, all start out in life characterless, and then through all and in all the deeds of life are forming character. But alas! the characters formed by all men are, in the sight of Heaven, bad. And yet not all. There is One, starting at the same point at which all others start, a man among men, who, perfect at each step, finally perfected a righteous character by being absolutely and perfectly obedient to all of God’s requirements — no more, no less, than that which is required of all men. And that Man was Christ Jesus.
Victorious where we have failed; loyal where we have been rebellious; obedient where we have been disobedient, in his perfect life Christ has woven a garment of righteousness, a heavenly robe, in which there can not be found one thread of earthliness. In this, and in this alone, was Christ made perfect through suffering; and it is because of this that God could intrust to him the responsible office of high priest.
In his experience Christ has realized to the fullest extent the strength of each temptation; for he has met them all: and so it is written: “We have not an high priest which can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Heb. 4: 15. As no one else, Christ can have “compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way.” Heb. 5: 2.
And now, having wrought out in human flesh a perfect character, a righteous character, he stands in the presence of God offering that perfect life in behalf of those whose own garments are as filthy rags, which can not protect them from the burning glory of God’s presence, but of which being divested through faith in Christ, they are assured that they are “complete in him.” Blessed be God.
“Complete in him”! Oh, praise the Lord!
In him complete, it is his word.
His life for me doth now atone:
In Christ, my God and I are one.
Obedient to the Father’s will,
The law’s demands he did fulfill.
“Before the throne my Surety stands,
My name engraved upon his hands.”
“Complete in him”! What joy so sweet?
What need I more? “In him complete”!
His life for mine — it stands the test;
In him I am forever blest.
Brooklyn Ordered to Taku
THE United States cruiser “Brooklyn” has been ordered to proceed from Manila, Philippine Islands, to Taku, China. It is said that, as Rear-Admiral Remey, in command of the Asiatic squadron, is to go with the “Brooklyn,” “the effect of this transfer is to make Taku the headquarters of the Asiatic squadron.” The distance from Manila to Taku is two thousand miles, and typhoons are raging. It will take the “Brooklyn” one week to make the trip, and she is expected to arrive at Taku the same day that the “Oregon” reaches the port.
MY LESSON.
By Carrie Butcher
CARRIE BUTCHER.
I AROSE one morning early, and knelt beside my bed,
And for the grace of patience most earnestly I plead.
Faith grasped the precious promise, “Lo, I will be
with you;”
And a holy peace fell on me, as gently falls the dew.
All through the early morning my work seemed almost play;
And my glad heart kept repeating, “I will be sweet to-day.”
But ere the hasting noonday, cares gathered thick and fast,
And each vexation really seemed more trying than the last.
Each member of the household brought some grievance new, or loss,—
’Twas buttons off, and rents to mend, and baby doubly cross.
And as toward noonday serving my anxious thoughts were turned,
Some dusty sacks must needs be patched—of course the dinner burned.
And thus a host of petty things, like messengers of wrath,
Came hurrying, skurrying, as on wings, right in my very path.
And so, in eager, anxious haste, my weary feet sped on,
Now here, now there, and everywhere, doing, but never done.
At last, in tearful sorrow, “My Father dear,” I cried,
“I trusted you for patience. Why must I be so tried?”
Then quick the Spirit whispered, in accents soft and mild,
“The trial worketh patience, O simple, doubting child!”
“Why, yes, dear Lord, I see it; and oh, it seems so sweet!
You are my great Refiner, and this is furnace heat.”
And thus I gained the lesson, God notes our strong desires;
But when we plead for special grace, we may look for furnace fires.
HOW TO SUCCEED AS A PHYSICIAN.
By William Warren, M. D.
William Warren, M. D., in Success.
COMPARATIVELY few young men or women are adapted in every respect for the medical profession, and only here and there is one fitted by nature and education to succeed in it.
To be successful, a student must have a natural aptitude for medicine; he must love it; his whole heart must be in it. If he has a distaste or dislike for it; if even the dry details of medical studies are disagreeable to him or bore him, he is not cut out for a successful physician.
The second requisite is a natural honesty of purpose. If he lack this, no matter what other qualifications he may possess, he will not become eminent in the healing art; for confidence must be the corner-stone of his profession.
The third desideratum is a sound, healthy, vigorous physique. Medicine is a very trying profession, and its disciples are often obliged to forego that regularity of living which is, as a rule, essential to good health. A physician is constantly robbed of his sleep, and allowed but little leisure for recreation. He is liable to be called upon at any hour of the day or night, and, especially in the country, is exposed to all sorts of weather. The youth of delicate physique can never hope to attain any great reputation in a profession, the exigencies of which often demand that he eat and sleep not according to his needs, but when he can get an opportunity.
It is essential to success in medicine that one have a bright, normal, cheerful mind. No gloomy melancholic has any place in the sick-room. The physician should have a sanguine, sunny disposition. He should be an optimist, radiating sweetness and good cheer. Johnson says: “Every man is a rascal when he is sick;” and it is true that persons who are cheerful and hopeful when in health are often despondent, melancholy, and irritable when ill. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that a physician should have a surplus of animal spirits, a buoyant, hopeful temperament. The writer has often noticed the effect of cheerfulness upon the sick, especially in hospitals. When a physician full of animal spirits, with a healthy, optimistic nature, goes from bed to bed with a smile and a pleasant word for each, the effect upon the patients is magical. The parched, feverish tongue moistens, the look of morbid fear and anxiety vanishes, the secretions approach the normal; in fact, the occupants of an entire ward are suddenly transformed by the sunshine of a cheerful doctor’s presence.
A great many boys who aspire to the study of medicine have very little conception of what it means. They see a practitioner driving about in his carriage, or sitting in his office, and think he must have an easy time; but in reality doctors are very hard-working men, and if conscientious, their lives are filled with anxiety and perplexity. One with a large practice nearly always has critical cases on hand, and, if he is sympathetic, it is impossible for him to free his mind entirely from care and the weight of great responsibility. It is because so little is known of the real life of a doctor that so many light-headed, flippant, unworthy young men enter this profession.
Another necessary qualification is a good level head. A physician must have a well-balanced brain. Above all other things, he must have an accurate judgment, for life often hangs upon a correct diagnosis. He must be thorough and painstaking. A slight mistake in a prescription or in an operation may cause death. Many a life has been sacrificed by a blundering surgeon who did not know the exact location of an artery, and did not realize that, if the knife should slip but a hair’s breadth, the result might be fatal.
Promptness is another absolutely indispensable quality. Lives have often been lost because a physician thought there was “time enough,” or was not quick in answering an emergency call.
The aspirant for medical honors must be a hard worker, and one who can not be daunted by obstacles. Only the stout-hearted and determined can hope to reach eminence in this work to-day.
A wholesome, clean character is indispensable. No smirched youth, no one with blunted morals, or of questionable integrity, has any right to enter the profession; but instead his life should be pure, and above suspicion. The necessary confidences, the sacred relations between patient and physician, absolutely demand this.
Everything considered, perhaps medicine is the most sacred of all professions. A clergyman may be a poor scholar; he may be dull; he may not be a man of the highest integrity, and yet do no specific harm; but a physician holds our very lives in his hands.
The youth who intends to study medicine should cultivate the social side of his nature. People like a sociable medical attendant, a man of easy manners. Many college boys, especially if working for class honors, fall into unsociable habits by secluding themselves from all society, and burying themselves in their studies. As a rule, bookworms do not make good doctors.
He should be full of resources, especially if he practice in the country, where there are few, if any, specialists. He will be called upon to meet all sorts of cases; and, if he is ingenious and “handy,” he will be able to make a needed instrument for a special occasion in a blacksmith’s shop, as many a great man has done. Medical men who have had manual training in their youth find it of great advantage in enabling them to meet emergencies quickly and effectively.
He should be a keen observer; for life may sometimes depend upon a quick eye, an eye that will notice sudden changes and the coming of the crisis in critical cases. The study of nature is a wonderful help to the physician’s power of observation. He should have steady nerves, a well-balanced nervous system, and a firm, but not stubborn mind. While he should have a kindly nature, he should have great resolution to prevent his being too easily influenced by his sympathy for the patient. Many a man possessing all the other necessary qualifications has failed because he allowed his sympathy to overbalance his judgment. Such a one can not always do the best thing for his patient. The temptation to prevent suffering often keeps him from doing what would be best.
The successful physician must always be a student of human nature. He must study carefully different types of character and people under all sorts of conditions and environment. He must also have great tact. There is, perhaps, no other profession in which this quality is so necessary. He is obliged to deal with all kinds of dispositions under the most trying circumstances, as a great many persons who are amiable when well, are made crabbed and irritable by sickness. He will often be abused and severely criticised; but, if he has a serene, well-balanced mind, and realizes that his patients do not mean what they say, he will not be disturbed.
WHO WERE MARRIED?
The following report of a wedding was printed in the New York Times, Friday, June 8. The Times or the reporter ought now to offer a prize to anybody who can tell from it who of the persons named were the ones that were married on the occasion reported. Was a single couple married? or was the whole crowd married, as the report says? Read it and tell:—
Francis Burton Harrison, second son of Burton N. Harrison, formerly secretary to Jefferson Davis, and Mrs. Burton N. Harrison (Miss Constance Cary), the authoress, and Miss Mary Crocker, daughter of the late Charles F. Crocker, of San Francisco, grandniece of D. O. Mills, and a niece of Mrs. Charles B. Alexander and George Crocker of this city, and also a cousin of Ogden Mills and Mrs. Whitelaw Reid, were married yesterday at noon in St. Mary's Episcopal church in Tuxedo Park, N. Y.
WHATSOEVER
“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” This is the keynote of our woman’s work. Dear sisters, is every item of your home work done in this way? Are your cooking, washing, sweeping, ironing, dusting, arranging and entertaining, controlled by this rule?
Whatsoever! Are you an invalid, obliged to lie prostrate day after day, unable to do the work which your brain is planning, and for which your heart is longing? Do not think that you are shut out of the sphere of woman’s work. You have a large place in it; for it begins in the thoughts and words, and in the deeds done toward those with whom we are obliged to associate. If you are free physically, but limited by the bounds of home ties, remember that you are directly in the channel of the woman’s work, and that this scripture should constantly be your motto. And if you are foot-free, so that you can go about doing good, you must still do all in the name of Christ, and under his direction.
If you believe on Christ with all your heart, and according to your faith live your daily life, letting everything that you do and say represent him, something will certainly come of it. You may not see it yourself, but the Lord will take care of it; and as surely as he lives, there will be fruit of that sort of living.
We should make of everything which brings us in contact with men and women an opportunity to give a living testimony to the power of the truth. A forcible illustration of how this may be done came to the notice of one of our sisters a short time ago, upon stepping into the place of business of an aged Seventh-day Adventist brother. She was a stranger to him, and therefore he proceeded with her as was his habit with customers. It was found necessary for her to call again, and in setting a time he took occasion to say: “I am here every day but the seventh day—Saturday. On that day you will find this store closed.” And then he asked, “Do you know what the Bible says about the seventh day? You have a Bible, haven’t you?” and a large, well-worn Bible came into view upon the show case by his side.
In this instance the conversation soon changed, on account of a mutual understanding; but many are the seeds of truth which he is thus able to sow. He recommends his goods to last until the Lord comes, and so introduces this important subject to his customers in a way to make a deep impression; and his honesty and accommodation in business prove that he believes what he teaches.
To every one there come opportunities similar to this. What do you say to those who by misunderstanding call at your home on business on the Sabbath? What do you say to the delivery men, agents, canvassers, and tramps as they call at your door day by day? Be ever on the watch, and ask God to make you wise and quick to discern opportunities for speaking words fitly chosen. A message of Christian interest coming at such an unexpected time, and in a loving and tactful way, will make a lasting impression. We are glad to suggest different lines of work, such as holding Bible readings, Christian help work, sewing circles, mission Sabbath-schools, systematic work with periodicals, etc., etc., and to answer any questions or give any information as to the best methods of beginning and proceeding; but we must not lose sight of the opportunities that God sends to our doors.
GET OUT!
Good Housekeeping.
I MEAN it. Get out into the open air these glorious, summer days, every housewife in the land!
“Oh, yes!” responds some overworked woman, “it’s easy enough to advise us to get out into the open air; but after having been on my feet all the forenoon and half the afternoon, I’m too tired to go out anywhere, even if I didn’t have to sit down and sew every minute till time to get supper!”
Very true; and the sewing you have to do is no pretty fancywork, but coarse trousers to patch, little garments to mend, and endless stocking-darning. But don’t sit down in the kitchen to do it. It is the bounden duty of every practical housewife to stay out of that apartment all she can. You need a change from the atmosphere of work which must inhere even in the most well-ordered kitchen. Take your mending basket and sewing chair and go out in the yard, somewhere under God’s blue heaven, and let the fresh air and sunshine, and all the soothing influences of nature, charm and rest you, and make you forget for a while the indoor cares. Outdoor air is at once a tonic and a nervine. It acts on both mind and body.
THE CHILD'S PART IN ENTERTAINING FRIENDS.
By Margaret Sangster
Margaret Sangster, in Good Housekeeping.
Not long ago I was a guest in a home where there was a very charming child, just three years old. The little fellow was most friendly and affectionate, brought me his picture book and showed me his blocks, and, when meals were announced, slipped his mite of a dimpled hand into mine, and led me to the dining-room. When I took my leave, he bade me goodby gravely and sweetly, and said, in his clear little flute-like voice, “Aufwiedersehen;” and you may be sure that I carried with me from that dear household a very lovely association with the baby who had so beautifully assisted in my entertainment.
A golden mean lies between keeping children in the background altogether, and placing them in the forefront, where they monopolize attention; and the young parents of this darling brown-eyed laddie had found it. Children who freely associate with intelligent elders will have more ease of manner and less self-conscious awkwardness than those who are relegated to the companionship of untaught and illiterate nurses. A very important part of a child's education as a social being is gained by him through mingling with the guests who visit the house, and they should never ignore the child, but should take pains to establish a pleasant intimacy with him.
Through all the years between the flaxen and the silver hair, I recall most gratefully the presence of a fair young woman who once spent a week in my father's house, when I was a wee lassie, conning my Webster's spelling book. Her pretty gowns, her tortoise shell comb, her amber beads, her merry laugh, and her sweet notice of my small self are with me still. She was to wade through seas of trouble, poor lady! but she did not dream of that then; and, in her queenly beauty, she was not too radiant, nor too happy, to add sweetness to the cup of a little person who was blissful in touching her garment's hem.
Silencing a Creaky Hinge
A BIT of soap on the point of a lead pencil, applied to a creaky hinge, will cure its stiffness and silence its complaints.
Dream Not
By L. D. Santee
DREAM not that the friends that now love you
Will ever prove false, or grow cold;
For heaven is bending above you,
With love that can never be told.
— L. D. SANTEE.
BIBLE READINGS WITH FAMILIES.
By Mrs. S. N. Haskell
New Earth.
MRS. S. N. HASKELL.
THE original possessions of Adam will be restored to man through Christ.
Every trace of sin will be forever removed from the earth. Christ will redeem, or re-purchase, all that Adam lost through sin.
REQUESTS FOR PRAYER.
“My greatest grief is my husband's profanity. It is dreadful for my little children to hear. I wish you would earnestly pray for him, and for me, that I may live a true Christian life in my home.”
A daughter requests prayer for her father, who became very bitter toward her a number of years ago on account of her choice in marriage, and has not spoken to her since. She is trying to bring about a reconciliation, and asks prayer to that end.
Special prayer is requested by one of our sisters for a Congregationalist minister's wife, in whom she is especially interested, and for whom she is doing what she can to relieve her physical difficulties. She writes: “I do want special prayer for her. She has a multitude of grievous complaints. She has been almost wild, and is able to sleep hardly at all. She has been in this condition since last November, and a few weeks ago she went to a doctor in Portland to be hypnotized, hoping that in that way she might get sleep. He, however, failed to put her under the influence, and I believe that it was in answer to my continual prayers. I have prayed for her faithfully, and I believe God put her under my care. When she first came here, she sent for me, in order to get the health foods, and we soon became intimate friends. I can not give her up, and I ask the special prayers of my sisters for her.”
Responsibilities Proportioned to Our Light
Our responsibilities are exactly proportioned to our light, opportunities, and privileges. We are responsible for the good we might have done, but failed to do because we were too indolent to use the means for our improvement which were placed within our reach.—“Gospel Workers,” page 171.