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WHEN things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all
uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must — but don't you quit!
Life is queer, with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out ;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow —
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup ;
And he learned too late, when the night slipped
down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out —
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit —
It 's when things seem worst that you mustn't
quit.
REACHING UP AND OUT
" Others May, You Cannot "
ECIDE things for yourself. Don't be a
trailer, blindly following the crowd, with
no special rules of your own for living.
Another's reason for doing this or that will
not serve for you. Do your own thinking; search
your own heart. Keep close, very close, to your own
Saviour ; He will help you to think clearly ; to decide
candidly about your own, individual course of action.
" If God has called you to be really like Jesus, He
will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility,
and put upon you such demands of obedience that
you will not be able to follow other people, or measure
yourself by other Christians, and in many ways He
will seem to let other good people do things which He
will not let you do.
" Other Christians , and ministers who seem very
religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires,
and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you
cannot do it ; and if you attempt it, you will meet
with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to
make you sorely penitent.
" Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of
their success, of their writings, but the Holy Spirit
will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you
begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification
that will make you despise yourself and all your
good works.
" Others may be allowed to succeed in making
money, or may have a legacy left them ; but it is
likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you
to have something far better than gold, namely, a
helpless dependence on Him, that He may have the
privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of
an unseen treasury.
" The Lord may let others be honored and put
forward, and keep you hidden in obscurity, because
He wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for
His coming glory, which can be produced only in the
shade. He may let others be great, but keep you
small. He may let others do a work for Him and get
the credit of it ; but He may make you work and toil
on without knowing how much you are doing ; and
then, to make your work still more precious, He may
let others get the credit for the work which you have
done, and thus make your reward ten times greater
when Jesus comes.
" The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you,
with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little
words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which
other Christians never seem distressed over. So make
up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and.
has a right to do as He pleases with His own. He
may not explain to you a thousand things which puz-
zle your reason in His dealings with you, but if you
absolutely sell yourself to be His love slave, He will
wrap you up in a jealous love, and bestow upon you
many blessings which come only to those who are in
the inner circle.
" Settle it forever, then, that you are to deal di-
rectly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have
the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your
hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that He does not
seem to use with others. Now when you are so pos-
sessed with the living God that you are, in your secret
heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, per-
sonal, private, jealous guardianship and management
of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found
the vestibule of heaven."
After all, " who art thou that judgest another? "
*Whatever the question at issue, settle it for yourself
with the Master, remembering that while " others
may, you cannot."
Jt
" Then What? "
YOUNG man was talking with an older
friend, who inquired what he was going to
do with his life.
" Oh, I'm going to finish high school."
" And then what? " came the question.
" Oh, after that I'll go to college."
" And then what?
" I'm going to take the medical course."
" And then what? "
" I'll work up to the top in my profession."
" And then what? "
" Well," the young man hesitated, " I suppose after
I've lived my life, I'll die."
" And then what?
He turned away without answering, for the ques-
tion of a future beyond this present world had never
before impressed him as being very important.
He tried to forget, but the words, " And then
what? " echoed in his thoughts by day and haunted
his dreams by night. He determined at last to find
the answer, but how? Heaven seemed so far away
and its King unapproachable.
One evening he attended an evangelistic service.
The speaker was a robust young Scotchman. " I am
a survivor of the Titanic,' " he said. " When I,
was drifting alone on a spar, that awful night, the
tide brought John Harper, of Glasgow, who also was
clinging to a piece of wreckage, near me. Man,' he
said, ' are you saved? " No,' I answered, ' I am not.'
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved,' he shouted back as the waves bore him away.
But strange to say they brought him back again per-
haps an hour later. Are you saved now? ' he in-
quired. No,' I said, I cannot honestly say that I
am.' Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,' his voice
was weaker as the waves tossed and rolled, just be-
lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved.' With the last word he sank from sight, but
there, alone in the darkness, I simply believed, and
found my Saviour. I am JOhn Harper's last con-
vert, and I have come to give you his message. Just
believe and receive, and leave the future with God."
The young high school student in the gallery
bowed his head reverently, with the whispered prayer,
" Lord, I believe." He had found the answer to the
great question, " And then what? " which we must
all one day face.
VOL. 74 THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR, FEBRUARY 16, 1926 NO. 7
,
Printed and published every Tuesday by the Review and Herald Publishing Association, at Takoma Park, Washington, D. C., U. R. A. Entered as second-class matter, August 14, 1902, at the post office at Washington, D. C., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on June 22, 1912.
4 THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR (^) February 16, 1926
change our prayer from merely an impulsive cry of need wrung from us in time of distr,ess and peril, to one of daily conversation with Him. The desire to pray is as natural as the desire for food. But neither impulse should be neglected until the process of starvation has dulled our sense of hunger. " Prayer is a privilege," says a noted clergyman ; " like friendship and family love and laughter, great books, great music, and great art, it is one of life's opportunities to be grasped thankfully and used gladly. We have made a few fitful and hurried at- tempts at praying, and seeing no good consequence, have, impatiently called the practice worthless and have quit it. Suppose that a man should similarly make a dash at friendship, and after throwing off a few trial conversations, should dogmatically conclude that there was nothing in friendship after all. But friendship is not really tested in so dashing and occa-
sional a way ; friendship is rather a life to be lived, habitually, persistently, and its results are cumulative with the years. So prayer is a cumulative life of friendship with God." Another year began not long ago. What about those resolutions you made, especially that one to take time for a daily conversation with God? Noth- ing else can serve to make the day so sweet and fra- grant as a faithful observance of the Morning Watch. As we store our minds with the daily texts, evil thoughts and passions will give way. Temptations will flee in the presence of persistent calling upon our heavenly Father. Let us make a daily appointment with God, and keep it. Ag a result there will come into our hearts that feeling of peace which is the presence of God. He will give us that rest which He has promised to the weary and heavy laden, and our burdens will be replaced by a feeling of spiritual strength and buoyancy.
School Opens in Juliaca, Peru
GUSSIE FIELD-('rI .BURN
ACATION is over, and school is beginning again. The midweek train, when it came last night, brought us a half dozen Quichua students, and this morning, on its way back from Puno, it brought us about forty Aymaras. A hundred more young people should be here within the next twenty-four hours, and the rest — the in- evitable stragglers — will arrive any time during the next week or two. The great majority always come " by land," which means afoot or with animals, and not by train. All day long, across the level pampa, we see little groups of travelers coming to us ; and our hearts go out to these earnest young Indians who are breaking home ties to come to our training school to prepare themselves for God's work. Our traveled white work- ers have a tendency to smile at the evident distress of our young people at leaving such unattractive homes, but it is none the less real ; and the Indian boy or girl who enters the work, or who enters our school to prepare for the work, makes a sacrifice not always appreciated. Whatever it may have cost to leave home, there is no lack of enthusiasm when they reach the school. The old students are especially happy to see one another again, and the cordial greeting, with its char- acteristic embracing, will last till well into the eve- ning, and begin again early in the morning, welcom- ing new groups who, unable to reach the school at night, have slept for the few dark hours and finished the journey as soon as it was light enough to see. Classes do not begin till tomorrow. There is too much else to do on our opening day. Every student must, on arriving, arrange for light housekeeping. The school has no beds for its students, so our boys and girls make a little platform of stones or mud bricks in the corner of each room in the dormitories, on which they lay mats made of reeds from Lake Titicaca. Thus, with two or three Indian blankets they have a very satisfactory bed. Now the room is nearly furnished, for the bed serves also as chairs. It is the study table too, for our student sits in the middle of his bed, with his books all around him, and reads or writes or wrestles with problems in arith- metic.
There is no need of a dining-table, for the student sits on his bed and holds his bowl of soup in his lap. If his food is dry,— parched barley, or beans, or
boiled chunos,— he carries it in his pocket, and eats
as he works or studies. The simplicity of the menu disposes of the question of table service. Of course, there must be a cookstove. So a few stones are laid together out of doors to support a kettle, and once a fire is blazing underneath, the cooking arrangements are complete. Some of the stoves are old pieces of tin bent into shape, but none of them are more elaborate than the rock fireplace already described. The few dishes stand on the earth floor of the student's room, and while preparing his food, the student sits or squats on the floor, so everything is convenient. A food cupboard? Why, that is scarcely needed. Cooked food is eaten, so that is no problem. Uncooked food — such as corn, potatoes, rice, barley, salt, etc.— is kept in woven woolen sacks, or else tied up in squares of coarse cotton cloth. These are piled in a heap at the foot of the bed. One thing lacking is a wardrobe, so our young people manage exactly as they are accustomed to do at home,— they put up a clothes line, usually a pole or a piece of rope, and throw' everything across it. A shelf for books is also necessary. This is a picture of dormitory life this year. The school is new, and completing the buildings has taken all the available time and money, but now we are anticipating improvements in our students' living conditions. Today our boys and girls are arriving, unpacking the bundles they have brought on their own backs or on donkeys, and getting settled, Tomorrow the book work will begin, a painful but not hopeless strug- gle,— painful because the work is all in Spanish, which is more difficult for these Indians than for us foreigners; but never hopeless, for where students apply themselves heart and soul to their work as these do, there is no such word as " fail."
.4 .4 at
" THE (^) true road to happiness is to exact much of yourself and little of others." "Better a sweet failure than a sour success."
February 16, 1926 THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR
Travel Notes From Africa --- No. 6
L. H. CHRISTIAN
EW things are often only old things made over. And this applies to countries and continents as well. In our geographies thirty years back the Western Hemisphere was spoken of as the " New World," but the " New World " of today is found in old Africa, and a world throb- bing with life and expansion it is. For centuries Africa was the Dark Continent, the land of mystery, tradition, and legend. Even Egypt, with its ancient civilization and history, perhaps the oldest of all, was draped in the unknown. But today Africa is an open continent of hope and opportunity to the struggling, overflowing populations in England, France, Germany, and Belgium. What Europe found in America a hundred years ago, she finds in Africa today. It was to America that Europe sent her sur- plus population and restless youth, ambitious for ad- ' venture and conquest. It was in America that great problems of government and social relations were worked out so that democracy became real and safe. Had America not received these millions of under- paid, underfed, and dissatisfied workmen, not the World War, but revolution and a consequent breakup of European civilization would have come before the dawn of the twentieth century. Africa today is known, charted, divided, and gov- erned. Covetous traders had skirted her shores for centuries, but during the last seventy years or more, this vast continent has been crossed and recrossed by brave explorers. Many in this heroic band were mis- sionaries or men impelled by mission ideals. Names like Moffat, Livingstone, Stanley, are immortal. While Christianity did not come into the world to civilize mankind, civilization is one of its largest by-products. The Bible is the greatest civilizing agent of all time. The missionaries were followed by orderly government and inflowing settlers. Two hundred years ago, Spain, Holland, England, and France had large colonies in North and South America. With the exception of Abyssinia, Liberia, and possibly Egypt, all of Africa is divided into colonies, mandated territories, or dominions, under the control of Europe. Of the colonies, England has the best, and France the largest. Egypt has become the playground of Europe. Thousands of tourists spend their winters up and down the Nile valley. Africa, too, is being opened up to the world by rail, automobile, and aeroplane. Not only the long railroads from Cape Town north into the Belgian Congo, and from Alexandria south
to the Sudan, but many roads from the east and west, with new enterprises projecting, are piercing the con- tinent in every direction. Hundreds of miles of good automobile roads are now built, so that automobiles promise to become the great mode of travel. Men go by automobile from the end of the route of river steamers above Khartum to Lake Victoria. Automo- bile trips across the Sahara Desert are common, and Lake Chad is but a few days from Algeria by car. Even aeroplanes have become common. Some time ago the king of Belgium was to have flown from Brussels to Katanga, in the Belgian Congo, one of the largest copper districts on earth. When he was delayed, others took his place. The premier of France recently made a trip by aeroplane from Paris down over Mo- rocco to the northwest coast. Americans do not understand the close connection between Europe and Africa. This union is nqt merely political or commercial, but social and even religious_ The large newspapers of countries like Great Britain or France all print more news from Africa than from the United States. Thousands of young people im- migrated to these African colonies, partly as officials, who constitute a large class all by themselves, and partly as travelers or business men. A large litera- ture has grown up concerning the tribes and races, natural resources, climate, etc., of this great continent of promise. Each continent is a world of its own. There is a. vast difference between America and Europe, or Eu- rope and Asia, but in many ways Africa is the most unique. It is not only different, but it is a continent of wonders. Where in all the earth is there such a river and valley as the Nile? or a cataract like the Victoria Falls, beside which even the mighty Niagara is called a poor second? Where is there a lake a thousand miles long and of unknown depth, like the Tanganyika, situated in a rift of the earth? This. rift, or cleft, in the earth, by the way, extends from South Africa north one hundred fifty miles east of Lake Victoria, through Lake Rudolf and western. Abyssinia, across the Red Sea, ending in the Dead Sea and• the Jordan valley. Where is there a desert like the Sahara, as large as the United States? or a. thousand miles of forests and high plateaus like the Cameroons, Belgian Congo, and Angora? Africa has an immense system of rivers,— the Niger, the Congo, and greatest of all, the Nile. Strange to say, some of the mightiest streams, instead of reaching the ocean, lose themselves in the desert.
A New View of the Wonderful Victoria Falls, Africa
THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR
GIRL 0' MINE ARTHUR W. SPALDING
February 16, 1926
)t.PE
A Wild Rosebud
Like a Wild Rose
I T E darlingest flower in all the world is the
wild rose. Roadside or prairie, pasture or
swamp, the sight of its exquisite face and
its sturdy form fill me with a delight that
none of the hothouse products nor the exotic treasures
of the garden can evoke. The iris is a pretty miss,
with many frills ; and the cheerful gladiolus well earns
the diminutive " glad." The dahlia is very correct,
with all the latest fashions carefully copied ; and the
chrysanthemum, which has risen so determinedly from
a plebeian origin, may fit alike the kitchen or the
drawing-room. The lily
is a sweet, cold maiden,
withdrawn into cloistral
aloofness ; while the rose
of the gardens, ,under
man's sedulous education,
has come to reign, with
regal beauty, the queen of
all floral society. But the
wild rose smiles at you.
Glowing with modest
color is the wild rose,
pink most often in the
vigor of its youth, and in
its age fading sometimes
to a lovely white. But,
red or pink or white,
never does it close its
heart away from you :
sincerity is the note of
all its life. The tea rose,
modified and trained and
cultivated for its role,
presents the smoothness
of its lovely cheek, but
it shuts away its heart.
Long ago men looked
upon the rose and said,
" There is too much of
heart in her. We gaze
forever upon its gold, and we see not enough of the
outward loveliness of the rose. Let us have more
petals, elegant and seclusive." So they took the yel-
low stamens of her heart, and they changed them into
petals. And ever as the petals were more the heart
was less; so that for mingled pride and shame the
rose shut up her heart, and bade men look upon her
outward loveliness alone.
But the wild rose would have none of that. " My
heart," said she, " is the very reason for my life.
There is wrought the miracle of God, who blesses and
shapes and brings to fruit the seed that lies in me,
that the earth may continue to be gladdened and that
other life may live." And so the wild rose keeps her
heart of gold, and, simple in her ways, puts forth her
labors and her love. She asks no service ; she gives it.
For bee and bird and man is her service, in food and
in beauty. Unlike her cultivated sister, she does not
require the hand of the gardener to live. The garden
rose, all petals, cannot make another rose ; she is de-
pendent upon others to preserve her helpless loveli-
ness. But the wild rose, on mountain or on plain,
in the wetness of the bog or in the rocky barrenness
of the height, adapts herself to the needs of her hab-
itat, and smiles out at the world.
When I said the wild rose has a sturdy form, I
meant it. Various, I know, are the forms of roses,
even in the wild. Some have stocky stems, and some
are long and pliant ; some stand like stakes planted
for landmarks, and some go trailing where they may.
Yet every one of them is
self-sufficient. If the win-
ing rose cannot find an
eminence to climb, it
spreads over the lowly
earth its verdure and its
bloom. If the upstand-
ing rosebush is shut away
from sight by surround-
ing foliage, it shoots up
and arches over, and
makes the larger its little
garden of roses.
And ever and always
the rose plant knows its
rights, and enforces them.
No hungry beast may
come and plunder its
glory, for it is too sharply
armed. " Thorns," we call
the prickles of the rose ;
yet they are .not true
thorns; for thorns come
out from the wood, they
are modified branches ;
but the sharp weapons
of the rose, stout and
curved on its big canes
or straighter and weaker
on its less exposed parts,
are merely surface barbs that peel off with the bark.
But, thorns or prickles, they suffice to bring respect
as well as homage to the rose.
Some people think the less of the rose for its barbs.
" Roses without thorns be thine," was the wilted wish
of witless autographers in my youth ; but I never saw
any sense to it. " Blackberries without thorns " I
could well wish for every searcher for wild fruit;
but as for roses — why, if they had no thorns, how
could you tell them from spineless corn cockle in the
field or flaunting dahlias in the garden 7 For my part,
I think the rose has her distinction quite as much on
account of her thorns as on account of her blossoms.
Do you know, girl o' mine, you are very like a wild
rose! And I pray that you may always be! When-
ever in the wilderness of life, roaming, scratched by
the briers and breathless from fighting my way, I
come upon you of a sudden, and you smile at me, why,
(Continued on page 12) " Petulance is self-punishment."
iw A Fr
Photo by F. D. Starr
8 THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR^ February 16. 1926
UT, grandmother, the gov- ernor has consented to be judge." The voice held a note of awe. " Yes? " Mrs. Endicott cored an apple, cut it into quarters, and dropped them into the big earthen dish beside her chair. Judith Endicott, an anxious look on her face, turned the leaves of an old cookbook, its pages yellowed by time. Many specimens of handwrit- ing greeted her eyes as she fluttered the leaves — fine and beautiful, with carefully dotted i's and crossed t's on the one page ; on the opposite page, fierce round capitals bristled over the lines. Again the words in other reci- pes flowed in wavering m's and ob- scure e's and uncrossed t's, until she wished that her great-aunt Harriet had paid as much attention to pen- manship as she had to cooking. The hands that had written these old reci- pes, in red, blue, green, and violet ink, had long since been folded to rest. But Grandmother Endicott prized this book, along with the blue willow ware and mahogany furniture handed down from past generations. " Read that cake recipe of your great-grandmother Hunter's, Judith. I think it is written in violet ink, along toward the first of the book. I liked it well when I was young." Judith read it. " So common, granny." " See here, child, if you've set your heart on marshmallow fillings and chocolate tops and fruit salads and that sort of thing, I want you to have them. Hand down that 'drp,gon tea- pot frori the china closet, and take out/a dollar or so, and then hitch up old Bess and drive into town and get what you need." " Our rug money! Take our rug money, when every penny means so much saving and economy! " " Well, it only means enjoying a little while longer the anticipation of putting down a new rug in our front room. It has been, and is, a great pleasure to me to save a bit here and a bit there for it. I always do enjoy anticipating." The Endicotts were not well-to-do. Grandfather could not turn out work as in his younger' days, and many dol- lars must be paid out yearly for hired help. But grandmother kept the fam- ily on butter-and-egg money, laying by a dime or a quarter as she could toward needed extras ; for the last two years the " extra " saved was for a rug. Judith Endicott had lived since babyhood on the old farm. She loved it— of course she did. But she had listened in wide-eyed surprise when a
city lady, stopping for an hour while a chauffeur doctored her automobile in the dusty road, termed the house " perfectly dear! " She had examined the quaint latches on the doors, given exclamations of delight over a grass-knobbed stand, and hinted that a good price would be paid for the highboy in the best room. " I'd as soon sell the family tomb- stone," grandmother had remarked, after watching the guest walk slowly down the phlox-bordered path to the gate. " I feel as if our furniture is really a part of the family. It is not for sale." Judith admired her grandmother, but she did cling so to old-style things. " I'm not going to take any rug money to help win that county fair prize, but if I difl win the ten dollars for the school luncheon made and put up by a country girl, then we could buy the rug right off." " So we could," replied the old lady, measuring spice lint° the apple butter. " I haye an idea, grandmother, that Grace Liston is •going to attach that nice pint thermos bottle of hers to her basket." " What for? " " Iced fruit juice—keeps it cold for twenty-four hours," replied Judith. " But I never heard of country school children carrying thermos bottles to school." " Neither did I, but all those extras count, and Prue Holt hinted that she was going to put a com- bination salad into her basket." " I never took salad to school in my life. I don't believe it's real healthy. One point, Judith, you girls should keep in view : The prize offered is for a country luncheon." " I don't care, grand- mother ; the best thing; win in these days." " I don't mind wait- ing for the new rug a spell longer. Just you run along to town and buy exactly what you need." The kitchen began to take on a spicy odor, as the apple butter bubble 1 upon the stove. Judith, curled up in the calico-cushioned rocker by the south window, brooded over the lunch problem.
" How many girls in our district expect to compete for that ten dol- lars " Grandmother held an im- mense spoon poised over the kettle. " Three or • four. I look for Kate Dalton to back out ; she never has learned to •cook." " How is Dollie on bread? Seems to me that Mrs. Oldfield usually makes the bread." " But Dollie can make good cake." " I'll wager the governor will notice the bread in lunches more than any- thing. Men like bread." " You are not expecting him to eat the best lunch! " " I'm calculating on his doing so." Judith stared curiously at her grandmother, who was steadily wield- , ing the stirring spoon. " I'm counting a good deal on how the lunches look." " I'm giving you a free rein, Judith." Judith looked out the window. In the yard a sheep was nibbling, a flock of -Cow Is were also finding a meal, and
10 THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR February 16, 1926
Forty-nine contestants began to wonder if the gov-
ernor was really making sport, but Mrs. Endicott
smiled and Judith's cheeks were pink.
" I'll guess," lifting the pail higher, " there's a red
apple and —"
" Somethin' or other in a little jar." The tone was
shaky but eager.
" I hope it is homely and brown, that jar," said the
judge, as he lifted the napkin. " My mother owned
the mate to this, a mite worn because her son was -a
mite careless."
" Say, governor, ye ain't findin' a scallop o' last
fall's run o' sap? " The voice was thin and quavery.
The governor explored, and brought to view the
desired scallop.
" I most knowed 'twas there. Et all round the edge
first, I did. Thanky, governor."
" I say! There's the gingerbread! "
The governor held up a turnover.
" Cookies? "
" Sure! " The governor's eyes danced as he found
a common pewter spoon. " Mother never would let
me take a good spoon ; we hadn't but six silver spoons
in those days."
" Say, Mr. Governor," cried a voice in the crowd,
" what are you expectin' to find in that little jar?
What are you hopin' is in it? "
" Red raspberry jam," came the quick reply.
Judith Endicott's eyes widened. " How did grand-
mother know?
" Well, folks, this dinner pail takes me back forty
years, when a freckled-faced boy in blue jeans and
made-over suspenders, one toe done up in a rag, went
along a country road, carrying a pail like this. Often
he stopped to answer a blackbird's whistle, or shy at
a squirrel frisking along a stone wall. Sometimes he
took off the cover and secured a cooky — it was a long
time since breakfast. The sight of this old-fashioned
tin pail calls up some pleasant memories. I hope I
--dream tonight of an old farmhouse among the hills,
of my mother mending beside the light of a kerosene
lamp, father reading the weekly paper, and grand-
mother knitting mittens for me of red yarn. And I
hope I'll dream that mother stoops over me, tucks me
in, and says, ' Son, did you say your prayers': ' "
A hush had fallen upon the crowd and a far-away
look came into many eyes.
" This pail is easily the prize winner. It, contains
a real country lunch, and I know it was put up by a
country girl. I'd like to shake hands with her."
" Well, Judith! " Mrs. Endicott smiled into the
flushed face of her granddaughter, " I'm as pleased
„as I can be. You have won the only blue ribbon in
the family. My preserves came in second, and grand-
father's Rhode Island Reds only got honorable men-
tion."
" But, grandmother, I don't think I'm the one the
„governor should shake hands with — it's you."
" Nonsense, child! You had a free rein. Run
along, and don't keep the, judge waiting."— Frances
Green Man.
A Stupid Doorkeeper
gospel message was contained in the " Sacred Classics,"
as the Chinese call the Bible. Jow had only one
hundred fifty brass " cash "— equal to five• cents in
American money — in the world. He paid them over
promptly for a copy of the New Testament. He could
not read a word, so everybody thought him more
stupid than ever for such a purchase. But Jow did
not care. He went about with his book, asking people
what the characters meant, and in a few weeks he had
learned the characters of the Lord's Prayer after some
queer fashion of his own.
He soon found the missionaries, and offered himself
as their gatekeeper. All day long he wrote characters
in the sand, in the intervals between his duties, and
learned them. He called them his " friends," and
steadily became more familiar with them. He marked
the hieroglyphics of his book after a memory system
which he had invented. The missionary, talking to
him about it, was surprised at its simplicity and value.
The language has fifty thousand separate characters,
but only four hundred eighteen sounds. Jow was
learning and noting down the sounds. By the end of
the summer he could puzzle out all the New Testament
in his way, and became thoroughly familiar with it.
While the missionary was away on a preaching tour,
Jow had some weeks to himself. He went on studying
the characters in a different way. No Chinese scholar
will help an ignorant man to study the Bible, so Jow
took a roundabout method. He would select an un-
known character from his Bible, draw it until he knew
its lines, and then go to the large tea house, where
scholars resorted. Sitting down beside some one who
looked wise, Jow would draw the unknown character
on the ground with a stick, over and over again.
(Concluded on page 18) to bear their burdens, the lighter ours will be."
R. WALTER ELLIOTT, a missionary in
China, had a stupid doorkeeper to guard
the entrance to the compound and welcome
the Chinese who came to see the preacher.
Jow — for that was his name — could not read. Worse
than that, he could not tell one Chinese character from
another. He spent all his spare time, indeed, in draw-
ing Chinese hieroglyphics on the ground by the gate
with a pointed stick. " Jesus wrote on the ground,
you say, and I guess I can, too," was his reply to all
who laughed at him, writes Edward L. Whitney,
in the Sunday School Advocate.
The missionary had chosen Jow against everybody's
advice. " Get a scholar for your doorkeeper," people
had said, " one who by his learning will command the
respect of the proud Chinese literati who may come
to your door. To see a numskull like Jow there —
a man who cannot read — will prejudice them against
you finally." But Dr. Elliott- knew of no scholarly
Chinese who loved Jesus as Jow did. Jow was by
nature a " truth seeker," as the missionaries call it —
- a. rare quality in the East.
Before he came to sit at the mission gate, Jow had
sought truth in all kinds of places. He had made
pilgrimages under Buddhist teaching and had done
penance ; he had visited many noted Taoist temples,
and paid tribute to their greedy priests. But nowhere
could he find truth, until one day, up in a mountain
village, on the borders of Honan Province, he heard
a native Christian preacher. As he listened, he said
to himself, " That, at last, is the truth! "
He followed the preacher to the village inn, and
questioned him. Sitting by the feeble light of a wick
of pith floating in a saucer of peanut oil, the preacher,
who was also a Bible colporteur, explained how the
" The more we help others
WO' y"Er4L /1% (^) Keep the Morning Watch. Do my honest part. Care for my body. Keep a level eye. Be courteous and obedient. Walk softly in the sanctuary. Keep a song in my heart. Go on God's errands.
-^1
111 ',441111(arieltilir
Wila411!"b117' ‘4.11:' OUR LAW
hit
C1,
;1,4 1
OUR PLEDGE
By the grace of God.- 1 will be pure and kindand true. 1 will keep the JuniorLaw. 1 will be a servant ofGod and a friend to DUD, EL;
White- Foot
HE February rain was falling down, down,
down, as if the drops were lead instead, of
water. The February sky, if you could call
it sky, had settled down, down, down, as if
it, too, were of lead, and were being propped up only
by the tops of the stiff, bare trees.
A green stick in the fireplace behind me sizzled and
spattered, and blew its small steam whistles to warn
me away from the windows, from the sight of the
naked trees, and the cold, thick
fog upon the meadow, and the
blur of the pine woods beyond,
and the rain falling down, down,
down.
A dreary world out of doors
surely, with not a sign of life.
The pine tree, rising up above the
hillside in front of the window,
was green ; but only a few lifeless
leaves rattled among the middle
branches of the oaks, while up in
the stark top of a hickory sapling
was wedged a robin's nest, de-
serted and wet and going to
pieces.
I shivered in spite of the hearth
fire behind me, for the face of
the gray gloom pressed close up
against the window outside. And
the empty robin's nest, already a
ruin, its mud walls broken, its
tiny timbers hanging loose in the
rain!
But how large a nest for a robin,
I thought, and how strangely
peaked and pointed it is, like a
little haycock! Then all at once,
inside of me, and all over me, I
felt a warm, delightful feeling.
" It isn't possible," said I aloud, but all to myself,
" it isn't possible that little 'White Foot has moved
into the old robin's nest, and fitted it up with a peaked
roof for the winter."
And the thought of it started the warm, delightful
feeling again inside of me and all over me; and
snatching up the tongs by the fireplace, I ran out into
the February rain that was falling down, down, down,
and tapped a few times on the slender hickory sap-
ling.
And what do you think happened I
It stopped raining?
No.
You broke your tongs?
No.
" A great life loses no time waiting,
The nestnest fell out, and hit you on the head?
No.
You ran back into the house out of the rain?
Yes, I did. And I went straight to the window, and
looked out again at the robin's nest, my ruined, de-
serted robin's nest, with its thick thatch of water-
proof cedar bark, with its little round door hole in
.the side, with its soft, furry bed, all toasty warm, out
of which with my tapping tongs I had just roused
White Foot, and brought him,
sleepy-eyed, to look down at me
from his door.
The rain continued to fall
down, down, down, for of course
it couldn't fall up, up, up. But
my spirits could, and they did —
up, up, up at the thought of that
little mouse all safe and warm for
the winter in robin's deserted nest.
And so, if
" There are no birds in last year's nest,"
as mourns a doleful poem, you
need not be sad on that account;
for if you look closely, you may
find, now and then, a mouse in
last year's nest and who will say
that finding a mouse in a bird's
nest is not almost as interesting
as finding a bird ,there?
A robin's nest in the wintertime
would be the wettest, muddiest,
coldest place in the world for a
robin ; but a mouse can take that
old robin's nest, and turn it into
a snuggery (if you know what a
snuggery is) so cozy and warm
that neither the top of Mr.
Mouse's sharp nose,, nor the tip
of his thin ears, nor the tippy-tip
tail ever feels one sharp nip of the
A Little Closer
R. HARE WHEN the way- grows darker, Where the dangers hide, Press a little closer To His side.
And when sorrows threaten With a wild command, Cling a little'tighter To His hand.
When the friendships cherished Disappear from view, Trust a Love unchanging — His is true!
Should thy courage falter, On the path of tears, Bid Him share thy weakness, And thy fears!
Never Friend so constant, Never Love so tried — Press a little closer To His side.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
of his long, bare
cold outside.
So if there are no birds in last year's bird's nest (as
surely there ought not to be), take your tongs, and
tap, or better climb up and feel gently in with your
finger; for a mouse may happen to bite you, and that
would be interesting.
For a mouse is interesting, just as interesting in
his mousy ways as a whale in'his whalish ways or a
robin in his ways. Can you name anything that does
not grow interesting as soon as you begin to watch
and study it? Large things, small things, Bengal
tigers or earthworms — all things will surprise and
interest you if you will study them for a season.
because it does the next little thing." 11
February 16, 1926 (^) THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR 13
too good, did just the same. It happened to be a fashion that did not suit your beauty nor your style. The objection there might be to it in my mind lay in its insincerity for you. It was taking a golden stamen from your heart and making it into a petal, merely because some ambitious social gardener wanted to experiment. Now of course we shall be influenced by the society in which we live. I am, and you will be. There is no merit in wearing silver buckles on our shoes when all the world is using laces ; there is no virtue in saying " thou " and "thee " because the world has backslidden into " you." Fashion is a popular rut in which the wheels of our car may as well run so long as we are going that way and so long as the rut be not too deep. But to let go of the steering wheel and step on the gas is to court a wreck. I say, Keep your eyes open and your hand firm, and when your way demands it, pull out and start a rut of your own. To keep a golden heart, a heart of sincerity, you have to be independent. You cannot copy all the styles you see ; you have to think what suits your needs. You cannot echo all the speech you hear ; you have to study and discriminate. You cannot adopt all the manners you observe; you have to select and make your own. You cannot mirror all the ideals and motives with which in others you come in contact ; you have to search the deeps and the heights of life to find your guiding power. Do you know, my girl, that your heart will be read upon your face? If the inner life of you is being lost, is going all to show, the soul will die out of your eyes, and beauty will die with it. If it is not only being preserved, but is fulfilling its functions, carrying out its purposes, swelling to joyful fruit the mysteries of its being, deep as the blue heavens will be the vision of the soul that shows in your countenance. Sincerity thrives with health ; sincerity dies with paint. Sometime the fad for daubing the cheeks and the lips and the eyebrows with pigments will, tempo- rarily, die out, except in the underworld, from which it came ; but that will be too late for you. Neither would it test you then for sincerity. The thoughtful girl, the sincere girl, will despise the crudeness of cosmetic art, because she has so much greater an art, the sincere art of building her health, and so painting her cheeks from within. She preserves not only the velvety texture of an unabused skin, but the verve and vigor of an unabused mind. It is that, and not crude color, that gives beauty and charm. And in some types of beauty, clear pallor is more attractive than vivid color. No man who is more than a bar- barian likes daubs of ochre on the faces of his lady friends. Unknowingly to most women, and uncon- sciously to many men, yet nevertheless truly, the free and flaunting use of cosmetics is a large factor in the increasing lack of deference with which men of this generation treat women. For in the vanity box not merely has sincerity been reduced to insincerity, but insincerity itself has been paraded as sincerity. And even the insincere lose respect for such emptiness. " Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher ;... all is vanity." Sincerity thrives with thought ; sincerity dies with folly. The age in which we live is an urging age; it invites to speed. And Jehu's speech goes with Jehu's speed : sharp, curt, cutting corners! (" Who is on my side I who? "—" Throw her down.") I should be uncomfortable to be Jehonadab, riding with Jehu, even to see his zeal for the Lord.
But, well, let us race with words if, we must; and let us race with automobiles if the speed laws will let us : still, it is worth while to understand the gears and to be sure of the quality of the gasoline we are using ; and it is worth while to know and respect the laws of speech and to be sure of the meanings and implications of the words we use. The slinging of slang is very tempting to the youth in his early teens, just as the throwing of stones is very tempting to the child in' his earliest years; and sometimes it takes the payment or the ,punishment for a broken pane to teach the lesson of how stones -- or words should be used. Again sincerity will direct you. It will make you stop and question of yourself : "Why do I do this? Why do I say this? " And then, if there is any worth in you, you will follow up your questions with in- vestigation : the, sources, the associations, the 'mean- ings, the effects, of your manners and your words. I trust you for the rest; for love of approbation is' just as strong in you as in met and I am sure you have a mind to discern from whom approbation. is most to be desired. Anyway, be yourself, and your *est self ; for a mask of manners or of speech will get you company you will not like, but an open soul "will win you friends who will be a joy for life. There are times when sharpness of manner and keenness of speech are as necessary as the thorns of 4the rose — and for the same purpose, self-protection. No ruthless bruiser of souls has right to the sweetness that he crushes. But it is only the gracious who know -the secret of the use of thorns. To be a habitual thistle in manner and speech is to forego the privilege of being a rose. Sincerity thrives with love; sincerity dies with meanness. God's green world cannot grow in dark- ness ; it has to have the light of the sun. And God's image cannot grow in the black atmosphere of hate and envy ; it has to have the light of love. Love is the greatest power in the world : love of God, love of parent, love of friend. No force can avail against the power of love. A pagan emperor of old flung the might of the Roman Empire against the religion of Jesus Christ. It was the force of the world against the love of God. Weak seemed the one, gentle, yielding, forgiving; powerful seemed the other, stern, determined, im- placable. But the emperor could not prevail above the Carpenter, and, falling in death, he cried : " Thou hast conquered, 0 Galilean! " That cry is all that makes him memorable. The soul that is filled with love will have the highest ideals, the sweetest grace, the most enduring beauty. Ambition that is founded on the giving of service rather than on the demanding of service is the ambition that will build for eternity. No petty jealousies enter into the making of that soul, no tinge of mean envy discolors it. Higher and higher it piles the glories of a character heaven-born, a character men will admire and God will love. The rose, my dear, the wild rose, has a heart of gold. Its smile is infectious ; its blush is its own. It keeps its charm because it will not sacrifice its service to its gain. It is simple, it is sincere. It welcomes its friends with an unself-conscious grace, and it knows how to take care of would-be despoilers. Without ostentation it fulfils its destiny, which is to brighten and to serve the world. And if there be anywhere a flower that is worthy to be called the maiden's own, mark you, it is the sweet wild rose. " Hope always helps."
Our Counsel Corner
In Our Counsel Corner the Missionary Volunteer De- partment will be glad to answer questions concerning young people's problems, their society work, and Christian experience. The department cordially invites your ques- tions on these matters, and assures you of careful atten- tion. Questions relating to general church problems had better be sent to the Editor of the Review and Herald. Address all communications to the Missionary Volunteer Department, Takoma Park, D. C., accompanied by the name and address of the sender, so that a personal an- swer may be given if the question cannot be printed. In publishing the question in Our Counsel Corner, the name of the questioner will be withheld if so desired.
I.
14 THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR February 16, 1926
Patches
(Concluded from page 6)
carried the lesson. Sometimes it is necessary to yield
to the molding influences of circumstances.
" And then, too," continued the mender, " much
thoroughness must be exercised when sewing, for if
the work is carelessly done, it is almost useless, and
soon falls to pieces. The lesson is easy to learn this
time, isn't it? " she smilingly remarked.
" Yes; one would never think that such valuable,
thoughts could be drawn from simple things." And
I turned homeward, thankful for this practical dem-
onstration of the Master's words, " My yoke is easy,
and My burden is light." go-
When was our calendar made, and by whom? Is it true that Sunday is a Latin name for Sabbath? From what were the names of the days of the week derived?. A. S. P.. The calendar now in use in practically all countries of the world is the Gregorian, so called in honor of Pope Gregory XIII, at whose request it was made about 1582 by Luigi Lilio Ghiraldi, a learned astronomer and physician of Naples. The calendar in use before the Gregorian was the Julian, so named in honor of Julius Caesar (100-44 B. c.). The Julian calendar provided for three years of 365 days, each three-year period followed by one year having 366 days. But that made the average year eleven minutes too long. The error, which by 1582 amounted to ten days, was corrected by the Gregorian calendar, which provided, as did the Julian calendar, that each fourth year shall consist of 366 days, but, unlike the Julian calendar, makes the important exception of " every year whose number is exactly divisible by four, except those that are divisible by 100 and not by 400." This provides for the omission of three leap years in four centuries, and for the omission of an additional day, as was the case in 1900, which, though exactly divisible by 4 and by 100, was not exactly divisible by 400, and was therefore not (^) a leap year. It should be observed that neither the Julian nor the Gre- gorian calendar makes any change in the free-running week of seven days. When the Gregorian calendar was proclaimed by Gregory in 1582, in all Roman Catholic countries, " Thursday, 4 October, was followed by Friday, 15 October. So in England, in 1752, Wednesday, 2 September, was followed by Thursday, 14 September."-" The Catholic Encyclopedia," Vol. III, art. " Chronology," p. 740. No, Sunday is not Latin, nor is it derived from a Latin root; it is from the Saxon, and is simply the heathen name of the first day of the week. We quote as follows from the Encyclo- pedia Britannica, Volume IV, article " Calendar," page 988, 11th edition: " The English names of the days are derived from the Saxon. The ancient Saxons borrowed the week from some Eastern nation, and substituted the names of their own divinities for those of the gods of Greece. In legislative and judiciary acts the Latin names are still retained. Latin English (^) Saxon Dies Solis (^) Sunday Sun's day Dies Lunae Monday (^) Moon's day Dies Martis (^) Tuesday Tiw's day Dies Mercurii (^) Wednesday Woden's day Dies Jovis Thursday Thor's day Dies Veneris (^) Friday Frigg's day Dies Saturni Saturday Seterne's day." O. P. B. " The less men think,
The (^) Sabbath School
Young People's Lesson
IX A Blind Man Healed; Jesus Visits
Zacchxus
(February e7) LESSON SCRIPTURE: Luke 18: 35 to 19: 10. PARALLEL SCRIPTURE : Mark 10: 46-52. MEMORY VERSE: Luke 19: 6. LESSON HELP : " The Desire of Ages," pp. 552-556. Questions Sight Restored
- What man sat by the wayside as Jesus and His disciples passed by? What inquiry did he make? Luke 18: 35, 36; Mark 10: 46. (Compare Matt. 20: 29, 30.) Note 1.
- What reply did he receive? What was his petition to Jesus? Luke 181 37, 38.
- How did some in the multitude reprove him? With what result? Whom did he acknowledge Jesus to be? Verse 39.
- What command did Jesus then give? What did He ask the blind man? What earnest reply did He receive? Verses 40, 41.
- How did Jesus restore the man's sight? What had saved. him? Verse 42.
- How did the man who was blind show he was thankful? What did the people who saw the miracle give to God? Verse 43. Zacchaus Receives Jesus
- Who is mentioned in connection with Jesus' passing through Jericho? Who was Zacchteus? Luke 19: 1, 2.
- What great desire did Zacchteus have? How did he gratify this desire? Verses 3, 4. Note 2.
- When Jesus came to where Zacchteus was, what did He tell him? How did the publican show he rejoiced to receive Jesus? Verses 5, 6. Zacchseus Receives Salvation
- What did this cause the people to do? Verse 7. Note 3.
- How did Zacehteus show his faith and repentance? Verse
- Note 4.
- What came to Zacchteus as a result? Verse 9.
- For what did God send Jesus to this world? Verse 10. Notes
- Luke makes mention of one blind man observed begging by the roadside as Jesus and His company approached Jericho. He hears the commotion of the approaching multitude, and asks the meaning of it. At this point a period of time elapses during which Jesus and His friends enter Jericho and dine with Zac- ehteus. (See Luke 19: 1-7.) In the meanwhile the blind beggar, learning the route Jesus would take in His journey, stations himself with another blind beggar by the roadside to wait for Him. After giving the parable of the nobleman in the house of Zacchteus (Luke 19: 11-27), Jesus resumes His journey toward Jerusalem. (See Verses 1, 11, 28.) Again the cry is raised, " Jesus of Nazareth passeth by." The two blind men who have been waiting, one of whom Mark calls Bartima3us, hear them approaching and begin to call out, " Have mercy on us, 0 Lord, Thou Son of David." Matt. 20: 29-34; Mark 10: 46-52. It is here that Jesus heals them both. Luke thinks of but one beggar as Christ enters Jericho. Mark singles out one as He leaves, and gives his name, but Matthew sees the healing of both beg- gars as Jesus resumes His journey to Jerusalem.
- From the example of Jesus we may learn " that solicitude to behold the Saviour will not pass unnoticed by Him, but will meet with His warm approbation, and be connected with His blessing. Jesus was willing to encourage efforts to come to Him, and His benevolence prompted Him to gratify the desires of the man who was solicitous to see Him. He does not disdain the mansions of the rich any more than He does the dwelling-places of the poor, provided there be a humble heart; and He did not suppose there was less need of His presence in order to save in the house of the rich man than among the poor."- Barnes.
- " It cost Christ something that day to enroll Himself as a friend of Zacchteus. But He was willing to pay the full price of doing good in His own way. There was never an hour when He was not ready to be wounded for the transgression of others, to be bruised for their iniquities, and to accept stripes of all sorts that they might be healed. His readiness to incur the the more they talk."
OUR
BUSY
W ORLD 41
(^16) THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR (^) February 16. 1926
THE Argentine and Chinese embassies at Washington are closed temporarily because of the anthracite shortage. Their heating plants could not take care of soft coal.
MRS. THEODORE ROOSEVELT, widow of former President Roose- velt, was recently entertained by Mrs. Coolidge on her first visit to the White House, Washington, D. C., since she left with her distinguished husband in 1909. .4 ' NUMEROUS European insurance firms have listed as " acts of God " the deplorable series of disasters, chiefly due to floods, which have caused incalculable damage in recent weeks in Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Holland. In the city of Paris alone the loss is estimated at $17,500,000.
AT Moscow, the Soviet Postal Bureau has again issued warn- ings that all letters arriving from foreign countries must be marked "U. S. S. R." (Union of Soviet Socialistic Russia) instead of " Russia." The warnings contained the formal notice that letters not so marked are liable to be returned or destroyed.
THE eagle supplants the buffalo in the new seal and flag of the Interior Department of the United States Government. Secretary Work says the national bird lighting on a mountain peak better typifies the jurisdiction of his Department than the buffalo insignia adopted under Secretary Lane. A A. TELEPHONE officials state that usage of the familiar salutation " Hello " is gradually dying out. More and more are telephone; users appreciating the fact that an effective telephone personal- ity is not only a valuable asset, but is equally desirable as a social asset. Accordingly, when Mrs. Smith's telephone rings, she tries to identify herself at once by saying, " Mrs. Smith speaking," rather than simply " Hello," which must lead to further identification. J. J. J. IN 1925 the Sixty-eighth Congress rejected all wet legislation, voted $11,000,000 for enforcement of prohibition and anti- narcotic laws, and gave the coast guard an appropriation of $14,500,000. Antismuggling treaties with nine naticals are now in effect. Prohibition activities have been reorganized under an assistant secretary of the Treasury, and the United State Su- preme Court has upheld the right of officers to search auto- mobiles, without a warrant, if they believe that the cars carry liquor. J. A. A SUBSTITUTE for insulin; the world-famous remedy for dia- betes, has been prepared by Dr. J. M. Rabinowit,eh, of Canada. The new substance is a sweet sirup, analogous to sugar, and is obtained from glycerin on which a certain bacterium has been allowed to act. It is known as dioxyacetone, and has been found to lower the blood sugar. The great advantage it has over insulin is that it can be taken through the mouth. Insulin has to be administered by injections. It is anticipated that within a few years the new substance will supersede other remedies in treating most cases of diabetes where the disease has not ad- vanced too far.
THE fiscal year of the United States Government is not the calendar year. It begins on July 1 and ends on the following June 30. So the proposed budget of national expenses which President Coolidge recently transmitted to the new Congress covers the expected expenses for the last half of 1926 and the first half of 1927. The ordinary expenses of government are estimated at $1,845,546,960. To that is added $515,583,398, which it is proposed to use in reducing the principal of the national debt, and $795,000,000, which must be paid in interest on that debt; $740,000,000 more is the cost of the postal service, but that will be almost or quite met by the postal revenues. Altogether the Treasury must find $3,156,130,358; but it is estimated that it cannot only do that, but put aside a surplus of $330,000,000 by the end of the year. The surplus for 1925 was estimated to be $67,884,489, but it turned out at the end of the year to be more than $250,000,000. The surplus for the current year was originally estimated at $373,000,000; it now appears that it will be not more than. $262,000,000.
A A " THROUGH youth organizations the Soviets are teaching the Russia n'people how to play," writes Stanley High, in " Europe Turns the Corner." " I have attended classes in playground work conducted in Moscow by an American recreation director. Groups of young men and women are sent up from the various factories to take this instruction. Upon their return to the factories they organize recreational activities. As a result of the encouragement of the government, intersectional sport con- tests have been organized. Compulsory athletics have been in- troduced in many schools. During last summer the government purchased ten thousand pairs of skis in order to promote winter sports. Across Russia football fields have been laid out and recreational centers established. The work of teaching the Russian people to play is very largely carried on by the youth of Russia through these youth organizations."
A A A
WITHIN a few years, it is hoped, there will be ready a Protestant encyclopedia that will do for the evangelical churches in this country and their faith what the Catholic Encyclopedia and the Jewish Encyclopedia have done for theirs. The plan to compile such an encyclopedia has been under consideration for some time, and an able committee, headed by former Governor Milliken, of Maine, and composed of some of the most promi- nent leaders and scholars in the Protestant churches, is already at work on the gigantic task. In addition to historical material, the compilers plan to have the new encyclopedia contain com- plete information about the many and varied modern movements in which the evangelical churches are interested. The ency- clopedia is designed to serve the purposes of laymen as well as students and ministers.
A A A
THE prophets who predicted a severe winter are already justified so far as Western Europe is concerned. In France the thermometer has dropped to twenty-nine degrees below in the Jura Mountains, and they have had snow squalls on the Riviera. Villages in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium are buried in snow and threatened -by wild boars, driven savage by hunger. Switzerland has had unusually cold weather, but they are used to cold weather there and do not complain. There is good skating in Paris, and also in London. All other kinds of out- door sports have had to be abandoned. A good deal of suffering is reported in the towns of both France and England, where the heating arrangements are not designed to meet such extreme temperatures. A A A
NEXT year in Turkey will be 1927 instead of 1305 if the re- cent recommendation of the special commission is ratified by the Turkish parliament. The new government took up the question of adopting the Christian calendar, since Bulgaria, Rumania, and other Balkan countries had done so. The present calendar dates from the hegira, or the flight of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina in A. D. 622.
A A ,
MISS HELEN KELLER, famed prodigy, deaf and blind since she was nineteen months old, visited the White House in Washing- ton, D. C., recently, and was photographed with President Cool- idge, who told her of his interest in her work for the blind. She " heard " his words of greeting through her fingers held upon his lips.
THE old type of American Indian is passing, and another generation may not see a full-blooded Indian left. The red- men are intermarrying with great frequency. Their ancient lore is getting dimmer and dimmer. Oil fields have made some tribes immensely wealthy. Many Indians have taken to the white man's dress and ways as a matter of course. Though the census figures show a total Indian population of 350,000 for the continental United States, or a gain of 19,000 in the last twelve years, the American Indian today is nearly half white and, in certain sections, half African. Ten States have more than 10, Indians. Oklahoma leads, with more than 120,000. The total Indian wealth is estimated at $2,500,000,000. " True worshiping always leads to witnessing."
