Signs of the Times, Vol. 4, No. 38.

General Articles
Earlier text: The Judgment of the Saints

Drunkard's Arguments Answered. (Continued.)

12. MODERATE DRINKING NOT HARMFUL.

EVERY man, even the drunkard himself, admits that liquor in excess is injurious; but a large and very respectable class claim that it is an evil only in excess, and is a harmless luxury, if nothing more, in moderate quantities. This, too, is an error which has proved fatal to thousands. A small dram soon grows to be a large one; claret is exchanged for grog or toddy; and so, by degrees, the moderate drinker becomes a drunkard, the first "small drop" engendering a love for succeeding larger doses.
It is not necessary that a man should be dead drunk to be intoxicated. Intoxication is derived from a Latin word meaning poison, and means, literally, a condition of poisoning. Alcohol is a poison. If a man takes it into his system, he is poisoned, or intoxicated, in proportion to the amount taken.
Moderate drinking produces a disease well- known to physicians as chronic alcoholism. It is especially dangerous to the old, as it is one of the most powerful predisposing and exciting causes of apoplexy, as well as of numerous other diseases.

13. DOCTORS RECOMMEND WINE AND BRANDY.

It is a lamentable fact that a large class of physicians use alcohol in their practice in a most reckless manner. The result is seen in hundreds of drunken sots who haunt saloons and groggeries. That this use of alcohol is wholly unnecessary is shown elsewhere.

14. SCIENTIFIC MEN RECOMMEND THE USE OF ALCOHOL.

This, too, is a deplorable fact; for it is a sad spectacle when science stoops to cater to the demands of morbid appetites and vices. It is a significant fact that those scientific authorities who recommend the use of alcohol are themselves addicted to its use. It is not an unjust inference that their judgment, in this case, is biased by their appetite. But there are a great many of the most eminent scientists who are the strongest advocates of total abstinence. Among them are Dr. W. B. Carpenter, Dr. Parkes, Dr. Richardson, Dr. Parker, and Sir John Hall.

15. THE BIBLE SANCTIONS THE USE OF WINE, AND GOOD MEN USE IT.

The Bible has been quoted to sustain polygamy, slavery, and other evil institutions, as well as intemperance. Rightly understood, it supports none of these practices. In another place we have considered this point at greater length.
Good men, even ministers, do many evil things. All men are human. One man's transgression is no apology for another's sin. This argument is only a subterfuge. It has no weight.

16. ALL NATIONS USE STIMULANTS.

Some will argue from the fact that the use of liquor of some kind is almost universal that the appetite for it is a natural one. Admitting that inheritance may have made it such, the argument is still worthless; for what nation is there among whom lying, stealing, and other crimes and vices do not also exist? If intemperance is a universal evil, the fact should be most deeply deplored, instead of being made an excuse for perpetuating the vice.
But intemperance is not universal. Until taught the use of liquor by white men, the North American Indians were wholly unacquainted with the fiery beverage which they have appropriately named "fire water." And the introduction of liquor among these savages has done more toward their extermination than any other cause. Many other barbarous tribes are in happy ignorance of this enticing poison.
Again, the appetite for fermented drinks is not a natural one. Offer an infant brandy; it is repulsed at once, as it should be. No beast naturally loves alcohol, though there are several animals which, like men, may be taught to love liquor and demand it as imperiously as any old toper. The hog is an animal of this kind. The resemblance of man to this animal, in this respect, is not flattering, at least.
Even though an artificial appetite has in some cases been created, this fact does not change the relation of alcohol to the system in the least. Alcohol is a poison still; and the system will treat it as such, in spite of an inherited or an acquired appetite for it.

17. THE USE AND SALE OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS IS A SOURCE OF GREAT REVENUE TO THE GOVERNMENT.

Says the liquor dealer, The manufacture and sale of alcoholic drinks gives employment to more than 500,000 men. It furnishes a market for more than 40,000,000 bushels of grain each year, and pays to the government an annual tax of $60,000,000, or about two-fifths the whole revenue of the country.
Such arguments are actually urged by the dram-sellers and their infatuated customers. What a damage to the government would be the loss of $60,000,000 of revenue! and what a pity that 500,000 poor laborers should be thrown out of employment! Ah! yes; and what a pity that 40,000,000 bushels of grain, equivalent to 600,000,000 four-pound loaves of bread, should be wasted—worse than wasted, manufactured into poison. The same liquor which brings to the government a revenue of $60,000,000, makes 800,000 paupers, who require for their maintenance $100,000, 000. There is very little profit in this, surely. The cost of crime resulting from drink is still greater. The expense of caring for 30, 000 idiots and lunatics must also be charged to alcohol. Where then are the profits? We have said nothing of the loss resulting from the unproductive labor of those employed by the liquor business, or from the idleness, disease, and death occasioned by drink, which aggregate an enormous sum.

18. THE MODERATE USE OF WINE IS NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN NERVOUS ACTIVITY IN OLD AGE.

Many, even of those who profess to be instructors of the people in the laws of health, advocate the use of wine in old age, on the ground that age renders the system somewhat sluggish in its activities, and hence a little stimulus is needed to maintain its functions, and especially nervous activity.
A consideration of this argument will show that the use of alcohol is not only unnecessary in old age, but absolutely hazardous. Why are the bodily functions less active in old age than in youth? Why is the mind less brilliant? Because the organs of the body have become worn and disabled by long usage and imperfect repair. The tissues are not kept intact by assimilation. The reason why they are less active, then, is that they are less qualified to act. They are incapable of that vigorous action which they sustained in youth and middle age.
This decreased activity is an admirable provision of nature for the prolongation of life to the utmost limit. The waste of tissue depends upon its activity; the more action, the more waste and wear, the sooner worn out. Using alcohol produces an increased activity, but does not increase the capability of the system to sustain action. In other words, it tears down tissue, but does not build it up. It interferes with the repair of tissues. The increased vigor seemingly imparted by alcohol, therefore, is dangerous, rather than desirable. If alcohol enables a man to live faster, it shortens his existence by so doing.
Again, alcohol, even in moderate quantities, produces a peculiar degeneration of the walls of the blood vessels, by which they become weakened, the muscular tissue composing the small vessels being replaced by particles of fat or carbonate of lime. This kind of degeneration is also a frequent incident of old age, even in those who are not spirit drinkers, and is especially liable to occur in the small arteries of the brain. The use of alcohol not only facilitates this morbid process, but adds to the danger which is always present with it under the most favorable circumstances. When the arteries are thus weakened, a little extra supply of blood in the brain, a "rush of blood to the head," will often occasion rupture of some one of them, and apoplexy, with paralysis or immediate death, is the result. Alcohol, even in very small quantity, produces congestion of the brain, and thus renders an aged person doubly liable to death from apoplexy.
Are we not justified, then, in the position that alcohol is not only less desirable for the old than for the young, but is far more dangerous?

SECULAR NEWS.

—The king of Burmah died October 2.
—Pennsylvania has over 3,000 mills manufacturing flour.
—The volume of the Amazon is estimated at 7,000,000 cubic feet a second.
—The British government has ordered the emancipation of all slaves on the island of Cyprus.
—Large deposits of fine marble have been discovered near Ishpeming, Lake Superior district, Michigan.
—Since 1865 the spinning power of the world has increased from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 pounds per year.
—An earthquake at Montefalco, in a province of Umbria, Italy, has rendered 143 houses uninhabitable.
—The latest census shows the population of Japan to be 34,338,404, a steady and large increase since 1875.
—The net profits of the Western Union Telegraph company for the quarter ending September 30, are estimated at over $1,000,000.
—It is estimated that there are between thirty and forty thousand people out of employment in Brooklyn, N. Y., at the present time.
—Diphtheria is raging in Washington Territory.
—Large numbers of Chinese are going to Prescott, Arizona.
—It is stated that there has never been so much building going on in Washington as at the present time.
—Last year Paris consumed 10,000,000 gallons of wine. The probable consumption of this year is set down as 75,000 gallons more.
—October 2, six blocks of business houses in Palestine, Texas, were burned. The loss is estimated at $60,000 including $40,000 in stocks; insurance about $20,000.
—A single factory in Redditch, England, turns out between 6,000,000 and 7,000,000 needles each week, or about 350,000,000 a year, which is equal to one-fourth of the population of the globe.
—Washington has a population of 134,000, of whom 43,000 are colored. There were found twenty-two colored persons over 100 years old, one being reported as old as 110. Seventy persons were between 90 and 100.
—The Italian Government has kept open for nearly two years in Rome, a popular library consisting of about 500,000 volumes, being principally the collections of sixty monasteries. An average of 400 readers have visited it daily.
—The damage in Ohio by the recent flood proves to have been very great. A large number of railroad bridges have been swept away, causing for some days a suspension of railroad travel. The damage is estimated at not less than $500,000.
—Fortune-telling is carried on to an extent in San Francisco unknown elsewhere. Some of the women engaged in the business charge from $5 to $10 for an interview and are visited by credulous stock speculators, who seek to obtain supernatural "points" as to the market.
—On the north side of the St. Gothard tunnel 1,000 men are employed underground, and 400 in the open air. Three hundred wagon-loads of earth are excavated every day, and in the daily blastings 600 pounds of dynamite are used. The energy shown on the Italian side is said to be equally great.

Too Industrious.

If mothers would but remember that freshness and vigor and cheerfulness and companionship were the most precious things they could give to their children, they would cease being so industrious, and instead would cultivate the graces of leisure.
They would put less work on their children’s clothes and more on their hearts and minds.
They would esteem a happy walk, accompanied by their children, of far more advantage to them than an elaborately prepared dinner.
They would realize that to be able to take an intelligent and interested part in general conversation would do more to bind their husbands’ hearts to them and to command their respect than an exquisite dinner, or a wardrobe of ruffled and embroidered garments for the little ones.
But no one can help a woman to this right position in her family except herself. With women alone lies the remedy for the bad consequences that result to themselves and their families from their being too industrious.

RELIGIOUS NEWS AND NOTES.

—There are at present in France 2,658 parishes unprovided with pastors.
—An iron church has been presented for the use of the Reformed Episcopal church at Eastbourne.
—The Catholic missionaries in China and in India during the last five years have baptized 165,522 heathens, 11,600 of the number being adults.
—During the past year the Old Catholics in Switzerland have increased from 10,000 to 20,000. The prospects of that church in Switzerland are considered more favorable than in any other country in Europe.
—The chaplain in charge of the Tombs in New York, mentions in his report the fact, that out of 1,030 incarcerated there, under fourteen years of age, a little over 200 were Protestants and over 800 were Roman Catholics.
—The oldest Protestant Episcopal church now in use in New England is at Marblehead, Massachusetts. From the parish records it appears that the church was erected 1714, though the parish must have been founded some years before that date.
—One of the largest gifts to missions ever made is that of a liberal friend of the Church Missionary Society of Great Britain who proposes to transfer $175,000 to the society for special objects in India. Another has offered $25,000 for a special purpose not yet designated.
—Five large buildings have been put up at Bristol, England, at a cost of $575,000, for Mr. Muller's Orphanage. There is now accommodations for 2,050 orphans. The last year was commenced with a balance of $1,875, and the end of the year showed that an income had been received during its course of no less than $207,500.
—The second annual congress of the Liberal League is called to meet in Syracuse, New York, on Saturday, the 26th of October. It will consider the expediency of nominating candidates for the next presidential election on the platform of secularism in politics; and also what action the League should take “with reference to the Constitutional Amendment already twice reported to the United States Senate by the Judiciary Committee, the practical effect of which, if adopted, will be to recognize in the Constitution the right of the Bible to be read in the public schools as a book of divine authority, and the right of church property to be exempted from taxation?”

Health of the City.

LAST month there were 52 deaths in this city, thirteen of them resulting from diseases classified as zymotic. Most deaths under this heading are from causes which are preventable. They may be the result of imperfect drainage, bad water, or other forms of uncleanliness. It is certainly far from creditable that such should cause one quarter of the deaths reported in our city. There must be a multitude of cess-pools that have escaped the vigilance of the health authorities; there must be thousands of people who "take the chances" on well water which can hardly fail to be polluted. But, after all, there is no other city from which we have any recent accounts, that can show as good a record. We have a population of 45,000 people and our annual death rate per thousand people would be 13.87. We give below the record for some of the principal American cities, with the month last reported, population, and rate per 1,000:—
CITY. POPULATION. MONTH. RATE.
St. Louis 500,000 August 13.68
Oakland 45,000 Sept. 13.87
Minneapolis 44,000 July 14.18
Dayton 36,000 August 14.33
Erie 27,000 August 14.42
San Francisco 300,000 July 14.73
Detroit 125,000 August 15.16
Toledo 50,000 July 15.60
Baltimore 350,000 August 15.81
Syracuse 60,000 August 16.67
Sacramento 25,000 July 17.42
Rochester 70,000 July 17.49
Cincinnati 280,000 August 17.59
New Haven 60,000 August 18.40
Brooklyn 528,000 August 19.02
Philadelphia 850,000 August 19.05
Elmira 20,000 August 20.60
Chicago 460,000 August 20.85
Providence 100,000 August 21.00
Mobile 40,000 July 23.14
Pittsburgh 145,000 August 26.00
Washington 160,000 July 35.47
New Orleans 210,000 August 73.71
We can thus better realize the ravages of yellow fever in New Orleans, by applying the death rate to Oakland. Had it been the same here, we would have had 277 deaths last month instead of only 52. Oakland has usually been noted for a very low rate of mortality, heading the list of cities. There is probably something exceptional in the case of St. Louis, for its reported rate is far lower than ordinary—lower than can long be possible in a thickly populated city.
—Oakland Daily Times.

Texas.

I HAVE preached in Peoria Sabbaths and Sundays, and organized a Sabbath-school which numbers seventy pupils. Seven more have been added to this church, four of whom were baptized. The church now occupy their new meeting-house, which is finished, and free from debt. It is the best and nicest structure in the village.
At Cleburne the brethren are much encouraged by seeing their meeting-house once more in process of erection. Seven were received into the church, and ten were baptized.
At Terrell we have organized a church of twenty-five members, and systematic benevolence amounting to over one hundred dollars. It is gratifying to see their readiness to lay aside everything for Jesus' sake. There are very few of them but had used tobacco in some form; now all rejoice in their freedom from it. Others will yet unite with them.
We are now at Plano with the tent. Our audiences range from two to three hundred. The ministers are giving us a hearing. The people remember our temporal necessities; but we find it hard to get them to invest in books and papers, as times are hard and money scarce. R. M. KILGORE.

The Resurrection Memorial.

No doctrine ever startled a sleeping world and "turned it upside down," like that of the resurrection of our Lord. The apostles proclaimed on all occasions, and with all the confidence and certainty of personal knowledge and accomplished fact, that Christ "rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." This we all believe; and therefore we make our baptism a solemn affirmation that he did rise from the dead. But it is said that the first day is holy, because it is alleged that it is the day of Christ's resurrection. But where is there a phrase or word of Scripture that affirms that the first day is to be celebrated for any religious purpose whatever? Let the reader search and see. If it be in the Scriptures he can find it; and if not, what then? Simply this—to use the recent remark of a scholarly churchman—"Sunday is a habit, merely a custom; it is without a particle of Scripture to sustain it." Would Christ join a memorial of himself to any one of the ten commandments, or would he be likely to unite the memorials of the creation and the resurrection in one institution or observance, as is said to be done by changing the Sabbath to the first day in order to combine Sabbath and resurrection in one day? Is there any example of this kind in all his teachings? Would he displace his Father's special appointment of the seventh day, which is also Christ's own day—for he is its Lord—and say nothing about it? No, verily. But observe, that there is a divinely appointed memorial for the resurrection; it is not the first day nor the seventh day, nor indeed a day at all, but it is baptism. As the seventh day is the memorial of creation, and the supper is the memorial of Christ's death, and forecasts his second coming, so also is baptism the memorial of his resurrection. The Sabbath is the capital day of the seven; is for all men irrespective of creed, race or condition, and is designed to keep them from idolatry and atheism. The baptism of the believer, as the memorial of the resurrection, is designed to perpetuate in the most striking and solemn manner the fact that Christ was buried and did rise from the dead, and this we contend the believer should be taught that he affirms when he submits to this ordinance.
Christ died but once, was buried and rose again. The believer dies to transgression and lives to obedience, and by his baptism he testifies once for all in his life that his Lord and Master did rise a conqueror over death, and became the pledge of his resurrection in the last day. We have only space for the references which are commended to the reader's attention, namely: Rom. 6:3-5; 1 Cor. 15:29; Col. 2:12; and 1 Peter 3:21. In reading these passages the close connection of the words baptism and resurrection in the same verses will be noticed, and also the evident significance of baptism as the symbolic memorial of the resurrection. No such use of the first day and the resurrection is to be found in the New Testament.—Sabbath Memorial.

Christ's Second Coming.

PREPARATORY to the great conference which opens the present month in New York, to discuss the question of the second coming of Christ, a meeting was held September 16, in the chapel of the Church of the Holy Trinity, and was well attended by both laymen and ministers of all Protestant denominations. Of this meeting the New York Sun states :-
The Rev. Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, Jr., presided. The meeting was opened with prayer and the hymn "When Jesus Comes." Then, at the suggestion of the chairman, most of those present repeated a scriptural text referring to the expected coming of Christ. Dr. Tyng said that last June there was a meeting of believers at Clifton Springs, at which it was resolved to call a conference similar to one which lately met in England, to discuss the question of the Lord's coming. The call was drawn up and signed by more than two hundred of the most popular clergymen and layman of the country. Letters had been received from many of the large cities, including Chicago, begging that the meeting might convene there; but it had been decided to hold it in the Church of the Holy Trinity, New York, on October 30 and 31 and November 1. Mr. Moody, Dr. Tyng said, would probably be there, and many other skilled evangelists. He was sure the conference would be very largely attended from all parts of this country, and many distinguished English clergymen had been invited, and would be likely to attend. He hoped to see even the Rev. Dr. H. Bonar. The Rev. Drs. Stephen H. Tyng, Jr., and J. D. Herr and the Rev. Mr. Gillespie were appointed to nominate sub-committees of arrangements, and before closing, Dr. Tyng, in reply to a question, said he was firmly convinced that the Lord Jesus Christ would come again to this world to take his church and establish his kingdom upon earth.

Colorado Tent.

Our tent-meeting in Georgetown has closed. The nights became so cold we could not make the tent comfortable with two stoves. The altitude is so great here (about 9,000 feet) that we have had frost, snow, and ice. Many of our interested hearers took cold, and dare not come out any more. Several have decided to keep the Sabbath, and arrangements are made for three meetings a week. A first-day Adventist preacher and a Methodist preacher have taken their stand for the whole truth. The latter has taken a full supply of books, with the determination to prepare himself to defend the truth. He is an acceptable speaker, just in the prime of life. We trust the Lord can fit him to show others the truth that has rejoiced his own heart.
Brother White and his company were here over one Sabbath and first-day, and his three discourses, together with the singing, added much to the interest of the meeting.
Our tent is shipped to Boulder, and, if the weather permit, will be pitched at Longmont, down on the plains. Till further notice, our address will be Boulder City, Colorado.
September 22. M. E. CORNELL.

Santa Rosa.

The interest in our meetings is deepening. The attendance is good, the tent being quite well filled each evening. Scores are being convinced that we have the truth upon the soon coming of the Lord, the Judgment, Saints' Inheritance, and other subjects upon which we have been speaking. We are feeling deeply concerned for the cause here that nothing occur to mar the work. We look for a good harvest of souls from this effort. May God direct and give us wisdom and strength.
W. M. Healey, J. D. Rice.

Placerville and Vacaville.

HELD four meetings with the church in Placerville, September 21 and 22. Systematic benevolence to the amount of $70 was pledged. Some were unavoidably absent, or the amount would have been considerably larger. The question books were adopted by the Sabbath-school.
September 25 and 26, spoke twice in Woodland, and found a good outside interest to hear.
Sabbath, September 28, fifty-one were present in the Vacaville church, and nearly all took part in the social meeting. Spoke four times to this church, and feel that good was done. They have not been without their trials the past year, but the Lord has strengthened them at every step, as they have pressed together. Found the brethren everywhere zealously circulating the petitions against having the Sunday-Sabbath incorporated in the new State constitution of California; the numerous names enrolled being among the best and most substantial citizens of each place.
October 3, 1878. B. A. Stephens.

Plano, Cal.

WE removed our tent from Portersville and pitched it in this place September 30. Plano is on the opposite side of Tule river from Portersville. Here we have a good interest, and our meetings are well attended. Brethren pray for us. J. L. Wood. October 4, 1878.

Worldliness.

The following extract from an article in Zion's Herald portrays the present worldly condition of the popular churches :—
A noticeable wave of worldliness has broken over the church. Many in the church have become just as eager as others for accumulation. They prize the opportunities bestowed by wealth for show and for the gratification of appetite. They are willing to give money to the church, if they can have their own choice as to her ministers, and the ordering of her worship ; they feel no personal obligation to sustain her devotional services, and their voices are never heard in her meetings for prayer and praise ; they are known as sharp and daring operators upon the streets ; they are quite sure to fall into the snares of the devil ; they lose their hold upon God ; their delicate sense of the wrongfulness of sin is blunted, their gracious power of overcoming the tempter is dissipated, and suddenly they stand disclosed before the community, discovered, exposed, traitors to God and man, dishonored and wretched, if not ruined for time and eternity.
It must be confessed, also, that many of the ministers have a very elastic interpretation of their solemn and sublime charge at the hands of God. Their responsibilities set very easily upon their shoulders. They are willing to meet their regular public services ; but as to the financial interests of the church, the discharge of her duty in reference to the great Christian charities, her aggressive power in the community, the character of her members, the condition of her poor and sick, and especially of her children, they do not permit themselves to be burdened heavily with any anxiety in these respects ; they are as eager for vacation as a school-boy. The Sunday and week-day public services being rendered, their labors are ended.
The postoffice address of Elder A. O. Burrill, is Battle Creek, Michigan, until further notice.

APPOINTMENTS.

District Quarterly Meetings.

The district quarterly meetings of the eight districts of California will all be held the same date, October 12 and 13, as follows:—
No 1, at Santa Rosa. No 2, at Fairview. No. 3, at St. Helena. No. 4, at San Pasqual. No. 5, at Woodland. No. 6, at Red Bluff. No. 7, at Oakland. No. 8, at San Francisco.
At these district meetings there should be a full report from every church in each district.

State Quarterly Meeting.

THE first California State quarterly meeting of this fiscal year will be held with the Oakland church, Sabbath and first-day, October 19 and 20. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.

BUSINESS DEPARTMENT.

$2.00 EACH. Horace Munn 5-37, N H Leggett 5-1, J B Prayton 5-37, W H Hankins 5-37, Fannie E Merrill 5-41, Margarett Chitwood 5-37, B L Whitney 5-27, Mrs A Lawson 5-37, Mrs Susan Conden 6-17, H C Leland 5-38.
$1.50 EACH. G V Zolman 5-37, Frederick Schaefer 5-37, Spencer Bennett 5-37, J. H Wagner 5-37, George White 5-37, S D Willis 5-37, Daniel Wares 5-32, Mary Wheeler 5-37.
$1.00 EACH. Mrs Julia Titus 5-37, Daniel Thomas 5-21, N E Dawson 5-13.
75 CTS EACH. Charles E Merrill (2 copies) 5-2, Ebenezer Hayes 4-47, Millie Stevens 5-4, Maggie Brown 5-14.
50 CTS EACH. Mrs I L Mosher 5-5, J G Jargensen 5-9, Mrs L Johnson 5-5, John Williamson 5-5, Edward Morron 5-5, B Hillary 5-5, R Canaidi 5-5, Rose Mayhew 5-5, J A Fenwick 5-18, David Moore 5-2, George Lockson 5-2.
MISCELLANEOUS. C A Wallace 38c 5-2, R M Caviners (5 copies $7.50 5-37, Mrs Jensen 25c 4-37, Mrs Downings 25c 4-37.

Cal. Publishing Fund.

W W Churchman $10.00, I D Canfield 10.00.

Received on Account.

G P Sanford $1.50, North Pacific T and M Society 28.65, Iowa T and M Society pr D W Albert 1.85.

British Mission.

I D Canfield $5.00, Alice Papworth 5.00.

Arrivals.

Of the meeting at the General Conference of the brethren from Colorado, California and Europe the Review says: “To look upon the faces and hear again the words of these veterans in the cause as they come from their widely separated fields of labor is a pleasure that words cannot well describe. Never before have we been able so fully to realize what the final gathering will be after the war is over, as by this reunion of those who have so long been bearing aloft in different parts of the world the banner of the cross.”

Christ’s Second Coming.

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