SPEAKING of the fact that the Bible is excluded from our public-school system, the Christian Workers Magazine of July calls attention to the work of teachers in some of the universities who “consider themselves free to disparage the Christian faith before their pupils,” notwithstanding the fact that “the law prohibits religious instruction—which includes the antireligious—in schools supported by taxation.” It argues that these teachers are very dilatory in their duty and have betrayed the confidence reposed in them as teachers of our youth, and that this course of action on their part not only fosters enmity toward Christianity, but is unpatriotic and treasonable. As a remedy it suggests:—
If such teachers will not heed these arguments, it is time that the people who support them should recognize their seriousness and demand an enforcement of the law. If our schools must be “godless” in the sense that God is left out, let them not be made satanic in the sense that the prince of darkness shall be brought in.
The Tsungwesi Mission
THE Tsungwesi Mission, South Africa, with Pastor and Mrs. M. C. Sturdevant in charge, is going ahead as one might expect with such self-sacrificing workers at its head. The station is only about a year old, and already it has a church and school building, 18 x 40 feet, completed; and brick is now being made for a house for Brother and Sister Sturdevant. Up to this time they have lived in a mud hut uncomplainingly. Brother Sturdevant’s health is not the best, and help must be provided to assist them, lest the good work started should be hindered.
Eighteen Years in Prison for Conscience’ Sake
By Anol Grundset
Abyssinia
Eighteen Years in Prison for Conscience’ Sake
ANOL GRUNDSET
The following is taken from a newsletter from Adis Abeba, the capital city of Abyssinia, and tells of sufferings endured because of religious convictions:—
“Wobe, or Wube, as the name is written in Amharic, received lasting impressions when the German missionaries, during King Menelek’s younger days, were here. A Bible translation came out, if I remember rightly, all ready in 1845, which since has been twice revised. The Bible in Amharic—Geez the people do not understand—has proved to be stronger than all the martyrdom that the priests invent for the readers of it. . . .
THE ASMARA MISSION STATION, ON BORDER OF ABYSSINIA, EAST AFRICA
“Before the German missionaries, who were supported by an English company, came here, the people lived in the deepest spiritual darkness. That darkness the bishop and priests delighted in. As the light began to pierce through the darkness, persecution of the light-bearers began. Those found to adhere to the way of light were imprisoned. Those drawn toward the light did not, however, reveal the forbidden Book, but hid it in the earth, uncovering and reading it at night. In this way many even to-day read in secret. The light advances. There are Nicodemus souls scattered in the land who believe, though open professions are very rare.”
“Such souls as Wube, who was imprisoned, are few to be found. There was one like him, who dared openly confess his faith. This comrade was whipped to death, and Wube at the same time received forty strikes. Since then he has been dragged from province to province, from mountain (lone place) to mountain, with his limbs locked in chains, and with chains still tighter drawn at every time he has been retried and been unwilling to surrender his faith.
“When Tajelenj was imprisoned, Wube was brought here and again re-questioned, but remained steadfast. It is not in vain that he has suffered. The bishop and minister of justice have at every trial gnashed their teeth against him; but it has been heard from persons standing near these officials that their consciences are aware that they have not dealt rightly with him. They know that he is more righteous than they, but what shame to them to acknowledge their wrong. Because of their fear that if they should let him go, the light would take on wings and much which they suppose to be hid be revealed, they keep him watched in chains. They hope in this way to torment him unto death, and in silence hide him and his history under the sod. We may yet see the outcome.”
A few pages of this man’s sufferings ought to be written in Amharic, and spread among the people; for one or more such histories should help toward attaining religious liberty for the people of Abyssinia.
The happenings of the past few months, when the bishop and priests, after the death of the late king, began another persecuting career, in which even foreign representatives in Abyssinia have taken steps to interfere, prove that darkness is still cherished and the Bible and its adherents made subjects of attack. To us especially interested in the removal of barriers, are these things momentous. I believe the Lord, in and through all this, will work out in his own time, to his own end, the opening of Abyssinia for the preaching of the everlasting gospel of the third angel.
We hear Abyssinia often spoken of as a Christian land; but, ah! it is a land of utter darkness, with a corrupted priesthood holding the people by reins of superstition and falsehood. The white messengers of the gospel are interpreted to be demons, and their teachings evil errors. The people are warned to have nothing to do with us. Nevertheless, amid obstacles our school has gone well. Some students have run away from home and villages to come to us to obtain an education.
Dear believers, let your prayers unite with ours that the way may soon be opened for the Word, God’s precious light, to be circulated among the people of this dark land, and that its saving truths may germinate in some honest hearts to bear fruit.
Asmara, East Africa.
Christ’s Feast and Our Hunger
By Joseph Parker
ALL we have to do is to go; we take nothing with us but our hunger. The feast is Christ’s, the invitation is Christ’s, the house is Christ’s; the hunger alone is ours. And a blessed hunger it is if we feel that only Christ can satisfy it. — Joseph Parker.
R. W. MUNSON
By R. W. MUNSON
Java
R. W. MUNSON
The first of April we began labor here in Batavia, which is seventy-five miles north of Soekaboemi on the railway line. Brother Emmanuel Siregar had spent about three months laboring here late last year, and a lively interest was awakened among the Ambonese and Menadonese Christians, who are here in considerable numbers, and are engaged, most of them, in some department of the government service.
We began at once to hold meetings, and already one man has taken his stand and is keeping the Sabbath. Another is taking steps either to secure the Sabbath off or to retire from the service, in order that he may keep the Sabbath. There are still others who are fully in sympathy with us and accept the truth in theory, yet who find it very hard to give up their situations in order to keep the Sabbath. To such we say that Christ has definitely promised that if they seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, he will supply the food and raiment needful. The Sabbath is a great test to prove the sincerity of the faith of the believer.
Though we meet with discouragements of one kind and another, we are still of good courage in the Lord. This conflict can never end until the victory is won for the truth.
Sister Thorpe, our mission treasurer, has had a return of malaria, and with her husband and little daughter has gone up to Soekaboemi to see what a few weeks in the mountains will do for her. If the temperature is not cold enough there, she will have to go to Lalidjiwa, nine thousand feet up Mt. Ardjoeno, in East Java. Our Soember Wekas mission is situated on the lower slopes of this mountain. At Lalidjiwa it is very cold, and the malaria germs are soon made inactive.
Brother and Sister Thorpe are trained nurses of long experience, and we hoped to have the benefit of their assistance in the work in Batavia; but there is reason to fear that Sister Thorpe can not live in the plains. If such proves to be the case, then we must dispense with their services; but they can help with the work at Soember Wekas, if not in the cities of the plains.
In speaking of the cities of the plain, I am reminded how wicked these cities are. There is abundant need that the last warning message should go speedily to them; for if wickedness guarantees the prior doom of the cities over the rest of the world, these great cities of Java will certainly perish first.
We need very much an experienced Dutch laborer, who can take up the medical work here, and carry it forward efficiently without much supervision. Conditions are different here than they are in Holland, and a newcomer would have many lessons to learn before he could become familiar with the situation and proceed intelligently.
I am at present engaged on Bible studies in Romanized Malay for inquiring Christians, and for our workers to use. The people are very eager to study the Bible. Our method of teaching is so different from that of the Dutch missionaries, and it appeals to their heads and hearts so strongly that sometimes they sit up all night studying the Word.
A Roman Catholic native teacher, or assistant preacher, heard of our truth through a man who was his predecessor, but who joined the Methodists. His village is six hours' walk into the country, yet six times he came into Batavia to search out Mr. Pietersz, a man who has heartily accepted the truth, in order that he might learn about it from him. He is now sitting in the next room studying the Bible with Emmanuel Siregar. He thinks he can bring at least some of his countrymen in the Roman Church with him. This indicates the doors open before us here in Java. O that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers into the harvest!
The Australasian Union Conference Committee has asked the General Conference Committee to take over the administration of this East Indian field, as Australia can not carry it longer. As the work expands and the burden of expense grows heavier, it is bound to exceed the financial ability of the Australasian Union. This is an empire in the East Indian Archipelago, and there is much work yet to be done. I beg all the readers of the REVIEW to remember this great field in their prayers.
The climate is trying, and the perils to health great. Cholera and the plague have been carrying off hundreds of people within the past few months. Malaria is an ever-present menace to the health and lives of workers. But fortunately we have a fine mountain health resort at Soember Wekas, where sick workers can go for rest and recuperation. If that altitude (about two thousand feet) is not sufficient, Lalidjiwa is available.
Brother W. W. Fletcher and family have recently left Singapore, quite broken down and sadly in need of rest and change. He will labor in South Australia for a year. Brother and Sister G. F. Jones returned to Singapore from Australia to relieve Brother Fletcher. About the same time Brother and Sister Montgomery from America arrived there to assist in the work.
The work in Sumatra is encouraging. The Sabbath services are well attended, and a good interest in the gospel message is manifested.
ELLA CAMP RUSSELL
By Ella Camp Russell
Korea
ELLA CAMP RUSSELL
If those in the home land should exchange places with the foreign workers, what do you suppose they would want the ones at home to do? Having been so situated as to view this question from both sides, let me venture an answer as it appeals to me.
Here in the foreign work, we are brought face to face with conditions wholly unknown to the people at home, unless we except those working for the very poor in our large cities. It is a common circumstance in all Eastern mission fields that the people are poor, desperately poor; therefore they are hungry, cold, and dirty. The suffering of widows and orphans is pitiful.
I do not know whether or not there is a fund for supplying food, clothing, and soap; but I am sure if there were, the missionary's wife in every field would draw heavily from it. Why don't you sisters at home clear out your clothes-presses and closets, and send us out-of-date or partly worn garments? Send a few at a time by mail. [Between the United States and Japan — now including Korea — there exists a foreign parcel-post. The limitation in weight is eleven pounds. In value the package must not exceed eighty dollars. The rate of postage is twelve cents a pound or fraction thereof. In every case the postage must be prepaid.] Any sort of garment can be made over into children's clothing here. Also if some would send small pieces of cloth, such as scraps left over from gingham and calico dresses, they would go a long way toward dressing a child. Old silk waists can be sent in very small packages, and can be used to good advantage. Pictures and flower seeds might also be sent; the little children love these, and are taught beautiful lessons from them. Church-schools could find great pleasure and the blessing of God in collecting articles to be sent to foreign mission schools.
Just let me tell you about our girls' school here. These poor girls are willing to eat boiled millet three times a day,—nothing else,—so as to have the money to buy books and pay tuition. Outside of school hours, they do sewing or any work they can find. They make and sell the white cotton hose which Koreans wear. These hose are made of strong cotton cloth, almost as heavy as canvas. It is sewed by hand, and they sell these hose for two and one-half cents above the cost of material. I would not make a pair for fifty cents. Poor little girls! If they were sent some good cloth, then they could make twelve and one-half cents clear on a pair.
Don't be afraid that too many will send. You send a yard anyway, or two or three yards,—white cotton cloth, drilling, or duck, or light canvas, strong, but not too stiff to be sewed by hand. This can be sent to the Korean Girls' School, Soonan, Korea.
And last, but not least, write once in a while to the ones in distant parts of the world. No matter if you have never met them, it will cheer them wonderfully to receive letters. Ask them questions, and by establishing a closer connection the foreign work need not be far from any door. It is the simple, common duties in service for humanity that the Saviour has taught us by precept and example. I am so glad to be where I can actually, with my own hands, “feed the hungry” and “clothe the naked.” How similar were the conditions in the time of Christ to what we see here!
Mouth Breathing
By W. B. Holden, M. D.
W. B. HOLDEN, M. D.
MOUTH-BREATHING is caused by some obstruction in the air-passages of the nose. The most frequent of such obstructions is the growth of a tonsil-like substance in the upper part of the throat above and behind the palate. This tonsil-like substance is variously named, adenoids, pharyngeal tonsil, third tonsil, and Luschka’s tonsil. This growth closes the passage leading from the nostrils to the throat. It is a very common condition in children from five to fifteen years of age.
The symptoms arising from this interference with the air-passages in the nose are the following: 1. Mouth-breathing more or less constant. Children will breathe through the nose if they can. 2. Nasal voice: they speak as if they had a cold in the head. 3. Persistent snoring in sleep. 4. More or less deafness because the Eustachian tube leading from the middle ear to the throat is closed. Children are often accused of stubbornness and disobedience because they do not hear commands and orders. 5. Catarrh of the head. 6. Small nose, due to undergrowth from lack of use. 7. Small receding chin and short upper lip with projecting teeth, all due to the position of the jaw in mouth-breathing. 8. Stupid in appearance and in fact, due to the deficient amount of air they can inspire. They are very prone to be poorly developed mentally and physically because of air starvation. Such children are not only of low vitality and more susceptible to all diseases, but especially to tonsillitis, diphtheria, and earache; the latter malady may develop into serious if not fatal complications.
This tonsil generally disappears in early adult life, but the damage is then done. The body and mind are perhaps dwarfed. The facial appearance is much changed, the nasal voice persists, and the individual is physically and mentally crippled for life. His chances for success are greatly lessened.
There is only one thing to do, and that is to have this overgrowth of tissue removed by a surgeon. It is a simple procedure, and unattended by danger. Occasionally after removal it will grow again; if so, the operation should be repeated. Parents can readily detect the growth of this tonsil, though it can not be seen, by the above distinctive symptoms; and they should consult a surgeon early, as a delay of a year or two may do the child much damage.
Although this trouble is and has been very common, it is only recently that attention has been called to its mischievous results. No greater benefit can be given a child than timely attention to this mass of abnormal tonsillar tissue. The proper removal of this tonsil increases the prospects of the sufferer manyfold.
Portland, Ore.
How to Avoid Colds
By A. B. Olsen
A. B. OLSEN, M. D.
To avoid colds one must cultivate an active outdoor life and abstemious habits. Breathe plenty of fresh air, and breathe deeply. Avoid sedentary habits. Be active. Engage in manual labor or physical exercises daily. The woodman working out-of-doors in the coldest weather does not take cold. He is immune because of the pure, fresh air that he breathes and of his muscular work.
Coddling is a sure means of inviting colds. Hovering over the fire-grate in the close, foul air of an ill-ventilated room is another means of bringing on a cold. One need not toast himself over the fire in order to keep warm. A brisk walk will soon stir the sluggish blood stream and quicken the circulation, sending the warmth tingling into the very finger-tips.
When cold, attend to the internal fires. What sort of fuel are you providing them? Is it rich in heat-producing properties? or will it merely tickle the palate?
The efficiency of a fire depends on the quality of the fuel and the draft. What we call food is the fuel of the human engine, and breathing fresh air supplies the draft.
Cold Hands
If your hands and feet are cold most of the time, if you shiver with cold chills, if you have difficulty in keeping comfortably warm, it is because your internal fires are smothered, and so fail to supply you with sufficient heat. Poor food has been supplied, or you have failed to provide sufficient fresh air.
Therefore, the solution of the problem is simple: Take only plain, wholesome, but nourishing food,—food that will make good fuel, such as fruit of all kinds, both fresh and stewed, nuts and nut preparations, grains and breads, vegetables, and the dairy products; exercise daily in the fresh air, and have your rooms well ventilated day and night.
Dress equably, and sufficiently to keep warm. Wear warm shoes with thick soles. Women especially should do this. Avoid damp beds as you would the plague. Protect yourself in a reasonable way from the cold and wet and storm. Shun overheated rooms. Be active, and live a simple, natural, wholesome life. Lastly, keep the skin active by some kind of daily cold bath.
Caterham, England.
Dress for Housewives
By Dinah Sturgis
DINAH STURGIS
For a woman to dress in her home so she can do her work, from cooking to cleaning, and be presentable at all times in the eyes of her family and those chance callers at the front as well as at the back door, is really quite a problem. Yet it can be solved, because it has been solved. A house dress of inexpensive print, neatly made and scrupulously clean, is always presentable. The old cloth dress, strained in the seams, frayed at the wrists and about the feet, worn under the arms, and often, alas, repulsively stained by perspiration, and spotted from top to bottom, is not only unpresentable, but inexcusable. It looks truly inexcusable when put down in cold black and white, does it not? It would seem unnecessary to describe such attire if it were not that many genuinely good women wear just such a garb when “about the house.”
Women who do housework should wear wash dresses until after the cooking is done for the day. All other materials absorb odors. To make cotton dresses warm enough for cold weather, it is only necessary to wear warm undergarments, which can go into the laundry with impunity often enough to keep them clean and sweet.
Cotton dresses can be and should be very attractive. It takes no more time to make a pleasing dress than to make a hideous one. It takes no longer to wash and iron a dress that is attractively made than to wash and iron an ugly one. The housekeeper’s house dress should clear the floor easily all around. It15should never be necessary to lift it in walking over a freshly washed or oiled floor to keep the skirt clean. It ought not to be necessary to say that the women of nice instincts can not bear the thought of wearing a dress bedraggled about the bottom. The sleeves of a housekeeper’s dress should be short enough so they need not be turned up, no matter what the kind of work; or they should be made to button down the inside of the arm, or to gather at the wrist over an elastic, so they can be turned up out of the way without straining them about the wrists. The sleeve that ends just below the elbow and is not so full at the lower edge that it can get in the way is so convenient that the woman who once tries it, never goes back to the long sleeve for working use.
Nature's Temples
By George E. Tack
GEORGE E. TACK
How fair these wondrous temples of our God!
And from each gray old column, springing far,
Are arches, flashed by rays of sun and star
That fall and spread their gold o'er flowering sod;
And high above, traced o'er the azure dome,
Carved silently by each infinite thought
Of the Master-Sculptor who patient wrought,
The leaves outspread, and stars illumine night's gloom.
And sweet-voiced choristers soft raise a hymn
Unto the mighty God, whose tender love
Gave each their being, and these temples dim
To be their homes in leafy bowers above.
God of these beechen temples, great thou art.
Accept, I pray, the worship of this heart.
Baltimore, Md.
The Golden Treasure
By D. L. Graves
Long, long ago a farmer had three sons who did not like to work. They were really very lazy, and although he tried his best to teach them to help him on the farm, they would do only the work that was absolutely necessary, and neglect all the rest. One day the father found he must go on a long journey, so he called his sons to him, and said: “My boys, I am going very far away, and may never come back. I leave you all my treasure, but you must find it for yourselves. It is hidden in my fields.”
You may be sure the boys began to hunt for the treasure just as soon as he left. Day after day they were digging in the fields from morning until night. They forgot how they hated to work, and their mother, who knew all about the hidden treasure, was greatly pleased to see them so industrious. At last one whole field was dug up from one end to the other, but not one piece of gold did they find. They were greatly disappointed, and concluded the treasure must be in another field.
“Before we dig up another field,” said one of the brothers, “we might just as well make some use of this one; so let us plant some corn in it.”
His brothers were quite willing, and it in, so it happened that while they slowly and carefully dug up another field, the corn grew in a most amazing fashion.
One day their mother said: “I see the weeds are growing very fast in your corn, boys. Since you have gone to the trouble of planting it, you may as well cultivate it.”
As they cut the weeds, they were so pleased with the way it grew that they took more and more care of it, and when it was ready for cutting, they found they had the finest crop they had ever raised. They sold it for almost as much gold as they had expected to find in the field.
One day as they were resting under the shade of a tree, the oldest son said: “Boys, I’ve been thinking of what father said about the treasure he left in the fields, and I believe he meant we should find it in just this way—by cultivating the farm he left to us. I for one mean to keep on searching for it in the same way.”
His brothers agreed with him, and after that there was no farm in the country that was so well cared for, nor one that brought its owners so much gold.— D. L. Graves, in American Motherhood.
What a Schoolgirl Ought to Know
OUR subject has no reference to book knowledge, but to a few common things every girl ought to know before leaving home to attend school.
She should have been taught correct personal habits; the proper time, frequency, and kinds of baths; the right clothing for different occasions and the necessary changes to suit the weather; to have order in her room; to avoid placing clothing by an open window at night or in damp weather; to hang up her clothes, and not leave them on chairs or on the floor; to carry umbrella and overshoes when likely to be needed; to take her meals regularly, and not go to recitations without breakfast, for the sake of an hour longer in bed; to eat a varied and generous diet, that she may not suffer for lack of mother's dainties; and especially she should be taught how to care for her health. All these simple things should have become fixed habits, so that she may not be dependent upon her mother for information upon every occasion.
A girl should know how to indorse a bank draft, buy a railroad ticket, check her baggage, send an express package, keep an expense book, pack her trunk, do simple mending and shopping, and many other ordinary things. She should know how to deport herself on the cars and in other public places, so that she may not appear too trustful or too independent, but may be both dignified and courteous, the fullest meed of which can come only by both knowledge and experience.
All this may seem very commonplace, but it is a commonplaceness constantly displayed. The writer has known girls to be offended because they could not without identification cash a draft; has slowly seen them try to send a package by express on a railroad ticket, and imagine they could check boxes without handles, and do many other things which make them appear very unsophisticated.
For their own comfort, happiness, and safety, girls should be fortified with knowledge on all possible points before they leave home for school or elsewhere.
—Selected.
To Control Bleeding From the Nose
By P. M. Keller, M. D.
ELEVATE the arms to increase the resistance to the upward course of the blood. Apply cold cloths over the nose and brow and an ice-bag to the neck, or cold cloths to the neck extending around under the arm and reaching the large blood-vessels on the axilla. At the same time give a hot foot-bath.
As a spray within the nose use a weak solution of alum. Hot water may be slowly instilled into the nostril, or the nose may be plugged with cotton pledgets moistened in peroxid of hydrogen or extract of witch-hazel. Should the hemorrhage persist, then it would be necessary to plug the posterior as well as anterior portion of the nose, but this must be done by a physician.—P. M. Keller, M. D.
The Spirit of Criticism
A SPIRIT of criticism, if indulged in, leads to a censoriousness of disposition that is destructive of all nobler feeling. The man who lives to find fault has a miserable mission.—United Presbyterian.
Find a Better Way
“Now, Ellen,” said a mother to her little daughter, whom she had just put to bed early for some kind of mischief, “to punish you and to show you how very naughty you have been, I shall not kiss you good night.”
With great mournful eyes wide open,—astonishment personified,—the child lay with big tears dropping down her cheeks and her little red lips quivering, but her mother pretended not to notice, and went about her work.
“Mama! Mama! Mama!” in distressful, pleading tones, soon called her back. “O mama, won’t you kiss me? I can’t go to sleep if you don’t!” sobbed Ellen, tremblingly and with outstretched hands.
“Mother can’t kiss you,” she replied, as she put the little hands under the coverlet. She noticed that they were very hot, but attributed that to excitement. “Mother hopes little Ellen will learn to mind her,” she said, as she left her for the night.
About midnight she was called to the bedside of the child, who did not know her. She was sitting up, crimson from the forehead to the throat, her eyes dazzlingly bright. Fever raged for days, and the parched lips made incessant plaint: “O, kiss me, mama! do kiss me! I can’t go to sleep. Won’t you kiss Ellen? I can’t go to sleep. I won’t be naughty if you’ll only kiss me! O, kiss me, dear, dear mama! I can’t go to sleep!”
Of what avail then were all the kisses showered on the delirious child?
She did go to sleep, however, one gray morning,—to the long, long sleep that knows no earthly waking,—the mother holding the little hands, and all her veins seeming to grow icy with their gradual chill. The last whispered words were, “I will be good, mama, if you’ll only kiss me!”
And yet the mother loved Ellen with all the fervor of a tender heart, and had merely sought to correct her for her best good,—only she did not really understand her darling.
“The wounds I might have healed,
The human sorrow and smart;
And yet it never was in my mind
To play so ill a part;
But evil is wrought by want of thought
As well as want of heart.”
— Selected.
Additional Facts Concerning the Death of Elder O. E. Davis
THE following report appeared in the Christian Herald of October 4. It seems to be taken largely from Professor Crampton’s report, which was omitted by mistake in the letter we received from Elder Boger. It gives some items he omitted in the letter he wrote, probably thinking we would get them in Professor Crampton’s account. We insert the report in full:—
“News has been received in New York City of the murder of Elder O. E. Davis, a missionary to the Arecuna tribe of South American Indians at the head waters of the Amazon. He denounced polygamy, and as these Indians are polygamists, they are supposed to have killed him on account of his teachings. Prof. Henry E. Crampton, of Columbia University, who has been exploring the region about the head waters of the Amazon for the American Museum of Natural History, brought the intelligence of this missionary tragedy. It was Professor Crampton who discovered the murder, and who notified the authorities at Georgetown, British Guiana.
“Dr. Crampton was on his way to Mount Roraima with an escort of British Guiana Indians, and stopped at a village, a mere collection of Indian huts, called Kamaira-Wong, in Brazil. A chief and ‘medicine-man’ named Jeremiah, who seemed to be a power among the Arecuna Indians, came to meet the explorer, and warned the Indians in Dr. Crampton’s party not to say anything to the white man about the death of the missionary. The explorer talked with Jeremiah regarding the region, but the chief never referred to the missionary.
“The explorer was not allowed to enter Jeremiah’s hut. He learned, however, that Jeremiah had the boots and clothes of a white man in the hut. They had heard that the clothing had belonged to a missionary who had come into the village and had taught the people that plural marriages were wrong and must stop, and that all the Indians who had more than one wife must discard all but the first.
“This doctrine angered the natives greatly. The women were very angry. Some one shot the missionary with a poisoned arrow, and then cut his throat. Other Indians came along and found the white man lying on the ground. They carried him to the village into Jeremiah’s hut, where he died. Then they buried him under the earthen floor of the chief’s hut, and the chief kept his clothing. Before he died, the natives said, the missionary wrote on two pieces of paper. One of these pieces was still in the chief’s hut. The other, it was said, had just found its way to Elder Boger, of Mr. Davis’s denomination (Seventh-day Adventist), at Georgetown. It simply said that he had been poisoned and was dying. The other letter written by the dying man is thought to have been intended for his wife, who was in Georgetown waiting for his return from the jungle. It is believed that this letter is still in Jeremiah’s possession. The Indians who reported the murder were not sure whether a woman or a man had done the killing.
“Elder Davis was a Westerner, about forty-five years old. Before going to South America he had been a missionary in Alaska and British Columbia. A British expedition will start from Georgetown in an effort to recover the body, and if possible to apprehend and punish the guilty natives.”
The Chesapeake Conference
By K. C. Russell
THE Chesapeake Conference camp-meeting was held in Dover, the capital city of Delaware, September 14-24. The camp was located on a beautiful, grassy plot of ground only two blocks back of the capital building.
The attendance of our people was fairly representative, and the Sunday services were largely attended by the citizens of Dover. One of the most gratifying features in connection with this meeting was the securing of a daily publication of excellent reports of the services in the leading newspapers of Dover and neighboring cities. The importance of this work in connection with our camp-meetings and other gatherings can not be overestimated.
Besides the regular union and local conference laborers, there were in attendance Elders A. G. Daniells, J. H. Schilling, F. C. Gilbert, S. B. Horton, and the writer. The addresses given by Elder Daniells, especially the one giving a report of the European Council and describing his trip through Russia, elicited unusual interest on the part of the campers. Elder Schilling’s visit, although brief, was greatly appreciated by the people. It will be remembered that, at the recent biennial council at Friedensau, it was voted that Elder Schilling should be released from the presidency of the West German Union Conference to take the supervision of the German work in the United States and Canada. The labors of Elder Gilbert were also a source of inspiration to our own people, and of interest to the citizens of Dover who were in attendance.
On the last Sunday afternoon of the meeting seventeen willing souls were buried with Christ in baptism. The delegates of the conference heartily responded to the various calls that were made from time to time to advance the work in their own territory and in the regions beyond. The business of the conference passed off harmoniously. Elder R. T. Baer was elected to serve another term as president of the conference. K. C. RUSSELL.
Work for the Colored People in Newbern, N. C.
By Page Shepard
Our gospel campaign began June 4, and continued till the close of September, with the exception of sixteen days in August. Our large khaki duck tent, the finest and largest ever used in the work for the colored people of the South, was crowded to its utmost capacity, and on Sunday nights hundreds stood on the outside, sometimes swelling our congregation beyond the thousand mark. The climax was reached when the Sabbath truth was proclaimed to one of the largest audiences that ever attended our services. The town was stirred; Bibles were read as never before; and the Sabbath question became the topic of conversation among the people. Two tracts against the Bible Sabbath were circulated. This furnished us an opportunity to expose the fallacies of their unscriptural and illogical positions, and thus bring the Sabbath prominently before the public the second time, thereby causing many to hear the truth who had not heard it before.
Sunday evenings have been and are made especially interesting to men and youth, enabling us to reach those who could not have been reached otherwise; these services lifted our work above the ordinary gospel efforts, and were largely instrumental in furnishing us the make-up of the large crowds which attended the night services. Our Chautauqua Bible class was held daily from 10 to 11 A. M., and at 3 P. M. Sabbaths. The use of our Sabbath-school Quarterly was introduced at the proper time, and our Sabbath-school class increased from nine to one hundred. Our hold upon the grown people was strengthened by starting a day-school for their children. Sisters Scott and Bessie Hodnett did faithful and effective work, and the parents were greatly pleased with the instruction given the children and with their ability to answer hard questions. The news of our meeting has been carried abroad, and neighboring towns are calling for light and help. The writer, answering one of these calls, returned17after a ten days' stay at Merritt, N. C., leaving nine rejoicing in the truth; two of these accepted the light in Newbern, and had written repeatedly for help. These nine, with the adult believers in Newbern, make seventy-five souls walking in the light and preparing for church-membership.
Collections were taken up three times a week, and in all amounted to nearly two hundred dollars. At the close of the effort quite a little sum will be turned over to the Negro Mission treasury, the rest being used to meet the expenses of the effort. Our hearts are cheered as we realize what great things God has wrought for us collectively and individually, and we praise him who is so worthy to receive glory, honor, and power, world without end.
PAGE SHEPARD.
Evening Prayer
By Harold W. Clark
HAROLD W. CLARK
Softly now the night falls o'er me;
Swift the hours of daylight fly;
Silently the coming evening
Draws her shades across the sky:
And I think of thee, my Father;
Grant thy presence now to me;
Let me feel thine arms of mercy,
Giving comfort full and free.
Lonely is the world without thee,
Worthless, dreary, comfortless;
And the way grows dark before me,
If thou art not here to bless.
I am helpless, vile, and sinful;
Thou my only help and stay;
Thou canst cleanse and purify me;
O, abide with me, I pray!
Gracious Father, in the heaven,
List to this my prayer to thee:
Guide me, bless and sanctify me,
By thy power guard thou me:
As the shadows thickly gather
In this weary night below,
Be thou near, thou great Jehovah;
Send thy Spirit to me now.
