p. 14 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 15. (4/14/1909)

Earlier text: Lincoln — Citizen, Patriot, Statesman, Martyr

The Best Love Story

By Alice M. Goodwin

Love is the greatest power in the world, and it is natural that love stories should have a strong fascination, but it is a pity that many spend time on second, third, or even tenth rate love stories instead of reading the best. What the mind is filled with inevitably influences the life and shapes the character. No one then can afford to read anything less than the best.

There is one Author whose love stories are safe. They are standard and cheap enough to be within the reach of all. No harm has ever resulted from reading them. No false ideas of life, no ruined happiness can be laid at their door. If you wish to read love stories, read these. They abound in adventure, passion, exciting situations, hairbreadth escapes. This Author’s works are in one series and center toward one Hero, tho there are a multitude of lesser characters, whose histories are only second in interest to His. The Hero loves as no man ever loved, and at tremendous cost and suffering rescues His peerless bride from the clutches of her enemies. The account ends in the approved fashion, with the heartless villains all destroyed, and the bride and groom, their sufferings past, united in a beautiful home to live happily ever afterward. In fact, all the elements of the most enchanting love story are embodied in this one, and one of the best features is that the Book will bear unlimited re-reading, while at each perusal new charms appear. It can not be too highly recommended.

A few specimen quotations will give an idea of the merit of the book: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” “Who can separate us from the love of Christ?” “Know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”—Alice M. Goodwin.

A Mother’s Duty

By Sharlot M. Hall

EVERY mother should herself give her children, both boys and girls, this knowledge [of the mystery of life] by the time they are

ten years old, or twelve at the farthest. Not fully, perhaps, but by degrees. Show them the wonders of plant life, and lead up so to the higher.

Boys need this home training far more than girls, for they come earlier in rough contact with the world, and see and hear so much that is spared their sisters. Older boys are all too ready to teach the little ones evil things, and grown men are brutally careless of their words and actions. Many a boy has ruined mind and body in his pitiful ignorance and before his parents would have believed the thing possible.—Sharlot M. Hall.

The Power of Water

THOSE who look into the future with prophetic eyes predict that an age of water-power is dawning. They point wisely toward the great water-power developments already completed or in course of construction all over the world, from the rivers of Maine to the canyons of California, from Alaska to Argentine, and from the Kashmir Valley in India to the outlet of Victoria Nyanza in Africa. . . . Amid all this prognosticating and arguing arises a host of questions about this water-power.

Every stream of running water, from the trout brook sporting through the farm meadows to the largest rivers, is capable of producing more or less power. A hundred years ago, when steam-power was still in its infancy, water-power was quite extensively developed in this country, but the steam-engine, with cheap wood and coal fuel, quickly reached the practical stage and the old “over-shot” and “under-shot” water-wheels were abandoned. Up to a few years ago it was not practical to develop most water-power because this power had to be utilized on the spot and very naturally the very best waterfalls were located in the wilderness, scores of miles away from the seaports, the railroads, and the cities which needed it. But the invention of the electric transformer changed all this and made it possible to transmit this energy for hundreds of miles without serious loss.

The power of water is greater than any one without experience can imagine. For many of us have, when in swimming, struck the water a sharp blow with the flat of the hand, or, when learning to dive, struck the water flat instead of head first only to learn that the liquid offered considerable resistance.

A stream from a fireman’s hose will knock a man down. The jet from a nozzle in placer mining in the West eats away a large piece of land in a day and toys with great boulders as if they were pebbles.

There is a story of an Eastern blacksmith who went West and made a bet that he could knock a hole through the jet of one of these nozzles with a sledge-hammer. He lifted his arms, swung the sledge and came down on the ten-inch stream with a force that would have dented an anvil. But the jet, never penetrated, whisked the massive hammer out of the blacksmith’s hands and tossed it several hundred feet away into the debris of gold-bearing gravel beneath a crumbling cliff.

There is a power-plant near Durango, Colo., where a United States cavalryman one day thought he had an easy job in cutting a two-inch stream with his sword. He made a valiant attack. The result was that his sword was shivered in two and his wrist broken.

A little thinner jet of water descending 1,600 feet to a manufactory at Grenoble, Spain, and traveling at the moderate speed of 100 yards a second fractures the best blades of Toledo.

If it were possible to surround a battleship with an inch sheet of water of sufficient velocity it would ward off the largest bombshells better than the best steel plate.—Electric News Service.

After the Long Gray Day

By Grace G. Crowell

ALL through the hours from early morn Until the close of this long day, I've watched the never-changing gray, The monotone the world has worn. How like my life it seemed to be— One long, vast waste of changelessness— For I must wear the somber dress Of waiting, that is given me.

And as with idle hands I lie Learning, perforce, the lesson-rest, There comes a glory from the west, A sudden splendor o'er the sky, And I see from my casement here The clouds, that, lowering till the night Has burst them ope with glorious light, Are beautiful instead of drear.

So may it be when you and I View at the close of life's long day The clouds that have obscured the way And hid from us the clearer sky— May we not see with other eyes Their grayness turned to golden glow And understand why it is so, That God who planned it all, is wise? — Grace G. Crowell.

Lincoln’s Promise

WHILE a member of Congress, Abraham Lincoln was once criticized by a friend for his seeming rudeness in declining to test the rare wines provided by their host. The friend said to him: “There is certainly no danger of a man of your years and habits becoming addicted to the use of wine.”

“I mean no disrespect, John,” answered Lincoln, “but I promised my precious mother only a few days before she died that I would never use anything intoxicating as a beverage, and I consider that promise as binding to-day as it was the day I gave it.”

“But,” the friend continued, “there is a great difference between a child surrounded by a rough class of drinkers and a man in a home of refinement.”

“A promise is a promise forever,” answered Lincoln, “and when made to a mother it is doubly binding.”

Don’t: Counsel on Christian Conduct

Don’t

DON’T dress for church or Sabbath-school as you would dress for a party. Many a poor girl has been kept from Sabbath-school because her clothes, the best she could afford, were in such marked contrast to those worn by the rest of the class. The Sabbath-school room is a poor and glaringly inappropriate place for the display of one’s wardrobe.

Don’t be afraid of being too strict in your views regarding the life of a Christian. There is far greater danger of your being too lax in your views. Have the courage of your most profound convictions and you will grow in grace as well as in the high respect of those whose eyes are upon you.

Don’t fail to “show your colors” by speaking a word for the truth and for the right whenever the opportunity offers. You are failing in your duty to yourself and to your God if you keep silent when you should speak the right word at the right time.—Round Table.

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A Bank President’s Testimony

“No, thank you, I don’t smoke,” replied the bank president as his host at luncheon tendered him a cigar. “Yes, I used to,” he continued, answering the inevitable question, “but I quit it because I wouldn’t be annoyed by the craving for tobacco at times when it wasn’t proper for me to smoke.

“I made a rule in the bank, you see, that none of the clerks should smoke during business hours. And of course I had to keep the rule myself. And I would all the while be wanting a cigar so bad, and be so anxious for business hours to be over so I could get at my cigar, that I was miserably uncomfortable all the time. I could hardly hold my mind down to my work.

“So one day I got completely disgusted at the everlasting annoyance of it and I said to myself, ‘Here’s where this nuisance quits,’ and I haven’t smoked since. I stopped with half a box full of cigars in my desk, and they are there yet.

“No, it wasn’t as much of a hardship as I expected. When once I made up my mind that there wasn’t any more smoking for me, the wish for it didn’t last long. In just a few days I was working along without any bother whatever.” — The Interior.

St. Helena Sanitarium Training-School.

The next training-class for missionary nurses begins April 7, 1909. We desire to correspond with consecrated young people who desire a training as missionary workers. Exceptional opportunities for experience offered to persons of promise. Address Dr. H. F. Rand, or Mrs. S. J. Whitney, Sanitarium, Napa Co., Cal.

For Rent

For Rent, during summer months—Suite of rooms, furnished, near St. Helena Sanitarium. Roomy veranda, can be used for bed-room, if desired. Address Mrs. W. C. White, Sanitarium, Napa Co., Cal.

THE FAMOUS EVANGELIST'S NEW HYMN BOOK

By J. Allan Sankey

Gipsy Smith

Edition of HALLOWED HYMNS

NEW AND OLD

By J. ALLAN SANKEY

35c. a copy, postpaid. $25 per 100

Returnable Sample mailed to Pastors, etc.

THE BIGLOW & MAIN CO., CHICAGO NEW YORK

Homes Near Central California School

A few homes can be bought for about $4,000, half cash, near Central California Intermediate and Church School. Prosperous section; healthful climate; good markets. Owners will move to mission fields. Home-seekers' rates in April. Write J. Clark, Armona, Cal.

Our Little Friend

An Illustrated Paper for the Smaller Men and Women, for the Children and Little Ones

Instructive and entertaining, clean, wholesome, sensible. It is a character builder, a helper to father and mother. Our Little Friend would plant seed in the joyous life of the children in the Present, that it may bear blessed fruitage in the Harvest of the Future. Respect your child's individuality. Take the paper for him or her. Only 50 cents a year.

Address, OUR LITTLE FRIEND, Mountain View, Cal.

LIBERTY

THE OFFICIAL ORGAN OF

THE RELIGIOUS LIBERTY BUREAU

An illustrated, 48-page, quarterly magazine, published as an exponent and advocate of true religious liberty; defending Christianity and the rights of conscience; upholding the Bible as the infallible word of God; recognizing the church and state as ordained of Heaven for specific and distinct purposes, but vigorously protesting against the alliance of the church with the state in the attempt to advance religion and to promote the state. Price 25 cents per year. Liberal terms to agents.

Address, LIBERTY, Takoma Park, D. C.

Life and Health

A PRACTICAL health journal, published with a view of meeting hygienic needs in every home; teaching how to care for the health and how to preserve life; prescribing simple home treatments to assist nature in throwing off diseases rather than adding more poison by using drugs or unnatural stimulants as remedies: teaching how to avoid disease as far as possible, how to manage in the home when sickness does come, and how to combat the disease by simple remedies which nature provides.

Send for sample copy and special rates to agents. Price 10 cents per copy or $1.00 per year.

Address, LIFE & HEALTH, Takoma Park, D. C.

Early Writings.

By Mrs. E. G. White. A new edition of this popular work, rearranged and reprinted from new plates. This book is a compilation of the first published writings of the author, and contains many encouraging words for those who are looking for the soon return of our Lord. Cloth, 75c; limp leather, $1.25. Address this office.

Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing

Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing.— An exposition of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. It has 218 pages and six chapters: On the Mountain-side, The Beatitudes, The Spirituality of the Law, The True Motive in Service, The Lord’s Prayer, Not Judging but Doing. A new edition just printed on fine enameled paper, new type, and reillustrated with 27 beautiful half-tone engravings specially prepared for the book by eminent New York artists. It will be found full of comfort and blessing by all fortunate enough to obtain and read it. A beautiful gift book. In paper covers, 35 cents. Address this office.

The Signs of the Times Monthly

The “Signs of the Times Monthly.”—The April number of the Signs of the Times Monthly is excellent in matter and fine in appearance. The cover-page is a scene from Plockhorst, on the resurrection morning. Among the striking notes is that of the Laymen’s Missionary Conference, the significance of the movement and the extensive religious combinations that are entering into public life. An intensely practical article by Mrs. E. G. White on the “Sermon on the Mount” opens the general department, and this is followed by a “Momentous Present-Day Movement,” in which Professor Rine discusses “Optimistic Mysticism;” “Creation as a Proof of Inspiration,” by George McCready Price, and a dozen or so articles equally good. Any one of several articles alone is worth the price of the journal. There ought to be a goodly lift in its circulation for the present month. Its sale offers a splendid field for those who want to further publish the Gospel, and have little to do.

The Biblical Sabbath and Natural Theology

By Editor

A friend sends us an article from the Elmira Telegram, on “Natural Laws versus Theology,” and asks us to notice it. It is hardly worth while to spend time over such productions. In the first place the writer does not believe in the Bible. The only God in which He does believe is what nature reveals. He demands logic in theology, a thing in which nature is woefully deficient. The strange thing is that men can turn from the God of the Bible to worship nature, as to which, in some respects, there is nothing more cruel and inconsistent. Of course the reason of this is given in the Bible, and that is sin,—the perversion of God’s laws,—the great problem which the wise Master is now working out, the complete solution of which will be an effective lesson to all eternity. The writer criticizes the Biblical Sabbath; claims that it is not possible for men to observe it in different sections, and yet it is an undeniable fact that the simple practise of devout souls has stultified all the declarations of science through all the years; for wherever the religion of the Bible has gone, there souls have observed the Sabbath without any trouble. The same record which gives to us the origin of the Sabbath also declares: “When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.” And again: “God that made the world and all things therein, . . . hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.” And wherever men have gone, there have they been able to serve God and keep His Sabbath. The lack of a recognition of the fact that sin is in the world and that God’s laws are perverted, leads to all these utterly inconsistent conclusions of those who follow evolution.

The Spirit World and a Future Life

By Editor

The series of articles on “The Spirit World and a Future Life,” by Prof. Geo. W. Rine, begins in this issue. We bespeak for these articles a careful reading.

The English Situation

By Editor

In our Outlook Department next week we print an instructive article on the English situation, by our own correspondent who has studied the question in the field. It clearly reveals how the “best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglee.”

The Bible in Greece

By Editor

In the next issue but one, Prof. W. E. Howell will have an article on “The Bible in Greece.” This will be followed by four others. The religious condition of modern Greece and the reasons therefor are lucidly, cogently, interestingly stated. Our readers will obtain much information upon a country and people about which we hear nowadays comparatively little.

The Coming Redeemer Series

By Editor

We begin soon a series on “The Coming Redeemer,” by Pastor Geo. W. Snyder, of Oakland, Cal. The articles of the series are as follows: “The Promise of the Seed;” “The First Advent;” “I Will Come Again;” “This Same Jesus;” “What Christ’s Coming Means to the Righteous;” “What His Coming Means to the Wicked;” “The Hope of the Church;” “When Will He Come?” Each of these articles is independent, as regards the particular topic discussed; together they give a clear presentation of the Lord’s coming and what it means.

Which Is It?

Is it “like priest, like people,” or “like people, like priest”? An earnest, God-fearing minister wrote us the other day quoting the former. He is not alone; it is generally misquoted that way. Yet the passage reads: “As they [God’s professed people] were multiplied, so they sinned against Me, I will turn their glory into shame. They feed on the sin of My people [instead of God’s word], and set their heart on their iniquity. And it shall be like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and requite them their doings.” Hosea 4:7-9. The priest—preacher—has as a general thing ever been disposed to do right. His sin has been that he has yielded to the pressure of the age, to the worldliness among his people, instead of acting the faithful watchman. It is the people who “heap to themselves teachers having itching ears.” They prefer such in periods of backsliding. The awful sin of God’s watchmen has ever been that contrary to their better judgment, superior knowledge, and solemn vows, they yield to the demands of the people.

War in the Air.

—Mr. Garret P. Serviss, scientific publicist, emphatically assures us that the war of the air is certain to come. The tremendous advance that has been made in air-ships and aeroplanes, and the loads these sky vessels are now carrying, clearly demonstrate that they will be used in a war of the future. One of the objects now is to devise guns which are effective in bringing down the air-ships. We are told that the Krupps have already designed a sky-pointing gun. By a system of levers and mirrors, the gunner can sight his overhead mark and aim his gun with great facility, while the projectile is designed not merely to pierce the envelope of a balloon but to fire the gas in it. Some of these dirigible air-ships have several or many gas-bags and one shot might not disable it at all, but a burning shell would put an end to its flight instantly; and yet Mr. Serviss thinks that it would be much more difficult to hit a ship in the air than it will one on the water.

San Francisco Graft Prosecution

The graft prosecution in San Francisco is developing very slowly. For weeks, we know not how many, endeavor has been put forth to secure a jury to try Mr. Calhoun, of the United Railroads, but the jury is not secured yet. Recent developments are that the private secretary of Detective Wm. J. Burns, on the side of the prosecution, has been giving away information, and is in the pay of the United Railroads, for which he was receiving $200 a month. The outcome of the matter is still conjectural. Whether Mr. Calhoun is involved in this stealing of evidence is not proved. If bloodshed does not grow out of the trouble it will be a marvelous thing.

A Race with Death.

Mr. Frank A. Vanderlip, President of the National City Bank of New York, entered a tremendous race against death March 28 in which he lost so far as death was concerned, for his mother died before he reached New York City, but he made the distance between New York City and Chicago, 980 miles, in 966 minutes, including six stops for changing locomotives, averaging less than a mile a minute. At times the train was speeding at the rate of 100 miles an hour. He has our profound sympathy. Many others are racing with death, a boon companion in the race. Are you?

Bibles Used for Presidential Oaths

The Bible upon which President Taft took his oath of office was one used in the Supreme Court. Mr. Cleveland used for his first term a small Bible given to him when he was a boy; for his last term he used one given by his wife. Mr. McKinley took oath on an extraordinarily large family Bible bound in heavy Morocco trimmed in gold, given to him by the negro bishops. When Vice-president Arthur became President it was found necessary to send in great haste up-town for a Book. Since that time a Bible has been kept in an available place.

The April Number of The Watchman

The April number of “The Watchman,” published at Nashville, Tenn., has just come to our table. It is an excellent number filled full of short articles on the message, under the departments, Poetry, The Outlook, Editorials, General Articles, Scripture Study, The Mission Field, Home and Health, Our Scrap Book, Things Here and There. One characteristic of this number is that the articles are almost invariably brief, and it, too, should have a large circulation.

Lentil Beans

We are requested to say by H. F. Phelps, Minneapolis, Minn., who advertised the above article in the SIGNS a few weeks ago that his supply is exhausted, and that he can furnish no more.

Happiness and Life in Christ

The one thing above all others which humanity are seeking is happiness. The one thing humanity needs is life. Both are found in Christ Jesus.

1909 General Conference Session

The next General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists will be held in Takoma Park, Washington, D. C., May 13 to June 6, 1909.