—Dakota and Montana are anxious to be admitted into the Union as States.
—Han Qua, a Chinese banker of Canton, is said to be worth $1,400,000,000.
—The steamer W. D. Chipley sunk in the Chattahoochie River, January 2; six lives were lost.
—It is stated that 60,000,000 people speak the German language; 45,000,000 the French; and 100,000,000 the English.
—The committee which has been trying to find out how so many millions are spent every year in running the city government of New York, found that in one department it has cost the city $7,000 a year to keep the records of two weekly meetings of the commissioners. In other places the same waste of money has been discovered.
—January 3 was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the accession of Emperor William to the throne of Prussia.
—A company in Manchester, England, have a contract for building a railway from the Upper to the Lower Congo.
—January 9, a severe storm was raging along the coast of Great Britain. Many wrecks are reported, with serious loss of life.
—The Greek Government has sent a note to the Powers, vigorously protesting against the union of Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia.
—A telegram from Mandalay, Burmah, dated January 6, states that 10,000 rebels are scouring the country within a radius of twenty miles of the capital.
—Floods in Vermont, New York, and Pennsylvania have done much damage to property. Near Harrisburg a train was wrecked by the giving way of a bridge, and two men were drowned.
—David Stuart, a prominent Mormon bishop, thinks he can be a polygamist and a good, law-abiding citizen too. Judge Powers thinks differently, and has sentenced him to six months' imprisonment and to pay a fine of $300.
—About one o'clock in the morning, January 9, a fire broke out in Ladies' Hall, a brick building connected with Oberlin College, in which 250 students were sleeping. No lives were lost; but the hall was completely destroyed. The loss is estimated at $50,000.
—Postmaster-General Vilas is making himself very unpopular in the West by his sweeping reductions in the mail service to the small towns. Many frontier towns that have been receiving a daily mail have been reduced to a tri-weekly or semi-weekly mail. The most prominent men in the West are protesting against the change.
—The striking miners in the Monongahela Valley, Pa., have resumed work. An operator estimates their loss in wages at fully $1,500,000. The operators also have lost, but how much they will not say. The strike lasted four months, and was the most stubbornly contested struggle ever known on the river. Fully six thousand men were engaged in it.
—Advices from Cairo, Egypt, state that the Arabs lost six thousand men in their recent battle with the British. It is reported that some Mahdist fanatics have since penetrated the British lines at Saukin, and attacked the soldiers in the town. Furious fighting followed, in which a number of English soldiers were killed or wounded.
—The authorities of Chattanooga, Tenn., are enforcing the Sunday law against the saloon-keepers. The whisky men say that they have been discriminated against, and they will test the law to its full scope. So they have sworn out nearly one hundred warrants against those engaged in all the trades and professions that do business on Sunday.
—The bishop of the Galway diocese, Ireland, says that in Galway all labor has practically ceased. Between 400 and 500 laborers are absolutely destitute, and are only kept alive by charity, or by the pawning of a few personal effects. A meeting of 5,000 unemployed workingmen was held January 8, at which speeches of a socialistic character were made.
—German financiers are taking an interest in the development of railroads in China. It has been publicly announced that the Deutsch Bank, the Discount Company of Berlin, and the Krupp Iron Works Company will immediately send delegates to China with a view to negotiating with that Government in the matter of establishing a system of railroads in the empire.
—A terrific storm, wider in extent and more fierce of character than has been known before for years, raged throughout the Eastern States, January 6-9. The cold was intense; throughout Dakota the thermometer ranged from 20 to 40 degrees below zero. Trains were blocked, and telegraphic communication was interrupted. Many wrecks on the Atlantic coast are reported, with considerable loss of life.
—There is a project on foot for the construction of a ship canal from Liverpool to Manchester. The plan is to make Manchester a port of entry for every cotton ship having freight for that city, as the cost of transporting cotton from Liverpool to Manchester is about as great as the cost of freight from American ports to Liverpool. The distance is thirty-five miles, and the estimated cost of the canal is $50,31000,000.
—Sixteen convicts who were employed in the mines at Coal Hill, Ark., effected their escape, January 6. Two of them were captured.
—The British Empire, with an area of 8,557,658 square miles—more than a sixth of all the land on the globe—and embracing under its rule a sixth part of the inhabitants of the world, is the largest and most populous empire in the world. Russia ranks second in territorial extent, embracing 8,352,930 square miles. The United States is third, containing 3,580,242 square miles, including Alaska.
Cleaning and Polishing Compounds.
By Marie Glover Holman
ONE of the great problems of a housekeeper's life is how to keep her house and its belongings clean. There must be a continual warfare against dirt, dust, and tarnish, and any weapon which promises to be effective in this warfare is welcomed with delight. This is well known to the numerous manufacturers and vendors of silver polishes, "magic cleaning fluids," etc., etc., new kinds—or, at least, new names for old kinds—of which are appearing every day. They are put up in attractive forms, in fancy boxes and bottles, and twenty-five cents seems little enough to pay for all the wonders they are said to accomplish.
The silver polishes, for example, are almost infinite in number, and the housekeeper is tempted to try each new one as it comes out, to see if it will not prove more efficacious than the last. If we go to the root of this matter, and consider the number of known substances which will effect the desired end, namely, that of cleaning and polishing silver or silver plate, we shall find that they are very few. The solids used for this purpose are whiting—which is calcium carbonate, more or less pure—diatomaceous earth, finely pulverized sand, and rouge, which is fine red oxide of iron; the liquids, alcohol and ammonia, whose office is to remove grease. In thirty-eight different "kinds" of silver powders and liquid preparations for cleaning silver, examined in the "Woman's Laboratory," at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, no other substance was found. Some were mixtures of two or three of these ingredients, some were simply fine whiting, or perhaps fine precipitated calcium carbonate, or diatomaceous earth. The liquid preparations consisted of alcohol or ammonia, with calcium carbonate, the bottle requiring to be shaken before using. The only preparation which has been found differing from these mentioned is one labeled, "A complete electro-plating battery in a bottle." This contains a solution of silver cyanide, and deposits a thin film of silver on the article to which it is applied. It is not a desirable preparation to have in the house, as it is extremely poisonous, and does not bear on its label sufficient warning in regard to its use.
It is useless to try these new and wonderful compounds, one after another, using money in this way without any compensating gain; it is better to decide upon what to use, what will best effect the purpose, and procure that, knowing its composition and its properties. No safe solvent for the compounds of silver which produce tarnish has been found—that is, no solvent which will not affect the silver itself. The action of whiting, rouge, sand, and diatomaceous earth, is simply to rub off the tarnish, although some silver is inevitably removed in the process. It is of great importance that these substances should be so fine as not to scratch the silver; and unless we have the time and patience to float off the fine particles from the coarse whiting to be obtained at the grocer's, as our grandmothers did, it is better to buy the fine precipitated chalk (calcium carbonate), and pay the price asked for it.
Diatomaceous earth, known commonly as "electro-silicon," is a most excellent substance for removing tarnish from silver. It consists of microscopic siliceous skeletons of diatomes (minute sea animals), which are found in some localities in immense deposits in the earth. Its composition is the same as that of sand; but, being so very fine, it will not scratch, as any but the most finely powdered sand must do.
Ammonia and alcohol are useful, and if a few drops of ammonia water be added to the water in which silver is washed, and the articles rubbed briskly afterward with a piece of chamois skin, it will be found often that a rubbing with powder is unnecessary.—Marie Glover Holman, in Christian Union.
News and Notes.
By Editor
RELIGIOUS.
—There are twenty-six missionary vessels operating in connection with the various mission stations of the world.
—Workers in shops and industrial establishments in Russia are instigating a movement in favor of Sunday rest.
—The Baltimore Catholic Mirror estimates the colored Catholic population of the United States at 100,000.
—The recently completed Cathedral of Moscow, designed to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon I, cost $10,000,000, and was fifty years in building.
—A missionary in Western India, aided by the American Tract Society, has prepared and published a beautifully illustrated Bible Dictionary in the native language.
—It is not quite twenty-five years since a Protestant sermon was preached in Mexico for the first time. Now, there are ninety-eight ordained ministers, representing five different denominations, at work in that country.
—In defiance of the law, five young girls were recently initiated as nuns in the Hospital San Giovanni, in Rome. One of them, a girl of fifteen, of uncommon beauty, fainted during the ceremony. The populace suspected compulsion, and a riot was with difficulty averted.
—The ladies of the Methodist Woman's Missionary Society in India have started a newspaper designed especially for the zenana ladies. It is issued fortnightly from their press in Lucknow in the Urdi and Hindi languages, and it is proposed to start a similar paper in Calcutta in the Bengali language.
—The triumph of the British forces in Burmah opens Upper Burmah, with its 4,000,000 people, to the free entrance of the gospel, as well as to Western trade. And missionaries, with the Bible which they have translated, a Christian literature, and earnest native helpers, are ready to begin their labors without delay.
—Thirty-nine French priests, who recently presumed to dictate to the people under their spiritual charge how they should vote, were deprived of their Government stipends for interference in political matters. The Bishop of Pamiers remonstrated with M. Goblet, the Minister of Public Instruction and Ecclesiastical Affairs, but to no purpose. The Minister stated that while he would uphold the church, he would "exact from the clergy the same obedience that was exacted from other State-paid officials." His course was approved in the Chamber of Deputies by a vote of 331 to 167. Thereupon it was resolved that M. Goblet's speech and the result of the vote should be printed and placarded throughout the country.
—There are three Protestant colleges in the Turkish Empire,—Robert College in Constantinople, the Syrian Protestant College near Beyrout, and another college at Aintab. Each of these is in successful operation. There is also a theological seminary at Marsovan, which, since 1867, has sent out eighty graduates into the mission field. Last spring the Protestant community of Marsovan petitioned the American Board to elevate this school to the "position and work of a college," and accompanied their petition with a pledge of over $3,000 toward the expense. The missionaries are greatly encouraged by the "readiness manifested by the people to put their sons under strong Protestant influence for the sake of an education."
Close Connection.
By George Frederick Pentecost
THE engineers who directed the work of the Hoosac tunnel started two gangs of men from opposite sides of the mount. So accurate was their survey, that when they met midway in the mount, the walls of the excavations, approaching from the different starting-points, joined within less than an inch. The practical working of the bore proved the scientific accuracy of the survey. Man, starting from the side of his human need, reaching upward toward God, is met by the revelation in Christ coming down from God, a revelation that exactly fits his need. This perfect match between the human need and the heavenly supply is the perfect proof of the divine origin of the Bible.—G. F. Pentecost.
Appointments.
By Editor
OAKLAND.—House of worship, northeast corner of Clay and Thirteenth Streets. Sabbath-school every Sabbath at 9:30 A. M. Preaching at 11 A. M. Prayer and missionary meeting every Tuesday evening at 7:30. Seats free.
SAN FRANCISCO.—House of worship, 914 Laguna Street, between McAllister and Tyler. Sabbath-school every Sabbath at 9:45 A. M. Classes in the English, German, and Scandinavian languages. Prayer and missionary meeting every Wednesday evening at 7:45. Mission Reading-rooms at the church.
EAST PORTLAND (Or.)—House of worship on G Street between Tenth and Eleventh. Sabbath-school every Sabbath (Saturday), followed by services. Preaching or Bible-reading Sunday evening. Prayer-meeting Wednesday evening. The public is cordially invited. Free public reading-room, corner of L and Fifth Streets.
Good Reading for 1886.
By Editor
THE PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal., will send the American Sentinel, an 8-page monthly paper, one year, and either of the following books, in cloth binding, post-paid, for $1.25 (to foreign countries, 5s.) viz.: "The Atonement: in the Light of Nature and Revelation," by Elder J. H. Waggoner, 368 pp.; "The Marvel of Nations: Our Country, its Past, Present, and Future," by Elder Uriah Smith, 292 pp., over forty illustrations; "The Life and Words of Christ," by Cunningham Geikie, D. D., over 800 pp.
The Temperance Advocate, a 24-page health and temperance bi-monthly, one year, and either of the above-mentioned valuable books, post-paid, for $1.25 (5s.).
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES one year, and your choice of any one of these books, post-paid, for $2.50 (to foreign countries, 12s.), or the SIGNS one year and the illustrated "Great Controversy," post-paid, for $3.00; foreign, 14s.
RECEIPTS.
CALIFORNIA CONFERENCE FUND.—Ferndale church $2.65, Santa Rosa $80.30, San Francisco $201.65, Pleasant Grove $38.15, Lakeport $4.60, Grass Valley $49, San Jose $27.40.
CALIFORNIA T AND M SOCIETY.—Dist No 2 Placerville per Mrs M Mayer $22.15, Freshwater per Eld J D Rice $1.15, Dist No 3 per Marion Kleabir $70.95, Dist No 2 Pleasant Grove per E Banta $9.65, Dist No 4 per A S Hickox $80.50, City Misson per A S Hickox $22.65, W N Whisby $5.05, Dist No 7 St Clair per Laura Harmon $25.50.
CALIFORNIA CITY MISSIONS.—I Rhodes 50 cents, Mary Banta $2, St Clair S S $5.50.
CASH RECEIVED ON ACCOUNT.—Florida T and M Society $1.38, Tenn T and M Society $10.
ORDERS FORWARDED.
By John Harvey Waggoner
BOOKS SENT BY FREIGHT.—Review and Herald, Mrs E T Palmer, L C Chadwick.
BOOKS SENT BY EXPRESS.—G H Heald, Eld N C Mc Clure, C H Peach.
THOUGHTS ON BAPTISM.
BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.
AN EXAMINATION OF THE ACTION, SUBJECTS, AND RELATIONS OF THE ORDINANCE OF BAPTISM.
Also, a Brief Refutation of the
HISTORICAL CLAIMS FOR TRINE IMMERSION.
SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED.
Prices, post-paid,—In flexible cloth, 35 cents; paper covers, 25 cents.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
Or, REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, Mich.
OUR COUNTRY,
By Uriah Smith
THE MARVEL OF NATIONS.
ITS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE, AND
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS OF IT.
BY URIAH SMITH,
Author of "Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation," "The Sanctuary and Its Cleansing," "Smith's Diagram of Parliamentary Rules," "Man's Nature and Destiny," etc.
The past of our country is read in history; its present is before the eyes of every wide-awake observer; its future—what is that to be? We may judge something of the future by the past and the evident tendencies of the present; but who would not like to read it in a more certain light? A book is now offered, carefully and candidly discussing this most fascinating theme. Present issues are accounted for, and future results clearly shown.
IS THE BIBLE AN OBSOLETE BOOK?
Or do its predictions reach to our own times? Other great nations of the world are subjects of prophecy; why not our own? As surely as history is history, and logic is logic, the Scriptures predicted nearly eighteen hundred years ago the rise of this Government, showing that it would—
1. Arise in the Western Hemisphere; 2. Arise in the present century; 3. Occupy territory previously unknown; 4. Come up peacefully; 5. Reach great power; 6. Proclaim civil and religious liberty; 7. Be a republic; 8. Be a Protestant nation; 9. Be the birth-place of Modern Spiritualism; and 10. Present the most marvelous exhibition of national development the world has ever seen.
So explicit is prophecy in regard to this nation; and the reader will find every point sustained by indubitable Scripture evidence and historical testimony.
THE SUNDAY QUESTION,
Fast coming to be a leading political issue, is discussed from the standpoint of its relation to the Government.
"THE MARVEL OF NATIONS"
Is a volume of nearly 300 pages, and contains numerous illustrations. The type is large and clear, the printing and paper excellent.
Bound only in cloth, and sent, post-paid, for . . . $1.00.
We will send The American Sentinel, an eight-page monthly paper, one year, and the above book, post-paid, for $1.25.
PACIFIC HEALTH JOURNAL
By Editor
AND TEMPERANCE ADVOCATE.
A 24-page bi-monthly devoted to the dissemination of true temperance principles and instruction in the art of preserving health. It is emphatically a journal for the people, containing what everybody wants to know, and is thoroughly practical. Its range of subjects is unlimited, embracing everything that in any way affects the health. Its articles being short and pointed, it is specially adapted to farmers, mechanics, and housekeepers, who have but little leisure for reading. It is just the journal that every family needs, and may be read with profit by every member. Price, 50 cents per year.
Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.
THE MINISTRATION OF ANGELS.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
By Eld. D. M. Canright.
Also giving an exposition of the origin, history, and destiny of Satan. 144 pp. Price, 20 cents.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
THE AMERICAN SENTINEL.
By Editor
AN EIGHT-PAGE MONTHLY JOURNAL,
DEVOTED TO
The defense of American Institutions, the preservation of the United States Constitution as it is, so far as regards religion or religious tests, and the maintenance of human rights, both civil and religious.
It will ever be uncompromisingly opposed to anything tending toward a union of Church and State, either in name or in fact.
TERMS.
SINGLE COPY, per year . . . . . . 50 cents.
To foreign countries, single subscriptions, postpaid . . . . . . 2s.
Address, AMERICAN SENTINEL, 1059 Castro Street, Oakland, Cal.
Publishers' Department.
By Editor
AGENTS AND BOOK DEPOSITORIES.
Australia—International Tract Society, "Burnam House," corner Rae and Scotchmer Sts., North Fitzroy, Victoria.
California Tract Society—1067 Castro St., Oakland, Cal.
Canada Tract Society—South Stukely, P. Q.
Colorado Tract Society—831 California St., Denver, Colo.
Dakota Tract Society—Vilas, Miner Co., Dak.
England—The Present Truth, 72 Heneage St., Grimsby, Eng.
Florida Tract Society—Moultrie, St. John's Co., Fla.
Hawaiian Islands—L. A. Scott, Honolulu, H. I.
Idaho—Carrie E. Mills, Walla Walla, W. T.
Illinois Tract Society—No. 95 Thirty-fifth St., Chicago, Ill.
Indiana Tract Society—No. 32 Cherry St, Indianapolis, Ind.
Iowa Tract Society—1315 E. Sycamore St., Des Moines, Iowa.
Kansas Tract Society—Ottawa, Franklin Co., Kan.
Kentucky Tract Society—Nolin, Hardin Co., Ky.
Louisiana—International Tract Society, 732 Magazine Street, New Orleans, La.
Maine Tract Society—113 Pearl St., Portland, Me.
Michigan Tract Society—Battle Creek, Mich.
Minnesota Tract Society—2820 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, Minn.
Missouri Tract Society—321 Lamine St., Sedalia, Mo.
Nebraska Tract Society—Fremont, Dodge Co., Neb.
New England—N. E. Tract Society, South Lancaster, Mass.
New York Tract Society—Rome, N. Y.
New Zealand—Edward Hare, Upper Queen Street (Turner Street), Auckland, N. Z.
North Pacific—N. P. Tract Society, East Portland, Oregon.
Norway—Tidernes Tegn, Christiania, Norway.
Ohio Tract Society—near Citizens' Savings Bank, Columbus, Ohio.
Pennsylvania Tract Society—No. 5 Madison St., Wellsville, N. Y.
South America—Joseph R. Brathwaite, Stanleytown, Berbice Co., British Guiana, S. A.
Switzerland—Elder W. C. White, 48 Weiherweg, Bale, Suisse.
Tennessee Tract Society—Springville, Henry Co., Tenn.
Texas Tract Society—Denton, Tex.
Upper Columbia—U. C. Tract Society, Walla Walla, W. T.
Vancouver Island—Bernard Robu, Victoria, B. C.
Vermont—Lizzie A. Stone, South Lancaster, Mass.
Virginia Tract Society—Quick-sburgh, Shenandoah Co., Va.
Wisconsin Tract Society—901 E. Gorham St., Madison, Wis.
Wyoming—J. T. Trees, Tie Siding, Albany Co., Wyo.
All of the above Agencies are authorized to receive subscriptions to the Signs of the Times, American Sentinel, and Pacific Health Journal & Temperance Advocate. Catalogues of our books, pamphlets, and tracts, in English and the various foreign languages, can be obtained from them.
ACTIVE AGENTS WANTED
By Editor
FOR THE
PACIFIC COAST STATES AND TERRITORIES
FOR
FAST-SELLING SUBSCRIPTION BOOKS.
"Breakfast, Dinner and Supper," "Parson's Hand Book of Forms," "Home Hand Book of Hygiene," "Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation," "The Great Controversy between Christ and Satan," the new steel engraving, "Christ the Way of Life," and many other STANDARD and POPULAR WORKS, which sell rapidly and give universal satisfaction.
Liberal discounts to agents. Write for terms and territory.
Address, PACIFIC PRESS,
Subscription Book Department, Oakland, Cal.
Do Not Reject Religion
MANY persons say in substance, "I am prevented from being a Christian by seeing so many glaring faults in church members." That is to say, "I will not do right because others do wrong." Is that a good reason? If there be counterfeits in religion, as there are, that proves there is also something real, else there could be no counterfeits. If there were no good dollars, there could be no counterfeits. There is no such thing as counterfeiting what does not exist, and a man would be a great simpleton to refuse a sound dollar because somebody else had one that was counterfeit. So of religion. Never neglect the good because there is bad somewhere else.—Sel.
The Motive of Good Works
By Taber
HOLINESS depends less on what we do than on how we do it. The important thing in good works is the amount of love which we put in them. The soul of an action is its motive. The power of an action is neither in its size nor in its duration, but in its intention. An intention is pure in proportion as it is loving. What we want is not many actions, but a great momentum in few actions.—Taber.
Defending One’s Character
By Mason
As they who for every slight infirmity take physic to repair their health, do rather impair it; so they who for every trifle are eager to vindicate their character, do rather weaken it.—Mason.
Parents Taught by Children’s Misconduct
PARENTS who are ignorant of their duty will be taught by the misconduct of their children what they ought to have done.
Concealing One’s Superiority
The way to please is not to display your superiority; it is to conceal it from being perceived.
The Weather East and West.
By Editor
IN our recent trip from the East we were favored with beautiful weather and a clear track; no snow to speak of in the entire route. We verily thought that, after so hard a winter as they had in 1884-5, the present winter would be mild. But it is greatly disappointing us. A severe storm over the "Nebraska plains," soon after we passed, nearly stopped travel. When the roads were clear, and travel resumed, a "blizzard" still more severe set in, which is reported as covering a large extent of country. A dispatch dated Denver, January 8, says:—
"The blizzard in Eastern Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska, which subsided on Wednesday, and allowed the snow blockade to be raised, was renewed last Wednesday night with great vigor, demolishing telegraph wires for miles, refilling cuts on the Santa Fe, Burlington, and Union, and Kansas Pacific roads with snow and sand to such an extent that all travel was compelled to suspend. Not a single train left Omaha or Kansas City or Denver yesterday. No trains have arrived from the East or departed from here since Wednesday night, when the temperature in Colorado fell 14 degrees between midnight and 5 o'clock."
A Chicago dispatch of the same date says:—
"The blizzard raging at present throughout Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota, and Minnesota, is declared to be of wider extent and more fierce of character than has been known before in years. All Western trains are behind time, many have been snowed in and abandoned, and very little can be learned concerning them, or of the effects of the storm, owing to the blowing down of the telegraph poles and wires and the stoppage of telegraphic communication. The temperature throughout Dakota is stated to be from 20 to 40 degrees below zero, with a wild blizzard blowing. A telegram from Fargo says the thermometer registered 27 degrees below at noon. Yesterday was described as the toughest experience that the city had yet had in the way of boisterous weather. Bismarck reported a high wind with the thermometer 35 degrees below zero. A high wind is prevailing at Sioux City, and the temperature is 20 degrees below. Omaha registered 20 degrees below. Telegraphic communication with Omaha has been cut nearly all day. California telegrams were being sent by way of St. Paul and the Northern Pacific, with only one wire working. A telegram from Des Moines, Iowa, says the cold wave continues there, with a high wind and drifting snow. All through trains west of there are blocked, and the branch roads are snowed under. The Chicago and Burlington trains are stuck fast in the drifts about fifteen miles south of Des Moines. The Wabash road south from that city is badly drifted. The Fort Dodge and Narrow-gauge roads have been abandoned."
A dispatch from St. Paul, January 9, says the cold wave is broken, and adds: "The lowest temperature reached was at Minnedosa, Manitoba, where the thermometer registered 52 degrees below zero. On the Northern Pacific, from Brainerd to Fargo, the temperature varies from 27 to 51 degrees below zero, the latter at Wadena."
A dispatch from La Junta, Col., on the Santa Fe road, of January 9, says: "Two hundred men with three engines and snow-plows are working on the blockade between Nickerson and Dodge City, Kan. Picks are being used to remove the frozen snow. Six hundred telegraph poles are down between the above points. One thousand head of cattle were frozen on the Colorado plains. Antelope have been driven from the Rocky Mountains. Trains are delayed all along this road, and the local travel is stopped. Two men were frozen to death near Dodge City yesterday. The temperature is from 15 to 20 degrees below zero."
But the most surprising news comes from Mobile, Ala., January 9, as follows: "The weather here this morning was the coldest since 1852, the mercury marking 11 degrees below zero. The cold has destroyed the largest cotton crop ever known. The loss will aggregate $750,000."
Telegrams show that the storm raged with great severity all along the Atlantic coast throughout the night of January 8, with loss of property and lives. At Atlantic City, N. J., houses were unroofed by the wind.
The weather has been cold in California during the last week. Quite severe frosts in many places. The strongest adjectives have been used to express the extent of the cold in Oakland, where the frost nipped the outer leaves of tomato vines and some tender flowers. But, notwithstanding the "awful cold" weather, the lilies, roses, geraniums, marguerites, and numerous other flowers, persist in turning their cheery faces to the sun, as if they had not learned that it is not midsummer. To us the climate of Oakland is highly satisfactory, almost too good for a world cursed with sin.
Meeting in Oakland.
ON account of our absence and the sickness of our son, the quarterly meeting of the Oakland church was postponed to January 9. Though feeling greatly worn with our labor, we spoke in the morning to a large congregation of appreciative hearers. In the afternoon the usual church services were held, and the ordinances observed. The attendance was large, and it was a good day to all.
An Evil Disease.
By Editor
THE following from the San Francisco Chronicle we commend to the practical consideration of all parents and teachers:—
"Of the flood of novels which has deluged the literary market during the last twelve-month, the less said the better. The greater part of them have already been relegated to the upper shelves of the libraries, where, it is to be hoped, they will be allowed to remain. Between reading them and complete mental idleness it would be difficult to say which is worse, so thoroughly false are the ideals of life which they present. The appetite for these worthless novels grows with what it feeds on; and if the present mania for devouring current fiction continues, we may have the pathologists discussing a new disease of modern civilization—the novel-reading habit. It destroys all taste for better literature, and is one of the most pernicious results of the book-making processes. To counteract this growing tendency for worthless literature should be one of the objects of all teachers who have the cause of genuine education near at heart. They can do much in the class room to inculcate a taste for good literature, and in no other way can they exert so wholesome an influence for good upon their pupils."
This pernicious habit is becoming more and more prevalent, and parents and teachers cannot be too earnest, nor too diligent, in counteracting the baleful influence of the "flood of novels" which deluges the country. A taste for good reading can be cultivated; it can be done easily if begun in time; but when this novel-reading habit, which the Chronicle properly terms a "disease," is once acquired, it is as hard to overcome as is any other habit of intemperance; for this is intemperance, mental intemperance it is true, but none the less real, and none the less destructive, on that account. We said "none the less real and none the less destructive." We might better say that because it is mental it is the rather more destructive; for by this "disease" the mind is so debased, the will is so weakened, that it is impossible for the individual to resist the evil that is met on every hand, to say nothing of the evil that is instilled into the mind by the very reading itself. What are you reading? What are your children reading?
Bowling-Alley Religion.
THE Christians in San Francisco are unable to draw the line between the church and the bowling alley. It has been a long time known that the Young Men's Christian Association has a bowling alley below its hall, as a means of attracting young men to the Christian influences of its hall and meetings! It would no doubt add much to the interest, and attract greater numbers, if it would add a billiard table and card playing. And still there would be a large number who would turn a deaf ear to the calls to "Come," until there was added a saloon as a means of grace. A report in the Chronicle of a recent noon-day meeting in the hall of the association speaks of a speech of Rev. Aaron Williams, as follows:—
"The latter gentleman, who was some time ago ejected from the hall on a charge of disturbing the meeting by his severe denunciation of the gymnasium and bowling alley connected with the association, renewed his attacks in a most energetic manner. He said that Christian influences were all the more necessary in the church and the family because there was so much infidelity in the schools and such temptations to evil courses presented to the young on every side. He had been assured by a public-school superintendent that eight out of ten of the public-school teachers were infidels, and even in this Young Men's Christian Association there was an attempt to serve both Christ and the devil—Christ above and the devil in the gymnasium and bowling alley below. 'Let us be one thing or the other,' he said, 'Christ's or the devil's. We cannot be both. We cannot serve two masters. The proceedings in the gymnasium on New Year's Day, as described in the daily press of the next day, were a scandal and a shame,' and he would consider himself a traitor to the cause of Christ if he did not denounce such doings under the name of Christianity. Mr. Williams spoke with much earnestness and apparent sincerity; but some of those present showed their disapproval of his criticisms by getting up hastily and going out. One middle-aged woman, seated a little in front of him, slammed down her hymn-book on the settee so hard as to resound through the hall, and went out showing great displeasure. But no one interfered with him while he was speaking. The meeting was then closed with the doxology and benediction, when several persons approached Mr. Williams and thanked him emphatically for calling attention again to 'the bowling-alley iniquity,' as they called it, while others expressed as decided disapprobation of his remarks."
Death of John Saul Howson
Rev. John Saul Howson, D. D., Dean of Chester, died lately at the age of seventy years. By his joint authorship of "Conybeare and Howson's Life and Epistles of the Apostle Paul," his name is a household word among all English-speaking people.
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By Editor
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Post-Office and General Notices
By Editor
THE post-office address of Elder Wm. Ings is Healdsburg, Cal.
THE report of the contributions in California to the European missions will be given next week.
WITH thanks we acknowledge the courtesy of the Hon. Secretary of the Interior, for public documents furnished.
WE are requested to announce that boys or girls may be had—particularly boys—for service at wages, for indenture, or for legal adoption, by applying, with recommendations, to E. T. Dooley, sup't Boys and Girls' Aid Society, 68 Clementina Street, San Francisco.