ARE YOU RULED BY FATE?
Free Ecuador Condemns Religious Intolerance
Blushing—One of God’s Gifts
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Prying into a Word’s Past
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CONTENTS
Lack of Parental Love Breeds Vandalism |
3 |
Powerful Peat |
20 |
Are You Ruled by Fate? |
5 |
Liberia’s Rubber Paradise |
21 |
The Bible Answers |
7 |
Fishland’s Fathers with Incubator Mouths |
23 |
Prying into a Word’s Past |
9 |
New Destructive Earthquakes in Greece |
24 |
Secrets Words Do Not Tell |
10 |
"Your Word Is Truth”—Acquiring | |
Blushing—One of God's Gifts |
13 |
the Right Kind of Knowledge |
25 |
Too Hot Even for the “Reverend'’ |
16 |
Jehovah’s Witnesses Preach in All | |
Free Ecuador Condemns |
the Earth—Peru |
27 | |
Religious Intolerance |
17 |
Do You Know? |
28 |
A Nation Rises in Protest |
18 |
Watching the World |
29 |
46QENSELESS Destruction. Kids on a
O Rampage—Rise in Vandalism a Peril to Nation. Police and School Officials Puzzled by Growing Trend?' Thus read the headlines of an article appearing in the Chicago Daily News, September 21, 1953.
The article went on to state: “Vandalism has become a crucial threat to our cities. It is no longer just mischief—it is major destruction running into millions of dollars each year.” It told of children setting fire to homes, construction cranes, schools and church buildings, of youngsters smashing store windows and overturning automobiles. Typical was their raiding of a public library in Detroit where they “stripped books off the shelves, smashed glass cases and tore rare books to bits, hurled index cards into heaps on the floor and doused them with glue?’
Clearly something has happened to the children in recent years. Police officials and judges speak of “sheer, senseless destruction" and of “a disease of destruction." Among the questions asked were “What can we do about it? Who is to blame?"
“The Bible puts the blame squarely upon the parents, although that by no means implies that vandals should go unpunished. It tells us: “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame." “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”—Proverbs 22:15; 29:15; 22:6.
Neglect of parental discipline has always resulted in juvenile delinquency, it might be observed, and so the question remains, why has delinquency in recent years taken such a senseless, destructive trend? Because of the lack of love on the part of the parents, and particularly on the part of the mother; vandalism being the child's expression of resentment against having been denied love.
The importance of love, not sentimentality, but genuine, mature affection of parent for the child, was emphasized by Dr. Spock, in The Ladies’ Home Journal, May, 1954. In an article entitled “True Love Makes Them Grow,” he states that “a baby’s personality is shaped from the start by the attitudes of its parents. Affection is as vital as calories.” If a child has good parents who love him truly he can overcome other handicaps and can mature without the aid of psychiatrists.
And why should there be such a lack of parental love today, causing such a crop of vandals to spring up? Because of the modern emphasis on woman's rights, and the low esteem in which woman’s role as the nurturing homekeeper is held by many. Trying to imitate and ape men and to win self-respect in the business world women
have neglected their children. Blaming this modem trend on women, Mrs. Agnes Meyer, a mother of five children, and grandmother of eight, a graduate and trustee of a woman’s college, who has served on national and presidential committees for public schools, higher education and child welfare, states:
“There have never been so many mothers who neglect their children because they find some trivial job more interesting. I know this from wide contact with neglected children. The most pathetic are those who come from well-to-do homes. The poor child whose mother has to work has some inner security because he knows in his little heart that his mother is sacrificing herself for his well-being. But the neglected child from a well-to-do home, who realizes instinctively that his mother prefers her job to him, often hates her with a passionate intensity. These are the children who frequently get into the worst difficulties because they are most deeply hurt and resentful.
“What ails these women who consciously or unconsciously reject their children? ... What kind of civilization have we built when fathers and mothers need to have it drilled into them by psychiatrists, sociologists, and other experts that they are creating social monsters because they do not love the children they have brought into the world?
“As I go about my social research today, especially among uprooted families living in vast new housing developments, I am often forced to the conclusion that there are more good fathers today than good mothers. The infantilism of selfishness, the desire for a false self-expression . , . lead all too many women to despise the role of housewife, to reject their children and resent the father.”
And says Mrs. M. F. Farnham, M.D.: “So let us face the grim fact. The spawning ground for most neuroses in our civilization is the home nursery. And the principal agent is the. rejecting, or otherwise emotionally disordered, mother. It is she who is largely responsible for most of our 750,000 confirmed alcoholics, for millions of other neurotics, for our increasing number of criminals, delinquents and truants.” The Bible agrees, highlighting the mother’s responsibility: “A child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.”
There was a time when God could ask, as posing something most difficult to imagine: "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?” But today the force of that question is lost as regards many women. The Bible foretold that our times would be critical, difficult to deal with, and the selfish tempo has produced failures in every sphere of human endeavor. So we find parents without true love of goodness, without natural affection, and as a result we are reaping a crop of vandals, children disobedient to parents, without self-control and fierce.—Isaiah 49:15; 2 Timothy 3:1-6, New World Trans,
The Bible puts love first. "God is love.” And as the apostle Paul assures us at 1 Corinthians 13 Jove is iong-sufTeringaiid obliging, does not look for its own interests, does not keep account of the injury, endures all things. Yes, “love never fails.” So parents, sow loving discipline and reap God-fearing, well-behaved children; but sow selfishness, neglect and indifference, and you will reap a crop of vandals. There is no substitute for love.
DOES God rule individuals byfate?
If your answer is yes, then you believe that your destiny is fixed, that your life is really not your own, that you are merely a puppet in the hands of a divine power who governs your action. You concede that your final destiny has been arranged and predetermined by God before the world’s foundation. If, on the other hand, your answer to the above question is no, then you believe that man is a free moral agent, free to express himself, free to act, to choose and to make his own decisions; that he is responsible for his own conduct, and that by his own course of action he chooses his own destiny.
Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition, page 922, has this to say about fate: “That principle, or determining cause or will, by which things in general are supposed to come to be as they are or events to happen as they do; a law or foreordination by which either the universe as a whole or particular happenings
ordination, as well as in certain ways of conceiving the immutability of the laws of nature.” Fatalism is "the doctrine that all things are subject to fate, or that their occurrence is necessitated by the nature of things or by the fixed and inevitable decree of arbiters of destiny.”
From this definition it is quite certain that fatalism is well grounded in paganism. Both the Greeks and the Romans were great believers in fatalism. The Greeks believed that the destiny of men was controlled by three goddesses: Clothe (spinner), the goddess who spins the thread of life; Lachesis (disposer of lots), the god-
are conceived to be predetermined; the necessity of nature; destiny. In ancient times, as among primitive peoples generally, Fate was often personified as a kind of god or
Why do ionic people appear to receive all the advantage* in life, while other* seem to get all the disadvantages? Are their destinies sealed before their birth ? If so, why should men be held accountable for that over which they have no control? Can fate be reconciled with God'* justice and love? How doe* the Bible reply?
dess who determines the length of life; and Atropos (inflexible), the goddess who cuts life off when the time is up. These were known as the three sisters. The Romans identi
group of deities . . . However, fate was also regarded as a necessity inherent in the nature of things, to which gods as well as men are subject. The will of the gods may determine fate for human beings; but also, the gods may be its instruments rather than its arbiters. The idea of fate has its near equivalent in certain Christian conceptions of divine forefied these Grecian Moirai, this trinity of goddesses, with their own goddesses of fate,, whom they named Nona, Decuma and Morta. This trinity was called by the Romans the Par'cae.
The essence of the fatalistic doctrine is still adhered to in both the Eastern and Western religions. The doctrine itself assigns no place at all to the initiative of the
individual or to rational sequence of even7 . Thus today an Oriental may believe that he is fated to die on a particular day; he believes that, whatever he does and in spite of all precautions he may take, nothing can avert the disaster. In Islam fate is an absolute power, known as kismet, or Nasib, ■which is conceived as inexorable and transcending all the physical laws of the universe. Perhaps the most striking feature of the oriental fatalism is its complete indifference to material circumstances. Men and women accept prosperity and misfortune with calmness as the decree of fate. A beggar is in an honorable position and to refuse him a gift is most dishonorable. He does not seek to better his station in life, because the gods willed that he be a beggar. With that he is content.
How Christianity became contaminated with this pagan doctrine is, of particular interest. It was the common practice of pagan nations that surrounded the nation of Israel to make gods of the stars and worship them. They mapped out or divided off the heavens into twelve sections, one for each month, and according to the month or position of the stars at the time of birth a man’s life or course was determined. They believed that their star gods guided and governed their lives. This practice has been handed down to us in the teaching of astrology. .
While the Jews did not believe stars influenced their lives, they came to believe that Jehovah controlled the lives and destiny of all men. In this way they mingled pagan doctrine into pure worship and contaminated it. Augustine, pope and bishop of the Catholic Church, tried unsuccessfully to harmonize the teaching of fatalism with God's Word. He maintained that “grace is an internal operation of God upon those whom he designs to save, imparting not only the power, but also the will to do good." That the Roman Catholic Cnurch still holds to this doctrine, at least to some degree, is shown by the following quotation from the July, 1951, issue of the pamphlet Why, edited by “Father”Richard Felix, O.S.B., and published with ecclesiastical approbation by the Benedictine Fathers, Benet Lake, Wisconsin: “God predestines certain souls for Heaven. He does not predestine any soul for Hell. . . . The predestination of the elect to Heaven is a positive act of God; the reprobation of the wicked is not.”
The Presbyterian Church champions the doctrine of predestination in the Western world. They claim that “those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen in Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of his mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving him thereunto; and all the praise of his glorious grace. The rest of mankind, God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he ex-tendeth or withholdeth mercy as he pleas-eth, for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice.’’ —Confession of Faith, Chapter III, Sections 5, 7, pages 15-17.
The doctrine of fatalism, however, presents a number of thought-provoking problems and questions to the Christian. First: Can we harmonize the doctrine with the teachings of the Bible? Second: To what extent is a person morally responsible when he, according to fatalism advocates, moves to the tune of an inevitable “must”? Or to what extent is he personally responsible? The whole penal system is based up-
on the principle that man Is a free moral agent. If the man is not free to do good or evil, then the whole penal system appears meaningless. If man is not free, then can we reconcile his prosperity or his suffering to the perfect wisdom, justice and love of God?
The Bible Answers
The Bible speaks out very clearly on this matter of fate. It says that things, happenings, classes, and not individuals’ eternal destiny, are the things that are predestined. For example: After the fall of Adam and Eve God predestinated a “new heavens and a new earth” for the blessing of humankind. With that prediction he ordained the old heavens and earth to destruction. Being the great Architect that he is, he foreknew the kind of “heavens” and “earth” that he was to build. He predestined the exact size of the building, the kind and quality of the material that should be used in its construction, that the quality of those chosen must be that of integrity, love, devotion to right principles, loyal to God, mild-tempered, humble, loving justice and righteousness, merciful, preaching the Word. The number and qualities God foreordained, but not the individuals that would make up this body.
Therefore, through his Son He says: “Many are called [to this new heavens class], but few are chosen.” If predestination were true, the number called would be the same as the number finafiy chosen. But alas! not so. Many that are called do not measure up to the qualifications and are thus rejected. Others are called to fill their place. It would be extreme hypocrisy on the part of God to call individuals to this class if he had predestined them to fail. It would deny his attributes of wisdom, justice and love.—Matthew 22:14.
Those who prove faithful are spoken of as being written in the book of life. Recorded in this book are the names of those who have proved faithful. Of these, Jesus says: “I will by no means blot out his name from the book of life." This Indicates names could be blotted out. That it is possible David wrote: . “May they be blotted out from the book of life." Jehovah shows whom he will blot out, when he said to Moses: “Whoever sins against me, him only I blot out of my book."—Revelation 3:5, New World Trans.; Psalm 69:28; Exodus 32:32, 33, An Amer. Trans.
That it is possible for the very elect ones to fall both Peter and Paul show. Peter says: “For it would have been better for them not to have accurately known the path of righteousness than after knowing it accurately to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them.” Paul writes in similar vein: “It is impossible as regards those who have once for all been enlightened and who have tasted the heavenly free gift and who have become partakers of holy spirit and who have tasted the right word of God and powers of the coming system of things, but who have fallen away, to revive them again to repentance, because they impale the Son of God afresh for themselves and expose him to public shame.” Both apostles show very conclusively that some can be called and chosen by Almighty God and still remain free as individuals to continue in this course or turn aside to follow paths of their own. Destinies of individuals, therefore, are not fixed by God. Man chooses his own destiny by his own free will.—2 Peter 2:21; Hebrews 6:4, New World Trans.
Foreknowledge Compatible with Free Will
If man is a free moral agent, how, then, can God foreknow his actions and predetermine the course of nations centuries In advance? It is through the exercise of his foreknowledge; With it he has the infallible power to peer into the far-distant fu-
ture without violating the creature’s free will. But God does not do this in the ease of every creature. He has done it with creatures specifically connected with his purposes. This knowledge, however, is not predestination, because predestination requires that the final destiny of individuals be inflexibly fixed from the time before Adam and Eve and the world’s foundation. But there is no evidence that God has fixed the destiny of his intelligent creatures at any time.
In the case of Esau and Jacob, God did not predestine their course. He merely foretold that the “older will serve the younger.” Even at that, this prediction was not made before the world’s foundation, nor was this pronouncement concerning their final destiny. Here God foretold that the younger was to get the birthright that ordinarily went to the first-born son. The birthright was not required for one’s salvation. Esau in his position could have found favor in the eyes of Jehovah had he desired it. Foreknowledge does not really determine the final destiny of man, any more so than an accurate weather forecast determines the coming weather.
In the case of Judas the prophecy does not say that he would be the one that would betray Jesus. It merely states that one of his apostles would. It could have been any one of the twelve. When Judas began to drift away from pure worship, no doubt Jesus knew then that he would be the one. But none of these predictions were made prior to Adam and Eve or the foundation of the world.
In Jesus’ case prophecies that told of acts that would happen against him never told of specific individuals. They only told of events that would occur. God can and does maneuver events in their affairs so that all works out for the fulfillment of his foreknowledge. But these few exceptional cases that did involve Jehovah’s foreknowledge cannot be used successfully to prove he has exercised a similar degree of foreknowledge in the case of every human creature.
The facts show that creatures are not fated or predestined, but possess an unlimited free will of choice for good and bad. If we did not possess free will, why would Jehovah encourage us to choose life if no choice existed? That a choice does exist is evident from the following scripture: “I have put life and death before you, the blessing and the malediction, and you must choose life in order that you may keep alive, you and your offspring, by loving Jehovah your God, by listening to his voice and by sticking to him, for he is your life and the length of your days.” Therefore, creatures are free to choose their own destiny.—Deuteronomy 30:19, 20, New World Trans.
That Jehovah God does not appoint some men to life and others to destruction is evident from his Word: “Anyone,” says he, “that calls upon the name of Jehovah will be saved.” Again, “Let anyone that wishes take life’s water free.” And again, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, . . . come ye, . . . and your soul shall live.” The free gift of life is for everyone, rich, poor, great or small. All one needs to do is avail himself of Jehovah’s priceless provisions, adhere to the requirements and live.—Acts 2:21; Revelation 22:17, New World Trans.; Isaiah 55:1-3.
Now is the time to decide your destiny, this being the day of Jehovah, the day of decision. Jehovah will not force you to choose. You being a free moral agent, you must do so for yourself. With the rapid approach of Armageddon the time for an intelligent choice is limited. Make a wise choice. Choose to serve Jehovah. By doing so you will not only honor Jehovah but win for yourself everlasting life in happiness on a paradise earth.
PRYING into a word’s past can provide you with both enlightenment and entertainment. This is especially true in regard to that curious blend of tongues, the English language. So as we dig into the past of words we are certain to find it intriguing and at the same time we shall gain an insight into the words themselves that can come in no other way. Just knowing that the word “reveal” comes from Latin re (drawing back) and velum (a veil) really pulls back the veil of unfamiliarity every time you see the word. Thus prying into a word’s past will illuminate a word, revealing interesting stories, strange stories, tales of travel, adventure and the unexpected.
Some words tantalize us: they appear to contain fascinating secrets, but when we pry into them their past is either unknown or hazy. Fortunately, though, most words can be traced back to their birth. Take that word “tantalize.” It exists today only because of an ancient Greek legend about a king called Tantalus who was confined to a place of dire punishment. He Was sentenced to stand up to his chin in water. Above his head, just out of reach, were branches laden with the most luscious fruits. Whenever he tried to drink or pluck a fruit the water or fruit always withdrew from his reach.
Customs Coin Words
Customs of the past have, in effect, coined many an English word. It was a custom among the Goths of ancient Europe for newly married couples to drink a beverage called “mead.” It was a kind of wine made from honey. After the wedding the newlyweds drank this beverage for thirty days. And since a month at that time was the time it took for the moon to go through all its phases, it was inevitable that into existence would come the word honeymoon.
Do you like prompt service in a restaurant? It often depends on how well you tip. Several authorities tell us that the word “tip” comes from a practice in early eighteenth-century London coffeehouses. There was usually a box into which persons in a hurry could drop a small coin to get immediate attention. The box was labeled “To Insure Promptness.” Later just the initials TJ.P. appeared—and finally the word tip.
Unlike some modem women who wear feathers in hats for adornment purposes only, the American Indians wore feathers in their hair for more than the sake of appearance. Their custom had a special significance. A young Indian brave had to perform a feat of daring to be eligible to wear feathers in his hair. The more daring feats he performed, the more feathers. From contact with the Indians the early American
pioneers brought into use the phrase “to put a feather in one’s cap.” Today when one puts a feather in his cap he has performed a difficult achievement.
Latin and Greek Predominance
It may surprise some to know that two languages make up about 70 per cent of English words: Latin and Greek. From these two tongues comes the bulk of English medical and scientific words. But did you know that according to the Greek the word “atom” is a misnomer for this atomic age? For “atom” comes from Greek a (not) and tom, derived from a Greek verb meaning “to cut.” Thus atom, that which is not cuttable. But man has done the etymologically impossible: he has split the unsplittable atom and ushered in the atomic age!
The Greek word for bow is toxon. Finally toxikon was used to mean the poison in vhich an arrow was dipped. From this we lave English toxic, poisonous. A man offering liquor to another often says, “Name your poison.” Is he joking? Not when alcoholic beverages are abused! For the word “intoxicated” literally means having poison shot into one’s body, as if by a bow and a poisoned arrow!
Journeying now to ancient Rome we find that the Romans ground out their com with a heavy sledgelike roller called tribu-lum. Being ground under and pressed in made a powerful metaphor to express the trials and tribulations of the early Christians. What an etymologically apt description is given for the Christians’ tribulations by the apostle Paul: “We are pressed in every way”!'—2 Corinthians 4:8, New World Trans.
Today one may hear the expression, “He is not worth his salt.” These words could hardly be fully appreciated until one digs up the story behind the phrase. The ancient Roman soldier was issued a money allowance for salt. So from Latin solarium (salt money) comes the English word salary. When a person is not worth his salary, he, according to the literal meaning of the word, is not worth his salt!
Knowing a few Latin root words can make many English words step right out of the mausoleum of the dictionary and become alive. To know that the Latin stem for step is gress helps us pry into the word “progress.” We observe that “progress” is literally a stepping forward (pro). “Retrogress" is to step backward (retro). To “transgress” is to step across (trans) the line of righteousness. Now we shall “digress” (step away) from gress and proceed to the Latin stem for foot, ped. Can you recognize its footprints in the words "pedestrian," “pedal,” “pedestal,” “expedite” and “centiped”? To “impede” someone’s progress is literally to place something in the way of his feet as he tries to step forward. Tracking down the Greek stem for “foot,” pous or podos, we are able to find new meaning in the word platypus: just a flat-footed animal! That makes the octopus merely a sea animal that has eight feet!
Secrets Words Do Not Tell
Words are not talkative about their past. They keep many intriguing secrets. Only when we deliberately pry into a word’s past can we perceive its curious secrets. Learning the secret of the word panic will help us better understand the word. The ancient Greeks had a god called Pan who was supposed to win battles by causing fright among Greece’s enemies. The ancient Romans had a god of fire called Vulcan. So there is fire in our words “volcano” and “vulcanize,” The “superman” of mythology was Hercules. He is said to have performed labors of extraordinary difficulty. Hence anything requiring great strength or courage is herculean.
Now a journey to Italy to ferret out the secret of the word “fiasco.” In making
beautiful old Venetian glass the custom glass blower, if he discovered a flaw, turned the article into a fiasco or common bottle or flask. So when a glass blower, by reason of his clumsiness or incompetence, did not turn out a fine vase he always had a fiasco. In time this Italian word was adopted by English-speaking people. Today fiasco is applied to any work that does not turn out well but results in an utter failure.
There is murder in the word “assassin.” Curiously, “assassin” comes from an Arabic word meaning “hashish eater,” Quite appropriate, really! For the habitual use of hashish is said to have spurred a sect of Eastern fanatics on to commit murder! In the word “juggernaut” there is not only destruction but also ruthless power. Prying into its past we find that Juggernaut was the idol of the Hindu god Krishna which was pulled around on a huge cart. Devotees of the god are said to have thrown themselves under the wheels to be crushed to death. “Juggernaut” today describes a ruthless, irresistible force or machine that destroys everything that gets in its way.
French has given zest to the English language. Why, the word “zest” itself is French zeste, meaning “lemon or orange peel.” We say that lemon peel gives zest to a drink. So "zest” has undergone some changes and has been .transferred from the object itself and is now applied to its effect.
The word “Dutch” appears in many English phrases, but not because the Dutch willed it. For “Dutch” does not carry a savory connotation with its baggage of English words. Thus a Dutch treat is not really a treat; each person pays for himself. A Dutch uncle is a person who sternly criticizes another. A Dutch defense is really a surrender. To be in Dutch is to be in trouble. How did these expressions come about, since English-speaking people harbor no animosity toward the Dutch? Well, the unsavory use of the word “Dutch” came into use decades ago. When Britain began to rule the waves the Dutch were their chief colonial rivals; Britain showered scorn upon them. Thus traces of scorn from a bygone era are found in the English language. But there are other “nationality words" in English besides Dutch. The Welsh people are not at all pleased with the English verb welsh, which means dishonorably to avoid payment of a lost bet or other obligation. There is an Irish dividend, really an assessment. And from the custom in the eighteenth century of departing from a social gathering without taking leave of the host came French leave. However, the same phrase in French is filer a I’Anglaise—the compliment returned!
People Whose Names We Use
Did you know that the tiny tropical fish called “guppy” is so named because in 1868 R. J. Lechmere Guppy, of Trinidad, presented first specimens to the British Museum? Just as Guppy gave his name to a fish so a Mr. Derrick gave his name to any kind of hoisting machinery. Maybe this is a gruesome past but anyway Derrick was the hangman at Tyburn prison back in the seventeenth century. He hoisted to their death some of the most notorious criminals of the day and as a result hoisted to fame his own name! Then there is Etienne de Silhouette, the finance minister of France just before the Revolution, who also earned word fame in an odd way. He harped excessively on economy. Why, it is said that he did not even have full paintings made for his home, just outline drawings. In scorn of his petty economies people called the black portraits silhouettes.
A great gambler was the Earl of Sandwich. So loath was he to leave the gaming table that he once stayed twenty-four hours without a break. Meat was brought
AUGUST 22, 1954
11
to him between two dices of bread. Thus in 1762 a gambler gave his naine to the language: sandwich. Equally famous is Charles C. Boycott, an English land agent He had the task of collecting high rents from Irish fanners. In 1880 the farmers protested high rentals, ostracizing Boycott, not even allowing him to make purchases in town. So Boycott was subjected to the treatment that has taken his name!
As the names of people have been a rich source of words so also have been the names of places. From Cantalupo, Italy, came the name of those luscious melons called cantaloupes. Calicut, India, was the city from which was first imported a kind of cotton cloth that came to be called cqlico. Damascus, Syria, is the place where that elaborately patterned silk, damask, was first made. Marco Polo called the once-great seaport of Tzu-t’ing, China, by the name of “Zaitun”; in time the silk fabric made there became known as satin. The sausages called frankfurters take us to Frankfurt, Germany. Likewise hamburger is the style of meat from Hamburg. There is a songbird and a yellow color named canary. This word takes us back to the Canary Islands. But how did the islands receive the name? Because of songbirds? No, but from the large dogs that abounded there. For the island was called by the Romans Canary, from Latin canis, dog. From a dog to anjsland, then to a bird and now to a color—some traveling for the word “canary”!
We have to travel to London to understand the story behind the word “bedlam.” For centuries the hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem has been used as a lunatic asylum. Bethlehem was just shortened to bedlam and today that word refers to the confusion and noise that one might well expect to come from a group of maniacs. Another word with a strange origin is “laconic.” The ancient pdople of Sparta were noted for their sparing use of words. Once when Philip of Macedon threatened Sparta, he wrote the city magistrates: “If I enter Laconia I will level your city to the ground.” The Spartans replied: "If.” From the name of their land came laconic, meaning "using as few words as possible.”
God’s Word, the Bible, is the literary masterpiece of all time. It is quite natural, then, that the Bible would be the source for many common English words. Here are a few: ahanias, for liar; jehu, for a fast driver; jezebel, for a wicked woman; nim-rod, for a hunter; and babel, for confusion. Judges chapter twelve tells us how Judge Jephthah and his men detected the fugitive Ephraimites, They required all suspects to pronounce the word “shibboleth*’ Since the Ephraimites could only pronounce it "sibboleth,” they were easily detected. So the word shibboleth entered the English language and is used to mean a test word or watchword. Equally interesting is the word “pharisaical.” With great outward show the Pharisees professed to be servants of Jehovah God. But Jesus exposed them for what they were: hypocrites! After telling them that they resembled whitewashed graves that outwardly appear beautiful but inside are full of dead men’s bones, Jesus declared: "In that way you also, outwardly indeed, appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:27, 28, New World Trans.) What blustering hypocrisy is packed into that word Pharisaical!
By prying into the past of words we have uncovered strange stories, stories of adventure, of the unexpected and of travel. You may wish to continue prying into the past of words. You can be a verbal sleuth very easily. Every time you look up a word in the dictionary, check its origin. You will surely strike word bonanzas rich in education, rich in fascination.
-One of Gods Gifts
An Interesting Phenomenon Revealing Divine Design
Blushing is peculiar to man. A turkey gobbler may redden because of rage; a dog may have a humiliated and downcast expression because of a beating, but a blush—that is something different. As Darwin expresses it in his Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals: “Only man really blushes.” Strange? Not at all when we understand what causes blushing and why the Creator bestowed this peculiar faculty or "gift" upon man.
Of course, in the Caucasian or white race the blush is more noticeable; but there is general agreement that* people of all other races and colors blush. It might not be quite so apparent because of darker skin color, but it is there nevertheless and usually manifests itself by a deepening of the color. Albinos, born without pigment in skin, eyes and hair, of every race are known to blush, in fact, more than any others.
And is that not as we should expect it to be? Did not God make of one blood, of one man, all peoples on earth? (Acts 17:26, New World Trans.) Do not all races possess the same mental faculties of conscience, memory, reason and will, and the same physical structure? Of course! And is it not true that human blood is the same regardless of race, whereas the blood of no lower animal is compatible with that of man? No question about it!
It is said that blushing belongs to youth, which is most prone to blush when in the
presence of the opposite y |7 fiOif sex. Old age blushes WMr
seldom if at all; and the hard, ruthless, conceited person simply cannot blush, no matter how many of his derelictions are brought to his attention. The women blush more readily than the men; and the plain, simple and naive folk more than the "cultured” and sophisticated. While generally the blush appears only in the presence of others, the blind, yes, even the blind and deaf can and do blush.
The Mechanism of Blushing
It is interesting to note that man has no control whatsoever over this form of expressing emotion. He can repress laughter, simulate it at will and call it forth by tickling; the same can be said regarding expressions of pain or grief; but he cannot of his own initiative call forth blushing in himself or repress it or induce it by artificial means. To attempt to repress it only makes one blush all the more. Incidentally, the blush must not be confused with a flushing of the face, which can be called forth by anger, and which may have physical causes such as extremes of temperature or peculiar bodily condition. An exception seems to be the inhalation of citrate of amyl, which, however, is not surprising when we note that it is accompanied with the mental confusion associated with blushing, although it may be questioned whether it is a true blush or a flushing.
Generally the blush is limited to the face, ears and neck, although It seems that in lands where more of the body is exposed the blush extends farther down, especially in the case of women. Not all blush in the same manner. Some blush in blotches, some with only part of the face, etc., which peculiarities seem to be inherited.
With the blush comes a flaccid condition of the cheek muscles and a downcast expression of the eyes in which the glances of others are avoided. Often there is a turning of the head or even of the whole body, prompted by a desire for self-concealment. There may be a glowing or tingling sensation over the whole body, a tremor of the muscles and even a partial paralysis of the limbs; the voice sounds change and sometimes the eyes become filled with tears, or the body breaks out in perspiration. Blushing in some cases is preceded by a palpitation of the heart and a feeling of dread or panic.
While Blumgart in Modern Medical Monograms observes that “the physiologic phenomena underlying blushing and blanching of the face and neck have not been studied”; and that “here is a promising field of emotional responses, for blanching with fear and blushing with embarrassment are well known”; yet the fact is that more than a hundred years ago Burgess in his Physiology or Mechanism of Blushing did that very thing. His explanations, taken in the light of modem medical science, seem to indicate the following physiology of blushing.
The blood vessels of the body are equipped with nerve fibers under the control of the sympathetic nervous system, or more correctly, as part of it, known as vasoconstrictors and vasodilators. The constrictors act continuously to keep the blood pressure on a fairly even level. Loss of blood causes these to decrease the size of the blood vessels so that blood circula
tion will be kept up even with less blood. Intense mental activity will cause the con-
the extremities and the heart so as to furnish more blood for the brain. Likewise in time of danger these constrictors decrease the blood supply to the skin, extremities and abdominal regions and increase the supply to the heart, brain and skeletal muscles, equipping them for quick and stronger mental and physical activity because of the emergency, the ductless glands co-operating by furnishing adrenalin. On the other hand, the activity of the dilators is noted when the body is exposed to heat, and in the flush of rage or the blush of embarrassment, supplying more blood to the skin’s capillary system, which is most profuse and complex in the face.
The cause of the blush has been described as “a mental disorder which begins with overlapping mental attitudes, producing embarrassment and inability to function.” A temporary brain storm, as it were, unseats the will and causes the sympathetic nervous system to activate the vasodilators of the capillaries of the skin, allowing more blood to rush to the face, ears and neck. The sympathetic nervous system also brings about all the other concomitants of blushing already noted, such as the body’s glowing sensation, trembling, flaccid cheek muscles, downcast eyes, etc.
Its Cause—the Moral Sense
It takes a certain amount of intelligence and understanding to be able to blush. The congenital idiot can express rage or happiness as his instincts are frustrated or satisfied, but he cannot blush. Likewise infants and very small, or rather, very young children cannot blush although they can express other emotions.
Some hold that blushing is caused by illusions of greatness or a persecution complex, but Blumgart says: “The belief that
blushing Is evidence of a paranoid personality has no support in extensive observation and is a conclusion based on a priori interpretation of the symptom.” However, generally it is agreed that blushing is the result of embarrassment caused by mental confusion brought on by shame, at being discovered in some trespass or being accused; by shyness, especially in the presence of the opposite sex; or by modesty, as when being singled out for praise.
Those who do not believe that man was created by a wise, loving, omnipotent and just Creator are at a loss for a satisfactory explanation for man’s blushing. Why should man thus temporarily incapacitate and embarrass himself? Darwin would have us believe that man acquired this faculty In the distant past; but he has no more proof for this position than he has for his other theories set forth in the Origin of Species or the Descent of Man.
The blush certainly is not a means of self-protection. Everything about it seems to work against the interests of the one blushing and is in striking contrast with the way the body reacts in the face of danger, as already noted. No question about it, it is imperative for man’s wellbeing and protection that he have a sympathetic nervous system that is not dependent or subject to his will, but what advantage is it to man that blushing is not subject to his will? Absolutely none whatsoever, physically. But how about morally?
Yes, there is no escaping it. We cannot think of any reason why man should have fastened this faculty upon himself, nor of how he could have done so; there is no evidence that he acquired it through the years, nor do we find it in the lower animals! Blushing is evidence of design, proof of man’s having a Creator. And why did a wise Creator afflict, shall we say, man with this phenomenon of blushing in spite of himself? As a moral check; as a guardian of the conscience. Being a Creator with a moral sense he purposed to have human creatures who were in his image and likeness in this respect. Blushing causes man’s conscience to speak out and proclaim his inner thoughts in spite of himself, to serve as “a check upon the conscience, which tells man that he must not deceive his neighbor.” This reasonable position is the one taken.by Burgess, who, it seems, pioneered in this field back in 1839 and to whom reference is made by practically all who have written since on the subject, such as Darwin, Campbell and Mitchell.
The Bible’s Position
And this is the position taken by man’s Creator as revealed in his Word, the Bible, in the only two places that the blush is mentioned in the King James Version. When Ezra the Levite scribe was overcome with grief because of the transgressions of the returned Israelites he prayed: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.” (Ezra 9:6) No question about the moral sense being involved, is there? Shame, guilt and blushing went hand in hand. And the same is also seen in Jehovah’s words addressed to an apostate Israel as recorded at Jeremiah 6:15: “Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush.”
While these are the only two instances of the use of the word “blush,” yet the same thought is implied elsewhere in the Scriptures. “We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces.” (Jeremiah 51:51; see also Psalm 44:15; 83:16; Ezekiel 7:18.) Adam and Eve knew no shame when sinless but, upon transgressing, did feel shame. (Genesis 2:25; 3:7-11) Incidentally, it is of in-
terest to note that in Swedish the same word is used for blush and shame and in German among the terms used for blushing are “the reddening of shame” or “feeling of shame.”
Doubtless some will object to this conclusion, pointing out that “practically always things which excite the blush of shame are of a trivial character,” such as a breach of etiquette, a faux pas, and that even praise will cause a modest person to blush; thus showing that not only shame but shyness or modesty can cause one to blush. How, then, can it be argued that blushing was given to man to act as a moral check?
The answer is simple enough: Due to improper training youth has acquired a false sensibility or morbid state as regards blushing. It may be the result of a failure on the part of the parents to inculcate sound moral values especially in children who are highly sensitive and mentally quick. Then again, harsh or unjust criticism, needless irritation, may breed in children an inferiority complex that may cause youth to blush at trifles of blame or praise. (Ephesians 6:4) Further, the modem stress on nonessentials, the extreme desire to be thought well of, mawkish sentimental novels, movies and other for of entertainment, yes, by making nonessentials loom up as important the imagination of youth is fired and they become causes of blushing. It is a matter of overrefinement, fear of man, irritability, lack of sound training of the moral sense. Blushing is the moral sense at work, but to have it work properly requires the right kind of moral training, healthy training.
Why does blushing become less frequent with age? To the extent that it was due to immaturity, greater understanding will remove the cause; slower physical processes may also play a part. But may it not also be due to a gradual hardening of the conscience, having it seared as with a branding iron? (1 Timothy 4:2) The body learns to inure itself to abuse. So it should rtbt surprise us to find that as man’s moral sense becomes calloused the expression or outward evidence of its being violated becomes dormant.
Truly, the blush proves that man has a wise and just Creator and the facts show that it is a gift to help man to be guided by his conscience, so that he may have a pure, good, clean conscience.—Acts 23:1; 24:16; 1 Timothy 1:5, 19; 3:9; Hebrews 13:18; 1 Peter 3:16.
"Reverend” Rufus T. Bivens admitted that his discourse on hell was just a wee bit too realistic even for him to take. In the heat of his discussion to his congregation at the North Side Methodist church in Houston, Texas, Bivens was describing what a horrible end awaits all the wicked and incorrigible sinners in the smoldering flames of “hell-flre." Slapping the sides of his legs for emphasis, he really did warm things up, especially for himself. A slap set off a package of matches in his pocket, his trousers began to smoke, and Bivens spent the next few minutes demonstrating how a man reacts when on Are. Bivens would have saved himself much embarrassment and a pair of trousers had he told the truth of God’s Word, that "the dead know not any thing.” Hence no conscious torment nor even fire. —Ecclesiastes 9:5.
By 4 * Awoke V* cenMpondert tn Ecuador
AWAY high in the midst of the majestic white peaks of the Ecuadorian Andes is cradled the ancient Indian city of Hiobam ba. It is a small city which never seems to grow; it is an old city which never seems to change. It has not been invaded by modernism and hubbub; it is still permeated with all the characteristics of a two-centuries-old civilization. It is a peaceful city.
Yet, surrounding peaceful Riobamba a constant and unconquerable danger threatens the quiet atmosphere. To the north the danger is constantly smoldering Cotopaxi, one of the highest active volcanoes in the world. Down southward is Sangay, almost as tall, which erupted recently and keeps threatening. To the northeast is mighty Tunguragua that rumbles all day long. And on the east is strong, silent El Altar, which has erupted for the last time, but whose grim appearance is an awesome reminder of the ruin left in the wake of the peacebreakers.
Right inside Riobamba there is another peril that has been constantly rumbling and smoldering. It is a keen and more far-reaching danger than the beautiful volcanoes, a danger that threatens the everlasting well-being of the people of Riobamba. In the month of March the rumbling made itself manifest when a group of students of Riofcamba's Jesuit college of San FeMpe organized themselves into a mob and attacked a peaceful assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses. The eruption that followed shook not only Riobamba but the entire Ecuadorian Republic.
It had long been the desire of the Riobamba congregation of Jehovah’s witnesses that an assembly
should be held tn their city so that Riobamba, like other cities throughout the world, could see by practical demonstration that a peaceful New World society exists, which offers nothing but good to its observers. Such an assembly was arranged to be held in the Iris theater on March 19-21, 1954, for this very purpose. The theme of the assembly, announced in the chairman's opening address, was that of Christian love.
For its first two days it appeared that the presence of Jehovah’s witnesses and the celebration of their quiet and dignified Christian assembly met with the approval of all of the population, but then a rumbling voice was heard on one of the city’s principal radio stations. For no good reason, and certainly with no just cause, the speaker threw all kinds of lying Insults at Jehovah's witnesses, declared they had no right to celebrate an assembly in the Catholic city of Riobamba, and called upon the people to prevent the folloyring day's public meeting, which, incidentally, was on the subject "Practical Love in a Selfish World.”
However, Ecuador's Constitution well protects Jehovah’s witnesses in the free exercise of their godly worship, and this protection is strengthened by a specific official order of the Ecuadorian Ministry of Government, issued in their behalf on December 3,1952, and by the freedom-loving
spirit of the vast majority of the Ecuadorian people of all religions. Thus, with confidence and appreciation of these facts the directors of this Christian assembly approached the authorities and were assured that the police would provide protection.
Shortly after the public talk began at 7:30 p.m., with 130 persons of good will in attendance, it became evident from approaching cries that the priest had succeeded in gathering his mob. Inside the subject concerned Christian love; from without came screams: “Long live the Catholic Church,’* “Down with the Protestants,” “Down with the gringos” From the police headquarters a half block away came eight policemen to block the doorway and prevent the entrance of these peacebreakers. As the crowd grew in numbers and fury, it was finally necessary for the police to use drawn swords to push back to the street intersection a mob of about 200 men. However, the disturbance was not sufficient to break up the meeting inside. Most appropriate was the closing discourse on the subject “Enduring to the End.” With a background of fanatical yells from without, this speech outlined love, knowledge, joy, hope and self-control as being essentials for those who would endure the unpopular life of a true Christian.
Upon leaving the hall the audience was protected by the entire police force of about 40 men,' but the mob still awaited the dispersal of these Christian people. At the home of the foreign missionaries who live and work permanently in Riobamba was an even larger mob that had formed to do whatever damage was possible. Knowing of this the missionaries were accompanied home by an armed force of police, who surrounded the entrance to the home and stayed on guard there until dawn of the next day. Another group of policemen accompanied a bus that had brought Jehovah's witnesses from other cities.
Actually, the only damage that was caused by the attack was the result of a terrific stone-throwing assault against the silent and inanimate building where the missionaries live, and this with absolutely no consideration for the people who live in the other six apartments in the building. Some were resting, others were sick, and yet this savagery had so shamefully demonized the students of the city's religious “culture center,” San Felipe, that they could no longer distinguish between Jehovah’s witnesses and their neighbors.
A Nation Rises in Protest
But this action was certainly not applauded by the citizens of Riobamba. As Jehovah’s witnesses walked the streets the following day they were approached constantly by people who, in spite of having little interest in their work or doctrine, wished to express disgust at what had happened the previous evening. Many even made their way to the Jesuit college, to the governor of the province and to the chief of police in order to express the sentiments of honest citizens who respect rights and liberty, law and order.
By the morning of the second day after the assembly the whole country was protesting. For an entire week a wave of newspaper articles and editorials in favor of freedom of worship and championing the rights of Jehovah’s witnesses swept the nation. El Comercio, the newspaper of greatest prestige in the nation’s capital, likened the attack to "the Inquisition, the Night of Saint Bartholomew ... the Hitler pogroms and the savage persecution of the Jews . . . the sinister activities of the Ku Klux Klan” and other such “ancient and bitter fruits of remote epochs.”
A column in El Sol, headed “Antichristian Conduct,” asked: “What strange ferment is producing these happenings? What
boiling up of sick bacilli is thus destroying the civilized comprehension that in other eras was characteristic of our people? Whom can we blame for this backward step?” It called this a "truly lamentable" situation, "so opposed to the kind doctrine of Jesus of Nazareth.”
In the second city and chief seaport of the country, Guayaquil, the number one newspaper, El Universe, published five articles on the matter within the week following the assembly. One editorial said: “It alarms us exceedingly to see in a liberal country, like ours, intolerance and fanaticism agitating to abolish man’s right to express his ideas and express his religious creed in inoffensive practices.' Alarm, we say, because it is a sign of falling back to barbarianism, because it makes us fall in the concept of foreigners and because it is in discord with the direction of today’s world, and, above all, with the teachings of kindness, tolerance and of love which the martyr of Golgotha left mankind.”
But perhaps the most pointed article of all was that published in this same newspaper by one of the country’s most famous columnists, Juan Sin Cielo, on the theme “Fruits of Intolerance.” It said: “The intolerant and anti-Christian teaching which is imparted in religious colleges . . . has just produced another fruit: the savage assault by the students of San Felipe College of Riobamba, against the followers of the Protestant sect bearing the ingenious name of ‘Jehovah’s witnesses.’ . ... My purpose, in this article, is to put, in direct form, a question to the rector of San Felipe College, where they teach intolerance to the point of launching their young students to attack with sticks and stones the patient... ‘Jehovah’s witnesses The rector, Reverend Jesuit Father, ought to answer this question, if he is a man able to face up to the consequences of his actions. The question, very simple, is the following: ‘How would it seem to the rector if in the nations where the Catholics are in the minority, they proceeded in the way that he makes his students proceed with the Protestants?’ ‘How would it seem to him if in the United States, where the Catholics are in the minority, the Protestants should send their youths to chase Cardinal Spellman and his followers through the streets and squares?’ Catholics in the whole world, headed by the supreme Pontiff, are asking for tolerance. They demand it in all tones, they ask for it in the United Nations, at the Berlin conference, at all of the conventions and in all of the meetings where East and West get together, . . . What difference is there between a group of communists in Czechoslovakia who, sticks in hand, attack Catholics who are praying in a temple, and the students of San Felipe who, sticks in’hand, attack Jehovah’s witnesses in Riobamba while they are listening to a sermon on, ‘Love in This Selfish Era’? . . . What is happening to these fanatical and medieval priests? What is happening to them?”
This and much similar newspaper material gave great publicity to this attack on religious freedom in Ecuador. Little did the officials of San Felipe College imagine that this eruption of intolerance would be smothered in a torrent of protests from the lips and pens of a freedom-loving people. Their attack on a Christian assembly backfired, holding its instigators up to shame before an entire nation.
"BUT OFFICER!"
‘jj A motorist in Denver, Colorado, was arrested on a charge of passing a red light. His argument that It had been green fell flat when the officer produced a color photograph that had been made at the time.
By “Awh!1' corre>pond»nt in Eire
AVE you ever paused to consider how much we depend upon heat for our daily needs? But heat requires fire and fire
requires fuel. The ever-increasing demand for fuel has raised quite a problem in some parts of the world. Take the little country of Eire as an example. Being a land with no forests, only negligible coal deposits and no an, it is not surprising that Eire Is seeking to exploit the only source of home-produced fuel—peat
Perhaps you have never heard of peat. It is to be found over most of the northern temperate zones of the earth in the form of great peat bogs. Peat itself is made up of the decomposed remains of aquatic plants such as reeds, rushes, sedges and moss. It is the result of many centuries of plant growth. As each season's growth has died, the debris has settled on the bed of the lake where such plants thrive to decompose and be followed by succeeding deposits, the whole gradually packing down into a firm mass. Since peat is formed in water it holds a great amount of moisture. Thus drying occupies most of the peat-producing process.
Up until the present century peat Was dug out entirely by manual labor and still is for farm and domestic use in the rurals. To begin the draining, trenches are first dug and, after a period of drainage, cutting of the peat begins. Slices of sod six inches square and twelve or more inches in length are laid on the surface for drying. Here it remains for a week or two. Then it is stacked into small pyramids for a period of six to eight weeks. Finally, the sods are transported to the farm-yard where they are stored in stacks until used. By this time the peat has the appearance of hard, fibrous loam. It still contains water but not enough to prevent its burning. Reasonably well-dried peat is not difficult to kindle.
In most Irish farmhouses and cottages the peat is burned on a flat hearth. Rarely is the fire permitted to bum out At night, when the fire has burned down low, the embers are raked aside and two or three sods are laid on the hearth. The hot embers are then piled over these. The next morning the pile is stirred, and with a little blowing the fire is blaring once more.
But hand-produced peat does not meet Eire’s present fuel needs. Peat has been marshaled into the coimtiy’s economic program and besides supplying a rising urban population it is also helping out in the ever-increasing domestic and industrial demand for electricity. Power plants are now in operation or are in the course of construction that are specially adapted for the u&e of peat as fuel. Consequently, machines have been brought into use in order to produce the vast amount of peat required. During 1953, Hord na Mona, the government-sponsored peat-producing corporation, reported that all together 708,509 tons of peat had been produced by the machine method, Of this, 386,098 tons were delivered to the peat-fired generating stations.
There are now in use two methods of winning peat by machinery. The first is the "sod" method which makes use of large machines mounted on broad caterpillar tracks. The second is known as “milled peat production." In this process specially designed machines flail the surface of the bog to a depth of one-half inch. After drying, the powdery peat is mechanically collected and transported to the power station or the briquetting factory. At this factory the peat is sifted into rough and fine grades, the former being used to flre the factory boilers while the latter is superdried in steam driers until the moisture content is down to 10 per cent. The superdry peat is then compressed into briquettes about the size of a regular building brick. Briquettes are superior to sod peat, since they are cleaner to handle and kindle instantly. They are preferred in the large cities, such as Dublin, where homes have limited storage space.
In addition to its use as a fuel peat yields a number of useful by-products. One of these is peat moss, used by horticulturists as manure and by poultry-keepers as litter. It constitutes one of Eire’s important exports and finds a ready market in the United States and Britain.
To the average person, perhaps, nothing could appear as useless as a lump of peat. Yet today it brings light and warmth to thousands of homes and is turning the wheels of industry, The appreciative mind will at once give credit to the One who created the earth with all its provisions for man’s well-being, including powerful peat.
MOST countries have something about which they like to boast. Liberia boasts the world’s largest single rubber plantation. At the gate a large signboard announces that you are entering the Har-bel Division of Firestone Plantations, the impressive birthplace of the, rubber in tires rolling and bouncing the world round. Here unfolds a rubber empire carved out of the raw jungle. From atop a sharp conical hill a gaze reveals the vast expanse of graceful Hevea trees—these worthy strangers from the Amazon—stretching far beyond the visible horizon. The entire plantation, neatly cut and trimmed to a pleasing parklike look, presents a refreshing sight in the midst of the tangled bush.
How was it done? We learn that thousands of sturdy tribesmen armed with cutlasses and axes, strung out in long battle lines, moved forward in unison to the rhythm of drums and the chanting of singers, and literally hacked through acres of jungle and giant trees of the rain forest. In place of these were planted row upon row eleven million trees in orderly array. Thirty thousand men are employed continually in this most exacting and laborious of all agricultural enterprises.
To accommodate them are 10,000 homes, two hospitals, a dozen dispensaries, twelve schools, three clubhouses and
90,000
two golf courses. In addition a brick factory serves the building needs of the 140-square-mile plantation. A factory operating day and night processing the latex into exportable rubber, a hydroelectric power plant, modem telephone system, research laboratory, radio station and service garage for hundreds of company vehicles plying over the 225 miles of roads make this a remarkable plantation indeed.
The varied customs of the many representative Liberian tribes, Bassa, Loma, Kpelle, Gio and a dozen others, combine to weave a rich and interesting pattern within the plantation. The talents and skills of engineers, chemists, doctors, bankers, mechanics and many others are called into use here in order to meet the demand for natural rubber, but most needed is the lowly tapper. Without him nothing would function.
A typical rubber tapper is Saa Bayo. He is of the Kisi tribe and always cheerful. “Saa” is the traditional name given to every flrst-born male and so the tribe abounds with “Saas.” To distinguish one from another they refer to this one as “Big Saa” and to the other as ASmall Saa.” Our tapper has been assigned to one Of the camps and provided with ft free home—a mud hut. It is very much like the one he left in his village, but the camp setting is
unique, a complete departure from the traditional African way, that is, all the houses here are in a straight line. A fine sight to behold, straight rows of neat, uniform, sand-colored, smoothly finished square mud huts with conical thatched roofs that look like inverted ice-cream cones pulled down low over the walls. The eaves fall within six feet of the ground. Amusingly it gives the appearance of a small boy with an oversized hat dropping down to the waist. However this serves to protect the walls from the torrential rains.
In the early dawn the shattering muster gong jars Saa out of a peaceful slumber and hastens him off to his task, which he accomplishes with the patience and skill of a surgeon, for truly the lives of the trees depend upon him. Regarding the rubber tree as a worthy citizen of the nation, possessed of almost human feeling, Saa carefully cuts a thin shaving of the outer bark diagonally half way around the trunk. The cut, perhaps a sixteenth of an inch or less, comes within the thickness of a sheet of paper from the cambium layer underneath. To cut this would injure the tree.
The bleeding begins. A milky latex that looks like milk of magnesia slowly moves down the edge of the cut, at the bottom of which a V-shaped piece of metal directs it, causing it to drip into the plastic cup below. Into this cup Saa puts a few drops of ammonia in solution so that the latex will remain liquid and not coagulate. The latex is not the sap of the tree but an emulsion of tiny particles of rubber suspended in a watery fluid secreted in the cortical tissue between the outer bark and the wood. The flow lasts only a short while, then the cut dries, and nature begins to restore the damage by growing new bark over the wound. On alternate days tapping is done until thirty-nine inches of cuts are made. Then a new panel is started on the opposite side of the tree.
This process of cutting and healing can go on, year after year, indefinitely. Each tree yields about two ounces of latex per alternate day it is tapped. About one third of the latex collected becomes the dry rubber product. Yet the accumulation of each tree’s tiny offering during the past year amounted to 73,000,000 pounds of crepe rubber together with quantities of concentrated latex.
Saa taps about 300 trees a day, and after tapping is finished the clanging of bells sends him collecting the precious fluid, which is poured into either of two pails carried on opposite ends of a shoulder stick. The film that forms in the cup is put into a small bag. Then Saa collects droppings that may have fallen to the ground and puts these into another bag. Through a washing the rubber will then be separated from the dirt. Nothing is lost.
At the collection station his latex is tested to see if he has added the proper amount of ammonia to it. Then it is weighed and recorded, and if trees were missed or slighted the weight will indicate it. Saa completes the workday by washing out his buckets, chopping small ’hush,” weeding and pruning.
By now he begins to feel hungry, as he has not eaten yet today. What! No breakfast? Yes, as a rule a Liberian tribesman does not eat breakfast. Returning to camp we find Kumba, his wife, tastefully attired in gay-colored and patterned batik which she has ingeniously wound and draped around herself. With grace and dignity she balances a large basin on her head, hastening with her husband’s bath water. Saa is scrupulous about his personal cleanliness, as is customary with all West Africans. They bathe twice daily. Brushing the teeth is also part of the routine, not with conventional tooth paste and brush, but with a fuzzed-out stick. Result: the sparkling
white teeth that big-name dentifrices are supposed to give.
"Hungry catch-em-plenty” now and Saa is ready for his big meal of the day. Joyfully he invites the stranger to share with him in what he describes as "fine chop pass ail chop”—delicious, tender unpolished native rice with the kernels remaining fluffy and separate from each other. To this is added palm-nut gravy rich in flavor with plenty of hot pepper and smoked fish. Tempting and nutritious, this is the country’s traditional dish. If a Liberian has not had his rice he has not really "chopped.” Saa’s weekly staff of life costs him only forty cents. At plantation stores all married workers receive weekly rice issues of sixteen pounds at the reduced rate of two and a half cents a pound.
Even baby “chops” rice. Kumba holds the child on its back between her knees and with one hand clamped as a funnel to the child’s mouth she uses the other to form rice into balls which are forced into the squirming child’s mouth. To those not acquainted with such unorthodox ways, the terrq "stuffing” rather than “feeding” might more appropriately describe the ordeal, and one might be impelled to protest. Saa merely smiles, proudly displays his fine physique and adds, “We all were fed that way.”
With the day’s work done Saa is serious and remarks, “Before our country be plenty dark, but this time we want to know book.” So he takes advantage of the free education provided in plantation-bullf ami -managed schools. Likewise if he should become sick he can go to the plantation hospital or one of the dispensaries, where a patient medical assistant will check him, give him medicine and tell him, “No mind, yah?” (Liberia’s own way of expressing sympathy.) All this is free of charge.
Night transforms the plantation into a world of drums, happy chatter, laughter, singing and dancing. Saa visits good friends accompanied always with “plenty howdo,” shaking of hands and snapping fingers. "If you like someone small small you snap fingers one time, but when ‘goo’ friends’ meet they snap fingers several times." Recently now ‘goo’ friends’ have been meeting in the evening to take in the living Word about God’s kingdom from Jehovah’s witnesses. Such a session may be concluded with an ice-cold Coca-Cola. “Where did this come from?” you ask. From the carbonizing and bottling plant on this world’s largest rubber plantation. Truly, native life is broadening out.
Just as the teeming, uncared-for jungle has given way before the sharp ‘‘machetes,” leaving sturdy fruitful trees in majestic array, so the sharp sword of God’s spirit is making over many African minds, leaving sturdy trees of righteousness to endure into a new world. Then all wastelands will become pleasurable and profitable in the global paradise under Christ the King. —Isaiah 60:13.
FISHLAND’S FATHERS WITH INCUBATOR MOUTHS
41. Recently the American Museum of Natural History in New York city opened up for a limited time a most unusual exhibit. It was a display of fish called tilapia macrocephala, better known as the African or black-chinned mouthbreeder. Exhibited were all stages of tilapia, from egg through small fry to adulthood. In this family the fathers have responsible jobs: they must incubate the eggs. Their incubators are their own mouths. Does papa ever get hungry and gobble up an egg or two when mamma is not looking? Not likely. But after eight to thirty days, when he has had enough of the job of hatching eggs, he just spits out the small fry. And then if they do not move off fast enough papa simply eats them!
'Deavucettoe Sant&tytafaa te tyteece
By “Awflkel” corrwpondeni in Greece
IOT a year had elapsed since the tragic day of the last earthquakes in the Ionian Islands. During this time earth-shakes of smaller extent and importance had practically not ceased throughout various parts of Greece. But, then, on the eve of the first of May, quite unexpectedly came the very great disaster that struck the region of Thessaly.
C, Some say that the animals had a presentiment of disaster, then suddenly, just after 3 p.m, on this peaceful Friday, the great calamity struck! The earth shook. The big stone-built edifices fell down like carton towers. Church and school buildings of cement and concrete collapsed and became ruins. Deep crevices were formed in the earth, and in just a few seconds entire districts, towns and villages underwent a drastic change.
< The toll is tragic and mournful. Destroyed territories include Volos, Karditsa, Trikkala, Larissa, Domokos, Fersala, Sophades and surrounding villages all over Thessaly, with 31 dead, hundreds injured, thousands unsheltered. The population of this fertile area had been enjoying a local religious holiday. It was a spring day, a day of leisure, of double festivity, then suddenly with a roar everything was tossed. Roctemasses rolled down in a terrific clatter. Life and joy were lost, the roads and plains were spread with the dead and injured. The people who were saved (and so were the most, because they were outdoors during the holiday) observed the great jarring of the earth's crust, the landslides, and were faced with catastrophe, death and despair.
< About 180 school buildings and 110 church buildings were ruined, and this posed a terrible religious query in the minds of many people: Why did the church saints not protect their holy dwellings, but rather let them be ruined amidst the debris of the icons and of the sacred objects and relics contained there? “Where is their might?” shouted an old man as the church where he sought protection collapsed.
Of all the earthquake-stricken villages, Sophades had the most of the human victims. Among the dead were two 12-year-old schoolboys, C. Doghias and C. Kutsolas. When the earthquake struck they were ringing the church bell to signify the funeral of a fellow villager. These boys fell together with the steeple and were buried under its ruins. The funeral was canceled, and a relative seized the dead woman’s coffin and buried her without ceremony.
In the church of Zoodochos Pighi of Evy-drion, two women were killed while doing their prayer, and also the church's chanter who was about to sing the Paraeletic Canon. In the village of Kararar a wedding was in course of celebration when the newly wed couple and all attendants, including the priests, were squashed under the roof. Many suchlike dramas were related by the terrified Thessalians. In order to inspire courage the king set himself in the midst of the earthquake victims. Government aid wa$ prompt. Yet the inhabitants’ agitation and uncertainty were clearly evident. Nothing can repay their loss.
Many of the inhabitants of Thessaly recalled the words of Jehovah’s witnesses who had told them of the imminent end of the present system of things, and wondered if the prophecies relative to the end of the world were being accomplished. However, while these 'earthquakes in one place after another’ may be evidences of the composite sign of Christ’s presence, they are too far from being the Armageddon recorded in God’s Word. And, while there is no safe protection from the present earthquakes, Jehovah has provided a means of sure protection and salvation from the catastrophe of Armageddon. His name is a strong tower. All honest people must now look to it in order to be safe. Then neither earthquakes nor any other catastrophe will threaten those who receive his protection and survive.
“The Most High does not dwell in houses made with hands; just as the prophet says: ‘The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? Jehovah says. Or what is the place for my resting?’ ”—Acts 7:48, 49, New World Trans.
ACCURATE knowledge within the meaning of the Scriptures does not consist merely of mentally putting together certain facts, but it does mean that these facts or truths as expressed in God’s Word are collected and put together in wisdom and understanding. Knowledge of the truth means a clear perception of the truth. A knowledge of God’s will means a clear perception of what God has expressed in his Word of and concerning his purpose as the same is related to his chosen people. “Accurate knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual discernment” means that a knowledge of the truth is received and is accompanied by thorough or true wisdom and discernment of spiritual things. Spiritual things can be discerned only by those who have devoted themselves to God and his kingdom.—Colossians 1:9, New World Trans.; 1 Corinthians 2:10.
Wisdom means our receiving knowledge into a good and honest mind and then being moved by a pure heart or motive to pursue a course of action in harmony with the accurate knowledge of the truth. One may gather together or assemble in an abstract manner the facts as stated in the text of the Bible, and be able to repeat the text without hesitation, and at the same time have no spiritual discernment thereof and be entirely void of wisdom. There must be a proper appreciation of the true relationship of the creature to the infinite Creator before one can have wisdom.
It is written that “the fear or Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge.” It necessarily follows that a man who does not fear God does not even begin to acquire accurate knowledge and wisdom. For the benefit of those who seek Jehovah, it is written: “Whatman is he that feareth Jehovah? him shall he instruct in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the land. The friendship of Jehovah is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.” The promise to the man beginning in the right way is that God will show him his covenant. God’s covenant is an expression of his purpose, an understanding of which is absolutely necessary to accurate knowledge.—Proverbs 1:7; Psalm 25:12-14, Am. Stan. Ver.
The fear of Jehovah as referred to in the Scriptures does not mean merely reverence for God. What this fear is is made plain for us at Proverbs 8:13 (Am. Stan. Ver.): "The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the perverse mouth, do I hate.” Anyone that is prideful, arrogant, perverse in mouth cannot be said to be wise, no matter how brilliant he may appear to be to himself or others. The wise person fears pride, arrogancy and an evil way, because these are contrary to God’s law; hence the wise person fears God, and this is the beginning of wisdom.
To increase in knowledge he must always fear to displease Jehovah and fear to think of himself as of great importance. He must remember the things that God requires of those whom he approves. “What doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?” It is of great value to continue to increase in knowledge. “Through knowledge shall the just be delivered.” That means, to be sure, through an accurate knowledge of God’s will which
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is received in wisdom and spiritual understanding. The value of a knowledge of the truth as compared with other things is expressed in the words of the scripture: “There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.” “And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches, A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength. For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in [the] multitude of counsellors there is safety.” It is those who gain wisdom from above that are strong in Jehovah and the power of his might. The “wise counsel” means the Word of God clearly received into an honest heart, and then that counsel must be acted upon. ‘A multitude of counsel’ therefore means knowledge of God’s will as abundantly expressed in his Word, the Bible.—Micah 6:8, Am. Stan. Ver.; Proverbs 11:9; 20:15; 24:4-6.
The whole world now stands at Armageddon and only those who possess and are in harmony with an accurate knowledge of Jehovah’s purposes received in wisdom and spiritual understanding will successfully go through that great battle. It is the counsel of Jehovah that gives strength, and the counsel of Jehovah is his word or purpose expressed in the Scriptures. This must be received in al! wisdom and spiritual understanding. Jehovah’s witnesses must grow in knowledge of present-day truths in order to be strong in Jehovah and in order to be faithful and true witnesses to his name and sovereignty. To that end they must study God’s Word: “Do your utmost to present yourself approved to God, a workman with nothing to be ashamed of, handling the word of the truth aright.” (2 Timothy 2:15, New World Trans.) One who studies 'to present himself approved to God' is not meditating on how wonderful and beautiful he is within himself, but he is gaining a knowledge of God’s expressed will and receiving that knowledge in wisdom and spiritual Understanding. He sees that properly handling the Word of truth means applying to the Word of truth the physical facts that have come to pass in fulfillment of prophetic utterances. Therefore Paul’s encouragement for brothers to grow in knowledge is primarily for us upon whom the ends of the systems of things have come.
The knowledge that God has revealed to us by his spirit in these last days sets up high principles of living. We must live up to those divine principles if we are to gain life. We must hold fast to this knowledge by living according to it and by giving it out to others. We must increase in knowledge in harmony with the predicted increase of knowledge, to make us strong to bear all the pressures of these perilous times. Unupsettable knowledge, accurate knowledge is what we should strive for. It is something we cannot get along without, if we hope to enjoy life everlasting blessed by the Kingdom arrangement.
Knowledge of Jehovah God and Christ Jesus is all-important to the human creature. Knowledge of everything else is secondary. Jesus classed knowledge of God with everlasting life, saying: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.” The man who gains this knowledge is wise. He is the man that knows Jehovah’s purpose and diligently conforms himself to God’s will. This man not only is wise, but is greatly blessed. “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.”—John 17:3, Neic World Trans.; Proverbs 3:13-15.
ovah’s Witnesses x
preach in AH the Earth(
Peru
IF YOU are one that likes variety, Peru has it. Peru has a climate that is cold and dry and one that is hot and wet. If you prefer vast stretches of sandy desert with an occasional oasis here and there, Peru has it. And for those who like tropical luxuriant vegetation or low-lying land or the very opposite, living from five to fifteen thousand feet above sea level, Peru can accommodate you. Peru, a land of contrast and variety, aims to please.
Her people are of many nationalities. There are those of Spanish descent, with their well-defined features. Others are the descendants of Indians. Then there is a “mixed class,” to say nothing of the many black and white peoples, Chinese and Japanese that swell the population. Their customs are many. They are a warmhearted and highly emotional people, deeply imbued with Catholic traditions. Numerous are their feast days and during these there is much excitement and emotionalism demonstrated, which is helped along by such intoxicating liquors as pisco or chicha. In Lima, the capital city, there is one such fiesta called “El Seitor tie los Milagros" During this fiesta a painting of Christ on a wall, which is supposed to have kept the wall upright during an earthquake, is paraded around in the streets. The Catholic priests are in attendance and great crowds follow it, some in their bare feet and others crawl along on hands and knees in order to obtain a special blessing from El Seitor de los Milagros (The Lord of the Miracles).
In Trujillo, the fiesta known as the “La Virgen de la Puerta" (The Virgin of the Door) is celebrated. In this feast an image of the virgin is carried out, led by the priest, and is followed by a group of Indians who dance in a pantomime. They have their faces blackened, and one has a whip with which he makes believe he is beating the others, evidently the punishment for those black with sin. Following these are some more dancing Indians with whitened faces; apparently these have been cleansed and are enjoying the happiness of purity.
Despite this strong pagan hold the people have a keen desire to learn of Jehovah’s purposes. Here a missionary’s life is one of variety, color and excitement. The principal means of travel are by car, bus and on foot. There are a few trains and donkeys, but these are not too dependable. To take a bus ride in Peru is an adventure in itself. The seats are spaced very close together. Long-legged northerners have a difficult time once they wedge themselves in. It is almost impossible to restore circulation after a few miles. For long trips each bus has two drivers, one sleeps while the other drives. The remarkable thing is that the one sleeps in the aisleway between the seats and does not awaken when passengers board or alight from the bus!
What is preaching the Kingdom good news like in this part of the world? The section of Lima called the Cerro is a fascinating territory. The people that have settled in this section have come from the mountains to seek their fortune in the metropolis. On arrival they make their way to this location and build dwellings out of
AVGUST 22, 195^
27
any available material that they can lay hands on, such as mud, old crates, cane stalks, etc., and the roof is a mixture of mud and grass. This settlement is on a steep hill, bare of vegetation. One must have the agility of a mountain goat to climb from one place to another in order to reach the people and preach to them. These folks do not have to pay any rent for living up here, but every drop of water has to be carried from the base of the hill by them. Consequently, there is a permanent state of filth on these hills, there being three of them. It is next to impossible to keep a record of where literature has been placed, so one has to rely on the powers of description and memory for making the back-call. Should anyone desire a subscription for The Watchtower or Awake! it is possible only if they have friends down in Lima with a permanent address. There is no postal service up to the Cerro.
What a contrast this is with the city of Lima, which is beautifully laid out, with broad streets radiating like spokes in a wheel from the plazas where lovely flowers grow the year around! These gardens are maintained by constant irrigation, because in Lima it seldom, if ever, rains.
The Peruvians are keen on education generally, and it was a delight to see that recently one of the students’ magazines, published for the students at Guadeloupe College, one of the most prominent in Lima, carried an article entitled "Awake! A Magazine for the Youth.” In this the writer showed that Awake! represented a new sort of magazine, very unique and distinct from others, because its pages include diverse subjects; that it supplies to both students and teachers alike a source of information and knowledge above all with regard to the development of the people. The author emphasized how little Awake! costs, and concluded by saying: “With these advantages the reader will be able to acquire a maximum of knowledge at a much reduced price." This should produce good results.
So in this land of surprises, contrasts and variety the Kingdom message is finding hearing ears.
• How the fact that man blushes argues against the theory of evolution! P. 15, fl, • Whether thinking citizens of Ecuador approved of religious intolerance? P. 18, f5, • How a newspaper columnist ffkeneif Catholic mobsters to the Communists! P. 19, f2. * How Eire now obtains peat commercially? P. 20, f[6.
* How big the world’s largest rubber plantation is! P, 21, f2. .
• How a rubber tree is tapped? P. 22, fi.
• Where church buildings provided no protection during a recent earthquake? P. 24, f5.
• Why a mere knowledge of Bible facts is not sufficient for a Christian! P. 25, f2.
• Where a painting of Christ, supposed to have held up a wail during an earthquake, is a main part of a religious ceremony? P. 27, I[2.
* IWATCHINgT THI
Coexistence—the Hope?
<$> The word “coexistence” has come into prominence. After gaining power Premier Malenkov' said: “[Soviet policy is based on] the possibility of the prolonged coexistence and peaceful competition of two different systems, capitalist and socialist,” This view, however, contradicted Lenin’s classic remark: "The existence of the Soviet Republic side by side with imperialist states for a long time is un-thinkable.” In June the Western world also began talking about coexistence. Sir Winston Churchill declared: "I am of the opinion that we ought to have a try at peaceful coexistence.” President Eisenhower said (6/30) that the hope of the world lay in peaceful coexistence. But the Bible shows that coexistence is not the hope of the world, for only one kingdom is destined to control the world, and that is God’s kingdom.—Daniel 2:44,
Bed China: To the U.N.?
In July a mounting international drive for admitting Communist China to the LL N* prompted some hot discussion in the U. S* President Eisenhower denounced Red China (7/7) and declared he would fight to the last minute to keep it out of the U. N, But Republican Senate floor leader, William F, Knowland of Calif or-nia, went even farther. He pressed that the nations be warned in advance that admission of Red China meant U. S. withdrawal from the U, N, However, President Eisenhower refused to go along with Knowland’s strong stand, saying that the Red China question would be decided if it arose. Meantime a goodly number of the UN. diplomatic corps felt that if Peiping did slip through a vetoless General Assembly the U, S. would use its veto in the Security Council, Other observers in large numbers believed that if the Indo-China matter is settled satisfactorily, and there is no new Communist aggression, Red China will eventually come into the U, N, Already, they noted that if Washington dropped its opposition Red China would get an emphatic majority, since many nations voted against Red China solely for fear of offending the U.S.
The Crackdown on Communists <$> Two governments have begun to crack down on Communists. In June Prime Minister Mohammed Ali of Pakistan told Parliament that the "present Government is determined to crack down on all Communists,” In July Guatemala’s five-man governing junta, headed by Col. Castillo Armas, began an albembracing crackdown on Commimhts. One the junta’s first acts was the execution by firing squad of a Communist judge charged with responsibility for the assassinations of several anticommunists. Swiftly the Armas-Monzon regime arrested 2,000 Communists, So swift were the arrests made that jail facilities were not adequate to handle the Communists. All property belonging to the most prominent figures of the ousted, red-tinged regime of Jacobo Arbenz was frozen.
Guatemala's Mountain of Dods
Last May it was learned that Guatemala had purchased from behind the Iron Curtain some 2,000 tons of arms aup-plies. The exact kind of arms received was a closely guarded secret. After the Armas-Monzon regime ousted President Arbenz from power, some army officers disclosed the secret: most of the arms were duds, were worn out or were unfit for warfare in Guatemalan terrain. Almost all were German weapons captured by the Russians in World War IL The cannons were originally made to glide along the smooth German superhighways. They never saw battle during a revolution fought among Jungle mule trails. Another large part of the shipment was antitank mines. But there were no tanks available to use in the revolution. Also, the warehouseful of mines terrified the Arbenz government, since it made an excellent target for a bomber. So the weapons that caused such bitter vexation among the Western nations turned out to be just duds and white elephants.
The Netherlands Big Issue
<$> When a political Issue eclipses news concerning Western defense, Indo-China, Guatemala and the cost of living, then it must be big. And for the Dutch it was big. What
started it was a directive on May 80 by seven Roman Cath* olic bishop^. They called for strict public unity of Catholics and stated that “it is not permissible for a Catholic to be a member of Socialist associations." For those who disregarded the bishops' directives there were grave sanctions, such as refusal of holy sacraments and denial of church burial. Reaction to the mandate was electric. World news took the sideline. Premier Willem Drees turned the spotlight on the issue. Irked by the Catholic directive, he attacked it (7/3), saying that he could not understand why the Netherlands was seemingly the only nation in the world where Catholics could not join the Socialist party. The big issue stems from the fact that in the Netherlands one’s political life has long been greatly influenced by religion.
Butter for Britain
+ Because of the Federal price support system the U. S. government has piled up vast stores of butter, estimated to be 400,000,000 pounds. In July the Foreign Operations Administration announced that it had made the biggest overseas sale ever made: it had sold $6,000000 worth of surplus butter to Britain. Thus Britain receives 14,600,000 pounds of butter at the world rate of about 41 cents a pound. This figure is 27 cents a pound lower than it cost the U. S. government to buy the butter in the first place.
Britain: A Rewritten Budget?
& For fourteen years the British housewife has been protected from the world rise in meat prices; meat rationing has been on that long. But in July this long period of rationing came to an end, and the British housewife had to face the economic facts of life. Meat prices skyrocketed. Though the prices may not have seemed extraordinary to American housewives, who are quite used to meat prices soaring to remarkable altitudes, for Britons the prices were “silly" and “crazy," as they were called by the meat traders themselves. Now a British housewife will no longer have to buy meat solely from her registered butcher. But it became clear that, if the high meat prices persist, many a household budget will have to be rewritten.
Troubled Jerusalem
<$• Jerusalem is cut in two by the border line between Israel and Jordan. On the Jordanian side lies the Old City. On the Israeli side is the New City and capital of the Jewish state. It was in Jerusalem that the border war blazed hot in July. Shooting broke out June 30. Israel said it came from the Old City. Jordan said it came from the New City. For forty hours the shooting continued. At the request of the U. N. truce supervisors a cease-fire was agreed on. Then an hour later shooting started up again. Then the guns fell silent. Then on July 3 some isolated shots threatened to shatter the peace again. But U. N. truce observers rushed to the scene and implored commanders to call a halt. After the smoke of battle lifted from divided Jerusalem, observers predicted further clashes along the border, unless Jordan and Israel decide to sit down at a peace table.
Hindus Bathe During Eclipse
<$> According to Hindu legend, a solar eclipse (the passage of the moon between the earth and the direct rays of the sun) signifies a conflict in heaven between forces of good and evil. The Hindus believe that the giant serpent Rahu attempts to devour the sun god. Legend has it also that at the time of a solar eclipse, holy rivers in heaven and earth flow into two small streams in India. So bn June 30, when the moon blotted out the sun across an 8,000-mile arc from Q’Neill, Nebraska, to Jodphur, India, at which latter place the totality of the eclipse lasted for 1 minute 8 seconds, Hindus by the millions streamed to the seashores and rivers for a bath at the precise moment of the start of the eclipse to ward off the “evil effects" of the heavenly phenomenon. Though a total eclipse of the sun will be visible from some inhabited place on earth at least sixty times in the twentieth century, it was India's first solar eclipse in fifty-six years.
Cow Roundup in India
In India cows are considered sacred. Though they roam India's city streets and country lanes by the millions, it is a statutory crime to kill a cow. In cities owners often let their cows go free during the day to pillage about in other men’s gardens and garbage cans. In June the city officials of New Delhi decided to do something about the 4,000-odd vagrant cows and bulls roaming the city. The city employed 100 cow catchers. But not having the skill of American cowboys the catchers had their troubles. The cows charged them and often escaped. But the cow catchers persisted and by one week end had captured 500 cows for shipment to a 2,000-acre government cow home in the Himalayan foothills. If owners want their cows back, they have to pay a fine.
Plane Races Eclipse
People are urged to make hay while the sun shines. But some people make hay while the sun does not shine. At least a British astronomer does. When the black shadow of the solar eclipse swept eastward at 3,000 miles an hour,' he was chasing the moon’s shadow in a Royal Air Force bomber. As a result, Britain’s leading astronomer, Sir Harold Spencer Jones, saw the eclipse for 22 seconds longer than he ordinarily would have. Those seconds of darkness were precious. They enabled the astronomer to see the eclipse for a total length of 2 minutes 52 seconds. He called this gain "very valuable,” as he was able to make additional measurements of the sky’s color and other phenomena. The scientist hoped that he could view the next eclipse from jet aircraft, thus gaining even more seconds.
A River on the Rampage
■$> The Rio Grande flows from the mountains of Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. For 1,300 miles of its 2,200-mile length it forms the boundary between Texas and Maxi/ co. Last summer, wheif the Southwest U.S. had the longest dry spell on record, the Rio Grande at one point actually dried up. But this summer the mild-mannered Rio Grande was no meandering trickle; it was a rampaging torrent of death" and destruction. It all started when a hurricane struck Mexico near the river. Then cloudbursts in Texas caused water to roar down arroyos and surge through the Pecos and Devil’s Rivers into the rain-swollen Rio Grande. It swelled to more than sixty feet above normal. Scores of persons were reported dead or missing. At Eagle Pass both railroad bridge and the American approach to the International Highway Bridge were washed out (6/28). The city of Piedras Negras, Mexico, was turned into a flood-swept ruins. About 80 per cent of the homes in this city of 35,000 were flooded; half of them were destroyed. At least 15,000 were left homeless. It was the worst Rio Grande flood in history.
France: Head-on Train Crash
-§> One of the most horrible kind of accidents is a head-on train crash. In France one Of these accidents occurred (7/3) at Chateaubourg that was so horrible that a garage owner, driving rescuers to the crash site, died of shock just from viewing the ghastly, twisted wreckage. The crash happened when a shunting freight locomotive collided head on with a four-car diesel train. Crashihg through the driver’s cab of the diesel train, the freight locomotive crushed the second car and sent the third car hurtling over the top of the train. Fifty persons were injured. But from the shattered cars rescuers removed the lifeless bodies of some twenty persons.
But—by no means all who live on earth. Whether or not you are to be among the survivors depends on you. It is imperative that you take the right course now, the course that is in harmony with the principles of the new world of righteousness that will follow Armageddon. To receive thirty-two pages of facts and comfort from the Scriptures write now for the booklet After Armageddon—God’s New World. One copy may be obtained for 5c or seven for 25c. Use the coupon below for convenience.
WATCHTOWER 117 ADAMS ST. BROOKLYN 1, N.Y.
Please send the booklet After Armageddon—God’.s New World: I am enclosing □ 5e for one; □ 25c tor seven. ,
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City........................................................................................................ Zone No........ State
AUGUST 22, 1951,
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Every day hundreds of requests continue to pour in for this excellent Bible study aid. Published in 1946, it was distributed to the astounding number of 10,003,000 copies by 1951. Continuing to be in such great demand by people of all religions in over a hundred lands, a revised Second Edition was released on April 1, 1952. Since then over 2,140,000 additional copies have been absorbed by people desiring a basic authentic Bible study textbook. Send 50c with the coupon below for your copy._ Upon reading it, you will readily understand why 12,145,966 copies of “Let God Be True” have already been obtained and why it is still going strong!
WATCHTOWER 117 ADAMS ST. BROOKLYN 1, N.Y.
I am enclosing 0 copies Be True”
1 shall appreciate receiving this order as soon as possible.
Name „..................................................................................................
Street and Number or Ho ute and Box ..........................................................................
City.........................................................................................;...........
Zone No.........State.........................................................................
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