THIS meeting was held at Logansport, which is the railroad center of eight leading lines. There are about twenty thousand inhabitants in the place, but none of our faith reside there. The camp-ground was in a grove upon a knoll of eight acres. The ground was completely encircled with tents. The preaching pavilion, 60x90 ft., was in the center. There were about eighty tents upon the ground, and it was estimated that there were eight hundred Sabbath-keepers who camped upon the ground; quite a contrast between this and eight years ago, when they held their first camp-meeting. At that time they had seventeen members present, three tents, and a few board shanties.
The grove in which the camp-meeting was held was the first growth of oak and maple, about a half mile from the center of the city. The distance was not so great but that the people could attend, coming on foot. It is a mistake to locate our camp-meetings from two to three miles from the city, where the people cannot attend without hiring teams. Where they are held in the suburbs of the city, a fair attendance can be depended upon.
This is the second camp-meeting held this year in the State. One was held at Farmersburg, in the southern part of the State, where about one hundred and forty were present. There are about one thousand Sabbath-keepers in the State of Indiana. Most of these have embraced the truth during the past six or eight years; about one hundred and twenty-five, the past summer. They have eight ministers at present; one man was ordained at this meeting, and fifteen others received license. This is a growing Conference; but there are features which all rapidly-growing Conferences should guard against. They are in danger of forgetting that the interests of the cause in other places are as important as in their own State. All should take a lively interest in the wants of the cause in other fields. Thus the mind expands, the heart enlarges, and we become more like Christ. He came to die for the world, instead of for one class of people in the world.
Elder Van Horn and myself arrived Wednesday, Oct. 1, after the meeting had been in progress nearly a week.
The people of the city were surprised to learn how many there were who attended the meeting. This year our camp-meetings have made an impression on the minds of the people, far different from that which is usually made by such gatherings. The papers here, as elsewhere, gave daily reports.
On the Sabbath, Oct. 4, an opportunity was given for those who wished to seek God in a special manner, to come forward for prayers. About seventy responded. A good spirit was in the midst. Many bore testimony for the first time. Many realized that they had sinned in robbing God in tithes and offerings. For this they made humble confessions, and pledged themselves to faithfulness for the future. Some had made pledges in the past, and had failed to pay them. Here they covenanted anew to God, to pay these pledges. There were as intelligent confessions made as we ever heard on such an occasion. During the season of prayer, the blessing of God rested down in a large measure. An opportunity was given for those to speak who felt that God had blessed them, and removed the burden from their hearts. There was a general expression that they had felt the sweet influence of the Spirit of God resting upon them. Many remarkable testimonies were borne. One brother, eighty-six years of age, who had formerly been a circuit judge and had kept the Sabbath for five years, testified that there were three things which had stood in the way of his uniting with the church. One was that he did not believe in paying a tithe to the Lord; another, that he belonged to the Free Masons, and was the oldest man in the county that belonged to that society; the third was that he had been a constant user of tobacco. But now he saw clearly that he had been robbing God, and that uniting with secret societies was not in harmony with the principles of Christianity, and he believed that God would help him from that day forth to renounce the use of the filthy weed. After the season of prayer, he felt that God had signally blessed him. Many other testimonies showed evidence that the deep-moving Spirit of God was in the midst. We trust that this meeting will long be remembered on account of the presence of God. On Sunday about three thousand people were present.
Resolutions were passed to raise the sum of $15,000; $5,000 of it to be used for their home work, $5,000 for the foreign work, $3,000 to be donated to the college at Battle Creek, $1,000 to the South Lancaster Academy, and $1,000 as an educational fund to loan to those young men who wish to attend the college, and fit themselves to labor in the cause. About $8,000 was pledged at the meeting.
Thirty-five were baptized on Monday forenoon, and the meeting broke up Tuesday morning. The brethren seemed of good courage, and the impression made at this meeting, we think will be lasting.
We leave this meeting to go directly to South Lancaster, Mass., this being the last camp-meeting we expect to attend this season. We have spent fourteen weeks in camp-meetings, and with the exception of one, they have all been held in large cities, and in every case quite an extensive interest has been reported. Many in these cities who heard the truth for the first time, have testified that hereafter they are going to obey it.
It is evident from what has developed this present season, that the cause has taken steps greatly in advance of what it ever has before in one year. God is preparing the way in a most wonderful manner; souls are calling for the truth everywhere. Truly the harvest is great, but the laborers are few. May the Lord hasten the time when the truth shall triumph.
S. N. HASKELL.
Winning Men by Association with Jesus
How CAN we better learn the art of winning men than by association with Jesus? Who knows men as he knows men? We talk about Shakespeare and his knowledge of men; here is this carpenter of Nazareth, that never wrote a word save on the ground in the sand, and here in this New Testament is what the men who followed him put down some thirty or thirty-five years after he had left them, and this man thralls the great world and charms all our hearts. Does he not thoroughly understand men? And if only we could see men as he saw them, would not we fish for them better than we do? Consider and imitate his tact, and his love, and his patience, and his absorbing devotion.—Sel.
The Molokani.
By S. N. Haskell
It is evident that God has chosen the United States as the missionary center for the world; and if the true missionary spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ, actuates us individually and as a people, we shall find avenues through which the truth can be sent to every part of the civilized world. We do not know of a nation on the globe that is not represented in America. The providence of God has been over this nation from its commencement to the present time. There is a freedom of conscience here that exists in no other nation.
While at the spring camp-meeting in Nebraska, we learned through friends who had recently come from Russia, some facts concerning the Molokani, who live at present in Caucasus, and in Mennonite villages, also in Hungary, and in the southern part of Russia. They became a distinct sect over a century ago. It is said that a man by the name of Neketa Iwawowitch Neisteroff, who was an attache of the Russian Legislature, had accepted Protestant principles from friends in London. He returned to Russia, where his labors were especially directed against the ceremonies and rites of the Greek Church. He believed in the operations of the Spirit of God, and sought to instruct the people to have a living experience for themselves with God. As the result of his labors, many left the Greek Church, and at the present time they number about one hundred thousand. They do not bear arms, nor believe in the judicial oath. They never use intoxicating drinks nor tobacco, and they believe that no conscientious Christian can use them.
Subsequent to the time that they became an independent people, the seventh-day Sabbath was introduced among them, and at the present time a goodly number observe the Sabbath day. The Russians gave them the name of Molokani, which signifies in English milk-eaters, because of their principles as vegetarians.
The priests raised a great persecution against them, and as the result, they were banished from where they were to the places where they now reside, and were placed under great restriction lest they should impart their principles to others. They were not allowed to go long distances from home at first, but through their frugality and exemplary lives they soon became a powerful people, and were known as having fine farms and public wealth. They are noble-looking people, and the men all have a fine beard. They are very entertaining and kind-hearted. At present, not being in connection with the world, they are rather retrograding in their educational advantages, yet they hold the Scriptures as very sacred. Their children are taught to commit certain portions of the Scriptures to memory, especially the Psalms. Their meetings are held in private houses, and in every village they have several large rooms set apart to these services. They have so often been betrayed by strangers that they do not care to have intercourse with them; do not wish to have them enter their midst unless they are Mennonites, or persons of the same faith, whom they cordially welcome.
The friend who gave us the information concerning them had been with them many years. What interested us very much was the fact that the Sabbath had found its way into their midst, and that they were observing it at the present time. The above facts show that the Sabbath reform goes with every other reform.
There is no nationality or people that is not represented in America, and if we are vigilant in watching the openings that the providence of God will bring to us, we shall find avenues to reach all portions of this world. There has been no time in the history of the work of God when the Lord seems to be especially blessing efforts to get the truth before the people more than the present. God has gone out before his people, and those persons with whom the fear of God exists, his providence will direct, so that the truth will find its way to their hearts.
There is nothing but encouragement for those who believe in the truth of God. The efforts of God's people are backed up by one mightier than man. "It is not by might nor by power but by my spirit saith the Lord." The important question comes home to us, Who will be ready to act his part in the closing work of the gospel? Who will stand ready as God opens doors for us to act as light-bearers to those whom his providence brings before us?
S. N. HASKELL.
Brauges, France.
By D. T. Bourdeau
I RETURNED to this place, with Mrs. Bourdeau, on the 16th inst., to prepare the way for, and to perfect, an organization. I found the young converts of good courage, and glad to see us. Though they had much to learn, yet they were willing to receive instruction on all points of doctrine and practice held by Seventh-day Adventists. We baptized fifteen persons, organized a church of seventeen members, and a brother Badout was encouraged to engage in the work as a colporter. Every believer was baptized. We regard this as a great victory, when we consider the fact that immersion has been unknown here for ages. Among those who were baptized was a young man who had come to Brauges on a visit, and knew nothing of our doctrines until the week he was baptized. He returned home, with papers and tracts, rejoicing in God.
We had three seasons of baptism in the night, at two different points, about four miles distant from each other, and in less than one day, having to do all the traveling on foot, as no team could be secured. We chose the night that we might attend to this solemn ordinance undisturbed. I was greatly strengthened physically, and felt that the God of Elijah was our God. We had a good season in attending to the ordinances.
Since our first effort here, Spiritualism is reviving under the apparitions of the Virgin Mary (?), who claims to be holding the arm of her Son, which is about to smite the nations.
D. T. BOURDEAU.
September 30, 1884.
FOLLOW THOU ME.
HAVE ye looked for my sheep in the desert,
For those who have missed their way?
Have ye been in the wild waste places,
Where the lost and the wandering stray?
Have ye trodden the lonely highway,
The foul and darksome street?
It may be ye'd see in the gloaming
The print of Christ's wounded feet.
Have ye folded close to your bosom
The trembling, neglected lamb,
And taught to the little lost one
The sound of the Shepherd's name?
Have ye searched for the poor and needy,
With no clothing, no home, no bread?
The Son of man was among them;
He had nowhere to lay his head.
Have ye stood by the sad and weary,
To smooth the pillow of death,
To comfort the sorrow-stricken,
And strengthen the feeble faith?
And have ye felt, when the glory
Has streamed through the open door,
And flitted across the shadows,
That I had been there before?
Have ye wept with the broken-hearted,
In their agony of woe?
Ye might hear me whispering beside you,
'Tis a path I often go.
My disciples, my brethren, my friends,
Can ye dare to follow me?
Then wherever the Master dwelleth,
There shall the servant be.
—Sel.
Norwalk, Los Angeles County, Cal.
By E. A. Briggs
I HAVE been visiting the Sabbath-keepers in this vicinity during the last twelve days. I have preached a few times, and baptized five brothers and five sisters.
The new converts in the adjacent villages are of good courage; and all are looking forward with pleasurable anticipations to the general meetings soon to be held in this county.
The present truth is being received by individuals in various adjoining neighborhoods, and calls for help are coming in. E. A. BRIGGS.
October 12, 1884.
Missionary Societies in Home Churches.
By John L. Phillips
AN American lady of a remarkably well-balanced mind, a careful reader, and a devoted friend of the foreign missionary enterprise, has written me a letter recently, in which I find these words: "Do tell me how we can keep up the interest in our missionary society." The same point came up over and over again while I was at home on a furlough a few years ago, and it is one that deserves attention. As I recall it now, my observation amongst the home churches led me to divide the missionary societies I found into two classes, viz., live and galvanized. I was continually meeting with both kinds. The one had real, hearty life of its own, and life it could communicate, too, to others. The other had all the sound and show and shine of life on stated occasions, when roused to action by the galvanic battery of some eloquent speaker, but too soon and surely it fell back into a chronic state of suspended animation, and there it stuck till the aforesaid battery was again applied.
Now, I believe with all my heart that a missionary society is a good thing for a church and community that is generally run down. The discouraged pastor of a small church on our western frontier once wrote me of his trials, and I never made a medical prescription more sincerely or strictly than when I sent him the following: Get the good women together and organize a missionary society. This dose rarely needs repeating, and I have found it to work wonders in lifting up low churches to health and happiness. There are two points to be thought of, neither of which can be overlooked in the "keeping up of the interest," in the missionary societies of the churches.
1. Food. Faith and facts constitute the food of every such society, and in a careful diagnosis of the galvanized ones I met with, I found in every case that either faith or knowledge was wanting, and in some cases both were wanting. The heart and the head need nutriment, and where this is denied them, they die of inanition. The chief source of faith and facts for missionary work is the blessed Bible, and an important auxiliary is the history of the Christian church, ancient and modern. The word of God and the missionary literature of all ages from the first century to the present constitute the grand store-house of information and inspiration for all missionary effort. I have been amazed to find people trying to "keep up the interest" in a society without diligent study of Scripture history and prophecy, and without a scrap of modern missionary literature!
2. Work. Neither food nor tonic can take the place of work. Facts from the history of the Jews or from the fields of central Africa, from the middle ages or the nineteenth century, from the home of the Huns, Hindus, or Hottentots can't bring life and vigor, growth and blessing, without effort. There must be much thinking and much prayer, and there must be much active endeavor as well. One can't read of genuine missionary adventure and hardships in the Acts of the Apostles, or Schwartz's Memoirs, or the Life of Judson, or Livingstone's journals, without being pushed to Christian undertaking and sacrifice. So every live society (I say good-bye to the galvanized ones for the present) will be as busy as a hive with the drones driven out.—Dr. J. L. Phillips.
Kitty's Grandmother.
By Mrs. M. E. Sangster
"It's perfectly impossible to please grandmother, and I do not mean to try any longer," said Kitty, addressing her friend, Miss Theo, the new teacher at the academy.
All the girls were in love with Miss Theo. They admired her pretty dresses, the way she wore her hair, the flowers at her belt, and the gold cross and sparkling crystal which hung from her watch-chain. Privately every girl in the class was determined, when she should be grown up, to dress and move exactly like Miss Theo; to be seen, summer and winter, with a flower or a geranium leaf shining in dainty sweetness somewhere, either at throat or waist; and, if so lovely a thing could be found, to have a crystal for clearness, and a cross for plainness, precisely like those worn by the darling teacher.
"Darling" was the name that fitted her best; the girls all thought of her in just that sweet, caressing manner, and more than blessed was she whom Miss Theo sent on an errand, whose pen Miss Theo borrowed, or by whose desk Miss Theo sat to relate one of her wonderful after-luncheon stories.
The best thing about it all was that the girls, consciously as well as unconsciously, were making lovely Miss Theo their model in more than mere externals. They copied her gentleness, her low, softly modulated tones, her pleasant, "I beg your pardon," and, "Thank you, dear;" and more than one mother was delighted at the charm which she saw growing in her Susy, Jenny, or Sally, a charm never to be attributed to mere arithmetic or analysis.
But Kitty, poor orphaned Kitty Parsons, who lived with her grandmother in the wee brown house, not much bigger than a wren's nest, hidden among the leaves and shrubs, and tucked out of sight, in a turn of the road, under the hill—Kitty had known harder times ever since she had begun to love and copy Miss Theo.
Grandmother was a rough old woman; she took care of Kitty as well as she knew how, and she wanted her to go to school, and learn to read, write, and cipher; but good manners she disliked. She called them "affectation," and was very impatient with that, whatever she meant by it.
"Kitty," said Miss Theo, answering the remark at the beginning of this little story, "whether you can please your grandmother or not, it is your duty to try. It is always our duty to do our very best, because there is One who sees and cares; you know who that is, dear."
"Yes, Miss Theo, Jesus."
"The Master," said Miss Theo, reverently. "Now I will give you a help-word for to-day and to-morrow and all the week: 'Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.'"
Kitty repeated the verse over twice after Miss Theo, then all the way home she kept saying it until she knew it perfectly. Down the long village street, shaded by the maples, with their glory of flame-colored leaves, past the blacksmith's shop, where she usually liked to loiter a little, watching the red glow of the fire, and hearing the beat of the smith's great hammer, past the bit of woodland where the boys and girls came to gather nuts, she walked slowly, and said the verse. At last she was lifting the little unpainted gate.
"Kitty!" said a sharp voice, "where have you been idling? School must have been out an hour ago. You do try my patience with your dawdling, dilly-dallying ways. Make haste to your room now, change your dress, and finish the ironing before dark. The flats are just right."
Grandmother herself was busy sewing on blue overalls for Farmer Mott's hired man. She did odd jobs of the kind, whenever she could get them, and really needed Kitty's assistance with the work. The trouble was she never asked for it graciously.
"Please, grandmother," said Kitty, "may I draw my map first? I can iron after dark, but I cannot see to draw then."
"Draw a map! No, indeed. I never heard of drawing maps till these new-fangled notions came in at the school."
"But when can I, grandmother?"
"To-morrow morning, if you get up early enough. Iron now, and be quiet about it. Do you hear me, Katharine?"
No wonder grandmother was angry. Kitty was dragging one foot after the other. She knocked down the ironing-board, she let the iron-holder fall on the hot stove, and an odor of burning pervaded the little room. Would Miss Theo have known Miss Kitty? I fear not.
But, presently, better thoughts came. A sweet voice seemed to whisper Kitty's text into her ear. It filled the space about her. And a new feeling, something Kitty had never experienced before, took command of her willful feet and laggard hands, of her pouting lips and frowning forehead.
The lips forgot to pout, the brow smoothed its puckers away, the feet stepped lightly and swiftly back and forth, the hands moved the iron deftly over the nicely dampened clothes; and it was not very long before the task was done, and the old clothes-horse hanging full of pieces, ready to air.
This was doing work "heartily as unto the Lord."
"Grandmother, may I draw my map now? I am sorry I was so cross."
How surprised grandmother was! Never had Kitty made such an acknowledgment before. She said, however, poor grandmother who had not learned any better.
"Well, you ought to be sorry. You've been spry, though. Yes, draw it, if you like."
It did do some good, then, this verse of Miss Theo's.
Kitty finished the map. She learned her lessons, too, in the between-times when she wasn't bringing in wood, or drawing water, or going after the milk, or setting the table, or washing the dishes. That daily changing her dress, on which grandmother insisted, was a necessity; for the child was a little maid-of-all-work at home, and the gray frock and white ruffled apron which she wore at school could not have been kept neat had they not been replaced by calico when school was out.
The next morning Kitty was up bright and early. She loved to go to school. It was just bliss to be there with the girls and Miss Theo. As she tripped down the narrow little stairway, her grandmother called her, not crossly, but plaintively.
"Come here, child, I've a headache. I'll not be able to get up, I'm afraid. You must make me a cup of tea."
"Heartily, as unto the Lord," whispered Kitty to herself. She had been saying her prayers in her little bed-room, and felt as if God had heard her. Yet this was not the answer she was expecting.
She lighted the fire, made the tea, and toasted a half-slice of bread delicately crisp and brown; with the pleasantest face in the world, she brought them to her grandmother, only to hear her say:—
"You won't be able to go to school to-day, Kitty. I'm too sick. You'll have to stay home and take care of me, and finish Jeames Sanders' overalls."
Not one word could Kitty answer. The disappointment was simply so dreadful that she was speechless.
"I promised them to him at 12 o'clock to-day," her grandmother went on. "It's only buttons to sew on, and a few places to stay. You can do it, easily. Go away now, Kitty, darken the room, and keep very still. My head feels as if it would split."
"And my heart," said Kitty, as she looked at her beloved school-books, on the shelf by the clock, not wanted to-day—"My heart feels as if it would break."
She took the blue overalls, spitefully enough, out under a tree, and began to finish them as she well knew how, for Kitty was clever with her needle. She had forgotten her text, when suddenly, high over her head in the tree, a bird began to sing. The time of the singing of birds was past. Most of the warblers were busy with family cares, preparing to move southward before winter, and not feeling like singing. But this bird sang into Kitty's very soul.
And as she listened, her text came to her again: "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as unto the Lord."
Even Jeames Sanders' overalls? Yes, Kitty, the Lord accepts that sort of work, if you do it in your very best way, heartily.
"Grandmother needs the money," said Kitty to herself, "and she always keeps her word."
Like a fairy or a mouse, Kitty slipped in the house and out of it; gently she moved, gently she spoke, gently she attended on her grandmother. Though she received no special thanks, it was much that she was not scolded nor found fault with. By and by her grandmother felt able to rise, and sit, dressed in a loose wrapper and a shawl, beside the window.
Little Kitty, feeling strong and well to her very finger-tips, suddenly realized the contrast between herself and the wan, thin, worn old lady, querulous and exacting because she was tired, weak, and unhappy.
"Nobody loves her very much," she thought. "I wonder if I could, if I were to try to do it 'as to the Lord, heartily.'"
Miss Theo's verse was bearing sweet fruit. So do the seeds of the kingdom always, if only you give them room to grow.
"Shall I read to you, grandmother?" said Kitty, later.
"If you like, child."
Then, taking the old brown Bible down, Kitty found the fourteenth chapter of John, and read637those dearest words of the Master: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you."
Grandmother listened, and her face was no longer cross, but full of peace. When good night time came, she kissed Kitty tenderly, and thanked her.
Next day Miss Theo drew the child close in a loving embrace, as Kitty said:—
"I found out yesterday that it was not impossible to please grandmother, after all; and I mean to try more and more, with your text to help me."—Mrs. M. E. Sangster, in Sunday School Times.
The Home Circle.
By Hosea G. Blake
THE HARP.
In the stormy days that marked the reign
Of the iron monarch, Charlemagne,
When, wheresoe'er the traveler went
Over the war-worn continent,
A lofty castle with stony frown
From every commanding hill looked down;
At that time of terror a Christian knight,
Across the valley from height to height
Stretched a cord of iron, a mighty wire,
Anvil-hammered and tried with fire.
He hoped, he said, that the gentle hand
Of summer winds in the iron strand
Would wake a music diviner, higher,
Than the sounds of warfare that filled the land.
Over the wire the breezes swept,
But the soul of music within it slept;
It felt the north wind's fiercer stroke,
But still the touch no answer woke,
No throbbing sweetness the silence broke.
Loud the people laughed, and said:
"This is no harp, but a wire instead;
And he who made it, how little he knows!"
But once at midnight a storm arose.
As the terrible rush of the angry blast
By turret and tower swept hurrying past,
The harp awoke! and above the beat
Of the roaring tempest, sublimely sweet,
The sound of its music swelled and rose,
Till the people cried in the valley below:
"Surely the trumpets of angels blow;
The skies above us are tempest-riven,
For we hear the songs of the saved in Heaven!"
O'er harp-string or heart-string the storm must break
Before its divinest notes awake;
Not gentle breezes, but winds that smite;
Not the zephyr's breath, but the whirlwind's might;
Not joy, but chastening, strikes the tone
Sweet as the notes the ransomed raise,
Who lift forever their songs of praise
Through the spaces around the Throne!
—Hosea G. Blake.
Much Ado about Five Cents.
By Christian Union
Two gentlemen were talking the other day of the late Secretary Folger's devotion to duty, and the conversation drifted into discussion of the great amount of the detail work in the Treasury Department. As an instance of the scrupulous exactness with which the work in the Redemption Bureau is done, one of the gentlemen told the following story:—
"Several years ago," he said, "I was living in the country, and had among my possessions an old desk. One day in going through this I found four pieces of scrip money of small denominations which preceded the return of silver. Two of these pieces were quarters, and a third was a ten-cent scrip. Each of these was in fair condition. The fourth was a ragged and soiled piece of paper, with nothing but its size and feeling to indicate that it ever had been money. After studying it for a long time, I concluded that it was originally a five-cent scrip. I determined to send the three good pieces to the Treasury Department for redemption, more as an experiment than anything else. But my wife insisted that the ragged piece must go along with the rest. To humor her, I inclosed it with the others, and a note asking that the scrip be redeemed.
"A week or ten days later I was informed that there was a registered letter at the post-office for me. I found a huge envelope with three red seals and the card of the Treasury Department upon it. In the envelope were several papers, three or four, with printed and written matter upon them. The papers were blanks which had been filled out, and extracts from the law concerning the redemption of fractional currency. From the documents I learned that the three pieces I had supposed were redeemable were counterfeit and of no value, and that the only piece upon which I could base a claim against the Department was the tattered and torn five-cent scrip. Down in one corner of the big envelope was a smaller one, and in one corner of that was a bright nickle five-cent piece which the United States Government had sent me in return for my five-cent scrip."
Good Work for Children
GOOD WORK FOR CHILDREN.—Let your daughter, with a little advice, cut up a few yards of calico, and make aprons, dresses, and bedquilts, even if there be a little waste and poor fits. She will be likely to see her mistakes and profit by them. Let her make some cake and bread, and broil some meat and some corn, no matter if she does have to throw some of it into the swill-pail. It is better to make a few mistakes while young, in acquiring an education, than to grow up without experience. They must learn something, or make great blunders during a portion of their lives, when left to rely on themselves. In many respects children are not trusted enough. They are "bossed" too much.—Woman's Journal.
Minnesota’s Seven Thousand Lakes
MINNESOTA has no less than 7,000 lakes, which take up over 2,700,000 acres of territory.
An Intelligent Rat.
A CORRESPONDENT sends to Nature the following incident:—
"I venture to publish a rather curious instance, which recently came under my own observation, of extraordinary intelligence in a rat. I was standing in the doorway of a large shed, the further end of which had been partitioned off with bars to form a fowl-house, when I was attracted by a gnawing and scraping noise; turning around, I saw a rat run from a large dog biscuit which was lying on the floor, and pass through the bars. Being curious to watch if he would return, I kept quiet, and presently saw a well-grown specimen of the common brown rat (Mus decumanus) come cautiously forward, and after nibbling for a short time at the biscuit, drag it toward the bars, which are only two inches apart, and would not allow the biscuit to pass. After several unsuccessful attempts he left it, and in about five minutes returned with another rat, smaller than himself. He then came through the bars, and, pushing his nose under the biscuit, gradually tipped it on the edge, rat number two pulling vigorously from the other side; by this means they finally succeeded in getting a four-inch biscuit through a two-inch aperture. Not feeling pleased that my dog's biscuits should be used as food for rats, I threw a hammer at them, and picked up the biscuit. I think the conduct of these animals showed a wonderful amount of intelligence; it was evident that the first rat saw that to get the biscuit through the bars it was necessary that it should be on its edge, and, not being able to tip it and pull it at the same time, he gained the assistance of a friend. The short space of time during which he was absent, and the concerted action, show also that they must have some wonderfully facile means of communicating ideas."
How Two Dogs Fought and Were Reconciled.
ONE day a Newfoundland dog and mastiff had a sharp quarrel over a bone. They were fighting on a bridge, and over they went into the water. The banks were so high that they were forced to swim some distance before they came to a landing-place. It was very easy for the Newfoundland; he was as much at home in the water as a seal. But not so for poor Bruce; he struggled and did his best to swim, but made little headway. The Newfoundland dog quickly reached the land, and then turned to look at his old enemy. He saw plainly that his strength was failing, and that he was likely to drown. So what did the noble fellow do but plunge in, seize him gently by the collar, and, keeping his nose above water, tow him safely into port! It was funny to see these dogs look at each other as they shook their coats. Their glance said as plainly as words, "We'll never quarrel again."—Extract from an English Lady's Letter.
A SUBMARINE ELECTRIC LAMP.
An interesting experiment was made recently at Greenock on the Tilly, a small steamer built on the Clyde for the Batavian fisheries. The ship has been fitted with a powerful electric arc-lamp of 15,000 candle power, which can be lowered into the sea, and is intended to be used in the fisheries for attracting the fish to the nets. Flexible conductors convey the current to the lamp, which can be raised or lowered by davits and pulleys from the ship's side. The lamp is inclosed in a flint-glass cylinder nine and one-half inches in diameter by fourteen and one-half inches long, and is protected by a copper grating. At the trial on the Clyde, the lamp was submerged for four hours while lighted, and the appearance of the illuminated water was very beautiful.
A MINE OF INFORMATION.
By John Nevins Andrews
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH AND FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK.
By Eld. J. N. Andrews.
The Bible record of the Sabbath; the secular history concerning it; the successive steps by which the change to the first day was made, and the work of restoration, are given in detail.
EVERY TEXT OF SCRIPTURE concerning the Sabbath is commented on at length; and the COMPLETE TESTIMONY OF THE FATHERS in regard to the Sabbath and first day is given. The comparative merits of the seventh and the first-day Sabbaths are fully shown. A copious index enables the reader to find any text, or the statement of any historian.
Should be read by everybody. 528 pp. Price, $1.25.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
THOUGHTS ON DANIEL, CRITICAL AND PRACTICAL.
By Uriah Smith
By Eld. U. Smith.
AN EXPOSITION OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL, VERSE BY VERSE.
We are now living in times plainly pointed out in this prophecy, and it is important to understand it; for Daniel himself says that in the time of the end, the wise shall understand; while, if we fail, we are equally guilty with the Jews, who knew not the time of their visitation (Luke 19: 42-44), and shall meet a similar fate.
416 pp. Price, $1.25.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
THOUGHTS ON REVELATION, CRITICAL AND PRACTICAL.
By Uriah Smith
By Eld. U. Smith.
This work presents every verse in the book of Revelation, with such remarks as serve to illustrate or explain the meaning of the text. It is a new and harmonious exposition of that important book, and is designed to create an interest in its study.
416 pp. Price, $1.25.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
THE TRUTH FOUND.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
THE NATURE AND OBLIGATION OF THE SABBATH OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT.
BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.
The title of this little book sufficiently explains its character. It contains more Scriptural information in regard to the Sabbath than any other book of twice the size, and yet it is so simplified as to be easily comprehended. The author quotes the opinions of many learned men concerning the Sabbath, and their conflicting theories are strongly contrasted with the clear, straightforward teaching of the Bible. 64 pp. Price, 10 cents.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
THE COMING CONFLICT;
By W. H. Littlejohn
—OR—
THE GREAT ISSUE NOW PENDING IN THIS COUNTRY.
By W. H. Littlejohn.
This book contains a complete history of the rise and progress of the National Reform Party, together with an exegesis of the last portion of the thirteenth chapter of the book of Revelation, assigning to the United States its proper place in prophecy.
EMPHATICALLY A BOOK FOR THE TIMES.
434 pages, in muslin covers, and will be mailed to any address post-paid, for $1.00.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
BIBLE SANCTIFICATION:
By Editor
A CONTRAST OF TRUE AND FALSE THEORIES.
By Mrs. E. G. White.
This is a pamphlet of only 84 pages, but its value is not to be judged by its size. It is just what its title indicates: a faithful presentation of Bible truth on this important subject, and an exposure of the false theories prevailing in regard to it. Every believer in Bible truth should read it. Buy it, read it, and lend it to your neighbor. Price, 10 cents.