,
•I
WORLD EVENTS IN THE
LIGHT 'OF :PRDPHE'CY
Vol. 5o, No.
WARBURTON, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA,
JANUARY
7, 1935
Price
Will Europe's
Powder Keg
EXPLODE ?
C>-
Assassination of YlIcrOSlallia'S
Dictator-Killg Rocked All Europe
ALONZO L. BAKER
N June 28, 1914, an assassin's
gun killed Serbian Archduke
Francis Ferdinand and his
wife at Serajevo. That gun was soon
heard round the earth. Now, twenty
years after, our whole world is still
suffering the tragic effects of that gunfire.
On the afternoon of October 9,
1934, Dictator-King Alexander of
Yugoslavia, also a Serbian prince,
was shot down by a Croat assassin
in the streets of Marseilles, five minutes after Alexander had disembarked
there, en route to Paris, on a "goodwill tour" of France, Yugoslavia's
ally. Louis Barthou, Foreign Minister of France, was also slain in the
fusillade from the killer's gun.
Within an hour, the statesmen of
all Europe were frantically rushing
back to the offices they had left for
the day. Tremors of apprehension
and foreboding surged through every
chancellory, for everyone knew a
tragedy of Continental proportions
could easily grow out of the Marseilles shooting. The fuse on the
Balkan powder keg is burning perilously short these days; hearing its
ominous hiss, everyone runs for cover.
O
.rnoto
A great Nazi gathering upon the Tenipelhof Field, Berlin.
THE BALKAN SITUATION
THE situation today in the Balkans, as always, is most complicated.
The kingdom of Yugoslavia is one
of those patchwork affairs hastily
flung together at Versailles after the
World War. The full official name
of the country is "The Kingdom of
Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes." Three
peoples make up the one nation. Of
recent years there has been much internal dissension and increasing
threat of revolution. So critical had
affairs become that King Alexander
made- himself dictator five years ago
in order to centre all offices in himself, for he feared treachery and
revolution were brewing. The Croatians particularly have been restive
and threatening. It was one of their
radicals who did the shooting of the
king, hoping thus to bring on a revolution in which the Croats could
break away from Yugoslavia. Both
the Croats and the Slovenes are irked
by the ascendancy and dominance of
the Serbs at Belgrade, the capital,
and both hope for independence. As
Wickham Steed, former editor of the
London Times, says:—
"In January, 1929, Alexander took
the fatal step of establishing a personal dictatorship, under which he
installed a mainly Serbian military
government. This government and
its successors treated Croatia as an
occupied province, set up a stringent
police rule, interned or imprisoned
the Croat leader, Matchek, and dealt
hardly less severely with the leader
of the other Roman Catholic section
of the southern Slays, the Slovenes,
who inhabit the north-western province of the country. Numbers of
young Croats were driven into exile."
Now with Alexander out of the
way, almost anything can happen;
[Registered at the G.P.O., Melbourne, for transmission by post as a newspaper.]
2
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
January 7, 1935
and anything that happens will
threaten the equilibrium of Europe.
"Alexander has been sitting ten
years on a sealed volcano. Now he
is gone, and the volcano may explode.
"The king so dominated political
life that there is hardly another firstclass figure in the country.
"Alexander deeply feared assassination, and lived in a palace in Belgrade that was practically a prison.
"The fact that Alexander was a
dictator, with all the reins of power
in his hands, makes it doubly difficult for any subsequent government
to function. Parliamentary institutions have been discredited in Yugoslavia, the press has been muzzled,
political parties suppressed, and most
aspects of freedom throttled."
GERMANY ALSO A DANGER POINT
when internationalism is the supreme
need of the world, all its peoples have
gone frantically nationalistic, and
have scrapped all they dared of the
international machinery of peace and
joint action. At least half a dozen
times in the past year, nations have
escaped by a bare inch being plunged
into wars which would inevitably
have involved all their neighbours and
overspread the earth. The inch by
.which they escaped may have been as
good as a mile, when it was on the
right side of the line; but it would
take only another inch to shove it
over the line, and that inch may be in
the wrong direction next time.
"Next he would observe the madness with which nations are conducting economic warfare, as a part of
the very atmosphere which so continually threatens military outbreak,
each to the injury of itself, in the
sole hope of inflicting greater injury
on its neighbours. In a business age
this economic war means economic
suicide, just as in an age of mechanics
and chemistry, military war means
physical suicide. Yet we are all
doing the one and plotting the other.
"He would analyse the mental and
moral anarchy, in which we have
thrown away the cultural inheritance
of the ages. We are questioning all
things and denying most. We have,
over most of the earth, repudiated
liberty, justice, intellect, religion, and
democracy, and set up nothing in
their places. The taboos which once
protected marriage and the family
are flouted, and it is seriously questioned whether there is any such thing
as right or wrong. Art has become
a cult of crude and unintelligible ugliness; poetry is at best 'raving prose,'
all of it without rhyme or metre,
much of it without reason, and some
of it without even grammar. Romance has become pornography. All
these are symptoms of decadence."
REVOLUTION A DANGER TO ALL
EUROPE
"Bur," you ask, "how can revolution in Yugoslavia, even though it
come, endanger all Europe?"
Because Yugoslavia has some bitter enemies, any or all of whom
might take alvantage of internal
strife there to seize parts of her territory. Just now the greatest threat
to Yugoslavia is Italy, which faces
Yugoslavia across the narrow Adriatic. Yugoslavia stands in the way
of Mussolini's penetration of the
Balkan States. Ever since he came
to power twelve years ago relations
between the two states have been
strained. Several times Mussolini
seemed on the verge of making war
on Alexander's country; his fear of
France has been the only deterrent
factor.
For Yugoslavia and France are
allies. Yugoslavia is also a member
of the Little Entente, made up of
Czechoslovakia, Rumania, and Yugoslavia. France is in alliance with all
three of these countries. Indeed, the
Little Entente in the Balkans is the
corner-stone of France's European
postwar policy. For sixteen years
now France has laboured assiduously
to perfect the encirclement of Germany. She has long cherished the
vision of a Germany surrounded by
nations inimical to Germany, but
friendly to herself. And France has
just about realised her ambitions, for
Belgium, Poland, the Little Entente,
all are allied with her, and all are
antagonistic to Germany.
If in the present crisis Italy, Bulgaria, or any other nation should
make a move toward Yugoslavia, immediately France and her allies
would come to Yugoslavia's defence.
Such a crisis, of course, would precipitate a general war, in which even
England would become involved;
and the United States would have no
easier job staying out of it than she
had in the World War in 1917.
ANOTHER danger point is Ger-
many. Hitler and his people are
deeply resentful of France's policy
of encirclement, and would welcome
any pretext to break it up. Germany
knows she is doomed if France continues to throttle her through the
system of alliances she has built up
in Europe. Hitler hoped to break
one link in the binding chain by
Anschluss with Austria, but he overplayed his hand. When Dollfuss was
assassinated some months ago, all
hopes of immediate union of Germany with Austria and Hungary went
aglimmering. Hitler is now more
anxious than ever to regain his prestige in foreign relations. He would
side with anyone who would be
against France and her allies.
Europe today is in a most precarious state, for she has deserted the
orderly and rational methods of keeping the peace, and has gone back to
the barter scheme, living from hand
to mouth and from day to day, trying
to patch up some bargain between
"friends" and against "enemies." A
newspaper editor sees the matter
clearly when he writes:—
"Europe, having suspended the
idealistic effort started by Wilson
and continued by Briand and Stresemann, for a general organisation for
common peace, has been drifting
back to the pre-war system of alliances and counteralliances. French
diplomacy, intending to form an invincible group on its side, seemed
to be nearing success. It had been
largely instrumental in bringing
Russia into the League of Nations,
and had used Hitler to scare Britain
into an attitude generally sympathetic.
"If this assassination should prevent the completion of the chain, it
may be the beginning of a new period
of disruption, which will endanger the
present peace of intimidation with
DAYS OF DECADENCE
which France had replaced the idealYES, we live in the days of decaistic peace of agreement and co- dence. The human rulership of the
operation."
world is fast moving to its denoueEurope's entire 'set-up is inflam- ment. God must soon send His Son
matory and explosive. If this inci- Jesus Christ to assume the soverdent isn't the set-off match, the next eignty of the world. That is just
one may be.
what the Bible promises for our time,
and every passing day sounds the dePRECARIOUSNESS OF NATIONS
mand for divine intervention in
worldly
affairs. Bible prophecy preCHESTER H. ROWELL, editor of the
San Francisco Chronicle, writing in dicts that when man reaches his extremity, God will step in, remove sin
his paper the next day after the asand sinners, purge the world by fire,
sassination, declares that "this is only
and establish a new regime, the
one chapter in the progressive disinkingdom of God itself. We live in
tegration of the world. . . . Imperson- climactic days. Let us put our souls
ating the future historian, what are
in order that we may be worthy of
the indications he could find that our
citizenship in the new kingdom that
world is now going to pieces?
God shall found. Whatever sacrifices,
"First, he would note precisely or seeming sacrifices, we make for
that precariousness of nations which God, will be light in comparison with
this incident illustrates. In a time the glories of that eternal kingdom.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
January 7, 1935
nom
MID
COM:Man
The Dread of War
NEW book, entitled "European Journey," by Sir Philip
Gibbs, the noted British journalist, was reviewed recently in the
Melbourne Age. In collecting material for his book Sir Philip Gibbs's
object was not to interview statesmen
and politicians, but to get into touch
with the common people, and learn
what they are thinking of, how they
feel toward dictatorships and other
political changes, and what hopes
they have for the future.
With two companions Sir Philip
motored through France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Germany, and the Saar, and conversed
with all sorts of people in towns and
villages. He found everywhere, we
are told, a state of political and economic distress, which seems to be getting worse instead of better. And he
states that the people with whom he
conversed "did not exaggerate their
anxieties, or their distresses." He
writes:—
A
V
"It is true that the standard of living
among the working classes has risen during
the past twenty years, and that they are
no longer willing to suffer the grinding poverty and filthy squalor of their former conditions. But that does not ease the problem. It makes it more difficult to hold
their patience in these days, when, for
reasons they fail to understand, and for
which no explanation can be given by
their leaders, they find that there is no
market, or no good price, for the fruits
The British Home Fleet carrying out exercises off Portland, Dorsetshire. The situation in Europe and the world today is such
that Britain has felt compelled to increase
her navy. The dread of war hangs over
Europe like a pall today. After travelling
through different parts of Europe, Sir
Philip Gibbs, the noted journalist, has said
in his new book, "European Journey":
"There is no belief in the chance of pefice,
although all peoples desire it. Everywhere
there is a sense of doom in the minds of
men and women. They believe themselves
to be driven by an inescapable destiny towards a new war, the approach of which
they dread."
Sport & General Photo
of their labour, that taxation is increasing,
and that industry is slowing down or at a
standstill."
Everywhere in Europe there is an
eager desire for peace, coupled with
the dread that war is imminent.
"That is the astounding and alarming phenomenon of life in Europe, as
I have seen it on this journey," writes
Sir Philip. And he continues:—
3
tion—and the only doubt about this next
war which is coming is the date of it—
before ten years or after ten years. Yet
nobody wants it. Everybody regards it
with horror."
The state of Europe is indeed a
desperate one; and what is true of
Europe is true also of the whole
world. Everywhere there is suspicion
and distrust, and almost every nation
is strengthening its forces for the
struggles and conflicts that are regarded as inevitable.
We should not be surprised that
such conditions obtain, for it is clear,
from many prophetic portions of the
Holy Scriptures, that we are living in
the time when the nations would be
"angry," and when men's hearts
would be "failing them for fear, and
for looking after those things which
are coming on the earth." See Rev.
II: 18; Luke 2 1: 2 6.
It will be seen from the first text
referred to that this time when the
nations are angry is the time when
the dead are to be judged, and when
reward is to be given to God's servants. It is also the time when God
"There is no belief in the chance of
shall "destroy them which destroy
peace, although all peoples desire it. Every- the earth." Our minds are thus diwhere there is a sense of doom in the
rected very definitely to the closing
minds of men and women. They believe
themselves to be driven by an inescapable events of this world's history. The
destiny towards a new war, the approach second text likewise directs our atof which they dread. There is nothing
tention to the great event that will
they can do about it, they think. There
is no preventive of war, as there is no cure solve the world's problems—the secfor cancer. Because there has always been ond coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
war, there must be another war—the next
—which will, as most men agree, complete Then all evil will be for ever banthe ruin of the last to the ultimate scrap- ished. There will be, in the gloriheap of human wreckage. That is the fear ous kingdom over which the Saviour
which is haunting and obsessing the mind
of Europe today. It is very strong in shall reign, no dread of war, for the
France. It is equally strong in Germany. causes of war — suspicion, distrust,
It is in many English minds. It is a conjealousy, greed, hatred, etc.—will not
viction among the very men who are building the new palace of the League of Na- exist in the hearts of the subjects of
F.
tions. It is the commonplace of conversa- the Prince of Peace.
4
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Abounding Loveliness--and GOD
ICKING up a leading English
magazine, our eyes caught the
words: "Sunshine and blue
skies; farms and homesteads nestling
among mountains and hills; blossoms of peach and plum filling the
valleys with colour; the perfume of
orange groves; the profusion of wild
flowers; the camp fire . . . sparkling
air . . . sea and sun-bathing on golden
beaches; the bright warm days and
cool starlit nights . . ."
It was, we found, only a publicity
advertisement concerning South Africa. All the descriptions quoted
would be equally true of our own
sunny land of Australia. Most countries, in fact, have their beauties and
attractions, and the fair southern
lands of South Africa, Australia, and
New Zealand have them in rich
measure.
What we are all too prone to overlook is the fact that back of the sunshine and the blue skies, back of the
fragrant orchards and the smiling
fields of grain, back of the mountains
and hills, the blue sea, the starlit
nights, and other lovely things is the
great Creator. The murmuring trees
whisper to us of God; the bright,
beautiful flowers of garden and field
point us to Him, and the luscious
fruits of the orchards and the golden
grain of the valleys speak His praise.
"The heavens declare the glory of
God; and the firmament showeth His
handiwork." Ps. 19: 1. "The sea is
His, and He made it: and His hands
formed the dry land." Ps. 95: 5.
It was Spurgeon who said: "The
book of nature is an expression of the
thoughts of God. We have God's
terrible thoughts in the thunder and
lightning; God's loving thoughts in
the sunshine and the breeze; God's
bounteous, prudent, careful thoughts
in the waving harvest. We have
God's brilliant thoughts beheld from
mountain top and valley, and God's
sweet and pleasant thoughts of
beauty in the little flowers."
Were it not for Him, there would
be no seed and no life in the seed,
no sunshine and rain, no orchards
loaded with goodly fruits, no fields of
grain, no wooded mountains and
smiling plains, no singing birds, no
bread and other foods upon our
tables.
"Back of the loaf is the snowy flour,
And back of the flour the mill,
And back of the mill are the wheat and
the shower,
And the sun, and the Father's will."
As the year is almost done, it is a
good time to reflect upon God's goodness to us through the year, and to
be grateful and praiseful because of
His innumerable mercies and blessings.
The Psalmist was not unmindful of
God's great faithfulness and of the
goodness with which He crowned the
year. In surpassingly beautiful language he said
makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.
Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it:
January 7, 1935
Thou greatly enrichest it with the river
of God, which is full of water:
Thou preparest them corn, when Thou
hast so provided for it.
Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly:
Thou settlest the furrows thereof:
Thou makest it soft with showers:
Thou blessest the springing thereof.
Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness;
And Thy paths drop fatness."
Ps. 65: 8-11.
Remembering that all we have
comes from God, we may well praise
Him, devote our lives to Him, and
consecrate our all to His service.
"The Lord is a great God, and a great
King above all gods. . . . 0 come,
let us worship and bow down: let us
kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For He is our God." Ps. 95: 6, 7.
K.
Great Bible Pageant
NE of the most striking and
outstanding things during the
Centenary celebrations in
Melbourne was the great Bible
pageant of 30,000 children. Marching to the inspiring strains of eleven
bands, they represented the Sunday
schools in Victoria. To quote from
the report in the Melbourne Herald:
O
"Illustrating the rise of Protestantism in
Great Britain and on the Continent, a
tableau which commemorated the principle
of the open Bible was especially striking.
"A large Bible lay upon a desk on a
lavishly decorated lorry. Round it surged
a medley of history. Elizabeth, in a gold
embroidered high collar, marched below
the open Bible.
"Quakers and Elizabeth courtiers, with
plumed hats and crimson doublets, mingled
in the colourful company which acted as a
bodyguard.
"John Wesley was there, and Ironsides
marched with the Elizabethans. With its
flare of colour this tableau was easily the
most gripping.
"Behind it, girls and boys, scouts, girl
guides, cubs, and representatives of other
youth organisations strode under a moving
forest of Sunday-school banners."
Following the Roman Catholic
Eucharistic procession, with its unscriptural basis and principles, less
than a week before, the great Bible
pageant served to draw attention to
that great Book which is the foundation, life, and inspiration of all true
Protestantism.
Most people, unfortunately, do not
realise what a wonderfully rich heritage they have in the Bible, especially
the open Bible, and how very great
and indeed incalculable is their indebtedness to it.
How shall we individually show
our appreciation of this great book,
the Holy Scriptures? Obviously, the
best way is to read and study it, and,
what is vitally important, build its
great truths and principles into our
characters and live them out in our
lives. Ruskin's complaint was a good
one, that people did not have the
words of the Bible fast enough in
their memories nor often enough
upon their lips. Its holy words are
to be enshrined in the heart and built
into the life.
"We ought to obey God rather than
men," said the Apostle Peter. Acts
5: 29. The will of God is revealed
in the Bible. Whatever the Book of
God commands is to have first authority in our lives. We show our
best appreciation of the Bible by listening to and obeying its commands.
All other homage is of a very hollow
and superficial kind.
And let us not forget that although Luther and Wesley were
heroes for God in their time, today
there is far more Biblical light shining than when those great and noble
men lived. It is not right to stand
stubbornly just where these and other
reformers stood, and to refuse to accept further light shining from the
Word of God. Let us determine to
follow the truth of God no matter
where it leads.
There is more light shining on the
Ten Commandments, the second advent, and many other Biblical subjects than was the case in the days
of Luther, Cromwell, and Wesley.
Let us not be afraid to follow this
further light shining brightly from
God's Word. To welcome that light
and to love and walk in it, will bring
richly the divine blessing.
K.
January 7, 193 5
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Europe on a Knife Edge
RITING from England to
the Australian Christian
World, the Rev. F. C. Spurr,
who one time was pastor of the Collins Street Baptist Church, Melbourne, states with reference to Mr.
Lloyd George: "Mr. Lloyd George
might well become our greatest
apostle of peace. His heart is evidently oppressed by the state of
Europe. He uttered grave words
about the feverish war preparations
which are proceeding in Europe. He
believes that there is only just time
to stop a new war exploding. He
has little faith in the statesmen in
Europe, but he does believe that the
churches could stop the rot if they
were only united."
Speaking of the assassination of
King Alexander of Yugoslavia, Mr.
Spurr writes: "Yet the situation holds
a real danger. From very little
things great happenings arise. And
Europe is on a knife edge. Very
little would it take to cut deep."
That Europe is on a knife edge is
quite patent to all observers. Mr.
Lloyd George is a statesman himself,
and ought to be able to understand
statesmen, and it is significant that
he places little faith in the ability of
statesmen in Europe to stop, a future
war.
The conditions that prevail in Europe today and in other parts of the
world have much in them to cause
anxiety to those who are closely observing them, but these conditions
are explained and their meaning made
plain by the clear light of Bible
prophecy.
These are the conditions that the
Bible predicts would prevail before
the second advent of Christ. They
are portents of the great day of God.
Even union of the churches would be
impotent to prevent future war, for
war finds its root in the evil nature
of man and the passions of the human heart. Only the worldwide acceptance of the gospel and spirit of
Christ could make war impossible in
our sinful world.
The Bible clearly shows that the
history of the world will end in war.
See Joel 3: 9-14; Rev. II: 18.; 16:
13-16.
Those, however, who are looking
forward to and awaiting the second
advent of Christ need not fear in the
W
Destruction of a "Big Bertha" by bombing
planes at a Royal Air Force Pageant, held
in Middlesex. The bombing planes flying
overhead formed part of the defending
squadron. War from the air can be a terribly destructive thing.
Sport & General Photo
least. That is one of the rich blessings of being a child of God and of
knowing His saving truth for this
time. In an angry, arming, warlike
world, they can have the peace of
the Saviour in their hearts continually. And beyond the coming of
Jesus there lies even greater joy and
peace — peace unbroken and unbreakable, peace enduring and everlasting, the perfect peace of the
glorious kingdom of God.
K.
Believers Among the
Household of Confucius
R. M.
Cossentine
HEN Daniel was in the midst
of his career as statesmanprophet in Western Asia,
there was born in what is now southern Shantung in China a child who
became the great statesman-sage of
Eastern Asia. His name was Kung,
and to his name has been added the
title "Fu-Tze," which has the same
significance as the title "Rabbi" or
"Master" used among the Jews.
W
5
While the sphere of statesmanship
of Kung Fu-Tze, or Confucius as he
is known to the Western world, was
far more limited than that of Daniel,
his literary work has profoundly influenced the thought and destinies
of three important lands of the Far
East, namely, China, Korea, and
Japan. The great Mongol emperor
Kublai Khan expressed his admiration for Confucius in a title he gave
him, "King of Literary Accomplishments." This title is engraved on a
monument of stone which stands before the sage's grave. Kang Hsi, the
great Manchu imperial patron of
literature, bestowed upon him a still
more ambitious title, "Model Teacher
of All Ages." The people as a whole
show their veneration for him in the
common title used in speaking of him,
"Sheng Ren," or Holy Man. His
compilations of the ancient classics
together with his own teachings became practically the sole content of
Chinese education for many, many
centuries, and there still exist numerous schools all over China in which
they constitute the main teaching
content.
His cult has been called a religion,
but strictly speaking it is a system
of ethics and morals. Confucius did
not claim to deal in spiritual values,
but discoursed on the different human
relationships in the family and the
6
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
state. He is reputed to have said:
"To give oneself earnestly to the
duties due to man, and, while respecting spiritual things, to keep aloof
from them, that may be called wisdom." Veneration for ancestors and
high respect for the heroes of the past
were important points in his teachings. His disciples made the mistake
of refusing to go beyond his writings
in anything, so China became bound
in a net of conservatism that only
the entrance of the gospel of Christ
has been able to break.
A few days ago, in company with
our evangelist in that district, I was
doing Big Week work in Chu Fu, the
home place of Confucius, and paid a
visit to his temple within the city
and to his grave outside the walls.
Standing on the spot where the sage
is reputed to have instructed his disciples, we talked with some bystanders concerning the gospel of Christ,
and one young man manifested so
much interest that we took his name
and address. The evangelist will visit
him.
Two days before this I had enjoyed the unique privilege of baptising a lineal descendant of Confucius
of the seventy-fifth generation. He
is a very earnest young man. His
wife is also preparing for baptism,
and a number of others of the clan
are attending Sabbath school, and
we have hopes of seeing them unite
with us later.
In the village where this Brother
Kung lives are about sixty families
of the name of Kung. So far as I
know our brother is the only representative of this ancient and famous
family who is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, but we
hope that erelong there will be others.
As in Paul's day the apostle was
glad to be able to report that there
were believers even in Cwsar's household, so in these last days we are
glad to be able to report that there
are brethren among the descendants
of Confucius.
l'sinan, China.
Christian a Royal
Personage
A POOR but pious woman called
upon two elegant young ladies, who,
regardless of her poverty, invited her
to sit down with them in the drawingroom, and entered into conversation
with her upon religious subjects.
While thus employed, their brother,
a dashing youth, by chance entered,
and appeared astonished to see his
sisters thus engaged. One of them
instantly exclaimed, "Brother, don't
be surprised; this is a king's daughter, though she has not yet put on her
fine clothes."—Pioneer.
January 7, 1935
Editor: A. L. KING Associate Editor: A. M. FRASER
Editorial Contributor
- A. W. ANDERSON
Please address all communications other than those of a business nature to
the Editor by name.
New Year Reflections
HEN this issue reaches our fling rapidity, when fear stalks
readers, the year 1934 will abroad and anxiety fills and oppresses
have passed, like all its pre- men's hearts.
decessors, into eternity. It has been
We sincerely and conscientiously
a very eventful year. It commenced believe that we are living in days prewith record blizzards in the United ceding the august second coming of
States and unprecedentedly hot wea- the Saviour, and every passing year is
ther in Australia; it has been marked hurrying us on rapidly to that great
by droughts in England and exceed- and joyful event. Examined in the
ingly severe droughts in the United light of God's great prophetic Word,
States, with enormous losses in agri- the world is brimful of and overflowcultural and pastoral districts and ing with signs heralding the approach
untold miseries in the numerous of the great day of God.
homes in the large, smitten areas. It
LIFE'S BREVITY
has been characterised by earthquakes, fires, revolutions, fightings,
THE swiftly passing years natuand other troubles in various parts rally put one in ruminative mood.
of the world.
"Alas!" exclaimed Horace, "the fleetThere were riotings and bloodshed ing years are passing away."
in Paris and other parts of France,
Someone else has written:—
civil war in Austria, plots and blood"The years, the swiftly fleeting years,
shed in Germany, a terrible earthWith all their hopes, with all their fears."
quake in India, earthquakes in various other places, floods in various
With every year that passes, so
countries, the assassination of King much less of earthly life is left us.
Alexander of Yugoslavia in Mar- Each one steals something of our
seilles, and numerous other eventful youth, and leaves us less of old age.
happenings.
And try as man will, he cannot stay
Victorians will not easily forget the the years in their march and flight.
great gales, heavy rains, and the ter- They seem to fly the more swiftly the
rible and record floods that occurred older one grows, and leave one with
early in December, doing enormous a deepening and increasing sense of
damage in various places, and con- the great brevity of human life.
stituting what has been called "the
The Psalmist, contemplating the
worst disaster" in the history of Vic- fact that the average span of human
toria. And it occurred in the cen- life was then only about seventy
tennial year of the state's history.
years (it is said to be only about half
As the result of the disastrous that today), prayed the heartfelt
weather mentioned, we read of ships prayer:—
in distress and of at least one vessel
foundering; of record floods in vari- "So teach us to number our days,
That we may apply our hearts unto
ous parts; of appalling damage to
wisdom." Ps. 9o: 12.
property and scenes of great desolation; of many lives lost; of thouIt is a wise and good prayer. It
sands of victims homeless.
is essential, however, to know where
And now we are facing 1 935. real wisdom lies and how it is obWhat will it hold in store for the tained. The Bible helps us out in
world? It holds within its now this, for it says: "The fear of the
sealed clasp great possibilities for joy Lord is the beginning of wisdom:
and sorrow. As the year unfolds, it and the knowledge of the holy is unwill make its mysteries clear and dis- derstanding." Prov. 9: 1o.
And
close what it contains. We can again: "If any of you lack wisdom,
safely say, however, that we are liv- let him ask of God, that giveth to
ing in very serious and solemn times, all men liberally, and upbraideth not;
when events are moving with light- and it shall be given him. But let
ly
January 7, 1935
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
7
him ask in faith, nothing wavering."
James I: 5, 6.
Those who walk through the year
with God will have wisdom for all
their varied necessities, and be given
grace and strength and divine companionship.
If we do not grow weary in well
doing (Gal. 6: 9), some day the
pearly gates of the New Jerusalem
will swing open wide to us, and we
shall hear the beautiful voice of the
Master saying, "Well done, thou
good and faithful servant: . . . enter
thou finto the joy of thy Lord." Matt.
The swiftly passing years are hurrying us on to the great day of God;
and to have no regrets in that day
and to be ready for the coming of the
King of kings and for a place in His
everlasting kingdom, is the acme of
all wisdom. May such be the happy
experience of both reader and writer!
GOOD RESOLUTIONS
THE New Year is rightly a time
of good resolutions. That none of
the year be wasted it is right that we
begin it well, and good resolutions are
a help to carefulness in word and
action throughout the year.
The words and deeds that we shall
regret in the last day are not worth
speaking or doing. The words that,
in the last day, we shall rejoice to
have spoken, the deeds that we shall
be glad that we did—these are the
things that are eminently worth
while.
When the sands of life are running
out, no man will regret having given
attention to the study of the Word
of God, to prayer, to meditation, and
to diligence in the service of God.
We may regret our inattention to
these things, or our lack of adequate
attention, but we will never regret an
hour that we earnestly spent upon
them. And it is obvious that we cannot walk with God unless we gi3re attention to these things.
At the dawning of the New Year,
therefore, it is well that we determine
strongly and lay careful plans to give
to God's Word, the Bible, more earnest reading and study, to give more
time to prayer, and also to meditation
and reflection upon the things of God,
and more time to active service in
God's great vineyard.
THE SURE REWARD
AND if we do these things, the year
will have been spent profitably
whether it brings temporal gains or
losses, and no matter what its vicissitudes may be. If each passing year
makes us—
"Rich in experience that angels might covet,
Rich in a faith that has grown with the
years,"
it will have been spent profitably and
well. If at the close of each annual
revolution of the earth around the
sun, our walk with God has grown
closer, our experience in the divine
life richer and deeper, our acquaintance with the things of the Spirit
of God fuller and more intimate, our
appreciation of God's goodness and
our gratitude and praise greater,
and our progress toward heaven decidedly more advanced, then blessed
are we indeed: we have not spent the
year in vain, but in a way well pleasing to God, and rich will be our reward and certain our crown if we
so continue.
25:
.
K.
,•••••••••••••••••••••••.,
,••••••••••••••
Not for Ourselves
Eugene Rowell
HE great things we do will
never be done for ourselves.
This has been true of the mechanical inventions and the discoveries that have changed the world,
true of all heroic deeds, and of our
daily lives.
The sewing machine was meant to
shorten the work of mothers, stitching far into the night to clothe the
family. The self-binder was designed
to relieve the army of harvesters,
bending over their sheaves with aching backs and straw-chafed hands.
The typewriter was dedicated to
lightening the burden of business correspondence. All great inventions
have sought to lessen drudgery or to
T
The Land of Pretty Soon
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
I KNOW a land where the streets are paved
With the things which we meant to
achieve,
It is walled with the money we meant to
have saved,
And the pleasures for which we grieve.
The kind words unspoken, the promises
broken,
And many a coveted boon
Are stowed away there in that land somewhere,
The land of Pretty Soon.
There are uncut jewels of possible fame
Lying about in the dust,
And many a noble and lofty aim
Covered with mould and rust.
And oh ! this place, while it seems so near,
Is farther away than the moon;
Though our purpose is fair, we never get
there,
The land of Pretty Soon.
The road that leads to that mystic land
Is strewn with pitiful wrecks,
And the ships that have sailed for its
shining strand
Bear skeletons on their decks.
It is farther at noon than it was at dawn,
And farther at night than at noon.
Oh, let us beware of that land down
there—
The land of Pretty Soon.
put new forces at the disposal of
the race.
The discoveries of exploration and
of science keep this law. Many times
men have braved unknown seas,
fought their way through tropical
jungles, and borne the perils of polar
snows, for the world's good rather
than their own. Great chemists and
physicians have spent their best years
and their private fortunes in seeking
remedies for the diseases that ravage
mankind.
In spiritual and ethical realms the
law holds true. The great minister
of the gospel is not concerned primarily in gaining heaven for himself,
but for his flock. The true missionary goes to darkened lands not for the
thrill of adventure, but to carry the
light. The book written only to
make its author rich can never be a
great book. The truly heroic deeds
of all time have been done not for
personal vainglory, but for a country
or for a cause. How unselfish the
doers of the great things in the world
have been!
Conversely, the little things we do
for others may have the essence of
the great. The neighbourly act that
softens some hardened heart toward
his fellow-men; the smile or the simple gift that brightens someone's
day; the word that gives some struggling soul new faith in God who
shall set bounds for the world-changing power of these?
In all these things we have the
example of Him who emptied Himself for the saving of the world.
"Whosoever will be chief among
you," said He, "let him be your servant." In His life among men
He daily lived those words. His own
comfort, His own needs, had little
place in His plans. A builder of
houses, He made Himself no home.
Descended from David, He sought
no kingly state. His thoughts, His
words, His toils, His prayers, were
for the needy who thronged Him
everywhere. His miracles were for
them, the healing touch of mercy and
love, with no using of His divine
power to save Himself.
8
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
fl
January 7, 1935
What Road must I
travel
To REACH HEAVEN ?
M. N. Campbell
HIS question, asked by the
Philippian gaoler, is one which
should be of vital interest to
every son and daughter of Adam.
The answer to the query was, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved." Acts 16: 3o, 31.
This belief in Jesus is something very
much more than an intellectual acceptance of the fact that Jesus is the
Son of God. "The devils also believe, and tremble," but that avails
them nothing. Nor does that sort of
belief alone on the part of human
beings avail for their salvation.
Jesus explained the matter to
Nicodemus on the occasion of his evening visit. "Except a man be born
again," He said, "he cannot see the
kingdom of God." In further explanation Jesus said: "And as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be
T
lifted up: that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have
eternal life. For God so loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3: 14-16.
The children of Israel, because of
their persistent rebellion, were punished by poisonous serpents being let
loose among them. Whoever was bitten, died. The bite was fatal. Finally
the Lord instructed Moses to make a
brazen serpent and set it up on a
pole in the midst of the sufferers, and
proclaim that all who looked upon it,
would be instantly cured. This was
designed as a symbol of Christ. All
mankind has been wounded by the
serpent of sin, and that means everlasting death. "The wages of sin is
death." Rom. 6: 23.
The only hope for the sinner is to
look to the crucified One for healing. He who looks in faith to Jesus
as his personal Saviour from sin, will
find immediate cleansing from his
sin. He will experience the new
birth. His life will undergo a radical change. The things he once
loved, he now hates, and what he
once hated, he now loves. The man
who was addicted to liquor, tobacco,
theatre-going, impurity, and evil
ways in general, loses all taste for
these things when he accepts Christ
as his Saviour. He will find himself
enjoying the things of God. He will
then take delight in reading and
obeying God's Word, and conforming
his life to His commandments. This
experience is miraculous. It can be
obtained only as God's Holy Spirit
brings it about, through the exercise
of faith on the part of the sinner in
Jesus' blood as the remedy for his
CHRIST AND THE RICH YOUNG RULER
When the rich young ruler inquired of Christ, "What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" the Saviour pointed him to the
Ten Commandments. The young man professed to have kept these, but his heart had deceived him—he had not done so. The
Ten Commandments are based upon love to God and love to our fellow-men, but worldly wealth was this young man's god. True
love to God and real faith in Him will lead us to obey Him and keep His law.
r
January 7, 1935
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
sin. There is no other way. Moralists may point to the ideal life, but
Christ alone can give power to attain
unto it.
The following scriptures describe
the state of man before the Lord has
wrought a change in his life.
"From the sole of the foot even
unto the head there is no soundness
in it; but wounds, and bruises, and
putrefying sores: they have not been
closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." Isa. 1: 6.
"The heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked: who
can know it?" Jer. 17: 9.
"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be." Rom. 8: 7.
These texts make it clear that by
nature man is beyond all help, except
as the Lord Jesus has reached down
from heaven and taken hold of poor
lost penitent sinners and transformed
them by His grace. As one writer of
deep Christian experience has expressed it, "The moment the sinner
believes in Christ, he stands in the
sight of God uncondemned, for the
righteousness of Christ is his. Christ's
perfect obedience is imputed to him.
Through this simple act of believing
God, the Holy Spirit has begotten a
new life in your heart. You are as a
child born into the family of God,
and He loves you as His son."
As the children of Israel looked to
the brazen serpent and were healed
from their deadly wounds, so the
penitent sinner, who looks to Jesus
for salvation, will instantly receive
it. He is a new-born babe in the
family of God, and as an infant, he
needs to be fed. "As new-born babes,
desire the sincere milk of the word,
that ye may grow thereby." I Peter
2: 2. By feeding daily on God's
Word, strength is acquired to battle
with the temptations that will assail
the soul.
Conversion, or the new birth, does
not relieve us from temptation, but
the Lord is able to keep us from falling, and build us up into strong
Christians. This is accomplished
through the daily study of God's
Word, through daily prayer for
strength and blessing, and through
the exercise of our spiritual vitality
in helping others.
branded as thieving and robbery.
John 1o: 1. There is altogether too
much endeavour these days to find
some other way to br. saved.. All
sorts of panaceas are being offered
as a cure for the disease of sin; but
"there is none other name under
heaven given among men, whereby
we must be saved."
When the sinner has accepted
Christ as his Saviour, and experiences a change in his life, by which
he knows he has been accepted as a
child of God, he takes the Bible as
the rule of his life, and walks in the
light that shines from the sacred
page. The Spirit of God will lead
him into full obedience to the divine
law of the Ten C ynmandments,
which is the standard of righteousness. Man fell into his lost estate
by violating that holy law. The purpose of Christ's sacrifice was to atone
for that broken law, and bring the
redeemed sinner into harmony with
it once more. A man is not saved by
keeping the law, but when he is saved
through faith in Christ's redeeming
love, he will delight in obeying that
law. As the inspired writer has expressed it
Thy tender mercies come
unto me, that I may live: for Thy
law is my delight."
"0 how love I Thy law! it is my
meditation all the day."
"Therefore I love Thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine
gold." Ps. 119: 77, 97, 127.
While in the natural state, men
are not subject to the law of God,
nor can they be, but conversion
changes all that. A new heart is
given which delights in the law of
God, and finds its highest pleasure in
obeying it.
May the unconverted reader find
in Christ the solution to the problem
of sin, and in finding that, become
possessed of the peace which passeth
understanding.
CHANGED LIVES
MUCH is being said and written
these days about "changed lives."
There is only one way by which lives
can be, changed for the better, and
that is God's way—the way 3f repentance for sin and accepting Christ as
one's personal Saviour. Every other
method is a false hope, and is spoken
of by Jesus as climbing into the
sheepfold by illicit means, and is
Don't Worry
H. F. De'Ath
GAIN and again in Scripture,
in varying terms, we are implored not to worry. But a
reason is always given. "Casting all
your care upon Him," says one sacred writer, "for He careth for you."
I Peter 5: 7. So far as we apprehend this reason, thus far we find no
need for worrying. In the spiritual
atmosphere created by the assurance
that God cares for us, worry flees
before trust. Suffering and trial there
may be, and will still be, but not
worry.
It has been said that the statement, "All things work together for
good," has been the most sadly mis-
9
used of all Scripture. Standing alone,
apart from the connection in which
it was written, it is untrue. It can
only apply as the one who first used
it applied it, "to them that love
God." For it is only in the realm
of love that "all things work together
for good." Rom. 8: 28.
When Joseph's brethren betrayed
him into the hands of the Ishmaelites,
it did not work out for their good.
On the contrary, it was for them the
beginning of long years of sorrow,
remorse, and self-condemnation. On
the other hand, Joseph realised from
the first that he was under God's eye,
and in God's hands, and that every
trial would work out for his good provided he was loyal to the principles
of rightoeusness. So God graciously
overruled the consequences of the
perfidy of Joseph's brethren on behalf
of His loyal servant, while they were
made to feel at every turn that "the
way of the transgressor is hard."
"Cast thy burden upon the Lord,
and He shall sustain thee," says the
ancient Hebrew Psalmist: "He shall
never suffer the righteous to be
moved." Ps. 55: 22. God's attitude
toward man is love, and when man
responds to that love and conforms
to those laws by which God expresses
His love, then all will be well in the
end. When there is a rational trust
in a loving God on the part of a
loving child, cheerful optimism is
justified, and worry ruled out.
"When it is heart to heart between
God and man, then, but only then,
does ft follow that all things will be
for the best in the best of all possible worlds."
In His great anti-worry campaign
in the sermon on the mount, Jesus
says: "Be not, therefore, anxious for
the morrow: for the morrow will be
anxious for itself." Matt. 6: 34, R.V.
Now the promise is not made just
to the simple-minded and the trustful. It is made to those who are
definitely and "actively concerned
with the spread of righteousness and
love in God's world." The condition
is, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and His righteousness, and"—then,
but only then—"all these things"—
the things we all worry about most,
food and clothing and shelter—"shall
be added unto you." Matt. 6: 33.
Thus we are brought to that wonderful paradox, that "the only carefree life is the life that is full of care
—care for God, care for ideals, care
for high moral purpose, care for our
fellows. Just as the noblest freedom
is that which puts itself into harness,
so the life that is most at leisure
from itself is least leisured from concern for others." The grand conclusion, therefore, is, we can best
sublimate worry by "switching its
troublesome activities" into channels
of loving service to our fellows.
I0
January 7, 1935
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
names of blasphemy, having seven
heads and ten horns"?
Why Are Religious Leaders Silent ?
A REMARKABLE TESTIMONY
H. L. Mencken, well-known editor of "American Mercury"
NE of the curious, and perhaps
I should add incredible, phenomena of the present regime
is the silence of the theologians. I
am aware, of course, that Cardinal
Dougherty has gone on the stand for
the Philadelphia bankers to testify
that all of their banks are not ready
to burst, and I am no less aware that
such transcendental wiseacres as Dr.
S. Parkes Cadman and Rabbi Stephen
S. Wise are still heard 'from regularly
and at undiminished length. What I
presume to note is simply the fact
that these great masters of the sacred
sciences, in their public outpourings,
seldom if ever speak professionally
and ex cathedra. What Cadman has
to say might be said just as well by
Arthur Brisbane . . . and what Wise
says today is hardly more than what
the Scripps-Howard editorial writers
were saying the week before last. In
brief, these eminent divines, and their
colleagues with them, are heard from
only in their purely secular characters, . . . and not in their special
capacity as experts in the principles
and policies of Jehovah.
O
It is seldom, indeed, that the
American people have to face a great
calamity without theological support.
But they are strangely silent. What
this so forcefully points out is most
unfortunately true. Eminent men of
all lands are measuring for us the
awfulness of the calamity.
I note one exception, and come to
my point. The Seventh-day Adventist brethren alone among the divines
of the country, have something to say
officially about the depression, and
what they have to say is singularly
clear and simple. They laugh at all
the current diagnoses as so much
shouting, and reject every projected
cure as vain and preposterous. It is
simply the fact that the world is coming to an end. It is the fact that all
of the signs and portents listed in
Luke 21: 2 5-2 7 are now visible, and
that on some near tomorrow . . . the
heavens will open wide, there will be
a roaring of mighty winds, angels
will come fluttering down to earth,
the righteous will be snatched up to
heaven, and the wicked will be destroyed.
The argument . . . is completely unanswerable. All of the premonitory
symptoms, as set forth not only in
Luke but also in countless other pas-
sages of infallible Scripture, are now
clearly visible. The "distress of
nations, with perplexity," "men's
hearts failing them for fear," millions
turned "lovers of their own selves,
covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection,
truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that
are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than
lovers of God." I quote the Apostle
James:—
"Go to now, ye rich men, weep
and howl for your miseries that shall
come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be
a witness against you, and shall eat
your flesh as it were fire. . . . Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the
coming of the Lord. . . . Stablish your
hearts: for the coming of the Lord
draweth nigh."
I refrain from further quotation.
. . . All I desire to point out here is
that the New Testament offers precise and elaborate specifications of the
events preceding the inevitable end of
the world, and that a fair reading of
them must lead any rational man to
conclude that those events are now
upon us. If the Bible is really the
Word of God, as we are assured not
only by the Council of Trent but also
by all the principal Protestant authorities and even by the Supreme
Court of the United States, then it
is as plain as day that the human race
is on its last legs.
Not long ago . . . I set forth the
vast advantages of the so-called fundamentalists in their combat with the
so-called modernists. . . . What I'd
like to know today is how either faction, the fundamentalists or the modernists, contrive to get around the
implacable and irrefutable proofs of
the Adventists. How can they profess to believe in Holy Writ, and yet
stand silent before its plain and indubitable warnings? How can Cardinal Dougherty parley with moneychangers . . . while the predestined
signs stare him in the face? How can
Dr. Cadman continue his radio talks
on flirting when the heavens may
open at any moment, and he may find
himself confronting a "woman set
upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of
As for me, I counsel caution. I
am naturally of a sceptical and even
ribald turn of mind; nevertheless, I
take certain measures, as a prudent
householder locks up for the night. I
have cleared my library of bawdy
books, I have taken down the portraits of Ibsen, Nietzche, and Darwin.
. . . If any reader of these lines can
think of a sufficient answer to the
Seventh-day Adventist proofs I'll be
glad to print it in this place. But
how could it be put together without
rejecting the whole canon of Holy
Writ? How could it be squared. with
the infallibility of Luke, James, and
Paul? I suspect that the theologians
are in a difficult place. . . . No wonder they are so unprecedentedly mum.
The Faith That Endures
R. Hare
N the Book of God we have the
record of two men—one of the
earth; the other the Lord from
heaven. Adam was earth-born,
Christ was the Man-child who was
virgin-born.
One of these was tested in a garden with all the beauties of creation
around him. The Other was tried in
a wilderness with the wild creatures
of earth around Him.
One sinned and died. The Other
died that the sinner might live. One
proved a sad failure in the battle
with the enemy. The Other came
off more than conqueror.
Adam's path was spread with
flowers. Christ had to walk a path
of thorns, and at last wear a thorny
crown.
Love for his wife made Adam a
coward. Love for humanity made
Christ the hero of all ages.
Because of unfaithfulness Adam
was sent forth from his Eden home.
Because of His faithfulness, Christ
invites the overcomer to share His
throne, and to eat of the tree of life
in the Paradise of God.
As father of the earthly family,
Adam was faithful for a little while.
As the Everlasting Father, Christ was
faithful "unto death."
All the way down through the ages
men have copied these two examples.
Multitudes, like Adam, have proved
unfaithful. A few, like the heroic
Christ, have been faithful till death.
"Be thou faithful unto death, and
I will give thee a crown of life." Rev.
2: 10.
January 7, 1935
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
II
You Can't Be On Both Sides
J. Walter Rich
0 man can serve two masters.
. . . Ye cannot serve God and
mammon." Matt. 6: 2 4. This
text is wonderfully illuminated by a
story that came to me recently of a
famous man, Michael Faraday, au:hor of many interesting and useful
discoveries in the field of electricity
and chemistry. It is not because of
these great discoveries that I mention
his name in connection with my
story, however; for at the time this
discovery was made, Michael was
just a poor boy, the son of a blacksmith, and was selling papers to help
with the family budget. One day,
while waiting for his papers at the
entrance of the newspaper office,
which was barred by an iron railing,
he did what most boys would do
when confronted with railings. First
his hands, then his arms, and finally,
very carefully, his head was projected through the railing.
But he was not like Peepy Jellaby
in Dickens's story of Bleak House,
who, when found before the railings
in the front area of a great building
with his head through the railings
and unable to get it hack, began
kicking frantically with his legs on
one side of the railing and his head
howling loudly on the other. Faraday, though his head was caught in
the railing was not howling and kicking; he was thinking. He was saying
to himself, "My hands and my head
are on one side, and my body and
heart are on the other side; on which
side am I?"
IN
THE IMMOVABLE BARS
hadn't time to think it out,
however, for someone came along,
opened the gate, and severely twisted
his head and body. It was at this
point that he made his great discovery—possibly one of the greatest
that he ever made, even though he
then was only a boy: "There is no
use trying to be on both sides of a
railing at the same time."
We may not all be discoverers; but
here is one thing that we must all
discover sooner or later. Some people, like Faraday, learn it only painfully; others learn it more easily
without pain.
On one side of our life God has set
up railings — solid, immovable iron
railings. It is because "God is love"
that they are there. Love is not a
soft, cushionlike affair that permits
its children to do as they please.
There is iron in love; and God has
made the iron into railings to keep us
HE
from going into destructive and dangerous places. These railings are His
commandments which say, "Thou
shalt not," with the firmness of iron.
They are like the fence along the
edge of a precipice, or the railing
along the edge of a cliff. While it is
41.
Roll On, Wild Waves
(Lines written on Pitcairn Island)
R. Hare
Only the sound of the wild, wild waves,
Washing against the shore :
Only the sigh of the wild, wild winds,
Whispering for evermore.
Yet glad in the thought of service sweet,
We turn our eyes to Him,
And all the echoes passing by
Change to a holy hymn.
The wild waves, rolling forever on,
Rolling by night and day,
Tell of the Hand that curbs their might,
And the Voice they all obey.
Pale moonbeams wear their sweetest smile,
Shaded by love divine,
And hope points on to the glory-light,
Where suns immortal shine.
Roll on, wild waves, 'tis freedom's home.
Roll on in tireless glee,
Whisper with us the endless praise
Of Him who rules the sea.
Echo, ye wild winds ; sweet and low
Faith chants her evening prayer—
There's not a place our feet may tread
But love can find us there.
there, we feel safe and secure in the
field it guards. Beyond is the fearful cliff, and the danger that lurks in
the fall to the rocks below. These
dangers we need not fear so long as
we stay on the right side of the fence
or railing. Reasonably enough, this
barrier is not intended to keep us
from pleasure or to make prisoners
of those who are sheltered behind its
protective bars, but rather to guard
from danger and death.
The trouble with many persons is
that they have crawled into the position of Faraday. Their heart is on
one side, and their head and hands
are on the other. The railing is there
and cannot be made away with; so
they try to be on both sides at the
same time. Their heart on one side
tells them that God is right, and
that His commandments are the guide
of life; their head and hands are
on the other side, busy with things
that God cannot bless. Their conscience is on one side and speaks for
Christ, their business is on the other
side; and the railings run between.
It won't do. It can't be done. Jesus
says: "Ye cannot serve God and
mammon." "No man can serve two
masters." That is, he can't be on
both sides of the railing at once.
There is no use pretending that
the bars are not there, for they stand
out as warnings in all walks of life.
There is no use trying to explain
them away, for Jesus has told us
they will be in place as long as
heaven and earth remain. Matt. 5:
17, 18. There is no way around
them, for we each shall be brought
face to face with them when God determines who are to be the subjects
of His kingdom. Hear the Wise man
say: "Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole
duty of man." Eccl. 12: 13.
Your eternal life or mine is not
guarded or protected, made sure,
without the protection afforded by
God's iron railing in the fence of
love. The bars are iron and are fixed
for ever. Nothing is accomplished
by our grumbling at them, for they
are for our good, and do not keep us
from anything we need. "No good
thing will He [God] withhold from
them that walk uprightly." Ps.
84: II.
On one side is God's garden full of
life and pleasure; on the other side
is the jungle of sin, with lurking
dangers and fearful places of shame
and death. To climb the railings is
dangerous, and may mean death. To
try to be on both sides at once is an
impossible thing. On which side are
you? Ask your heart, not your head;
and when it tells you, may this be
your answer and your firm resolve
and purpose: "I am on the Lord's
side."
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
12
January 7, 1935
Last-Day Warnings to the Church
THE SIN OF INDIFFERENCE
F. M. Wilcox
HERE is a deeply growing conviction in many quarters that
this world has reached the
closing days of earth's history. Even
men of the world, without any experimental knowledge of God, as they
see the present trend of events, believe that we are on the verge of most
vital changes. They recognise that
the world cannot long continue as it
is at the present time, that there are
elements of evil working under the
surface which, if not curbed, will
work the ruin of society and the
state.
The student of prophecy knows the
meaning of events taking place in the
world around us. The readers of
this paper who believe in the soon
coming of the Lord, some of whom
have been looking for that coming
for many years, know, in the words
of the Apostle Peter, that "we have
not followed cunningly devised fables," but that soon "He that shall
come will come, and will not tarry."
The conditions we see around us in
the physical, economic, social, political, and religious worlds, are specifically pointed out in the Bible as signs
of the coming of the Lord. And we
are told that when we see these conditions prevail, we may know that
"He is near, even at the doors." We
see the signs, and we know that the
coming of Christ is near. To His
church under these conditions Christ
makes definite and specific appeal, as
recorded in Matt. 24: 44: "Be ye
also ready: for in such an hour as ye
think not the Son of man cometh."
The Master, in His great mercy,
does not call His church to prepare
for His coming without giving them
specific instructions as to the course
they are to pursue. He calls His
church to holiness of life. "Be ye
therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
He calls them to sonship in the heavenly family; and He provides the
means, the divine power, whereby
this family relationship may be entered into. "As many as received
Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name."
How hopeless would mankind be if,
accompanying a call to become members of the royal family, God did not
provide the means whereby this
blessed state might be attained! He
has opened a fountain in Israel in
T
which all may wash away their sin
and uncleaness. He sends His Holy
Spirit to convict of sin and to point
the way of righteousness in Christ
the Lord. That Holy Spirit abiding
in the heart transforms the affections,
changes the purposes of the life,
makes the sinner dissatisfied with his
natural state, and puts within his
heart a consuming desire to be like
the One altogether lovely, the chiefest among ten thousand.
WARNING AGAINST DANGERS
CHRIST also warns His church
against the dangers which would
threaten them in the last days. I
have been surprised to see how many
of these warnings are sounded in the
Word of God. I cannot attempt
to enumerate all, but only to call
attention to some of the principal
ones. I desire to speak first of the
great danger of indifference, of
spiritual sloth.
In the thirteenth chapter of Mark
this danger is very definitely pointed
out. After stating that Christ was
like a man who had taken a far journey, and commanded his servants to
watch for his return, He warned them
against permitting the spirit of indifference to overcome their vigilance:—
"Watch ye therefore: for ye know
not when the Master of the house
cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at
the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
lest coming suddenly He find you
sleeping. And what I say unto you
I say unto all, Watch."
The Apostle Paul, in his epistle to
the church at Rome, sounds the same
warning. He writes also to the believers living in the closing days of
earth's history, as follows:—
"And that, knowing the time, that
now it is high time to wake out of
sleep: for now is our salvation nearer
than when we believed. The night
is far spent, the day is at hand: let
us therefore cast off the works of
darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." Rom. 13: II, 12.
In writing to the church at Thessalonica, this same apostle speaks particularly of the days just preceding
the coming of the Lord; and to the
believers living in that period he says
that he has no need to write to them
of the times and the seasons, because
they know that the day of the Lord
is at hand, that it will come upon
an ungodly world as a thief in the
night, that when men are saying
peace and safety, then sudden destruction will come upon them. But
to the church he declares:—
"But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake
you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the
day: we are not of the night, nor of
darkness. Therefore let us not sleep,
as do others; but let us watch and
be sober. For they that sleep sleep
in the night; and they that be
drunken are drunken in the night."
Thess. 5: 4-7.
These admonitions of Holy Writ
are needed by the church at the present time.
God's call to men today is to be
clean, to come up on to higher and
holier ground. "Be ye also ready:
for in such an hour as ye think not
the Son of man cometh." Only the
present is vouchsafed to us. We have
no assurance of the morrow., "Today if ye will hear His voice, harden
not your hearts."
Our Alarm Clock
OT many years ago a student,
desiring to rise early in the
morning, bought an alarm
clock. For a few days it worked
well. But one morning, after being
aroused by its alarm, he turned over
and went to sleep again. On the
subsequent mornings the clock failed
to wake him. He placed it under
the head of his bed, in close proximity to his ear. There it woke him till
the time he disobeyed its summons;
ever afterward it was a failure—he
slept through its call with perfect
regularity. Yet, on the other hand,
many a mother wakes on the faintest voice of her child, and many a
watcher on the slightest movement
of his patient. They have trained
themselves to heed such calls.
In like manner the conscience may
be deadened and trained. Let the
Christian disregard its voice, and soon
it will become unable to arouse him
at all. Let him carefully heed its
faintest remonstrance, and it will become to him a most valuable mentor.
Take good care of your conscience;
it is a most delicate apparatus.—
Selected.
N
January 7, 193 5
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Creation's Memorial
A Bible Study—No.
3
W. R. Carswell
I. How is God's work of creation
commemorated?
"He hath made a memorial of His
wonderful works." Ps. III: 4, Rabbi
Leeser's translation.
2. How enduring is this memorial?
"Thy name, 0 Lord, endureth for
ever; and Thy memorial, 0 Lord,
Ps.
throughout all generations."
135: 13.
3. When was this memorial set up?
"And on the seventh day God
ended His work which He had made;
and He rested on the seventh day
from all His work which He had
made. And God blessed the seventh
day, and sanctified it: because that
in it He had rested from all His work
which God created and made." Gen.
2: 2, 3.
4. Did the Israelites in Egyptian
bondage have the Sabbath rest restored to them?
"Pharaoh said, Behold, the people
of the land now are many, and ye
make them rest [Hebrew, "Sabbath" from their burdens." Ex. 5: 5.
5. How did the Lord rebuke Sabbath-breakers in the wilderness?
"And it came to pass, that there
went out some of the people on the
seventh day for to gather, and they
found none. And the Lord said unto
Moses, How long refuse ye to keep
My commandments and My laws?"
Ex. 16: 4, 5, 27, 28.
Note.—For forty years in the time of
Israel's wilderness wanderings, God demonstrated to His people His appointed restday. (I) By giving a double portion on
the sixth day. (2) By causing the manna
to remain sweet for use on the seventh
day. (3) By withholding the daily supply
from falling on the Sabbath. Thus by
three miracles a week for forty years (over
6,000 miracles in all), God made clear to
His people which was His holy day. Had
the people chosen to rest on any other day
they would have gone without food.
0
6. When later proclaiming His law
in awful grandeur from Mount Sinai,
for what reason did God command
mankind to observe the Sabbath?
"In six days the Lord made heaven
and earth, the sea, and all that in
them is, and rested the seventh day:
wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." Ex. 20:
8-II.
7. How do we know that the Ten
Commandments, including the Sabbath, were for all men?
Because the law was an expression
of God's righteousness (see Ps. 119:
172, 142), which all men are to receive through faith in His Son. It is
definitely stated that God would
accept "the sons of the stranger"
who honoured the Lord by keeping
His Sabbath. See Isa. 56: 3-7. The
Lord also stated that "the Sabbath
was made for man" (Mark 2: 27),
meaning all mankind.
8. Did Jesus, the great Example
who once wrought at the carpenter's
trade (Mark 6: 3), observe the seventh day as a day of rest and worship?
"He came to Nazareth, where He
had been brought up: and, as His
custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood
up for to read." Luke 4: 16.
9. Did His disciples follow His
example?
"They returned, and prepared
spices and ointments; and rested the
Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23: 56.
Io. Did our Lord teach the perpetual obligation of the moral law,
including, of course, the Sabbath?
"Verily I say unto you, Till heaven
•4110,
40,
41.•
The Beauticul Land Over
There
Pauline A. Anderson
THERE'S a land, they say, where a fadeless
day
Will shine on its scenes so fair
With a wondrous light, and there is no
night
In that beautiful land over there.
In the earth made new, with the friends
so true,
Free from accident, sorrow, or care,
We shall roam evermore on that glorified
shore,
In that beautiful land over there.
As we journey on, with a joyful song
Of our Saviour's righteousness rare,
Help us garner in, from the fields of sin,
Many gems for that land over there.
Help us work and pray till eternal day,
Gleaning jewels Christ's glory to share,.
To exalt evermore the Friend we adore
In that beautiful land over there.
Soon the Lord will come, to carry us home
With His silvery band in white,
To ecstatic joys and celestial bliss,
Where the Lamb is all its light.
So we'll praise the Lord, and trust His
Word
And the heavenly Father's care,
While the Spirit's power gently guides hour
by hour,
Till we reach that land over there.
13
and earth pass, one jot or one tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law,
till all be fulfilled." Matt. 5: 18.
1. Will the Sabbath be kept in
the renewed earth?
"From one Sabbath to another,
shall all flesh come to worship before
Me, saith the Lord." Isa. 66: 23.
12. What blessing is pronounced
upon the obedient?
"Blessed are they that do His commandments." Rev. 22: 14.
"Blessed is the man that doeth this,
. . . that keepeth the Sabbath from
polluting it." Isa. 56: 2.
The Corner-Stone
A
GREAT cathedral was being
built. The most beautiful
marble, exquisitely carved,
made its walls. Its woodwork was
like satin, and of delicate colours.
The windows were like rich paintings, telling the wonderful stories of
Christ's life. The workmen had
come from far and near, the most
skilful only having been chosen. For
months hammers and chisels rang,
till at last all but one window was
finished. It was a south window, not
large, where rich sunlight fell early
and late.
"Strange it should have been forgotten," said the master workman.
"The bishop comes tomorrow, and
all should be finished."
A little, bent man, with a shrewd
but kindly face, limped up. Doffing
his cap, he said:—
"Sir, I have made a window for
that space from bits of the other
windows. Pray, sir, let it go up."
"It is the best we can do," said the
master. "Put it up for tomorrow,
man, but after that it must come
down."
The next day the church was
crowded. Just as the old bishop
turned to preach the sermon, the sun
burst out. It came through the south
window, touching his white hair with
a halo. Everyone turned to look.
The stranger's window was a flashing
jewel. Though it was made of bits,
the colours were so blended that they
seemed like one. The sunlight glittered and broke into a thousand rays.
The bishop knew about the forgotten window, and the strange way
one had been made. He had written
a stately sermon, but he put it away,
and preached the thought the beautiful window gave, the rejected stone
being the head of the corner.
People who heard it, and saw the
window, never forgot. So shall we
feel, little and big, when we see that
some of our little efforts, which many
thought worthless, shall be counted
by Jesus worthy of all recognition.
—Anon.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
14
1
WOMARS
ReillAti?
The Victory of Love
T
HE battle began, like all battles
since the world was created,
a little thing.
The child was tearing up paper and
scattering it on the floor. The
mother said, not dreaming of provoking any contest with her usually
obedient little son, "Don't do that,
Charlie. It makes a great litter on
the floor. Put the pieces on the
table."
But he kept on tearing up more
paper and scattering the pieces on the
floor, as if he had not even heard his
mother's request.
"Very well, dear," she said presently, "if you do that, you'll have
them all to pick up, you know; and
that will be a great deal of trouble."
Before long he was tired of tearing
up paper, and went to playing with
something else; but not before he had
strewn one corner of the nursery
thick with bits of paper.
"You'd better pick up the paper
now, Charlie," said his mother. "Get
that all cleared up before you take
out any more things."
"I shan't pick it up," said Charlie.
"Oh, yes, you will, dearie," replied the mother; "you always do.
You know that's the rule; but there's
no hurry about it. You can do it
just before we go down to dinner."
Charlie made no answer. His
mother, being busy, did not notice
him particularly, and did not see the
look of dogged defiance which was
slowly settling down on his sunny
face. She was greatly startled, therefore, an hour or two later, on saying
to him pleasantly, "Now, Charlie, it
is about dinner time. Hurry and
pick up the paper, so as to be ready
to go down to dinner with mamma,"
to hear the answer in an unmistakably
rebellious voice, "I won't!"
The crisis had come. The battle
had been opened unawares to the
commander. It was a great pity; but
now it must be fought.
"Why, what does my little boy
mean by speaking like that? Charlie
must never say that word to his
mamma. Charlie must pick up the
paper," said the mother.
"Charlie won't," was the answer,
short, sullen, defiant.
"Charlie," said his mother, now
very firmly, "you must pick up the
paper; and you can't go down to dinner until you do."
His dinner was sent up to him,
and he ate it, no doubt with a relish,
and a vague sense of being engaged
in a grand enterprise. It is impossible not to sympathise with these
dear little men and women when they
set up their young wills so bravely,
and hold out so long, leading forlorn hopes against our superior
strength and authority. The very
virtues which are going to be their
salvation and the mainspring of all.
their usefulness in after life, are so
apt to take in childhood the semblance of faults, and to be all classed
together under one general head of
"Naughtiness."
When tea-time came, Charlie again
had the alternative set before him of
picking up the paper or being left
to take his supper alone in the nursery. He understood clearly now that
he would not go out of the nursery
until he had picked up that paper.
"He'll pick it up in the morning,"
had been everybody's thought and
expectation. The child had never
been wilful or disobedient before. He
was sunny, light-hearted, affectionate, impulsive; naughty enough to
prove himself human, sometimes, but
in the main a singularly sweet-tempered, happy little fellow. Everybody's thought and expectations were
mistaken. Charlie got up as dogged
as he went to bed; if possible, more
so.
His father held him on his knee a
long time, and talked with him. He
assented to all that was said; admitted that he was a very naughty boy;
but quietly and persistently, without
any apparent ill-humour, maintained
that he would not pick up the paper.
It was a very perplexing dilemma.
Ninety-nine parents out of a hundred
January 7, 1935
would have pushed the matter to a
sharp crisis, and either by blows or
violent measures of some sort, have
arbitrarily compelled the technical
act of obedience. But these parents
were wiser and more patient. They
waited for the child to conquer himself.
On the afternoon of this day, his
playthings were taken from him, and
he was told that while he was so
naughty a boy he could not be allowed to play with them. He did
not apparently find himself at all
disturbed by being without them,
ran about cheerfully, looked out of
the window, watched the different
members of the family, and seemed
contented.
On the second day, the blinds of
the nursery were shut. His mother
thought that perhaps the partial
darkness and the loss of the outdoor
sights, of which he was so fond,
would subdue his spirit. He was left
alone, also; but his indomitable will
rose above all these discomforts.
Through a crack in the blinds, one
strong sunbeam streamed into the
room, and in that the shining motes
of dust were dancing up and down;
this was a new sight to Charlie, and
lasted him all day long; as often as
his mother looked in at the door, she
found him walking back and forth
in it, across it, stretching his little
hands into it, and trying to catch the
motes.
On the morning of the fourth day,
his mother, in despair, took him in
her lap, and essayed once more to
show him his conduct in its true light.
She could produce no impression on
him. She began to be seriously
alarmed. What was to be the end of
this contest?. How long should it
be allowed to go on? What was the
next step to take? In her disheartenment and pain, she threw herself
down on one of the beds in the nursery, and began in spite of herself to
weep. At the first sound of her sobs,
Charlie screamed and ran to her.
"0 mamma, mamma, don't cry! I
will be good, I will be good," and he
burst into a violent fit of weeping
himself—the first tears he had shed
—threw his arms around her, kissed
her over and over, and would not
leave her till she stopped crying and
smiled. Then he flew to pick up the
paper; the tears still rolling down his
cheeks, and the penitent little voice
repeating, "Don't cry, mamma, don't
cry any more. I'll be a good boy.
I'm a good boy now."
The battle was won—won by love.
What reason, fear, authority, all had
failed to do, was done in a second by
the might of the divine principle of
love; before the thought that his
mother was suffering pain by reason
of his naughtiness, all the perverse
January 7, 1935
stubbornness in him melted as frost
melts in the sun;
Some of the after results of this
experience were profoundly interesting. Charlie had been taught very
little about God, his parents holding
peculiar views on this point. From
the day of this battle the child began
to talk about God in a way not at all
to be explained by any instructions or
knowledge he had received from his
parents. He evidently associated in
his mind some idea of his having been
naughty to God as well as to his
parents. "If I could go where God
is," he said, "I'd like to see Him; I'd
hug Him just as hard as. I hug
mamma. Wouldn't God let a good
boy hug Him?"
This was the first battle of
Charlie's childhood, and the last.
The story is a true one, and it seems
to me it is well worth being set as a
parable of truth and wisdom in the
hearts of all who hold in their hands
the making or marring of the characters and the lives of little children.
—Selected.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
CHOWS
CORriet
Our Teeth
OU have already been told a
good deal about how to use
the tooth-brush to keep your
teeth clean. You, of course, know
that the use of ever so many toothbrushes does not make teeth. The
toothbrush can only keep the teeth
clean, and this is important enough in
itself.
There is something else, though,
that must be done in order to have
good teeth, and that is to eat the kind
of food that will supply material to
Broken Homes
make good teeth.
A very interesting thing has been
ES, their parents on both sides
lived together for fifty years. learned lately about teeth, and that
Maybe it was intended for is that teeth will not readily decay
them to try to live up to the traditions of their forebears, but in any
GOD WANTS THE BOYS
case this young couple failed miserably. It is a wonderful thing to
"GOD wants the boys, the merry boys,
The noisy boys, the funny boys,
think that folks still exist who have
The thoughtless boys;
lived together fifty years, and that
God wants the boys with all their joys—
they were brought up with that ideal
That He may make them pure,
in mind.
y
y
Homes are being broken every day
by thoughtlessness, and not until
years afterward will the principals
know how thoughtless they have
been. When old age comes on, and
they sit in their homes alone, often
they will look back on the things
that seemed so terrible only to find
that they were just little drops of rain
in the ocean. If they could have it
all to do over again, the thing that
made their lives unhappy and separated them would scarcely even be
thought of now.
If youth could only have a little
of the experience of age, what a great
world this would be for everybody.
I presume this is one reason I have
never envied youth. I have lived
long enough to know that years are
great things to have for a background, and that to have known all
kinds of lives and sorrows gives you
something to work with that cannot
be duplicated. It makes it possible
for you to understand the grief of
others.—Carrie Jacobs Bond, author
of "The End of a Perfect Day."
15
And teach them trials to endure,
His heroes brave He'd have them be,
Fighting for truth and purity ;
God wants the boys."
411.,••••••••••••MO.4..................••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••..
if they are made of good material.
That is, sound teeth with plenty of
lime will last long, even though they
may not be kept clean. That does
not mean they should not be kept
clean.
It takes lime to make good teeth,
and if the food does not have enough
lime in it to make good sound teeth,
as well as the bones of the body, there
will be soft places in the teeth, and
these soft places will begin to decay.
It's these decayed spots in the
tooth that lead to toothache, for the
decayed places get larger and larger,
until after a while they reach the
nerve, and then — Ouch! ! ! You
know it. That means suffering, and
perhaps the loss of the tooth, for the
dentist, with all his good work and
care, may be able to save it only for
a time.
We need all our teeth, and we need
them as long as we live. If we will
begin early to build good teeth and
to take care of them, they will last
us. It's always better to have good
teeth of our own than those which the
dentist will make for us later. It
surely must be a good deal easier and
better to look after our teeth, eating the food that will build sound
teeth, and keeping them clean, than
to have the toothache. Foods that
make sound teeth are milk, wholewheat cereals, vegetables, and fruits.
—Life and Health.
How to Be a Missionary
OTHER," said May one
morning, "I wish I could
be a missionary, and teach
the poor heathen to read the Bible."
"You need not go to heathen lands
to do that, May. There are people
in this town who cannot read. Suppose you were to be a home missionary, and teach little Tom Briar to
read and spell?"
"Oh, do you really think I could?"
cried May.
"Yes, indeed! If you would be
patient and give up a little of your
playtime, I am sure you could."
May was delighted with this plan,
and went at once to tell Mrs. Briar,
who was very glad to have Tom learn
his lessons. Every day after that
found the little teacher and scholar
hard at work, until Tom learned to
read. Then May gave him a Bible
of his own.
May was a true missionary; and
she told her mother, when the summer was over, that it was the happiest one she had ever spent. — The
Sunbeam.
M
GOD WANTS THE GIRLS
"GOD wants the girls, the happy girls,
The lively girls, the romping girls,
The cheerful girls;
God wants the girls, in tresses or curls—
That He may make them all His own,
To love, and serve; each duty done,
His daughters fair, as pillars to stand,
In temples holy, pure, and grand;
God wants the girls."
i6
1,0
PRICE PAYABLE IN ADVANCE
12 months, 6/6 ; 6 months, 3/3 ; 3 months, 1/9
Post free in the Commonwealth and N.Z.
10/Ali other countries
Single copies, postage extra
All orders sent direct to the publishers or
their agents, either for single subscriptions or
for clubs, must be accompanied by cash.
SIGNS PUBLISHING COMPANY
(A.C.A. Ltd., Props.)
Warburton, Victoria, Australia.
When forwarding Money Orders or Postal
Notes, please make same payable to SIGNS
PUBLISHING COMPANY (A. C. A. Ltd.,
Props.), WARBURTON, and not to individuals. All remittances from New Zealand should
be in the form of Money Orders, as Postal
Notes or stamps are not negotiable in the
Commonwealth.
OUR GENERAL AGENTS
Victorian Tract Society, 8 Yarra St., Hawthorn,
E.2, Victoria.
Tasmanian Tract Society, 361 Argyle Street,
North Hobart, Tasmania.
South N.S.W. Tract Society, 72 The Boulevarde,
Strathfield, N.S.W.
North N.S.W. Tract Society, 21 Gordon Avenue,
Hamilton, N.S.W.
Queensland Tract Society, 37 O'Connell Terrace, Bowen Hills, Brisbane, Queensland.
South Australian Tract Society, 27 Prospect
Terrace, Prospect, S.A.
West Australian Tract Society, 47 Hay Street,
Subiaco, W.A.
North N.Z. Tract Society, 84 Jervois Road,
Auckland, N.Z.
South N.Z. Tract Society, 902 Colombo Street,
Christchurch, N.Z.
We send out no papers that have not been
ordered; if persons receive the SIGNS OF
THE TIMES without ordering, it is sent to
them by some friend, and they will not be
called upon to pay.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
January 7, 1935
MASS production of baby gyroplanes,
able to land in a back yard or on a flat
housetop and to hover almost motionless
in midair, will commence in Scotland
within the next few months.
They will be made by Messrs. G. and J.
Weir, Holm Foundry, Cathcart, Glasgow.
The baby gyroplanes will be sold to the
public at the price of a medium-powered
motor-car. They are single-seater machines, with a cruising speed of between 8o
and 90 miles an hour.
THE Bureau of Education of China has
decided to organise a censorship committee
to guard very carefully the character of the
broadcasts which go out over the ether.
The kinds of programmes which will be
allowed will be those dealing with "military affairs, lectures on hygiene, common
sense, children's education, the new lifemovement principles, and sport news."
THE latest, and what Marquis Guglielmo
Marconi considers his greatest invention,
is a radio lighthouse. Even as his invention of the wireless has saved thousands
of lives through S.O.S. calls, so he says the
radio lighthouse should save hundreds of
ships from collision in fog just outside
ports.
In a recent test, in the presence of Fascist
authorities and newspaper men, Marconi
blindly, yet successfully, piloted a seagoing
yacht into the harbour at Sestri Levante.
INI IM
X-RAY has revealed the secret of the
tone of violins made by such famous artisans as Stradivari and Amati. It is not
in the varnish, or the methods used, but in
the structure of the wood.
THERE is a lizard indigenous to Namaqualand and western Cape Province, Africa,
which defends itself when attacked, by
rolling up into a tight coil, and remaining
that way until the danger is past.
THE number of deaths resulting from
motor-car accidents in the United States
is increasing so rapidly that last year's
total will prebably have reached 35,00o, as
compared with 31,000 in 1933 and the previous peak figure of 33,700 in 1931.
The president of the National Safety
Council suggests four chief causes of the
alarming increase—laxity in the enforcement of the law, old vehicles unsafe from
wear and neglect, the greater speed of new
cars, and the increased use of liquor by
motorists.
MI IN IN MI
is so severely restricting imports of wool, because she cannot afford
to pay for them, that a woollen cloth is
now being made in Germany out of old
wool rags, socks, and other knitted garments, with perhaps 5o per cent of new
wool of inferior quality.
This cloth is now being manufactured
in Central Germany, Saxony, the Palatinate, and Silesia, by order of the German
Government.
It will be used for uniforms of the various Nazi forces, Hitler youths, Government
employees on the railways, postmen, tramcar and omnibus drivers, and conductors.
The yarn made of rags and wool waste
is called "mungo."
ALTHOUGH it was not till 1885 that the
first motor-cycle was built in England,
the designs were drawn up in 1884, and it
was fifty years ago that the first patent
was applied for.
FOR SALE OR LEASE
acres purchase lease land,
abundance of firewood, and small cottage.
Mrs. M. Adams, Post Office, Bendigo, Vic.
The applicant was Edward Butler, and
his application was summarised as "a patent for the mechanical propulsion of
cycles." Possibly Gottlieb Daimler in Germany was a little ahead of Butler, for, according to a German claim, it was in 1884
that Daimler built a motor-engine into a
bicycle frame.
TO LET
rooms, with use of kitchen,
dining-room, sitting-room, and all conveniences; handy to church, church school, and
Hydro. Splendid view. For particulars
write E. Jensen, care Box 3, Warburton,
Victoria.
The following year seems to be the more
reliable date, however, and, in any case,
Daimler did not apply for a patent in England until September II, 1885.
Daimler's subsequent influence on the
motor industry—for he quickly directed his
attention to four-wheeled vehicles—was, of
course, very much greater than Butler's.
Remedy
Constipation
the Natural Way-with
SAN-BRAN
all
GERMANY
Around the World
4
1\,==
1MIEW
M&MIIMINWME
MNIMIV'MNINWAIIAMENNIAMMEIWMINIMIAMMENIAMO
SEVENTEEN
FURNISHED
ADVERTISMENT
BOARDING House, Katoomba, Blue Mountains, N.S.W. Vegetarian and semi-vegetarians catered for. Diabetic and dyspeptic
patients may also enjoy a holiday away
from home. Book ahead during season.
M. Thomson, proprietress (late cook Vegetarian Cafe, Melbourne).
DID you know that white flour,
white bread, and some breakfast
foods are totally deficient in bran?
Yet bran, because of its bulk and
the readiness with which it absorbs
water, assists in a perfectly natural
manner the thorough elimination of
waste matter.
Sanitarium Flavoured San-Bran,
the ideal natural laxative, is immeasurably superior to ordinary
bran. It is more effective, infinitely
more appetising.
Add two tablespoonfuls of SanBran daily to your breakfast cereal.
This amount is sufficient to ensure
regularity in the average person.
Chronic sufferers from constipation
should substitute San-Bran entirely
for other cereals. Also they should
eat San-Bran at every meal, as an
ingredient in bread, scones, cakes,
rissoles, and custard. Excellent
recipes are given with every packet.
San-Bran
Sold by grocers
everywhere
IIIWIMINIIMIMENIWM111
1=IMMMI.M.MIAMMIMV.4
111ML
111MMI
Printed and published by SIGNS PUBLISHING
COMPANY (A.C.A. Ltd., Props.), Wai ourton,
Victoria, Australia, and registered as a newspaper in Victoria.