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Signs of the Times, Vol. 6, No. 46.

General Articles
Earlier text: THE MARK OF THE BEAST AND COMMANDMENTS OF GOD

Removing Screens from Liquor Saloons

The new law which went into operation in Massachusetts on the first of May, and which gives licensing boards in towns and cities power to order all screens, curtains, stained glass, etc., to be removed from the windows of liquor saloons from midnight until six o'clock in the morning, and all day on Sunday, it appears is already giving liquor-sellers serious trouble in many places. In Cambridge, where the law has been enforced, the New York evening Post mentions that the dealers say "that the consequent loss of custom has amounted to fully fifty per centum of the former trade, and a few assert that they will be compelled to leave the business." By all means let the screens and blinds be removed.—Am. Prohibitionist.

Victory Over the Tobacco Habit

In the course of a recent address, Mr. J. B. Gough said: I know a man in America who undertook to give up the habit of chewing tobacco. He put his hand into his pocket, took out his plug tobacco and threw it away, saying as he did so, "That's the end of it." But that was the beginning of it. Oh, how he did want it! He would lick his lips; he would chew chamomile, he would chew toothpicks, quills—anything to keep his jaws going. No use—he suffered intensely. After enduring the craving for thirty-six or forty-eight hours, he made up his mind. "Now it's no use suffering for a bit of tobacco—I'll go and get some." So he went and bought another plug and put it in his pocket. Now," he said, "when I want it awfully, I'll take some." Well, he did want it awfully, and he said he believed it was God's good Spirit that was striving with him as he held that tobacco in his hand. Looking at it, he said, "I love you, but are you my master, or am I yours? You are a weed and I am a man. I'll master you, if I die for it!" Every time he wanted it he would take it out and talk to it. It was six or eight weeks before he could throw it away and feel easy, but he said the glory of the victory repaid him for his trouble.

BISHOP SIMPSON ON STIMULANTS.

In his third Yale lecture, Bishop Simpson advises the young men who are entering the ministry to avoid all stimulants, and in connection with this advice gives a bit of information which is not generally known: "I would scarcely suppose that any one who feels himself called to the ministry will countenance their use; yet kind friends will sometimes suggest that you are weak, your nerves are tremulous, you have been out in the cold, you need a little stimulant and they will urge the taking of a little wine or brandy before preaching. These friends will tell you that the most distinguishing ministers are in the habit of using them; and I regret to say that in many churches both wine and brandy are there kept in the vestry for the use of the minister both before and after preaching." He further says: "I have known some young ministers who have used a few drops of paregoric or opium to give them strength for the pulpit. I am glad to say that I have known but few such cases; but I must add that these were led in the end to either physical or moral ruin." And in passing, he fires a shot at the clerical cigar: "I suppose there is a sort of enjoyment connected with it, for I have seen men sit smoking for an hour with their feet upon a table, professing to be studying. I have no doubt they had visions of greatness and glory; but prolonged observation shows that their lives usually ended, with their cigars, in smoke."

WHAT HINDERED?

“It is of no use, Mrs. W., I have tried again and again, and I cannot be a Christian.”
“So you said a year ago, yet you thought there was nothing in the way.”
“I don’t think there is now; but I don’t feel any different from what I did then, and I don’t believe I ever shall be a Christian.”
“You must have more faith,” said the elder lady to her companion,—an expression we are all apt to use rather vaguely when at a loss what to say to souls seeking salvation.
The first speaker was a bright, talented girl somewhat over twenty, who, on a previous visit nearly a year ago, had confided to her elder friend her earnest desire to become a Christian. Of her evident sincerity there could be no doubt, and the visitor was sorely puzzled to understand why her young friend had not yet found peace.
The two were standing by the half-opened door of the Sunday-school room, where a rehearsal for an “entertainment” was in progress; and the girl, looking in, seemed suddenly to find there a suggestion for further thought.
“I believe,” she said hesitatingly, “there is one thing I cannot give up.”
“Give it up at once, dear.”
“But I can’t.”
“Come to Jesus first then, and he will give you the power.”
“I don’t want him to. I believe if I knew I should die and be lost in three weeks from to-night, I would rather be lost than give up my passion.”
“And what is this dearly loved thing, worth so much more than your salvation?”
“Oh, it isn’t worth more, only I love it more, and I can’t and won’t give it up. It’s that I—I want to be an actress; I know I have the talent; I’ve always hoped the way would open for me to go upon the stage, and I can’t help hoping so still.”
“Do you think it would be wrong for you to do so, provided the way did open?”
“I don’t know that it would be a sin; but I couldn’t do it and be a Christian; the two things don’t go together.”
“How did you come by such a taste? I am sure you do not belong to a theatre-going family?”
“Oh, no! my father and mother are Methodists; they always disapproved of the theatre. I’ve been in Sunday-school all my life. They used to make me sing and recite at the entertainments when I was four years old, and I acted the angel and fairy parts in the dialogues; and when I grew older, I always arranged the tableaux, charades, etc. Then I joined a set of sociables got up by our church young people. At first we did ‘Mrs. Jarley’s Wax-works,’ and sung ‘Pinafore,’ for the benefit of the church; and then we got more ambitious, studied, and had private theatricals, and last winter we hired Mason’s Hall and gave a series of Shakespearean performances, which cleared off a large part of the church debt. But that’s only second-class work, after all. I want to do the real thing, to go upon the stage as a profession. My father won’t hear of it; but I hope some time the way will be opened that I may realize my heart’s desire.”
“And meantime will you not come to Jesus and be saved?”
“No, I cannot do it and keep to this hope, and I will not give this up.”
And so the visitor turned sadly away, thinking for what miserable messes of pottage men and women are willing to sell their glorious birthright as children of God; thinking also of the seeds that are being sown in our Sunday-schools, the tares among the wheat, and the terrible harvest that may yet spring up from this well-meant but injudicious seed-sowing.—M. E. Winslow, in S. S. Times.

THE IDLENESS OF GIRLS.

By Rev. Washington Gladen

ANOTHER great mistake that many of our girls are making, and that their mothers are either encouraging or allowing them to make, is that of spending their time out of school in idleness or in frivolous amusements, doing no work to speak of, and learning nothing about the practical duties and the serious cares of life. It is not only in the wealthier families that girls are growing up indolent and unpracticed in household work; indeed, I think that more attention is paid to the industrial training of girls in the wealthier families than in the families of mechanics and people in moderate circumstances, where the mothers are compelled to work hard all the while.
"Within the last week," says one of my correspondents, "I have heard two mothers, worthy women in most respects, say, the first, that her daughter never did any sweeping. Why, if she wants to say to her companions, 'I never swept a room in my life,' and takes any comfort in it, let her say it, and yet that mother is sorrowing much over the short-comings of that very daughter. The other said she would not let her daughter do anything in the kitchen. Poor, deluded woman! She did it all herself instead."
The habits of indolence and of helplessness that are thus formed are not the greatest evils resulting from this bad practice; the selfishness that it fosters is the worst thing about it. How devoid of conscience, how lacking in all true sense of tenderness, or even justice a girl must be who will thus consent to devote all her time out of school to pleasuring, while her mother is bearing all the heavy burdens of the household. And the foolish way in which mothers themselves sometimes talk about this, even in the presence of their children, is mischievous in the extreme: "Oh, Hattie is so absorbed with her books or crayons, or her embroidery, that she takes no interest in household matters, and I do not like to call upon her." As if the daughter belonged to a superior order of beings, and must not soil her hands or ruffle her temper with necessary housework! The mother is the drudge; the daughter is the fine lady for whom she toils. No mother who suffers such a state of things as this can preserve the respect of her daughter, and the respect of her daughter no mother can afford to lose.
The result of all this is to form in the minds of many gifted girls not only a distaste for labor, but a contempt for it, and a purpose to avoid it as long as they can live by some means or other.
There is scarcely one letter I have received which does not mention this as one of the chief errors in the training of our girls at the present day. It is not universal, but it is altogether too prevalent. And I want to say to you, girls, that if you are allowing yourselves to grow up with such habits of indolence and such notions about work, you are preparing yourselves a miserable future.—Rev. Washington Gladen, in St. Nicholas.

The Home Circle.

By Faustine

MARCH OF THE SEASONS.

First the spring, with rosy fingers, Scatters blossoms o'er the earth, Brings the song-birds and the zephyrs, Fills the brooklet's voice with mirth; Paints the sky with hues of azure, Clothes the earth with robes of green, Kisses all the slumbering blossoms Till their blushes bright are seen.
Then appears the gorgeous summer, With her wealth of heat and glow, Crowned with roses red and gleaming, Decked with lilies pure as snow; All the passion of the tropics Burning in her fiery heart, Onward sweeps the queenly summer, She has played her brilliant part.
Autumn follows in her footsteps, Laden with the golden grain, With the harvest fruits which prove That summer gave no smiles in vain; Touches with her magic brush The leaves upon the forest trees, And they, turned to gold and crimson, Flaunt awhile within the breeze;
Then, their slender hold unloosing, Flutter downward one by one, Fading, dying on the ground, Their brilliant hues grown brown and dun; Lying graveless 'neath the weeping Of the dreary autumn rain, Ne'er shall beauteous life be given To the fallen leaves again.
But old winter, coming fleetly, Spite of all his weight of years, Seems the leaves and flow'rs to pity, Lying dead upon their biers; So he gives them dainty snow-shrouds, O'er them piles the snow-wreaths high, And above their graves the north wind Sadly moans as he goes by. —Faustine.

THE KINGDOM OF HOME.

It is related in the life of Mary, Queen of Scotland, that after the death of her husband she left France and returned to her own kingdom, surrounded by many French gentlemen and ladies, and that when she landed in Scotland she was ashamed of her subjects and the resources of her kingdom; even the horses of her island home, contrasted with the French, caused her to murmur and complain. Her rich dresses brought from France, and her gay manners, gave equal offense to John Knox and men of his stern stamp.
But Mary was young and had no judicious advisers, at least who were sufficiently congenial for her to listen to. However, her mistakes and misfortunes have been sufficiently discussed elsewhere. What impressed me most forcibly was her being ashamed of her kingdom, and blushing for its poverty as contrasted with a more luxurious realm, and the thought arose that if she had but reflected how few had a kingdom of any kind, how many were her subjects, while she alone was queen, she might have been thankful instead of discontented. And then I thought the rule might happily be applied to all "who keep house."
Surely every woman who has a home of her own, however humble, should be thankful for it, and instead of blushing with shame because other women have larger houses and better furnished rooms, should reflect how many are without homes, boarding, it may be, or dwelling at some rate in another's home, and rejoice that she has a kingdom of her own, and there watch, and guide, and govern with such winning sweetness and power as to make all her subjects better and happier for her sway.
If a woman in the kingdom of her own home dare to murmur and blush at its poverty, let her think of what happened to poor Mary, the unfortunate Queen of Scots, as she is generally called; how her despised kingdom was wrenched from her, and almost twenty years of her life were spent in prison, aspiring and intriguing in vain to recover what she despised when possessing.
The kingdom of home, be it large or small, rich or poor, is still a kingdom, and instead of scorning it because it is not equal to desire or expectations, let content that you have this kingdom "turn wooden cups to gold, the homely whistle to sweet music's strain;" as some poet has sensibly as well as poetically said.—Selected.

ROBBING HIS BOY.

Last spring a farmer found in his flock a lamb which the mother would not own. He gave it to his son, a boy fifteen years old, who saved it and raised it. The boy called it his all summer, all the family called it his, and it was his. But this fall when his father sold his lambs he let this one go with them, and taking the pay for it, tucked it into his big wallet and carried it off to pay taxes or put in the bank. On this statement of facts the Manchester Mirror makes the following severe but just comment:—
Now this farmer did not intend to do anything wrong. Least of all did he intend to wrong his boy.
Probably he did not give the matter much thought anyway; but if he did, he considered the boy's ownership of the lamb a pleasant fiction, or reasoned that the boy, having all his needs supplied out of the family purse, did not need the pay for the lamb, and it was better to put it into the common fund.
But for all that, taking the lamb and selling it in that way, and pocketing the proceeds, was stealing. No, it was robbery, and, as between this boy and his father, one of the meanest robberies that could be perpetrated.
Not only this, but by robbing the boy of that two dollars the farmer did more to make the boy discontented and drive him away from home than he can undo with ten times that amount. A boy is a little man, and if he has any of the gather and grip to him when he grows up, he begins at an early age to feel that desire to own something and add to the property subject to his ownership, which is at once the incentive to effective work and the motive which reconciles men to their condition.
No matter how well the boy's wants are provided for from a fund which is common to the whole family, he takes no particular interest in adding to that fund, because he does not feel that it is his, and he tires of labor and thought, the proceeds of which he must share with several others.
But give him a piece of property of his own, to manage as he pleases, to keep or sell or change, and let him feel that his ownership is secure, and that his loss or gain depends upon his own endeavors, and he will work cheerfully and contentedly.

Pleasantness Overcomes Irritability

If from any cause you feel irritable, try the harder to do little pleasant things.

ITEMS OF NEWS.

  • Vesuvius is in active eruption.
  • A Land League has been formed in Chicago.
  • The City of Tokio sailed for Hongkong Saturday last with 750 Chinese.
  • The War Department cost the country nearly forty million last year.
  • All difficulties in the negotiations between Russia and China have not yet been removed.
  • Dr. C. O. Crosby, inventor of machines for making needles, pins, fish-hooks, shoes, and tatting, died in Brooklyn last week.
  • The Mexican President, Gonzales, has been duly inaugurated. The former President, Diaz, has accepted a position in the newly formed Cabinet.
  • According to the late census of Alaska, that country contains about 30,000 human beings, only about 300 of whom are supposed to be whites.
  • Owing to a sudden breaking up of the ice in the Volga, five steamers and thirty barges were destroyed, and large quantities of grain, naptha, and fish were lost.
  • A party of armed men near Drales, Ireland, broke into a house from which tenants had been evicted, and slit open the ears of the man who had charge of the house.
  • During the last month over fifty wheat-laden ships sailed from San Francisco for Europe, being the largest number within the same space of time for many years.
  • The gist of the new treaty with China is intimated by government officers in the terse words, "We do not want them to come, and they do not want them to go."
  • The heaviest foreign mail that ever left the New York post-office was despatched Dec. 1, by the outgoing steamers. It contained 106,578 letters and 192 bags of papers.
  • Several thousand pilgrims returning from Mecca are detained at Bagdad, owing to the Kurds having attacked the last three caravans and killed and wounded over 500 pilgrims.
  • Prohibition clubs are being formed in Nebraska to secure the adoption of a constitutional prohibitory amendment. A vigorous effort will be made to have it pass the Legislature this winter.
  • Secretary Schurz, in his report, recommends the establishment of boarding-schools for Indian youths, and a more liberal appropriation for encouraging agriculture among the tribes.
  • A Shanghai correspondent of the Boston Herald telegraphs that the second treaty drawn up by the U. S. Commissioners and the Government at Peking provides that Americans shall not import opium or carry the products coastwise or sell it.
  • Bismarck evidently understands how to cure one poison by the use of another. It is thought that he rather favors the present oppression of the Jews in his kingdom, simply to divert the attention of the Socialists from their opposition to the Government.
  • During the last week there has been a heavy fall of rain throughout the State. In Washington Territory and Oregon, and on the mountains the rain turned to snow. Latest reports state that the Columbia river is filled with ice, and boats only run to Astoria.
  • The fastest Russian mail-steamer on the Caspian sea is run by gas. It is made from refuse petroleum carried in an iron tank, and blown into spray inside the furnace by a jet of steam, where it forms a continuous sheet of flame. This liquid fire makes no ashes and the smoke is free from sulphur.
  • The Pacific Christian Advocate regrets that the secular press has not more generally called attention to the striking fact that at the late election in Kansas, a constitutional amendment prohibiting forever the manufacture and sale of liquors in that State was adopted by at least 20,000 majority : "In all the cities and many small towns the ladies electioneered for the cause of temperance in a most effective manner. The Governor-elect, St. John, told the people they must take him with prohibition or not at all."
  • The most quiet event of the season was the real Presidential election Dec. 1. The Presidential electors then met in their several State capitals, and cast their votes for President and Vice-President. Congress is directed by law to open and count these votes on the second Wednesday in February, and to declare the result.
  • The overland trains were much delayed on account of a land-slide near Alta, Thursday. The slide was fifty feet long and ten feet deep and was composed of a conglomerate mass of trees, mud, and rock. Experienced railroad men say that the recent storm is the most severe ever experienced in the mountains at this season of the year.
  • It is said that a number of wealthy, enthusiasts in New York have purchased land in Mexico to the extent of half a million acres and intend colonizing it by judicious selections of negroes from the Southern States. The land is to be sold to them at government rates and they are to be aided in various ways in developing its resources.
  • The statue of Alexander Hamilton just unveiled in Central Park is of granite, and with the pedestal stands eighteen feet high. It represents Hamilton standing bareheaded, in the act of speaking, a roll of manuscript in his left hand. The face is pronounced a faithful likeness by his aged son, John C. Hamilton, who makes a gift of the statue to the city.
  • It is probable that the Montenegrins are beginning to comprehend that they have won a loss. The Albanians have signalized their opposition to the change of masters of their late possession, by "lifting," as the telegram expresses it, which means stealing, sixteen hundred sheep from the Montenegrins. The latter, having applied to the Turkish authorities for redress, the Turks decline to assume the responsibility.
  • In pursuance of the act passed at the last session of Congress, an invitation has been extended to the foreign maritime States to join in a Sanitary Conference in Washington, beginning the 1st of Jannary. The acceptance of this invitation by many prominent powers gives promise of success in this important measure, designed to establish a system of international notification by which the spread of infectious or epidemic disease may be more effectively checked or prevented.
  • It is understood that when Mrs. Hayes steps out and Mrs. Garfield steps into the White House on the 4th of March next there will be no abrupt turning in the course of the Presidential, or rather the Mrs. Presidential, social customs and decrees. Whether the diplomatic corps has its delicate palate tickled with lemonade and water at state dinners or not, we may be sure that whisky and the White House divorces four years ago will not be reunited in unholy bonds during Mr. Garfield's administration.
  • The great work of reconstructing the famous railway suspension bridge across the Niagara river has just been completed without interruption of traffic. The task was undertaken some months ago by Engineer E. A. Buck, and though many prominent engineers doubted the feasibility of the plan, he has carried it out, making an iron and steel bridge out of a wooden bridge, by a process of substitution which has not occasioned the slightest interruption of trains. The casual observer would never have suspected that anything more than a little repairing was going on.
  • The Hawaiians are enjoying fireworks on a grand scale. At last accounts a stream of lava between one and two hundred yards wide and twenty feet deep had extended for thirty miles, and a molten lake fifteen miles in circumference had formed on the plateau between Mauna Loa and Manna Kea. The Gazette says columns of smoke and steam ascending from two separate streams of lava unite in an arch overhead, forming an avenue through which can be seen for miles the molten mass boiling and seething, here and there throwing up immense cones to be suddenly burst asunder; and in some places great columns of lava are thrown to a height of 200 feet.

GOOD BOOKS FOR HOLIDAY GIFTS.

By Editor

Any of the following will be sent by mail, post-paid, on receipt of the price:—
Sunshine Series.—Ten small books, containing numerous choice stories adapted to children from the ages of five to twelve years. This little series of books is a careful selection from a great amount of excellent reading matter for children, and are acknowledged by all acquainted with them to be the best in print. Prof. U. Smith says, "If you want to know how to please, and at the same time profit your children, I can tell you. Send and get for them a package of the little books for children, for sale at the Signs Office, Oakland, Cal." Price 50 cents.
The Child's Poems.—Containing Little Will and other stories that will captivate the young reader and teach many lessons of temperance and virtue. Bound in cloth, and richly embossed with gold and black. 128 pages, 30 cents.
Golden Grain Series.—A choice collection of instructive stories suited to the wants of children from ten to sixteen years and older, illustrated and beautifully bound in three volumes. Vol. 1, The Hard Way, 40 cents. Vol. 2, The School-boy's Dinner, 40c. Vol. 3, Grumbling Tommy, 40 cents. Other volumes in preparation.
Golden Grains—In Ten Pamphlets.—The same reading contained in Vols. 1 and 2, is put up without pictures, in ten pamphlets of 32 pages each. In this form they are especially suited to Sabbath-school work, being unequaled as prizes for juvenile classes. Price 50 cents. List of the series:— No. 1, Robin's Judgment Book. No. 2, Annie's Savings Box. No. 3, Always the Bible. No. 4, The Hard Way. No. 5, The Sister's Lesson. No. 6, The School-boy's Dinner. No. 7, Seven Times. No. 8, The Wicket Gate No. 9, The Sensitive Plant. No. 10, The Two Gardens. Price of the series 50 cents.
Sabbath Readings for the Home Circle. In three volumes, containing moral and religious reading for the household; carefully selected, and compiled for the use of Sabbath-schools and family libraries. These volumes will be found the most forcible teachers of the principles of obedience, kindness, and benevolence, by relating instances of conformity to them and departure from them, in such a manner as to lead to their love and practice. Great care has been taken to exclude anything of a sectarian character. Vol. 1 is especially adapted to the wants of the youthful mind. 384 pp., 60c. Vol. 2 continues the same course of reading, and introduces articles suited to the wants of the whole family circle. 416 pages, 60 cents. Vol. 3 continues the same line of reading as Vol. 2. 380 pages, 60 cents.
The Advent Keepsake.—A collection of Bible texts for each day of the year, on the subjects of the Second Advent, the Resurrection, etc. Muslin, 136 pages, 25 cts.
The Game of Life.—Three lithographic illustrations, with explanations. These scenes represent Satan playing a game with man for his soul. In the first scene, The Game in Progress, Satan and man are represented as intent upon the game spread before them upon a covered sarcophagus. The second scene, The Game Lost, represents Satan as victor, man in despair. The Game Won reverses this scene. Neatly bound in boards. Price 50 cents.
Thrilling Incidents in the Political Life of Francesco Urgos, including his Travels in Africa and Syria. This work vividly sets forth the varied trials and sufferings of one of the noble sons of Italy while a soldier in the army of Garibaldi, and afterward a prisoner of the Holy Inquisition. 318 pages, $1.
The Life of Elder Joseph Bates, with portrait; relating his experience of twenty-five years on shipboard, with incidents of his advancement from cabin-boy up to master and owner. Here will be found the record of fearful dangers and adventures, and wonderful escapes and deliverances. And right here, associated more or less with all that is evil, Captain Bates became a most thorough reformer and a devoted Christian. Tinted paper, 352 pages, $1.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Children's Library..................$6.00 The Bird World......................5.00 Mysteries of the Ocean..............5.00 The Mountains.......................5.00 Land of the Pharaohs................4.00 Those Holy Fields...................4.00 Animal Life.........................2.50 Great Shipwrecks....................2.50 Pillar of Fire......................2.00 The Throne of David.................2.00 Library of Bird Stories.............2.00 Josephus............................2.00 Fables of Infidelity................1.75 S. S. Picture Book..................1.75 Indian Mirror.......................1.75 Book of Bible Pictures..............1.50 Vevians of Woodford.................1.50 Stories of Bird Life................1.50 Treasures of the Deep...............1.50 Earth and its Treasures.............1.50 Wonders of the Physical World.......1.50 Home Life in Palestine..............1.50 Alpine Adventures...................1.50 Self Taught Men.....................1.50 Pilgrim's Progress, Illustrated.....1.50 Nannie Davenport....................1.50 Harry Maitland......................1.50 Earthen Vessels.....................1.50 Tom Bently..........................1.50 The Ocean...........................1.25 Ellen Dacre.........................1.25 Tim, the Scissors Grinder...........1.25 Sequel to Tim.......................1.25 Gutta Percha Willie.................1.25 Paul Venner.........................1.25 Alone in the World..................1.25 The Hard Problem....................1.25 Little Nellie.......................1.25 Lenore's Trial......................1.25 Every Day Duties....................1.25 Story of a Pocket Bible.............1.25 Almost a Woman......................1.25 Jessie Bowers.......................1.25 Francis Morton......................1.15 Penny Rust's Christmas..............1.15 Glen Elder..........................1.15 Two Books...........................1.15 Climbing the Mountain...............1.15 The Brother's Choice................1.10 Two New Year's Days.................1.00 Almost a Man........................1.00 Young Man's Counsellor..............1.00 Young Ladies'.......................1.00 Corner Cupboard.....................1.00 Youthful Diligence..................1.00 Schanberg Cotta Family..............1.00 Purpose.............................1.00 Lucy Raymond........................1.00 The Greek Maid......................1.00 Life and Labors of Mary Lyon........1.00 Life and Times of Milton............1.00 Poems of Home Life..................1.00 Fred's Fresh Start.................. .90 Edith Somers........................ .90 Life's Battles...................... .90 Pictorial Narratives................ .90 Jessie Work......................... .90 Tip-Toe............................. .80 The Vatican Council................. .80 The Climbers........................ .80 Crescent and Cross.................. .80 Daughters of the Cross.............. .80 Sybil Gray.......................... .80 Jane Taylor......................... .75 Following on to Know................ .75 Mirage of Life...................... .70 Star of Bethlehem................... .70 Bertie's Birthday Present........... .70 Songs for the Little Ones........... .70 May Coverly......................... .60 Jonas Clare......................... .60 Fanny Lightman's Choice............. .60 The Glen Cabin...................... .60 The Boy Patriot..................... .50 Old, Old Story...................... .50
Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.

HISTORIES AND BIOGRAPHIES.

Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, six volumes...... $6.00 Rollin's Ancient History, in two royal octavo volumes, small pica type. Bound in muslin................ 5.00 Bound in Library Sheep.......... 6.50 Complete works of the Flavius Josephus, 2 vols., royal octavo size, pica type, muslin bound ............. 4.50 D'Aubigne's History of the Great Reformation, five volumes......... 4.50 Dowling's History of Romanism..... 4.00 Life and Epistles of St. Paul, by Conybeare and Hawson............ 2.50 The Life and Words of Christ, by Cunningham Geikie. 1260 pp........ 2.00 Life and Times of Luther.......... 1.50 The French Huguenots............. 1.50 The English Puritans.............. 1.50 The Pilgrim Fathers............... 1.50 Records of S. V. S. Wilder......... 1.25 Life Sketches of Elder James White and Mrs. E. G. White............ 1.25 Life and Labors of Wm. Miller..... 1.00 Life of Joseph Bates.............. 1.00 Life of Francesco Urgos........... 1.00 A Model Superintendent, a sketch of Henry P. Hanen............... 1.00

"BOYCOTTING."

By Editor

At almost every meeting of the Land League in Ireland, it is said, three resolutions are presented, and every one who joins the League must solemnly pledge himself to stand by them. The first is that no man shall pay to the landlord more than a certain fair, fixed rent. The second is that no man shall occupy land from which another has been evicted. The third is that any one who does so shall be "Boycotted." This has been explained to mean that he shall be "personally and socially ostracized." He may from the day he takes the land as well be another Robinson Crusoe upon the island of San Juan, with or without his man Friday. He can neither buy, sell, nor trade with any one in the neighborhood. Neither is he permitted to gather his crops in peace. If he wants clothes for his family he must send to some far-away town. In short, he is left alone in his glory." Captain Boycott, the first landlord agent to receive such treatment, has finally been obliged to leave the country.
The state of things is anything but desirable in Ireland. A leading San Francisco daily has the following to the point:—

IRISH DISCONTENT.

Clouds seem to thicken in Ireland. The tendency toward violence appears to increase. The course of the Government in proceeding against the leaders in the Land League, is reported to apparently have increased the violent manifestations against landlords and the laws. It is reported that uniting the Fenian sentiment and members in the Land League movement, has made the latter much more formidable and more dangerous because of the secrecy covering the plans and actions of the League. Troops in small numbers have been sent to the most disturbed districts of late as precautionary efforts to prevent outrages and put down uprisings. But the ground-swell of discontent still rolls along and seems to gather speed and momentum. The threatening fire may expend its heat and die out without any general outbreak, but it would not be strange should the present discontent result in a general insurrection. Should that occur, the arm of the British Government will be found strong and not over-merciful.

OAKLAND'S IMPROVEMENTS.

THE fact that during the year of 1879 over five hundred thousand dollars were received from ferry passengers between this city and San Francisco, shows the importance of having the lines of travel between the two cities as safe and speedy as possible. The distance from the foot of Market street, San Francisco, to Oakland Point is about seven miles, but the shore on this side of the bay is so flat that it is impossible to run a ferry-boat direct to the shore. Therefore, in 1870 the C. P. R. R. Company constructed what is known as Long Wharf, extending into the bay about two miles. Over this run steam cars connecting with the ferry-boat.
But for some time fears have been entertained lest the piles should become rotten and give way. Hence about eighteen months ago the railroad company began to build a mole from the shore about six thousand five hundred and fifty feet. This was filled with rocks and adobe dirt. The work has just been completed and now the company propose to there erect one of the finest union depots on this coast. This building will be two hundred and sixty feet wide and six hundred long, with two wings each nine hundred feet long, into which trains will run, and it will be arranged so that passengers going to San Francisco, who desire to go on the upper deck of the steamer, will go up stairs into waiting rooms and pass onto the upper deck of the boat, which will run close in. There will also be a waiting-room below. The trains will be run into this building and locked in. It is expected that the building will be ready for use in about three months.

Smallpox Epidemic in San Francisco

THIRTEEN cases of small-pox were reported to the San Francisco health officers Saturday last. Since the first of November, when the disease assumed the form of an epidemic, the Alta states that 121 cases have been sent to the city hospital, and between forty and fifty others have been quarantined. Of the entire number, twenty-five have died. There are ninety-nine patients now in the hospital, and the Board of Health is laying plans to provide more accommodations.

MOODY'S SCHOOL FOR BOYS.

The San Francisco Pacific gives the result of an interview with Moody with reference to his proposed boys' school at Northfield, Mass., where he has already established a school for girls. Mr. Moody said his idea was to have boys of ten years of age and over earn their own living while getting a good education. He had bought 300 acres of land, and intended to have them work on the farm four hours a day, study four, and play four. The boys would be kept in families of twelve or fifteen, with a Christian matron in charge. He had already secured $50,000 for the enterprise. Two houses were now built. The school would start soon.

Business Department.

By Editor

RECEIVED FOR THE "SIGNS."

$2.00 EACH. Wm Stewart 8-1, Mrs J M Buis 7-45, R S Rickett 7-13, Mrs B G Allen 8-1.
$1.00 EACH. Amasa Cartright 7-21, J B Foster 7-21, Mrs A L Kemp 7-21, Sarah Fallmer 7-24.
75c EACH. W A Gould 7-21, D Slawson 7-21, Mrs Benton 7-21, Mrs J M Bidleman 7-9, Mrs Jane Patterson 7-9.
MISCELLANEOUS. Mrs Obrock 30c, James A Dye 20c, David Whitehurst 50c, Mrs Sears $1.10, Alvin Griswold 7-40 $5.00.

OTHER RECEIPTS.

TENT FUND. Wm Butcher $4.00, T M Chapman $20.00, Mrs T M Chapman $10.00.
BRITISH MISSION. Wm Butcher $75.00.
ST. CLAIR S. S. $6.25.
CAL CONFERENCE. Isabella Moore $5.00, Mrs E Carter 60c, Healdsburg Church per F Harman $74.85, W Gunning $5.00, Petaluma Church $40.00.
RENO T AND M SOCIETY. $10.00.
CAL PUB FUND. Anna J Colby $10.00.

Ancient Knowledge of Magnifying Glasses

In the writings of Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher, the following passage occurs: "As we use a glass to examine the forms of things, so must we study antiquity in order to understand the present." This sentence points most unmistakably to the use of magnifying glasses long before the time of the writer, who died 474 years before our era.
Continue reading: THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE