p. 11 | Review and Herald, Vol. 81, No. 36. (9/8/1904)

ALFRED B. OLSEN, M. D

By Alfred B. Olsen

Neurasthenia

ALFRED B. OLSEN, M. D

NEURASTHENIA is a Greek word, the literal meaning of which is nerve debility. In other words, it is nerve exhaustion or nerve prostration. Nerve force becomes deficient. The nerves are in a hypersensitive condition. Small matters that would ordinarily not be noticed, irritate. Little things excite. One gets into a state aptly termed “fidgets.” Bad temper is easily manifested. The patient is cross, sulky, and ugly. There is fear and apprehension. In short, the nervous system is shattered, and nervous control is lost to a greater or less degree.

Shattered nerves is a functional disorder. There is no serious organic change. Nevertheless the disease is a serious one, for it may lead to grave and incurable disturbances of the nervous system. So it must receive immediate attention, and everything possible be done to promote recovery.

No Respector of Persons

Any person may suffer from shattered nerves. All classes are affected. The laboring man is not immune. Rich and poor furnish victims. Even children and youth are subject to attack. The business man, the society woman, the schoolteacher or the pupil, the clergyman, the doctor or lawyer, the butcher,—any of these may suffer from shattered nerves, and as a consequence lead a miserable existence. Further, one attack by no means protects from a future illness. On the other hand, one who has suffered is more likely to suffer again.

Some of the Causes

It would be difficult to classify the causes which lead to neurasthenia. They are both numerous and varied, and affect different persons in different ways. In a general way, the causes may be considered under two heads,—mental and physical. The laws of hygiene and healthful living must be neglected in order to have neurasthenia. There is carelessness in the care of the body. The demands upon the vital organs are in excess of their capacity, and after a time nature gives way, and nervous prostration is the result. These inordinate demands reduce the normal efficiency of the body, and diminish the recuperative power of the nervous system. The nerves go on a strike, and the functions of the organs become perverted.

Nerve Strain Before Nerve Breakdown

The nervous system is well organized and prepared to stand a big strain. It is capable of hard and difficult work, and under favorable conditions, a reasonable amount of work only serves to strengthen and vitalize. But it is the continual overstraining day after day for years, the constant drain of nervous energy, that finally leads to exhaustion. Nerve energy is utilized faster than it is developed. It is not only used up, but the conditions for further manufacture of this vital necessity are made more and more unfavorable. The amount of work, both physical and mental, that a man or woman is capable of doing is enormous, providing the body is in a fit condition, and moderation is practised. But too often there are serious departures from the principles of healthful living. Some of these have to do with—

Errors of Diet

There is the sin of overeating, which is well nigh universal among adults. We believe it was Abernethy who said that “one fourth of the food a man eats keeps him, and the other three fourths he keeps at his peril.” Whether this be actually true or not, it is well known that most people eat too much. The quantity of food put into the stomach is not the only factor for consideration. The amount actually digested and assimilated is of far greater importance.

Again: most people are inclined to eat too fast. Too often the food is hastily bolted without proper mastication and insalivation, and as a result it lies heavy in the stomach, and is likely to undergo fermentation before digestion is completed. Time is well spent in thoroughly chewing the food. This is the first step of digestion, and is under the direct control of the will.

Condiments, pickles, and highly seasoned foods are avoided by him who considers his health valuable. Pastries, sweets, greasy foods, and cheese are also undesirable.

The man who would follow the natural life abstains from flesh-meats. While nutritious and commonly used freely in civilized countries, flesh food is relatively a poor food, as it contains uric acid and other waste products of tissue metabolism.

The Drink Evil

Alcohol is undoubtedly one of the great causes in bringing on nervous disorders. Alcohol in any form is a tissue poison, and a nerve irritant. Alcohol has a specific and direct action on the nervous system, as witnessed in the loss of co-ordination shown in the unsteady gait of the drunkard. He becomes hilarious, and is no longer responsible for what he says or does. The nerves are excited to an unnatural state, and are beyond control. Intemperance is a prolific cause of nerve disorders of all kinds, and should be combated with a strong hand.

Neglect of Sleep

As a rule the neurasthenic is a poor sleeper, perhaps a victim to insomnia. For a long time he made himself do without sufficient sleep. Then, he could sleep, but would not; now, he would, but can not. The mental machine has been pushed to such extremes that its control is now lost, and it goes on working unbidden.

Sleep is the time for recuperation and repair. The expended energies of the day are thus renewed. The brain cells are in a state of quiet repose, and energy is laid aside for the use of the next day. Most grown-up people require seven or eight hours' sleep per day, and some still more. The exact amount depends on the build, constitution, and state of health of the patient.

Worry and Anxiety

Some one has said that work builds, and worry kills. All are acquainted with the depressing effect of worry. It is veritable mental suicide. But how common an evil it is. Some people almost boast of their worries. “I worry over this, that, and the other,” is constantly heard on every hand.

“Don’t worry,” is easier to command than obey. And yet, after all, why worry? What is the benefit gained? How much money has been saved or gained by worry? Has it done you the slightest good? Has worry saved doctor's bills or paid draper's bills? Has it built houses or sold farms? Has it ever contributed one ounce of good cheer or one grain of happiness?—No, of course not. Then why worry any more? Stop the abominable habit, and substitute good cheer and hope, and, if you please, hard work.

Sedentary Life

As a people we are getting to be less and less active as far as exercise and physical culture are concerned. With trains and trams and omnibuses and cabs there is little chance nowadays for walking. In the morning the busy man takes the tram to the station, boards the train, and is carried to his office or shop.

In the evening he rides home again. Wherever he goes, he takes the tube or the train or the ’bus.

In the morning he is too hurried to exercise, and at night he is too tired. Occasionally he gets away for a brief afternoon, but that is not sufficient. Such spasmodic efforts are of little real value.

Activity is the first law of life. Cessation of activity means death. The essential difference between living matter and dead matter is that of activity. In the tree activity is manifested by growth; in the animal world by both growth and movement.

If you would have steady and calm nerves, go in for physical culture and outdoor exercise.

The Grace of Cheerfulness

By Emma A. Lente

I SAID: I will be glad to-day! The rain-clouds drift along the hills, The grass is drowned in lakes and rills, The birds of song are chilled and mute, The dreariness seems absolute: And yet I will be glad to-day!

I will be glad, be glad to-day, Though many tiresome tasks are set My patient hands, I will forget The frets that trouble and depress, And think on things of pleasantness: And so I will be glad to-day.

I will be glad, to-day, to-day; For summer suns again will shine, The air will thrill like tonic wine, The birds will sing as ne'er before, And with these blisses yet in store, Why should I not be glad to-day?

—Emma A. Lente, in Chris. End. World.

How to Deal With Carelessness in Children

A “Mother’s Exchange”

This mothers’ exchange was not a “woman’s club,” nor was it a “literary circle.” It was simply a gathering of a few earnest mothers who met occasionally to discuss matters pertaining to bringing up their children, and to exchange thought. It had no officers and few rules. The one rule, in fact, was “that the membership should be limited to mothers only,” and the meetings “experience” ones. Each mother in turn entertained the circle, and held herself responsible for the subject to be discussed, introducing it by means of an informal paper or talk. On this particular afternoon the subject chosen was “Carelessness in children and how best to deal with it.”

“I must confess,” began the hostess, “that in the management of my children I have found the faults of ‘omission’ much more difficult to deal with than those of ‘commission.’ It is so hard to correct a child for what it ‘did not mean to do,’ or ‘has forgotten to do.’ Actual disobedience, or intentional wrongdoing, is far easier to correct; and just here I have found lies the danger line. We are so apt to overlook these little faults which imperceptibly grow into confirmed habits before we are aware of their existence. In my early married life I had my thoughts directed to this matter in a very forcible way. A friend of my husband had asked him to take into his office his eldest son, a boy of seventeen, which he was glad to do, for he seemed to be a capable boy, with a very pleasing address, and so obliging that he was a universal favorite. At the end of the first month he was dismissed, to the regret of his employer and to every one’s surprise. ‘I could not keep him,’ announced my husband, when I questioned him, ‘because he did not do one thing well nor thoroughly. He was hopelessly careless and untidy in his work. He could not write the simplest letter correctly, nor could I rely upon him in the smallest matter. I was obliged to let him go before he got me into trouble, and I was very sorry to do it, for I liked him immensely; he was so willing to work, if he had only been taught properly—but he will never make a success at anything.’”

“You may be sure this sorry failure set me thinking seriously, as I had a boy of my own who of late had been growing careless with regard to losing his books and caps and unnecessarily tearing his clothes. His father rather admired this ‘boyishness,’ as he called it, in Tom, and argued that he would be a ‘sissy’ if he had to think of these little things. ‘Accidents would happen,’ etc. One day he came home from a school picnic, having had a royal time and in his usually dilapidated condition. He had fallen into the brook and ruined a pair of new shoes, had rolled under a barb wire fence and torn his shirt-waist beyond mending. As for his coat, he had lost that altogether. I counted the cost of this picnic, and estimated it to be over five dollars. His father excused him, as usual, and wished nothing to be done about it. ‘Boys would be boys,’ he said, ‘and it was a pity to spoil his fun. Give him another chance, and don’t say anything about it this time.’ I reluctantly yielded to his wish, but tried to make him see that this recklessness was becoming a serious thing. ‘Will Tom,’ I asked him, ‘when he grows up and has charge of other people’s property, be any more careful of it than of his own, if he is never taught the value of things nor held responsible?’ I reminded him of his unfortunate young clerk whom he had dismissed, and he agreed with me that hereafter we must take a different course.”

“About a week later Tom came in one afternoon, his new school suit ruined with red clay. He explained penitently that he had quite forgotten to change it before going into the river wading, had forgotten to roll his trousers up, and found himself in deep water before he knew it. I examined the suit carefully, and then said, very decidedly: ‘Tom, these clothes will have to be sent to the cleaner’s. I can do nothing with them, and as it was most unnecessary for you to wear your new suit in wading, I shall expect you to pay one half the bill.’”

“The poor boy was so inexpressibly sorry for what he had done, and took his punishment so well, that I found it difficult not to relent. The sum of money so small to me, meant so much to him. But I held firmly to my purpose, and with good results. Only once after that did I require to resort to such severe measures, and this time the offense was a graver one, yet the boy had no intention of wrong-doing. I had sent him to a store to buy something, and he returned short in his change by a small amount. In his great haste he had jerked the money out of his pocket onto the floor, and some of the loose coins had rolled into a crack and been lost. This matter I treated most seriously, not only insisting upon its being made good by the boy himself, but explaining to him how carelessness in money matters might lead to a suspicion of dishonesty. He saw the reasonableness of this, and from that time we had little trouble with him. When he went to a boarding-school a few years later, his father gave him an allowance, and he regularly rendered an exact account of his expenses. . . .”

“At this time I had been trying to think of some pleasanter method of teaching carefulness to Tom’s younger brothers and sisters, who, in the ever-busy school life, with its rush, were growing extravagant and forgetful. It was so easy to lose pencils, tablets, or even car tickets; sometimes even books or umbrellas, and easier still to ask for more. But I felt the principle was wrong, and after much consultation we decided upon a plan which worked like a charm.”

“We provided, at the beginning of each school term, everything necessary, and in addition a small sum of money—fifty cents, if I remember—to cover losses or to be pocket-money if not needed. It was wonderful how this experiment succeeded, although, of course, the little foxes which had been eating the tender grapes so long before we set traps for them, were not to be captured in a day. Reforms came slowly, and a few losses were reported. One little girl lost a pair of rubbers, which cost her over a month’s pocket-money, and on another occasion a grammar was lost; but, on the whole, we were much pleased with our plan. I don’t pretend to say it was easy or agreeable for us to carry out, and I was often more severely punished than the children; nor did I like to be called overstrict, as I sometimes heard it whispered. Very often I found myself wanting to relax the discipline and let matters go on in the old way, but at such moments I had only to look ahead to the children’s future, when we would not be there with our help and advice to stand between them and a censorious world, and to remind myself that this was in reality kindness rather than severity.”—Northwestern Christian Advocate.

Time Flies

By Frank Ellis

Sixty seconds make a minute, So my father used to say, What you've got to do, begin it, Or 'twill not be done to-day; For so fast the seconds fly, You can't catch one — nor can I.

Sixty minutes make an hour, So my mother used to tell; While you've got the strength and power, Do your work, and do it well; Or at night you'll have to say, “I've done nothing all the day.”

Twelve fast hours make the daytime, So, my child, I say to you: Some is work-time, some is play-time. Do what you have got to do; For though fast you run down-hill, Time is running faster still.

— Frank Ellis, in Cassell's Little Folks.

G. F. JONES

By G. F. Jones

Raratonga

G. F. JONES

Much has been said in the past concerning this island and its people. The Raratongans love to read the Bible, but it has become merely a form with them. The life and power of the word of salvation is very little known among them. Like the Society Islanders, there is nothing more enjoyable to them than a maro, which is a debate on the meaning of certain texts. Any or all in the Bible congregation take part, and the meeting lasts all night. The spirit of the good Word does not come in, neither does obedience to it enter much into their thoughts.

The London Missionary Society has its churches and schools in every village, and has held the field from the time of John Williams until recently, when the Catholics established themselves here, and have two churches and schools. We have here about fifty Sabbath-keepers, four Sabbath-schools, one church-school, and, at present, a small boarding-school in our house.

The London Missionary Society dislikes very much to see us establishing our work here, and say that we ought to retire, leaving their society free to do its work. We would gladly leave the field to others if they would take up our work— the work that every Bible student ought to be doing—giving the last warning message to the world in this generation. But at this they scoff; we, therefore, continue our work with haste, and go to every kindred, nation, tongue, and people until “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” It is true, we are looked upon as interlopers, but what of that? “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity against God?” The storm is surely coming, for the barometer is falling; but we are homeward bound, and although we are stemming the undercurrents of “higher criticism” and other isms, we can make rapid headway only as we spread our sails and run before the gale. We shall soon be in port, thank the Lord. Many poor Christians are steering by a compass magnetized by higher criticism. They are making bad weather, and running with the current. They know not that they are going headlong into a maelstrom.

For the sake of the poor natives in these and other islands, who, less than eighty years ago, received the Bible as the infallible Word of God, we desire to go to each and all, and reassure them that it is still so. We need the help and prayers of our brethren as we go among those who are already in the hands of missionaries who carry the Bible, but no longer believe it to be an infallible guide. This must be Satan’s masterpiece of deception, for in this way he comes as “an angel of light.” These are the kind of missionaries who enlist the sympathies of the people by saying that we are causing strife. Are they not repeating the words of Ahab to Elijah, “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” And shall we not answer them in the words of Elijah? “I have not troubled Israel; but thou . . . in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.”

I am planning to go to the different islands at the first opportunity, with “Christ Our Saviour,” and tracts, following up the work later with preaching. I trust some of our native brethren will be ready and willing to carry the truth to their own people. They will necessarily need some help from our brethren elsewhere. The sparsely as well as the thickly populated lands must receive our attention. “Blessed is he that soweth beside all waters.” “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, . . . from the islands of the sea.” Let us “give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands.”

A Year's Experience With the Offering Envelopes

By MRS. M. I. REEDER

MRS. M. I. REEDER

Our church at College View, Neb., has to-day completed one year in the use of the little envelopes in taking up the ten-cent-a-week offering, and the total is $670.67, an average of $55.89 per month, or $12.90 per week. Our plan for using the envelopes is a very simple one, and thus far has proved very effective.

We have small pockets, made of tin, painted to correspond with the seats. These are large enough to hold twelve or more of the envelopes, and are securely fastened to the backs of all our seats, near enough together so that all may be conveniently accommodated with the envelopes. Our janitor is faithful, and each Sabbath the deacons pass the baskets before the regular service begins, taking up the offering, the organist playing softly meanwhile.

Each fourth Sabbath our donation for the home mission work is taken, and each second Sabbath our collection for the poor. These donations are simply dropped loosely into the baskets, it being understood by all that the money in the envelopes is sacred to the foreign mission work.

During the winter it was necessary to do some repairing about the church that called for more than the usual amount of money for church expenses, and it was thought that perhaps it would be well to discontinue the use of the envelopes until this amount was raised, but our people were too thoroughly converted to their use, and so pleased with the steady stream flowing through them to the regions beyond, that many of them found their way into the baskets marked “Foreign Missions.” We accepted the reproof, and for the present two collections will be taken each Sabbath, that dropped loosely into the baskets to be taken for church expenses, except the two Sabbaths already mentioned.

We did not reach our present system in a day; every inch of the way was thoroughly canvassed; and when at last adopted, the officers at least were united to a man, and prepared to give it a fair trial. But ere it all came about, several thousand of the little envelopes had accumulated on our hands, and our members had begun to inquire, “What are those little envelopes that the Mission

Board speaks about in the REVIEW? Why don't they send us some of them? I have never seen any of them.”

I have been much surprised to learn in the past few weeks that there are leading brethren in our larger churches who have advanced no further in this respect than these members were a year ago, inasmuch as they have not only not introduced the envelopes into their churches, but they themselves have never seen them.

One good brother who had wrestled with us over the envelope problem, but who was called to labor in another conference before it was solved, visited us not long ago, and was quite enthusiastic over our solution of it. He carried away a sample of our envelope pocket. I think a visit to our church would convince the most conservative of the utility of the envelopes.

And now lest some think that all our contributions go through the envelope channel, I would like to tell you that during this same year our Sabbath-schools have given to foreign missions $130.52, and nearly a score of different fields have been remembered by us, amounting in the aggregate to $773.24.

We rejoice in this evidence that the Lord is moving upon the hearts of his people, and that they are being made willing to sacrifice for the truth's sake.

The Message in Hungary

By J. F. Huenergardt

J. F. HUENERGARDT

THE work which was begun here several years ago, first among the German-speaking people of Transylvania, has now gained a foothold among the Hungarians, Romanians, and recently among the Slovenians. We are glad to report to our brethren that the good work has also been established in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, a city of nearly eight hundred thousand inhabitants. We now have a company of twenty-five members, mostly as a result of the work since the month of February.

In Bekes-Csaba, a city of about forty thousand inhabitants, we organized our first Slovenian company of ten members in May. These people first heard of the Sabbath several years ago, and have since kept it, but had not fully accepted the system of tithing; but, after a thorough consideration of the subject, they were happily united with the remnant people of God, and now enjoy the light of the full truth for this last generation.

Through these people another company was also convinced of the Sabbath truth. This company lives on the southern border of Hungary, near the city of Belgrade, the capital of Servia. After these heard that the people at Bekes-Csaba had united with us, they at once invited me to visit them. This I did last week. During my stay it was my privilege to study the truth with them. As a result most of them were fully convinced, and declared that they wished to unite with us at the time of my next visit among them. This was considered the wisest step under the circumstances. These people also speak the Servian language, and we have hope that through them the truth will soon find its way into Servia also, which is one of the few countries of Europe into which the truth has not yet entered.

In company with Brother H. F. Schifferth, from June nine to twenty-eight, it was my privilege to visit in all parts of our great field. The trip was a very profitable one. Forty-one souls were baptized and taken into the church during the quarter which closed in June. This gives us a membership of over two hundred. The work is onward, and we are of the best courage, and expect yet greater blessings in the near future.

Budapest, Hungary.

Mission Notes

“Missions first, missions last. Why not? Millions! Think of it. Millions destitute, and dying! What other work is half so important?”

“An exchange says that the apostle James addressed his epistle to ‘the Christians scattered abroad.’ If he were writing it now, he might address it to the Christians huddled at home.”

In China there are 1,746 walled cities. In only about 247 of these are missionaries at work, leaving 1,500 unoccupied, and in only 88 villages and unwalled towns have mission stations been established.

“It was a wonderful thing when Stanley in nine hundred and ninety-nine days crossed the continent of Africa; it’s a more wonderful thing that a quarter of a century sees a chain of missions across that same road, the last to be established immediately.”

The annual expenditures in the United States for various objects run on the following scale: Foreign missions, $5,000,000; home missions, $12,000,000; church expenses, $125,000,000; dress, $250,000,000; jewelry, $450,000,000; tobacco, $600,000,000; liquor, $1,200,000,000.—Exchange.

Pilkington, of Uganda, in Africa, not long before his death, wrote: “O, let us be real! Emotion is no substitute for action. You love Africa, do you? God so loved that he gave. God gave what? Superfluities? Leavings? That which cost him nothing?”—Selected.

There are now laboring in Japan thirty-five missionary societies, twenty-one of which are American. Connected with these societies are 692 missionaries, male and female, with 143 stations and 864 out-stations. With the 423 organized churches there are connected 40,921 members, of whom 3,070 were received on confession in the year 1898. There are 308 ordained Japanese ministers, besides 725 preachers who are not ordained.—Exchange.

A native preacher in China who was noted for his many thorough converts, on being questioned, answered that an American merchant who supported him had a list of not only his converts, but of those under conviction, for whom he prayed, locking himself in his office an hour daily for this purpose.—Selected.

The British and Foreign Bible Society issues the Word of God in forty-two Indian languages, either in whole or in part, and there are still one hundred and eight languages untouched. But it is reported that the forty-two languages into which the Bible has been translated are in use by 220,000,000 out of the total population of 294,000,000.

A British subject was once asked if Queen Victoria should issue some proclamation to every man, woman, and child on the earth, how long he thought it would take to carry it out. He thought a moment, and calmly replied: “Sir, I think we could do it in about eighteen months.” Nineteen hundred years have come and gone since our King gave us his commission, and time goes swiftly rolling on toward eternity, whirling its teeming millions on toward eternal darkness because we haven’t told them. The good news was for them, too, but they don’t know it, and the responsibility is mine and yours.—Selected.

A Hindu, who lived a long distance from any missionary, and who had never been inside a Christian church, was led to believe in Christ by reading the Gospels. Finding a command to eat and drink in memory of our Lord’s death, and knowing nothing of church order and ritual, he was accustomed to take a little rice, saying, “This I do in remembrance of Christ,” then, drinking a little water, he would say, “I drink this because Christ died for me.” Thus in his solitude this disciple was taught of the Spirit, and his inner life was nourished without the help that comes from the communion of saints.—Selected.

An Order of Plain Living

WHEN the war chest of Frederick the Great was exhausted, he appealed to the women to lay their jewels on the altar of patriotism, promising to return jewels of iron for jewels of gold, bearing the inscription, “I gave gold for iron for the sake of the fatherland.” Out of this response to an appeal to German patriotism, there arose the Order of the Iron Cross. What we need in these last days is a new order of living, that will mean a life of economy, a life of plainer living, plainer dressing, plainer eating, less expensive recreation, a giving up of much that we want, that we may give the gift of eternal life to those who are dead in trespasses and sins.—Selected.

Bay Islands

By Mrs. A. J. Hetherington

RUATAN.—The week beginning Friday evening, April 29, was set apart for the study of the week-of-prayer readings, and for prayer and consideration of work in foreign fields. Elder Goodrich visited us early in April, and encouraged our little company here, and assisted us in laying plans for the medical missionary work. As urgent matters called him to Utilla, we were not privileged to have him with us during the week of prayer. But the brethren and sisters met together, and earnestly and prayerfully studied the readings. Two meetings were held each day—one at ten in the morning, the other at four in the afternoon. Some of the hours were taken for special Bible studies. At the end of the week a collection for foreign missions was taken, which amounted to eighteen sols, or about $7.20. This was doing very well, considering the fact that the company numbers less than ten, and it was at a time of the year when money is very scarce. The brethren and sisters are of good courage. They meet each Sabbath in the mission chapel, for the study of the lesson, and quite often have Bible study at the close.

During the latter part of June, Brother Greene spent some days at the west end and north side of the island, in the interests of gospel work. As far as we are able to learn, this is the first time that any of our brethren have spoken in public on the north side. When it was announced that Brother Greene would speak to the people, he found a company of about fifty gathered at the appointed time to hear him. They listened very attentively, and seemed deeply interested. At the close of the meeting a number of persons requested him to come again the next morning and speak to them. The next day was Sunday, and a regular appointment had already been made for a Sunday morning service. Brother Greene made his appointment earlier, and spoke to quite a company of people. The subject was of such interest that the people requested to hear further. So he remained to the regular Sunday service, at the close of which the minister announced that Mr. Greene would address the audience. Accordingly, the service was continued. The entire company, including the minister, remained and heard him as he presented the present truth. A number expressed their interest in what had been spoken, and inquired if they could not be taught further. Brother Greene is hoping that Elder Goodrich will soon be able to meet with these people and carry on the interest.

The Lord has greatly blessed our efforts in the medical missionary work here. At first there seemed to be some obstacles in the way, and of course more or less prejudice. But we began our work, caring for the patients began coming from neighboring islands, and from the mainland. Several who appreciate the value of our methods of treatment have asked if we would not open up definite sanitarium work here in the islands. One interested friend has offered us a nicely situated lot if we would use it for that purpose. A brother has offered to give a nice tract of land, well elevated, overlooking the sea, if we would establish the work on it.

One of the most prominent and influential business men of the Bay Islands has offered to give us a choice of a site in a good tract of land, if we would erect buildings suitable for our work. These offers show the interest that is being taken in our work. But as yet we have not been able to accept any of these offers, since the work has not progressed sufficiently financially to permit of such steps being taken. Our work is carried on in rented buildings. We have had to labor under many disadvantages and inconveniences, yet the work has been self-supporting from the beginning.

We have had a number of very interesting cases, several of which have been very critical. And, to the praise of God, we are glad that, through his help, we have been enabled to save several lives for which there seemed little or no hope.

MRS. A. J. HETHERINGTON.

Mexico

By Geo. M. Brown

We are now occupying the new building which we have erected for a printing-office and depository. The accompanying picture will give an idea of its appearance from the outside. It faces the east, and stands in the center of a lot fifty-five by one hundred and thirty-seven feet. It is built of brick, is eighteen feet long and thirty-six feet wide, and is divided into two rooms.

The lot, building, and machinery are the property of the La Verdad Publishing Company, a corporation formed under Mexican law to hold the property of the Mexican Mission. About sixteen hundred dollars from the United States is invested in this property and machinery. The Mission Board furnished three hundred dollars to the enterprise, and the rest was provided by the brethren in Mexico, and a few friends in the United States and Spanish Honduras.

We feel very grateful to God for his overruling providence which has provided us with the means to erect this memorial at the capital of the Mexican republic. We also desire to express our appreciation of the substantial help received from the Mission Board and the dear brethren and sisters who have contributed their money and prayers that the work might be completed without debt.

A general meeting will be held at Mexico City, September 14-19. This will be the first general meeting held in Mexico, and at this time the building will be dedicated, the needs of the work in this field will be carefully considered, and plans laid for its future advancement.

Our little company are rejoicing in the increasing attendance of Mexican people at our Sabbath meetings. These have been brought in largely through Brother Kelley's faithful Bible work.

Brethren Hayman and Bodwell are actively engaged in the work for our literature, and are meeting with quite good success. We have made arrangements with Elder J. E. White whereby we hope soon to have a Spanish edition of “The Coming King,” thus providing a more complete presentation of the advent message than is now available in the Spanish.

We are hoping that the Lord will impress some consecrated persons who have a knowledge of Spanish to volunteer for the colporteur and canvassing work in Mexico, so that the message may be carried speedily to all parts of the republic. I shall be glad to correspond with any one who is interested in this work. My address is 1426 20th Ave., Tacubaya, D. F., Mexico.

Geo. M. Brown.

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